On interpreting scriptural proverbs, from 40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible by Robert L. Plummer:
[Biblical proverbs] generally assume exceptions. Such exceptions are inherent to the nature of wise sayings about the way life normally works. For example, in Proverbs 10:4, we read, “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” This is generally true. If you are lazy, after a while, you will be poor. Or as we read in Proverbs 6:10-11, “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” On the other hand, those who work diligently will gradually acquire wealth. But there are situations with extenuating circumstances when this general truth does not prove true. For example, some children are born into such immensely rich families that they are able to live lazily and luxuriously their entire lives and still die wealthy. There are other hardworking people who are unjustly denied the fruit of their labor. Indeed, other proverbs note such injustice. For example, Proverbs 13:23 states, “A poor man’s field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away.” The fact that some biblical proverbs on first glance conflict with each other reminds us that proverbs are situational or occasional. Each proverb addresses a certain occasion as we normally encounter it, but it does not intend to describe all exceptions. If all such exceptions were listed, the resulting proverb would be far from short or memorable! It would be more like an essay titled, “A General Truth, with All Conceivable Exceptions.”
Can you think of more biblical proverbs that are meant as general rules and have obvious exceptions? The proverb that comes to my mind immediately as a statement that many people understand as a promise, but that is, instead, a general rule with obvious exceptions is “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22: 5).
As you might expect, this rule for interpreting proverbs is a general rule. There are exceptions to it; there are some biblical proverbs that have no exceptions. Can you think of an example of a proverb that is true without exception?
Or do you want to argue with the whole premise of this quote? That happened last week and it helps keep things interesting around here.
Other quotes from 40 Questions about Interpreting the Bible: