Proverbs

Overview

Proverbs is a book of skill — how to live well in a world God made, one short saying at a time. It begins with a father pleading with a son to choose wisdom before the choices start making him.

They are not promises. A proverb is a general truth stated memorably, and the book itself admits exceptions. Read as a rule of thumb it is priceless; read as a contract it will disappoint.

Background

Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs; this book is the collection that survived. Chapters 25–29 were copied out later by the men of Hezekiah, two hundred years after his death.

Wisdom literature was common across the ancient Near East, but Proverbs roots it differently: skill for living begins with the fear of the LORD, not with cleverness.

Key themes

• The fear of the LORD is where knowledge starts.
• Wisdom and folly are pictured as two women, both calling in the street.
• Words do enormous good and enormous damage.
• Diligence, honesty and generosity are worth more than quick money.
• Discipline is love, in a parent and in God.

Outline

1. A father’s appealChapters 1–9

   Wisdom calling aloud, the danger of bad company and the strange woman, and wisdom present at creation.

2. The proverbs of SolomonChapters 10–22

   Hundreds of two-line sayings on speech, work, money, anger and friendship.

3. Sayings of the wiseChapters 22–24

   Thirty sayings, including warnings about debt and drink.

4. Copied by Hezekiah’s menChapters 25–29

   More of Solomon: kings, neighbors, fools and the sluggard.

5. Agur and LemuelChapters 30–31

   Things too wonderful, a mother’s charge to a king, and the woman of chapter 31.

Key passages

• Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.
• Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; lean not unto thine own understanding.
• Proverbs 11:14 In the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
• Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath.
• Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction.
• Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go.
• Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron.
• Proverbs 31:30 Beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

Christ in Proverbs

Wisdom in chapter 8 speaks as a person, present when God set the foundations of the earth and rejoicing in the habitable parts of it. The New Testament says Christ is the wisdom of God, by whom all things were made — and that in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Reading it

• A chapter a day for a month covers the book; many have made a habit of it.
• Read a proverb as a rule of thumb, not a guarantee — Job and Ecclesiastes are the balance.
• Chapters 1–9 are sermons, not sayings; read them as a whole.