Brutish! #2

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

“For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others” (Psalm 49:10 KJV).

The Authorized Version mentions “brutish” individuals some 13 times—who and what are they?

Such “brutish” people are in juxtaposition with fools. “…[T]he fool and the brutish person perish” (Psalm 49:10). “A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this” (Psalm 92:6). “Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?” (Psalm 94:8). “Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish…” (Isaiah 19:11). “But they are altogether brutish and foolish:…” (Jeremiah 10:8).

“Brutish” also stands in opposition to knowledgeable. “A brutish man knoweth not…” (Psalm 92:6). “Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof [criticism, blame] is brutish” (Proverbs 12:1). Moreover, “brutish” is connected to “without understanding.” “Understand, ye brutish among the people…” (Psalm 94:8). “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man” (Proverbs 30:2). To lose wisdom—or to fail to obtain it—is to become “brutish.” “…[T]he counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish…” (Isaiah 19:11).

Such who “understand not” and “know not” are like “brute beasts” (stupid animals). “But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;…” (2 Peter 2:12). Those who are “brutish” are said to be “But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves” (Jude 10).

Using context clues, we recognize “brutish” and “brute” are associated with foolishness—especially a lack of knowledge, wisdom, and/or understanding. Basically, it is irrationality or stupidity (“brutus” is Latin for “dull, stupid”). Incidentally, the Greek word rendered “brute” in 2 Peter and Jude is “alogos” (“no thought”). It was translated “unreasonable” in Acts 25:27: “For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.” Of course, Judaean Governor Porcius Festus deemed it senseless to send Paul to stand trial before the Roman Emperor without first specifying the charges!

Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….