The One Who Stiffens His Neck (Proverbs 29)
Proverbs 29 opens with a striking image.
"The one who stiffens his neck."
Let's begin by looking at the Hebrew text.
אִישׁ תּוֹכָחוֹת מַקְשֶׁה־עֹרֶף
(Ish Tokhachot Maqsheh Oref)
אִישׁ
(Ish) — a man, a person
תּוֹכָחוֹת
(Tokhachot) — reproofs, correction, rebukes
מַקְשֶׁה
(Maqsheh) — one who hardens, one who makes hard
עֹרֶף
(Oref) — neck, the back of the neck
The verb מַקְשֶׁה is a Hiphil participle.
It does not describe someone whose neck has simply become stiff.
It describes someone who keeps making his own neck stiff.
The subject is not the rebuke.
The subject is the person who continues to harden himself.
The second half of the verse reads:
פֶּתַע יִשָּׁבֵר וְאֵין מַרְפֵּא
(Peta Yishaver Ve'ein Marpe)
פֶּתַע
(Peta) — suddenly
יִשָּׁבֵר
(Yishaver) — will be broken
וְאֵין
(Ve'ein) — and there is no
מַרְפֵּא
(Marpe) — healing
Literally,
"Suddenly he will be broken,
and there will be no healing."
This closing phrase is not unique to Proverbs 29.
It appears word for word in Proverbs 6:15.
Interestingly, Proverbs 6:15 begins with another word for "suddenly":
פִּתְאֹם יָבוֹא אֵידוֹ
(Pit'om yavo eido)
"Suddenly his calamity will come."
Then it continues,
פֶּתַע יִשָּׁבֵר וְאֵין מַרְפֵּא
"Suddenly he will be broken, and there will be no healing."
Proverbs 29 repeats the second phrase, not merely the idea of suddenness.
The very same clause echoes through the book.
The opening subjects are different.
Proverbs 6 begins with
"a worthless man,
a man of wickedness."
Proverbs 29 begins with
"a man who has received repeated correction."
Different beginnings.
The same ending.
God speaks.
The question is not merely,
"What do we hear?"
The question is,
"How do we respond to what we have heard?"
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