Read Proverbs 5 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraphs:
5:1-6 {p} An immoral woman seems sweet but is bitter / her unstable path leads to death + hell
5:7-23 {p} Hold fast to the wife of your youth, for destruction waits for those who reject my words
Proverbs 5:1-23 makes a Chiastic Structure:
The Hebrew Root Words will help us understand how to avoid the pitfalls.
To incline is Strong’s H5186 נטה natah, a primitive root meaning, “to stretch out, to extend.” The 3-letter root is nun + tet + hey.
nun נ, ן = the seed, thus continue, heir, son
tet ט = the basket, thus surround, contain, hold, mud
hey ה = man w/ raised arms, thus look, reveal, wonder, worship, breath
The concrete noun derived from this verb is a squash, because of the squash plant’s spreading growth habit. The squash gourd, when dried, forms a hard shell, and the seeds (nun) contained within (tet) rattle when shaken. As the squash (nun + tet) extends its vines outward, so the man extends outward (hey, in the sense of the man’s arms extended outward) to spread abroad, to expand his habitation.
How does one get to incline the ear from that? Have you ever seen a cartoon where the character is trying to listen to a whispered conversation, and his ear grows bigger in that direction, to indicate that he is very closely paying attention so as to catch every word? That is the parable the Hebrew is painting: to “extend out” the ear.
So that you make your ear attend to wisdom, and incline your heart to understanding. Pro 2:2
This incline is the same verb, so that inclining the heart is “extending out” the heart, so that you receive every word and do not miss a single one.
To hearken is Strong’s H8085 שמע shama, a primitive root meaning, “to hear, to listen and attend, to hear and answer, to obey or give heed.” The 3-letter root is shin + mem + ayin.
shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
mem מ = the water, thus chaos, mighty, blood
ayin ע = the eye, thus watch, know, shade
Breath passes through the front teeth (shin) expelling water (mem) as vapor from the body. When we listen, we breathe intently as we focus on what is being said so that we can comprehend it (ayin). In the Hebraic worldview, shama, to listen, is an active and not a passive verb. If we hear what is said but do not act on or respond to what is said, then we have not heard at all. Thus shama includes an implication of obedience as Deu 6:4-6 indicates.
It’s not a matter of how good our hearing is. It’s a matter of how much importance and regard we place on what we are hearing, so that we receive our Father’s words as treasure, silver, gold, and precious gems.
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