The first verse speaks of the immediate, the others of the remote, results of the “fool’s” temper. First, “contention,” then “strokes” or blows, then “destruction,” and last, “wounds.”
Wounds - The word so rendered occurs here and in Proverbs 26:22 only. Others render it “dainties,” and take the verse to describe the avidity with which people swallow in tales of scandal. They find their way to the innermost recesses of man’s nature.