Proverbs 29:9 [If] a wise man contendeth with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, [there is] no rest.
Ver. 9. If a wise man contendeth with a foolish man.] Such fools were the Pharisees, though for their worldly wisdom called princes of this world. 1Co 2:8 Christ piped to them, John mourned to them, neither wrought upon them. Mat 11:16-17 Such was their peevishness and pertinace in evil, that they "rejected the counsel of God against themselves," Luk 7:30 being ingrati gratiae Dei, as Ambrose hath it; receiving the grace of God in vain, as Paul; turning good nourishment into vicious humours, as foul stomachs use to do. And as wine, a strong remedy against hemlock, yet mingled with it, doubles the force of the poison; so was it with the most powerful means of grace, mingled with their obstinace and unbelief. Tigers are enraged with perfumes, and vultures killed with oil of roses, as Aristotle writes.