Shining a light on the weekly Bible Lessons published in the Christian Science Quarterly®
Adam and Fallen Man
Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. . . . How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? . . . My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.
Mentions of sluggards and the slothful occur over a dozen times in Proverbs, emphasizing the pitfalls of laziness (see also 24:30–34; 26:13–16). Industriousness was especially valued in small ancient communities, where individual effort was necessary to collective well-being.
Son is translated from the Hebrew noun bēn, rendered children hundreds of times in Scripture. Psalms 82:6 declares, for instance, “All of you are children [bēn] of the most High.”
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Resources cited in this issue
Cit. 1: Alter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible, Vol. 1, The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary. New York and London. W.W. Norton & Company, 2019.
Cit. 3: Keck, Leander E., et al., eds. The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 3, Introduction to Hebrew Poetry, Job, Psalms, Introduction to Wisdom Literature, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs. Nashville: Abingdon, 2015.
Cit. 5: Meyers, Carol, Toni Craven, and Ross Shepard Kraemer, et al., eds. Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2001; Barton, John, and John Muddiman, eds. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Cit. 7: Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible: The Letters of John and Jude. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1955. Revised and updated by Saint Andrew, 2001. Reprinted as The New Daily Study Bible: The Letters of John and Jude. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001–04.
COPYRIGHT
Scriptural quotations marked New Living Translation are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked Amplified® Bible (AMPC) are taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. lockman.org
Scriptural quotations marked Good News Translation are taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version—Second Edition, copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked Contemporary English Version are taken from the Contemporary English Version, copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scriptural quotations marked New Century Version® are taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scriptural quotations marked Common English Bible are taken from the Common English Bible, copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.
© 2024 The Christian Science Publishing Society. The design of the Cross and Crown is a trademark owned by the Christian Science Board of Directors and is used by permission. Bible Lens and Christian Science Quarterly are trademarks owned by The Christian Science Publishing Society. Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
