Matthew C. Mitchell's Blog, page 108
November 17, 2014
Evil Listening
Our series towards a biblical definition of gossip moves on from the Hebrew words most often translated "gossip" to other phenomenon in the Old Testament we call "gossip" even when a technical term is not used. Today's post is about the first of four important and related concepts, along with exposition of key texts.
No Taste for Truth
Evil Listening. We encountered the importance of listening in Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22.The words of a gossiping person are very attractive to a listener but very harmful. Now we learn something more. The book of Proverbs warns not just of evil speech but of evil listening. For example, Proverbs 17:4 states, “A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.” Popular paraphrases see gossip in this verse. The NLT renders it, “Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; / liars pay close attention to slander.” The Message has “Evil people relish malicious conversation; the ears of liars itch for dirty gossip.”39
The important thing to grasp is that Proverbs 17:4 is saying that a certain kind of listening to evil speech is just as evil as saying it. Waltke summarizes, “The synonymous parallelism of v.4 underscores the startling truth that the one who listens to lies is himself a liar. . . . How one uses his lips and tongue is inseparably connected to that which he inclines his ears. Both the liar and his willing audience have no taste for truth.”40 Kidner adds, “Evil words die without a welcome; and the welcome gives us away.”41
Consequences for Evil Listening
The rest of the Old Testament bears this out. Listening is vitally important, and if we listen to the wrong people or in the wrong way, there will be disastrous consequences. Adam “listened” to his wife, and it resulted in the curse (Gen 3:17). Proverbs 29:12 says, “If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked.” Evil listening is contagious. Proverbs 25:26 says, “Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.” A compromise in listening will sully your soul.
Notes
[39] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: New Testament With Psalms and Proverbs (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1995), 900.
[40] Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 41.
[41] Derek Kidner, Proverbs, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971), 123.
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Gossip in the Old Testament
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Rakil"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Nirgan"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Lashon Seter"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Libo Yiqebbats Aven Lo Yetse Lahuts Yedabber"
No Taste for Truth
Evil Listening. We encountered the importance of listening in Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22.The words of a gossiping person are very attractive to a listener but very harmful. Now we learn something more. The book of Proverbs warns not just of evil speech but of evil listening. For example, Proverbs 17:4 states, “A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.” Popular paraphrases see gossip in this verse. The NLT renders it, “Wrongdoers eagerly listen to gossip; / liars pay close attention to slander.” The Message has “Evil people relish malicious conversation; the ears of liars itch for dirty gossip.”39
The important thing to grasp is that Proverbs 17:4 is saying that a certain kind of listening to evil speech is just as evil as saying it. Waltke summarizes, “The synonymous parallelism of v.4 underscores the startling truth that the one who listens to lies is himself a liar. . . . How one uses his lips and tongue is inseparably connected to that which he inclines his ears. Both the liar and his willing audience have no taste for truth.”40 Kidner adds, “Evil words die without a welcome; and the welcome gives us away.”41
Consequences for Evil Listening
The rest of the Old Testament bears this out. Listening is vitally important, and if we listen to the wrong people or in the wrong way, there will be disastrous consequences. Adam “listened” to his wife, and it resulted in the curse (Gen 3:17). Proverbs 29:12 says, “If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked.” Evil listening is contagious. Proverbs 25:26 says, “Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.” A compromise in listening will sully your soul.
Notes
[39] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: New Testament With Psalms and Proverbs (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1995), 900.
[40] Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 41.
[41] Derek Kidner, Proverbs, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971), 123.
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Gossip in the Old Testament
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Rakil"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Nirgan"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Lashon Seter"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Libo Yiqebbats Aven Lo Yetse Lahuts Yedabber"
November 16, 2014
November 15, 2014
November 14, 2014
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Libo Yiqebbats Aven Lo Yetse Lahuts Yedabber"
Our series continues towards a biblical definition of gossip, starting with a tour of the Old Testament and the Hebrew words most often translated "gossip."
Gathering Gossip and Spreading It
Libo Yiqebbats Aven Lo Yetse Lahuts Yedabber. “Gathering Gossip and Spreading It.” Psalm 41 is a plaintive song about experiencing the pain of gossip. King David seems to have experienced a debilitating illness, and some of his associates, instead of encouraging and supporting him, eagerly look for his downfall. “My enemies say of me in malice, ‘When will he die and his name perish?’” (Ps 41:5).
In verse 6 (verse 7 in Hebrew), David describes his enemies’ treacherous actions, “Whenever one comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it abroad.” The NLT reads, “They visit as if they are my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere.” The Hebrew for the gathering and spreading action of David’s two-faced enemies could be woodenly translated, “to their hearts they gather trouble/iniquity/wickedness/sorrow and going out from me they speak it.” Gossip, here, is gathering negative information about someone and then sharing it indiscriminately with others. Eugene Peterson’s The Message puts it into lively language, “If someone comes to see me, he mouths empty platitudes, / All the while gathering gossip about me to entertain the street-corner crowd.”37
Imagining the Worst and Publishing It
David has gotten word of what they are saying about him. “All my enemies whisper38 together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying, ‘A vile disease has beset him; he will never get up from the place where he lies’” (Ps 41:7-8). Gossip does not come from love, but from hate. It imagines the worst for its subject and publishes it abroad.
Gossip is treachery. David laments, “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me” (Ps 41:9). This prefigured the betrayal of great David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus (John 13:18-30).
The answer to this kind of gossip is faith in the LORD. “But you, O LORD, have mercy on me; raise me up, that I may repay them. I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me. In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever. Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen” (Ps 41:10-13).
Notes
[37] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: New Testament With Psalms and Proverbs (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1995), 708.
[38] This is a different Hebrew word for “whisper” than what we have seen already, but the effect is the same.
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Gossip in the Old Testament
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Rakil"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Nirgan"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Lashon Seter"
Gathering Gossip and Spreading It
Libo Yiqebbats Aven Lo Yetse Lahuts Yedabber. “Gathering Gossip and Spreading It.” Psalm 41 is a plaintive song about experiencing the pain of gossip. King David seems to have experienced a debilitating illness, and some of his associates, instead of encouraging and supporting him, eagerly look for his downfall. “My enemies say of me in malice, ‘When will he die and his name perish?’” (Ps 41:5).
