September 23, 2018: Day 43 – Proverbs 1

This book of the Bible is attributed to Solomon who is said to have written these words in 1:1, 10:1, 25:1.  In fact in many books of the Bible this is entitled the Proverbs of Solomon.  Keep in mind that Solomon is seen as a very wise king (I Kings 4:29-34) and so it makes sense that he was attributed with writing this book of the Bible.

In content it is a compilation of wise sayings.  These sayings seem to revolve around the very beginning nugget of wisdom which we find in vs.7 that tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  From there we have a personification of wisdom who is seen from vss.20 on as a woman who cries out on the streets to get people’s attention, but not everyone wants to pay attention to wisdom.  People consistently tend to disregard and ignore Wisdom and her leading.  

There have been some attempts to see this Hebrew portrayal of wisdom (hakmah) as a near god, as if this is a rendition of the third person (Spirit).  We do find in the Bible Wisdom described as a person.  I’m pretty certain that this is a metaphor.  I don’t say that because I’m trying to avoid a certain interpretation.  It seems obvious to me that Wisdom is that which leads the author to say in vs.29: “They hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord.”

We will see this theme of Wisdom repeated throughout Proverbs.