The Book of Proverbs is attributed to King Solomon who is known throughout history as “the wisest man that ever lived”. When he came to the throne of Judah after the death of his father, King David, the first thing he did was to ask the Lord to give him wisdom “to rule this so great amount of people”. Whether or not he said most of the sayings, for there are many, he did collect them to share with those whose desire is to follow a life of wisdom. The word “proverbs” itself is defined as “a short concise sentence that conveys moral truths.” It comes from the Hebrew word meaning “to rule or to govern”. Using these wise sayings will help the follower rule or govern his or her conduct throughout life that will bring honor from God and a good reputation among men. The many sayings cover a wide-range of topics, and all of them are born out of the experiences of everyday life.
The key to understanding the Book is found in the first seven verses of chapter one. The purpose of the book is to teach people wisdom and discipline and to provide instructions in good conduct and in doing what is right and just and fair towards one another. The difference between the Book of Psalms and the Book of Proverbs is the difference between prayer and devotional life and practical everyday living. Proverbs is not just a collection of interesting tidbits, it contains deep spiritual insights drawn from life experiences. Thus born out of life experiences, it contains practical insights and information about living life. The Book offers a comparison between Knowledge and Wisdom. Knowledge is good, but if it is not applied, then its wisdom is useless. Wisdom without knowledge can be based on anything we want to base it on, fanciful or reality. Knowledge is “having the facts”, Wisdom is “applying those facts to life”.
The understanding of the Book of Proverbs is what theologians describe as “good exegesis”, which means to dig out of Scripture exactly what the Scriptures are saying. Many people practice “eisegesis” which is the practice of reading into the meaning of scripture anything and everything that backs up their beliefs. It is giving meaning to the Scriptures that the Scriptures don’t exactly say. Exegesis does what Solomons says to do here in verses five and six, “listen and understand and receive guidance from the scriptures, exploring the very depths of the meanings of the proverbs, parables, and wise sayings. It is getting out of Scripture what the scripture actually says and then applying its teaching to life.
