Proverbs 15:25 “The Lord will destroy the house of the proud, but he will establish the border of the widows.

I find it curious that the word used for widow is almah which is often used for a virgin.  In this case this woman is not really a virgin if she is widow. In other cases ‘alma is used or an unmarried young woman.  At best if we are to render this as a widow we would have to say a young widow who is still of marriageable age.   I also wonder why the proud is contrasted with a widow. Why not make the most obvious comparison of a proud man to a humble man.   Commentators tend to say that the widow is the best example of one who is not proud and most dependant upon God while the proud has no dependency upon God.  I totally agree with this interpretation.

Practically every translation will translate the last word as widow.  They do this because it would fit the context better than young woman or a virgin. They render it as widow which is rarely used for ‘alma simply because our scholars say it should be rendered as widow.  Oddly, in the Hebrew the most commonly used words for almah is a young unmarried woman.  She doesn’t have to be a widow.   It could be a little girl, or a young woman who has not yet married.  It could also be a concubine.  If we take this word back to its Semitic origins we find it is usually a reference to a woman or even a male who has little or no influence. So for the sake of accuracy, let’s just go with that and see how it fits the context.

The word for proud is ge’im from the root ga’ah which is a feeling of superiority over someone else.   The word is spelled Gimmel, Aleph and Cheth which suggest that this proud person is one who is so filled with a sense of self-importance he creates his own doctrine and theology to fit is personal need and world.  This is someone who claims godliness and takes great pride in his spirituality. The word house has a broad meaning in Hebrew. I found one rabbi used it to mean a body of people who are united under a strong leader.

The Lord will destroy or kasach this body of people who unite themselves around a strong leader.  The word kasach means to cut off or sweep away.  The word is spelled Kap, Samek and Cheth.  These letters tell you who will be swept away or cut off.  Those that  – Kap are those who follow this leader but seek their own will and not God’s will. The Samek  are those who are too dependent upon a person or thing; and the Cheth are those joining themselves to a person or thing rather than God.  I think of the pastors conventions I used to attend.  The most common question is “Well, how large is your congregation.”   The idea was that if you were a pastor of a large congregation then God was blessing you and your theology and/or doctrine was probably more correct than those with a small congregation.  That is a very capitalistic way of looking at it but not necessarily a Biblical way.

We learn, however, that God will establish the boundaries of the widow or ‘alma.  The word establish is yesav which means to stand, as standing in agreement, or to certify.  The word boundaries is gevul  which has the idea of limiting one’s space.  In other words someone may have a big following and large organization but if that person is filled with a sense of self-importance and takes himself too seriously, God will not take his stand with them, instead he will take his stand with a small group led by someone who is humble and will let God bring about the accomplishments. The picture is one of God standing at the border crossing, certifying who may enter and who may not.  The ‘alma or the young woman who has no influence or given any significance or regard is the one who is united with the Lord.  The word ‘alma is spelled Aleph which is for one who is in unity with God, the next letter is the Mem which represents one who seeks the revealed knowledge of God and the last letter is the Lamed or one who is reaching up to God in prayer.

I think in this context an ‘alma does not even have to be a woman, it is just a person who goes unnoticed and is given little honor or respect.  God will stand in agreement with this person’s limit space and exposure and will use it to bring honor to him. Whereas, the proud person with his big house or following who thinks he is so important and mighty, God will tear him up from the roots and bring him down, he will have no support from God whatsoever.

Yesterday I was looking out over a lake.  The wind was gently blowing creating multitudes upon multitudes  of small waves that formed and instantly rolled back into the water. At the crest of the waves the sun hit the tips causing a little flash or sparkle of light, which just as quickly faded away.  I heard God speak to me saying: “You think you are so important because you write a blog and books that people read and are blessed.  The people who read what you write are the waves.  But look there are multitudes and multitudes of waves, you are not the only one, in fact you are just one of countless others who speak my name creating waves.  You are that light that flashes on top of the wave, But again you are just one of countless multitudes of other flashes of lights and they only flash for a moment and then it is gone and for the most part totally unnoticed.  You do make a wave, I will grant you that. But note that wave would not even form if not for the wind of my Spirit nor would that little flash of light sparkle if not for the light of my Son.”