Saturday, January 16, 2016

Proverbs 24:13-22 - Proverbs 30 Wise Sayingss - for Carpenter Flock

COLLECTION 3: The Thirty Sayings of the Wise (24.3-24)
A. Prologue: Saying 1 (22.17-21)
B. Prohibitions about Power, Greed, and Wealth (22.22-23.11) [2-11]
C. Character and Cautions for a Wise Son (23.22-24.2) [12-20]
D. Trying Circumstances (24:3-12/13-22) [#21-30]
            1. Strength in Distress
            2. Involvement with the Wicked


SAYING NUMBER 26: Sweet Wisdom. (24.13-14)

 13 My son, eat honey because it is good, 
And the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste;
14 So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; 
[or Know that wisdom is thus for your soul nasb] all versions imperative beside kjv, nkjv
If you have found it, there is a prospect
And your hope will not be cut off.

honey  The twenty-sixth saying teaches that one should develop wisdom because it has a profitable future. The saying draws on the image of honey; its health-giving properties make a good analogy to wisdom.  –-NETBible Study Notes
good H2896 towb: good, pleasant, agreeable.  – Enhanced Strong’s Dictionary
…its health-giving properties make a good analogy to wisdom.  --Allen Ross in EBC
What good does honey do for you?
honeycomb…  The wisdom writer here follows a tradition found in both Psalm 19:10 and Ezekiel 3:3 in which God’s words/laws are equated with wisdom and are therefore to be desired. In most Old Testament texts honey represents a natural resource, probably the syrup of the date rather than bees’ honey.  … Here the reference to the honeycomb differentiates the product as bees’ honey. Note also that honey from the comb would be the freshest and tastiest kind. Akkadian texts also use honey figuratively as they speak of praise being sweeter than honey or wine.  -–IVPBBC
14---
know  H3045 – yada: Know … has its existential sense of experiencing and internalizing wisdom, … as in the preamble to Proverbs.   --Waltke in NICOT
wisdom… H2451 - chokmah: wisdom (shrewdness, skill)
…those who find Christ God’s wisdom (1` Cor. 1:30), find eternal life and the realization of an eternity of bliss in which they shall not be disappointed…
prospect  (ʾaărît) after part, end (of place), latter part, future (of time). --Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
hope  H8615 - (tiqwâ) 1.cord (Josh 2:18, 21, only); 2.hope. This root means to wait or to look for with eager expectation. …Waiting with steadfast endurance is a great expression of faith. It means enduring patiently in confident hope that God will decisively act for the salvation of his people. --Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
The motivation is that wisdom will have a long future to it.  --Allen Ross in EBC
be cut off  H3772 - karath: To cut off; cut down
hcsb—never fade; nlt—cut short
> Those who find Christ, God’s wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30), find eternal life and the realization of an eternity of bliss in which they shall not be disappointed.
> In addition to the literal meaning of this root, “to cut off” (Ex 4:25; I Sam 5:4) and “to cut down” (I Kgs 5:20; a “woodcutter” in Isa 14:8) there is the metaphorical meaning to root out, eliminate, remove, excommunicate or destroy by a violent act of man or nature. It is sometimes difficult in a given context to know whether the person(s) who is “cut off”’ is to be killed or only excommunicated. --Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
Pr. 23.17-18
Do not let your heart envy sinners,
 But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;
For surely there is a hereafter,
 And your hope will not be cut off.

Thought / discussion:
How many observations can you make about wisdom from these verses?
  1. Wisdom is good/sweet like honey.
  2. We should “eat” wisdom.
  3. Wisdom is good/sweet to/for your soul.
  4. Wisdom is found.
  5. Wisdom gives hope.
  6. Wisdom’s hope will not be cut off.
 Four prohibitions build on his truth and warn against unwise actions and reactions.  –Paul Koptak in NIVAC

SAYING NUMBER 27Violence  (24.15-16)

> This is spoken, not so much by way of counsel to wicked men (they will not receive instruction, ch. 23:9), but rather in defiance of them, for the encouragement of good people that are threatened by them.[1]  --Matthew Henry
> To make a point the speaker spoke to his son as though he were addressing a wicked man in this saying. This device gives the warning more force since the wicked man’s main concern is his own self-interest.Thomas Constable’s Expository Notes
> It would be futile and self-defeating to mistreat God’s people, for they survive—the wicked do not!  The warning is against attacking the righteous; to attack them is to attack God and His program, and that will fail (see Matt 16:18)  --Allen Ross in EBC
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

 15 Do not                              Do not
lie in wait,                          plunder
O wicked man,
against the dwelling       resting place;
of the righteous;              his (out of order)
16 For a righteous man may fall seven times 
And rise again,
But the wicked shall fall by calamity. 

