I have never used the word before in public. An opportunity like this rarely comes. I dare say you could live a full life without ever using it. But it seems well nigh impossible to write about the Book of Proverbs without slipping it in somewhere. The word? Sententious. Now I know some of you will immediately protest, “Why, I use that word. Doesn’t everyone?”
Sidlow Baxter does in Explore the Book: “The English word ‘proverb’ means a brief saying in the stead of many words (pro = for; verba = words). In popular usage it signifies any pithy, sententious saying or terse maxim. The Hebrew word, however, which we translate as ‘proverbs’ (mishle) has a much wider meaning, and is used of many discourses, sentences, and expressions which would not be classed as proverbs in English today…The genius of a proverb lies in its shrewd concentration of a truth or of some sagacious counsel in a terse and striking way, so that it catches on, and becomes easier to remember” (p. 132).
E. W. Bullinger’s Companion Bible slips it in with his introduction: “TITLE. The Proverbs. Heb. Mishlai; Greek, Paroimiai = any dark sententious saying; Vulg. Proverbia. Whence the English name” (p. 865).
Even H. A. Ironside, thought to be the prince of clear and forthright exposition, thinks it the right word for the occasion: “To the general reader, the book of Proverbs, with its common-sense epigrams and sententious aphorisms, might seem to be the last portion of Scripture requiring any attempt at elucidation. But it is just because its chapters abound in pithy truisms that the marrow is often lost sight of by those who have been accustomed to hearing or reading them all of their lives” (Notes on Proverbs, Prefatory Note).
But William Kelly (often presumed to be difficult reading) doesn’t use the word “sententious” once in his helpful explanation. He writes: “As a proverb is a compressed parable, or an expanded comparison, so it often borders on the riddle or enigma in order to fix attention” (The Proverbs, p. 9).
So in these few paragraphs you have read the word “sententious” no less than seven times! And what does it mean? Webster’s Dictionary gives its definition as: “adj [ME, full of meaning, fr. L sententiosus, fr. sententia, sentence, maxim] 1: terse, aphoristic, or moralistic in expression; pithy, epigrammatic.”
I don’t think my father-in-law ever used the word “sententious” even though he read a chapter in the Proverbs every day. After a while he thought in proverbs, talked in proverbs, and lived out proverbs in his daily experience. He never used ten words when five would do. His name was John Funk. Eight letters. Monosyllabic. No middle initial.
I never remember him preaching alone. He would have three or four young men in tow. One would just read a passage of Scripture. One would open in prayer. One would give a testimony; another, a gospel message. And he would finish up. I was one of the young men he encouraged in this way. And there were many others.
He didn’t care how much people said as long as they said it in few words. That’s why he liked the Proverbs. He’d tell us, “If the fish hadn’t opened his mouth, he wouldn’t have got caught.”
Sometimes in his prayers he would quote Proverbs 10:19, “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.” He would remind us that multiplying words in the presence of the Lord was an unwise thing to do. And then he showed us by keeping his prayers to the point.
He was an honest businessman who lived Proverbs in the workplace. When Revenue Canada refused to allow him his full deductions for business expenses, explaining that “everyone inflates the numbers,” he placed his ledgers on their counter, and said, “Take as long as you like. I can account for every penny.” Several months later, when his books were returned with a grudging apology, he requested–and received–a letter to that effect, which he framed and displayed on his office wall. As he would tell us, quoting an old book he read: “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches” (Prov. 22:1). And it is, of course.