As I come to the end of the Book of Proverbs, I must reflect on one of the books most often used figures (aside from those evil and dangerous women, of course); the fool. Throughout the book, “wisdom” is contrasted with the pitiable, wicked fool. The “Fool” seems to be interchangeable with the term “scoffer,” which I take to be synonym for unbeliever. As an agnostic, one who does not accept the wisdom handed down by Solomon, I quickly came to see myself in these undesirable figures. One bit particularly struck me, 18:2 “A fool does not delight in understanding. But only in revealing his own mind.” Ouch! That hits a bit close to home, eh? Yes, I do admit that I did not understand everything in the book, being just a “scoffer,” though I persist with this project; 14:6-7, “A scoffer seeks wisdom, and finds none, but knowledge is easy to him who has understanding. Leave the presence of a fool, or you will not discern words of knowledge.” As I read through the, to me, questionable ideas explored by the Book, attempting to grasp knowledge that I could not obtain I again reflected on my project. Don’t get me wrong, there were messages of charity and generosity, being kind and giving to the poor expressed;I especially liked 13:23, “Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but it is swept away by injustice,” but the very next passage is “he who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently,” implying love is violence (but I talk more about that later). The rampant sexism in these pages came off even stronger than its teachings against “fools,” which I found surprising.
In the end, to me, the Book of Proverbs was a very strange section of the Old Testament, repetitive and obtuse. Most of the chapters appear to have been compiled by the legendary Solomon, that most apparently “wise” of Hebrew Kings, and seem to be simple lists of the pithy phrases that this fellow seemed to like, many of which he liked so much he repeated them several times (including the hilariously appalling “it is better to live in a corner of a roof, Than in a house shared with a contentious woman,” seen at both 21:9 and 25:24). Well, that, and the child abuse (okay, maybe it might not have been considered abuse back in the Bronze Age to beat your children with “rods” when they angered you, but today? I think that should be considered “wicked” in any circumstances. There has been much violence in the Bible so far, but this one seems the most personal, the closest to our own experiences. That brings up a final thought; rod beating appears at 13:24, 23:13-14 “although you beat him with the rod, he will not die.” Well, probably not, anyway. In other words, I have to question the use of these words of wisdom in the modern world. I have to admit, I would be cautious around someone who took these words to heart. I do not believe most Christians beat their children with sticks when they disobey, but Solomon states in Proverbs very clearly, numerous times, that its okay, indeed, a good thing to do. Most people, Christians and non-Christians alike, love their children and do not beat them with sticks and if they do, they should be stopped. How do faithful people who do not beat their children with sticks reconcile this in the Bible? If they do, could it be considered a religious freedom? As a fool in the eyes the Book of Proverbs and people who might agree with the worlds, I perhaps cannot appreciation this idea of wisdom in any perceptible way at all, and perhaps I even would not want to. So, how am I qualified to discuss this at all? All I can reply upon is my own judgments, developed through my own experiences. This book definitely struck a bit closer to home for me than earlier books, I think, being tied less into ancient mythology and stories that could be interpreted in many different was, but in simple aphorisms of how people should interact, that drew me into how this is seen by various Christian denominations today. This website, ReligiousTolerance.org, has an interesting discussion on what exactly the “rod” is mentioned in Proverbs, including two interpretations that did not occur to me, that illustrate how many ideas can exist about a single word; is the rod a physical beating stick used to chastise the young with pain, or a figurative item of guidance and comfort? I must say, the latter seems much more appealing to me. I’m not really sure how to end this one. Hmm. Well, Proverbs is over! On to the next adventure, the Book of Ecclesiastes! Yay!
Wow, what happened? How long has it been since I last updated? How many months? Six!? Really? Half a year sure doesn’t seem that long. Well, I don’t want to make it look like the project is dead. I still have great plans for the future. The last few months have been very busy, I guess, I did not want to sacrifice what passes as my “full attention” off on Proverbs. Bah! Enough excuses. January is the time for “New Years Revolutions” and what not, but I think I will leave that old canard alone and stay away from easily lost “schedules” and just say that, regardless, new entries will be much more forthcoming in 2012. I shall be reigniting my blog with a long delayed entry on Proverbs, the latest book of the Old Testament that I have been reading over the last week, up to chapter 10, anyway.
I have been restarting my reading of Proverbs after being, er, shall we say lax over the past six months. I had been some ways in but I’m finding the rather cryptic nature of Proverbs (not unlike Psalms) to make me desire to devote a little more thought to them. Hey, “cryptic?” Didn’t I use that in my last blog entry on Pslams back in July? It’s been far too long. Ah well. In any case, Proverbs is an interesting word to me, evoking folklore and fables, stories or anecdotes that illustrate certain points. Before I began this chapter, I wondered how many of our commonplace proverbs such as the “rolling stone gathers no moss” arose in the Bible. That’s a biblical phrase, right?* And what religious or cultural background could such a saying have arisen from? It would all go back to the cultural diffusion I find so interesting.
These Proverbs, though, are not really what I expected. As I read the first few chapters, they seem to be more like roughly organized maxims or rules. A good example would be in the first chapter, 1:6 and 1:7 “To understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” They are quite riddle-like, it is true. They talk much of fools and the wise, but little of actual advice. Generally, the chapters in Proverbs are short, no more than a page in length, and can be, at least where I have read, quite repetitive. I am amused at how different my expectations are from reality. On the other hand, there is some use of allegory and figurative ideas that I associate with folklore and proverbs. I particularly liked 6:6, “Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise,” referring to the legendary work ethic of the insect and its ability to work together for a common good. So far, Proverbs also contain some of the strongest condemnations of violence that I have seen in the Bible yet, such as 3:31, “Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways.” I certainly find this interesting after some of the scenes depicted in earlier books of the Bible.
However, the deep gender issues of the Bible seem even more noticeable here; many of the proverbs are addressed to “my son” or “sons,” as if precluding women from the wisdom and advice provided. Also, while wisdom itself (at least in this translation) seems to be referred to as a “she,” as in 3:15 in which “she is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her.” Wisdom, then, is a “good woman.” “Bad women” in Proverbs, though, seem much more evident as actual humans, rather than an abstract concept, as in 5:3 “for the lips of the adulteress drip honey, and smoother than oil is her speech.” Adulteresses, harlots, and “strange women” appear often in the first ten chapters Beware these treacherous women, my son, as is expressed in Chapter 7, particularly between 7:10 and 7:11, “dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. She is boisterous and rebellious; her feet do not stay at home.” Yes, beware free-thinking women, they will lead you to Sheol (27). As I continue to read Proverbs, I’ll note if these themes continue or if they change. Perhaps I can have a better idea of what else this book can have to offer and why it was included. I may need to a little extra research on this topic. Ah, it feels good to have another entry on offer!
That is not dead which can eternal lay, and hopefully the stars are coming right for my blog and you won’t have to wait a strange eon for the next entry. Couldn’t resist paraphrasing a geeky quote in there at the end!
*Note: A quick Wikipedia search reveals that this hoary phrase actually comes from the Latin writer Publius Syrus, and refers to figurative nomadic peoples who avoid responsibilities.
