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Proverbs: Genre

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Proverbs 1:1: “The proverbs of Solomon…”

This first phrase of Proverbs is the title for the entire book. Note first that the goal of the author is not to provide hard and fast “laws” to govern all behavior. He does not aim to form a comprehensive code of “prophecies” or “ethics” by which we can measure our progress in obedience. Rather, he writes “proverbs.”

As Derek Kidner puts it, “there are details of character small enough to escape the mesh of the law and the broadsides of the prophets, and yet decisive in personal dealings.”[1] In other words, while God’s law addresses the foundational principles undergirding all godly virtue, and while the prophecies shock people into returning from their sin back to these core moral principles, the proverbs address issues like “what should I do when I wake up tomorrow morning?”

Dictionary.com defines a proverb as “a short popular saying, usually of unknown and ancient origin, that expresses effectively some commonplace truth or useful thought.” That’s how native English speakers use the word “proverb,” and most translators find it adequate to represent the original Hebrew term.

What’s the point? Simply that the compiler of Proverbs reveals commonplace truths in short, memorable sayings. He’s describing principles of everyday living. He wants us to know the Lord in the messy and disorganized details of life.

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Proverbs help address questions such as: should you buy a house or continue renting? When is your child old enough to become romantically involved with someone? When your friend sins, should you confront him or cover it over in love? Should you take that new job offer? How soon should you pay off your debt? Which octane gasoline should you put in your tank? What could you say to your non-Christian neighbor that would be both bold and winsome?

Biblical proverbs are high-mileage statements with suped-up verbal turbines. They contain nuggets of truth crafted attractively and concisely to provoke consideration. They arise from the daily experience of those who, like Solomon, live life with their eyes open.

[1] Proverbs: An Introduction & Commentary (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1964), p.13.

This post was first published in 2012.

Proverbial Disclaimer: Those who click affiliate links bring joy to the blogger’s soul; they will suffer no increase in cost to themselves.

In the Psalms, Jesus is the Lead Singer

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Christopher Ash explains how the Psalms were intended to be read from a Christ-centered perspective.

Perhaps the greatest blessing of a Christ-centered reading is that it frees me from being imprisoned into thinking that the Psalms are all about me. No, they are not all about me! They are all about Jesus Christ in his flawless human nature and his incomparable divine nature. They revolve around Jesus, who sang the Psalms as a significant part of his life of faith and prayer and praise on earth.

I remember seeing on the wall of a church the words of Psalm 20:4: “May [the Lord] grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!” How wonderful, you might think. The Bible promises me all that my heart desires. Until you read the psalm and realize that Psalm 20 is a prayer for the king in David’s line. Ultimately, it is a prayer that Jesus will have his heart’s desire granted and that his plans will be fulfilled. And they will!

The Psalms are not all about me. If I think they are, I will end up disillusioned. But when I grasp that they are all about Christ, my heart lifts in joy that he is the blessed Man and I belong to him.

That is but one of the blessings of reading the Psalms in light of the fact that Jesus is lead singer. The other blessings are:

  1. You can sing in tune with the gospel.
  2. You can sing every line of every song.
  3. You can sing for joy in Jesus.

Check it out!

Proverbs: A Journey in the Right Direction

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With its intensely practical insight, Proverbs tends to be a fan-favorite Old Testament book, included along with the Psalms in the Gideons’ infamous pocket New Testaments. Who doesn’t enjoy having a book of the Bible where they can turn to almost any page to find nuggets of advice directly applicable to nearly anyone, anywhere? But if we step back to examine the book as a whole, its overall argument may help us to read each portion of it more carefully.

