Knowable Word - Bible study help

3 Questions I Ask During Every Bible Study

August 12, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

Good questions are at the core of good Bible study planning. And the best questions are crafted to relate both to the text at hand and the people in the group.

However, there are some general questions I ask during just about every Bible study I lead. Sometimes I’ll modify these questions slightly, but mostly they can be used as is. These questions almost always help my group look closely at the Scriptures, work to understand its meaning, and draw out its implications.

What Do You Notice?

The people in my Bible study group know this question is aimed at observation. I’m not fishing for anything specific; I’m genuinely curious what they observed when this passage was read aloud.

With some planning, I can usually (though not always!) anticipate some answers to this question, directing the conversation to further observation or interpretation.

Alternate versions of this question: What jumped out at you? What are some important details in this text?

What’s the Flow of Thought?

To understand the author’s main point, we must determine what he is saying and how he is connecting his ideas. When the logic connecting one paragraph to another is obvious, I don’t need this question. But when the transition is more subtle, this question does wonders.

This question forces people to identify or remember the main points of the smaller units of thought and think about their connections. When we can link these ideas together and follow those connections through the passage, we’ll almost always be able to sniff out the main point.

Alternate versions of this question: How do these paragraphs connect? What’s the logical flow? Why does this paragraph come before/after this one?

How Can We Apply This?

After we have observed and interpreted, we want to apply the text of Scripture. We don’t want to look into this mirror and remain unchanged. We want to be hearers and doers of the word (James 1:22–25).

This is an open-the-door question, asked to see what work the Holy Spirit might be doing in the hearts of my Bible study friends. I try to have more pointed questions prepared in case this doesn’t draw any responses. But sometimes a generic question is all we need—the conviction or comfort a person needs may have already come to them powerfully, and this question kicks off a fruitful conversation aimed at genuine application.

Alternate versions of this question: What does this mean for us? How might we live differently because of this text?

Not My Only Questions

A Bible study leader’s plan cannot consist of only these questions. However, sometimes the best questions are the ones most likely to get people talking. We can take advantage of the interaction for which a Bible study group is designed when we make it easy for our friends to enter the discussion. And these three questions are a good start.

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Proverbs: Author

August 9, 2024 By Peter Krol

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel (Prov 1:1).

Who better to comment on the details of earthly existence than Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel? As the man Solomon, he had exceptional God-given insight and understanding. As the son of David, he had the promise of a kingdom for God, a special relationship with God, and steadfast love from God. As the king of Israel, he had both power and unparalleled wealth. These three resources – God’s wisdom, God’s promise, and great wealth – made Solomon uniquely qualified to compose proverbs.

Image generated using Jetpack AI Assistant from the prompt crown on a pile of gold coins and books

1. God’s Wisdom (“Solomon”)

Solomon asked God for “an understanding mind to govern” God’s people so he could “discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9), and the Lord promised to honor Solomon’s request (1 Kings 3:12). On account of his wise judgment, all Israel “stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice” (1 Kings 3:28).

Solomon’s God-given wisdom surpassed that of all the sages of the East and of Egypt (1 Kings 4:29-31). This means he was smarter than Confucius and cleverer than the Buddha. He spoke 3,000 proverbs (about 900 of which are in the book of Proverbs), and his songs were 1,005 (1 Kings 4:32). He spoke of many details of life, such as trees, birds, reptiles, and fish (1 Kings 4:33). International students from every corner of the globe competed for a seat in his classroom (1 Kings 4:34). Solomon was both more prolific and more elegant than any other scholar of his day because he had direct access to the mind of the Lord of heaven and earth.

2. God’s Promise (“Son of David”)

The Lord himself promised to build up and sustain Solomon in his wisdom. First, he promised him a kingdom. Speaking to Solomon’s father David, God said, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:12). Second, he promised to have a special relationship with Solomon: “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him” (2 Samuel 7:14). Third, he promised to love him to the end: “My steadfast love will not depart from him” (2 Samuel 7:15).

Notice how these first two resources (God’s wisdom and God’s promise) are connected. Solomon could have all the wisdom in the world, but without the promise of God to sustain him, it would all be for naught. Imagine studying for a test. You can learn every fact and formula. You could even memorize a transcript of every word your teacher spoke in class. These actions might impart wisdom to you. But if you get no sleep the night before the exam, you will have no power or ability to recall and apply everything you learned. So God’s wisdom gave Solomon the raw insight he needed, and God’s promise gave Solomon the beautiful power of follow-through.

3. Great Wealth (“King of Israel”)

King Solomon had an annual income of 666 talents of gold (1 Kings 10:14). (This amount only takes into account his base salary; adding in tax revenue and investment income would push the figure even higher. See 1 Kings 10:15.) Translated into modern American currency, Solomon’s annual income was in excess of $1.5 billion.^[1] To put this figure into perspective, note that Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo (the world’s highest paid athlete) made only $260 million in 2024. In fact, the top 10 highest paid athletes combined still didn’t make as much in a year as King Solomon. It would be difficult to find anyone in our generation comparable to Solomon in his wealth.

