1. folly / foolishness — Folly or foolishness (אִוֶּלֶת), an abstract feminine noun denoting moral and intellectual stupidity, the characteristic quality of the fool (ewil/kesil) in Wisdom literature. All three clusters represent the same noun with different pronominal suffixes and prepositional contexts: S80515 (17x) covers absolute and construct forms ('folly', 'folly of'), S80517 (6x) has third-person masculine singular suffix with various prepositions ('his folly', 'according to his folly', 'in his folly'), and S80520 (2x) has first-person common singular suffix ('my folly/foolishness'). Multilingual evidence is uniform: English 'folly/foolishness', Spanish 'necedad/su necedad/mi necedad', Hindi मूर्खता/उसकी मूर्खता/मूर्खता मेरी, Arabic حَماقَة/حَماقَتِهِ/حَماقَتي, Korean 어리석음/미련함, Swahili upumbavu/upumbavu-wake/upumbavu-wangu. Pronominal suffixes are grammatical inflection, not distinct senses; all occurrences refer to the same abstract concept of foolish behavior (Prov 5:23, 12:23, 14:1,8,17,18,24,29, 15:2,14, 16:22, 22:15, 24:9, 26:4-5, 27:22; Ps 38:5, 69:5). 25×
AR["الْحَماقَةِ","حَماقَةً","حَماقَةٌ","حَماقَةٍ","حَماقَةُ","حَماقَتُهُ","حَمَاقَتِهِ","في-حَماقَتِهِ","وَ-حَماقَةٌ","وَ-حَماقَةُ"]·ben["এবং-মূর্খতা","তার-মূর্খতা","তার-মূর্খতায়","মূর্খতা","মূর্খতার"]·DE["Torheit","und-Torheit"]·EN["but-folly","but-the-folly-of","folly","folly-of","foolishly","his-folly","in-his-folly","is-folly","the-folly-of"]·FR["dans-son-folie-lui","et-folie","folie","son-folie-lui"]·heb["איוולת","איוולתו","ב-איוולתו","ו-איוולת"]·HI["और-मूर्खता","मूर्खता","मूर्खता-अपनी-की","मूर्खता-उसकी।","मूर्खता-की","मूर्खता-के","मूर्खता-को","मूर्खता-पर","मूर्खता-में"]·ID["Kebodohan","dalam-kebodohannya","kebodohan","kebodohannya","tetapi-kebodohan"]·IT["e-stoltezza","in-stoltezza-suo","stoltezza","stoltezza-suo"]·jav["ing-kabodhohanipun","kabodhohan","kabodhohanipun","kabodohan","kabodohan-saking","lan-kabodohan","lan-kabodohan-saking"]·KO["그-의-어리석음-의","그러나-어리석음-은","그의-어리석음이","미련함-에-그-의","미련함-의","미련함은","미련함을","미련함이","미련함이니라","어리석음-은","어리석음-을","어리석음-이다"]·PT["Insensatez","Loucura","Loucura-de","e-insensatez","e-insensatez-de","em-sua-loucura","insensatez","insensatez-de","insensatez-sua","loucura","sua-loucura"]·RU["а-глупость","в-глупости-его","глупости","глупости-своей","глупость","глупость-его"]·ES["La-necedad","Necedad","en-necedad-su","necedad","necedad-de","su-necedad","y-necedad","y-necedad-de"]·SW["katika-upumbavu-wake","lakini-mpumbavu","lakini-upumbavu-wa","ni-upumbavu","upumbavu","upumbavu-wa","upumbavu-wake"]·TR["akılsızlık","akılsızlıktır","akılsızlığı","akılsızlığın","akılsızlığında","aptallık","aptallıkla","aptallıktır","aptallığı","aptallığının-onun","ve-aptallık","ve-aptallığı"]·urd["اور-حماقت","حماقت","حماقت-اُس-کی","حماقت-میں-اُس-کی","حماقت-کا","حماقت-ہے"]
Ps 38:5, Ps 69:5, Prov 5:23, Prov 12:23, Prov 13:16, Prov 14:1, Prov 14:8, Prov 14:17, Prov 14:18, Prov 14:24, Prov 14:24, Prov 14:29 (+13 more)
Senses
BDB / Lexicon Reference
אִוֶּ֫לֶת25 n.f. folly.—abs. Pr 12:23 +; cstr. 14:8 +; sf. אִוַּלְתִּי ψ 38:6, etc.;—folly, special product of כְּסִילִים (v. כֶּסֶל) Pr 12:23 + (12 times); c. פְּתָאִים Pr 14:18; c.אֱוִלִים only 16:22; 27:22 (cf. 14:24) for alliteration. It is bound up in mind of boy, to be removed only by rod of discipline Pr 22:15; א׳ personif. tears down house built by חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים Pr 14:1; it is contrasted with תְּבוּנָה Pr 14:29; 15:21.