Literary Markers

Proverbs explicitly marks off its major divisions with a series of headings:

  • The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel – Prov 1:1
  • The proverbs of Solomon – Prov 10:1
  • The words of the wise – Prov 22:17
  • These also are sayings of the wise – Prov 24:23
  • Proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied – Prov 25:1
  • The words of Agur son of Jakeh – Prov 30:1
  • The word’s of King Lemuel’s mother – Prov 31:1

A cursory glance at each of the divisions shows that the poems in Prov 1-9 are rather lengthy, with some filling a full chapter. The “proverbs” in Prov 10-22 and Prov 25-29 are almost completely made up of pithy, one-verse sayings. The “words” and “sayings” of Prov 22:17-24:22, 24:23-34, 30:1-33, and 31:1-31 consist primarily of brief 3- or 4-verse stanzas (the chief exception being the longer poem on the excellent wife in Prov 31:10-31). These differences in poetic device suggest slightly different reading strategies for each division of the book.

Let’s walk through these divisions.

Building the House

In chapters 1 through 9, wisdom builds her house (Prov 9:1). The long poems in these chapters lay the groundwork for the rest of the book by explaining what wisdom is, how to get it, what will prevent a person from getting it, and blessings and curses of finding it/not finding it. These concepts provide the structure of thought within which the rest of the book is to be interpreted.

The introductory poem (Prov 1:2-7) reveals the purpose of the book, which is to impart wisdom—defined as a journey in the right direction: toward Yahweh and away from oneself. Solomon then introduces the first archenemy of wisdom—the desire for more stuff (Prov 1:8-19) before describing the consequences of spiritual inertia (Prov 1:20-33). He explains how to become wise (Prov 2) and what to expect when wisdom invades a person’s life (Prov 3-4).

Chapter 5 begins a subsection that draws out, in great detail, the second archenemy of wisdom—the desire for more pleasure (Prov 5, 6:20-35, 7). Tucked inside all the talk about more pleasure is a reflection on three particularly dangerous kinds of fool: the savior, the sluggard, and the sower of discord (Prov 6:1-19).

The frame of wisdom’s house is completed by a celebration of wisdom’s ability to turn nobodies into somebodies (Prov 8), along with a grand opening celebration and invitation to partake of the feast (Prov 9).

Spreading the Feast

The remaining chapters contain the feast of wisdom, spread for those who take up this book and allow it to overtake their thinking and behavior.

The scattershot proverbs of chapters 10-22 and 25-29 must be read within the framework erected in chapters 1-9. Though it may be easy to find practical advice for topics such as financial management, friendship, influence, leadership, and communication, we must be careful not divorce such advice from the fear of Yahweh, which must be the beginning of wisdom. In other words, all such advice is intended to help a person draw closer to Yahweh, receiving counsel from him, and rejecting the seduction of self-love and self-reliance. This advice really works only in a world where its adherents are trusting in a wisdom from above, an alien righteousness, a righteousness that comes through faith.

Why is the practical advice in these chapters so jumbled up, lurching from topic to topic faster than a Narnian chipmunk with ADHD? I don’t know for sure, and perhaps we’ll never know. But I have come to appreciate the educated guess of my seminary professor: Perhaps the book was arranged this way to mimic real life. When do we ever have a day when all we need to think about is money, or a day for friendship, or a day completely for labor? Each minute of our lives jumps from topic to topic, and perhaps Proverbs aims to simulate what it is like to draw near to the Lord in humility and with a teachable heart.

Non-Solomonic Material

If Solomon was the book’s primary editor (besides Hezekiah’s men a few centuries later – Prov 25:1), he wasn’t afraid to include material that wasn’t original to him. When he found instruction consistent with Yahweh’s revelation to Israel, he was more than happy to glean from it all he could.

The “words of the wise” in Prov 22:17-24:22 appear to have particular concern for how wise people contribute to a wise society. The additional “sayings of the wise” (Prov 24:23-34) teach the leaders of God’s people how to execute their responsibilities in a way that reflects God’s character. The words of Agur (Prov 30) draw attention back to first principles, calling us to place our trust in the King of Israel and the Word of God, with full awareness and humility. And the words of King Lemuel (Prov 31) give kings their final marching orders.

The Fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This crucial principle of wisdom frames the opening division (Prov 1:7, 9:10). It also makes a return in the closing lines (Prov 31:30). Without the fear of the Lord, a person cannot be wise. And without wisdom, they forfeit all the glorious blessings of wisdom recounted in this book.

So we’d better make sure we understand what the fear of the Lord is. And you won’t understand it if all you do is look up each word in a dictionary.

In Prov 1:7, the fear of the Lord is the contrast to the despising of wisdom and instruction (the thing fools do). In Prov 1:29, the fear of the Lord is the thing fools will never choose. In Prov 8:13, the fear of the Lord is the hatred of evil, especially the rejection of pride and arrogance. In Prov 9:10, the fear of the Lord has to do with the insight one has when he knows the Holy One. In Prov 15:33, the fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom. In Prov 29:25, the fear of the Lord is equated with trust in the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is not meant to be a fuzzy or opaque concept in Proverbs. It simply describes the posture of receiving from God. It is a willful choice to turn away from listening to oneself and toward listening to the Lord. It is the act of receiving instruction from God, instead of being wise in your own eyes. The fear of the Lord is in Proverbs what justification by faith is in Paul’s epistles. This is why Christ had to become our wisdom from God (1 Cor 1:30-31).

Will the posture of your heart be one of receiving from the Lord today? Or will it be one of protecting yourself, promoting yourself, or listening to the world’s enticement to keep following your heart? Proverbs is for you. May it turn you about and set you on a journey in the right direction: away from yourself and toward your Creator, Redeemer, and King, in every area of your life.

For more interpretive walkthroughs of books of the Bible, click here.

This post was first published in 2020.

Why the Bible is the Greatest Book Ever

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Here is a wonderful piece by Jim Orrick on why the Bible is the greatest of the great books. He gives ten reasons:

  1. Enduring Significance
  2. Influence for Good
  3. Continued Relevance
  4. Answers to Big Questions
  5. Literary Brilliance
  6. Wisdom for the Ages
  7. Great Poetry
  8. A Record of History
  9. The Road to True Happiness
  10. The Very Words of God

See the article for details on each point.

Check it out!

Intro to the Wisdom of Proverbs, Part 2

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Wisdom’s counterfeits have been around from the beginning.

Wisdom has built her house;
She has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her beasts;
She has mixed her wine;
She has also set her table.
She has sent out her young women to call
From the highest places in the town,
‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’
To him who lacks sense she says,
‘Come, eat of my bread
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways, and live,
And walk in the way of insight.’

The woman Folly is loud;
She is seductive and knows nothing.
She sits at the door of her house;
She takes a seat on the highest places of the town,
Calling to those who pass by,
Who are going straight on their way,
‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’
And to him who lacks sense she says,
‘Stolen water is sweet,
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’
But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”

Proverbs 9:1-6, 13-18

Wisdom and Folly are two women who both want to have you over for dinner. One of them has done the hard work of building her house, setting the table, and sending her servants out with a personal invitation for you. The other woman is a moocher. She just sits in her doorway moaning, and the best she has to offer you is what she stole from the first lady. She’s a phony, a fake, and a counterfeit.

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Wisdom’s Counterfeits

Today, there are all kinds of phony beliefs people have about wisdom, and becoming wise. The sneakiest of these are not total falsehoods, but rather half-truths. The woman Folly offers a real, albeit unsatisfying, banquet. In other words, these counterfeits sound and feel credible on the surface, but they don’t fully capture the truth of God’s wisdom. Here are 5 examples of wisdom’s counterfeits prevalent in our culture. For each one, I’ll state the common perception, identify the true part of it, and expose the foolish part of it.

1.  Wisdom comes from something inherent in our status, like noble birth or wealth.

What is true about this idea?  By living wisely, someone may actually be able to improve his circumstances or status (Proverbs 3:16).  However, the folly surfaces when we realize that even rich people can be fools (Psalm 49:20).

