Proverbs chapter 20

vs 11

The TNIV turns this clause into a question, although I don't know if they had the idea that kids were innocent - but then, I'm too lazy to look the verse up in Hebrew and see if it has the Hebrew equivalent of a question mark. The point being, regardless of whether it's a question or a statement, that you can still have a good kid and a bad kid - so judging them by their age isn't correct.

vs 12

By that rationale, though, ears that don't hear and eyes that don't see are also made by God - both physically and metaphorically. Jesus talked about closing people's ears, as it were - even as he was opening people's eyes.

vs 13

Poor Penny :P Sleep is necessary, but it doesn't make a great pastime, because of its solitary nature, and of course the fact that, beyond giving you rest, it doesn't put food on the table, especially in a subsistence environment.

vs 14

Ahhh, the life of haggling. Everyone loves boasting about a bargain.

vs 15

That knowledge may be about how good it is to have gold and rubies, though. There's been a couple of proverbs about that, anyway. So we know that riches are better than poverty, but it seems knowledge trumps the gold. But feel free to ask someone with a philosophy PhD who works in a service station which they prefer.

Because that's not what it's about. The knowledge is not some sterile empirical "facts-based" nonsense. It's knowledge of God, it's wisdom, it's biased towards God. Real knowledge - when you know God really exists.

vs 16

I think the idea is that people who put up pledges for a stranger may not be the most trustworthy people... either that, or it's just talking about the fact that you don't know the person, so best to make sure of it by holding something in guarantee. Judah's daughter in law does this, you might recall.

vs 17

Especially when they drag you along the road face down for stealing it.

vs 18

I've just read three Sharpe books in a row (by Bernard Cornwall) which are historical fiction about some of Wellesley's victories in India, before he later became the Duke of Wellington who whipped Napolean's ass. War is hell, it's not something anyone would take lightly after seeing piles of human corpses. Not even generals would do things without advice from their engineers, military advisers, spy networks and the like. I know there's lots of stories of haughty officers who do things against advice - but most often they are doing it with the advice received in mind.

vs 19

Yep, it's true. I always feel uncomfortable when someone says something about someone else that I feel I maybe shouldn't know. I feel doubly uncomfortable when it's me doing the talking, but sometimes my lips get ahead of my brain.

vs 20

Respect for parents is so ingrained, so basic, so fundamental to this culture. But it is also the will of God, to the point he makes it painfully clear here.