Proverbs 1:8-9

Sharper Iron on KFUO recently started going through Proverbs.  This reminded me that back in March, when the Daily Dose of Hebrew was going through Proverbs 1, I found a connection between verses 8-9 and Deuteronomy 6.

First, here are the texts.  Proverbs 1:8-9:  "8 Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, 9 for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck."

Deuteronomy 6:4-9:  "4 'Hear, O Israel:  The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.'"

Dr. Howell - the host of the Daily Dose of Hebrew - notes the similarity between "Hear, my son..." in Proverbs 1:8 and "Hear, O Israel..." in Deuteronomy 6:4, but this similarity can be taken a bit further.  In the same way that the "words that I command you today" will be "a sign on your hand" and "frontlets between your eyes," the "father's instruction" and "mother's teaching" are "a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck."  I don't think there are any similarities in the specific Hebrew words used, but in both passages (Proverbs 1:8-9 and Deuteronomy 6:8), the words of wisdom are worn, almost as adornments.

The study notes in my Bible also point to Proverbs 3:3:  "Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart."  Reading a bit further, I noticed Proverbs 3:21-22:  "My son, do not lose sight of these - keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck."

Psalm 136

On Worship Anew a few weeks ago, the Psalm reading was a section of Psalm 136.  This reminded me of something I'd realized before but hadn't thought to write about.

Every other line of the Psalm is "for his steadfast love endures forever."  Here are the first three verses:  "1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.  2 Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.  3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever."  This refrain even punctuates the accounts of Creation and the Exodus:  "6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; 7 to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; 8 the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; 9 the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever... 13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever; 14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever."

This repetition of "his steadfast love endures forever" provides a sense of the surety and constancy of that "steadfast love."

Deuteronomy 8:4

A couple weeks ago, the Daily Dose of Hebrew went over Deuteronomy 8:4:

"Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years."

I thought it interesting that while these verbs are opposites in some ways ("wear out" describes a decrease in material, and "swell" describes in increase in size), because they're both negated, they end up relating the same thing (that God preserved His people during the exodus), just coming from different directions.

John 4:9

About a month ago, the Daily Dose of Greek went over John 4:9:

"The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?'  (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)"

I found it interesting that while the meaning is "Jews have no dealings with Samaritans," the words for "Jews" and "Samaritans" are next to each other.

My French New Testament is exactly the opposite in this regard.  Almost as an illustration of this comment, "Jews" and "Samaritans" are as far apart as they can be in the sentence:  "Les Juifs, en effet, n'ont pas de relations avec les Samaritains."