Reading for January 24th

THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON In 10.1-22.16: Nearly all of chs. 10-15 are authetic proverbs, that is the second line (B) restates the first line (A) in an opposite way. The section contrasts the wicked and the righteous person (treated as types) and emphasizes the consequences of human acts. Chapters 16-22, on the other hand, contain far fewer antitheses and many more exceptions to the rule. A key metaphor throughout all these chapters is founding or maintaining a house, which continues the same image as in chs. 1-9. The chapters contain over fifty references to father, mother, son, house, wife or servant. Read Proverbs 10.1-15 In verses 1-3: The first three sayings represent the three sides of wisdom, the sapiential (wisdom as right knowledge, v. 1, wise) the ethical (wisdom as right action, v. 2 righteousness), and religious (wisdom as right reverence or worship, v. 3, the Lord). In the opening saying, child, father, and mother refer to the instructions of chs. 1-9 (see 1.8) and show the continuity between the instructions and the sayings. In verse 6: Proverbs often plays on two senses of the verb "to cover"; "cover" in the sense of "conceal" and in the sense of "fill" ( see vv. 11 and 12). Line B can also translated in a sense opposite to NRSV, "violence covers the mouth of the wicked." In verse 9: Proverbs frequently uses the metaphors of walking and path forconduct (also current English). "To walk" is "to conduct oneself, to live": "way" is "conduct"; "straight" and "crooked" (perverted) are "good" and "evil." Integrity is literally "straight, whole." In verse 15: Though proverbs praises dilengence and ridicules laziness, it does not prdinarily praise the wealthy and criticize the poor, but rather makes nuetral observations on the situation of rich and poor, as here. Comments or Questions..