Don’t Be a Solomon

(Proverbs 5:19 KJV)  Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

What kind of compliments do you give your wife?  To be honest, she might not be excited about being called a “loving” (158) “hind” (355).  Here is where the choices of translators again become a mystery to me.  Both the NASB and KJV use “hind” and for the second term one uses “doe” and the other “roe”.  If you look up the words, the first one means a doe or deer in modern English and the second is a female mountain goat.  I have a hard time understanding how a woman, even in ancient times, would have enjoyed being compared to a mountain goat.

We have all heard of male humor.  It might be there is also something called “male praise” that is not healthy for a marriage.  Your wife might not enjoy being compared to your favorite running back or a saucy type of supercharger.  You might mean well but it won’t help.

For wives I am sure the principle applies the other way. 

So?  Work on complimenting but try to make it something that will be appreciated.  Don’t be a Solomon in this case.