A Handbook on Proverbs
Overview
What if you were responsible for translating God's Word into a language that never had a Bible before? Can you imagine the burden you would feel to do a good job?
God takes His Word pretty seriously, and you would certainly do everything in your power to make sure that you were not putting words into God's mouth, but that you were providing a text that clearly communicated God's Word as closely to the original as possible.
This challenge to understand the heart of the original Scriptures, in order to put the original text into a new language, was the impetus for the United Bible Societies to create handbooks for Bible translators working on this very thing. The United Bible Societies' Handbook Series is a comprehensive verse-by-verse guide to understanding exactly what is being communicated by the author in the original Scriptures.
- Exegetical, historical, cultural, and linguistic information on the original text
- Verse-by-verse guides
- An essential tool for Bible translators
Top Highlights
“The intention, however, of the poetic imagery is to say that the teaching given by the parents to their child strengthens the character of the young person, just as an adornment adds to his or her physical beauty.” (Page 35)
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: Fear in relation to God expresses a range of meanings in Old Testament contexts. For example, in Job 37:23–24 mortals are in terror and dread of God’s punishment. In Exo 9:30 Moses tells the king of Egypt that he will stop the thunder and hail, even though the king and his people are not yet afraid of the Lord God. In Jer 26:19 fear has the sense of obedience. In the case of Abraham, after he had showed his willingness to obey God and sacrifice Isaac, the angel of the Lord said to him ‘I know that you fear God,’ which indicates Abraham’s trust in God (Gen 22:12). Here in this verse and throughout Proverbs the fear of the Lord means to respect and believe the Lord.” (Page 29)
“Wisdom is the first and most general of a series of words in verses 2–7 whose meanings are closely related. Wisdom is a religious attitude that is acquired by discipline and is defined in 9:10 and Job 28:28 as the ‘fear of the Lord.’ As Job 28 makes clear, wisdom is hidden, a mystery that is made known to the person who seeks God, who honors and worships the Lord. At another level, the one that is emphasized most frequently in the book of Proverbs, wisdom is insight that applies in everyday, practical matters, the equivalent of sound judgment and clear understanding. That is clearly the meaning in this opening statement.” (Page 23)
- Title: A Handbook on Proverbs
- Authors: William D. Reyburn and Euan McG. Fry
- Series: The United Bible Societies' Handbook Series (UBSHS)
- Publisher: United Bible Societies
- Pages: 685