Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 28:14-26

14 Slander has shaken many,

and scattered them from nation to nation;

it has destroyed strong cities,

and overturned the houses of the great.

15 Slander has driven virtuous women from their homes,

and deprived them of the fruit of their toil.

16 Those who pay heed to slander will not find rest,

nor will they settle down in peace.

17 The blow of a whip raises a welt,

but a blow of the tongue crushes the bones.

18 Many have fallen by the edge of the sword,

but not as many as have fallen because of the tongue.

19 Happy is the one who is protected from it,

who has not been exposed to its anger,

who has not borne its yoke,

and has not been bound with its fetters.

20 For its yoke is a yoke of iron,

and its fetters are fetters of bronze;

21 its death is an evil death,

and Hades is preferable to it.

22 It has no power over the godly;

they will not be burned in its flame.

23 Those who forsake the Lord will fall into its power;

it will burn among them and will not be put out.

It will be sent out against them like a lion;

like a leopard it will mangle them.

24a As you fence in your property with thorns,

25b so make a door and a bolt for your mouth.

24b As you lock up your silver and gold,

25a so make balances and scales for your words.

26 Take care not to err with your tongue,

and fall victim to one lying in wait. (Ecclesiasticus 28:14-26, NRSV)

The following comments are revised with some supplement here from October 27, 2004, two years ago (Wednesday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two):

Within a larger context on “damaged relationships” (Harold C. Washington, NOAB, 3^rd ed. on Sirach 27:16-28:26), Ben Sira warns against sins of the tongue, which can wreak devastating havoc. He says, “Slander (glōssa tritē, lit. ‘a third tongue’) has shaken many, / and scattered them from nation to nation; / it has destroyed strong cities, / and overturned the houses of the great” (Sirach 28:14). Ben Sira adds that “Slander (glōssa tritē, lit. ‘a third tongue’) has driven virtuous women from their homes, / and deprived them of the fruit of their toil” (v. 15). In Proverbs, the one who “utters slander” (dibbāh, LXX loidorias) is called “a fool” (k^esîl) (Prov. 10:18). Proverbs also warns, “Do not slander (’al talšēn [verb related to lāšōn, ‘tongue’] LXX paradōs, ‘hand over,’ sometimes, ‘into the custody of’) a servant to a master, / or the servant will curse you, and you will be held guilty” (Prov. 30:10), and describes other forms of false witness that amount to slander (Prov. 19:5, 9, 28; 25:7b-8, 18).

Ben Sira continues, “The blow of a whip raises a welt, / but a blow of the tongue crushes the bones. / Many have fallen by the edge of the sword., / but not as many as have fallen because of the tongue” (vv. 17-18; Washington, commenting on Sir. 18:17-18, refers to Prov. 15:4; 25:15). The view of the dangers from the tongue compares well with that of James: “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small-fire! And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell” (Jas. 3:5-6). One might wonder whether it is the slanderer or the slanderee that bears “the yoke of iron” (v. 20), that is, “an evil death” to which “Hades is preferable” (v. 21). Washington says, “Hades (Sheol, the abode of the dead) is preferable to the living death inflicted by the evil tongue” (on v. 21). This, according to ben Sira, is the fate of “those who forsake the Lord” (v. 23a). His advice has in view the severity of the problem. “As you fence in your property with thorns, / so make a door and a bolt for your mouth. / As you lock up your silver and gold, / so make balances and scales for your words” (Sirach 28:24a, 25b, 24b, 25a, NRSV order).