The point of this little economics lesson: What could you do with all that capital? If Solomon lacked for anything, he could acquire it. If he wanted to try something out, it was his. He had access to the best technology, education, public safety, athletics, arts & entertainment, food, hobbies, and service that the world could offer him. Whatever his eyes desired, he did not keep from them.^[2] Solomon explored every aspect of the created world with his wisdom, and he carefully examined it for every ounce of value. He now provides his experience—both positive and negative—of every delightful thing in a collection of wise sayings.

In conclusion, Solomon was abundantly qualified to take on the role of the sage of Israel and of the world. He had every possible resource at his disposal, and God gave him both the insight and the power to evaluate it wisely. His credentials are sufficient to the task of imparting wisdom.

^[1]Some readers won’t be able to hear anything else I write until they know how I arrived at this figure. This footnote is just for you. The New Bible Dictionary (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1962), p.1234 states that 1 ancient talent equals approximately 30 modern kilograms. Therefore, 666 talents = 19,980 kg. On August 8, 2024, 24-karat gold was worth USD $77,451/kilo. Therefore, 19,980 kg of 24-karat gold = $1.55 billion. (Affiliate link)

^[2]Ecclesiastes 2:10. Even if, as some claim, Solomon were not “the Preacher” of Ecclesiastes, it would appear that the Preacher at least aims to connect his spiritual authority with Solomon’s reputation (see Ecclesiastes 1:1).

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In Defense of Historical Context

August 7, 2024 By Peter Krol

David Mitchell has a thoughtful piece where he begins to make a theological and philosophical defense of the need to understand the Bible within its historical context. In other words, why do we expend so much energy to grasp the Bible’s authors, their original audiences, and the circumstances under which they wrote? Is all that really necessary to understand what the Spirit has to say to us today?

Yes. Yes, it is quite necessary.

The philosophical and theological reason for reading in context is because the Bible is a serious and intentional text. Something written simply to entertain or amuse may not require paying attention to context in quite the same way—although the upheaval of context might be part of such a text’s ability to entertain. However, something written with a serious intention, whether to convey information or change people’s behaviour, always needs to be understood according to a context. That could be the context created by the narrative and/or a context created by the historical moment being spoken into (in the case of a letter).

The Scriptures were not written simply to record stories for their own sake nor to entertain. They were written for the purpose of changing the minds of those who read them. This is abundantly clear in certain places (for e.g. Jn 20:31). But theologically, we believe that all the words of Scripture were written by God’s Spirit for his people. They are meant to both inform us—ultimately of Jesus Christ—and change our behaviour (for e.g. 2 Tim 3:16–17; 1 Pet 1:10–11; 2 Pet 1:20–21). Yet we also know that they are human documents, not transcendent of history, but records of it and within it (e.g. Luke 1:1–4; 1 John 1:1–3). Taken together, as both a divine and human document, the word of God for us should be read according to the moments that it addresses.

Mitchell then provides some examples from a variety of genres, showing how good contextual work does not hinder contemporary application but makes it all the stronger.

Check it out!

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Why “Proverbs Aren’t Promises” is Misleading

August 2, 2024 By Peter Krol

Pick up a book with Bible-reading advice, and you’ll barely get your nose in before it gets mashed with the ubiquitous yet astonishingly forceful declaration: Proverbs aren’t promises! This piece of conventional wisdom is everywhere. Though it has roots in careful thinking about the genre of wisdom literature, this advice often goes too far and misses the point of the proverbs.

In almost every case, the counsel comes with strong emotion and a reference to Proverbs 22:6. Too many people have seen too many people bludgeon the hurting parents of wayward children through immature and thoughtless reference to this crucial verse about parenting. (“If you had trained your child right, he would not have walked away from the Lord.”) And the pastoral reflex is just right. This is not how to use Scripture.

Train me up. I promise I'll be good. — Train me up. I promise I’ll be good.

But the conclusion—that proverbs are not promises—is not right. In this case, the cure is worse than the disease.

Deep Roots

Consider first, the many respectable authors and pastors who promote the conventional wisdom. They often offer sound counsel, and their sensitivity to abuse is spot on. But when discussing how to read wisdom literature, they move in synchrony:

“A common mistake in biblical interpretation and application is to give a proverbial saying the weight or force of a moral absolute.” (R.C. Sproul)

“The proverbs commend certain paths to family members because they reflect the ways God ordinarily distributes His blessings. But ordinarily does not mean necessarily…Proverbs are not promises.” (Richard Pratt)

“The particular blessings, rewards, and opportunities mentioned in Proverbs are likely to follow if one will choose the wise courses of action outlined in the poetic, figurative language of the book. But nowhere does Proverbs teach automatic success.” (Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart)

“The proverbs are meant to be general principles.” (John Piper)

“The proverbs appear to represent likelihoods rather than absolutes with God’s personal guarantee attached.” (James Dobson)

In other words, all agree: Proverbs are general, but not universal, statements. Proverbs are usually, or ordinarily, true. They speak about what is likely, not about what is guaranteed. But proverbs certainly are not promises. They are not absolutes. We cannot bank on them completely.

