Reading for November 13th

 THE WORDS OF THE WISE

In 22.17-24.22: An instruction partly modeled on the thirteenth-century BCE Egyptian "Instruction of Amenemope." Like is Egyptian model, it has thirty sayings (22.20) and is introduced by a preface (22.17-21); its first two admonitions (22.22-25)) resemble the first two in "Amenemope." The words of the wise offer a kind of professional ethics, warning against behavior that can destroy one's humanity and religion (22.22-23.11). It concludes with counsels of a general nature (24.1-22).

Read Proverbs 22.17-29. In 22.22-23: The poor are dangerous to attack, for God will defend them. Comments or Questions...

Reading for November 12th

 Read Proverbs 22.1-16. In verse 8: Both metaphors are agricultural. In line A, bad actions are seed yielding trouble. In line B, the rod is a flail which cannot thresh grain. Evil will be frustrated, it will bear no fruit. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 11th

 Read Proverbs 21.1-31. In verse 14: The wise know the secret of taming anger and strong wrath-a gift of money. The strategy implies a certain disdain for anger, for a seemingly strong passion can be assuage by a little money. In verse 17: Those who desire the trappings of wealth will never get them, for wealth will never come to the idle and those who love pleasure (see 6.6-11; 10.4; 12.24, 27). In verse 19: Living alone is preferable to living in a house spoiled by a spouses anger. In verse 29: The wicked are defiant (put on a bold face) whereas the upright, who give thought to their ways, are willing to conform their actions to the teaching of others. The Hebrew text and the ancient versions transmit another reading in the second line: "the upright person maintains a faithful course." Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 10th

 Read Proverbs 20.1-30. In verse 15: Gold and costly stones must refer to jewelry. The most beautiful adornment of a face is not jewelry but wise lips, that is wise words that show the beauty within. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 9th

 Read Proverbs 19.1--29. In verse 2: Desire (the internal) and movement (the external) without sufficient reflection go nowhere. In verse 13: Another saying on the household (from the male point of view). The two great causes of domestic unhappiness are foolish children and an angry wife or spouse. Wisdom can help one avoid such unhappiness. In verse 14: As if to balance the preceding verse on the angry wife, this saying asserts the greatest cause of domestic happiness is a suitable wife. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 8th

 Read Proverbs 18.1-24. In verse 1: The rabble meaning is that those who do not listen to others cannot grow wise, for wisdom comes through interaction with others-a process of instruction and correction. In verse 4: The deep waters of the mind are revealed by one's words (20.5). The waters become a stream nourishing others. In verse 17: The first speaker in a lawsuit seems entirely in the right. Then the opponent cross-examines. The law court experience teaches a valuable lesson: There are two sides to every question. In verse 19: Ally is a family member, literally, "brother" or "member of the family." An offended family member can be more unyielding than a fortress. In verse 21: Love has the sense of "choose" as in Deut 4.37; 10.15; Isa 41.8. One chooses either life or death by  the words one speaks. One must eat the fruits (consequences) of one's acts. For similar vocabulary, see 30.15-20. Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 7th

 Read Proverbs 17.1-28. In verse 2: Wisdom surmounts natural boundaries and limits. Slaves of the time could enter a great household and their conduct, if prudent and trustworthy, would win everyone's respect. A perversely foolish child could lose out to such wise servants. In verse 8: A neutral observation on money. A bribe can seem like a magic stone since it opens doors hitherto closed. In verse 9: A paradox: One finds friendship if one loses or hides (forgives) an affront, and loses (alienates) a friend if one finds or makes public (dwells on) disputes. Friendship has a price-being with the faults of the other. In verse 13: Paradoxically, evil stays in the house of anyone who tries to inflict it on others. In verse 19; Whoever loves an offense in the sense of dwelling on it is equivalently asking for a quarrel in the same way that any one who builds an overly high threshold is asking for injury. Comments or Questions....