Nahum 1:1-14 (Presbyterian and Lutheran traditions):

The following comments on Nahum 1:1-13 are repeated here from November 22, 2005 (Tuesday of the week of the Sunday closest to November 23, Year One), with added comments from an email message of November 24, 2003, for November 25, 2003:

The Book of Nahum, three chapters, focuses on the downfall of the Assyrian Empire in the late seventh century B. C. Her downfall is judgment and punishment from “the LORD,” who “takes vengeance on his adversaries / and rages against his enemies” (Nahum 1:2). “Who can stand before his indignation? / Who can endure the heat of his anger? / His wrath is poured out like fire, / and by him the rocks are broken in pieces” (v. 6). What is bad news for Assyria is good news for Judah. “Though I have afflicted you [Judah] / l will afflict you no more. / And now I will break off his yoke from you / and snap the bonds that bind you” (vv. 12b, 13). But for the most part it is Nineveh, not Jerusalem, that is addressed. And, whereas the Book of Jonah holds out hope to Nineveh, Nahum “asserts boldly that the LORD is the avenger of cruelty and immorality” (Gregory Mobley, NOAB, 3^rd ed., Introduction to Nahum).

As in many of the other prophetic books, much of the text of Nahum is in poetic lines. (More than 80% of Isaiah, for example, is printed as poetic lines in modern versions of the Bible. I once counted the verses in prose and poetry in the RSV text of Isaiah.) In Nahum, 1:1, which serves as a title, is in prose, as is 2:13; all the rest is in poetic lines. Poetic parallelism is evident in verse 6, for example (quoted above), and in verse 5, “The mountains quake before him, / and the hills melt; / the earth heaves before him, the world and all who live in it.” But a more striking example of poetic style, found in today’s reading, is the alphabetic acrostic pattern—somewhat broken and a little out of order, to be sure, but evident all the same—in 1:2-10. (It’s a pattern found in Psalms 9-10, 25, 34, 37, 111,112, 119, 145, Lam. 1-4, and Prov. 31:10-31.) Verse 2a begins with the first letter, aleph; verse 3b with beth; and successive lines continue the alphabet to verse 8b, which begins with the letter kaph. Lamed (v. 9b) and mem (v. 9a) are transposed, and followed by samek (v. 10b), which should be preceded by nun, which appears in verse 2c, d, apparently out of place. Moving the nun (“N”) line down would make verses 2 and 3 read as follows (NRSV):

2 A jealous and avenging God is the Lord,

the Lord is avenging and wrathful;

the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries

and rages against his enemies.

3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power,

and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.

The line printed here in “strike-out” type would follow verse 9, “Why do you plot against the LORD? / He will make an end; / no adversary will rise up twice.”

The acrostic pattern breaks off in verse 10, and does not resume. Verses 12-13 are addressed to Judah with the comforting thought that her enemy (Assyria) “will be cut off and pass away” (v. 12b). “Though I have afflicted you, / I will afflict you no more” (v. 12c). “And now I will break off his [i.e. the Assyrian’s] yoke from you / and snap the bonds that bind you” v. 13).

We might think that Nahum gets a little too much pleasure from the expected downfall of Israel’s terrible enemy, Assyria. But K. H. Richards calls attention to “bold metaphors” and “the interplay between God’s judgment and salvation” (HarperCollins Study Bible). Nahum announces God’s judgment upon Nineveh (1:1; 2:8), the capital of Assyria, which had overthrown the northern kingdom of Israel. “A jealous and avenging God is the LORD, / the LORD is avenging and wrathful; / the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries / and rages against his enemies” (Nahum 1:2). This is good news, a blessing and protection for Judah. “The LORD is good, / a stronghold in a day of trouble; / he protects those who take refuge in him, / even in a rushing flood. / He will make a full end of his adversaries, / and will pursue his enemies into darkness” (vv. 7-8). Richards suggests that this prophecy was given a few years before the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C./B.C.E. An oblique warning to Judah, which would fall to the Babylonians within a few decades, reminds them that “The Lord is slow to anger but great in power, / and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty (v. 3).

Revelation 12:1-6

The Woman and the Dragon

12:1 A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. 3 Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, so that there she can be nourished for one thousand two hundred sixty days. (Revelation 12:1-6, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with revision and supplement from October 27, 2004, two years ago (Wednesday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two).

