John Gill Commentary Proverbs 26:7

"The legs of the lame hang loose: So is a parable in the mouth of fools." — Proverbs 26:7 (ASV)

The legs of the lame are not equal
Or as "the lifting up the legs by one that is lame"^F13, to dance to a pipe or violin, is very unseemly, and does but the more expose his infirmity, and can give no pleasure to others, but causes derision and contempt.

So [is] a parable in the mouth of fools; an apophthegm, or sententious expression of his own, which he delivers out as a wise saying, but is lame and halts; it is not consistent with itself, but like the legs of a lame man, one higher than the other: or one of the proverbs of this book, or rather any passage of Scripture, in the mouth of a wicked man; or any religious discourse of his is very unsuitable, since his life and conversation do not agree with it; it is as disagreeable to hear such a man talk of religious affairs as it is to see a lame man dance; or whose legs imitate buckets at a well, where one goes up and another down, as Gussetius^F14 interprets the word.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F13: (hopm Myqwv wyld) "elevatio crurum a claudo facta", Gejerus, Michaelis.
• F14: "Femora claudi imitantur situlas", Gussetius, p. 188. "situlas agunt crura ex claudio", Schultens; "instar binarum sitularum in puteo alternatium adscendentium ac descendentium", Gejerus.