New Year's Resolutions! Some of us make them, and then soon break them. That's not the proverb I was going to offer, but I suppose that's not a bad one to start with the subject. The following proverb is for all those who have trouble keeping New Years Resolutions, getting to work on time or even getting to work at all! I would be interested to hear thoughts on it, and whether it appears helpful to follow as good advice for at least a week or two. My neighbor and I frequently choose a proverb randomly (or find one that's appropriate to our current needs) and see how we can best use it, if at all. We choose our proverbs from the farthest reaches of the world, not limiting ourselves to the Book of Proverbs, for example. We try to avoid overtly religious proverbs and focus on the ones that would be applicable to a person of any philosophy.
With that provisio, however, I will start with a selection from
The Book of Proverbs from the Hebrew Bible, and a translation from Robert Alter's
The Wisdom Books: A Translation With Commentary (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010). Feel free to add your own commentary and thoughts, or even an alternative translation! And if anyone wishes to try the experiment out, let us know if it helps or inspires.
Hopefully this particular selection is appropriate for the Season. I know that for me, personally, I find it extremely difficult getting myself back into the grind after a vacation.
Proverb of the Week -
1: New Year's ResolutionsGo to the ant, you sluggard,
see its ways and get wisdom.
For she has no foreman,
no taskmaster nor ruler.
She readies her bread in summer,
stores up food at the harvest.
How long, O sluggard, will you lie there.
When will you rise from your sleep?
A bit more sleep, a bit more slumber,
a bit more lying with folded arms,
and your privation will come like a wayfarer,
your want like a shield-bearing man.
(Proverbs 6:11)
Notes:
11a - "wayfarer" is akin to a passing burglar
11b - "shield-bearing man" is similar, but increased to an armed passing burglar
For those interested in how Hebrew Poetry was structured, the two words in the Notes are an example of
semantic equivalence with
intensification. The idea of "wayfarer" is similar to "shield-bearing man", but the 2nd line intensifies the idea, rather than being exactly equivalent. This is only one example of how Biblical Poetry was structured.
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