Replies

From: Proverbs 3:27-34

The way of the wise

[27] Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to do it.
[28] Do not say to your neighbour, “Go, and come again,
tomorrow I will give it” Ã‚Â– when you have it with you.
[29] Do not plan evil against your neighbour
who dwells trustingly beside you.
[30] Do not contend with a man for no reason,
when he has done you no harm.
[31] Do not envy a man of violence
and do not choose any of his ways;
[32] for the perverse man is an abomination to the Lord.
but the upright are in his confidence.
[33] The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked,
but he blesses the abode of the righteous.
[34] Toward the scorners he is scornful,
but to the humble he shows favour.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

3:21-35. In the fourth lesson, the teacher gives his disciple some practical rules
of behaviour that he needs to follow if he is to be a wise man. People who take
these rules to heart can rest at ease, for the Lord is protective of those who keep
to wisdom’s path (vv. 25-26).

One of the most valuable services that wisdom provides is to teach a person how
to maintain good relationships with others. That goal is achieved when one sin-
cerely seeks the good of others and is not slow to lend help when asked (vv. 27-
31); one needs to have a right intention and be straightforward. Only a person
like that can be on close terms with the Lord (v. 32). “The intimate conversation
of God consists in the revelation of his secrets to the souls of men, and in eluci-
dating them by his presence. It is said that he holds his intimate conversations
with the simple because, by the light of his presence, he reveals the divine mys-
teries to the souls of those who are not steeped in shadow by their duplicity” (St
Gregory the Great, Regula pastoralis, 3, 11).

“To the humble he shows favour” (v. 34). The New Testament twice refers to this
in the context of how to make the best use of the Lord’s gifts. In the First Letter
of St Peter, after addressing elders and younger people about the need for har-
mony between them, he says: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility to-
wards one another, for ‘God opposes the proud, but gives to the humble’.

“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he
may exalt you. Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you (1 Pet 5:
5-7). And the Letter of St James, after recalling those same words, says. “Sub-
mit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw
near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and
purify your hearts, you men of double mind. Be wretched and mourn and weep.
Let your laughter he turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. Humble your-
selves before the Lord and he will exalt you” (Jas 4:7-10).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.