Harbour Lake Baptist Church
“Through The Bible In One Year”
Introduction to “The Book of Proverbs”
1. “Proverbs” is a Book of Divine Wisdom applied to earthly conditions. A proverb is a short statement drawn from long experiences. The Hebrew title of this book is “Mishle Shelomoh” and the Greek title is “Paroimiai Salomontos” which both mean “Proverbs of Solomon”. The Latin title is “Liber Proverbiorum” which means “Book of Proverbs”.
2. The Book of Proverbs provides God’s detailed instructions for His people to deal successfully with the practical affairs of everyday life: how to relate to God, parents, children, neighbors, and government. Solomon, the principal author, uses a combination of poetry, parables, pithy questions, short stories, and wise maxims to give common sense and divine perspective necessary to handle life’s issues.
3. The Central Message of The Book of Proverbs is: “The Wisdom of God”.
4. The book of Proverbs can be divided into five major sections:
a. Wisdom and Folly: (Chapters 1 through 9)
b. Proverbs of Solomon, written and compiled by him: (Chapters 10-24)
c. Proverbs of Solomon, written and compiled by men of Hezekiah: (Chapters 25-29)
d. Words of Agur: (Chapter 30)
e. Words of a Mother: (Chapter 31)
5. The Book of Proverbs is written in a special form called “parallelism”. These are two short repeat or back up statements coupled together to emphasize a point. There are three major kinds of parallelism that can be found in “Proverbs”:
1) Synonymous Parallelism: The 2nd clause restates what is given in the 1st clause. Example: Prov 19:29.
2) Contrast Parallelism: A truth stated in the 1st clause is made stronger in the 2nd clause by contrast with an opposite truth. Example: Proverbs 13:9.
3) Synthetic (or Completive) Parallelism: The 2nd clause develops the thought of the 1st clause.
Example: Proverbs 20:2.
6. The Book of Proverbs have “spiritual” value, as well as “practical” value. Proverbs, in the Bible, are inspired by the Holy Spirit of God as compared to man’s “wisdom” found in man’s “proverbs”. Man says such things as “look before you leap”, “the best things in life are free”, etc., etc. The Word of God says “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:6) and “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10); etc., etc.
7. There are various authors of The Book of Proverbs. Solomon is the main author and, according to
1Kings 4:32, he wrote at least 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs.
8. The Book of Proverbs is a collection of topical maxims and is not a historical book. It is a product of the wisdom schools that were common in ancient Israel. According to Jeremiah 18:18 and Ezekiel 7:26, three groups of people communicated to Israel on behalf of God:
(1) The Priests: They imparted the Law of God to His people.
(2) The Prophets: They communicated the divine Word and Prophecies of God to His people.
(3) The Sages: They provided the practical application of God’s wisdom to His people.
“The Preacher” of Ecclesiastes (1:1, 12; 7:27; 12:8-10). “The Preacher” (Hebrew: Qoheleth) means “one who addresses an assembly”. It appears from this that Solomon presided over a “school” of wise men and “taught the people knowledge” (Eccl 12:9). “My son” in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes evidently refers to a pupil that would be attending a “wisdom” class.
9. “Christ” can be found in The Book of Proverbs such as in Proverbs 8, where wisdom is personified and seen in its perfection. It is divine (8:22-31), it is the source of biological and spiritual life (8:35-36), it is righteous and moral (8:8-9), and it is available to all who will receive it (8:1-6, 32-35). This wisdom became “incarnate” in Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3; see also 1Corinthians 1:30).