Breast of Kings (Isaiah 60:16)

Pictorial Language Series

The second line of Isa 60:16 reads: "At the breast of kings you will nurse." The mental imagery struck me as being so odd, I just had to investigate. So I brought up other Bible versions. The King James, New American, English Standard, and many others all say “breast of kings.” The New International Version renders it “royal breasts.” The New Living Translation says “breasts of a queen.”

Now I was even more curious. “Does the original Hebrew really refer to “kings” (male)?” So using the same biblehub.com website linked above but switching the “mode” from “parallel” to “interlinear,” I read that indeed the original says “breast of kings.” Now, we all know that males do not lactate, so how is this intended? Backing up to verse five helps shed some light. The wealth of the nations (which back in those days was usually associated with and controlled by its ruler(s)), is said to be given to Israel. In a figurative sense then nursing from the breast of kings is sucking the wealth from them. Was this understood as an assault on the resources of other nations? Not necessarily. 2 Chronicles 2 recounts how King Hiram willingly provided assistance to Solomon. Also, remember that the imagery is of a baby being nursed, so not an adversarial situation.

So now that we’ve solved the issue of correctly understanding this passage, comes the question as to why a few translations decided on such phrasing as “royal breasts” and “breasts of a queen.” You would have to ask them -- It makes no sense to me. Is it possible that because of the Bible versions speaking to “westerners” they may have tried to make it less shocking to English-speaking readers? That is one possibility but it is not a responsible one.

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Money verses Wealth

I have written about money and wealth before. This time I want to compare two seemingly contradictory statements in the Bible.

Ecclesiastes 7:12 says that “money is a protection.” In contrast, Proverbs 18:11 states: “The wealth of the rich is his fortified city; It is like a protective wall in his imagination.” How can money be a protection and yet that protection be only a fake imagination?

I intentionally only partially quoted Ecclesiastes. The whole verse reads “Wisdom is a protection just as money is a protection, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves the life of its owner.” While money may be able to buy medical aid, it cannot prevent us from dying. We cannot save ourselves or anyone else from death. Really, monetary wealth can literally disappear overnight. But the one who has gained an appreciation for having a solid relationship with their creator can result in true peace of mind that no one can rob away from us. Even if we die, we do so in full confidence that Jehovah can raise us back to life and do away with death forever.

So money does have benefits—it helps us provide an honest living for ourselves and families; affords us the opportunity to help others; provides for wholesome recreation, and much more. But gaining money, especially unnecessary “wealth” is not something to pursue ahead of our relationship with our Creator.

Contentment, A Mark of A Mature Person

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Search Google for the keywords “money” and “happiness” (or unhappiness), and you’ll find polar differences in opinions. There are those that, from experience, realize that money and the things it can buy really do not “make” people happy. I realize this more every day when I read online posts by those intent on having the latest mobile phone. I’ve been reading and contributing to a few sites for enough years to know that every year, those that felt that the latest and greatest would make them happy are, just a few months or maybe a year later, dissatisfied and no longer happy with their phone. It is not that their current phone is defective, it is just not the latest/greatest on the market.

People of that sort actually demonstrate the truth of the statement that money and the things it can buy do not, cannot, and will not ever buy real/true happiness. If a person were truly happy with what they have, they wouldn’t become so quickly and easily discontented. It really is a vicious cycle that is akin to a dog chasing its own tail—even if it catches itself, it eventually has to let go in order to catch it again. (Admittedly, in my own experience, my happiness with a product lasted up to the point that the next model came along.)

In contrast to this is Jesus’ observation that insatiable greed does nothing to extend a person’s life. Hence, the Bible advises true Christians to be free of the love of money. Contentment is one real key to true happiness that is not short-lived. Once a person realizes that chasing the never-ending, insatiable desire for the “next best thing” actually doesn’t have any ability to make one truly happy, they can start to live a contented life.

However, does being content mean that you will never want to treat yourself? No, it doesn’t. But the difference is akin to a donkey being led by a carrot dangled on a stick in front of its face as opposed to a donkey being fed at the appointed meal time. Is what we want just desire built by marketing or is it something we truly need and can put to use?

Based on the two aforementioned scriptures, mature Christians should weigh carefully why they feel they need and how they will be benefited by whatever it is they have their eyes set on.

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