Reflections: Proverbs
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DaveReflections: Proverbs
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DavePersonal Reading & Reflection on Proverbs
The book of Proverbs is a collection of sayings and instructions for wise living. It gives
practical guidelines for living in the form of short, pithy statements in contrast with the
speculative wisdom such as Ecclesiastes which makes use of long monologues to probe
big issues like the meaning of life and the problem of evil. King Solomon was
traditionally credited as the author of these proverbs (1:1, 10:1 and 25:1). However, it
would appear that others such as Agur (30:1) and Lemuel (31:1) were probably
responsible for separate collections of proverbs as well. The sayings of 22:17-23:11 also
show remarkable similarity with the Egyptian proverbs of Amenemope. The Hebrew
redactors made use of these proverbs and added significant theological basis for them.
Proverbs make use of Hebrew literary devices such as synonymous parallelism which
expresses the same idea in similar but different expressions. For example, 18:7 says “A
fool’s mouth is his undoing and his lips are a snare to his soul”. Antithetical parallelism
contrasts two lines of thought: “The plans of the righteous are just but the advice of the
wicked is deceitful” (12:5). Rich metaphors were used as illustrations: “As vinegar to the
teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him” (10:26). Wisdom is
also personified as a woman calling out to those who would heed her voice (8:22-36) and
pictured as being involved in creation (3:19 onwards). In the New Testament, we would
see Christ as the embodiment of pre-existent Wisdom (John 1:1-4 and Colossians 1:15-
20).
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Although these proverbs are not primarily addressing themes like covenant and
redemption, and seem applicable to people of different religions, its teachings are based
on the theological premise that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (1:7).
Wisdom and foolishness are not mainly about intelligence per se but consist of spiritual
and moral quality. The purpose of proverbial wisdom is to show that there is an ethical
order to life which points to us to faith in the Lord (22:19). The fear of the Lord denotes a
reverent awe of those who obey God and forsake sin (28:18). It also relates wisdom
living to the law revealed by God (28:4, 29:18).
Special care is needed when interpreting proverbs. They are not to be interpreted as
absolute prohibitions against taking loans (22:26-27) or guarantees that the wicked will
always be punished in this life. Instead the intent was to remind people to be generally
cautious when taking loans because failure to repay debts can be costly. Often proverbs
were phrased in memorable word structures rather than providing an exhaustive,
technically precise statement of the whole truth. For example, 21:22 says “One who is
wise can go up against the city of the mighty and pull down the stronghold in which they
trust”. It is not to be seen as a divine promise or command that the wise can literally
conquer a city alone. Rather the proverb is a hyperbolic statement of the power of
wisdom. A modern equivalent may be the pithy saying that the pen is mightier than the
sword. Rightly used, proverbs can provide powerful and practical guidelines for daily
living. Even non-Christians may readily see the wisdom for certain advices in Proverbs.
They point us to a general moral order in life that is a clue to the Moral Lawgiver and the
