12.23.2013

"righty tighty, lefty loosy" and the Proverbs

In mechanics almost always, clockwise to tighten, counter clockwise to loosen. Every once in a while you will come across a left hand thread one, but rarely.

How rarely?

Consider this: The Mystery of Left-Hand Lug Nuts

Excerpt:

Some vehicle manufacturers utilize the safe practice of using right-hand threads on studs and nuts to fasten wheels on the right-side of vehicles (passenger-side) and left hand threads on studs and nuts to fasten the wheels on the left side of vehicles (driver-side)
Comment: What does this have to do with the Proverbs? Quote from the ESV study Bible:





Proverbs of necessity focus on consequences, and this raises the question of whether they are “promises.” Proverbs by nature deal with general truths, and are not meant to cover every conceivable situation. Consider the English proverb, “Short cuts make long delays”; the very form of the proverb forbids adding qualifiers, whether of frequency (often, usually, four times out of five) or of conditions (except in cases where …); these would lessen the memorability of the sentence. The competent reader knows that the force of the proverb is not statistical, but behavioral—in the case of the English proverb cited, to urge due caution. In biblical proverbs, the consequences generally make God’s basic attitude clear, and thus commend or discourage behavior.

Proverbs often seem to be mere observations about life, but their deeper meanings will reveal themselves if the following grid is applied: (1) What virtue does this proverb commend? (2) What vice does it hold up for disapproval? (3) What value does it affirm?
Consider Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it."

Is it a promise? Or a general observation? Consider the pastor who has the black sheep adult child. The child verbally rejects Christ and affirms atheism. Did the pastor fail?

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