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.

Sermon On the Mount Outline

Once after a long sermon series a member wondered why there was not a summary at the end.  So this week, at the end of the SOM, here is a summary.  It also fits the final verses of the text which call the reader not only to be aware of the words of Jesus, but to listen to them.

Sermon on the Mount Outline  is here: summary-of-the-sermon-on-the-mount   The texts of the sermons are available at www.bethanyfreechurch.org under “recent sermons”.

What I am now going to work on is a 50day study, suggested by the comments of U. Luz that the Lord’s Prayer is the center of the sermon.  It would see that a study of the 7 parts of the prayer by means of the various parts of the sermon would be a good spiritual exercise.  Stay tuned.  An outline of that idea is here:  lprayerdiagram

Matthew echoed in James

H. Shepherd* claims that there is a strong connection between James and Matthew – especially the Sermon on the Mount.  Here are his 8 divisions of James (key verse in italics) and the passages from the Sermon.   

James 1:1-18 –        Matthew 5:11,12

   v.12                          Matthew 6:13

“Trials”                         Matthew 7:7

 

James 1:19-27 –     Matthew 5:23

   v. 25                         Matthew 7:21

“Listening & Doing”     Matthew 7:26

 

James 2:1-13 –        Matthew 5:1-16

   v. 5 or 10                  Matthew 5:17-20

“Favoritism”

 

James 2:14-26 –     Matthew 7:21,26

   v. 20 or 26

“Faith & Works”

 

James 3:1-12 —       Matthew 7:16-20

   v. 2

“The Tongue”

 

James 3:13-4:12 – Matthew 5:1-12

   v. 4                           Matthew 6:24

“Humility”                     Matthew 7:1-5

                                    Matthew 7:7

 

James 4:13-5:6 –    Matthew 6:19-24

   v. 17

“Money”

 

James 5:7-20    –    Matthew 5:33-37

   v. 20-24

“Patience”

*H. R. Shepherd,”Epistle of James and the Gospel of Matthew” JBL (75) p. 40-51

                        

     

 

Lord’s Prayer and Sermon on Mount Chart

lprayerdiagram

So here is what FR developed.  The possible connections between the prayer and the units of the SOM are pretty endless.  The Sunday Class found about about 2x as many as we did initially.  Unfortunately someone erased the marker board!

Lords Prayer in the Sermon on the Mount

U. Luz, in the Dictionary of Jesus and the Bible, is cited as saying that the Sermon on the Mount has been built around the Lord’s Prayer as its centerpiece.  Not having his work, this week our intrepid adult class will use the text, some scissors and tape to attempt to correlate sections of the Sermon to the 7 phrases of the Prayer.

Do you want to play? 

The phrases of the Prayer: 1.  Our Father in heaven 2.  hallowed be your name 3. your kingdom come  4.  your will be done… 5. give us ….bread 6.  Forgive us…as we forgive 7.  Lead us not…but deliver.

The units, based on NIV divisions:

(5:1-12; 5:13-16; 5:17-20; 5:21-26; 5:27-30; 5:31-32; 5:33-37; 5:38-42; 5:43-48; 6:1-4; 6:5-8; 6:9-15; 6:16-18; 6:19-24; 6:25-34; 7:1-6; 7:7-12; 7:13-14; 7:15-23; 7:24-29)

Have fun, I will post my results next week.