The book of Proverbs

Main theme

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: God teaches us to live uprightly in every concrete area of life.

Outline

1. Proverbs 1-9 — A father’s speeches to his son

   The repeated appeals “My son” and the great speeches of personified Wisdom: choosing wisdom over folly.

2. Proverbs 10-22 — The proverbs of Solomon

   375 two-line sayings (10:1 to 22:16), often in contrast: the righteous and the wicked, the diligent and the lazy.

3. Proverbs 22-24 — The sayings of the wise

   More developed counsels (22:17 to 24:34), beginning with “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise.”

4. Proverbs 25-29 — Proverbs copied out under Hezekiah

   A second collection of Solomon, copied by “the men of Hezekiah king of Judah” (25:1).

5. Proverbs 30-31 — Agur, Lemuel and the virtuous woman

   The words of Agur, the teaching of King Lemuel’s mother and the poem of the virtuous woman.

Key points

• The book can be summed up in one sentence: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (1:7; 9:10).
• Proverbs are general truths, not automatic promises: 26:4 and 26:5 even complement each other in apparently opposite directions.
• The tongue has power over life and death: “A soft answer turneth away wrath” (15:1; 18:21).
• The sluggard is invited to learn from the ant, which prepares its food in summer (6:6-8).
• Personified Wisdom was present with God at creation (8:22-31).
• People make plans, but it is the LORD who directs their steps (16:9; 19:21).
• Chapters 25 to 29 were copied out by the men of King Hezekiah, more than two centuries after Solomon (25:1).
• The book ends with the portrait of the virtuous woman, praised because she fears the LORD (31:10, 30).

Jesus in Proverbs

Jesus is “a greater than Solomon” (Matt 12:42): he is the very Wisdom of God, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (1 Cor 1:24, 30; Col 2:3). The Wisdom of Proverbs 8, present with God from eternity and at work in creation (8:22-30), finds its fullest revelation in the eternal Word through whom all things were made (John 1:1-3). And Agur’s question, “what is his son’s name?” (30:4), finds its answer in the Gospel.

Did you know?

• According to 1 Kings 4:32, Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs; the collection from 10:1 to 22:16 contains 375, which, as has often been noted, matches the numerical value of the Hebrew letters of Solomon’s name.
• The poem of the virtuous woman (31:10-31) is an acrostic: in Hebrew, each of its 22 verses begins with a letter of the alphabet, in order.
• The New Testament quotes Proverbs several times: “God resisteth the proud” (3:34; Jas 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5), “whom the Lord loveth he correcteth” (3:12; Heb 12:6) and the “coals of fire” (25:22; Rom 12:20).