In verse 6 (verse 7 in Hebrew), David describes his enemies’ treacherous actions, “Whenever one comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander; then he goes out and spreads it abroad.” The NLT reads, “They visit as if they are my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere.” The Hebrew for the gathering and spreading action of David’s two-faced enemies could be woodenly translated, “to their hearts they gather trouble/iniquity/wickedness/sorrow and going out from me they speak it.” Gossip, here, is gathering negative information about someone and then sharing it indiscriminately with others. Eugene Peterson’s The Message puts it into lively language, “If someone comes to see me, he mouths empty platitudes, / All the while gathering gossip about me to entertain the street-corner crowd.”37
Imagining the Worst and Publishing It
David has gotten word of what they are saying about him. “All my enemies whisper38 together against me; they imagine the worst for me, saying, ‘A vile disease has beset him; he will never get up from the place where he lies’” (Ps 41:7-8). Gossip does not come from love, but from hate. It imagines the worst for its subject and publishes it abroad.
Gossip is treachery. David laments, “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me” (Ps 41:9). This prefigured the betrayal of great David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus (John 13:18-30).
The answer to this kind of gossip is faith in the LORD. “But you, O LORD, have mercy on me; raise me up, that I may repay them. I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me. In my integrity you uphold me and set me in your presence forever. Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen” (Ps 41:10-13).
Notes
[37] Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: New Testament With Psalms and Proverbs (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1995), 708.
[38] This is a different Hebrew word for “whisper” than what we have seen already, but the effect is the same.
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Gossip in the Old Testament
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Rakil"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Nirgan"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Lashon Seter"
November 13, 2014
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Lashon Seter"
We are working towards a biblical definition of gossip, starting with a tour of the Old Testament and the Hebrew words most often translated "gossip." First was
rakil
, the spy. Second was
nirgan
, the grumbling whisperer.
A Tongue of Secrecy
Lashon Seter. Modern paraphrases use the English word “gossip” in a few places where neither rakil nor nirgan is present. Proverbs 25:23 says, “As a north wind brings rain, so a sly tongue brings angry looks.” The NLT glosses, “As surely as a wind from the north brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger!” The Message offers, “A north wind brings stormy weather, / and a gossipy tongue stormy looks.”30 The Hebrew phrase is: lashon seter. Lashon means “tongue.”31 Seter means “covering, hiding-place, secrecy.”32 Put together, they refer to “a tongue of secrecy.” The offending speech is hidden, sly, furtive, stealthy.
Waltke suggests that the rest of the proverb emphasizes this secretive, and therefore unexpected, aspect. He argues that, in Israel, the north wind generally did not bring rain. “The point of comparison is precisely that rain from a north wind is hidden and so unexpected. Hidden slander, like rain from a north wind, brings unexpected damage.”33 Further, Waltke says, “Secret speech by nature is malevolent; were it otherwise, why hide it? The damaging effects of the secret speech/curse, which is written all over the face of the victim, assumes that its unsuspecting target suddenly ‘gets wind’ of its circulation.”34
Rid the Kingdom of The Sly Tongues
The phrase lashon seter appears also in Psalm 101 where David vows to exclude unrighteous people from his household, city, and kingdom. He says, “Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,35 him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure” (Ps 101:4-5).
King David’s plan is to rid his administration of malicious gossipers. Charles Spurgeon writes, “He had known so bitterly the miseries caused by slanderers that he intended to deal severely with such vipers when he came into power, not to revenge his own ills, but to prevent others from suffering as he had done.”36
The word lashon is used as a verb again in Proverbs 30:10 but without the slyness of seter, “Do not slander [lashon] a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will pay for it.” It is not clear if this is gossip in the clandestine sense, but it does demonstrate again the power of the tongue and its evil effects. Malicious speech upsets the order of things and has inevitable injurious consequences.
Notes
30 Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: New Testament With Psalms and Proverbs (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1995), 923.
31 BDB 546.
32 BDB 712.
33 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 333.
34 Ibid.
35 Lashon is used here as a verb, more literally, “he that secretly tongues his neighbor.”
36 Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: An Expository and Devotional Commentary on the Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978), 5:406.
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Gossip in the Old Testament
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Rakil"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Nirgan"
A Tongue of Secrecy
Lashon Seter. Modern paraphrases use the English word “gossip” in a few places where neither rakil nor nirgan is present. Proverbs 25:23 says, “As a north wind brings rain, so a sly tongue brings angry looks.” The NLT glosses, “As surely as a wind from the north brings rain, so a gossiping tongue causes anger!” The Message offers, “A north wind brings stormy weather, / and a gossipy tongue stormy looks.”30 The Hebrew phrase is: lashon seter. Lashon means “tongue.”31 Seter means “covering, hiding-place, secrecy.”32 Put together, they refer to “a tongue of secrecy.” The offending speech is hidden, sly, furtive, stealthy.
Waltke suggests that the rest of the proverb emphasizes this secretive, and therefore unexpected, aspect. He argues that, in Israel, the north wind generally did not bring rain. “The point of comparison is precisely that rain from a north wind is hidden and so unexpected. Hidden slander, like rain from a north wind, brings unexpected damage.”33 Further, Waltke says, “Secret speech by nature is malevolent; were it otherwise, why hide it? The damaging effects of the secret speech/curse, which is written all over the face of the victim, assumes that its unsuspecting target suddenly ‘gets wind’ of its circulation.”34
Rid the Kingdom of The Sly Tongues
The phrase lashon seter appears also in Psalm 101 where David vows to exclude unrighteous people from his household, city, and kingdom. He says, “Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret,35 him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure” (Ps 101:4-5).
King David’s plan is to rid his administration of malicious gossipers. Charles Spurgeon writes, “He had known so bitterly the miseries caused by slanderers that he intended to deal severely with such vipers when he came into power, not to revenge his own ills, but to prevent others from suffering as he had done.”36
The word lashon is used as a verb again in Proverbs 30:10 but without the slyness of seter, “Do not slander [lashon] a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will pay for it.” It is not clear if this is gossip in the clandestine sense, but it does demonstrate again the power of the tongue and its evil effects. Malicious speech upsets the order of things and has inevitable injurious consequences.
