Provérbios 29

Provérbios 29:18

VISION Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law. Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law. (Pr 29:18NIV) Amplified Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]—blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he. The Living Bible Where there is ignorance of God, crime runs wild; but what a wonderful thing it is for a nation to know and keep his laws. NEB Where there is no one in authority, the people break loose, but a guardian of the law keeps them on the straight path. Modern Language Where there is no vision the people run wild; but happy is he who keeps the law. REB With no one in authority, the people throw off all restraint, but he who keeps God’s law leads them on a straight path. MEV Where there is no vision, the people perish; but happy is he who keeps the teaching. BGT οὐ μὴ ὑπάρξῃ ἐξηγητὴς ἔθνει παρανόμῳ ὁ δὲ φυλάσσων τὸν νόμον μακαριστός KJV Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. NKJ Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law. NET When there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but the one who keeps the law, blessed is he! BBE Where there is no vision, the people are uncontrolled; but he who keeps the law will be happy. CSB Without revelation people run wild, but one who listens to instruction will be happy. ERV Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. ESV Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. GWN Without prophetic vision people run wild, but blessed are those who follow God's teachings. NAB Without prophecy the people become demoralized; but happy is he who keeps the law. NIV Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law. NJB Where there is no vision the people get out of hand; happy are they who keep the law. NLT When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful. NRS Where there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint, but happy are those who keep the law. YLT Without a Vision is a people made naked, And whoso is keeping the law, O his happiness! there: 1Sa 3:1 Ho 4:6 Am 8:11,12 Mt 9:36 Ro 10:13-15 are unrestrained or, is made naked, 2Ch 28:19 but: Pr 19:16 Ps 19:11 119:2 Lu 11:28 Joh 13:17 14:21-23 Jas 1:25 Rev 22:14 NO KING NO VISION NO RESTRAINT Proverbs 29:18 sounds a sobering message similar to the theme verse of Judges, Judges 21:25. Ironically as discussed below true meaning of this proverb is missed by many preachers of the Vision! Where there is no vision (chazown/chazon) - No in the Septuagint (see below) is the very strong double negative (ou me) signifying absolutely no vision at all! No vision as discussed in more depth below refers to no prophetic word from God to His people. NET NOTE on chazon "Heb “no vision.” The Hebrew word “vision” (from the verb חָזָה [khazah, “to see”]) refers to divine communication to prophets (as in 1 Sam 3:1) and not to individual goals or plans. C. H. Toy sees a problem here: The most calamitous period of Israel’s history was when prophetic vision was at its height, whereas people were often more obedient when God was silent. He also notes that in the book of Proverbs there is no mention of prophetic teaching with wisdom as a guide. So he emends the word to “guidance” following the LXX (Proverbs [ICC], 512). The TEV has “guidance”; the NIV retains “revelation.” It must be stated that the prophetic ministry was usually in response to the calamitous periods, calling the people back to God. Without them the downward rush to anarchy and destruction would have been faster than with these prophetic calls from God." The people are unrestrained (para') - Amplified = " the people perish," NET = "cast off restraint" MLV (Berkley) = "run wild," NEB = "break loose," TLB = "crime runs wild" (See illustration), NJB = "get out of hand" The KJV (and Amplified) rendering of Pr 29:18 that the people perish is somewhat misleading as it suggests that the writer is referring to eternal loss in the lake of fire, but that is not the actual meaning of the Hebrew word para' nor the Greek word in the Lxx, paranomos, which means acting contrary to the law or lawless. Thus to interpret this proverb as a call to evangelize the lost (as a number of commentaries and sermons suggest) so that they do not perish eternally is incorrect. If the KJV had been rendered "the people run wild", this evangelistic interpretation most likely would have been much less frequent. NET NOTE on unrestrained - The verb פָּרַע (para’) means “to let go; to let alone.” It occurs here in the Niphal with the meaning of “[the people] are let loose,” meaning, they cast off restraint (e.g., Exod 32:25). Cf. NLT “run wild.” Compare this scene to what happens when God is out of the picture in the life of individuals or nations (Jdg 21:25+ = "No King"!) The picture of Para' is of a people who are open and exposed to the subtle errors of deceptive doctrine (cp persuasive arguments Col 2:4+, Col 2:8+) which produces corrupt conduct ("out of control"). Belief always effects behavior and this case it births behavior without restraints which in essence equates with our English equivalent anarchy (derived from Greek anarchos = having no ruler <> an- negative = "no" + archos = ruler) and describes a state of lawlessness, an absence or denial of any authority and as a result an absence of order! THOUGHT - What is the point? Sound doctrine ("vision") that exalts God as Supreme (cp "King" in Jdg 21:25+) must not seek to tickle ears (2Ti 4:2+, 2Ti 4:3,4+) but must be boldly and uncompromisingly proclaimed by God's appointed and anointed prophets from the pulpits! Could