As a mad man who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death,
As a madman who casteth firebrands, Arrows, and death,
As one pretending to be feeble, Who is casting sparks, arrows, and death,
As a madman who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death,
Proverbs — Gnomic wisdom — sayings, instructions, and the binary of wisdom vs. folly. Fear of the LORD as the integrative theme; the virtuous woman of Prov 31 as the book's closing portrait of wisdom embodied.
Voices2
As a mad man, who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death. Or the instruments of death, as Aben Ezra; or the sharp arrows of death, as the Targum and Syriac version; who casts firebrands into the houses and barns of his neighbours, to consume them; or arrows at their persons and cattle, to destroy them; or any other instruments of death, which none but a mad man, or one wickedly mad, would do.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
The teacher cuts off the plea which people make when they have hurt their neighbor by lies, that they did not mean mischief, that they were only in fun. Such jesting is like that of the madman flinging firebrands or arrows.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)evangelical
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The verses this one reaches9
Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.
Fools mock the making of amends, but goodwill is found among the upright.
Folly is joy to one who lacks judgment, but a man of understanding walks a straight path.
Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My hand: You will lie down in a place of torment.
The fool delights in shameful conduct, but a man of understanding has wisdom.
until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare— not knowing it will cost him his life.
The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
What right has My beloved in My house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can consecrated meat avert your doom, so that you can rejoice?
Then Abner said to Joab, “Let us have the young men get up and compete before us.” “Let them get up,” Joab replied.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Isaiah 50:11Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My…
leads to
This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
Through
Proverbs 25:18Like a club or sword or sharp arrow is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.
leads to
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
Through
Genesis 49:23The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility.
leads to
and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, with no water in it.
Through
Proverbs 7:23until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare— not knowing it will cost him his life.
leads to
For surely no man knows his time: Like fish caught in a cruel net or birds trapped in a snare, so men are ensnared in an evil time that suddenly falls upon them.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
