Proverbs 29:18:  “Where there is no vision, the people perish,  but he that keeps the law, happy is he.”

I grew up in an old Baptist church where the preacher would make you open your Bible and then read right from the Bible. There is a trend among preachers to abandon the pulpit, wear a remote mic and wander around the front of the auditorium while preaching.   Been there done that.  I’m not opposed to the idea, it does take some of the stuffiness out of the sermon and there is that Tommy Tenny account of the pulpit blowing up into pieces as his church was seeking for God to reveal the things that He found no pleasure in.  Hey, I’m just the messenger.  So being a wandering preacher is probably a safer thing to do.  Still, if you happen to be one of those wandering preachers you are aware of the fact that preachers like to wave their hands a lot and if you don’t have a pulpit to put your Bible on, carrying the Bible with you can get a bit cumbersome.   So the tendency is to leave your Bible on the pulpit, chair or whatever as you wander around the platform and sort of wing it when you recite Scripture by memory. After all there is a projector projecting that passage on a screen behind you, in front of you and side of you and wherever else you church can afford.  Additionally, everyone many have a different modern translation and if the preacher is reading from a translation different from everyone else’s, that is hard to follow.  For you KJV only preachers I hate to tell you but many in your congregation may brandish a big black Scofield Reference Bible KJV but they have a Living Bible secretly hidden away. Like an old priest I have heard their confessions and I have granted absolution.

For you wandering preachers  Proverbs 29:18 is your verse to just let ‘er rip. I don’t believe this verse was meant to be quietly whispered behind an old oak pulpit.  You’ve got to shout it out, jump in the air, grab a chandelier and start swinging when you recite it.

Perhaps that is why this verse is so often misquoted and rendered “My people perish for lack of a vision.” Not even the KJV says that. Perhaps there is a translation out that that renders it as this, but most modern translations do even come close to it.  Then too, such a misquotation fits a preacher’s context better  than the original text because it comes across as almost saying:  “My people perish because they lack my vision.”  My meaning the preacher’s vision.

First let me point out that there are no pronouns, adjectives, or articles attached to the word people.  It should be simply rendered, “Where there is no vision, people perish.”  Secondly, I have no idea where our British ancestors from Oxford University under the sponsorship of King James came up with perish for the word parah. Perhaps the word perish had a different shade of meaning 400 years ago.  The word parah is not so finalizing as perish it really has the idea of becoming disoriented, or at it’s worse, lawless. 

Finally, within the same sentence we find: “But he that keeps the law is happy.”   What the duce does keeping the law have to do with a vision?  I am tempted to say: “The people perish for lack of understanding the word vision.”  The word for vision is chason and can have a broad range of meanings, not just solely vision as we understand visions.   When we think of visions we think of looking up and seeing four, white robed, grinning, winged angels singing “Abide With Me.”  Of course the key to the whole thing making it a vision and/or the question of your sanity is that no one else sees it.   Well, ok, that can be called a chason.  You can call my friends’ pet Pekingese a dog, but I stand to debate that.  I mean a dog is supposed to be, you know, Lassie, or Rin Tin Tin.  Not these little rodent things with hair that people try to pass off as dogs. I mean that is a sorry excuse for a dog.  (Sorry Patches, I do love you even if your master now hates me). I have heard many descriptions of what a vision is and I am about as clear as to what a vision is as I am as to what a dog really is more so now that I see these strange things being paraded around the neighbor that dare to be called a dog.  Even the word chason has a variety of usages.  It is used for clarity, window, understanding,  consent, agreement, experience and (of course) vision. Toss in the words, sight, seeing, perception and you have a real dog kennel. To find a common thread in all these usages for chason is about as hard as finding a common element between Patches and Lassie that would allow you to call them both dogs.

This brings us to a critical aspect of translation. We need to really look at the context when we try to plug in an English word.   The context here focuses on the Law of God.  Hence I would render parah as lawlessness rather than perish. The word parah is in a Niphal imperfect form making it reflexive. I hold to the school of thought that  Niphal should express a reflexive.   For chason  I would opt to use the word agreement, understanding or clarification rather than vision. Thus, I would render this as “Where there is no agreement, clarification or understanding (of the law) people will make themselves lawless.”   

Note, however, the spiritual aspect to the word chason, its built in commentary. The word is spelled Chet – infinity, Zayin – seeing from all directions, and Hei – to be in a holy state, or the presence of God.  A chason or vision is to be in the presence of God have a clear understanding by seeing what He sees, past, present, and future

You see the rest of the verse tells us that keeping the law will make us happy or ashar which means to walk straight and the Aleph indicates to walk straight to God. This word shares the same root as asar which means to bind with God.

The law can not bring you to salvation, that is only through  the finished work of Jesus Christ, but it is the law that will lead us to the heart of God and bind us to Him. Many people accept Jesus as their Savior but are never bound to Him because they do not understand His laws.  Keeping his laws will lead us to His heart, put us in harmony with Him and allow us to bind with Him. Without an agreement, understanding or clarification on that law we will become disoriented and although saved, will not be able to bind with God.