What does this mean? Proverbs 26:11. Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly

What does this mean?
Proverbs 26:11. Like a dog that returns to its vomit Is a fool who repeats his folly.

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light

-pslam 18:28

  • @St.Roymond Because Iโ€™m the person who quoted Proverbs 26:11 here in the forum most recently, I suppose I ought to be the one who attempts to explain it, but given the challenge that an explanation would entail, I will gladly defer to you if you want to try to explain it.
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Donโ€™t keep getting fooled over and over again. Learn from your mistakes.

In the ancient Near East, light was conceptually associated with life. They thought that the eyes were the lamp of the body and that light shined out of a personโ€™s eyes to allow them to see. Eyes that were going dim meant someone was close to death and you were dead if the light in your eyes went out. God was seen as a self-generating light source and when his eyes were on you, or his face was turned toward you, you were living in Godโ€™s light, which was associated with blessing, prosperity, and security. For God to remove his light by turning his face from you was to be forced to live in darkness (peril, suffering, insecurity). So, many prayers and blessings draw on this conceptual idea of light being life/blessing and darkness being death/suffering. This Psalm is praising God for giving life (keeping the lamp of the eyes burning is keeping a person alive) and shining the light of his presence on the person by watching over him.

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  • Small but, IMO, important point. Psalm 18 doesnโ€™t praise just any god, it praises Yahweh Elohim.
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\there is something distasteful, even revolting about eating your own vomit that goes beyond folly. There is also the notion that you should know better, which makes it more than just folly, but willful stupidityโ€ฆ

Richard

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Of course Proverbs 26 uses this metaphor only in the most general terms as Cathy describes โ€“ this is fairly simple and clear. So I find the question of how Peter uses this in 2 Peter 2:22 to be more interesting and where I see it twisted to a meaning contrary to scripture. Peter is talking of those who having been freed from sin by the gospel then returning to a life of unrestrained sin and licentiousness. It is NOT speaking as I have seen others using the passage for those who convert from Christianity to another religion!

It is true that the chapter begins with Paul condemning false teachers but he immediately focuses on those with the specific motivation of returning to the sins which scripture has condemned.

2Peter 2:19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Paul is specifically attacking those with this idea that the gospel gives us freedom to sin as we like because all will be forgiven.

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bible concordance cross referencing provides illustrations that answer this directlyโ€ฆand its talking about Christianity obviouslyโ€ฆthe idea that a person who escapes the corruption of the world only to be overcome by it again is worse of then before they first escaped!

If you are knowledgable of truth about God and go against that knowledge preaching against God, you are essentially comitting the unpardonable sin.

2 Peter 2: 10Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.

20If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,f only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are true: โ€œA dog returns to its vomit,โ€g and, โ€œA sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.โ€

Exodus 8:15
When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, however, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.

It does seem a strange thing given Christ told the parable of the prodical son. My thought is that the prodical son was not saved prior to him taking his inheritanceโ€ฆand therefore, the prodical son message isnt contradictory to the passages quoted in Proverbs or 2 Peter.

The unpardonable sin invented by many religions is to change your mind and look for truth elsewhere. Of course the religionists would invent such a thing to discourage anything which cuts into their power base and cash flow.

Ruling by fear and threats is once again the character of the devil rather than God. And this use of religion for ones own benefit is the real blasphemy and unpardonable sin. Jesus calls it โ€œblasphemy against the Holy Spirit.โ€ He speaks of this (Matthew 12:31) in response to Pharisees accusing Him of healing people by the power of โ€œBe-elโ€ฒzebul, the prince of demons.โ€ They have made their own power agenda the measure of what is of God and what is of the devil. The problem when you do things like this is how you make yourself unreachable, for how can God teach you anything when you confuse good with evil and God with the devil?

@Christy I agree with you about this. The ruach ha-kodesh Hebrew word for Holy Spirit light is my comforter who teaches me.

@Christy
Iโ€™ll want to share this song to you - I really love this song, Iโ€™ve been listening over and over because I have this song on loop.
Psalms 104 sung in ancient Hebrew | ื‘ืจื›ื™ ื ืคืฉื™ ืืช ื”โ€™ - ืชื”ืœื™ื ืงื“

I can relate with Lyrics. The 104th Psalm especially ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜บ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต.

Lอ‡yอ‡rอ‡iอ‡cอ‡sอ‡
๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ช ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ช ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต ๐˜ˆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜บ - ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฎ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ
๐˜ˆ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜Œ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ต๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ - ๐˜– ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜จ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ต
๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ท๐˜ฆโ€™๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ณ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ต๐˜ข - ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ซ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜บ
๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข - ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜บ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต, ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต;
๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ข - ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ
๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ขโ€™๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ท - ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด
๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฎ ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ช๐˜ฎ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ถ๐˜ท๐˜ฐ - ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ต
๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜บ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ - ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ถ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ
๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท ๐˜ณ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ - ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ด
๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜ท ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ฉ ๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต - ๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ง๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ
๐˜บ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ต๐˜ป ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข - ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ
๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ญ ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ค๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ ๐˜ขโ€™๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ - ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ.

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