Should the wise keep quiet?

ANSWER:

Thanks for the question and thank you for reading your Bible with your mind. You belong to the minority that contests the majority that reads their bibles with their hearts but without their brains. To answer your question I have to segment it in bits and here I go:

LITERALLY PERSPECTIVE

The scripture from which you want an understanding is from the book of PROVERBS. We both know that some proverbs have a limited role and function given the era in which they are referenced, take for instance the Baganda people have one proverb that goes: Omulilwano gwokya biri (danger at your neighbors might affect you as well). In our world today we say “bweziba nga za ssubi” so the proverb taken literally can be restricted to grass hatched neighborhood but not our generation with modern roofs.

IMPLICATIVE PERSPECTIVE

However, the Luganda proverb can still have an implication to life today. If your neighbor is a poor parent, his children are likely to hurt yours. So it makes sense that you pay attention and not be indifferent or be silent on pertinent issues such as parenting. If you kept quiet it would be detrimental, not only to your kids who are accessed by the kids across but also to you as their parent. In a sense then, the wisdom of the Baganda applies in this respect and other contagious predicaments.

THE BIBLE BOOK OF PROVERBS

This book is categorized under the wisdom section. Tradition holds that it was written by King Solomon. However, historical facts and sources recognize Solomon as one of the contributors but not the sole author of the book. The book was a compilation of various sayings on various issues of life and society by what we know as the JEWISH HAKHAMIMS. It is the wisdom or Jewish philosophy on life and sociology.

Time and space will not allow me to take you through other technicalities that determine the content structure of all that is in the book but I wanted you to know that the book was a compilation of many Jewish scholars’ (Hakhamims) wisdom and the book was dedicated to king Solomon who was believed to be the wisest man in the world (‘the world as defined by Jews).

So like I started by the Baganda proverb about neighborhood awareness, what Proverbs 12:23 is saying is not that wise people should be silent always but rather to have the wisdom that helps them understand when to say what with whom, where and exactly why. It is under these terms that silence becomes gold any other silence is treason.

Fools, on the other hand, become insensitive and blurt all their folly. In the process, they become victims and captives of their words.

So the text is not prohibiting the wise to speak and actually speak out but rather to analyze the situation and determine the goal in which they want to score. The lesson from this proverb is profound and necessary to both the wise and the fools.

The wise need to understand that silence due to a poor Why is a betrayal.

The fools need to understand (if they can anyway) that they might be the cause of their pain. Am a Munyarwanda and in my country, Rwanda, your mouth can cause you more trouble than your silence can.

As I wind up, I want to tell you my brother (friend) that the Hebrew word translated as keep quite or silent is: Kawsaw/kasa which can be best translated as CONCEAL. Now we all know that concealing might not necessitate silence altogether.

That is the wisdom of the text. The book of proverbs ought to be read by everyone but with the help of modern anointed and appointed Hakhamims.

Am Pastor I. T.WHITE
The Gospel Hawker