Rhetorical Answers

(Proverbs 29:19 KJV)  A servant will not be corrected by words: for though he understand he will not answer.

It is hard for us to understand the mind set of a typical slave.  Slaves were things.  They had few rights and the ones they had were often ignored.  Slaves served at the whim of their master.  They could be tortured or killed for any real or imagined failure.  In response they learned to present an inscrutable face and hope for the best. 

This is a hard verse for us to get into so lets interpret like a preacher.  If you are a slave of sin you have learned to ignore the words calling for repentance.  You “understand” (995) but you refuse to give an “answer” (response NASB) (4617).  Or perhaps you are going through one of those periods where you know what God wants from you but you are unwilling to obey.  You run the same risk in either case.

So?  Pray that the Holy Spirit will break through with more than words.  The words are important because they are what don’t change but the power of the Spirit is necessary for us to make use of them.