Notes
30 Eugene H. Peterson, The Message: New Testament With Psalms and Proverbs (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1995), 923.
31 BDB 546.
32 BDB 712.
33 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 333.
34 Ibid.
35 Lashon is used here as a verb, more literally, “he that secretly tongues his neighbor.”
36 Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: An Expository and Devotional Commentary on the Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978), 5:406.
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Gossip in the Old Testament
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Rakil"
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Nirgan"
November 12, 2014
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Nirgan"
We are working towards a biblical definition of gossip, starting with a tour of the Old Testament and the Hebrew words most often translated "gossip." First was
rakil
, the spy.
Whisperer
Nirgan. The second major Hebrew word translated “gossip” in the Old Testament is the niphal participle of ragan, “murmur, complain”12 and “whisper (maliciously), backbite, slander.”13 This root word is one of the words used to describe the evil grumblings of the people of Israel in their tents (Deut 1:27, Ps 106:25). It connotes complaint and criticism. The niphal participle nirgan is used substantively in its four appearances in the Proverbs so that, again, the action of gossip is localized in a person (16:28, 18:8, 26:22, 26:20). A nirgan is a gossip. Gary Smith explains, “It refers to murmuring about another person behind their back rather than openly complaining about their behavior.”14 The KJV uses the translation “whisperer” for nirgan in Proverbs 16:28 and 26:20 and “talebearer” in Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22.15 BDB offers the translation “backbiter.”16 The ESV uses “whisperer” in all four occurrences. “Whisperer” and “backbiter” emphasize the furtive, clandestine nature of this communication. The one being complained about is not present.
Divider
Proverbs 16:28 teaches, “A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip [nirgan] separates close friends.” Gossip disrupts community. Waltke helpfully observes,
The emphasis in Proverbs 16:27-28 is the damage done to relationships. A nirgan “separates close friends.” Proverbs 17:9 describes the same wrongdoing, “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” While the word nirgan does not appear, the harm effected is described in the exact same words. The parallelism suggests that the matter being repeated is an offense committed by a fellow community member. Sinful gossip is about someone’s shameful actions being repeated. Proverbs 17:9 suggests an opposite course of action: covering over an offense in love. Waltke describes this virtuous action, “The disciple restores a community threatened by wrong-doing by drawing a veil over another’s sin to win his friendship and by not repeating his failure to avoid alienation.”19 The Lord hates it when someone “stirs up dissension” among his people (Prov 6:16-19, cf. Prov 10:12, 15:18, 28:25, 29:22 and Ps 133 for a beautiful picture of dissension’s antithesis).
"A Delectable Contagion" Dispenser
Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22 are exactly the same, word for word:20“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.” Older translators thought that the word translated “choice morsels” in the NIV was from the Hebrew word halam for “smite, hammer, strike down”;21 thus the KJV has, “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” Though this translation makes sense of the destructive power of gossip, it is more likely that the word in question is the hithpael plural participle of laham: “things swallowed greedily,” “savory morsels,” “choice morsels,” or “delicious morsels.”22
While we are still learning about a person who is a nirgan, these two verses are actually about the words of the gossip. They are very attractive. Waltke summarizes them as “a delectable contagion.”23 Even though they are bad for you, these words are difficult to resist.
Fools eagerly devour the words of a gossip, and they have a deleterious effect on the listener, “they go down to a man’s inmost parts.” Waltke explains, “‘The innermost being’ represents the deepest and most complete stratum of a person’s psyche. Because slander so thoroughly penetrates a person’s thoughts and emotions, it remains indelibly imprinted and effective. Since gossip is so highly contagious because the human heart has no resistance to it, the wise quarantine it by not repeating it.”24 Some rich foods may make us sick to our stomachs, but gossip makes us sick in the heart. It defiles and poisons and corrupts.25
Remove the Nirgan
The nirgan appears, as well, in Proverbs 26:20, “Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.”26It is not clear from the NIV that the nirgan is a kind of person. The ESV is more literal, “For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.” Kidner comments, “It is the whisperer or quarreler himself, not (as he would claim) the truth, that feeds the fires; for his mind refashions facts into fuel.”27
The force of this proverb is communicated by painting a picture of peace. If the gossip is removed, the quarrel dies down like a fire burning out. Waltke says, “Without a person seeking to secure his will by attacking the rights of another, even the most bitter conflicts and old hurts calm down.”28 The key is to remove the gossiper. Charles Bridges urges, “We must remove the whisperer; stop him in his words; compel him to produce his authority; face him, if possible, with the subject of his tales. This decisive course will prevent a mass of slander and put him to shame.”29 Whether we run from the rakil or we remove the nirgan, peace is served when gossip is gone (Prov 22:10).
Notes
12 Gary V. Smith, “8087” NIDOTTE, 3:1053.
13 BDB 920.
14 Gary V. Smith, “8087” NIDOTTE, 3:1053.
15 This inconsistency in translation seems to have confused a number of commentators who when writing on Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22 seem to have assumed rakil as the underlying term.
16 BDB 920.
17 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 33.
18 Richard S. Hess, “4125” NIDOTTE, 2:713-16.
19 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 49-50.
20 This is not unusual in the Proverbs. While teaching the exact same truth, their unique placements flavor their respective contexts in different ways.
21 BDB 240.
22 Robert H. O’Connell, “4269” NIDOTTE, 2:766-67; P.J.J.S. Els, “4260” NIDOTTE, 2:760; Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 74; Derek Kidner, Proverbs, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971), 128. It must be noted, however, that the translators of the Septuagint assumed that it was “wounds,” as well.
23 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 73.
24 Ibid., 74.
25 For an enlightening (if not encouraging) survey of the sinfulness of sin and its nefarious effects, see Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995).
26 Proverbs 26:20 and 26:22 both include nirgan. The second half of chapter 26 contains many proverbs that pertain to speech.
27 Derek Kidner, Proverbs, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971), 164.
28 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 360.
29 Charles Bridges and George F. Santa, A Modern Study in the Book of Proverbs: Charles Bridges’ Classic Revised for Today’s Reader (Millford: Mott Media, 1978), 587.
