(Part 1)

JBTM Daniel I. Block
83
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Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
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it prepares its provisions in summer; it gathers its food during harvest.
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How long will you stay in bed, you slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
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A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arms to rest,
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and your poverty will come like a robber, your need, like a bandit.
But there is another dimension to this. The sages assume that human beings are images of
God, which means they have God-given responsibility to learn the order that governs the
world and to govern it in keeping with and in support of that order. That’s why riddles like
this are not only fun, they are also intellectually stimulating.
But think about the form of these sayings: “There are three, no four items in this
category.” Noted Old Testament scholar Gerhard von Rad suggested that the form arises
out of a riddle. In our case we can well imagine someone saying, “Name three kinds of
creatures who are out of their league.” When we pose a riddle at our house, we still have a
saying, “I’ll give you three guesses, the first two don’t count.” Of course in these numerical
proverbs the big riddle is always the last one—that’s the real issue. The observer tries to
“wrap his head around it” by putting it alongside other riddles. This does not ultimately
solve the question, but it domesticates it, and makes it more manageable. This also works
in the moral and ethical sphere. We have an example of this in Prov 6:16–19:
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Six things the Lord hates;
in fact, seven are detestable to Him:
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arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
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a heart that plots wicked schemes,
feet eager to run to evil,
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a lying witness who gives false testimony,
and one who stirs up trouble (mĕšallēaḥ mĕdānîm, Greek epipempei kriseis)
among brothers.
These are all social evils, but the sermon on this text would need to focus on the last one.
To the sage, the most egregious social sin is causing trouble within the community. This
sounds like Paul in Gal: 5:19–21: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality,
impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife (eris), jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries,
dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I
warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
In a list of fifteen sins, the seventh entry is strife. It sounds like Paul has been reading
Proverbs.
But this sort of numerical saying also occurs in literature outside the Bible. In a north
Canaanite (Ugaritic) mythological text from the thirteenth century BC, we read the
following: