Three or Four

(Pro 30:18 KJV)  There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:

Several times in Proverbs we see this pattern of “three, no four”.  I am guessing it is a literary device to get your attention.  We see a lot of this type of thing in the Bible and we often turn off our understanding of the world around us and the nature of literature when we try to understand.  One of the problems with Bible interpretation and translation is in these type of figures of speech.  Most people will agree that the Bible has both figurative and literal passages.  Where they run into problems is in agreeing on which is which.

This comes up in such Phrases as “forty days and forty nights”.  It is a problem when you look at the first chapter of Genesis.  How about the references to “the whole world”?  There is more than one way to understand things and we need to accept that.  Your understanding may fit well in your system but not in mine.  And don’t tell me you don’t have a system.

So?  Keep your mind turned on and your judgmental attitude turned off.  Remember how much of our ignorance God has to overlook.  I know Jesus got frustrated with the disciples and He was working face to face.