this principle have anything to do with the fact that the modern church in America seems to be having so little "salt" and "light" effect (Mt 5:13-16+) on a decaying, devolving culture which has in effect "cast off all restraints"? Adam Clarke paraphrases Pr 29:18 this way "Where Divine revelation, and the faithful preaching of the sacred testimonies, are neither reverenced nor attended, the ruin of that land is at no great distance." THE STRIKING DIAMETRICAL DECLARATION Diametrical means the exact opposite, completely opposed. "The opposite direction." But (term of contrast - striking!) happy ('esher; Lxx = makarios = fully satisfied independent of the circumstances) is he who keeps (shamar; Lxx = phulasso = guards) the law - This proverb gives us God's way of a happy, blessed life. Believe it or not! If you do not believe it, your life is very unlikely to be blessed by Jehovah! You may experience some "happy times," but those times fade and so does your happiness, because "happy" depends on what happens! This clause sounds a lot like Psalm 1:1-3+ which says "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers." Do you see the "hinge word," the word that marks the dramatic change of direction in the psalm? I'm sure you saw it, because the word "but" sounds out almost like a military command "About face!" Face the opposite direction to the one described in Psalm 1:1. Face the Word, eat (meditate on) the Word, obey the Word, walk in the Word, walk by the guidance of the Word as the Holy Spirit uses the Holy Word to lead you on a holy walk, a walk by streams of living water! NET NOTE on keeps the law - The law here refers to Scripture, the concrete form of revelation. So the two halves of the verse provide the contrast: When there is no prophetic revelation there is chaos, but those who keep the revelation contained in scripture find blessing. NET NOTE on Blessed (Pr 29:18NET) or Happy - There is a tendency among commentators and English versions to translate אַשְׁרֵהוּ (’ashrehu) as “happy is he!” (cf. KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, TEV, NLT). But “happy” can be a misleading translation. The Hebrew word refers to a heavenly bliss, an inner joy, that comes from knowing one is right with God and experiencing His blessing. “Happiness,” on the other hand, depends on what happens! ILLUSTRATION OF TWISTING THE SCRIPTURE - Proverbs 29:18 is often misinterpreted as indicating that when one does not have a "clear vision" (or a dream), then one has nothing to live for and will perish for lack of a goal. This is clearly not the intended meaning of this passage and to use it from the pulpit for that purpose is to "wrongly" divide the Word of Truth! (2Ti 2:15+). I have personally heard of Pr 29:18 being preached this way (to support a personal "vision" and agenda), and I warned the brother who related this incident to me, encouraging him to speak to his pastor about the mishandling of the passage (cp Acts 20:30NLT+). Long story short, shortly after preaching this message (see 2Co 4:2+ - adulterating the Word of God) this pastor's "vision" ended with him being asked to leave the church, with the subsequent catastrophic result that there was a major "church split". This pastor survived about 3 years at the next stop but was finally openly confronted by the same brother I had admonished almost 3 years earlier, and this confrontation was again over mishandling of the Word of Truth! Old dogs don't usually learn new tricks! They practice the maxim that their personal "ends justify the means"! The elders subsequently asked him to leave the church. Another very well known pastor (whom I shall not mention) writes that Pr 29:18 teaches "We are to be… men and women of vision." Wrong! God gives the "vision". We are to hear and heed His "vision" and then we will be blessed. Here is what we are called to be "We are to be men and women of ONE BOOK!" Here's another example of an inaccurate interpretation of Pr 29:18 by John Phillips a commentator that I greatly admire. This quote emphasizes the point that every believer must continually be a Berean no matter how respected the source! Notice who the Bereans "checked out" and what "plumbline" with which they examined his teachings! (Read Acts 17:10, 11+) Eli had no spiritual vision (Ed: I agree with that statement in principle). The Bible says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Pr 29:18). That proverb was true then, and it is true today. It is a serious situation when Christians have no spiritual vision (Ed: While this may be true to a certain degree, that is not what Pr 29:18 is teaching!). Things are happening in our world that would make the angels weep, but some of us are so shortsighted or so preoccupied with personal matters that we cannot see other people's needs, even when they are brought to our attention. (See Exploring People of the Old Testament) A popular paraphrase (if you could call it that) is the Message which says "If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed." The problem with this rendering is that it seems to place emphasis on what God is doing in the world, not what God has already done in His Word and what He now instructs His people to do in that same Word. In short, this rendering leads people away from focusing on the Word and points them to what God is doing in the world. While there is nothing wrong with seeing what God is doing in the world (a sovereign God is ALWAYS doing something for EVERYTHING is in His control), our eyes need to first focus on His Word and then we can truly discern what He is doing in the world. John