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Gossip in the Old Testament
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Rakil"
Whisperer
Nirgan. The second major Hebrew word translated “gossip” in the Old Testament is the niphal participle of ragan, “murmur, complain”12 and “whisper (maliciously), backbite, slander.”13 This root word is one of the words used to describe the evil grumblings of the people of Israel in their tents (Deut 1:27, Ps 106:25). It connotes complaint and criticism. The niphal participle nirgan is used substantively in its four appearances in the Proverbs so that, again, the action of gossip is localized in a person (16:28, 18:8, 26:22, 26:20). A nirgan is a gossip. Gary Smith explains, “It refers to murmuring about another person behind their back rather than openly complaining about their behavior.”14 The KJV uses the translation “whisperer” for nirgan in Proverbs 16:28 and 26:20 and “talebearer” in Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22.15 BDB offers the translation “backbiter.”16 The ESV uses “whisperer” in all four occurrences. “Whisperer” and “backbiter” emphasize the furtive, clandestine nature of this communication. The one being complained about is not present.
Divider
Proverbs 16:28 teaches, “A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip [nirgan] separates close friends.” Gossip disrupts community. Waltke helpfully observes,
This synthetic proverb adds two more to the catalogue of malicious speakers: the perverse person and the perfidious slanderer. The former, who turns the moral order on its head, sets the whole community at loggerheads; the latter, who sullies another’s reputation behind his back, alienates his closest friend from himself and from others. Both types distort reality to put others in the worst light (cf. 6:19). The talebearer, however, escalates the social damage in that by sowing suspicion and promoting hostilities he looses the closest ties.17Grasping the near context for Proverbs 16:28 may be important. The preceding verse says, “A scoundrel plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire” (Prov 16:27). The word for “plot,” (koreh), literally means “to dig.”18 The New American Standard Bible (NASB) translates, “A worthless man digs up evil, / While his words are as a scorching fire” (see also the KJV). The New Living Translation (NLT) renders it, “Scoundrels hunt for scandal; their words are a destructive blaze.” The nirgan may be on the hunt for damaging information to pass along, and when he gets it, the burning of reputations will begin (cf. Jas 3:5-6).
The emphasis in Proverbs 16:27-28 is the damage done to relationships. A nirgan “separates close friends.” Proverbs 17:9 describes the same wrongdoing, “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” While the word nirgan does not appear, the harm effected is described in the exact same words. The parallelism suggests that the matter being repeated is an offense committed by a fellow community member. Sinful gossip is about someone’s shameful actions being repeated. Proverbs 17:9 suggests an opposite course of action: covering over an offense in love. Waltke describes this virtuous action, “The disciple restores a community threatened by wrong-doing by drawing a veil over another’s sin to win his friendship and by not repeating his failure to avoid alienation.”19 The Lord hates it when someone “stirs up dissension” among his people (Prov 6:16-19, cf. Prov 10:12, 15:18, 28:25, 29:22 and Ps 133 for a beautiful picture of dissension’s antithesis).
"A Delectable Contagion" Dispenser
Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22 are exactly the same, word for word:20“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.” Older translators thought that the word translated “choice morsels” in the NIV was from the Hebrew word halam for “smite, hammer, strike down”;21 thus the KJV has, “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” Though this translation makes sense of the destructive power of gossip, it is more likely that the word in question is the hithpael plural participle of laham: “things swallowed greedily,” “savory morsels,” “choice morsels,” or “delicious morsels.”22
While we are still learning about a person who is a nirgan, these two verses are actually about the words of the gossip. They are very attractive. Waltke summarizes them as “a delectable contagion.”23 Even though they are bad for you, these words are difficult to resist.
Fools eagerly devour the words of a gossip, and they have a deleterious effect on the listener, “they go down to a man’s inmost parts.” Waltke explains, “‘The innermost being’ represents the deepest and most complete stratum of a person’s psyche. Because slander so thoroughly penetrates a person’s thoughts and emotions, it remains indelibly imprinted and effective. Since gossip is so highly contagious because the human heart has no resistance to it, the wise quarantine it by not repeating it.”24 Some rich foods may make us sick to our stomachs, but gossip makes us sick in the heart. It defiles and poisons and corrupts.25
Remove the Nirgan
The nirgan appears, as well, in Proverbs 26:20, “Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.”26It is not clear from the NIV that the nirgan is a kind of person. The ESV is more literal, “For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.” Kidner comments, “It is the whisperer or quarreler himself, not (as he would claim) the truth, that feeds the fires; for his mind refashions facts into fuel.”27
The force of this proverb is communicated by painting a picture of peace. If the gossip is removed, the quarrel dies down like a fire burning out. Waltke says, “Without a person seeking to secure his will by attacking the rights of another, even the most bitter conflicts and old hurts calm down.”28 The key is to remove the gossiper. Charles Bridges urges, “We must remove the whisperer; stop him in his words; compel him to produce his authority; face him, if possible, with the subject of his tales. This decisive course will prevent a mass of slander and put him to shame.”29 Whether we run from the rakil or we remove the nirgan, peace is served when gossip is gone (Prov 22:10).
Notes
12 Gary V. Smith, “8087” NIDOTTE, 3:1053.
13 BDB 920.
14 Gary V. Smith, “8087” NIDOTTE, 3:1053.
15 This inconsistency in translation seems to have confused a number of commentators who when writing on Proverbs 18:8 and 26:22 seem to have assumed rakil as the underlying term.
16 BDB 920.
17 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 33.
18 Richard S. Hess, “4125” NIDOTTE, 2:713-16.
19 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 49-50.
20 This is not unusual in the Proverbs. While teaching the exact same truth, their unique placements flavor their respective contexts in different ways.
21 BDB 240.
22 Robert H. O’Connell, “4269” NIDOTTE, 2:766-67; P.J.J.S. Els, “4260” NIDOTTE, 2:760; Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 74; Derek Kidner, Proverbs, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971), 128. It must be noted, however, that the translators of the Septuagint assumed that it was “wounds,” as well.
23 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 73.
