Exegetical Thoughts and Biblical Theology

Proverbs 17:1 caught my attention this morning: “Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it Than a house full of feasting with strife.” I wondered how many times Proverbs says X is better than Y, so I did a quick search on "better is" and "is better." Here's what I found: Prov. 3:14 -- wisdom's profit is better than silver or gold Prov. 8:11 -- wisdom is better than jewels Prov. 8:19 -- wisdom's fruit is better than pure gold or choicest silver Prov. 12:9  -- lowly with a servant is better than self-honoring without a servant Prov. 15:16 -- little + fear of Yahweh is better than wealth with turmoil Prov. 15:17 -- vegetables + love is better than fatted ox + hatred Prov. 16:8 -- little + righteousness is better than great income with injustice Prov. 16:19 -- lowly with the poor is better than dividing spoil with the proud Prov. 16:32 -- slow to anger is better than the mighty Prov. 17:1 -- a dry morsel + quiet is better than feasting with ...

This chapter illustrates how wisdom lives in the present with the future in mind. The consequences of a present course of action are always considered before embarking. When I consider the personal, family, and spiritual destruction that follows those who heed the strange woman’s honeyed and oiled words (Pro. 5:3), I flee like I would flee the plague (cf. 2 Tim. 2:22). Prov. 5:4 -- "sharp as a two-edged sword" is the strange woman -- to lick her honeyed words is to head down the path of suicide. Trappers in Alaska's past occasionally discovered their lines raided by wolves. To rid themselves of the thieves, they would dip a sharp, double-edged knife in honey, allowing several layers to freeze onto it. Then they planted the knife, blade up in the snow near a trap the wolves have raided. The smell of the honey attracts the wolves who begin to lick it off the blade. As a wolf licks the frozen honey, the cold  numbs their tongue. By the time they have licked the honey...