Proverbs 23:15 to 24:22: A Chiasm about Envy

May 8, 2023Posted inBook of Proverbs, Chiasms
Proverbs 22:17 to 24:22 comprises the third section of the Book of Proverbs. Section 1 (chapters 1–9) consists of a series of discourses which Solomon made to his son. Section 2 (10:1–22:16) bears the title “The Proverbs of Solomon” (10:1). The third section contains sayings of the wise (22:17). Some think that these were also…

Proverbs 19:28 to 20:1: Three Verses About Scoffing

April 28, 2022Posted inBook of Proverbs
Most of our English translations (the exception is the NIV) obscure a significant point in the translation of these three verses. All three use a form of a Hebrew word that means to scoff or mock. To demonstrate the connection between the verses, we can translate as follows: A worthless witness will scoff at judgment,…

The Simple, the Fool and the Scoffer

March 1, 2022Posted inBook of Proverbs
The Lord gave us the book of Proverbs to teach us wisdom. This wisdom is not the wisdom of the world, though we could interpret many proverbs in it, taken apart from chapter 1:1-7, in that way. It is instead the wisdom that begins with the fear of God, and the wisdom that resides in…

Proverbs 6:12-19: Speaking Feet

February 18, 2022Posted inBook of Proverbs, Chiasms
12. A worthless person, a man of iniquity, walking with a crooked mouth, 13. narrowing his eyes, uttering with his feet, teaching with his fingers, 14. perversity in his heart, devising evil continually, sows discord. 15. Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. Suddenly he will be broken, and there will be no remedy. 16. Six…