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February 18, 2007
Proverbs
We are reading Proverbs* together.
In the ESV**, it starts with quite a few infinitives. Like a preamble. Like the preamble to the Constitution. Here's the preamble to the Constitution. As you read, notice the stated purposes, set out right at the beginning of the document:
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Here's the first few lines of Proverbs. Notice the purpose set forth, right there, right out front:
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth--
Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
--Proverbs 1:1-7
If you are a Bible-reading newbie, an important skill that will help you understand what you're reading is to know the purpose of the book. This list is the stated purpose of the book of Proverbs, and there's a lot of depth to this passage. (By the way, the studied discipline of Bible interpretation is called hermeneutics. One of the basic principles of hermeneutics is to understand the purpose of a passage within the context of the book. There you go! Lesson number one.)
Anyway, The Dude and I really enjoyed the beginning of our trek through Proverbs. I got a lot out of this passage...but I'll share that later.
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* Proverbs: a book of the Bible. It comes right after Psalms, and is full of pithy little statements that take a lifetime to understand. Most proverbs are two lines, where one line echoes the other line, or where one line contradicts the other line; either way, the two lines deepen each other to bring deeper meaning.
** ESV: a version of the Bible, the English Standard Version. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, so whether a committee or an individual translates into English, they reflect the dialect of the time (that's why the King James Version, commissioned by King James in 1611, sounds so dated with all the 'thees' and 'thous' and 'verilys'). They also have to make translation choices: neither Hebrew nor Greek translates into English word for word, so they have to choose: will they be as literal as possible, resulting in awkward English, or will they emphasize smoothness of English, resulting in less-literal translation? The ESV is a relatively recent translation put out by Crossway Publishing (the NIV is published by Zondervan, and the King James Version is now public domain) which strives for literality of translation. There are many, many English versions of the Bible available; the bottom line for a choice is to find one you will read. Find one that fits your sense of English so you will actually read it. You don't have to be intimidated about old-fashioned clunky English!
Someone Else's $0.02 | By The Newest Worker | 10:54 PM
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