Proverbs keeps basically the same tone throughout its entirety, deviating only slightly at times. For Psalms and Proverbs I've been switching back and forth between my hard copy study bible, which contains the "revised English version" of the text, and an online copy of the New International translation. Both of these are considered good translations by scholars, but it kind of freaks me out how they differ. For instance, one of my favorite lines from today's reading -- "Folly is deep-rooted in the hearts of children; a good beating will drive it out of them" (Proverbs 22:15) -- is translated benignly as "Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away" in the New International version. The first translation has so much more gusto! Looking at two different English versions will really give you a sense of how much we amateur anglophone bible scholars miss out on by not understanding ancient Greek or Hebrew. So much can be lost in the translation.
Anyway, with that being said, here are my favorite proverbs from today.
- Proverbs 19:29-35: "Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine...In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. 'They hit me,' you will say, 'but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?'" Sorry for kicking off with such a lengthy quote, but man is it great. I went to a Halloween party last night and I feel like this was directed specifically at me.
- Proverbs 25:16: "If you find honey, eat just enough -- too much of it, and you will vomit." Oh man, these are definitely targeted at me. Should have followed this advice before the Halloween party. Ughhhhh.
- Proverbs 27:5: "Better is open rebuke than hidden love." D'awwww. What about someone like Helga Pataki, who is the master of BOTH?
- Proverbs 27:6: "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." What does that even mean!?
These next three I just liked:
- Proverbs 27:17: "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."
- Proverbs 27:19: "As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart."
- Proverbs 17:20: "Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes." That's intense! I dig it!
Chapter 30 continues on the path of INTENSITY.
- Proverbs 30:15-16: "There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, 'Enough!': the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, 'Enough!'" That's kinda poetic! Is it just me? I thought it was nice.
- Proverbs 30:18-19: "There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman." Awww. That's sweet. Or maybe just creepy and voyeuristic. Stop watching other peoples' courtship rituals, dude.
Proverbs concludes with an epilogue on the value of a "good wife," explaining that "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised" (Proverbs 31:30). Ladies, it doesn't matter how hot you are! You just have to fear God, and you'll get some. Don't worry.
Now, onto what may just be my favorite book of the bible thus far: Ecclesi-freakin'-astes. My study bible lets us know that this particular tome "stands alone in the Hebrew bible, both in theology and style." Written at some point during the third or fourth century BCE and sometimes incorrectly attributed to Solomon, the author (called the Speaker) contemplates the meaninglessness of life. I didn't know anyone was this existential back then! The Speaker puts Job to shame with his spiritual despair.
The book opens on an uplifting note, with the Speaker proclaiming, "Futility, utter futility...everything is futile" (Ecc 1:2). You've got my attention, pal. He goes onto lament that "Generations come and generations go, while the earth endures for ever" (Ecc 1:4), using the metaphor of all rivers running back to the sea to explain the pointlessness of life. In chapter two he continues to develop this thought, asking, "To what purpose have I been wise?... Alas, both wise and foolish are doomed to die!" (Ecc 2:15-16).
If I may be so self-indulgent, I'd like to share a stanza of a poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne called The Garden of Proserpine, which addresses similar themes. Actually, a lot of poems I like are thematically linked to Ecclesiastes. I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!
"From too much love of living,The footnotes of my study bible note that Ecclesiastes clearly predates the time when notions of the afterlife came into Jewish consciousness. In chapter 3, the Speaker comments further on this, saying, "Who knows whether the spirit of a human being goes upward or whether the spirit of a beast goes downward to the earth?" (Ecc 3:21).
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be
That no life lives for ever ;
That dead men rise up never ;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea."
Chapter 3 also contains a pretty famous section, which you might know from that song by That Band Your Parents Listened To When They Were Kids. You know. The one about turning, and seasons, and stuff. Oh, who cares. The section opens with "For everything its season, and for every activity under heaven its time" (Ecc 3:1) then goes on to list all the things there is time for: time to live and time to die, time to cry and time to laugh, etc. You know it! T.S. Eliot parodies its form in his poem The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock: "And indeed there will be time... There will be time to murder and create, / And time for all the works and days of hands / That lift and drop a question on your plate; / Time for you and time for me, / And time yet for a hundred indecisions / And for a hundred visions and revisions / Before the taking of a toast and tea."
GOD IT'S AWESOME!!!
The Speaker goes on to talk about a friend of his, who "toil[ed] endlessly but was never satisfied with his wealth" (Ecc 4:8). Come on guys, doesn't this stuff hit close to home? "For whom," the friend asks the Speaker, "am I toiling and denying myself the good things of life?" (Ecc 4:8). I dunno, man! I dunno! The Speaker finishes chapter 4 by talking about solidarity, and how companionship can make futile shitty pointless life a little bit better: "If two lie side by side they keep each other warm; but how can one keep warm by himself?" (Ecc 4:11). True that.
In chapter 5, the Speaker suggests that people should try and stay "under the radar" so to speak wherever God is concerned, because the deity is known to be something of a crazy asshole. Then he returns to the topic of the rich again, declaring that "No one who loves money can ever have enough, and no one who loves wealth enjoys any return from it" (Ecc 5:10). God he's so smart. The chapter ends with the Speaker urging people to enjoy life because it has no point and you might as well!!
Awesome. See you all tomorrow for the end of Ecclesiastes and the beginning of Isaiah!
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