Authors in tension

  So far in this series in Proverbs, we have thought about (a) the book’s introduction, which highlights the centrality of the fear of the LORD, and (b) the book’s use of Deuteronomy, reinforcing the fear of the LORD as a key theme and application of the book. If you haven’t read these previous two blogs, I would recommend starting with those and reading them in order – but that is up to you! This blog continues looking at how the author of Proverbs draws on other parts of the Old Testament to teach us and transform us. As we have thought about Proverbs, there has been a big elephant in the room, making awkward eye contact with us from the very first verse: Solomon. These are ‘the proverbs of Solomon’ (1:1, again in 10:1 and again in 25:1). The whole book has a Solomon-y feel. [1] Why so much focus on Solomon? The worst translation error in the Bible To work this out, we need to start with (what I think is) the worst bible translation error, at least in the NIV and ESV trans...

Psalms… In the last post I talked about songs. God has given us a whole book of the Bible in the genre of song. 150 chapters. Songs by different authors, which will help us to feel different experiences, including ones we might never normally come across in our own lives. Songs help us to get into other people’s inner world. We can experience their emotions as if they were our own, even if they are totally different to us. It’s why we can sing along defiantly about our power and joy in a breakup after a dreadful relationship, even if we happen to be happily married. Or conversely, we can enjoy the calm, pleasant emotional space of someone in a secure, happy relationship, even when that’s not where we are at all. …of David David sticks out. As soon as we start reading the Psalms, we notice that lots of these Psalms are “of David”. Psalm 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 … Almost all of the first “book” of Psalms (i.e. Psalms 1-41) are Davidic. They tell us the inner emotional world of David....