Do you consider yourself a wise person? What does it mean to be a wise person? What difference is there between a wise person and a person who knows a lot? What is wisdom according to God?
The wise God inspired five books of the Bible to help us answer questions like these. And one of those books is Proverbs. For many believers the book of Proverbs represents a disconnected series of practical advice for life. It can be difficult to understand how Proverbs is a book that represents a whole. If that’s your case, here’s a little help.
The origin of Proverbs
The first thing to say and keep in mind about the book of Proverbs is that it “came out of the mouth of God” (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4). “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16). The book of Proverbs is inspired by God. It came from Him, to us, for our good. It is the Word of God, infallible, without errors, with authority.
But the book of Proverbs was written by various human authors. There are two sections of the book that are attributed to King Solomon (Prov. 10:1 – 22:16; 25:1 – 29:27), and others that contain proverbs from “the wise” (Prov. 22:17 – 24: 22; 24:23-34), of Agur (Prov. 30:1-33), and of King Lemuel (Prov. 31:1-9). And there is an interesting note in Proverbs 25:1: “These are proverbs of Solomon, which were transcribed by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah.” This last sentence seems to indicate that the process of collecting all the proverbs in a single book lasted several centuries.
The divine inspiration of the “canonical” books (the books recognized as inspired by God) does not cancel the human factor in their origin. And as with the rest of the books of the Bible, the different historical contexts behind the book of Proverbs can help us discern God’s purpose, the intent of the authors, and the meaning for the original listeners and readers, for that we can build a proper bridge between their past and our present.
The language of Proverbs
The language of Proverbs is like that of the book of Psalms: it is Hebrew poetry, which has its own characteristics, among which the most prominent is the Hebrew parallelism. What does it consist of? In a close relationship between two or more lines of poetry.
There are several types of Hebrew parallelism, and all of them are found in the book of Proverbs. Here some examples:
1. Synonymous parallelism
The second line says the same as the first, just with different words.
“In the path of justice is life,
And in his way there is no death”, Proverbs 12:28.
2. Antithetic parallelism
There is a strong contrast between two or more lines.
“Hate breeds quarrels,
But love covers all transgressions”, Proverbs 10:12.
3. Synthetic parallelism
The second line explains or develops the thought of the first line.
“Keep your heart with all diligence,
because of him sprout the springs of life”, Proverbs 4:23.
4. The emblematic parallelism
The first line expresses with a comparison, often very vivid, the truth of the second line.
“Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
It is the beautiful woman who lacks discretion”, Proverbs 11:22.
And apart from the presence of Hebrew parallelism, Proverbs is full of similes (explicit comparisons, typically introduced by the word “as”), and other literary figures typical of Hebrew poetry.
The genre of Proverbs
The richness of the Bible is reflected not only in what it says, but also in how it says what it says in its different literary genres: the narrative (like Joshua), the poetic (like Psalms), the wise (like Ecclesiastes), the prophetic (like Isaiah), epistolary (like Romans), or apocalyptic (like Revelation).
Proverbs, in addition to being a poetic book, belongs to the sapiential or wisdom genre, which includes the five biblical books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.
The wisdom in question is much more than just human wisdom, such as when speaking of a wise person, a wise decision, or a wise measure, although biblical wisdom includes all of these.
According to Proverbs, the true sage is the true believer who has taken refuge in Christ.
The wisdom reflected in Proverbs is an intellectual, moral, and spiritual wisdom. A person who uses his (supposed) wisdom for sinful and destructive purposes may be cunning, but he is not truly wise. “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9:10). If we don’t believe in the Lord, if we don’t know him, and if we don’t fear him with the respect and reverence that he deserves, we are not truly wise, no matter how smart we think we are!
According to Proverbs, the true wise man is the true believer, who, recognizing himself as a fool by nature, has taken refuge in Christ, Wisdom incarnate, and is now living a new life, guided by the wisdom of the Lord.
The structure of Proverbs
The structure of any book of the Bible is the form that its human author, guided by the Holy Spirit, gave to his work.
With Proverbs there are two errors on both ends to be avoided:
- The mistake of treating the book as if it were another type of book (for example, a historical narrative) and of forcing connections that would not be in the minds of either the authors or the original listeners and readers.
- The mistake of treating the book as a hodgepodge of disconnected sayings, and failing to see the many connections that do exist in the book.
While it is true that there is not always a clear relationship between one saying and the next in Proverbs, there is more order and logic than meets the eye: wise advice from a father to his son (Prov. 1:8ff). .; 2:1 ff.; 3:1 ff.; 4:1 ff.), warnings about sexual dangers (Prov. 2:16 ff.; 5:3 ff.; 5:20 ff. 7:1 ff.), the value of wisdom and the benefits of getting it (Prov. 2:1 ff.; 3:13 ff.), the great contrast between wisdom and foolishness and between the pious and the impious (actually, the believers and the unbelievers, Pr. 10:1 ff.; 13:1 ff.; 14:1 ff.), etc.
The search for connections in Proverbs mirrors the search for wisdom itself: read the book slowly. Must think. You have to search and dig. You have to put in time and effort. And there will be rich benefits, both for this life and the life to come!
characters from proverbs
Proverbs is packed with all kinds of characters. For example: the young fool who allows himself to be seduced by his neighbor’s wife (Prov. 7), the lazy man who has a hard time putting food in his mouth (Prov. 19:24; 26:15), or the wife she complains that she is always pestering her long-suffering husband (Prov. 27:15). All of them are characters invented by the authors who remind us of people we have met at some point.
But one of the most interesting features of the book are the many female protagonists: the wise mother (Prov. 1:8; 31:1ff), the adulteress (Prov. 2:16-19; 5:1ff). .; 6:20 ff.; 7:1 ff.; 30:20), the foolish woman (Prov. 9:13 ff.), the virtuous woman (Prov. 12:4a; 31:10 ff. .), the wise woman and the foolish woman (Prov. 14:1), the contentious wife (Prov. 21:9, 19; 25:24; 27:15). In this sense, Proverbs is one of the most “feminine” books of the Bible. Women sometimes represent threats to a life characterized by wisdom. At other times they represent the best qualities of a truly wise life.
But the most important woman in Proverbs is Wisdom herself, personified by the figure of a woman “preaching in the open air”, calling all kinds of people to listen to her, learn from her, and put her wise advice into practice (Pr 1:20ff; 8:1ff; 9:1ff).
proverbs today
Written and edited between the 10th and 7th centuries BC, the book of Proverbs amazes us with its astonishing relevance to our times.
It covers all stages of life and almost all the issues that are part of our experiential experience: childhood, youth, marriage, parenthood, family life, and old age; education, work, money, and possessions; friendship, neighbors, and bad companies; love and sex; life and death. And Proverbs covers all of that in less than ten thousand words (in the original)!
The wisdom of Proverbs is as old as Solomon and company, but more current and more necessary than ever!
It is true that our educational centers have printed and digital books, computers, and even laboratories. Today people work less and less in the fields and more and more in comfortable, air-conditioned spaces. Many of our purchases are made by credit card. Seductive women now sneak into our homes through our screens. Yes, our world is much more sophisticated than that of Proverbs. But that’s just about the shapes; the essence of life and death has not changed. And the relentless war between wisdom and foolishness continues to rage.
The wisdom of Proverbs is as old as Solomon and company, but more current and more necessary than ever!
Jesus in Proverbs
Biblical theology reminds us that the guiding thread of the entire Bible has a proper name: Jesus. But how to find Jesus in Proverbs, a book that doesn’t even mention his name?
1. The wisdom of Proverbs exposes our natural foolishness
In a sense, Proverbs is nothing more than the application of God’s law to everyday life. The truly wise life is the one born from the fear of the Lord (Prov. 1:7; 9:10), a life of love for God and neighbor.
But none of us can live such a life! That is why a first reading from Proverbs makes us see our sin, and shows us our moral and spiritual incapacity and the condemnation we deserve.
But the bad news prepares us for the good: there is a savior for us sinners!
2. The wisdom of Proverbs points us to Jesus, Wisdom incarnate
In what way does Proverbs point us to Wisdom incarnate?
- The voice of Wisdom that calls people points to the voice of Christ that calls us to listen to him, to realize our true spiritual condition, to repent, and to embrace Him as the only one who can save us.
- Some passages in Proverbs point to Christ indirectly, such as Proverbs 8:22-31, where Wisdom personified points to Wisdom incarnate.
- The Son of God became man and perfectly lived the holy and wise life recommended by Proverbs, and he lived that life for us, for our salvation.
No wonder the Apostle Paul wrote: “You are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and justification, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30)!
3. The wisdom of Proverbs helps the believer to live for the glory of God
God’s wisdom in Proverbs convicts us of sin, leads us to Christ, and then teaches us how to live.
Like God’s law, God’s wisdom in Proverbs convicts us of sin, leads us to Christ, and then teaches us how to live. After realizing…