Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.I don't know about you, but this verse of Proverbs appears to contradict itself. While the first clause seems to indicate that we should not return ill for ill, the second clause says precisely that!
~ King James version ~
I have faith in people who are faithful.
I also have faith in people who are not faithful.
Because Virtue is faithfulness.
~ from Verse 49 of the Tao Te Ching ~
Lao Tzu, on the other hand, suggests that we should be unconcerned with such externalities. How other people comport themselves should not influence the way you or I comport ourselves. The virtuous person behaves in a virtuous manner regardless of whom we deal with or the situation.
If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.
>Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.<
ReplyDeleteContradictory? I think this may be a matter of punctuation. (Copy editor attack.)
My RSV renders this verse:
Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me, I will pay the man back for what he has done."
No contradiction; the punctuation unifies the idea, inclusively cautioning against both statements.
But some versions, including the KJV, seem to ignore quotation marks altogether, leading to your quandary. (Probably no quote marks in Hebrew?)
My Pad has a convenient app to compare translations; a curious CEV (Contemporary English Version) , which reads a little like Ron Hogan's TTC, puts verse 28 and 29 together, like this:
(28) Don't accuse anyone who isn't guilty. Don't ever tell a lie (29) or say to someone, "I'll get even with you."
And TTC Verse 49 suggests to me where I got a certain phrase in my head, perhaps in a discussion with my teacher:
"True trust is to trust the untrustworthy." (Please don't extrapolate this to something about Obama and Libya....).
I mean my iPad...not my apartment!
ReplyDelete