04/18/2025 – Day 292 – Proverbs – Chapter 31 / “She is not afraid of snow for her household, For all her household is clothed in scarlet.” (31:21) – What does this mean ? / Is it another case of “just embrace the mystery?” / 2 of 2 – I felt compelled to post it…
First, I’ll go to John Gill’s commentary, as he is “my go to guy” , at least my first stop, more often than not for just single verses.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/proverbs-31-21.html
My Evidence Study Bible has “scarlet” , whereas my Apologetics Study Bible has “doubly clothed”. But you will see here in Gill’s commentary: Why he goes with the more mysterious “scarlet?” So, John Gill takes that and immediately takes it to “red”, or secured in the “blood of Christ”. A short excerpt:: “But had the word been designed to signify “double”, it would have been in the “dual” number; as it is not, and is always used in this form for “scarlet”; and so the Targum, Jarchi, and Aben Ezra interpret it; which colour is an emblem of the blood of Christ, by which the church is justified, ( Romans 5:9 ) ; and all the household of faith, the whole family of Christ and household of God, are all justified by the same righteousness of Christ…”
Ok, summary definition of the Targums: “An Aramaic translation of the Tanakh written or compiled between the Second Temple period and the early Middle Ages.: (From Hebrew to Aramaic). Jarchi and Aben Ezra are reknowned Jewish scholars and philosophers from the 12th century. The animal sacrifices in the Jewish faith were discontinued with the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.
So, how do we get seemingly to a Christian interpretation from “scarlet” to the blood of Christ? Here are my notes in my “for further study” file:
Jewish section:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mishna / Misha = translations from Hebrew to Aramaic
Jarchi – 12th century – renowned Jewish commentator –
https://biblehub.com/library/calvin/commentary_on_ezekiel_volume_2/a_list_of_the_chief.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_ibn_Ezra – 12th century – biblical scholar and philosopher in Spain
Here is the most plausible explanation that I can come up with :
https://www.bibleref.com/Proverbs/31/Proverbs-31-21.html
So, we have Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, and let us reason together.” says the Lord, Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow, Though they are red like crimson They shall be as wool”. Isaiah was clearly speaking in the future tense, for the temple sacrifices couldn’t accomplish that obviously.
Ok, we know that the Jews in Jesus’ time certainly seemed to pick up on the idea of a conquering king Messiah. But they missed the suffering servant reference in the Old Testament. I submit that is basic human nature, a natural response. But, we are left with: “What did Jarchi and Abraham Ibn Ezra know about the Messiah that other fellow Jews of their time did not know?” How did John Gill make the connection to these two? More than likely, it is another case of just “embrace the mystery.” I’m skeptical that Gill just pulled it out of thin air. We just focus on the Great Commission for what little time we have left, just a “breath”.
Thoughts? I have left plenty of room here for pushback on my comments.
Soli Deo Gloria!