Honor is a slippery word. If asked to define it, I might have a notion of it or scramble up several words that come close. But, my life in American culture has far removed me from a sincere understanding of honor,
at least as it involves experience. The opening lines of the film, “a forgotten word- honor” didn’t speak volumes to me at first.
The Last Samurai asks the question, “What does it mean to honor something?”
Our own heart, and not other men’s opinions, form true honor.
--SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1772–1834)
The honors of this world: what are they but puff, and emptiness, and peril of falling?
--SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354–430)
To esteem everything is to esteem nothing.
--MOLIÈRE (1622–1673)
When one seeks the honor that comes from God only, he will take the withholding of the honor that comes from men very quietly indeed.
--GEORGE MACDONALD (1824–1905)
To honor is to recognize the value of someone or thing and to act accordingly. Honoring parents (Ex. 20:12), for example, involves providing for their material needs (Matt. 15:4-5) so that their poverty would not be a source of shame.
To honor can mean to reward with tangible signs of respect (2 Chron. 16:14; Esth. 6:8-11).
To shame someone is to challenge that one’s reputation or to disregard his or her worth. The ancients viewed every human action and interaction as an occasion for either gaining honor, that is, increasing one’s value in the public eye, or for being shamed, that is, having one’s estimation degraded.
The desire to maintain one’s honor and to avoid shame or dishonor was a powerful incentive for right action (Job 11:3; Ps. 70:3; Ezek. 43:10).
Honor was thought of as a limited good, that is, the amount of available honor was limited. If one lost honor, another had to gain honor (Prov. 5:9).
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