The Business of Good

(Pro 11:26 KJV)  He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.

The Septuagint at this place says that the person “gives” the grain.  A quick rundown of the other translations has the word "selling" used consistently.  I think this is an important distinction.  I have no idea why the Septuagint does their own thing, but they do.

According to my tools of research, the word in Hebrew clearly means to buy and sell.  As I look down the way in which the word was used, I noticed that it seemed every time to also include the buying and selling of food.  I would say in our modern society of trying to weaken people and make them dependent on the government, the idea of giving things away has a certain appeal.  We ignore the fact that often by giving something to someone that they should have earned or paid for we just just weaken them and make them a ward of the court, so to speak.  It would seem that this is not a new idea.  It would seem that the translators of the Septuagint had the same problem.

So?  Be careful in your charity.  I know it feels good to do good by our definition, but we are called to do what is best for the other person not what makes us feel good.  They are not usually the same thing.