Sunday, May 18, 2025

Proverbs 15:9

When I read Proverbs 15:9 in the ESV a few months ago, I found yet an-other chiastic structure, although the elements are a bit more loosely equated:
The way of the wicked
Is an abomination to the LORD,
but he loves
him who pursues righteousness.
Like other chiasms I've found, this one highlights contrasts:  "the way of the wicked" with "him who pursues righteousness" and "an abomination to the LORD" with "he loves."

This structure is in the Hebrew, too, but in the opposite order:
תּוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה דֶּרֶךְ רָשָׁע וּמְרַדֵּף צְדָקָה יֶאֱהָֽב׃
It's more like "An abomination to the LORD is the way of the wicked, but him who pursues righteousness he loves."  The Latin Vulgate follows roughly the same word order:
abominatio est Domino
via impii
qui sequitur iustitiam
diligetur ab eo