Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

Selections from Proverbs 27 - Part 3

Verse 4 is as follows in Hebrew: Wrath is cruel and anger is overwhelming, and who can stand before jealousy? In the Septuagint it reads: Wrath is merciless and anger is sharp, but jealousy can bear nothing. In the Peshitta the verse reads: Wrath is impudent and anger is violent, and who is the one who can stand before jealousy? The general sense of the verse is clear—that jealousy is even worse than anger—but the versions differ somewhat in the details. Especially, in the second half of the verse, the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew text and from the Peshitta, since it makes "jealousy" the subject, rather than the object of the verb. This difference is difficult to explain, because the syntax of the Hebrew text is clear. At some points, particularly in poetry, the subject and the object in Hebrew may be difficult to distinguish, but that is not the case here. Clearly the translator of the Peshitta has understood the verse better than has the translator of the Septuagint. The Septuagint’s translation makes understanding the verse more difficult than necessary.

There are other points of interest in this verse. The word translated "jealousy" in all three versions is also the word translated "zeal." "Zeal" is generally understood in a positive sense in the Bible, as in "the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this" (Isaiah 9:7). "Jealousy" on the other is generally negative. It is the context of the statement that clarifies whether a positive or a negative idea is in view. In this verse, since "jealousy" is in parallel with anger and wrath, a negative sense is in view, hence the translation "jealousy."

Another point of interest in this verse is that it illustrates a different kind of parallelism than we have seen before. We have three parallel statements: wrath is cruel; anger is overwhelming; jealousy is overwhelming. But in addition to the parallelism, there is something of a development in the verse as well. "Wrath" and "anger" are often used in parallel, so it is not clear that a development from wrath to anger is indicated. That is, the verse is not implying that anger is worse than wrath. Rather, they are both about equally bad. But the author turns the last part of the verse into a rhetorical question with the aim of indicating that however bad anger and wrath are, jealousy is much worse.

A similar sort of construction appears in the opening chapters of Amos, where Amos repeatedly uses the statement "for three transgressions of … and for four." This numerical sequence is used to indicate not three or four specific transgressions, but rather the continuation and increase of transgression. The idea is illustrated in the plagues of Egypt in Exodus 7-10, where Pharaoh’s repeated refusal to let the Israelites go increases the transgression and the punishment due to it. Some interpreters also find this developmental parallelism in Psalm 1:1, seeing a progression in evil from walking in the counsel of the wicked, to standing in the way of sinners, to sitting in the seat of scoffers.

It is helpful in reading not only the psalms but the proverbs as well to look for these subtle types of parallelism. The author uses them rhetorically to emphasize the point he is making.

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