Questioning Paul (You Fool)

Jesus said, "Whoever shall say, 'You fool', shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."

Paul used these very words to his Corinthian readers in 1 Corinthians 15:36. "You fool!" In fact, if you take those two words out, the verse reads better.

Is this another case of the apostle writing "not the Lord, but I say"? Because it certainly is hard to reconcile Jesus' hellfire condemnation of those very words and then Paul choosing to use those exact words in his writing.

Hi Koheleth,

Contextually our Lord is speaking to the subject of anger in Matthew 5:22 and more specifically 'anger without cause'. There is a malice behind the word. It is the Greek moros from which we get the English word moron. I see the word as blasphemy of a person's character. The strength of the comments lends me to think he is referring to the Hebrew equivalent nabal. In the LXX (Septuagint) nābāl is translated as moros in Deut. 32:6 and Isaiah 32:5. Nabal is a word that means 'to wilt'. The fool (nabal) has said in his heart there is no God. It is a person hardened and devoid of God. To slander a person with that word is of the highest danger (hell fire).

Paul uses a different word and in a common context found throughout the Bible where God is speaking to the condition of people that refuse to acknowledge the truth. It is aphron (ἄφρον) and is commonly translated from nabel in the LXX as well. The word aphron (ἄφρον) is found repeatedly in the LXX in the book of Proverbs where we have the English word fool translated. The difference between how Solomon used the word or Paul is that the person decides of they are a fool or not based upon their own behavior and conclusions. "If this is how you think, this is what you are." This is a whole different thing than getting angry at a person and calling them a fool just to be malicious. The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God. The tongue can set on fire of hell, etc. Hope that helps. Blessings.