Chapter 14:4-21 contains one of the finest taunt-songs, or satires in the Bible. In Chapter 16:3 “Offer counsel, take their part” is directed to Jerusalem, which should receive the suffering Moabites with mercy, as befits the city of David’s family, who were partly descended from Ruth the Moabite. If, as some scholars have thought, we have here pieces of Moabite poetry, then their inclusion reveals a sympathetic understanding of the fate of a neighboring land. There must have been those in Israel who could not view with equanimity the effects of warfare, and who expressed in poetic form the anguish which they felt and the hope which they cherished for those who were so closely bound up with their own history. Are we not still writing these poems today about our global neighbors? The biblical writers touch on their favorite theme, pride. The Hebrews were not speculative thinkers, but they had an eye for truth revealed in life. The second theme is the question of what success does to men’s souls and to their relationships to others. Contrast the pure joy of being wanted and welcome with the fate of the dead king in chapter 14. He won supremacy of his world, yet, when he died the world echoed with thanksgiving that he was gone. What are you willing to pay for the price of success?
Chapter 14:4-21 contains one of the finest taunt-songs, or satires in the Bible. In Chapter 16:3 “Offer counsel, take their part” is directed to Jerusalem, which should receive the suffering Moabites with mercy, as befits the city of David’s family, who were partly descended from Ruth the Moabite. If, as some scholars have thought, we have here pieces of Moabite poetry, then their inclusion reveals a sympathetic understanding of the fate of a neighboring land. There must have been those in Israel who could not view with equanimity the effects of warfare, and who expressed in poetic form the anguish which they felt and the hope which they cherished for those who were so closely bound up with their own history. Are we not still writing these poems today about our global neighbors? The biblical writers touch on their favorite theme, pride. The Hebrews were not speculative thinkers, but they had an eye for truth revealed in life. The second theme is the question of what success does to men’s souls and to their relationships to others. Contrast the pure joy of being wanted and welcome with the fate of the dead king in chapter 14. He won supremacy of his world, yet, when he died the world echoed with thanksgiving that he was gone. What are you willing to pay for the price of success?
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