Proverbs 17:12 (YLT)

Passage

The meeting of a bereaved bear by a man, And--not a fool in his folly.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 17:10 Rebuke cometh down on the intelligent More than a hundred stripes on a fool.

Proverbs 17:11 An evil man seeketh only rebellion, And a fierce messenger is sent against him.

Proverbs 17:12 The meeting of a bereaved bear by a man, And--not a fool in his folly.

Proverbs 17:13 Whoso is returning evil for good, Evil moveth not from his house.

Proverbs 17:14 The beginning of contention <FI>is<Fi> a letting out of waters, And before it is meddled with leave the strife.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "meeting", "bereaved", "bear", "and--not", "fool", and "folly". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "meeting" and "bereaved", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "An evil man seeketh only rebellion And..." into verse 13's "Whoso is returning evil for good Evil...", so "meeting" and "bereaved" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "meeting" and "bereaved" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.