We continue on in the third section of the Tanakh with the Book of Proverbs. But that’s actually a poor English translation for the Hebrew Mashal, which means something more akin to “instructions for life”. The structure indicates that there wasn’t an intent, in general, for short, pithy, catchy phrases that one could stick on your refrigerator, but those phrases were part of an explanation for an approach to some life task. Or so say the scholars on the topic. We shall find out together. We begin with Solomon, for some 22 pages, and then move on to others.
- God, in the form of Wisdom, offers guidance along the path of life. There are constant temptations to stray from that path, mostly from those who seek to bring you down to whatever level they occupy. Pay no attention to them and follow the call of Wisdom, and God will protect you along your life’s journey.
- This feels like a restatement of Proverb 1 – listen to wisdom and it will lead you to stay on the righteous path, protect you from the evil around you, and you will come to know, fear, and appreciate God.
- While this passage starts with the same as the previous two – seek out and trust in Wisdom, in God – it goes further and directs the listener to treat others well and fairly, even if they are immoral or unethical or even intentionally wicked. In many ways this proverb is a precursor to the later Christian “turn the other cheek”, though more active in its exhortation to do the right thing, regardless of what others are doing around you.
- Another repetition, this time exhorting a son to listen to his father, who will tell him to not follow evil ways and to listen to Wisdom and follow her guidance. Not addressed is how one knows that any given father is going to actually guide his children in that manner. Not all fathers are, or were, on righteous paths.
- We’re getting into the nitty gritty now. While the overall admonition of following Wisdom remains, the focus in this proverb is on wicked, forbidden women, who may be temptresses and tempting, but whose souls are rooted in the depths of Sheol (sort of, Jewish Hell). Find a good woman to be your wife and stay on the path of right.
- Similar to yesterday, but instead of being seduced by the wiles of a witchy woman, in today’s proverbial story, you’ve been conned by what sounds like a gang leader of con artists. The recommendation extraction process is to approach this snake oil salesman, beg forgiveness for leaving him after promising to work with him, accept the consequences, and get your life back on the path of righteousness. He will, of course, understand and accept your decision completely… yeah.
- A vision of a man being seduced by a wayward wife whose husband is away. If he acquiesces, it’s a path to Sheol. If he’s wise, he will have wrapped himself with tefillin allowing him to see her for what she is and avoid her wicked wiles. There is, just as in much of the Talmud, a lot of time spent on warning young men away from young women.
- Wisdom cries out from the hilltops, reminding all that she was one of God’s first creations (I don’t remember that from the creation story) and has been with him since Day One. Further, that what she speaks is always true and always more valuable than wealth.
- Scoffers and simpletons need to stop scoffing and being simple. These seem to be very different categories. One is a behavioral choice, even if an ingrained one, the other a mental condition, which perhaps can be partially relieved by applied study, but probably not overcome. Yet, Wisdom demands it of each of them.
- Well, finally, we get to the proverbial proverbs… Thirty-two of them to be exact. All attributed to Solomon. Lovely two-line fortune cookie witticisms like: “He who lives blamelessly lives safely, But he who walks a crooked path will be found out.” and “A wise son brings joy to his father; A dull son is his mother’s sorrow.” Most of them relate to righteousness, in some form or another.
- More fortune cookie style wisdom. While not only related to commerce, a good percentage of this chapter’s list of proverbs is devoted to God’s displeasure at the way some men might conduct business. Many of these are admonitions to, basically, treat customers and trade partners with respect and fairness.
- More of the same, mostly relating to the motives of the wicked, the shiftless, the unworthy. But the final stanza has given translators fits for centuries now. It usually gets translated something like following the path of righteousness will lead to eternal life. But the Hebrew actually says that righteousness leads, more or less, to permanent un-death. You might imagine why religious leaders might not want the concept of eternal un-death to be bandied about.