Busting Through

Hey, we’ve topped 9,000 readers!

Psalm 121 – Translation

Psalm 121 is remembered for its first verse.  It’s overall theme is the assurance we can have in the face of adversity because the Lord is our guardian.  There are a couple of interesting translation points.

Psalm 121:1-8 ESV
    A Song of Ascents.

    I lift up my eyes to the hills.
        From where does my help come?
    [2] My help comes from the Lord,
        who made heaven and earth.
    [3] He will not let your foot be moved;
        he who keeps you will not slumber.
    [4] Behold, he who keeps Israel
        will neither slumber nor sleep.
    [5] The Lord is your keeper;
        the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
    [6] The sun shall not strike you by day,
        nor the moon by night.
    [7] The Lord will keep you from all evil;
        he will keep your life.
    [8] The Lord will keep
        your going out and your coming in
        from this time forth and forevermore.

The ESV retains the 6 fold repetition in English of the Hebrew verb shamar.  The first three uses are as participles, forming a kind of title “he who keeps” and the second three uses are verbs in the imperfect, indicating actions.  The ESV retains KEEP, KEEPS or KEEPER helping the English reader see the repetition.  The NIV for contrast uses WATCHES for the first three, and KEEP and WATCH for the second three uses.

Some translations try to retain the verbal repetion, which is not natural in English (JB,NEB). Others vary the repetition, which makes it harder to notice the central theme of the psalm (NIV, TEV).

We prefer the continuity of the ESV, but this illustrates the value of having more than one translation.

Goldilocks among the Commentaries

“Oh this one is too boring.  This one is too dry.  But this little commentary is just right.” 

Regarding Proverbs 7:

So I have a very big commentary and an almost very big commentary that had the unfortunate habit of putting me to sleep.  Well, I struggled on anyway.  However, my very small commentary was a hit on this text.  So if you use tools, such as commentaries, get a bucket load so that you have a shot at getting one that hits.  I found a great deal in Derek Kidner’s Proverbs commentary in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary Series.  These are smallish books, but well worth the price most of the time.  Anything by Kidner is interesting.  I found this quote to be quite satisfactory:

“…the best advice is useless against strong temptation unless it is thoroughly taken to heart and translated into habits.”  p. 75.

Proverbs 7 pits the clueless young man against the relentless woman seeking a sexual partner.  Her speech is shockingly compelling which makes the point quite well that the illicit can sound wonderful, but the reality falls short.

I wonder if “tying the instruction to your fingers”  (v. 3) was the origin of the idea of tying a string to your finger to remember something. 

Well Fresh Read is back from vacation and the family wedding and plans to be posting regularly.  Thanks to the readers for pushing us to the exalted heights of almost 8,000 blog lifetime readers.

Proverbs and the charge of sexism

Often we hear that the book of Proverbs is very male oriented.  We hear that it is, because of that and it’s age, quite sexist.  What are we to make of that?

the main teaching of the first 9 chapters is a discussion between a father and son on the lessons of wisdom.  So from at that point the charge has some merit.  Yet, there are several points that mitigate.

It is clear that in several ways, women play a key role in these chapters.  Both Mother and Father are involved in instruction: In 1:8  Mother and Father are in parallel, and also in the father’s recollection of his education in  4:3. 

Women are presented in these chapters as either the personification of Wisdom (1:20-33;3:13-18; 4:4-9; 8:-36; 9:1-6) or as the personification of seduction or folly (2:16-22; 5:3-14; 6:24-35; 7:6-27; 9:13-18).

Yet men can be represented by the various characters we find in the book – the wise, the prudent the diligent worker as opposed to the fool, the simpleton, the scoffer and the thick headed.

In the genre of Wisdom Writings, it is frequent that the format is the father teaching a son, but that does not make the wisdom irrelevant to women.  The dual character of both men and women to be either wise or foolish is depicted in a rather even handed manner.

Proverbs can not be considered a text-book for totaly egalitarianism, yet it does not by that earn the charge of sexism.

Proverbs 2:1-5 – Colossians 1:9-11

Proverbs 2 calls the reader to seek wisdom avidly, with the promised result that we would understand the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God.  This struck a chord, in that the prayer in Colossians 1 seeks a movement from knowing God’s will (similar to wisdom) and results in “increasing in the knowledge of God.” 

Knowledge is a broad concept in English, but we can distinguish between knowing about someone (i.e. his will, his attributes, his history) and knowing someone personally.  Spanish uses saber for knowing things and conocer for knowing people.

Compare these two texts for yourself.

