Some important things to remember
Having considered how Christ is presented in Proverbs as a tender Bride to be won, we come secondly to some important things to bear in mind in approaching the book that affect interpretation and homiletics.
Structure
Firstly, the book's structure. This is very straightforward.
Chapters 1-9 Introductory material. This part of the book is the most like other parts of Scripture and is the least unusual.
Chapters 10-24 This is where we find the bulk of the proverbs proper
Chapters 25-29 Here we have further proverbs copied by Hezekiah’s men
Chapter 30 The words of Agur
Chapter 31 The words of Lemuel and the epilogue of the noble woman
A collection
It is good to bear in mind that one is dealing with a collection. Each proverb needs to be matched with others and with the rest of Scripture teaching.
As with many books of the Bible there is a good deal of repetition here and we need to be prepared to deal with it. Some proverbs or parts of proverbs are either repeated exactly or reproduced in similar form. An examination of their context will usually reveal their particular aim.
As ever, even where the verses and groups of verses jump from subject to subject, an appreciation of context is most important. We must take care that we do not let the intensely practical concern with material things and this world in the proverbs lead to an imbalanced view. Worldly success does not equal righteousness, as we know.
Proverbial
One must bear in mind the proverbial nature of the proverbs. The statements in the proverbs are proverbial and must not be understood as if they were Law. One of the most common and obvious mistakes with proverbs is to take them literalistically. We would not do it with English proverbs. We are quite happy to recognise the truth both of Too many cooks spoil the broth and Many hands make light work; Look before you leap and he who hesitates is lost. However, when it comes to biblical proverbs we are conscious that this is Scripture and so we want somehow to absolutise them in a wrong way. Proverbs are designed to be memorable rather than theoretically accurate. No proverb is a complete statement of truth. It will not automatically apply in any and every situation. One is expected to use one’s common sense. These are not legal guarantees.
When blessings or rewards are promised it is important to remember that these are likely to follow if one adheres to the advice laid down. Proverbs does not guarantee success. Treating the proverbs as laws or being literalistic in interpretation is dangerous.
For example, if you were expounding 10:22, The blessing of the LORD brings wealth without painful toil for it you would want to remind the congregation that this is both a proverb and in the Old Testament where God’s blessing was often of a more obviously material sort. We cannot argue from this verse that ‘every believer is a wealthy believer’ or ‘every blessed believer is blessed with wealth’. If we bear in mind other Scriptures we will remember that wealth can be a curse or a blessing and so the point is that when God brings a blessing it can come very easily. Truly it can be said of those in Christ, All things are yours (1 Corinthians 3:21).
Or take 14:23, All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
There are situations where hard work brings no profit at all. All the gains are wiped out in a moment. However, there is a proverbial truth here that ought to be accepted.
Similar things could be said about other proverbs such as
15:25 The LORD tears down the proud man’s house but he keeps the widow’s boundaries intact. 16:3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. 29:12 If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked.
In 22:26, 27 we read Do not be one who shakes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts; if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you. There are two questions here. If you put up security for a debt will your bed be snatched from under you? Well, of course, in many cases it never comes to that. This is simply a strong warning of the sort of danger you court if you do this type of thing. Some would say such verses teach that no Christian should put up security for another person’s debt. Does a verse like this prohibit Christians from doing such a thing? Again I think we have to say that the point is not a legalistic ban but a warning of the dangers involved. Surely the chief concern, too, is a spiritual one. A person who is committed to supporting unbiblical teachings will lose out heavily.
Culture
Bear in mind the need to transculturise many of the proverbs. A good many of the proverbs are rooted in Old Testament practices and institutions in their expression. If we forget that we will run into trouble.
An obvious example would be 25:24, Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. The verse may conjure up a man sitting on the corner of a sloping roofed house with his feet in the gutter. That is not the picture intended. A transculturised version would be more like ‘Better to be in the spare room than share the house with a quarrelsome wife’.
Without this perspective what do you do with a verse like 30:17? The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures. It sounds pretty gruesome until you recall that this is written for a culture living on the edge of a desert. The boy is warned not to go wandering off into that desert but he doesn’t listen. Maybe he gets away with it once or twice but then one day he wanders off and gets lost. Days later they find his remains. The vultures have eaten his flesh; the ravens have pecked out his eyes.
Types of proverb
Finally, the proverbs proper can be divided into a number of general types. It is worth bearing in mind that to some extent the proverbs can be classified. Just as in the Hebrew poetry found in the Psalms we have various sorts of parallelism and other poetical devices, so the proverbs can be sorted into more or less clear cut categories.
1. Antithetical
Many writers note that in 10:1-15:33 we have mostly antithetical or contrasting proverbs. These are of the ‘on one hand … but on the other …’ sort.
Eg 10:1 A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother
Some contrasts are simple, as in the above example. Others are more complex, as when the antithesis is suppressed in one half and has to be inferred from what is in the proverb’s other half.
Eg 10:8 The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.
2. Synonymous and synthetic.
In 16:1-22:16 we mostly find synonymous and synthetic proverbs.
Synonymous. Here the first line is repeated in different words.
Eg 11:25 A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
16:11 Honest scales and balances belong to the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making
Synthetic. In synthetic proverbs, the first line is added to with a subsequent one.
Eg 10:22 The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it.
16:3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
3. Simile
There are also straight similes. There are many of these in Chapters 25-27 but one or two appear earlier
Eg 10:26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so are sluggards to those who send them.
Some proverbs defy neat categorisation and even within categories, there can be variation. Other distinctive types worth noting are
The ten better than proverbs. The first is in 12:9 Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.
And the six how much more proverbs. The first of these is in 11:31 If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the sinner!
Charles Bridges has helpfully written of Proverbs, "Surely if the book conduced to no other end, it tends to humble even the most consistent servant of God, in consciousness of countless failures. The whole book is a mirror for us all, not only to show our defects, but also a guidebook and directory for godly conduct." If this is borne in mind along with the fact that the book is chiefly about Christ, there is hope that we may benefit from its teaching and pass it on to others.
This article first appeared in the Banner of Truth Magazine