24 Ibid., 74.
25 For an enlightening (if not encouraging) survey of the sinfulness of sin and its nefarious effects, see Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995).
26 Proverbs 26:20 and 26:22 both include nirgan. The second half of chapter 26 contains many proverbs that pertain to speech.
27 Derek Kidner, Proverbs, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971), 164.
28 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 360.
29 Charles Bridges and George F. Santa, A Modern Study in the Book of Proverbs: Charles Bridges’ Classic Revised for Today’s Reader (Millford: Mott Media, 1978), 587.
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Gossip in the Old Testament
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Rakil"
November 11, 2014
Hebrew Words for Gossip: "Rakil"
We are working towards a biblical definition of gossip, starting with a tour of the Old Testament and the Hebrew words most often translated "gossip."
The Spy
Rakil and Ragal. The first word is (rakil) which Robert O’Connell defines as “peddler, huckster, hawker, deceiver, slanderer, defamer (?)”1 The origin of this word is uncertain, though it likely comes from a verb form (rakal), which probably means “go about, from one to another (for trade or gossip).”2 Scholars also connect it with the similar word (ragal) “to go about” or “make traveled, explored, spied out, exposed, defamed.”3 Rakil is used six times in the Old Testament, five times in conjunction with the verb (halak) which also has travel connotations. O’Connell says this “may allude to the reputation of the rakil as a deceptive door-to-door peddler/hawker.”4 It seems that this person has something to trade, perhaps secrets. BDB defines rakil as “tale-bearer, informer,” the King James Version (KJV) consistently translates it “talebearer,” and the English Standard Version (ESV) consistently translates it “whoever goes about slandering.”
Revealing Secrets
When the rakil appears in the Proverbs, he is revealing secrets. The first occurrence is Proverbs 11:13, “A gossip [rakil] betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.” Keeping a confidence is not a matter of indifference. Revealing a secret is not innocent and harmless. Derek Kidner writes of rakil, “Other Old Testament references to the talebearer (apart from the indeterminate 20:19) portray him as malicious rather than indiscreet; he is an informer, out to hurt.”5 Of Proverbs 11:13, Bruce Waltke points out, “The antithesis between the verses is imprecise, suggesting that the slanderer is disloyal and that the loyal do not slander. A person who reveals secrets cannot be trusted.”6
Forbidden
The warning in Proverbs is not novel. God had already forbidden being a rakil. In Leviticus 19, a chapter about harmonious and loving relationships among the people of God, the LORD commands, “Do not go about spreading slander [rakil] among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD” (Lev 19:16). The KJV translates, “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.”7 R. K. Harrison says, “People who spread malicious gossip come under the condemnation of this legislation, as do those who stand by idly or indifferently, not wishing to become involved when the life . . . of a neighbour is in danger. These straightforward humanitarian provisions were by no means always observed in Near Eastern society, or even among the Israelites.”8
Indeed. In fact, Israel often transgressed this command, and it led (among their other sins) to their judgment and exile. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel use rakil in their denunciations of the thorough wickedness of Israel (Jer 6:28, 9:4, Ezek 22:9). Gossip, in the sense of rakil, is clearly not neutral. It is evil.
A Failure to Love
Conversely, to refuse to live like a rakil is to be commended. In Psalm 15, David asks what kind of person can live with a holy God and answers his question with a series of virtuous qualities to which true worshipers should aspire. In his list, David uses the verb form ragal, “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman” (Ps 15:2-3). The KJV says, “He that backbiteth not with his tongue.” Kidner adds, “The word for slander has a background of ‘going around’, to spy things out or spread them abroad. . . . It seems nearer scandal than slander.”9 The ideal Israelite lives out the Law’s requirement to love his neighbor and will be rewarded. He will live with God in his temple and “never be shaken” (Ps 15:5).
Not so the rakil. He should be avoided at all costs. Proverbs 20:19 teaches, “A gossip [rakil] betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.” Kidner concisely quips, “The point of the first line is that it may be your secrets next.”10 Proverbs 20:19 is similar to 11:13 in that the rakil is revealing secrets, but where 11:13 exhibited antithetical parallelism so that the gossip is compared to a trustworthy man, 20:19 exhibits synonymous parallelism–the rakil is like a man who talks too much, a chatterer, “one who handles words in a careless, not thoughtful and unguarded way. . . . Although gossiping may be compulsive and careless, not a malicious calumny, idle speech springs from the immoral flaw of unfaithfulness. . . . The gossip lacks wisdom because he lacks love.”11
Next: nirgan.
Notes
1 Robert H. O’Connell, “8215,” NIDOTTE, 3:1114-15. The question mark is in the original.
2 BDB 940.
3 Robert H. O’Connell, “8215,” NIDOTTE, 3:1114. See also BDB 920 and 940.
4 Robert H. O’Connell, “8215,” NIDOTTE, 3:1114-15.
5 Derek Kidner, Proverbs, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971), 91.
6 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1-15, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004), 494.
7 This subsection of Leviticus ends with “Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD” (Lev 19:18). Refraining from being a rakil is neighbor-love which the Lord Jesus told us is part of the greatest commandment in the Law (Matt 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-33, and Luke 10:25-37).
8 R. K. Harrison, Leviticus: An Introduction and Commentary, TOTC 3 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1980), 198.
9 Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72: An Introduction and Commentary, TOTC 14a (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), 81.
10 Derek Kidner, Proverbs, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971), 139.
11 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 148. For more about revealing confidences, see Proverbs 25:9-10, “If you argue your case with a neighbor, do not betray another man’s confidence, or he who hears it may shame you and you will never lose your bad reputation.” It is more important to keep faith with someone than to win your case in court.
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Gossip in the Old Testament
The Spy
Rakil and Ragal. The first word is (rakil) which Robert O’Connell defines as “peddler, huckster, hawker, deceiver, slanderer, defamer (?)”1 The origin of this word is uncertain, though it likely comes from a verb form (rakal), which probably means “go about, from one to another (for trade or gossip).”2 Scholars also connect it with the similar word (ragal) “to go about” or “make traveled, explored, spied out, exposed, defamed.”3 Rakil is used six times in the Old Testament, five times in conjunction with the verb (halak) which also has travel connotations. O’Connell says this “may allude to the reputation of the rakil as a deceptive door-to-door peddler/hawker.”4 It seems that this person has something to trade, perhaps secrets. BDB defines rakil as “tale-bearer, informer,” the King James Version (KJV) consistently translates it “talebearer,” and the English Standard Version (ESV) consistently translates it “whoever goes about slandering.”
