Friday!

Proverbs!

Better to dwell in the wilderness, 

Than with a contentious and angry woman.

Proverbs 21:19 NKJV

If you read this proverb in other versions instead of angry they use nagging, hot-tempered, or complaining.

Yet this word in the proverb "ka'ac" is anger and it carries 3 meanings:

Anger caused by unmerited treatment.

Anger of God when we worship other Gods.

And grief.

As we sit with those meanings we start to see a person, a woman, who has reasons why they are  angry and upset.

An injured person.

A hurt person.

A grieving person.

And if we start there, maybe the other person in the proverb, the one heading to the wilderness, just maybe they're at fault here.

Separation.

Space.

Space for the injured party.

Space for the one in the wilderness to consider their part.

"Better". Who is it better for?

"Wilderness". Consider the wilderness story, Jesus in the wilderness...

This proverb is not a weapon or a joke to be used at wedding receptions, but to get us to think about our hearts, our biases, our motivations, to consider people in all their complexity, to see one another, and to let the gospel of Grace be our guide.

There's a story beneath this proverb that we're invited into...

#proverbs

#wisdom

#somethingtochewon