John has a vision of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 12:1). She is pregnant and “crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth” (v. 2). According to Bruce M. Metzger, she “appears to be the heavenly representative of God’s people, first as Israel (from whom Jesus the Messiah was born, v. 5), then as the Christian Church (which is persecuted by the dragon, v. 13)” (NOAB, 2^nd ed. on Rev. 12:1). The “great red dragon” (v. 3), a serious threat to the woman and her child (v. 4), “is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (v. 9). The fact that the child “is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron,” alludes “to Ps. 29, originally concerning the king of Israel, and interpreted as referring to a future anointed ruler or messiah (Psalms of Solomon 17:23-24)” (Jean-Pierre Ruiz, NOAB, 3^rd ed. on Rev. 12:5). But the child is “snatched away and taken to God and to his throne” (v. 5), which prevents the dragon from devouring him, and the woman is also protected: she flees “into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God (v. 6a); thus “the church is sustained by God” (Metzger on v. 7).

Dreadful battle ensues (in tomorrow’s lesson), but in anticipation, we note that the woman is protected.

Luke 11:37-52

Jesus Denounces Pharisees and Lawyers

37 While he was speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine with him; so he went in and took his place at the table. 38 The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you.

42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.”

45 One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too.” 46 And he said, “Woe also to you lawyers! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not lift a finger to ease them. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48 So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. 52 Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” (Luke 11:37-52, NRSV)

The following comments are repeated here with revision and supplement from October 27, 2004, two years ago (Wednesday of the week of the Sunday closest to October 26, Year Two):

The setting for today’s reading is a dinner to which Jesus is invited by an unnamed Pharisee (Lk. 11:37; cf. the dinner at the house of Simon the Pharisee, 7:36-50). Later Jesus will eat a sabbath meal in “the house of a leader of the Pharisees” (14:1), which introduces what might be called a sustained series of teachings critical of the Pharisees, for example, healing on the sabbath (14:1-6)–wouldn’t one pull the ox out of the ditch on the sabbath day? (v. 5); the parable on humility when invited to dinner (vv. 7-14); the parable of the great dinner to which the first invited guests make excuses (vv. 15-24); the Parables of the Lost Sheep (15:3-7) told in response to the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes (v. 2), the Parable of the Prodigal Son in which the role of the Pharisees is clearly played by the elder son (15:11-32), and various teachings which lead the Pharisees, “who were lovers of money [and] heard all this” to ridicule Jesus (16:14).

Although he is a dinner guest, when his host criticizes him for failing to wash before dinner (11:38), Jesus responds by launching into a series of severe criticisms (vv. 39-52; cf. Mt. 23:1-36). The first responds to the Pharisee’s criticism. “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? So give for alms those things that are within; and see, everything will be clean for you. (Lk. 11:39-41). This corresponds to the fifth of Matthew’s woes, “ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean” (Mt. 23:25-26). In Matthew, this series of woes is addressed “to the crowds and to his disciples” (Mt. 23:1), but it is about “the scribes and the Pharisees” who “sit on Moses’ seat” (Mt. 23:2). They are criticized for hypocrisy (vv. 3-4) before the repeated refrain, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” begins (vv. 13, 15, 16, 23,, 25, 27, 29). Luke uses the word “Woe” to introduce six statements and another, the first in the list is introduced by “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup . . .” (Lk. 11:39-41), where Matthew’s parallel begins with “Woe to you . . .” (Mt. 23:25-26). In Luke, Jesus pronounces three woes on the Pharisees (Lk. 11:42. 43. 44), and three on the lawyers (v. 46, 47, 52), in the course of severe criticisms of Pharisees by Jesus. Matthew’s list seems longer, perhaps due to systematic or topical arrangement, but both are strong indictments. Matthew has seven “Woe” statements plus two that are parallel to “Woes” in Luke (Mt. 23:4; cf. Lk. 11:46, and Mt. 23:6-7; cf. Lk. 11:43). It is important for Christian’s to remember that Jesus’ indictment was addressed to a few specific persons. It would be a grievous mistake to characterize all Pharisees then, or any Jews now, by these indictments. Matthew, by including these woes in his Gospel some years after they were pronounced by Jesus, may have sought to correct similar attitudes within his own Christian community. Let us attend to the log in our own eye, not the speck in another’s (cf. Mt. 7:1-5).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

rworden@houston.rr.com