Revealing Secrets
When the rakil appears in the Proverbs, he is revealing secrets. The first occurrence is Proverbs 11:13, “A gossip [rakil] betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.” Keeping a confidence is not a matter of indifference. Revealing a secret is not innocent and harmless. Derek Kidner writes of rakil, “Other Old Testament references to the talebearer (apart from the indeterminate 20:19) portray him as malicious rather than indiscreet; he is an informer, out to hurt.”5 Of Proverbs 11:13, Bruce Waltke points out, “The antithesis between the verses is imprecise, suggesting that the slanderer is disloyal and that the loyal do not slander. A person who reveals secrets cannot be trusted.”6
Forbidden
The warning in Proverbs is not novel. God had already forbidden being a rakil. In Leviticus 19, a chapter about harmonious and loving relationships among the people of God, the LORD commands, “Do not go about spreading slander [rakil] among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the LORD” (Lev 19:16). The KJV translates, “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.”7 R. K. Harrison says, “People who spread malicious gossip come under the condemnation of this legislation, as do those who stand by idly or indifferently, not wishing to become involved when the life . . . of a neighbour is in danger. These straightforward humanitarian provisions were by no means always observed in Near Eastern society, or even among the Israelites.”8
Indeed. In fact, Israel often transgressed this command, and it led (among their other sins) to their judgment and exile. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel use rakil in their denunciations of the thorough wickedness of Israel (Jer 6:28, 9:4, Ezek 22:9). Gossip, in the sense of rakil, is clearly not neutral. It is evil.
A Failure to Love
Conversely, to refuse to live like a rakil is to be commended. In Psalm 15, David asks what kind of person can live with a holy God and answers his question with a series of virtuous qualities to which true worshipers should aspire. In his list, David uses the verb form ragal, “He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman” (Ps 15:2-3). The KJV says, “He that backbiteth not with his tongue.” Kidner adds, “The word for slander has a background of ‘going around’, to spy things out or spread them abroad. . . . It seems nearer scandal than slander.”9 The ideal Israelite lives out the Law’s requirement to love his neighbor and will be rewarded. He will live with God in his temple and “never be shaken” (Ps 15:5).
Not so the rakil. He should be avoided at all costs. Proverbs 20:19 teaches, “A gossip [rakil] betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.” Kidner concisely quips, “The point of the first line is that it may be your secrets next.”10 Proverbs 20:19 is similar to 11:13 in that the rakil is revealing secrets, but where 11:13 exhibited antithetical parallelism so that the gossip is compared to a trustworthy man, 20:19 exhibits synonymous parallelism–the rakil is like a man who talks too much, a chatterer, “one who handles words in a careless, not thoughtful and unguarded way. . . . Although gossiping may be compulsive and careless, not a malicious calumny, idle speech springs from the immoral flaw of unfaithfulness. . . . The gossip lacks wisdom because he lacks love.”11
Next: nirgan.
Notes
1 Robert H. O’Connell, “8215,” NIDOTTE, 3:1114-15. The question mark is in the original.
2 BDB 940.
3 Robert H. O’Connell, “8215,” NIDOTTE, 3:1114. See also BDB 920 and 940.
4 Robert H. O’Connell, “8215,” NIDOTTE, 3:1114-15.
5 Derek Kidner, Proverbs, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971), 91.
6 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1-15, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004), 494.
7 This subsection of Leviticus ends with “Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD” (Lev 19:18). Refraining from being a rakil is neighbor-love which the Lord Jesus told us is part of the greatest commandment in the Law (Matt 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-33, and Luke 10:25-37).
8 R. K. Harrison, Leviticus: An Introduction and Commentary, TOTC 3 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1980), 198.
9 Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72: An Introduction and Commentary, TOTC 14a (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973), 81.
10 Derek Kidner, Proverbs, TOTC 15 (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971), 139.
11 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2005), 148. For more about revealing confidences, see Proverbs 25:9-10, “If you argue your case with a neighbor, do not betray another man’s confidence, or he who hears it may shame you and you will never lose your bad reputation.” It is more important to keep faith with someone than to win your case in court.
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Gossip in the Old Testament
November 10, 2014
Deadly Joking
"Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrowsis a man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I was only joking!"
- Proverbs 26:18-19 (NIV 1984)
Gossip in the Old Testament
The first stop in our tour of the Bible is to see what the Old Testament says about gossip.
Hebrew Words Translated “Gossip” and Exposition of Their Occurrences
There are two major Hebrew words that are translated “gossip” in modern English Bibles and two other Hebrew expressions that are sometimes paraphrased as “gossip.” Interestingly, in the Old Testament, the words for “gossip” actually refer to the speaker not to the content of the speech. Proverbs is especially interested in warning readers about various categories of dangerous people that they will encounter in life–the sluggard, the wayward wife, the angry man, the fool, and the gossip.
In our next post, we will learn about the first word: rakil.
***
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
Hebrew Words Translated “Gossip” and Exposition of Their Occurrences
There are two major Hebrew words that are translated “gossip” in modern English Bibles and two other Hebrew expressions that are sometimes paraphrased as “gossip.” Interestingly, in the Old Testament, the words for “gossip” actually refer to the speaker not to the content of the speech. Proverbs is especially interested in warning readers about various categories of dangerous people that they will encounter in life–the sluggard, the wayward wife, the angry man, the fool, and the gossip.
In our next post, we will learn about the first word: rakil.
***
Previous Posts in "Toward a Definition of Gossip"
New Blog Series: Toward a Definition of Gossip
November 9, 2014
[Matt's Messages] "Father Abraham"
“Father Abraham”All Roads Lead to Romans
November 9, 2014 :: Romans 3:27-4:25
I have an audacious goal for today’s sermon. I want to get all the way through chapter 4! We haven’t quite finished chapter 3 yet, but I want to try to not only complete that but to make it all the way through the fourth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Here’s why. 3:27 through 4:25 is really all about the same thing. It’s the next step in Paul’s argument. In his thought process, it’s all really one thing.
