Read Proverbs 24 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
23:6-24:14 {p} Desire + pursue wisdom, its benefit endures/ evil + gratification of the flesh is fleeting
24:15-18 {p} The righteous may fall but will rise again/ they do not rejoice when their enemy falls
24:19-22 {p} Don’t fret because of evildoers, they do not have a future/ their calamity is sudden, so fear YHVH
24:23-27 {p} Judge rightly + rebuke the wicked/ provide for your sustenance, then build your house
24:28-29 {p} Don’t bear witness against without a cause/ even if you have a cause, don’t return evil
24:30-34 {p} A man who is lazy rather than diligent in his work, poverty will come upon him
Most of the elements of the structure clearly pair by Common Theme or Comparison and Contrast, but the B pair’s connection is less obvious at first glance. However, the surrounding elements force the B pair together.
“Do not withhold correction from a youth” is the central axis for the substructure which makes up the 1B pair, a critical highlight as the last few chapters in Proverbs have been speaking about children and their correction.
Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a youth; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Pro 22:15
That is, from Hebrew definitions, Proud folly, when it is bound up in the heart of a youth—not an infant, toddler, or young child, but an older child or youth capable of making moral decisions—can be driven far from him by the rod of correction.
This matters, because
The lips of the righteous feed many: but proud fools die for want of wisdom. Pro 10:21
If a fools do not turn from their foolishness and begin to learn wisdom, death and destruction are at the end of that road. So, “Do not withhold correction from a youth” (1B), for by it you will “Rescue those stumbling toward death” (2B).
The Hebrew reinforces this link: tatzil (“you will deliver,” 23:14) and hatzelleh (“rescue,” 24:11) both derive from natsal, meaning “to snatch away or save.” How cool is that!
If there are questions, these are good resources:
The rod of correction (not anger) – Christine Miller
Natsal, “To deliver,” Strong’s H5337 – Christine Miller
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