2.  Wisdom comes with education.

The truth here is that godly people should value good education (Proverbs 23:23).  What part of this example is foolish?  Those with education, degrees, titles, or letters after their names are still fools if they haven’t been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).

3.  Wisdom comes with experience.

The truth: experiencing or practicing something can help us grow in discernment (Hebrews 5:14).  The folly: even the most experienced individual may not have learned the right lessons yet (Proverbs 27:22).

4.  Wisdom comes with age.

The truth: there may be a certain wise perspective that comes with the hindsight of age (Psalm 37:25).  The folly: unfortunately, some older folks can be bitter, unteachable, and more foolish than ever (Ecclesiastes 4:13).

5.  Wisdom comes with leadership.

This counterfeit is particularly insidious because godly leadership is a gift from God, and also because those who are young and simple desperately want trustworthy heroes.  However, Jesus often was most angry with those who used their positions of religious leadership to excuse and ignore their own incessant moral failures.  The truth to hold on to is that our church leaders should be the wisest people in the community: an elder or church leader “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9).  We get this backward, however, when we think leadership qualifies a person to be a wise counselor, rather than recognizing that wisdom is what qualifies a person for leadership (Psalm 119:99).  Just because this person is my priest, pastor, bishop, elder, deacon, Sunday School teacher, youth leader, or parent, does not mean that everything he or she says is wise or biblical!  Everyone (except for Jesus) is a sinner who makes mistakes, occasionally demonstrates unclear thinking, or simply might be too subjective to make a good decision right now.  Therefore, we must be careful not to naively equate wisdom with leadership roles.

Wisdom’s Reality

What is the whole truth?  How does one actually become wise?  Go back and re-read Proverbs 9:1-6, 13-18 and see that the answer is this: You become wise by dining at wisdom’s table.  You simply know the best place to eat!  You’re hungry, and you need some carbs.  You refuse to consume counterfeits; you want the real deal.  Imitation crab meat might help your casserole in a pinch, but who would choose that over an authentic Maryland feast awash in Old Bay seasoning?

What does it mean to dine at wisdom’s table?  “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink” (John 6:53-55).  Jesus is wisdom’s feast.  Trust in him.  Feast on his goodness and mercy.  Ask him for life and wisdom.  Quit gorging yourself on the secret bread of reputation, pleasure, relationships, wealth, or religious activity.

In Proverbs 1 through 9, Wisdom will build her house.  She’ll hew out her pillars.  She’ll cook her meat and mix her wine.  She’ll even set a place for you at the table.  Then she’ll invite you to tuck in and enjoy the feast.  The rest of Proverbs will lie before you ready for consumption.  Even more so, the rest of Scripture will open up for you, a delightful spread of all manner of wonderful things.  But above all, Jesus will become more real to you, his mercy will extend toward you, and his passion for your freedom and glory will captivate you.  All you can do then is start munching.

Next week we’ll begin.

This post was first published in 2012.

Who Wrote the Bible

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Over at the Logos blog, Robert Elmer provides a helpful overview of who wrote the Bible. He lists and explains what we know about the human authors of every book of the Bible. Then he highlights how some books of the Bible describe the Bible itself (interacting with other books).

Elmer’s writing is plain and clear, and his overview provides a good summary of the big picture with respect to these questions.

Check it out!

Intro to the Wisdom of Proverbs, Part 1

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I’m beginning a series of posts on the book of Proverbs, with the goal of exploring how ordinary people can grow in wisdom.  By “ordinary people” I mean people who like to hang out with friends, people who have families, people who work jobs and have things to take care of, people who enjoy hobbies and travel and music and sports and tasty food.  By “wisdom” I’m referring to the extraordinary things that happen when a person loves Jesus a lot and wants to be like him.

