Wisdom Truck 42

 

It started out so simple.  Two verses that sounded about the same.  But it became so much more...

Pro 16:21  The wise in heart shall be called prudent, and the sweetness of the lips increases learning. 

Pro 16:23  The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips. 

Oh, but it got complicated in a hurry,  First, v 21 is like the headline over a 'wisdom sandwich'- usually called a chiasm-

Pro 16:21  The wise in heart shall be called prudent, and the sweetness of the lips increases learning. 

Pro 16:22  Understanding is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. 

Pro 16:23  The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips. 

Pro 16:24  Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. 

Pro 16:25  There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is the ways of death. 

Let me add some things, to make it make sense:

Pro 16:21  The wise in heart shall be called prudent, and the sweetness of the lips increases learning. 

 (A1) Pro 16:22  Understanding is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. 

(B1) Pro 16:23  The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips. 

(B2) Pro 16:24  Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. 

(A2) Pro 16:25  There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is the ways of death. 

The chiasm is that vv 22-25 are an outer contrast and the inner pair, vv 23 and 24,  are an inner comparative- both of them enhancing the first verse underlined. So lets put aside a bunch of technical stuff and understand this.

First- what is it to be wise of heart? with a little help from my research assistant AI ( which can understand Keil and Delitsch far better than I can), To be wise in heart- to the Hebrew mind, the 'control center' of a person- is to have "Wisdom that has shaped a person's CHARACTER, MOTIVE, and CHOICES."  How has it changed the character? V21 tells us- it has made one Prudent- to an extent where everyone sees it.  Not only sees it, but when this person speaks from their motives- and of course, the main motive is Fear of the Lord- it brings wisdom TO others through his words.

And these aren't just ANY words- he's not beating you over the head with it. (Some of you at this juncture might be wondering if this left ME out! Well, I am sharing what I am learning...) The word in v21 for sweetness can be boiled down, surprisingly, to SUCK- as in, you relish the sweetness of these words so much, you want to suck them in!  No wonder you learn from them.

One way you can seperate the two similar verses- the 21st verse deals with reputation (character) and effect (the relishing of the wisdom by others); the 23rd highlights the source of those words ( a wise, controlled heart) and the control (acting based on motive, motive taking you back to Fear of the Lord).  This is when my AI assistant reminded (actually, pointed out) about the chiasm.  So let's look at this, and how it fleshes out the 21st verse.  

A1-A2

Understanding as a well of life?  Booklearning? Of course not.  Here is where you clearly see Jesus= Understanding.  For example:

Joh 4:13  Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again, 

Joh 4:14  but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 

and:

Joh 7:37  And in the last day of the great feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 

Joh 7:38  He who believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." 

Joh 7:39  (But He spoke this about the Spirit, which they who believed on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.) 

One thing you need to get here- you cannot seperate the salvation function of Jesus from the life giving function of the Spirit!  Remember back in chapter 8:

Pro 8:14  Counsel and sound wisdom are mine; I am understanding; I have strength. 

On the other hand, without this wisdom, you have folly.  Any wisdom that leads you AWAY from Christ is folly.  No matter how 'wise' the idea is in secular terms- I should be tolerant, I should let them 'live' their lives' and just pray they figure it out before they burn in hell.  " ...but the end of it is the ways of death. "

B1-B2

This is where motive, control, choice all work together. Or, as my AI assistant said, "V21 is the claim;, v 23 is the mechanism by which it works.  Let me bring them back down again:

(B1) Pro 16:23  The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips. 

(B2) Pro 16:24  Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. 

The wise heart controls his words, making them pleasant and full of the wisdom he has.  This wisdom is, physically AND spiritually, like a piece of honeycomb.  you find your soul sweetended, and hopefully saved.  And, they can be refreshing, too, for example: 

Pro 25:13  Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters. 

And:

1Sa 14:27  But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright. 

1Sa 14:28  Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were faint. 

1Sa 14:29  Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. 

We need the Spirit to build our character, structure our motives, guide our choices.  Fo all the complexity, it really does become simple at the end.