PROVERBS: PROPER SPEECH

Proverbs-Guard Your Speech

I would like to cover this subject by examples showing the various ways Hebrew poetry is expressed since it doesn't rhyme and doesn't have meter or rhythm. But instead, each line in a verse has a parallel thought.

Identical Parallelism

One who spares words          is knowledgeable;

One who shows restraint      has understanding.  Proverbs 17:27

Why should you limit your words? One practical reason is given in the very next verse 17:28: “Even fools who keep silent are considered wise” (Perhaps that is why none of you spoke up to answer my question.) Also Ecclesiastes 5:2: “Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.” This perhaps refers primarily to making a vow to God or to swearing an oath. (“Let your yes be yes, and your no be no”: James 5:12). Sermon on the Mount: “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Antithetic Parallelism

        A gossip                                       goes about telling secrets

but  one who is trustworthy in spirit    keeps a confidence.  Proverbs 11:13

In a church setting there is sometimes a temptation to reveal a secret during sharing of prayer requests. The only thing worse than a gossip who tells secrets that are true is one that goes about telling lies. I Timothy 5:13 talks about people in the church who go gadding about from house to house as gossips, busybodies, saying what they should not say. There was a very godly elder in my home church who resigned after an anonymous letter was sent to the other church leaders accusing him falsely of improper relations with a woman in our church. And both of them were well into their 70's at the time.

Read the strong warning in Revelation 21:8 (But as for the cowardly, the unbelieving, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.) And as if this isn't enough, he repeats it in 22:14-15 (Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers, and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.)

Emblematic Parallelism

        For lack of wood                      the fire goes out,

and where there is no whisperer,     quarreling ceases. Proverbs 26:20

Other translations use gossip or tale-bearer instead of whisperer.  This illustrates the destructive power of words. Also James 3 compares the tongue to a spark that sets off a wildfire.

Introverted Parallelism

        Put away from you          crooked speech,

and  devious speech                put far from you.   Proverbs 4:24

It is easy to think after this that all speech is bad, but the tongue can be used for good as well. Read Proverbs 25:11-12: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise rebuke to a listening ear.” In the same passage where James compared the tongue to a fire, he also compares it to the bit in the mouth of a horse or a rudder that guides a ship. In 2 Timothy 4:2, for example, Paul tells him to proclaim the message, convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching. But even teachers are told that they will be judged especially harshly for the words they use. I Thessalonians 5:14: “And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them.” Sometimes our problem is that we admonish those who should be encouraged and encourage those we should be admonishing.

Incomplete Parallelism

Speak out         for                          those who cannot speak,

(Speak out)     for the rights of       all the destitute. Proverbs 31:9

This was really one of the prime roles of the Old Testament prophets to speak out against the sins of society against the poor. James did the same thing in the New Testament when he criticized the church for showing more attention to the rich than the poor who attended their services. When I moved to a new city and started visiting churches, I went to one very large church where I was asked to fill out a visitors card with contact information, including my address. A deacon and even the senior pastor called me soon afterward. I would like to think they pay that much attention to all visitors, but I have suspicion that they were somewhat influenced by the golf club neighborhood in which we were living (on the outskirts).

Synthetic Parallelism

To watch over mouth and tongue

                                                    is to keep out of trouble. Proverbs 21:23

Is this always true??

This illustrates part of a proverb's definition; it is not a promise from God only a probability. It reminds me of a large Sunday school class I once attended where the teacher read the famous proverb, “Train up a child in the path he should follow and he will not depart from it.” The teacher then asked the class how many of us felt that was a sure promise we could rely on. Only one young man in the audience raised his hand, and he was a bachelor. The rest of us knew better from experience.