God's Wisdom in Proverbs

"Proverbs by definition are short and pointed. They burst in the front door, bang a cup on the table, have their say, and then exit with a slam – leaving us blinking in amazement and mulling over what they said." - Dan Phillips

Currently, at our Men's Prayer meetings on Wednesday mornings, we read and discuss a chapter from the book of Proverbs before we solicit prayer requests and pray together. To help better understand this amazing and timeless collection of divine wisdom, here are a few quotes from Chapter One of Dan Phillip's excellent book, "God's Wisdom in Proverbs."

Wisdom: Skill for living in the fear of Yahweh 

Chapters 1 through 9 clearly contain two discourses. The first is parental exhortation. The second is an extended metaphor.

Proverbs is a book of poetry… English poetry tends to rhyme with words, Hebrew poetry tends to rhyme/develop thoughts.

Hebrew poetry tends to be identifiable by its terseness, its use of imagery, and it’s employment of parallelism.

A proverb is a saying, not a dissertation...Proverbs are designed for the lean economy of expression.

Proverbs convey pithy points and principles, not precious particular promises.

Proverbs are wonderfully successful at being what they are: proverbs. They are not failed prophecies or systematic theology’s.

Proverbs by design lays out pointed observations, meant to be memorized and pondered, not always intended to be applied “across the board” to every situation without qualification...e.g. “Look before you leap” and “He who hesitates is lost.”

A proverb is a compressed statement of wisdom, artfully crafted to be striking, thought-provoking, memorable, and practical.

A proverb typically is truth dress to travel. It is wisdom compressed, compacted, stripped down to its essentials, and ready to go. Proverbs are tailored in such a way as to snag and stay in the mind... proverbs do not try to say everything. But what they do say, they say artfully and memorably.

Major Types of Proverbs:

1.     Synonymous Proverbs: In this, line B rewords the thought of line A.

2.     Contrast Proverbs: In this category, line B contrasts with line A.

-          Example: “A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother.”

3.     Comparison Proverbs: In this sort of Proverbs, line 8 is like blind be.

-          Example: “Like vinegar to the teeth and Smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who sent him.”

4.     Satirical Proverbs: These are striking, memorable little portrayals which use the humorous device of satire to penetrate and arrest our attention.

-          Example: “The sluggard buries his hand in the dish and will not even bring it back to his mouth.”

5.     Evaluation Proverbs: Evaluation Proverbs amount to asserting that line A is better than Line B.

-          Example: “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord that great treasure and trouble with it.”

6.     Consequence Proverbs: Proverbs of this category amount to asserting that line B is what happens when you do line A. Consequence proverbs are two general kinds. Some issue warnings, other consequence proverbs commend a way of life by showing where it leads.

-          Example: “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.”

-          Example: “Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.’

7.     Synthetic Proverbs: Here, line B builds on or extends and completes the thought of line A. It is line A – and what’s more, line B.

-          Example: “Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not speak words of knowledge.”

8.      Proverbial discourse: These are protracted didactic poems, found chiefly in chapters 1 through 9. They are longer lectures and discourses on selected topics introductory to the shorter proverbs which follow.