Hatred to the righteous is deeply rooted in the wicked man.
lie in wait…   H693 - 'arab: to lie in wait, ambush, lurk  --BLB
Frequently the enemies of the pious are described as those who “lurk,” lie in wait for the unsuspecting: Ps 10:9; 59:3; Lam 4:19; Ezr 8:31.  --Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
> But it is venturing upon a haxqrdou course---He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye.” (Zech ii.8)  “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest!”—struck the most relentless persecuter “trembling” to the earth.  --Charles Bridges in GSC
dwelling…  H5116 - nāweh: 1. pasture, abode of shepherd, habitation; 2. dwelling, abiding (Ps 68:13, only).
righteous…  H6662 - tsaddiyq:  just, lawful, righteous
resting place…  The metaphor his resting place refers literally to the abode of animals.   --Waltke in NICOT
dwelling … resting-place.  [Both nouns have a pastoral association. Unless they are rhetorical choice for ‘house,’ they may suggest that the admonition is addressed to city criminals who went out to attack righteous men living in agricultural settlements, because these were not defended.]  –-Cohen in Proverbs by Soncino Books…
plunder…  H7703 - shadad: (Piel). 1C1 to assault. 1C2 to devastate.  --Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon
resting place…  H7258 – rebets: resting or dwelling place, place of lying down  --Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon
16-----
For signals the connection between the admonition (v. 15) and its validation (v. 16).   --Waltke in NICOT

fall  naphal (naw·fal): v. A primitive root;  1 to fall, lie, be cast down, fail. 1A (Qal). 1A1 to fall. 1A2 to fall (of violent death). 
>The intensification shows clearly that the life of the righteous does not pass
without unmerited suffering (see I: 107).   --Waltke in NICOT
> Since the righteous rise after a violent and final fall, his recovering points to his resurrection from the death.   --Waltke in NICOT
seven times an idiom for ‘often.’ (Ibn Ezra). –-Cohen in Proverbs by Soncino Books…
rise again… …they will rise again; for virtue triumphs in the end. (Whybray, Book of Proverbs) –Allen Ross in EBC
fall H3782 - shadad: (Niphal) 1b1 to stumble. 1b2 to be tottering, be feeble.  --Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon
calamity…  1 bad, evil. 2 evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity. 3 evil, misery, distress, injury.   --Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon

 Discussion / thought:
  1. What consolation or hope does this Proverb give us if we are attacked and oppressed.
  2. Can you think of a Bible story that illustrates this saying?  ( Daniel 6:1-12)
SAYING NUMBER 28Gloating. (24.17-18)
> To complete the thought we might add at the end of this saying “and turn it on you.” Gloating over someone else’s misfortune is a practice God disapproves even if the other person is the adversary of the righteous (cf. Matt. 5:44).  Fear of God’s displeasure should warn the wise away from this attitude and activity.  –Thomas Constable’s Expository Notes
> The Lord finds gloating so morally repulsive that he would rather turn away from his retributive justice than to look at abhorrent gloating.   --Waltke in NICOT
What makes gloating such a grievous offense?
> The proverb censures the pollution of justice and the thwarting of it by another sin. --Waltke in NICO

17                                      And
Do not rejoice               do not let your heart be glad
when your enemy       when he
falls,                                 stumbles;
18 Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, 
And He turn away His wrath from him. 

17 Synonymous parallel
rejoice  H8055 – sâmach (saw-makh'): a primitive root; probably to brighten up, i.e. (figuratively) be (causatively, make) blithe or gleesome  --BLB
> There may be a holy joy in the destruction of God’s enemies, as it tends to the glory of God and the welfare of the church (Ps. 58:10); but in the ruin of our enemies, as such, we must by no means rejoice; on the contrary, we must weep even with them when they weep (as David, Ps. 35:13, 14), and that in sincerity, not so much as letting our hearts be secretly glad at their calamities. --Mathew Henry
enemy…  H341 - 'oyeb: The basic meaning of the verb is “to be hostile to,” “to be or treat as an enemy.”  --Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
glad  HH1523 – giyl: Root meaning is “to circle around” from which such ideas as “to circle in joy” are readily derived. The root meaning is more applicable to vigorous, enthusiastic expressions of joy; but, in the ot, it and its derivatives serve as poetic and prophetic terms for various kinds of joy.  .  --Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
stumbles  H3782 – kāšal: stumble, totter, stagger (usually from weakness or weariness, or in flight from attackers).  --Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
This implies to not even rejoice when they experience less severe troubles.
18---
displease…  H7489 - rāʿaʿ: be bad, evil. (Lit. it be evil in His eyes)
turn away H7725 - shuwb: to return, turn back
turn away His wrath from him
And turn it upon thee (Metsudath David, Ralbag, Ibn Ezra).  Saadia Gaon proceeds to expound on this point that it is impossible to explain the verse in its simple sense, viz. that one should not rejoice at the misfortune in order that his enemy should not be released from this trouble or raised from his downfall, for then the command would be to see that the enemy remain with his punishment.  The intention is that God will see your cruelty and your vengeance and weigh your deeds against the deeds of your enemy.  In this way, He will declare you more wicked than he, and visit his retribution upon you (Malbim).  Alshich explains that the Lord will see whether the person rejoices because of the downfall of the wicked man who rebels against Him or because his personal enemy has fallen. –-Cohen in Proverbs by Soncino Books…
> To complete the thought we might add at the end of this saying “and turn it on you.” Gloating over someone else’s misfortune is a practice God disapproves even if the other person is the adversary of the righteous (cf. Matt. 5:44).  Fear of God’s displeasure should warn the wise away from this attitude and activity.  –Thomas Constable’s Expository Notes
wrath…  ʾap: nostril, face, anger. The double pe in the plural shows its derivation from ʾānēp.

