Proverbs 30:21-23 English Standard Version 21 Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up: 22 a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food; 23 an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress. The list in this passage has a common theme of people who were checked by authority that are scary or dangerous because they go against natural law. First, a slave that becomes king--this usually isn't a good thing because someone in slavery is many times there because he could not provide for himself and his family. How then will he suddenly become responsible enough to take care of an entire nation?
The second is a fool that is fully satisfied. Natural law tells us that a fool should face the consequences of their foolishness and God should leave them in a position to see that their foolishness didn't' lead to satisfaction so that they would repent. A satisfied fool may well be going to hell on a full stomach. Third is an unloved woman when she gets a husband. I think the issue here that makes the woman "unloved" is a personality or character issue that makes people not want to marry her. Often times such women are hostile and bitter (maybe even verbally, emotionally and physically abusive). It is a scary thing for such a person to be in a marriage and possibly be the mother of children. The last one goes back to the first one where the servant supplants their master (the language her is of a female servant and her mistress, but I think it goes either way). The reasoning here is very similar to the first. Servants becoming responsible enough to earn their freedom is a good thing, but if someone is a servant because they needed someone to help take care of them, then it is a dangerous thing for them to have to be out in the world to fend for themselves. You probably can think of some other examples of things that people desire to break free of things that constrain them, but those constraining forces were good for them. Comments are closed.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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