An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 130: Riches Are Good. Or Maybe Bad. But Happy Songs Are Definitely Bad (Proverbs 21-25)

Proverbs 21-25
Riches Are Good. Or Maybe Bad. But Happy Songs Are Definitely Bad.

Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT

For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP

And now:

Proverbs 21

“To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.”

Proverbs continues with more, well, proverbs, what else? Like chapter 20, these are more clearly written than earlier ones, although they do retread the same ground in terms of the material that they impart. There are various warnings against wicked behaviour, but here we are given more concrete examples of what this constitutes – love of riches and luxury, stopping one’s ears against the cries of the poor, robbery, lying, arrogance and laziness. Also hypocrisy, if the above quote is to be believed. This chapter also advises against marrying an angry wife, twice (well, “brawling” in one verse and “contentious and angry” in another) – is this advice aimed at women to keep quiet and know their place, or advice to men to keep their wives happy, or simply a warning against certain types of women (as we got a lot of in the earlier chapters of proverbs)? Who knows.

As I said, most of these proverbs are pretty clear in meaning, but what’s going on with the last verse “The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD”. Whut?

Proverbs 22

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”

Another assortment of proverbs, and I can’t really detect any particular theme to these to discuss, except a rather uncertain relationship with riches. The above verse suggests that to be good is better to be rich, a sentiment expressed quite often in the bible. However, in the next verse “The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all” – everyone is the same under God, rich and poor, so in fact perhaps it doesn’t matter if you are rich, as long as you are good as well. And then we get “The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender”, which states an economic reality, but the ethical meaning of this verse is unclear – does the writer mean that this is a good state of affairs, or a bad one to be corrected, or just what is, in which case it’s not really a proverb but a simple statement of observational fact.

Most of the other proverbs are similar to those that have gone before, to do with avoiding excess pride or cruelty (and strange women, again). There’s also a verse thrown in for the protection of ancient monuments – “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set”. Recall that there were a lot of setting up of stones and markers in the early books, Genesis, Exodus, probably Joshua but I’m starting to forget the specifics; I would guess this refers to those various sacred site markers.

Proverbs 23

“Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.”

In this chapter the writing moves away from pithy aphorisms into slightly longer guidelines for life, some of which are expounded over several verses. As such it is divided into a few subsections, and most are concerned one way or another with food and drink. The first is about being aware when dining with a rich man not to be seduced by the dainty morsels – metaphorical, perhaps, for avoiding temptation of other sorts as well. Particularly this chapter is against getting drunk, and the subsequent traffic with “strange women” that can result – once again women are portrayed as these terrible temptresses waiting to ensare men. And if that wasn’t offensive enough, there’s an expansion of the “spare the rod and spoil the child” message. Before I wondered if the “rod” was as much metaphorical punishment as it was physical. No, it would appear that “Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell”. Thanks you, Carrie’s mother. The pernicious thing about this chapter is that the language is good –“Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder”. That’s great poetry, but the general messages that come through are full of self-righteous anger, which makes for uncomfortable reading.

Proverbs 24

“Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.”

More comparisons between the good person and the evil person, and what will happen to them. A lot of this chapter is also concerned that a good person should avoid the company of bad people so as not to be dragged down to their level (not a new theme in the book of Proverbs). There’s not a lot of concrete advice in this chapter, it’s more like the earlier sections of Proverbs that are exhortations to the reader to strive for wisdom (or should that be Wisdom) and avoid folly, without laying out a set of rules to follow in order to do so. Which makes it harder to achieve, but also makes the process seem less pat than the chapters where each verse is an aphorism.

Proverbs 25

“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.”

That sounds like a biblical endorsement of scientific research, to me. But then, as I said before, it’s very easy to pick and choose these to support your own prejudices. This chapter is highlighted as further sayings of Solomon as recorded by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah – so recorded a long time after Solomon’s reign. It’s a return to snappy sayings, a lot of which compare righteous behaviour to precious metals or sweet foods – although there is also a warning not to eat too much honey lest one becomes sick. This works if the honey represents riches, but not if, as in the prior chapter, it represents wisdom, surely. Charity, even to enemies, is encouraged – “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink”, but whatever you do don’t try to sing to cheer someone up: “As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart.”

And on that note I’ll leave Proverbs until next time.