Understanding the Word

By Br. John R. Barker, OFM

The woman in this poem from Proverbs may be understood literally, as the “ideal wife,” or symbolically, as Wisdom. The Bible regularly extols wisdom as a great prize, worth more than gold or precious jewels, more than long life or power. As a personification of God’s will and reason, Wisdom imparts to those who befriend her  all they need to be successful in the world and in their relationship with God. A human wife would have learned from Wisdom and thus manifested her teachings, which extend across the whole human  experience, from practical household management to concern for  the poor (what Wisdom would call “righteousness”) to fear of the Lord (the prerequisite for learning wisdom [Proverbs 9:10]).

The phrase “peace and security” was part of the propaganda of the Roman Empire, so Paul’s use of it here points toward those who  are content with and profiting from the present age of human rule.  These are unprepared, living as it were “at night” and in darkness,  for the coming of the Lord. But for those who live in the light, who  are hopefully waiting for the Lord and living accordingly, his advent  will not come as an unpleasant surprise. Living in the day, they will  not be asleep, but awake and ready. In other words, no one knows  the “times or seasons,” but those who are living the Christian life  will be prepared to meet the Lord whenever he comes. 

The focus of the parable of the talents is on the unfortunate  servant who failed to gain any profit for his master because he was  afraid. The Lectionary translation has the servant characterizing his master as “demanding,” but the Greek word (skleiros) really means  hard, harsh, or severe. The servant, afraid to trade because he might lose the money and incur the master’s wrath, failed to realize that the  master showed confidence in him by giving him the talent and was  willing to take a chance on him. The fault lay not in failing to gain any money, but in not even trying out of lack of trust in the master  and his wisdom in giving the talent in the first place.

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