It is better to be wise than strong;
intelligence outranks muscle any day.
Strategic planning is the key to warfare;
to win, you need a lot of good counsel
I like the way Petersen paraphrases many of the passages I've been reading in The Message to help bring today's culture to Biblical passages. It adds so much to what we normally get with some of the other translations. You just have to remember that this is one man's impression of the Word. I think Peterson is right on with Proverbs 24. Wisdom is better than strength! But, what a combination to be both strong and wise.
This couple of verses reminds me of last season's Survivor All Stars. Last season one of the teams was made of of the physically dominating members and the other team was much less physical, but wiser and older. The wiser and older team kicked around the physically dominating team throughout most of the competition. Even on Survivor the strongest team wasn't the best team. A member of the stronger team (Amber) ended up winning the competition, but only because the wiser and older team let down their guard and felt compassion for the stronger team captain (Rob). The wiser/older team had their own destiny in control until that happened. They had the competition all but won when Rob convinced them to vote one of their own members off the island. I guess they maybe weren't the wiser team after all. They needed to seek good counsel and strategically plan their warfare. They only completed the first half of Proverbs 24:5-6. It doesn't do you any good to be wiser and older if you don't use wise counsel.
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