It's not immediately clear what it means, this command to reprove our neighbors. Abraham reproves Abimelech after the king's servants seize one of Abraham's wells. When God is the one who reproves, it can connote forgiveness (as in Isaiah 1:18, "Come, let us reason together: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow") or corporal punishment (as in 2 Samuel 7:14, "When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use.") As Job talks with his friends about the nature of God, they use the word repeatedly with adversarial connotations. In fact, it doesn't ascribe any intent to the one who reproves, so its exact meaning depends upon context. Its connotations are not generally kindly ones. It can mean to dispute, judge, chasten, argue, correct, or prove. Ideally, I reprove my children with good intentions: to keep them from danger, help them develop good social skills, and encourage them to make decisions that attend to the wellbeing of others.īut the biblical use of the word translated here as reprove is more complex. It's the kind of thing I find myself constantly doing with my young daughters. In English, reprove most often connotes scolding with an undercurrent of kindness or caring intent. But I'll admit that I had to look up the word to figure out exactly what it meant before confirming that I am, indeed, quite skilled at reproving. I seem to be adept, however, at fulfilling the second half of the command-at least on the surface. Especially if we define kin broadly speaking to include all fellow humans (which seems a reasonable interpretation in this era when global connectedness has largely eclipsed the power and necessity of small, local kinship groups). It's a puzzling juxtaposition: "You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself." I'm pretty sure I've broken the first half of this commandment about a zillion times in recent months. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century. To receive these posts by e-mail each Monday, sign up.įor more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page.
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