WAIT… THAT’S IN THE BIBLE? — DAY 16

A lighthearted look at some of the wonderfully unexpected things you discover when you actually read your Bible, context still matters!

“‘It’s no good, it’s no good!’ says the buyer, then goes off and boasts about the purchase.”
Proverbs 20:14

Apparently the ancient marketplace had THAT GUY too.

The seller:

“This is one of my finest pieces.”

The buyer:

“Finest?! Look at this thing!”

“Terrible quality.”

“Honestly, I’m doing YOU a favour taking it.”

“I suppose I could give you…”

HALF THE PRICE.

Seller reluctantly agrees.

Buyer walks around the corner to his mates:

“YOU SHOULD SEE THE BARGAIN I JUST GOT!”

Three thousand years later…

Marketplace.

Garage sales.

Facebook Marketplace.

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE.

You can almost imagine the ancient messages:

SELLER: 50 shekels.
BUYER: 10.
SELLER: No.
BUYER: 12 and I’ll collect today.
SELLER: It’s literally sitting in front of you.
BUYER: 15. Final offer.

Context still matters!

Proverbs isn’t condemning getting a good bargain. It’s exposing the dishonesty behind pretending something has little value simply to manipulate someone into selling it cheaply and then boasting afterward because you knew it was valuable all along.

There’s a deeper wisdom here about integrity in the way we do business with other people.

But still…

Apparently somewhere in the ancient world, somebody bought something, walked around the corner and immediately told his friends:

“HE WANTED 50 SHEKELS.

I GOT HIM DOWN TO 20.”

And Solomon was watching like:

“I’m putting that in Proverbs.”