Dinner Time (Part 1)

My home is better off with just a simple meal served with love than an expensive meal served with a side of hatred.

August 26, 2019

"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."

Proverbs 15:17

Part 1

Today, when our families are running all over the place to their various activities and never seem to have the opportunity to have everyone together at the same time, we ought to remember that mealtime is the appropriate time to slow down and do a headcount and see how everyone in the family is doing.  Mealtime together as a family has been one of the sacred institutions in family life through the ages.  When parents and siblings sit together and “break bread,” the outside world is shut out, and the special together moment is just for the family to savor.  This is the picture of close-knit fellowship within the household unit.  The family hearthside together is revered.  This is the right time to go offline and turn off the electronics and have real “face-time” with each other.

“Better is a dinner of herbs where love is,”
Just a simple meal of vegetables in a loving home is a delightful time.  Note how one commentator translated this verse.

“Better a dish of cabbage, and love with it,
Than a fatted ox together with hatred” (Proverbs 15:17, K&D1).

Back in the West Virginia hills where my wife grew up, they might think of the verse in this way,

“Better is a dish of beans and a piece of cornbread, where love is….”

In the Pacific islands, it may be,

“Better is a bowl of rice and a fish head, where love is….”

It’s not about the expense of the meal that Solomon is pointing out.  It is about the relationship of each one in the family that is being emphasized here.

When we sit down together, how are dad and mom doing?  How are all the siblings doing, and what is the parent-child relationship like.  Are their strains anywhere in the fabric of family relationships that need repairing?  A simple meal together is a good time for a family checkup.

Because we are busy people, won’t having plenty of great food make up for our lack of time together?  Come back tomorrow and let’s talk about the difference between a rich man’s meal, and a poor man’s meal.

 

 

 

1.  Keil & Delitzsch’s translation of Proverbs 15:17.  Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament, the electronic version in eSword.