Secret Weapon
Proverbs 15:33 ESV
Proverbs 15:33 MSG
Proverbs 15:33 (TLB)
There once was a man who was trying to learn English. He was fluent in many languages including Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and French. He was in the U.S. to study the culture and to learn English.
There were times he came to me with questions about English. I studied Spanish for twelve years from elementary school through four semesters in college. I had also taken French in college. Yet while I can read some Spanish, I cannot speak it unless a three year old is talking slowly.
He was a believer and he was using a Bible in his primary languages and an English Bible to aide him in learning English.
He asked me what fear in English really means.
For example in Proverbs 15:33 we read, “The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.”
He was confused by the English use of the word fear. I told him it throws me off as well because the primary use in English was to be afraid of something.
Then I explained fear in English has several meanings.
It can mean an emotional response to a danger, or a worry that some thing is about to happen. I admitted to him when I was small my Bible was from the King James English (KJV) I was very confused because I didn’t understand why I should be afraid of God. Fear meant be afraid. It was confusing because I knew Jesus sat with the children and they were not afraid.
In Seminary my language courses were Hebrew and there I found the key. In the Hebrew fear is יָרֵא (Pronounced yare’) can mean to fear or revere.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
So from the Message, “Fear-of-God is a school in skilled living—first you learn humility, then you experience glory.”
In other words revere God. I’m not sure why the translators for The Message did not use Revering God but I’m sure they had good reasons. I assure you the translators are highly educated and in most cases their life work is translating scripture.
In the NLT the use of the word fear means giving God our unparalleled allegiance. In Today’s Living Bible (TLB) it says, “Humility and reverence for the Lord will make you both wise and honored.” Now that makes sense.
In that context, revering the Lord will make you wise and honored. That example makes a great case for checking other translations. As always, I continue to learn daily…
Deborah/acrazyjourney.com
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