Section 2 — Chapters 10-29
In this section we will generally quote the proverbs verbatim, followed by an explanation. The Scripture text will taken be Green’s Modern King James Version (MKJV).
Let’s take a moment to review a critical concept: A constant source of sorrow for God was the very human tendency to so focus on basic physical appetites that they made no effort to understand the deeper demands of the Covenant. Even in a culture steeped in mysticism such as the Hebrew, standing in the midst of a whole range of civilizations built on mysticism, there would always be those who lived in their bellies.
The image of wisdom is not simply pragmatism, but of a deep commitment to divine justice. It required a willingness to sacrifice some personal comfort for the sake of conforming with a cosmic moral fabric. It also made ample room for multiple levels of reasoning, with conflicting demands, to arrive at a contextual conclusion as the best manifestation of justice. Very few people of that world could imagine our modern Western preference for linear reasoning and concrete solutions. The very best answer in holy living was often not at all pragmatic as we might view it.
Further, our society tends to disparage the one most important factor in the blessings of God: communal living in extended family households. Even with all the raucous petty disputes typical of Middle Eastern family life, this was a form of social stability we can’t easily understand. Yet this is very much what God had in mind when He made people. Thus, we could summarize the ultimate sign of God’s favor is social stability, and the ultimate evil is anything that threatens it.
Don’t read Western reasoning into these short epigrams. They presume the ultimate good is making God smile, that life cannot be better than His moral favor, regardless what that might mean in practical terms.
