Proverbs 26:8

bindeth a stone in a sling This, which is the rendering of the LXX. (ὅς ἀποδεσμεύει λίθον ἐν σφενδόνῃ), must be taken to mean, he who "bindeth fast" (R.V. marg.) a stone so that it cannot come out, thus frustrating by his action the very purpose for which a stone is put into a sling. Such a proceeding is a fit emblem of the incongruity of "giving honour to a fool." But the Heb. word thus rendered "sling," that which casts away stones, occurs nowhere else, and it may have the meaning of a heap or collection of stones. And it is so understood both in A.V. marg., As he that putteth aprecious stone in an heap of stones, and in R.V. text, As a bag of gems in an heap of stones. This rendering gives point to the comparison: To put honour on one who is so utterly undeserving of it as a fool, is like hiding precious stones among worthless pebbles. It necessitates however our understanding the word "stone," used absolutely and without anything in the context (as in Exodus 28:9; Exodus 35:27) to limit its meaning, of a precious stone or gem.

Some commentators both ancient and modern have supposed that the "heap of stones" referred to is that under which the criminal who had been stoned to death lay buried. A similar idea appears in Coverdale's rendering: "He that setteth a fool in hye dignite, that is even as yf a man dyd caste a precious stone upon the galous."

For the "bag," "that which" (instead of "he that") "bindeth fast," or holdeth securely precious stones, or other valuables, comp. Proverbs 7:20; Genesis 42:35 ("bundle"), where the Heb. word is the same as here.