Christian Family Services Ministry

11-26-2019 – A Word to the Wise – Sometimes our understanding of scripture demands an understanding of the original language and at times even the culture of the times. I will give two examples. The first appears in Luke 4. I present it only as an example that allows us to understand the second.
Luke 4:
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.
Focus please on the two sections 22 And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” and 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.
Now if we are honest these two verses do not make good sense for one verse indicates acceptance and the other rejection. How do we solve the dilemma? In our time there has been an increased desire to translate the Gospels back into Hebrew the language Jesus spoke, and the language that it could have originally been written in. This conclusion is based on the many Hebraisms and Hebrew puns found in the Gospels. When we do this, that is translate it back into Hebrew, and then translate it into English look what happens with these two verses.
Hebrew sense of passage: “ And all testified against him and were shocked at the disgraceful words that were coming out of his mouth and said this is the son of Joseph.” This translation makes more sense when we consider the context of what is happening and the attempt to kill Jesus. (Suggested reading by David Bivin)
But I am not going to go into an explanation of why this looks different in Hebrew. Rather it is presented to better understand an off quoted Old Testament verse which confounds the reader. A verse as a family therapist I find myself confronted with frequently.
Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” This verse confounds us because we are able to give numerous examples of families where just the opposite appears to be true. One may see one or more children turn out faithful and good, and have brothers or sisters who are just flat evil. How can this be?
This is why it is important to be able to read or at the very least research in the original language. Our translators in practically all the various translations add the word “should”. It is not in the original text. But the addition is an attempt to clarify the proverb and in doing so completely changes the meaning.
If you read the verse in the following manner then reality sets in and confirms what one may see especially in our generation. So another way of reading this verse is: If you raise a child giving them his way, when he is old he will still insist on his own way. Now again this is not a word for word translation however the Hebrew text would allow such a reading.
This allows the parent of wayward children to understand what may have happened that allows us to understand why a child apparently does differently than how we tried to teach. We teach one thing and the child insist on his own way and the parent attempts to negotiate and acquire some form of obedience. Part of the problem of course is that a parent may give into a child and let them have their own way and in doing so actually trains the child to demand his own way. Either way, we as parent give in to the child’s demands or the child never submits the outcome is the same. A spoiled selfish self-centered child becomes the narcissistic adult.
חנך לְ · הַ · נַ֫עַר עַל · פֶּה דֶּ֫רֶךְ · הוּא גַּם
train · the · [the] child over · mouth way · his also
כִּי · זקן
לֹא · סור מִן · הִיא
when · he is old not · he will stray from · her|it