Reading Proverbs Theologically – Part 1
I’ve heard you talk about reading Proverbs theologically. How do you do that?
David
David
Dear David,
Thanks for the question! Reading and understanding Proverbs can be a struggle. For some, reading 25–30 disconnected proverbs in one chapter overwhelms and bewilders them. They think, “What do I do with all this?” For others, it’s the repetitiveness of Hebrew poetry, or how many times the author says the same thing, e.g., stay away from the “strange woman.” Sometimes it is the overly rosy picture that Proverbs seems to paint. They wonder, “The righteous don’t go hungry? Really? Not even in North Korea?” “Your foot won’t stumble (Prov 3:23) but the righteous rises seven times (Prov 24:16)? Do the righteous stumble or don’t they?” And so on.
I freely admit that there are interpretive challenges in Proverbs. I’m also totally confident that however they should be resolved, they reflect the mind of God. So, to read Proverbs theologically, I don’t let the things I don’t understand stop me from the benefit of what I do understand.
A first step to reading Proverbs theologically may be to change the way you read Proverbs. Many of us have practiced reading Scripture a chapter or more at a time. In fact, some of us feel like we haven’t “read our Bibles” unless we’ve read several chapters. I relate. This reading strategy is a poor one for Proverbs 1–9. It doesn’t work at all for reading Proverbs 10–31 theologically. It’s not how proverbs are designed to be read. Proverbs are for pondering, not for drive-by-shopping. They are compressed wisdom. Unpacking them takes time. Time requires patience. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal things.” God intentionally buries his treasures. That makes the search and discovery process much more rewarding! God is glorified when we care enough about understanding who he is and how he thinks to search for him like treasure (Prov 2:1–4).
A second step is to pay attention to the use of God’s personal name, Yahweh. God’s name occurs 86 times in Proverbs. The God of Genesis–Deuteronomy is the same God Solomon talks about in Proverbs: the covenant-making, covenant-keeping God who always keeps his promises. Look for the verses that use God’s name and begin piecing together the mosaic of Yahweh they produce. The key questions are: “Yahweh, what are you revealing to me about (1) who you are, (2) what you like or don’t like, and (3) what you do?”
A third step is to see that Solomon says that all wisdom comes from Yahweh. “For Yahweh gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Prov 2:6). If all wisdom comes from Yahweh, then all wisdom reflects Yahweh’s perspective. That means all the lectures in Proverbs 1–9 and each of the sentence-sayings in Proverbs 10–31 teach me something about Yahweh’s perspective. From this angle, there is nothing in Proverbs that isn’t theological. Ask, “Father, what are you revealing to me about your perspective in this proverb?” The more you ask, the more you see.
A fourth step involves applying the pattern we see of Yahweh calling his people to imitate his character: “Be blameless as I am blameless” (Deut 18:13; 2 Sam 22:31 NASB), “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:26). Applied to Proverbs, this pattern means that the moral virtues Yahweh encourages are reflections of his character. Yahweh need not say, “I am diligent” for us to understand rightly that since the wise man is diligent, Yahweh must be diligent. What Yahweh wants from us, with few exceptions, is what is true about him. We’re supposed to be slow to anger (Prov 14:29) because Yahweh is. We’re supposed to be just in our thoughts (Prov 12:5) because Yahweh is.
A fifth step is recognizing that Yahweh disciplines us so we can share his holiness (Prov 3:11–12). A wise man loves the one who rebukes him (Prov 9:8). In Proverbs, Yahweh rebukes a great many of the ways we aren’t like him. When proverbs poke us or pierce us, that painful discipline expresses Yahweh’s love for us. He chastens every son whom he receives. His goal is that we share his holiness (Heb 12:10).
Blessings,
Philip
Thanks for the question! Reading and understanding Proverbs can be a struggle. For some, reading 25–30 disconnected proverbs in one chapter overwhelms and bewilders them. They think, “What do I do with all this?” For others, it’s the repetitiveness of Hebrew poetry, or how many times the author says the same thing, e.g., stay away from the “strange woman.” Sometimes it is the overly rosy picture that Proverbs seems to paint. They wonder, “The righteous don’t go hungry? Really? Not even in North Korea?” “Your foot won’t stumble (Prov 3:23) but the righteous rises seven times (Prov 24:16)? Do the righteous stumble or don’t they?” And so on.
I freely admit that there are interpretive challenges in Proverbs. I’m also totally confident that however they should be resolved, they reflect the mind of God. So, to read Proverbs theologically, I don’t let the things I don’t understand stop me from the benefit of what I do understand.
A first step to reading Proverbs theologically may be to change the way you read Proverbs. Many of us have practiced reading Scripture a chapter or more at a time. In fact, some of us feel like we haven’t “read our Bibles” unless we’ve read several chapters. I relate. This reading strategy is a poor one for Proverbs 1–9. It doesn’t work at all for reading Proverbs 10–31 theologically. It’s not how proverbs are designed to be read. Proverbs are for pondering, not for drive-by-shopping. They are compressed wisdom. Unpacking them takes time. Time requires patience. Proverbs 25:2 says, “It is the glory of God to conceal things.” God intentionally buries his treasures. That makes the search and discovery process much more rewarding! God is glorified when we care enough about understanding who he is and how he thinks to search for him like treasure (Prov 2:1–4).
A second step is to pay attention to the use of God’s personal name, Yahweh. God’s name occurs 86 times in Proverbs. The God of Genesis–Deuteronomy is the same God Solomon talks about in Proverbs: the covenant-making, covenant-keeping God who always keeps his promises. Look for the verses that use God’s name and begin piecing together the mosaic of Yahweh they produce. The key questions are: “Yahweh, what are you revealing to me about (1) who you are, (2) what you like or don’t like, and (3) what you do?”
A third step is to see that Solomon says that all wisdom comes from Yahweh. “For Yahweh gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Prov 2:6). If all wisdom comes from Yahweh, then all wisdom reflects Yahweh’s perspective. That means all the lectures in Proverbs 1–9 and each of the sentence-sayings in Proverbs 10–31 teach me something about Yahweh’s perspective. From this angle, there is nothing in Proverbs that isn’t theological. Ask, “Father, what are you revealing to me about your perspective in this proverb?” The more you ask, the more you see.
A fourth step involves applying the pattern we see of Yahweh calling his people to imitate his character: “Be blameless as I am blameless” (Deut 18:13; 2 Sam 22:31 NASB), “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:26). Applied to Proverbs, this pattern means that the moral virtues Yahweh encourages are reflections of his character. Yahweh need not say, “I am diligent” for us to understand rightly that since the wise man is diligent, Yahweh must be diligent. What Yahweh wants from us, with few exceptions, is what is true about him. We’re supposed to be slow to anger (Prov 14:29) because Yahweh is. We’re supposed to be just in our thoughts (Prov 12:5) because Yahweh is.
A fifth step is recognizing that Yahweh disciplines us so we can share his holiness (Prov 3:11–12). A wise man loves the one who rebukes him (Prov 9:8). In Proverbs, Yahweh rebukes a great many of the ways we aren’t like him. When proverbs poke us or pierce us, that painful discipline expresses Yahweh’s love for us. He chastens every son whom he receives. His goal is that we share his holiness (Heb 12:10).
Blessings,
Philip