“Declare this!
In the house of Jacob!
Proclaim it in Judah!
‘Hear this!
O foolish people!
O senseless people!
You have eyes,
But you do not see.
You have ears,
But you do not hear.”
Yahweh wants Jeremiah to proclaim and declare to the house of Jacob in Judah that they are foolish and senseless people. They have eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear.
“Do not talk much
With a senseless person!
Without sense,
He will despise
Everything about you.
Do not visit
An unintelligent person!
Stay clear of him!
You may have trouble.
You may be spattered
When he shakes himself off.
Avoid him!
Then you will find rest.
You will never be wearied
By his lack of sense.
What is heavier than lead?
What is its name
Except ‘Fool’?
Sand is easier to bear
Than a stupid person.
Salt is easier to bear
Than a stupid person.
A piece of iron is easier to bear
Than a stupid person.”
Sirach warns us to stay away from stupid people. Do not talk to these senseless people. They will despise you for your intelligence. There is a kind of elitism here. He did not want you to visit with unintelligent people. Stay away from them when they shake themselves like animals, because some of their filth might spatter on you. If you stay away from them, you will not be weary of their senseless talk. A fool is heavier to bear than lead. Practically everything is easier to live with than a stupid person. Thus sand, salt, and iron is better than these stupid senseless fools.
“The thoughts of the righteous are just.
But the advice of the wicked is treacherous.
The words of the wicked are a deadly ambush.
But the speech of the upright delivers them.
The wicked are overthrown.
They are no more.
But the house of the righteous will stand.
One is commended for good sense.
But a perverse mind is despised.
Better to be a common despised man,
Who works for himself,
Than to be self important,
But lack food.
The righteous know the need of their animals.
But the mercy of the wicked is cruel.
Those who till their land will have plenty of food.
But those who follow worthless pursuits have no sense.”
Here we have a description of the righteous person. The thoughts of the righteous are just. On the other hand, the advice and the words of the wicked are treacherous and set an ambush. The upright speech of the righteous will help them to escape. Even though the wicked will be overthrown, the house of the righteous will continue to stand because they have good sense. The wicked are despised. It is better to work for yourself than pretend to be self important without any good. The righteous take good care of their animals. Even the mercy of the wicked is cruel. If you till the land, you will have plenty of food. However, if you pursuit worthless things, you are senseless.
“Wisdom has built her house,
She has set up her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her animals.
She has mixed her wine.
She has also set her table.
She has sent out her servant girls.
She calls from the highest places in the town.
‘You who are simple!
Turn in here!’
To those without sense
She says.
‘Come!
Eat of my bread!
Drink of the wine I have mixed!
Lay aside immaturity!
Live!
Walk in the way of insight!’”
This chapter is about the house that wisdom built on 7 pillars. She then invited people to come to her house. She had slaughtered animals and prepared wine for the festival at her house. She set her table and sent her maid servants to invite people to come. She called from the highest place in town, ‘Anyone simple, turn in here!’ I guess it either was an insult or she really wanted to help them. She wanted those who were senseless and immature to eat her bread and drink her wine, instead of going to the house of the loose woman. Then they would be able to live and walk with insight. In a certain sense, lady wisdom is trying to compete with the seducing prostitutes to get the simple ones to gain some insight. She too tries to seduce them since that is the only way that the simple ones will follow people.
“But now they make sport of me.
Those who are younger than I,
Whose fathers I would have disdained
To have them set with the dogs of my flock.
What could I gain from the strength of their hands?
All their vigor is gone.
Through want and hard hunger
They gnaw the dry and desolate ground.
They pick mallow and the leaves of bushes,
They pick the roots of the broom to warm themselves.
They are driven out from society.
People shout after them as after a thief.
They must live in the gullies of the Wadi torrents.
They must live in the holes of the earth.
They must live in the holds of the rocks.
Among the bushes they bray.
Under the nettles they huddle together.
A senseless, a disreputable brood,
They have been whipped out of the land.”
The difference between then and now is evident. Job instead of being a distinguished member of the community he was now derided. Now even the outcasts of society ridiculed him. Young people, whose fathers Job would have had them sit with his dogs watching his flock, are now making fun of him. Job was no longer strong. He then colorfully described the indigent homeless society of people who were making fun of him. These were the people who gnaw at the dry ground and eat in the salt marshes near the Dead Sea. They warm themselves with the roots of brooms, a shrub that grows in regions of that area. People shout after them as if they were thieves. They live along the river banks, the holes in the ground and in the caves. They huddle together like a senseless disreputable brood of people that have been sent away from the land.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 