Where the Roots Run Aground

But consider some amazing statements from the proverbs. And consider where we end up if we read them as probabilities instead of promises. The conventional wisdom feels right with a verse like Proverbs 22:6, but it doesn’t hold up with much of the rest of the book.

According to Lady Wisdom: “If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you” (Prov 1:23). According to the conventional approach, this means that only most people who turn at wisdom’s reproof will know her words. It cannot be absolutely certain that wisdom is available to those who turn to her. Some who turn will be disappointed when she rejects them anyway.

Or consider chapter 2: “My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding…if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God” (Prov 2:1-5). This can’t really mean what it says. What Solomon wants to communicate is that those who receive and treasure, pay attention and incline their hearts, seek wisdom like silver and search for it as for hidden treasure—such people might understand the fear of the Lord. Some—but not all—who seek the wisdom of God, and who seek it in the way God requires, will know God in the end. Hopefully you can be one of the lucky ones.

But it gets better. “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity (Prov 2:6-7). Today, of course, we know that only sometimes does the Lord give wisdom. This isn’t absolute, because of course you can find wisdom in other places besides him. He’s usually the source of wisdom, but if you try other places, other deities, other schools of thought, you might also get the life you need.

Or let’s hear personified Wisdom once more: “For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord,but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death” (Prov 8:35-36). Because this can’t be a promise, it must be only a likelihood. So those who find the fear of the Lord and walk in his wisdom might get his favor. Or they might end up still injuring themselves and dying the eternal death. Ya never know. In this broken world of ours, it’s a crap shoot. So go with the better odds; but don’t bank on any certainties.

Proverbs are Promises…With a Context

There has to be a better way to read this genre. And I contend that, when a proverb sounds like a promise, it is making a promise! And you can always trust God’s promises. When a proverb issues a command, it is making a moral absolute!

However, these promises and commands all have a context. Just as Jeremiah 29:11 was a promise with a context (not modern-day graduates, but ancient Israelites in exile), so also proverbs have a context, a specific situation at which they are aimed. And instead of seeing proverbs as “general” or “broad” statements, we need to see them for what they truly are: very specific and particular statements. They speak to the minute details of life, which is why they can even sound contradictory at times. For example, see Prov 26:4-5. One saying is always true in a certain context (where answering a fool will make you as foolish as he is), and the next statement is always true in a different context (where not answering a fool will leave him wise in his own eyes). Wise people will discern which context they find themselves in. But both statements are always true within their contexts, and absolutely so. Neither statement is a mere likelihood.

And to get more specific, the context of the Proverbs is God’s covenant with Israel. The promises of Proverbs typically involve blessings or curses for those who keep or reject the covenant stipulations to know the Lord and walk in his wisdom. Just read Proverbs 3:1-12 immediately after Deuteronomy 28, and you can’t help but observe the contextual connection. However, nobody argues that Deuteronomy 28 contains only “probabilities,” or that these covenant blessings and curses are “not promises.” No, these promises of blessing and cursing exist within the context of God’s covenant with Israel and simply require care to apply them properly to our new covenant context.

Objection #1: Why are You the Only One Saying This?

I’m not. Everyone agrees that Bruce Waltke has written “the standard commentary” on Proverbs. Yet few listen to him on this point:

“The popular evangelical solution that these are not promises but probabilities, though containing an element of truth, raises theological, practical, and psychological problems by stating the matter badly…A psychologically well person could scarcely trust God with all his heart (Prov 3:5) knowing that he usually, but not always, keeps his obligations.” (The Book of Proverbs, Chapters 1-15 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2004), pp. 107-8)

Brothers and sisters, let us no longer state this matter badly.

Objection #2: What About Proverbs 22:6?

So we must return to that which set us down the false trail. What will we do with those who mistakenly read Prov 22:6 as a promise, and thus trample on faithful, wounded people who cannot control the hearts of their children?

We must understand the context to which this proverb speaks. In his book, God’s Wisdom in Proverbs (pp.353-379), Dan Phillips argues convincingly that Prov 22:6 means almost the opposite of what we tend to think. The verse doesn’t promise superhero children to those who follow the correct parenting techniques. Instead, it threatens selfish, miscreant children to those who refuse to use God’s means (the rod and the word of patient, faithful exhortation) to drive the folly from their children’s hearts.

