Chapter 26
Still part of the 137 proverb section, but this chapter has no stanzas. All just one long recitation.
2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight. [Pro 26:2 ESV] When people hate you without reason, their hatred does you no harm. Doesn't hurt your reputation, does not inhibit your daily life or your plans.
8/26/2021 - 11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly. [Pro 26:11 ESV]
22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire." [2Pe 2:22 ESV]
I had not connected these two before today.
3-12 should be a stanza. They are all about fools. About how to deal with them, about how you shouldn't depend on them or hire them for important work, and about their effect on those around them. Good stuff for "A Field Guide to Fools". Here is verse 3:
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools. [Pro 26:3 ESV]
Makes it seem like corporal punishment for grown men is just the most natural think in the world. Making a fool behave has a formula, just as bringing horses and donkeys to behaving. We don't do this anymore. We don't do it at all.
13-16, could be a stanza about "sluggards". This would be the excessively lazy, unwilling to work, and full of excuses as to why he cannot. They aren't much good to anyone. But we aren't told what to do about them.
17-23, These are about those who go looking for trouble, or who by their own actions cause trouble, dissent, dissatisfaction and so on. But they are all alike. Interesting verse in light of recent self-defense reading I've done:
17 Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears. [Pro 26:17 ESV]
This says just leave it alone. Let others work things out, lest you participate in the repercussions of others.
Why didn't they divide these up like they did 25?
24-26, One sentence in three verses about those with hidden hatred in their hearts. They are plotters in secret. They speak sweetly while planning your downfall. Those who hate cannot be trusted in a relationship.
27, 28 seem unconnected. They just seem like they were thrown in to "fill up the page".