Lessons from the Proverb I
Some parts of the Book of Proverbs are very familiar to priests because they so frequently occur in the Liturgy. The portrait of the Valiant Woman, which ends the Book, is often read as an Epistle at Mass, and the beautiful personification of Wisdom in the eighth chapter forms the lessons of the First Nocturn on feasts of our Blessed Lady. There are many other parts which ought to be just as familiar, and a little garnering here and there may perhaps induce some readers to make a deeper acquaintance with this inspired Book.
THE WHISPERER
This social pest, who is also called the talebearer and the sower of discord, is frequently referred to by the Wise Man. His conduct is shown to be abominable in the eyes of God, and this is done in a way which creates a distinct impression:
Six things there are which the Lord hateth,
And the seventh his soul detesteth:
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that deviseth wicked plots,
Feet that are swift to run into mischief,
A deceitful witness that uttereth lies,
And him that soweth discord among brethren (vi. 16-19).
Number proverbs of this kind are frequent throughout the Book. The enumeration is so arranged that the last mentioned thing is intended to strike us most. Not that it is always the most grievous, for evidently the shedding of innocent blood is a more serious sin; but the author mentions last what he desires to stress for the moment. In the Vulgate text, of which the above is the Douai version, the very translation singles out the last thing for special condemnation, for it is called the seventh over and above the other six. The original Hebrew, however, does not put such stress on the seventh. It reads:
These six things the Lord hates:
Yea, seven his soul abhors.
Again when the sacred writer wishes to give us an example of a thoroughly bad man-not merely a man who sins through weakness, but a malicious man, the personification of wickedness-he mentions as his last characteristic that he is a sower of discord:
A man that is an apostate, an unprofitable man,
Walketh with a perverse mouth,
He winketh with the eyes, presseth with the foot,
Speaketh with the finger,
With a wicked heart he deviseth evil,
And at all times he soweth discord (vi. 12-14).
The word translated by apostate is Belial in the Hebrew, so that the passage refers to a man of Belial, a son of the devil, in complete opposition to the man of God. He is continually plotting evil in his heart, and all his external senses carry out his designs.
If we desire to know why the detractor has such success, and why he is listened to so willingly, we get the reason in two proverbs in the Vulgate translation, which, however, are identical in the Hebrew:
The words of the double-tongued are as if they were harmless,
And they reach even to the innermost parts of the bowels (xviii. 8).
The words of a talebearer are as it were simple,
But they reach to the innermost parts of the belly (xxvi. 22).
The slanderer does his evil work by insinuations, by chance remarks, by words that seem of no consequence, but which leave a lasting impression on the hearers. His words seem merely to touch the surface, but in reality they penetrate. The Revised Version has the following rendering:
The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels,
And they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
Just as the glutton is eager for tasty bits, and swallows them greedily and with relish, so we, owing to our depraved nature, are naturally inclined to listen with pleasure to the narration of our neighbor's failings. On the other hand, there would be no uncharitable talk if there were no willing listeners, and this is the very remedy indicated in another proverb, which in the Vulgate is as follows:
The north wind driveth away rain,
So doth a sad countenance a backbiting tongue (xxv. 23).
Even if we are not acquainted with the north wind of Palestine, we know the north wind of our own climates. It is cutting, piercing, freezing, boisterous, and most people are glad to take shelter from its blast. If we meet the slanderer with a countenance cold and angry as the north wind, his trade will soon be ruined for want of customers.
Here the point of the proverb seems to be that the slanderer's words are not well received by the hearers, who are rather disposed to resent his whispering tongue. As a matter of fact, writers on the climate of Palestine tell us that the north wind is not a rainy wind, except when it blows very boisterously.
