Posts Tagged: proverbs are terse and cryptic

“Stay Teachable; Stay Progressive”

On March 9, 2020 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

            “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,

            but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.” (Prov. 10:17, English Standard Version)

“A traveller to life [is] he who is keeping instruction, And whoso is forsaking rebuke is erring.”

“Education is change, and change is ‘Ouch!'” (Evelyn Huber)

(Proverbs 10:17 Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible)

Proverbs, in any language, are usually very brief and terse.  Think, for example, of our saying, “Nothing ventured; nothing gained.”  Because they are brief and terse, they are both memorable and (sometimes) cryptic.

What is true of proverbs in general is also true of biblical proverbs and the Book of Proverbs.  (There are proverbs throughout the Bible.  Hence the distinction between biblical proverbs and the Book of Proverbs.)

The brief and terse proverb that is the basis for this post is fairly clear in its broad contours, but somewhat cryptic with regard to specifics.  For example, it is by no means clear whether the proverb warns against rejecting reproof because the person rejecting reproof will go astray, or  warning is against leading others astray.

But do we even need to choose?  It is hard to be a good GPS for others, when you’re lost yourself!  Indeed, it is impossible.

 “Reproof” is an old-fashioned word that we don’t use much anymore.  The modern equivalent would probably fall somewhere between “correction” and “reprimand.”  None of us likes to be corrected or reprimanded, but all of us need that at times.  We need to stay teachable over the long haul.

Derek Kidner comments on this verse, in his usual terse and practical manner, so I’ll let him have the final word:

“10:17. Stay teachable, you stay progressive.”  Kidner goes on to say, “Note that the contrast is between keeping and forsaking: i.e. not only must instruction be listened to; it must be held fast over a long period.”[1]

[1] Derek Kidner, Proverbs: An Introduction & Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1964), 88.

, , , , ,
Follow on Feedly