Pro 26:12 | NET2full | STEP | You have seen a man wise in his own opinion — there is more hope for a fool than for him.

‏ Proverbs 26:12

12 You have seen ^{▼▼tn Most translations render the verse as a question (“Have you seen…?” so KJV, NASB, NIV, ESV, HCSB) while sometimes this construction is turned into a conditional sentence. But the Hebrew has a perfect verb form (רָאִיתָ; raʾita), expecting past time, without an interrogative or conditional marker. See the note at Prov 26:16.} a man wise in his own opinion ^{▼▼tn Heb “in his own eyes” (so ESV, NASB, NIV84).} —
there is more hope for a fool ^{▼▼sn Previous passages in the book of Proverbs all but deny the possibility of hope for the fool. So this proverb is saying there is absolutely no hope for the self-conceited person, and there might be a slight hope for the fool—he may yet figure out that he really is a fool.} than for him.