If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man; either judicially or otherwise debating any matter with him, endeavouring to convince him of any error; whether he, the wise man, rageth (or is angry) or laugheth, i.e. whether he deal sharply and severely with him, rebuking him for his folly, or mildly and pleasantly smiling at it, there is no rest, no end or fruit of the debate, the fool will not be satisfied nor convinced. Or, as it is in the Hebrew, he (to wit, the fool last named, to whom the following carriages may seem more fitly to agree) both rageth and laugheth, (he will not yield nor be convinced, but persists in his folly, which he discovers sometimes by his furious and unbridled passions, and sometimes by foolish laughter and scorning,) and there is no rest; he will never be quieted.
Related Commentaries of Proverbs 29:9
Proverbs 29:9
9 If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest.