Tiny Devotional for Thursday, 06-22-2023

A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, don’t stop singing, just because you don’t know the words.

He who is generous will be blessed,
For he gives some of his food to the poor.
Proverbs 22:9, NASB 

Unlike some of the wisdom statements, this is really straightforward:

“Generous people feed the poor, and will be blessed for it.”

But a footnote caught my attention. The phrase NASB translates as ‘generous’ is

טוֹב עַיִן (tobe ayin), which the KJV and many others translates as ‘bountiful eye.’

I’m slightly tempted to say that it really means ‘good looking;’ I couldn’t get away with that, though, because there is no link between physical beauty and charitable action.

It’s not stretching the meaning at all to translate the phrase for us moderns as ‘positive outlook,’ with a taste of ‘generous, loving, beautiful’ added.

Okay: how does THAT link to giving to the poor?


“Stand by for news! War, scandal, famine, plague, crime, and more; but first, here’s a word from our sponsor.”
“To continue receiving the latest about murder, riots, and corruption, disable your ad blocker.”
“Buy these vitamins, so I can keep telling you about the conspiracy!”

THESE messages tell us we CAN’T give food to the poor, because we MUST hoard our resources (or send it to them), because we are all going to DIE!

‘Everything is lovely marshmallows and unicorns’ is also a lie, and neither extreme will result in a blessing.

The blessing comes when we act to meet a need. To do that, we must see both the need, and whatever abundance we have that can meet it.

That, my friends, is a bountiful eye.

Peace be on your household.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 22, 2023 at 5:46 AM

    I love the idea if the bountiful or generous eye. To me it says if we can be brave enough to see past the surface with a servant's heart we can discover a way to fill the gaps. To borrow from Amos and Bruce Lee 😉, to be like water and "seek the low path", fill the gaps, perhaps open channels for other resources (other people and groups) to pour into and through becoming a force multiplier. Changing the world (at least one tiny piece if it) for good. Thanks Pat, for the inspiration this morning! Blessings to you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJune 22, 2023 at 6:15 AM

    Not anonymous wife thinks this is a good post 🦄

    ReplyDelete

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