This is the first of the 13 discourses, and as I mentioned in the last post, it is about gangs. Verses 10-14 set this out clearly enough; Solomon has a gang problem. Notice that the “son” is warned to stay away from groups of men who lie in wait to ambush innocent travelers, attack them and steal their possessions. Notice also what might entice a young person into such a life: First there is the excitement of the ambush, then the thrill and power of the brutality, then the gaining of the loot, and finally the most important of all, the being part of a group, the companionship.
Sociologists of the present day cite this time and again as a major contributing cause of the allurement of gangs for young people, particularly those who have no sense of belonging anywhere else. Companionship, belonging, power, being “somebody” and oh…
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