Verse 1 foolish son A "fool" in Scripture is never a mentally deficient person, but rather one arrogant and self-sufficient; one who orders his life as if there were no God. See, for illustration, Luke 12:16-20. The rich man was not mentally deficient, but he was a "fool" because he supposed that his soul could live on the things in the barn, giving no thought to his eternal wellbeing. Verse 27 fear (See Scofield "Psalms 19:9")