Proverbs 6 (Karen)
Proverbs 6:20-23 My son, keep your fathers commands and do not forsake your mothers teaching. Bind them upon your heart forever, fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life.
Eugene B Borowitz and Frances Weinman Schwartz begin their book, “The Jewish Moral Virtues” with this teaching from the Tanakh. The words “musar” and “Torah” are placed parallel to one another in Proverbs 6:20. Musar, the Hebrew term usually translated as “ethics” or “morals”, comes from a root meaning “to transmit” or “to send” and how are we to define “Torah?” The 5 books of Moses? A collection of laws? A story? A scroll? The answer is all of the above and more. Torah is a way of life and words of Torah are those ideas which guide us in our living. This becomes more clear when we understand that the word Torah itself comes from the same Hebrew root that produces the words “morah” or “moreh”- the feminine and masculine words for teacher.
It also tells us in Proverbs 1:8 and Proverbs 3:1-3 to bind wise teaching of parents upon our hearts.
One of the major roles of a Jewish parent is to provide the children with religious knowledge and consciousness. In several places we find the parent specifically commanded to teach Torah (the Bible) to his children. Many Biblical verses testify that this is not an occasional obligation, but rather the parent should be the primary source of religious knowledge. “Ask your father and he will tell you your elders and they will say to you, ‘hear, my son the guidance of your father; do not dismiss your mothers Torah.’”
Verse 22 makes specific promises of the benefits of wisdom teaching. Incorporated such teaching into your life will provide guidance by day and protection by night. They will speak to you when you’re awake. The word speak or talk here in the final line of verse 22 is used in Psalms 77 and Psalms 119 to suggest meditation. These verses portray Wisdom as a faithful friend who is always beside you to help and advise.
Verse 22 shows the “law” as personified and it is represented as a nurse, teacher and guardian by night and day. An upright man never goes but as directed by God’s word and led by God’s Spirit.
When you sleep you commend your body and soul to the protection of your Maker, and when you awake in the morning, the promises and mercies of God are the first things that present themselves to your recollection.
Verse 23 piles on further compliments to wisdom. Her command (mitzvah) is a lamp; her Torah is a light; and her corrective discipline (musar, NRSV: reproof) provides the path of life. If the light and direction of wisdom teaching is accepted it will keep the son/reader from sin.
The commands illuminate our path and shows us how we should walk and praise God. The law is a general light, showing the nature and will of God and the interest and duty of man, and the corrections of discipline are instruction which reproves us for our sins and errors and leads us into the way of life.
Just a quick thing to think about. Reflect on your fathers “musar” and your mothers “Torah”-things you have heard and seen your parents and grandparents say and do, the ethical teachings that live with you and guide your actions to this very day. Make a list. Bible (Torah) that you have learned from your father/mother. In what ways do you live out what you’ve learned from your parents and grandparents? What have you learned in your own life that adds to the teachings and affects the way you act in the world?
The Temple in Jerusalem was believed to be God’s house and the place to perform “avodah”-sacred service. Today, in the absence of the Temple, the whole world is God’s dwelling place and every place and space in our lives-from our homes to subway cars to mountain tops- is an altar. The “avodah” of our time is the way we dedicate ourselves to living the Word and making our lives count.
If the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) is a lamp and a light, how should that change the way we live as Christians??????????
