Wednesday Bible Study: A Deep Dig Into Proverbs V

This week, I have one more post on the Fear of Jehovah which we have been discussing, and it revolves around our overarching verse, the one structured just a bit different than the others.  I want to first put up two different versions of this verse- then do a bit of review.  First, here is the ESV version:

Pro 23:17  Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. 

Next, the KJV:

Pro 23:17  Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. 

Now something I can't really show on my fonts, but perhaps you could see it in your own Bibles: In the KJV, the words "be thou" are grayed out- and I'll explain that in a minute.  But first, the review.

In the beginning of this, we began to understand a good progression.  The fear (reverence) of the Lord is the starting point.  "Fear of God is the beginning of knowledge, and knowledge of God is understanding.  Understanding = wisdom plus instruction- a heart that doesn't scoff, and a mind that is willing to learn."  So we go from reverence to a desire to learn (including, importantly, the idea of being chastised or corrected); that learning then needs to lead to the action steps of hating evil and seeking even more of God.  That moves us into the second step progression of changing our character, our idea of success, and ultimately into true humility and a closer loving relationship with God.  And the end, on this earth, of the path is the firm hope in a hereafter were we will be rewarded for walking that path.

Last time, we also saw there was a bad progression.  "The fool says there is no God"; which allows him to become a god unto himself.  This is where he cultivates the traits of pride, arrogance, walking the path of evil, and perverted speech- which doesn't necessarily mean, "he cusses", but he doesn't speak what is good, noble, and true.  He then cuts himself off from correction, casts himself adrift to the detriment of his own soul, ultimately leading to conscious rejection of God, and the eternal damnation which comes with it.

A few days ago in my cyclical reading of Proverbs, I had a verse strike me with the force of understanding in this story.

Pro 15:9  The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but he loves him who pursues righteousness. 

I want you to notice the careful phrasing here.  It is not the SINNER that is the abomination, but the WAY of the wicked.  On the other hand, it is not the way of the righteous man, but the righteous man HIMSELF that is loved by God.  This should make God's motivation clear: He loves us all, and anyone who turns might yet be forgiven- until the way of the wicked gets to its ultimate point, that conscious rejection, that ruins his own soul.

Now, let me go back to our start, and the graying out thing.  Several times in most Bibles, there are spots when words are grayed out- they are not there in the original text, but are added in as connectors, to help the passage "make sense."  But sometimes they do a slight disservice, and I think that is the case here.  Where the KJV has "be thou", and the ESV has "continue in", this is a grayed out area.  It might make you get the idea of, "just keep going on that good walk", but that isn't the strength or the aim of the passage.  The NIV hits a lot closer:

Do not let your heart envy sinners,

    but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.

You see, 'envy' and 'zealous' come from the same word- a very great desire for something they don't yet have.  And if you look at Young's Literal Translation:

Pro 23:17  Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But--in the fear of Jehovah all the day. 

...you see that blank spot there, meaning that the SAME desire you might currently have for the things that seem to be rewards on this earth, you NEED to have for learning the Fear of Jehovah!  In other words, "don't be envious of what sinners have, but be envious of what those who know the Fear of the Lord have"!  It is this spirit in which Paul said, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own," in Phillipians 3:12.  It's not a journey with an end; but it's all beginning!  Every day we start a new beginning, every day we have the potential to understand more, to progress farther, to get closer to that true goal.