Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

Selections from Proverbs 27 - Part 2

Picking up where we left off last week, Proverbs 27:2 also illustrates another aspect of Hebrew parallelism. This parallelism can be either complete or incomplete. In complete parallelism, each element in the first line has a matching element in the second line. Proverbs 10:1 says (being painfully literal), "A son of wisdom makes glad a father; but a son of foolishness is a grief of his mother." "Son of wisdom" in the first line parallels "son of foolishness" in the second. "Makes glad" in the first line parallels "is a grief of" in the second line. "A father" in the first line parallels "his mother" in the second line. That is, each line has three elements, and each has its match in the other line.

In incomplete parallelism, some element in one line is missing in the other, and the element that is not repeated is understood to apply to both lines. That is the case in Proverbs 27:2. The first line says, "Let a stranger praise you, and not your own mouth." This first line has three elements: stranger, praise, and not your own mouth. The second line says, "a foreigner, and not your own lips." This line has only two elements: foreigner, and not your own lips. "Foreigner" in the second line matches "stranger" in the first. "Not your own lips" in the second line matches "not your own mouth" in the first. The remaining element in the first line "let praise you" is then understood to serve for both lines. In other words, an expanded translation of the verse would read, "Let a stranger praise you, and not your own mouth; let a foreigner praise you, and not your own lips."

Proverbs 27:3 in Hebrew says, "A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but the vexation of a fool is heavier than both." The Septuagint reads, "A stone is heavy, and sand is hard to carry, but the anger of a fool is heavier than both." The Peshitta reads, "The stone is heavy, and the sand is weighty, but the anger of the fool is heavier than both." Again, all three say pretty much the same thing, but it is worth considering just what is being said. The comparison focuses on things that are hard to bear—materially speaking a heavy stone and sand are hard to bear. The stone is hard to bear because of its weight. The sand is hard to bear not perhaps because it is heavy, but because it is cumbersome, or, as the Septuagint puts it, "hard to carry." In a similar fashion the vexation or anger of a fool is hard to bear. But I think the focus here is not on the anger or vexation belonging to a fool, but rather the anger or vexation caused by a fool. In other words, there are two ways this verse can be taken. The first possibility is: A stone is heavy, and sand is cumbersome, but an angry fool is more difficult to bear than both. The second possibility is: A stone is heavy, and sand is cumbersome, but the vexation (or frustration) caused by a fool is more difficult to bear than both. My preference is for the second sense. A fool is frustrating or vexing just because of his folly. It is because of his foolishness that he produces anger or vexation in another. In other words, a fool doesn’t have to be an angry fool in order for him to be difficult to bear with. His mere foolishness is more than sufficient. The Complete Bible: An American Translation puts it this way: "A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty; but the annoyance caused by a fool is heavier than both."

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