Proverbs 18:13 - Exposition

He that answereth a matter, etc. Thus Ecclesiasticus 11:8, "Answer not before thou hast heard the, cause; neither interrupt men in the midst of their talk." A reminiscence of the passage occurs in the Talmud ('Aboth.' 5. 10), "I weighed all things in the balance, and found nothing lighter than meal; lighter than meal is the betrothed man who dwells in the house of his intended father-in-law; lighter than he is a guest who introduces a friend; and lighter than he is the man who answers before he has heard the other's speech". So Menander—

ὁ προκαταγιγνώσκων δὲ πρὶν ἀκοῦσαι σαφῶς

αὐτὸς πονηρός ἐστι πιστεύσας κακῶς .

Seneca, 'Medea,' 199—

" Qui statuit aliquid, parte inaudita altera,

AE quum licet statuerit, haud aequus erit ."