Hi Juggalo, gotta give ya props for doing your research and questioning things that seem to be contradictory! Excellant. Proverbs 26:4 and 26:5 are passages that I had found puzzling. It was explained to me by a wonderful older lady I knew in this manner: If someone is irritating (being an ass), do not answer them in the same manner or you will appear as being on the same intellectual level you find irritating in them. If a person is expressing as fact, their opinion, (and you know that fact is incorrect), then answer them seriously with the correct info so that they will not be sure (smug) thinking they know more than they really do.
Proverbs is like a book of life lessons and practical advice. It is written in a sometimes hard to understand way. When I was young we would be given a passage to memorize and contemplate. we were expacted to think about them and try to understand the advice given therein.
Anyways! LOL that's just my 2 cents in a conversation, Kuu :)