Thursday, April 5, 2012

Theology Pet Peeves: Bad "Application" of Proverbs 31:10-31

Supposedly a vintage image from the 50's. Seemed appropriate for this post.


I am returning again to theological pet peeves. Today's pet peeve is when Proverbs 31:10-31 is misapplied, misappropriated, and misunderstood. Often, these verses are used as a way to tell women exactly how they should be. This is, after all, what a "godly" woman looks like, so snap to and get with the program. Even without such pop Christianity uses and understandings of Proverbs 31:10-31, as a woman who has read this, as a woman who has had other women tell me how this passage makes them feel, I know that this passage can read as LAW LAW LAW, DO DO DO. I know it can make us all feel completely inadequate, awful, and like the worst wives, mothers, and women in the world, not to say what it must make single women feel (the whole pericope assumes a married woman). These verses, indeed, are often used on Mother's Day, in Lutheran circles at least, and I have heard more than one woman say after a Mother's Day service, "That passage makes me feel awful, and I hate it when they use this passage." These are women whom I admire as wives and mothers. Women who should not feel inadequate. But, according to popular ways of viewing this and just the general misunderstandings that occur whenever you read something on its own, the passage comes off in a certain way. Clearly, we should all be cooking over the stove like crazy, never taking a moment's rest, making our own clothing, and working really, especially hard at "fearing the Lord." After all, that's what the "worthy" woman of this passage does. And it's a prescription for how we should act and be. Isn't it? Isn't it?

Um, no. No it isn't. Period.

Have I shocked you yet, because I'm only getting started on ripping to shreds every law-ridden, pop-Christianity driven, guilt inducing understanding of this passage you have seen.

This passage is actually a description of who you already are in Christ Jesus.

Right now you're asking, "okay, how do you get that?"

Well, how I got here involves my Psalms and Writings class at Concordia Seminary with the amazing Dr. Lessing and my intensive study of the book of Ruth and three incarnations of a Bible study I've written on Ruth. Ruth is a type of Christ in that she loves Naomi with chesid love (that's Hebrew for the same concept of love as agape love in the NT). You see, Ruth is a type of Christ in that she goes above and beyond what is expected of her by the Law and by her society, and by her pagan upbringing for that matter, to serve, protect, live with, provide for, and even die with Naomi (one of the things she vows is to be buried with Naomi). Then she acts on that chesid love by returning to Israel with Naomi, gleaning in the fields to find them grain, and putting herself on the line in going to Boaz and asking him to redeem them (at which point Boaz takes over the type of Christ role -- but that's a whole different post).

Ruth is called a "worthy woman" in Chapter 3. This is a word which ties directly into Proverbs 31:10-31, (watch for it as "strength" which is another translation) the chapter in the Hebrew Bible which Ruth originally followed (in the English Bible, Ruth is placed chronologically after Judges because it took place during that time). Ruth is the woman of Proverbs 31.

The other piece to this puzzle is the close linguistical and subject relationship between Proverbs 31:10-31 and Proverbs 8. Proverbs 8 is a description of Wisdom. In the Hebrew, abstract nouns like "wisdom" are in a feminine conjugation, so wisdom is described using feminine pronouns. Toward the end of Proverbs 8, wisdom speaks about its origins. It was from the beginning, always beside the father, active in creation. Jesus Christ is Wisdom incarnate. Proverbs 8 describes Christ. [***Please note that this does not mean that Jesus is feminine or female. He is true God and true man, and a male, but this is the way Wisdom is described.] Take a look at this comparison (I would also recommend reading the entirety of each passage, but it is too much to paste in here):

Proverbs 31:10b & Proverbs 8:11a: More precious than jewels

10b She is far more precious than jewels.

8:[11a]  for wisdom is better than jewels,
Proverbs 31:17, 25 & Proverbs 8:14: "strength/worthy"

    [17] She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong.
 
 [25] Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.
    
8:[14] I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength.

Proverbs 31: 23, 31b & Proverbs 8:3: "in the gates"

    [23] Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

[31b] and let her works praise her in the gates.

    8: [3] beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
   
Proverbs 31:26 & Proverbs 8: 6, 7, 8, 10: how her mouth speaks

 [26] She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

8: [6] Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right,

[7] for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

[8] All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.

[10] Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold,

 Proverbs 31:30 & Proverbs 8:13: fear of the Lord
   
[30] Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

8: [13] The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.

Proverbs 31:31 & Proverbs 8: : fruit of her hands:

[31] Give her of the fruit of her hands,

8:   [19] My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. (All taken from the ESV)

As can be seen from these parallel passages from the two Proverbs, Wisdom and the Woman of Proverbs 31 are extremely similar. They have a lot of similar characteristics, and while Proverbs 8 defines the "fear of the Lord," the woman of Proverbs 31 is said to be a woman who "fears the Lord." The woman of Proverbs 31:10-31 and Wisdom are the same. Therefore, Christ, being wisdom incarnate, already fulfills all the things the woman of Proverbs 31 does and is. Christ IS those things and DOES those things for you, in you, and through you. This means that, ultimately, you the mommy on the run, the wife, the single woman, you already are the woman who fears the Lord by virute of your Baptism into Christ's death and his living in and through you: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20, ESV).

File:Marco palmezzano, crocifissione degli Uffizi.jpg
"Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth" by Marco Palmezzano, ca. 1490
So the next time Proverbs 31:10-31 is read on Mother's Day or confronts you at some other time, you can listen to it being read, smile, and say, "That's me."