Scripture Study
16 November 2008 - 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
This is the second last Sunday of this liturgical year. This weekend, the readings call on us to give some thought to our use of the spiritual goods with which God has blessed us. The first reading asks me, "How have I made God's Wisdom a practical and integral part of the way I live my life?" The second reading brings to mind the ancient Christian question, "Am I ready for the sudden return of Jesus?" In the Gospel Jesus warns us to consider how we use the spiritual goods that God has given us. They are to be worked with to further the interests of the Master, not statically hidden or buried in the ground of my private life.
NOTES on First Reading:
The context of this reading is important in order to appreciate what this particular image of Wisdom has to tell us about being wise today. The Book of Proverbs begins with a depiction of God's Wisdom personified as a woman. Wisdom is, of course, an attribute of God and therefore has no gender. However, the Jewish wisdom tradition often personified Wisdom as feminine. Now at the very end of the book, this portrait of a woman who has embraced wisdom in all the details of her life stands as a summary of the book. It may be, as some scholars suggest, a portrait of Wisdom herself being settled in her home and serving those who have accepted her invitation.
The reading is taken from an acrostic poem. This is a poem in which each of the 22 verses begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet (There are only 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet and they are used in alphabetic order). The entire poem is included here. Brackets [] indicate those portions that are left out of the reading in the Lectionary for the United States.
The poem, of course, reflects its own time and culture in the tasks and lifestyle that are described in the text. The woman's relationship with her husband and way of life are generally much different from that of women today but that should not keep us from appreciating the value of wisdom described as being lived out in this life. It is the same wisdom that is to be lived out in every culture and time.
* 31:10 This may be a rhetorical question to emphasize the incomparable value of this woman. Wisdom is often compared to jewels (3:15; 8:11, 19; 16:16; 20:15).
* 31:11-12 The woman's value to her husband is reminiscent of Wisdom's value to her followers (3:13-18; 4:6, 8-9).
* 31:12 Good, and not evil actually means prosperity, not adversity.
* 31:13-27 The poem focuses on the woman's extraordinary and tireless activity.
* 31:14 The word that is translated as "merchant" literally means "Canaanite" (See Prov 31:24.) probably because the merchant class had been composed chiefly of Canaanites.
* 31:18 Abundance of productive work and its accompanying prosperity is indicated by "her lamp is undimmed." (See Prov 20:20; Job 18:6.)
* 31: 21-23 This is an allusion to wealth and nobility.
* 31:25 "Laughs at the days to come" indicates anticipating the future with gladness free from anxiety.
* 31:30 Fear of the Lord indicates the woman's religious spirit which is the true charm of the ideal wife. Fear of the LORD as a reverential fear and respect for God on account of His sovereignty, goodness and justice is the foundation of religion. The book ends with the same theme with which it began, the fear of the Lord.
NOTES on Second Reading:
* 5:1-11 Although only a part of it is included in the reading, this pericope (section) is easily divided into three parts: Announcement of the topic (vv 1-3) Parenesis ( vv 4-10) Final exhortation (v 11). In many ways this pericope is a doublet of 4:13-18 although it approaches the issue from a different perspective. It is probably best seen as an instructive complement to 4:13-18 by Paul rather than as a corrective added to the letter by a later editor as some scholars think. In the first section Paul deals with the fate of the dead, here he speaks of the meaning of the eschaton (end time) for those who are alive.
* 5:2 The Day of the Lord is a Biblical image taken from the prophetic
tradition (Amos 5:18; Joel 2:1; Zeph 1:7) and also used in the New Testament
(Acts 2:20; 1 Cor 5:5). Later Paul identifies it as the Day of the Lord Jesus
(Phil1:6, 10).
The image of the thief in the night is a traditional (Mat 24:43-44; Luke
12:39-40) expression of the suddenness of the event.
* 5:3 Peace and security has a proverbial ring (Jer 6:14; Ezek 13:10, 16) and
may be a traditional apocalyptic motif taken over by Paul.
Comparison to the pregnant woman is in contrast to the complacency implied by
the saying and adds to the theme of suddenness and inevitability of the Day of
the Lord.
* 5:4-5 Paul's use of light and darkness as spiritual symbols is common in biblical and other religious imagery (Job 22:11). Children of light is a Semitism used to set the Christian condition off from others. This exclusionary language was common in Jewish texts of the time as well as early Christian literature.
* 5:5 Children of the light refers to Christians belonging to the light of God's personal revelation. The same imagery is developed in John 12:36.
* 5:6-8 These verses use traditional metaphors and images: sleepers, drunkards.
NOTES on Gospel:
* 25:14-30 A parallel to this story is found in Luke 19:12-27. There is only
a vestige of the story in Mark 13:34 and John does not have it at all. The Lucan
version has had some elements added to it that complicate the more primitive and
more original version found here.
Literally the story begins, "For just as a man who was going on a journey..."
The comparison is never grammatically completed but the sense clearly is : The
kingdom of heaven is like the situation Jesus describes. Faithfully using one's
gifts in the master's interests will lead to participation in the fullness of
the kingdom, lazy inactivity will bring exclusion from it. The phrase, "hand
over" is a technical Jewish term for tradition. It is used in verses 14, 20 and
22 to indicate that a valuable item is passed from the master to the servant.
Use of this term has led some to suggest that the story is an indictment of the
Sadducean attitude of refusal to develop the religious tradition. It may be both
a comment on what happened to Israel and a warning to Matthew's church not to
fall into the same trap.
* 25:15 The talent was a unit of coinage with a high but varying value depending upon the metal (gold, silver, copper) of which it was made and its place of origin. It is mentioned in the New Testament only here and in Matthew 18:24.
* 25:18 In the rather unstable conditions of most of the ancient world, including Palestine in Jesus' time, it was not unusual to guard valuables by burying them in the ground.
* 25:20-23 Although the first two servants have received and doubled large
sums, their faithful trading is regarded by the master as fidelity in small
matters only, compared with the great responsibilities now to be given to them.
Share your master's joy is probably a reference to the joy of the banquet of the
kingdom. See Matthew 8:11.
* 25:26-28 This man's inactivity is not viewed as negligible by the master but as seriously culpable. As punishment, he loses the gift he had received. It is given to the first servant, whose possessions are already great.
* 25:29 In the New Testament, the use of this axiom of practical "wisdom" is
common (see Matthew 25:29; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; 19:26). The reference
transcends the original level. God gives further understanding to one who
accepts the revealed mystery; from the one who does not, He will take away what
he has. The text uses the "theological passive." God is the active agent in
giving and taking.
This saying may also have been meant to be, to some extent, a condemnation of
the religious establishment of Israel for refusing to accept the new and greater
revelation of God in Jesus in spite of the revelation that God had given them in
the Old Testament.
* 25:30 The phrase, "wailing and grinding of teeth" first occurs in this gospel in Mat 8:11-12. It is used frequently to describe final condemnation (Matthew 13:42,50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). Other than in Matthew it is found in the New Testament only in Luke 13:28.
Courtesy of: http://www.st-raymond-dublin.org:80/scripture.php - St. Raymond Parish, Dublin, CA