“Proverbs 20-22”

BIBLE READING: Proverbs 20-22

As you read these chapters you will notice that the writer continues to use a literary device first found in chapter 10 in which the second line repeats the thought of the first line. For example, Proverbs 22:24-25 “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” As you read the “couplets,” does the second line repeat the idea of the first line? (synonymous), or is the second line the opposite of the first? (contrast). An example of a synonymous couplet is found in Psalm 126:2 “our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.”  Another type of a couplet is a contrasting couplet (opposite): Proverbs 11:17 “A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings himself harm.” The first two examples show “parallelism,”  which is when two lines go together (couplet). Another kind of couplet is when the second line fills in or completes the thought of the first. Psalms 4:8: “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Read the following couplets and see if you can determine which type it is. 20:20, “The glory of young me is their strength, but the splendor of old men  is their gray hair” 21:9, “It better to live in a corner of the house top than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.” 22:1 “A good name is rather to be chosen than riches.” 22: 22 , “Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the Lord will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them.”