Posted by Jeff Short on December 15, 2020 · Leave a Comment
Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
– Proverbs 30:4
Agur asks six questions and most commentators have asked a lot more. The questions echo passages like Job 38, where the loftiness of God above humans is highlighted. The questions ask of might works, like Proverbs 8:24-29, which are creative acts of divine power and so, separate from men. Opinions vary about the “son” mentioned in the last line. Ultimately, Agur writes that wisdom belongs to God alone and comes down to earth in his Son.
Posted by Jeff Short on March 13, 2020 · Leave a Comment
Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.
– Proverbs 29:3
This saying echoes a long line of wisdom sayings pertaining to sons who acquire wisdom blessing their fathers (Proverbs 10:1; 15:20; 23:15, 24-25; 27:11). The second line gives the contrasting parallel for the foolish sons (Proverbs 5:8-10; 6:26; 21:17, 20; 28:7, 19). The contrast is between loving and pursuing wisdom or loving and pursuing folly. Wisdom and folly are personified as women in Proverbs (Proverbs 9:1-18), and so loving wisdom is pictured through finding a virtuous wife (Proverbs 31:10-31) and folly through chasing prostitutes (Proverbs 5:1-23; 7:1-27). Jesus told of such a foolish son, who went on to forsake folly for wisdom (Luke 15:11-32).
Filed under 29, Proverbs, Short Comments · Tagged with Commentary, Father, Folly, Fool, Harlot, Proverbs, Son, Strange Woman, Wisdom, Wise
Posted by Jeff Short on January 24, 2020 · Leave a Comment
Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer.
– Proverbs 28:24
Robbing parents was a serious violation of the law (Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16). The act pointed to in the saying is probably not the nighttime B&E larceny variety. The idea is likely more along the line of the son who is a
waster in Proverbs 19:26. He may squander his parents’ wealth (Luke 15:11-32), and refuse to support them in old age (Mark 7:10-13). He may be a perennial moocher, draining his parents resources (Proverbs 18:9). The middle line of the saying reveals a hardened conscience, like that condemned by Jesus in the practice of
corban. The result is becoming a
destroyer, and Paul said worse than an infidel (1 Timothy 5:4, 8), which is another shameful association (Proverbs 28:7).
Posted by Jeff Short on August 28, 2019 · Leave a Comment
Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father.
– Proverbs 28:7
This saying brings common wisdom elements together. The structure of the saying is antithetical parallelism. Keeping the law is contrasted with being a companion of gluttons and a wise son is contrasted with shaming one’s father. Gluttony is one of the sins of the incorrigible son in Deuteronomy 21:18-21.
Prior sayings warn against the companionship of gluttons due to waste and poverty (Proverbs 23:19-22). A wise son keeps the law and keeps away from harlots (Proverbs 29:3) and gluttons (Proverbs 23:20) and honors his father.
Posted by Jeff Short on January 4, 2019 · Leave a Comment
My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.
– Proverbs 27:11
The father/teacher/sage rejoices when the children/students learn what is being taught (Proverbs 10:1; 15:20; 23:15-16, 24-25). The word for
reproacheth gives the idea of taunting or criticism. The best answer is a wise son. Jesus referred to this principle when he said, “But wisdom is justified of her children” (Matthew 11:19).
Posted by Jeff Short on May 3, 2018 · Leave a Comment
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
– Proverbs 23:26
The word for
heart means the cardiac muscle in a person’s chest. It has a wide range of figurative uses in the Hebrew Old Testament. It can refer to the whole inner being of man, the immaterial being. It can refer to the mind and understanding. It can refer to the will. It can refer to the feelings, or emotions, and more. Modern day westerners presuppose a reference to the heart being about affection and feelings. The word appears over 90 times in Proverbs and could seldom be thought to refer to emotions. When you couple this verse with similar calls to wisdom, particularly in the fatherly addresses, it is plainly an admonition to give thoughtful attention (Proverbs 1:8, 33; 2:1-2; 3:1, 21; 4:1-2, 4-5, 10, 10; 5:1, 7; 6:20-21; 7:1-3, 24; 8:1-6, 10-11, 32-33). The second phrase seals that understanding by calling for observation.
The word for observe means to be pleased with, or to accept. The word is translated, delighteth, in Proverbs 3:12. The call is clearly a call to hearken to wisdom and to recognize and embrace the rightness of the ways of the teacher. The picture of instructing in and imparting wisdom to another is a picture of master and apprentice, or discipling (Proverbs 13:20).
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Posted by Jeff Short on December 7, 2017 · Leave a Comment
He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.
– Proverbs 19:26
This proverb presents another specimen of a son who causes shame. Parents have a great responsibility with the “rod and reproof” in training their children in wisdom (Proverbs 29:15; 22:6). However, the son or daughter must receive that correction and instruction and must seek after wisdom (Proverbs 2:1-5). Wise parents may raise foolish children who are sluggards (Proverbs 10:5), despisers (Proverbs 15:20), immoral wretches (Proverbs 29:3), or mockers and cursers (Proverbs 30:11, 17). Here the shameful son is a waster of the family resources (Proverbs 28:24). Having wasted the family substance, the ingrate turns his mother out, or refuses to provide support in old age. The law commanded the honoring of parents, which includes supporting them in old age (Deuteronomy 5:16). Sons who waste their father through foolish selfishness, or who refuses to honor his parents by putting on piety are wicked, shameful, and reproachful sons (Luke 15:11-24; Mark 7:9-13).
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Posted by Jeff Short on November 16, 2017 · Leave a Comment
A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
– Proverbs 19:13
Proverbs begins with Solomon’s fatherly admonitions to his son to forsake the way of folly and embrace the way of wisdom. The first nine chapters teach us a father should make every effort to bring up his son in the way of wisdom, but, ultimately, the son must choose to refuse folly and pursue wisdom. When a son chooses folly, it is a grief, heaviness, and sorrow to his father (Proverbs 17:21, 25). Here it is a
calamity, which is a ruin. The man who has foolish children is robbed of joy.
The word for contentions means brawling, or strife. A woman who is querulous and quarrelsome is like an incessant dripping that must drive a man mad (Proverbs 27:15). No one can live with constant complaining, criticizing, and nagging and also have joy or peace of mind in life. The Proverbs mention other conditions that are better to live with (Proverbs 21:9, 19). Having either condition, or both, makes life a misery.
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Posted by Jeff Short on September 28, 2017 · Leave a Comment
A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.
– Proverbs 17:25
All children start out the same way, with foolishness “bound in the heart” (Proverbs 22:15). Parents are to bring up their children in the way of wisdom (Proverbs 22:6). The way of wisdom is the way of correction and instruction (Proverbs 13:24; 19:18; 29:17). A foolish son can be the result of neglect (Proverbs 29:15), the active folly of the parents (Proverbs 14:1), or the incorrigible pride of the son or daughter (Proverbs 17:10; 27:22). The last case is most likely to bring “heaviness,” “sorrow,” and “calamity” (Proverbs 10:1; 17:21; 19:13).
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Proverbs 30:4
Posted by Jeff Short on December 15, 2020 · Leave a Comment
Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
Agur asks six questions and most commentators have asked a lot more. The questions echo passages like Job 38, where the loftiness of God above humans is highlighted. The questions ask of might works, like Proverbs 8:24-29, which are creative acts of divine power and so, separate from men. Opinions vary about the “son” mentioned in the last line. Ultimately, Agur writes that wisdom belongs to God alone and comes down to earth in his Son.– Proverbs 30:4
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Filed under 30, Proverbs, Short Comments · Tagged with Agur, Commentary, Proverbs, Son, Wisdom