Proverbs
Heaven's handbook of practical wisdom - how to live skillfully in the fear of the LORD
Proverbs at a glance
Heaven's handbook of practical wisdom - how to live skillfully in the fear of the LORD
Proverbs is the Bible's great collection of practical wisdom, chiefly attributed to Solomon, the king who asked God for an understanding heart and spoke three thousand proverbs (1 Kings 4:32). It also gathers 'words of the wise,' sayings copied out by the men of King Hezekiah, and closing oracles from Agur and King Lemuel. Standing among the Old Testament's wisdom books, it takes the covenant faith of Israel and applies it to everyday life - money, marriage, work, friendship, and the tongue.
The book opens with ten fatherly speeches urging a son to embrace wisdom and flee folly, personifying Wisdom as a woman calling in the streets and building her house with seven pillars. Then come hundreds of short, two-line sayings - sharp contrasts between the righteous and the wicked, the diligent and the sluggard, the soft answer and the grievous word. It ends with Agur's numerical sayings, Lemuel's warning, and the famous portrait of the virtuous woman whose price is far above rubies.
Proverbs matters because it insists that real wisdom is not mere cleverness but reverence: the fear of the LORD is its beginning. It trains character one choice at a time, teaching that the everyday paths we take - with our words, money, tempers, and companions - are matters of life and death before God.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7 King James Version
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How Proverbs unfolds
6 sections- 1A Father's Call to Wisdom (ch. 1-9)Ten extended speeches from father to son on choosing wisdom over folly, with Lady Wisdom crying in the streets (1, 8) and building her house of seven pillars (9), set against the strange woman's deadly invitation.
- 2Proverbs of Solomon (ch. 10-22:16)The core collection: hundreds of pithy two-line sayings, mostly sharp contrasts - righteous and wicked, wise and foolish, diligent and slothful - covering the tongue, wealth, honesty, and the heart.
- 3Words of the Wise (ch. 22:17-24:34)Thirty sayings of counsel plus further words of the wise: warnings against exploiting the poor, envying sinners, and drunkenness, with the vivid picture of the sluggard's vineyard overgrown with thorns.
- 4Hezekiah's Collection of Solomon (ch. 25-29)More Solomonic proverbs copied out by the men of King Hezekiah - apples of gold in pictures of silver, coals of fire on an enemy's head, and the fool returning to his folly as a dog to his vomit.
- 5Words of Agur (ch. 30)The humble oracle of Agur the son of Jakeh: a prayer for neither poverty nor riches and numerical sayings on the wonders and small wise creatures of the world.
- 6King Lemuel and the Virtuous Woman (ch. 31)The counsel Lemuel's mother taught him - beware strong drink, defend the poor - closing with the alphabet poem praising the virtuous woman whose price is far above rubies.
People to know
5 figures- SolomonSon of David, king of Israel, and the book's principal author - the wisest of kings, who spoke three thousand proverbs.
- AgurSon of Jakeh, whose humble oracle of numerical sayings fills chapter 30.
- King LemuelA king who records the wise counsel his mother taught him in chapter 31.
- Lady WisdomWisdom personified as a woman who cries in the streets, was with God before creation, and invites all to her feast.
- The virtuous womanThe closing portrait of godly diligence and strength - a woman who fears the LORD and whose price is far above rubies.
Words worth carrying with you
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7 · KJV
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5 · KJV
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 · KJV
Think you know Proverbs?
90 questions from the King James Version, all ages welcome. Keep score, then challenge a friend or your whole group.
Leading a group? Download the free printable Proverbs quiz pack (PDF) - questions, answer key with verses, and a score sheet.
The whole book, on video
The full narrated quiz - timed, illustrated, and made for playing together.
Bible Quiz: Proverbs - The Beginning of Wisdom | 30 Questions
Bible Quiz: Proverbs - Wisdom and Folly | 30 Questions
Hard Proverbs Bible Quiz - Can You Score 30/30?