In other words, the verse does not promise good kids to all good parents. But it does threaten bad kids to all bad parents. Train up your child according to his way. Teach him to continue loving himself and putting himself at the center of the universe. Show him over time that there are no consequences to his foolish choices. And even when he is old, he will not depart from his natural inclinations toward himself and himself alone. This is a promise.

But even this covenant curse has a context within the covenant of grace. There is always hope. The grace of our Lord overflows with the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. “And the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

Photo Credit: Clark Maxwell (2010), Creative Commons

This post was first published in 2016.

Disclaimer: Above, Amazon links to great books are affiliate links. If you click those links, I promise you I will usually receive a small commission, ordinarily at no extra cost to yourself. But you never know when Amazon may change the terms of their agreement with me. Don’t read such probabilities as absolute promises. Click only if you dare to dig into this topic further.

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4 Psalms You May Not Have Realized Were About Christ

July 31, 2024 By Peter Krol

Last week, I shared an article by Christopher Ash about Jesus as the lead singer of the psalms. I can’t help but follow up this week with another article by Ash entitled, “4 Psalms You Didn’t Realize Point to Christ.”

Ash considers:

Psalm 1 – the man who meditates constantly on God’s word
Psalm 6 – the innocent sufferer who can drive evildoers away
Psalm 109 – perhaps the harshest of the psalms of cursing against the wicked
Psalm 145 – perpetual praise offered to the Lord

All four psalms only make real sense if Jesus Christ is the lead singer.

Check it out!

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The Word of God and the Eyes of God

July 29, 2024 By Ryan Higginbottom

Rest is one of the most elusive states in the modern west. Most of us are powered up with our engines revving high much more often (and for longer) than we’d like. At the end of the day, at the end of the week, we long for rest.

This is not new. Ever since God cursed the ground after Adam and Eve’s sin, work in the world has been hard. All who labor have felt this. God’s people in the first century felt it too.

The author of Hebrews writes about rest in a way that should grab our attention. And he uses a famous description of the Scriptures to offer us help.

Strive to Enter God’s Rest

In Hebrews 3:7–4:13, the author pens a warning to his readers that is framed as a contrast to what happened to the generation of Israelites who left Egypt. They put God “to the test” and he was “provoked with that generation” (Heb 3:9-10). They were “disobedient” and unbelieving, and God swore to them that they would not enter his rest (Heb 3:18-19).

The exhortation to those who received this letter, therefore, is to “strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience” (Heb 4:11). They must not “harden [their] hearts,” and they should “exhort one another every day […] that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb 3:8, 13).

It is not enough to hear the good news; it is only those who believe who will enter God’s rest (Heb 4:2-3).

Rest as God Rested

The contrast with the wilderness generation of Israel points to “rest” as it was understood in the original context: conquest of the promised land of Canaan. However, “rest” also pointed to something greater. And the readers of Hebrews still have access to this greater rest.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. (Heb 4:8–10)

Those of us familiar with the letters of the apostle Paul may read “works” here in the sense of works righteousness. (See Eph 2:8-9, Gal 2:16, Titus 3:4–7.) This is an understandable reflex, but it doesn’t square with the context.

The Sabbath rest that remains for the people of God has us resting from our works as God rested from his. From Heb 4:4, we know this refers to the seventh day of creation. Thus, the rest mentioned here is a rest of finality, completion, and satisfaction that what was chaotic has been settled and ordered by a good, sovereign king.

The Sharp and Piercing Word

Those who believe will enter this rest in a preliminary sense when they die and in the full sense at the re-making of the world. So how can we be sure we are among that number? The author of Hebrews anticipates and answers this question.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Heb 4:12-13)

All creatures are exposed before the eyes of God because we cannot hide from him. Our deeds and our hearts are fully known, down to the last detail. We can keep track of God’s judgment of us by paying attention to his word.

God’s word is like a sword, sharp and piercing the deepest places within us. The thoughts and intentions of our hearts are discerned by the Scriptures. And this word of the Lord is living and active; we cannot encounter it without effect.

The author of Hebrews wants his initial readers (and us) to enter God’s Sabbath rest. This is available to all who believe, and we can check our faith by comparing ourselves to God’s word. The more we are spiritually exposed before the Bible and the more we “consider Jesus” who is found there, the more surely we will “share in Christ,” as we “hold our original confidence firm to the end” (Heb 3:1, 14).

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Proverbs: Genre

July 26, 2024 By Peter Krol

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.

close up photo gasoline fuel pump — Photo by Ekaterina Belinskaya on Pexels.com

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.

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In the Psalms, Jesus is the Lead Singer

July 24, 2024 By Peter Krol

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:

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

Check it out!

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Proverbs: A Journey in the Right Direction

July 19, 2024 By Peter Krol

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.

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