Say what you will, it seems a bit unusual to me.

“What does?”

What you find in the third section of Proverbs (22:17–24:34). There are 25 sentences that begin with “Don’t,” while there are hardly any elsewhere in the rest of the Book.

“Unusual?”

Perhaps a better word is “striking.” You know, that section contains all of these important commands and warnings, yet no one—so far as I know—has ever written anything that analyzes the fact. I’d like to understand why they proliferate in this section, to know if there is some special significance in the phenomenon.

“Are you thinking of writing a book about it?”

The thought crossed my mind, but I’d have to understand the reasons behind the fact, and determine whether or not there is some special significance to it. I’d surely welcome someone else doing it though.

“Could you mention one of the verses?”

Sure. Here’s one: “Don’t eat a stingy man’s food; and don’t desire his delicacies.”

“Neat! That’s a double-header.”

And not the only one, either.

“Sounds like it would be interesting to study this section with all of its ‘don’ts.'”

Yeah.