Read Proverbs 29.1-27. In verse 1: Remains stubborn is literally,"stiffens the neck." There is a possible play on words: Stiffening one's neck risks having it broken. Suddenly suggests an extraordinary, perhaps divine, intervention. In verse 4: The saying uses the metaphor "high" and "low" for prosperity and decline in order to differentiate between good and bad governance. A just king gives stability, literally, "raises up the land." But a king who raises taxes ruins, literally brings down, a country. In verse 15: As with domestic animals, a staff ("sebet" as in Lev 27.32; Zech 11.7; Ps 23.4) is needed to train and control children. Children (and animals) allowed to run free cannot learn. In verse 18: Prophecy and law are paired in Ezek 7.26 and Lam 2.9. In this saying prophecy has to do with the community and law with the individual. Though a people may be demoralized without credible national guidance, an individual can still find happiness by heeding the instruction of teachers. In verse 24: An aphorism derived from the legal adjuration summoning witnesses to a crime, which is described in Lev 5.1. By not coming forward to testify one becomes an accomplice of the criminal. Moreover, to get mixed up with a crime is to destroy oneself. Comments or Questions..
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