In 3:27-31, Paul is going to make some statements about the gospel, and then he’s going to illustrate, defend, and apply those statements in chapter 4 using the example of Abraham.
Remember Abraham? How many were here in 2003 when I preached all the way through the book of Genesis? How important was Abraham back then in that book?
Well, it turns out that Abraham is one of those “roads that lead to Romans.”
And Paul is going to say today that he is “Father Abraham.” Not just because he is the father of the Hebrew race, but because Abraham is the father of...faith.
We’re going to learn some lessons about faith from Father Abraham this morning.
Last week, we hit the highest point in Paul’s explanation of the gospel of grace.
Paul explained to us in amazing terms how God has solved our righteousness problem–how we who believe on Jesus are now justified–declared righteous.
Remember all those righteousness words?
God solved our righteousness problem, which solves our wrath problem[!], by presenting Jesus as a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins and redeeming us, purchasing our freedom. And He did this as a gift. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
And God’s answer to our righteousness problem was also the answer to His righteousness problem. Because He, in His forbearance had left sins of believers before the cross unpunished.
But God is not unrighteous. Jesus’ sacrifice paid for those sins, as well, so that God is both just (righteous) and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus.
That’s the gospel, friends, and it’s best news in all the world.
So...in verse 27, Paul begins to both apply and defend his gospel.
Paul doesn’t end Romans in 3:26. He has a lot more to say about how that gospel works out in real life (especially between believers in conflict with one another) and how it’s true even though there are many objections raised against it.
He begins with implications of the gospel for boasting. 3:27
“Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
“Where, then, is boasting?”
Paul’s saying, if this gospel is true (and it is) then where does that leave our feelings of moral superiority?
Because we all have them. Especially those who have the Law, the Jews.
“Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded.”
No one can boast under this gospel. No one but God.
How come? What law is at work, what principle?
The law of works? No, the law of faith.
In other words, faith is the operative, driving, central idea in this gospel, and if faith is the operative, driving, central idea, then there is nothing for a believer to boast in.
What Paul says in 3:28 is his main point:
“For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
Do you believe that?
That a believer is righteous before God apart from their doing what the Law commands?
That a believer is right with God apart from being good and doing good?
That a believer is declared righteous apart from doing the works of the law?
That’s what Paul has argued, and that’s what Paul intends to defend. V.29
“Is God the God of Jews only? [They’re the ones with the Law.] Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.”
Do you see how Paul argues? He says that there is only one God. That’s like the first thing that any Jew ever learns. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deut. 6:4).
And if there is only one God, then He is the God of both the Jews and the Gentiles.
Those who have the Law and those who do not. Those who are circumcised and those are not circumcised but have faith in Jesus.
V.28, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
By faith alone.
So, someone will ask, what does that do to the Law then? V.31
“Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.”
“Are you saying, Paul, that the Law is null and void and useless?”
“No, no, no. May Genoita! May it never be. No, the Law, properly understood and applied has lots of use. I’ll show you later how. But keeping the law os not how anyone gets justified.”
“For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
Do you see how Paul is insisting on this?
It is so important!
Now, in chapter 4, Paul illustrates and further defends this idea by using the example of Father Abraham. Chapter 4, verse 1.
“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about–but not before God. What does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”
Do you see how Paul is making his point?
He uses that word “boasting” again. If Abraham was justified by works of the law then he had something to boast about.
Did Abraham have anything to boast about?
Paul says, “Not before God!”
And he takes us back to Genesis chapter 15, verse 6.
“What does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”
Do you remember that passage? I know it’s been a long time since we were in Genesis together, 11 years, but I made a lot of fuss over that verse at the time. It’s one of the roads that leads to Romans.
Paul reaches back in his mind through his Old Testament to show how the Father of the Jews was reckoned as righteous, and it wasn’t because Abraham obeyed the law. It wasn’t because he had done all that God had commanded.
The Bible said that Abraham was reckoned to be righteous because he believed God’s promise.
Genesis 15:6, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Now, Paul is going to repeat those phrases again and again. They are really important.
This, by the way, is the first place where faith is mentioned in the Bible. Genesis 15:6. Not that people didn’t have faith before Abraham, but it’s the first place that it’s called that in the Bible. “Abraham believed God, and it was credited [reckoned, counted] to him as righteousness.” There’s our dikaiosunay again. V.4
“Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.”
If you and I agree on a job for me to do and how much I’ll get paid, and I do it, you don’t say, “Hey, great job. I think I’ll give you out of the goodness of my heart what we agreed upon as your wages.”
“Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.” v.5
“However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
And Paul is saying, “That’s what happened with Father Abraham!”
He didn’t do all the works of the Law. He merely believed in God’s promise. Even though Abraham was wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Do you see how potentially scandalous this is?
Simply believe, and God will declare someone who is wicked to be righteous?
Paul says, put yourself in the shoes of someone wicked like that who realizes that they are now justified. V.6
“David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.’”
That’s not Genesis. That’s Psalms. Psalm 32.
King David whom we know was not a perfectly righteous man. He had been at times downright wicked.
But David knew the blessings of being justified. “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
Really?
Don’t you have to be Jewish to be righteous? Don’t you have to be circumcised to be forgiven? Don’t have you have to have the Law? V.9
“Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before?”
What’s the answer to that one?
Anybody know? First, why does it matter?
Well, circumcision was the mark in the body of a Jewish man that he belonged to God and was under the law of God.
And the chronology matters. If Abraham was circumcised before he was justified, then maybe that’s a pattern for everybody. But if he was justified before he was circumcised. If he had faith first, then maybe that’s a pattern for everybody.
Which was it?
In what chapter was Abraham circumcised? Genesis chapter, what?
Seventeen.
In what chapter did Abraham believe God and it was credited to him as righteousness? Chapter 15. V.10
“It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. [That’s the Gentiles, that’s us, friends!] And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
Father Abraham!
Father of the Jews. And Father of the Gentiles who have faith.
3:28 “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
And Father Abraham’s life proves it. V.13
“It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.”
