Bears Are Better

“Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.” (Pr 17:12 AV)

This is pretty extreme. A bear robbed of her cubs is a pretty fierce animal.  Yet, the Bible is true.  Female bears are ferocious when it comes to their young.  The mother must protect her cubs from adult males who will attack and devour the cubs so that the female will mate again.  This happens frequently in the wild.  What is surprising is the females, although less powerful and smaller than the males, will successfully fend off the male’s attacks almost all the time.  This tendency and experience in fighting off a threat plays a large part in female bears attacking humans.  If she feels her cubs are in danger, she will fight ferociously.  Although female bears are extremely protective of their young, there are steps a person can take to avoid confrontation.  The first is to announce one’s presence long before a bear is encountered.  Yelling, banging metal objects, air horns, or all sorts of noisemakers works well. Bear spray is also a must.  If push comes to shove, a large caliber firearm will do the trick.  I mention all this because to meet a bear robbed of her young is something few survive.  It is extremely violent and hazardous to one’s life.  To compare a bear attack with the fool in his folly is pretty poignant.

To understand how this comparison can be made, one has to understand the meaning of the word, ‘folly’.  It means to despise wisdom and makes a mockery when found guilty.  The shortened definition is silliness.  But our use of that word today is a minor fault rather than a great one.  To Solomon, the fool is his folly is a person who makes a habit of life out of despising doing the right thing and mocking at justice.  The first difference I notice between a bear robbed of her whelps and a fool in his folly is motive.  The bear is acting out of a sense of protection or justice.  A wrong has been inflicted and therefore, she must make it right.  When she feels it is made right, the attack stops.  A fool, on the other hand, victimizes another for sheer pleasure.  He will continue until he is completely satiated.  Second, the bear will learn from her mistake that led to the encounter and will change her behavior so that it doesn’t happen again.  One of the ways to deter a bear from encountering humans is to make the experience memorable and distasteful enough that she will avoid all contact.  A fool, on the other hand, will deliberately force an encounter with the intent of inflicting misery on his or her victim.  They will learn to become more proficient rather than learn to avoid all interchange.  Third, a bear is not out for a profit of any kind.  She is not trying to take advantage of an unfortunate encounter.  All she is concerned with is getting her cubs back.  The fool, on the other hand, is an opportunist.  He is not satisfied until he believes he has gotten every advantage out of a situation.  The bear is just.  The fool is cruel.

Solomon’s advice here is one of caution.  A bear can be avoided.  One can stay out of bear country and never encounter one.  If they must travel in bear country, they can do many things to mitigate the chance of seeing a bear.  They can put their food and garbage far from camp.  They can put their food up in a tree.  They can wear bear repellent.  They can make noise while going through the woods. There are many things a person can do so they never do encounter a bear with her cubs.  If that is true, which it is, then it is equally true a wise person can take precautions against a fool in his folly.  He can avoid places where fools tend to go.  He can avoid unnecessary contact with fools while they are in their follow.  He can take steps to protect himself if he must interact with fools.  One does not have to be a victim of a fool.  Just like one does not have to be a victim of a bear.  Solomon’s advice is sound.  It is cruel to fall into the hands of a fool.  It is best to avoid where they roam.