Proverbs 2:1-5 - ESV
    My son, if you receive my words
        and treasure up my commandments with you,
    [2] making your ear attentive to wisdom
        and inclining your heart to understanding;
    [3] yes, if you call out for insight
        and raise your voice for understanding,
    [4] if you seek it like silver
        and search for it as for hidden treasures,
    [5] then you will understand the fear of the Lord
        and find the knowledge of God.

Col. 1:9-11 – ESV
    And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, [10] so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. [11] May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy…

Proverbs 2 – One Sentence!

So my kids know that when I edit their essays, it will be to bust up sentences and to kill any passive verbs.  Now I come to find that Pv 2 is one sentence in Hebrew.  Of course this is a bit subjective, in that the punctuation is a later addition to the text.  But, lets go with the idea that the Masorites knew biblical Hebrew better than we do.

The form is 4, 4, 3, 4, 4, 3.  this makes 22 verses, the same number as letters in the Hebrew Alphabet.  This is not an acrostic, but the sections in the first 11 verses start with a particle “if” which is formed with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (aleph), and the second 11 verses has a conjunction at the start of each section starting with the letter lamed, from the middle of the alphabet.

V. 1-11 advocates with 8 verbs the searching out and valuing of Wisdom’s words (nice turn of the tables on Wisdom searching the streets in the close of chapter 1).  The result is fear of the lord and knowlege of God.  (reverence/awe and relationship/faith) as well as protection.

V. 12-22 delineates how wisdom protects from a deceitful man and a smooth tongued seductress, ending with a 3 verse conclusion.

To my eye, v. 1-5 parallel the process found in Colossians 1:5ff where knowledge of God’s will and obedience moves toward knowledge of God.  that is informational knowledge becomes relational knowledge.  (like the difference in Spanish between saber and conocer).

Another interesting NT echo is v. 21 and Jesus’ “the meek shall inherit the earth.” in the Beatitudes.

Pursue Wisdom intensely and She will guard you immensely.

Proverbs 1:7

We like M. Fox for his careful analysis of the text of Proverbs 1-9 and we also like the balance of the more conservative approach of B. Waltke.  It is interesting that both, and everyone else that we know of, agrees that Prov 1:1-7 is a purpose statement for the book of Proverbs, and that verse 7 in particular is the key to the interpretation.

Proverbs 1:7
    The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
        fools despise wisdom and instruction.   (ESV)

 This is a good case of parallelism. 

The first half verse is in contrast to the second.  Fools are contrasted with those who have “the fear of the Lord.”  So there is a moral/spiritual basis to Wisdom and Knowledge, not just an intellectual base. 

We see that wisdom and instruction is thereby mostly synonymous with knowledge.  The kind of knowledge that this verse is talking about is not merely informational – even the Bible would agree that mathematicians do not need to fear the Lord to know that 2+2=4.   In this verse the second half moves forward the definition of “knowledge” with the pair of words “wisdom and instruction.”

So then, since neither wisdom nor foolishness is about mere intelligence, this book is talking about an ability to lead a successful life based upon the premise that a life without the Lord’s approval and blessing is NOT all it can be.

D. Garrett makes an interesting comment, that the Wisdom literature of the nations is brought into Proverbs, but that it is screened and placed under the idea of “the fear of the Lord.”  M. Fox makes a similar comment, that this is unique to Israelite (biblical) wisdom in comparison to its ancient near eastern cousins.

Ephesians

So, to follow up the idea of reading in another language.  I found that in this passage, that the movement is from the eternal, heavenly realm to the earthly.  I noticed that there is an internal logic to the effects: redeemed AND forgiven (so not merely a change of slave ownership).  Informed (so as to be agents no objects) and Sealed by the Spirit (so as to be marked in the terrestrial with the celestial).  It reminds us of the title “Redemption: Accomplished and Applied” that we read in Seminary.  It was accomplished in eternity and applied in time. 

Ephes. 1:3-14
    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
    [5] he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8] which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
    [9] making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10] as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
    [11] In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, [12] so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. [13] In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [14] who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Second Language

For Lent, FR decided to keep a diary of the book of James in Spanish.  Having been working on Spanish for a few years, it seemed like a good idea.  What I have noticed is that reading a familiar text in another language forces you to notice what you might otherwise skim over.

If you know another language, consider reading the text in that language.

Que Dios te bendiga.

Coming soon – Proverbs 1-9

After the current studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Fresh Read will turn his attention to the first nine chapters of Proverbs.  This is the most crafted portion of the book, where other sections are small clusters of proverbs related by topic, word play and other means of connection.

We have already noticed that Proverbs 1-9 is as is the great Mosaic speeches found in Deuteronomy are re-cast in the language of Wisdom.  There are the same concerns for following the right path, for choosing life or death, prosperity or destruction. 

So get an little ahead and start reading.

FR