Did Abraham have the law? Even after he was circumcised, he didn’t have the Torah! He had commands from God, but not “the Law.”
What Abraham had was the promises. We called them back in Genesis, “The Abrahamic Covenant.”
What were the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant?
Offspring, Land, and Blessing.
Paul lumps them together in verse 13 as Abraham being promised to be “heir of the world.”
I love that!
And he asks, do you get to be heirs of the world by law-keeping? V.14
“For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.”
I think that’s a “no.” You don’t get to be heirs of the world by law-keeping.
Because no one keeps the law the way they should and an unkept law brings wrath. Those who have the law are more accountable. They not only sin, they transgress the law. So law-keeping is good whenever it occurs but it is never saving only condemning because it never occurs the way it should.
Law is not the way to justification.
3:28! “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
That’s how it was for Abraham, and it’s how it will be for Abraham’s true children. V.16
“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace [a gift!] and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring–[he loves that word “all”] not only to those who are of the law [Jews] but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ [Genesis 15:5]”
Father Abraham.
When I was a kid, we used to sing, “Father Abraham had many son, many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you. So let’s all praise the Lord!”
And when I got a little older, I came to think that that just wasn’t true.
I’m not Jewish!
I don’t have the Law. I’m not ritually circumcised. I’m not from the twelve tribes.
Abraham is not my father.
But Paul says, “Oh yes, he is. If you believe in Jesus.”
“Abraham is the father of us all” who believe.
3:28! “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
Just like Father Abraham.
So, what is faith?
Because all of a sudden, it seems really important.
Before, you might have thought that works were really important. Obeying God’s commands (always a good thing) is really important. Finding out what God requires and doing that seemed really important.
But now, it’s becoming obvious that faith is really really important.
What is faith?
Well, we can tell by look at Abraham.
First, faith focuses on God. V.17
“He [Abraham] is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed–the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”
Faith focuses, not on what we can do, but on what God can do.
Some people call themselves believers, but what they really are is do-ers. They like to accomplish things for God. They are religious.
But faith focuses, not on what we can do, but on what God has done and will do.
Abraham believed that God could give life to the dead and call things that are not as thought they were...like baby Isaac! V.18
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed [he and faith] and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ [Remember how Abraham was promised offspring, and how unlikely it seemed? Why? Because Abraham was an old man. But He knew he had a powerful God. V.19] Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah's womb was also dead.”
Here’s number two. Faith faces facts.
Faith does not discount the hard facts. It does not pretend there are not almost overwhelming difficulties in life. Abraham faces the fact that he was an old geezer who shouldn’t by any natural process be a Daddy.
And even more Sarah shouldn’t be a mommy.
He had his eyes wide open.
But, #3. Faith takes God at His word.
Abraham knew that there were more facts in the world than he and his wife’s nearly dead old bodies.
He knew God’s promises. V.20
“Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God,”
Faith takes God at His Word. Faith soldiers on.
Faith believes that God always keeps His promises. No matter what. And that brings glory to God. V.20 again.
“Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
Faith gives glory to God.
You see, when we trust in works, then we get the glory.
But when we trust in God’s work, then He gets the glory.
And God is unswervingly committed to getting His glory!
So Father Abraham gave God the glory, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. V.22
“This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness.’”
Because that’s what faith leads to.
Faith leads to life.
True faith in God’s promises always is credited to the believer as righteousness.
That’s how it’s always worked. That’s how it was before the Law.
That’s how it was for Father Abraham.
And that’s how it is for us. V.23
“The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
Paul has proved his point from 3:28.
“For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
That’s how it worked for Abraham.
And that’s how it works for us who are Abraham’s children.
For all who believe in Jesus.
Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our being declared righteous, our justification.
Isn’t that glorious?
Now, let me give you three words of application from all of this glorious truth.
Three words.
#1. BOASTING.
What does this gospel say about boasting?
It is excluded. Abraham didn’t have anything to boast about before God.
And neither do we.
So, why do we?
This gospel obliterates our boasting. It obliterates our moral superiority.
It should end our judgmentalism.
Remember, there are two groups of Christians in Rome, and they are having trouble getting along.
Did you ever know two groups of Christians to not get along?
I’m sure that one group thought that they were better than the other. Probably both groups thought that they were better than the other.
But Paul says that boasting is excluded.
What should that do to these fighting Christians?
It should bring them together.
What about you and me? Where are we tempted to think more highly of ourselves and our works than others?
I think a lot of that goes on over social media. We love to rail against those idiots who do such stupid things and believe such stupid things.
And we point our digital fingers at them and look down our technological noses.
“I would never do that.”
“Those people are so worthless.”
“I do good things. Look at me.”
“Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded.”
#2. BELIEVING.
Not boasting, but believing.
This whole chapter is a call to faith.
It’s a call to believe like our Father Abraham did.
To focus on God and what He can do.
To face the facts, but not just the hard facts in the room, but the facts you can’t see, the facts of who God is.
To take God at His word and believe what He has promised. No matter what.
To give God the glory.
To believe God and have it credited to us as righteousnesss.
Because Jesus “was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
Believing.
Are you believing? Do you have faith?
Now, don’t get me or Paul wrong. That faith will work itself out in genuine transformation. The faith alone that saves is never alone. It always issues into good works.
But it’s faith alone that connects us to God’s justifying grace.
It’s only our trusting in what Jesus did for us that connects us to the righteousness we need.
“For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
Believing.
Don’t stop believing. Even if it seems like you’re about dead and so is the womb of your wife. Believe the promises of God.
Believe in Jesus.
And #3. BLESSING.
That’s what was promised to Abraham. To be “the heir of the world!”
Offspring, Land, and Blessing.
And what a blessing it is to be justified.
To not have your sins counted against you.
But to have righteousness of Christ counted for you.
Rejoice with Father Abraham, and with Paul, and with King David in verses 6-8.
“David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.’”
Blessings!
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.
***
Messages in this Series
01. All Roads Lead to Romans
02. I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel
03. The Bad News
04. Hope for Holy Sexuality
05. The Even Worse News
06. The Worst News
07. Justified08. Father Abraham