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Why am I writing these posts?  Because I, like you, think of myself as being one of the most ordinary people on the planet.  Although I am a full-time missionary with a campus ministry called DiscipleMakers, and that might make some people think of me as being somewhat abnormal, I still feel like I’m someone who is as close to ordinary as you can get.  I’m not very tall.  I have a mortgage payment.  I can’t afford to hire someone to mow my lawn for me, even though I totally wish I could.  My children squabble over whose turn it is to press the button on the elevator.  I like double cheeseburgers.  If you want to hear about someone who is not ordinary, someone who is truly superior and extraordinary in many ways, then I’ll tell you about my wife.  But I won’t do that now, because I’ll have plenty of opportunity to brag about her in future posts.

Many wise people have written excellent works about Proverbs.  I haven’t read them all, but most of the ones I’ve read examine Proverbs with a topical approach.  They discuss things like how we should handle our money, or what sort of friend we should be to others, or how to speak words that build up and don’t tear down.  These books, when done well, are simply terrific, and I highly recommend them to you.[1]  Other books that take more of an expositional (or verse-by-verse) approach tend to be pretty technical commentaries and are thus somewhat inaccessible to ordinary people.

My intention in this series of posts is to lay a foundation for a life of wisdom by examining Proverbs chapters 1 through 9 section-by-section.  Proverbs is one part of the Word of God, and thus is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training us in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).  Proverbs 1-9 is one long introduction to the book of Proverbs, and it intentionally explains how wisdom works.  What is wisdom?  Why should I care about it?  How do I get it?  What will keep me from being wise?  Overall, how do I make sense of the details about topics like money, friends, and speech in later chapters?  And while a topical approach makes sense with the seemingly scattered details in chapters 10 through 31, a section-by-section approach to chapters 1 through 9 is warranted by the organized presentation of the material; therefore, in each section, I will seek to capture the main point, trace out the author’s flow of thought, and draw concrete applications to our day.

Above all, the entire Bible, including Proverbs, is about Jesus: his death for sinners, his resurrection to glory, his offer of forgiveness to all who repent, and his mission to proclaim this great message to every nation (Luke 24:46-47).  So, as we study Proverbs, we’ll do our best to focus on Jesus.

This post was first published in 2012.

[1] One example is Anthony Selvaggio, A Proverbs Driven Life (Wapwallopen, PA: Shepherd Press, 2008).  Another is Dan Phillips’s excellent work, God’s Wisdom in Proverbs (The Woodlands, TX: Kress Biblical Resources, 2011). [Amazon affiliate links will provide a small commission to this blog at no extra cost to yourself.]

The Arrogance of a Little Bible Reading

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Jacob Crouch has a really important point to make: Those who read the Bible only a little tend to become arrogant people, looking down on those who do not read the Bible.

One sure sign that someone hasn’t read their Bible for very long, is that they are arrogant. That might seem surprising, but it is almost universally true that someone who has spent a little time in God’s word always seems to have the answer for any situation…

When I was freshly seeking the Lord, I seemed to have all the answers for finances, marriage, and children, all while I was a broke single man. I had lots of verses in my arsenal, but I had only really been seeking God for a few years.

The cure, of course, is not to stop reading the Bible, but to read the Bible excessively. This strategy is rooted in God’s requirements for kings called to shepherd his people.

Check it out!

Examples of “Thinking Bigger”

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Last week, I argued for the value of “thinking bigger” in your Bible study—of seeking to grasp how your text fits into the book’s larger argument. In this post, I’ll give some examples to show the payoff of such bigger thinking.

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Proverbs 2

First, a rather simple example. Upon studying Proverbs 2, you may recognize that this poem describes how to become wise. All you have to do is passively receive wisdom and actively seek it, and the Lord is just waiting to dole it out.

So much, so good. But how does this chapter fit into the book’s argument?

As a whole, Proverbs 1-9 serve as an extended introduction to the book. In the long poems there, the sage poet explains the fundamentals of how wisdom works, what it does, and why it’s worth it. Chapter 2 on how to get it fits right in with the other fundamentals.

