Suffer fools gladly

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Suffer fools gladly is a well-known phrase in contemporary use, first coined by

KJV), reads "For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise."[1][2] The New International Version states "You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!"[3]

In its current usage, the meaning of the negative, not to suffer fools gladly, has been stated by the Cambridge Idiom Dictionary, 2nd Ed. (2006), as "to become angry with people you think are stupid".[4]

The full meaning of Paul's use of the term "fool" in the original passage is complex and subtle, and the term appears repeatedly in the Chapter to develop the author's theme; however, it appears clear that the intended meaning of the phrase was as sarcasm, juxtaposing welcomes given to rival itinerant teachers in Corinth (branded as "false apostles... masquerading" in 2 Corinthians 11:13) with the Corinthians' possible rejection (non-welcome) of the message of this, his letter to them.[5][6]

As has been noted by Robert Fulford, a columnist from

Saint Paul.[7]

Fulford goes on to note with some irony the ready use—the glad suffering—of fools by Shakespeare, who elevated their roles, admittedly non-Pauline,[5] throughout his literary corpus.

In his highly regarded early

G.K. Chesterton
commented on the interpretation of St. Paul's "suffer fools gladly":

There is an apostolic injunction to suffer fools gladly. We always lay the stress on the word "suffer", and interpret the passage as one urging resignation. It might be better, perhaps, to lay the stress upon the word “gladly”, and make our familiarity with fools a delight, and almost a dissipation. Nor is it necessary that our pleasure in fools (or at least in great and godlike fools) should be merely satiric or cruel. The great fool is he in whom we cannot tell which is the conscious and which the unconscious humour; we laugh with him and laugh at him at the same time.[8]

References

  1. ^ "2 Corinthians 11:1–21 (King James Version)". Biblegateway.com. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  2. ISBN 978-1-58297-460-6
  3. 2 Corinthians 11:19
  4. ^ Press, C.U. (1998). Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, Michael McCarthy, 1998: Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms. Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms. Bukupedia. p. 144. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Paul Unmasks His Opponents (2 Corinthians 11 - IVP New Testament Commentaries)". Biblegateway.com. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  6. ISBN 978-0-89900-634-5
  7. ^ "Suffering those who say "suffer fools gladly", by Robert Fulford". Robertfulford.com. 2002-04-23. Retrieved 2013-04-08.
  8. ISBN 978-1-84022-562-4

External links
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