The Thinklings

"In spiritual matters there really is no 'Third World.' It's all Third World."

- Dallas Willard

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Posted by Bird @ 6:40 pm CST
Filed under: Bible

Can someone who knows more than me about biblical languages explain why Proverbs 30:28 in my NKJV says:

"The spider skillfully grasps with its hands,
And it is in kings' palaces."

And the New Living Translation says:

"Lizards—they are easy to catch,
but they are found even in kings’ palaces."

So which one is it? I'm sort of assuming that the Hebrew word for "spider" and "lizard" are very similar, and that perhaps explains a bit ...

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Comments on "Someone Explain":

1. Brian in Fresno - 02/03/2009 7:06 pm CST

The ESV says lizards too.

2. David Marcoe - 02/03/2009 7:10 pm CST

It's apparent that there is a Hebrew word or phrase with an unclear or multiple meanings and they are attempting to render it with the closest possible English translation.

3. David Marcoe - 02/03/2009 7:13 pm CST

A looser Message translation/paraphrase gives good context:

There are four small creatures,
wisest of the wise they are—
ants—frail as they are,
get plenty of food in for the winter;
marmots—vulnerable as they are,
manage to arrange for rock-solid homes;
locusts—leaderless insects,
yet they strip the field like an army regiment;
lizards—easy enough to catch,
but they sneak past vigilant palace guards.

4. cresvumom - 02/03/2009 8:37 pm CST

The Message does have its place. But I still wanna know if the breed of spider that lives in the king's palace eats lizards.

Now THAT would be cool to watch. Gross, but cool.

5. Raindream - 02/04/2009 1:05 pm CST

Heh, heh, you're a homeschooling mom, aren't you, cresvumom?

6. The Ancient Mariner - 02/04/2009 2:26 pm CST

It's a hapax legomenon--a word that only occurs once, and we don't really know what it means. As for the rest of the clause, the verb means "to grip" or "to seize"; the question is whether the critter named here is subject or object.

7. Bird - 02/04/2009 2:30 pm CST

Thanks for the info, guys.

8. Bill - 02/04/2009 2:43 pm CST

AM Rocks.

9. Milly - 02/04/2009 4:20 pm CST

spiders freak me out!
I like lizards

10. The Ancient Mariner - 02/05/2009 8:38 am CST

Thanks, Bill. :) It's really just a matter of being a bibliophile with a book budget.

11. Tom Jeffer's Son - 02/06/2009 2:43 pm CST

Plus you gotta throw in the paraphrase nature of some of the "translations" mentioned here. Them buggers are creepier than either spiders OR lizards.

12. Aysel - 02/09/2009 1:13 am CST

How can you put so much trust in a book that changes like night and day? From translation to translation, and even from book to book it is wrought with hypocrisy and contradiction. How can you believe in a god that is "good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works" yet says "I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them"?

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