This short, yet powerful scripture is cited often not only for its content, but also for its eloquence.
Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
(Proverbs 11:14)
"The people fall" employs 'catachresis' because it is not something that is typically said in the context of spiritual well being. But the rhetorical device used makes it more intriguing than saying something like 'the people decline spiritually.' Falling in any context can potentially be deadly. Deadly situations are easier to avoid than declines.
There is a similarity of structure in the two statements: "no counsel = fall," and "in counsellors = safety." This rhetorical device helps each statement seem very similar yet the content assures that the outcomes are very different. The name of this rhetorical device is parallelism.
These two rhetorical devices help the reader think deeply on the meaning and importance of counsel.
It's great how much you can get out of two verses.
ReplyDeleteI wrote about the Proverbs as well, and I love the parallelism that is presented in them, as well as the contrasts. I love seeing the positive and negative consequences of things so that I can know what is better, and make a righteous judgement.
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