Discussion / thought:
  1. What is an enemy in this context?
  2. What sins are the roots from which gloating grows?
  3. Does this saying have any applications for our children’s sports leagues or competitions? 
SAYING NUMBER 29Fretting. (24.19-20)
> “If 24:17-18 tell us not to rejoice at the misfortunes of the wicked, these tell us not to worry when they succeed.”  --Koptak in NIVAC 
> It is foolish to envy the wicked, because they are doomed (see 3:31; 23:17-18; 24:1-2)  --Allen Ross in EBC
> …linked to the preceding two by the catchwords “wicked” (pl., vv. 16b, 20b) and “calamity/evil (vv. 18a, 20a) and by… --Waltke in NICOT

19 Do not fret       Nor be envious        
because of           of
evildoers,            the wicked;
20 For there will   be no prospect for the evil man; 
The lamp of the wicked will be put out. 

cf. Ps. xxxvii.1
fret… 
Fret” (Heb. tithar) means to burn up emotionally. The sage again addressed the problem of envying wicked people who enjoy temporary prosperity (cf. 23:17; 24:1).
  –NETBible Translation Notes
> …the anger is not directed against anyone but is felt as an internal agitation, a fretting, connected with envy that maight occasion choosing evil to satify one’s passions (see 3:31). --Waltke in NICOT
envious  H7065 - qana': (Piel) to be jealous of, envious of, zealous for, to excite to jealous anger
prospect  H319 - 'achariyth: after part, end
lamp    H5216 - niyr: The words nēr and nîr refer to the small bowl like objects which contained oil and a wick to be lit to provide light  --Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
Will be put  out  (Qal) to go out, be extinguished
…be put out in the darkness of Seol (Job 18:5-6; 22:177).  Why fret at or be envious of anyone with such a bleak future..

SAYING NUMBER 30Rebellion. (24.21-22)
> The reverse of this fear is not courage but foolhardy rebellion.  --Koptak in NIVAC   
> Verse 21a is used in 1 Peter 2:17, and v.22 is used in Romans 13:1-7.  --Allen Ross in EBC

21 My son, fear the Lord and the king; 
Do not associate with those given to change;
22 For their calamity will rise suddenly
And who knows the ruin those two can bring?

fear  H3372 - yare': to fear, be afraid; to stand in awe of, be awed; to fear, reverence, honour, respect  --BLB
> In this discussion, biblical usages of yārēʾ are divided into five general categories:1) the emotion of fear, 2) the intellectual anticipation of evil without emphasis upon the emotional reaction, 3) reverence or awe, 4) righteous behaviour or piety, and 5) formal religious worship. Major OT synonyms include ad, ātat, and ārad as well as several words referring to shaking or quaking as a result of fear.
> There are many examples of the third usage listed above. Such reverence is due to one’s parents (Lev 19:3), holy places (Lev 26:2), God (Ps 112:1), and God’s name (Ps 86:11).[3]  --Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
associate  ʿārab: to be; become surety, mortgage, engage, occupy, undertake for; give pledges (Hithpael).
nasb, nkjv, nltassociate with; esv, nivjoin with:
given to change  (šānâ; lit, “people who change,” i.e. political agitators; see notes)
The verb šānâ is sometimes used to describe a change in character or way or life. --Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament
calamity  H343 - 'eyd: 1 distress, burden, calamity. 1A burden (of the righteous). 1B calamity (of nation). 1C disaster (of wicked). 1D day of calamity.  --Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon
suddenly  H6597 - pith'owm: suddenly, surprisingly, in a moment
…”suddenly,” which connotes unexpectedly. --Waltke in NICOT
ruin  H6365 - piyd: misfortune, distress, calamity, i.e., a state or causation that causes trouble and hardship (Job 12:5; 30:24; 31:29; Pr 24:22+)  --Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains

those twoThe pronoun “their” and “the two of them” in v. 22b look back to “the Lord and the king… --Waltke in NICOT