Reading for January 19th

Read Proverbs 6.1-19. In 6.1-19: Four short peces. The section is often judged to be an addition on the grounds that its topics and style are very different from the surrounding instructions. It is possible, however, that the editors wanted to insert related but miscellanous material at this point. Thematically, that section is concerned not with external obstacles to acquiring wisdom, such as violent and seductive women, but with internal obstacles, such as poor judgment (vv. 1-5) and laziness(vv. 6-11). It also sketches an evil character (vv. 12-15), which is wholly unacceptable to the Lord (vv. 16-19). In verses 1-5: Pledge: proverbs is entirely negative on the legal customs of a third party guaranteeing a loan (11.15; 17.18; 22.26), probbaly because it endangers the guarantor. In verses 6-11: Lazybones: proverbs look with disdain, and often humerously on the lazy person (for example, 10.4; 12.24; 24.30-34), preferring instead the energetic and responsible person. In verses 12-15: A scoundrel and a villian: A Proverbs type, who is here decribed as corrupt externally (mouth or speech, eyes, feet, fingers ) and internally (perverted mind). An evil destiny hangs over such a type. In verses 16-19: Proverbs often declares certain behavior "an abomination to the Lord" (see 11.1). Six and seven are an instance of ascending parallelism of numbers, like "three" and "four" in 30.18-19, 21-23. The organ such as the eye stands for the entire activity of seeing, an example of metonymy. Comments or Questions..