Tao-te-Ching, Bible Proverbs 4:23, and Living with Strongest Passion and Meaning

Many ancient texts provide timeless wisdom on the values we should uphold. Although everyone sees the world through their own perspective, and although they can be interpreted in many different ways, some teachings are timeless and universal. Both the Bible and the Tao-te-ching contain these kinds of teachings. Lao-tzu’s Tao-te-ching and Proverbs 4:23 both provide wisdom on how the values we hold in our hearts determine our actions.

In the Bible, Proverbs 4:23 discusses finding wisdom in one’s heart and how to lead a prosperous life through love. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence/ For out of it spring the issues of life,” and this gives us guidance on how to live (NKJV). The passage teaches us to pay attention to our hearts and observe what the heart feels because out of our heart (or love) we will certainly learn what is most important in life.

Compared to Proverbs 4:23, poem 2 of the Tao says, “All things spring up, and there is not one which declines to show/ itself; they grow, and there is no claim made for their ownership;/ they go through their processes, and there is no expectation (of a/ reward for the results),” and we can gather from it that whatever should grow will grow naturally without our interference. This is similar to Proverbs 4:23 because by observing what we feel in our hearts and allowing ourselves to learn by what we observe, our questions will be answered. Further, if we analyze the etymology of the words used in the Bible, we get a much clearer picture of how it is similar to the Tao. For example, the word “spring” is important because it means both “a season of growth” and to “move forward by leaps and bounds” (WordNet, “spring”). The passage tells us that what is in our hearts will jump out at us, be the best way to learn and grow, and it will teach us how to move forward in our lives. The opposite of “spring” is death or holding back, thus when Lao-tzu says “all things spring up,” it also means nothing dies, goes away, or holds back in life whether it is good or bad, so we must face it. In the Tao, we also see the importance of learning from what “springs” up naturally in our lives.

Another word that closely ties the Tao and Proverbs 4:23 is the word “issues.” The word “issues” comes from the word “towtsa'ah,” which means the source of life as well as the escape from death (Blue Letter Bible, Strong’s 8444). Additionally, the use of the word “issue” tells us that “an important question that is in dispute and must be settled” will be answered by our hearts (WordNet, “issue”). This is also tied to the word “spring” used again in both texts where the Tao says that all things spring up and life and cannot die or be ignored. It is our understanding and observation of what happens that produces rewards. If we pay close attention to our expectations of the situations in our lives, we will reap the benefits of the greatest kind, specifically wisdom itself. These important questions regarding life can all be answered by keeping close watch over what is in our hearts or what we love.

Words such as “keep” and “heart” also have similar meanings in both Proverbs and the Tao. By analyzing the true origin of the words we see the similarity. The word “keep” is loosely translated from the word “natsar,” which has multiple meanings including “to watch, guard, keep” and “to keep, observe, guard with fidelity” (Blue Letter Bible, Strong’s 5341). Poem 4 of the Tao also speaks of guarding the “vessel” of ourselves saying “The Tao is (like) the emptiness of a vessel; and in our/ employment of it we must be on our guard against all fullness” (Lao-tzu). The two texts use the same words, thus they contain the same general wisdom about how to protect our hearts. The word “heart” in the Proverbs passage comes from “leb,” which means more than just the heart. The meaning of the word “leb” includes the mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, and memory as well as the seat of appetite, emotion, desire, passion, and courage (Blue Letter Bible, Strong’s 3820). Taking from the original language and broader meaning of the words in the Bible, it is easier to see the similarity in meaning to the Tao. The Tao uses the words like knowledge, desires, and passions more than the word “heart” but in both texts they mean the same thing.

Proverbs 4:23 and the Tao both provide wisdom on how what we hold in our hearts determines our actions. Lao-tzu frequently refers to what is opposite and dichotomous in the world yet all things are mysteriously tied back together and belong together naturally. By closely examining the Proverbs and the Tao we see Lao-tzu is right, and this is so even for ancient texts. Although they may initially appear to be saying different things, they are very much related. Many things in the world have a natural polar opposite and many mysteries in the world require much meditation before full knowledge can be obtained. It seems we are all students of life and will always be.

Works Cited

Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for towtsa'ah (Strong's 8444)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 5 Dec 2009.
<http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H8444&t=KJV>.

Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for natsar (Strong's 5341)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009. 5 Dec 2009. <http:// www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5341&t=KJV>.

Blue Letter Bible. "Dictionary and Word Search for leb (Strong's 3820)". Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2009.
5 Dec 2009. <http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H3820&t=KJV>.

Lao-tzu. "Tao Te Ching." Sacred Books of the East. 39. 1891. Web. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/tao/taote.htm>.

The New King James Version Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1975.

WordNet 3.0. 2006. Princeton University. 12/5/2009. <http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=spring>.