HUMILITY AND PRIDE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

During an age where it seems that every group has a “pride month,” it is perhaps helpful to see what the dictionary definition is of the word so as to understand not only it, but also its opposite, humility:

Pride: (1) a reasonable and justifiable feeling of being worthwhile, (2) a feeling of being better than others, (2) a sense of pleasure that comes from some act or possession. In its original sense, pride was hardly something to be proud of, as it carried the meaning of "inordinate self-esteem" and "an unreasonable conceit of superiority." In early use pride was also often found in capitalized form, referring to one of the seven deadly sins. (Merriam-Webster) So we should keep in mind that it was this older definition #2 to which most Bible passages are referring.

In terms of defining these two characteristics as they occur in the Bible, I can do no better than quote Bruce Waltke from his excellent and exhaustive two-volume on the Book of Proverbs, starting with some of his comments on humility:

    “The way to wisdom is the fear of the LORD, and the way to honor is humility. The disposition of humility (anawa), which is equated with the fear of the LORD in Prov. 22:4, brings the disciple into the company of the sage...The original meaning of 'nw is 'to be bowed down,' 'to be oppressed,' and then, when affliction has done its proper work, 'to be humble.'”

    By contrast, pride has the following characteristics revealed in Proverbs 29:23: “Its antithetical parallels juxtapose the pride of a mortal...with the lowly in spirit (see 16:19). Pride derives from a root meaning 'to be high' and so constitutes a precise antithetical parallel of 'lowly.' G.V. Smith and V.P. Hamilton comment: 'Pride is a fundamental attitude of self-sufficiency because of which a person throws off humility and pursues selfish desires. In pride a person rejects the need for dependence on God or his laws and despises moral or social limitations that regulate behavior according to the highest good for others.'” (Waltke)

There are a great number of such passages to be found in both Testaments. But rather than elaborate at great length on all the nuances taught in the Bible on this subject, I would like to concentrate on the more pithy and memorable sayings found mainly in the poetic and wisdom sections of the OT. I will be mainly quoting from TEV to give a little more fresh perspective to the words. In addition, I will append some comments from two Christian writers also known for their very quotable aphorisms, namely G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis.

Psalm 18:27 “[O LORD], you save those who are humble, but you humble those who are proud.”

Psalm 31:18 “Silence those liars – all the proud and arrogant who speak with contempt about righteous men.”

Psalm 123:4 “We have been mocked too long by the rich and scorned by proud oppressors.”

Proverbs 3:34 “He [God] has no use for conceited people, but shows favor to those who are humble.” This important verse is quoted in both James 4:5-6 and I Peter 5:5.

Proverbs 6:16-17 “There are seven things that the LORD hates and cannot tolerate: a proud look, a lying tongue, etc.”

Proverbs 11:2 People who are proud will soon be disgraced. It is wiser to be modest.”

Proverbs 13:10 “Arrogance causes nothing but trouble. It is wiser to ask for advice.”

Proverbs 15:25 “The LORD will destroy the homes of arrogant men, but he will protect a widow's property.”

Proverbs 15:33 “Reverence for the LORD is an education in itself. You must be humble before you can ever receive honors.”

Proverbs 16:5 “The LORD hates everyone who is arrogant; he will never let them escape punishment.”

Proverbs 16:18-19 “Pride leads to destruction, and arrogance to downfall. It is better to be humble and stay poor than to be one of the arrogant and get a share of their loot.”

Proverbs 18:12 “No one is respected unless he is humble; arrogant people are on the way to ruin.”

Proverbs 21:4 “Wicked people are controlled by their conceit and arrogance, and this is sinful.”

Proverbs 21:24 “Show me a conceited person and I will show you someone who is arrogant, proud and inconsiderate.”

Proverbs 22:4 “Obey the LORD, be humble, and you will get riches, honor, and a long life.”

Proverbs 25:6 “When you stand before the king, don't try to impress him and pretend to be important. It is better to be asked to take a higher position than to be told to give your place to someone more important.”

If this proverbs sounds a little familiar to you, it is because Jesus quotes this advice in Luke 14:7-14 when he talks about showing proper humility in choosing a seat at events such as wedding banquets. And elsewhere Jesus criticizes those who always seek the highest seats in the synagogue for themselves (see Matthew 23:6; Mark 12:39; Luke 11:43; 20:46).

Proverbs 29:23 “Arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be be respected.”

Proverbs 30:13 “There are people who think they are so good – oh, how good they think they are!”

Keep in mind when reading OT proverbs that they are written with the general rule in mind so that they should not be taken as absolute promises or threats applying in every situation. Also, they are written from a mainly earthly perspective with little knowledge of the afterlife.

There is one notable, and often confusing, piece of advice given in Ecclesiastes 7:15-18 that also bears on this subject. This passage begins, “My life has been useless, but in it I have seen everything. A good man may die while another lives on, even though he is evil.”

Commenting on this verse, Garrett writes, “Recognition of personal mortality leads necessarily to three conclusions. First, all pretense of pride in oneself must be abandoned...Second, life should be enjoyed for what it is – a gift of God. The book counsels that while avoiding the temptation to consider pleasure to the point of being the goal of life, one should not miss the fleeting joys life affords. This too is an act of humility, for it is an admission that one's work is not as one might wish and that it has no eternal validity...Third, and most important for us and for the book, one must revere God. To refuse to do so is to deny one's dependency on God.”

The passage in Ecclesiastes goes on to say, “So don't be too good or too wise – why kill yourself? But don't be too wicked or too foolish, either – why die before you have to? Avoid both extremes. If you have reverence for God, you will be successful anyway.” This verse certainly needs some explaining, which Wayne Brindle attempts to do in his 12-page essay on the subject found in Roy Zuck's Reflecting with Solomon. I won't attempts to summarize all that he says on this passage after considering it from several angles. But one of his conclusions is that attempts to be overly “good” or “righteous” only lead to a self-righteousness that then looks down on all who have not reached one's own spiritual level. A true sense of humility recognizes that only God is truly good and wise.

G.K. Chesterton

“A god can be humble, a devil can only be humbled.”

“It is always the secure who are humble.”

“Humility is the mother of giants. One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak.”

“Humility is not merely too good for this world; it is too practical for this world; I had almost said it is too worldly for this world.”

“No great works will seem great, and no wonders of the world will seem wonderful, unless the angle from which they are seen is that of historical humility.”

“The old humility made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humility makes a man doubtful about his aims, which will make him stop working altogether.”

“A man who talks like a torrent for hours on end is a humble man...The humble man will always be talkative; for he is interested in his subject and knows that it is best shown in talk. But the proud man will be generally silent; for he is not interested in his subject but in himself. And he knows that he looks best when he is not talking.”

C.S. Lewis

In The Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape advises his nephew how to tempt his “patient” who has become a Christian: “Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is specially true of humility...But don't try this too long, for fear you awake his sense of humor and proportion, in which he will merely laugh at you and go to bed.”

“The Christian must wage endless war against the ego as ego...The very self-love which he has to reject is to him a specimen of how he ought to feel to all selves; and he may hope that when he has truly learned (which will hardly be in this life) to love his neighbor as himself, he may then be able to love himself as his neighbor: that is, with charity instead of partiality.”

I enjoy reading these two authors because their pronouncements are so memorable due to their apparent contradictory nature. However, they take a great deal of contemplation to appreciate, which many of us are just too lazy to do. Of course, the same thing can even more rightly be said about the teachings of these authors' Lord.