And all those fundamentals are to be assumed when we read chapters 10 and beyond. Therefore, to read particular verses of proverbs as points of secular business, finance, or relationship advice is to miss the entire point. Proverbs 2 plays a crucial role by explaining that God is the only source of wisdom and that he is generous in giving it to those who seek him. Recognizing this role enables us to perceive the weightiness of chapter 2 and the importance of constantly returning to it to help interpret the wisdom found in the rest of the book.

The Fruit of the Spirit

We love to give Sunday school children their coloring pages to help them learn about the cornucopia described in Galatians 5:22-23. But what role do those verses play in light of the letter as a whole?

Gal 2:16 could perhaps summarize the main point of the whole letter: “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”

Paul makes his case first through his autobiography (Gal 1-2) and then by drawing out the tension between law and promise (Gal 3-4).

Now, in chapters 5-6, he explains the freedom that comes with the righteousness that is by faith. This freedom leads us to serve one another in love (Gal 5:13), which is the sum of the whole law (Gal 5:14). In other words, getting right with God (by faith) will produce rightness of relationship (in love).

Gal 5:16 then contrasts the desires of the flesh with the desires of the Spirit. At this point and throughout the letter, “flesh” has stood for justification by works (which leads to all kinds of strife and relational tension), and “Spirit” has stood for justification by faith (which leads to loving communities).

So by following the argument of the entire letter, we will recognize that the fruit of the Spirit is not about how to be a good Christian person, but about what sprouts forth when people put their faith in Christ.

The Good Samaritan

Luke’s gospel is especially challenging on account of its length. But repeated reading and re-reading pay great dividends as you pick up the overall contours of the book’s structure. I won’t restate the full structure here, but can only refer you to my post on the topic.

We find the parable of the Good Samaritan within the lengthy middle section of Luke, which can be difficult to navigate until we discover that it’s organized around four key questions. The Good Samaritan is the final scene in the discussion of the first question: “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (Luke 9:54). In other words, Luke is addressing the issue of how Jesus’ followers must go about proclaiming his kingdom.

So in the section of Luke’s gospel where Jesus’ disciples want to call down fire on Samaritans for not receiving Jesus, Jesus ends up telling a story about a Samaritan to illustrate who is one’s neighbor. The parable demonstrates that Jesus wants his people proclaiming the kingdom to all their neighbors (with neighbor being defined by the story as anyone in need, even across the cursed Jew-Samaritan divide).

So yes, those who hear the parable today ought to do good to people they wouldn’t otherwise like. But they ought to do so from a belief that the message of Christ’s kingdom is for all nations. We proclaim grace, and we act out that grace, so they might believe.

Conclusion

These three examples, from three different text types, exemplify the value of following the argument of the entire book you are studying. This takes a lot of work, and it’s not easy. In fact, I don’t think I ever get it “right” on my first pass through a book. But I do the best I can and then refine my work when I come back to a book later in my study.

Don’t settle for quick answers on a text. Think bigger and take stock of how your text fits into the author’s larger argument. In this way, you may find your Bible study more enriching, encouraging, and enlightening than you expected.

Does New Testament Grace Eliminate our Obligation to Obey God’s Commands?

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A listener to John Piper’s podcast recently asked him a question about the roller coaster of Bible reading. A steady diet of Scripture can take a person consistently through cycles of promise, warning, assurance, and threat. What are we to make of that?

In the process of answering the question, Piper offers a keen answer to an important question: Does the grace of God in the New Testament eliminate our obligation to obey God’s commands?

Piper says:

And here’s what our friend, who sent this question, is drawing our attention to: God uses both promises and threats to motivate that obedience to his commandments. Lest anybody say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don’t even need the word commandments. We shouldn’t even use the word commandments in the New Testament. That’s an Old Testament idea. We don’t live by commandments in the New Testament. That’s law. We live under grace.” To that I respond…

I won’t paste his excellent response. You’ll have to go check it out for yourselves.