As the name suggests, this chapter of the Old Testament comprises largely a collection of proverbs on human virtues and vices, mostly ascribed to Solomon, with the fear of the Lord seen as the beginning of wisdom a recurring theme.
My thoughts: I won’t try to analyze the meanings of the more obscure and even contradictory proverbs – there are hundreds of bible study sites on the net which would do a far better job than I could. I will simply share the highlights I enjoyed.
Wisdom is personified in some of the Proverbs, which immediately brought to mind some of Plato’s Socratic dialogues which I had just been reading.
Favourite lines/passages:
Some of the Proverbs have survived as proverbs in common English usage.
| A soft answer turneth away wrath Proverbs 15:1 |
| Pride goeth before destruction Proverbs 16:18 |
| Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise Proverbs 17:28 |
| Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord Proverbs 18:22 |
Others I particularly enjoyed were less familiar
| Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise; which having no guide, overseer or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. Proverbs 6:6-8 |
| For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired, are not to be compared to it Proverbs 8:11 |
| He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind Proverbs 11:29 |
| It is better to dwell in a corner of the house-top, than with a brawling woman in a wide house Proverbs 21:9 |
| As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly Proverbs 26:11 |
| Hell and destruction are never full ; so the eyes of man are never satisfied Proverbs 27:20 |
Diversions and digressions: I discovered a new word from this read : frowardness, which is used a lot in this Book, which I think means perversity of nature, compared to following the way of the Lord. Not something I will probably use in everyday conversation much.
Personal rating: For the gems I discovered, this was an enjoyable read, but there was a lot of repetition of virtue and vice pairs which soon became wearisome from a literature point of view. A 4 overall.
Kimmy’s rating: I did ask Kimmy about this vomit thing, and she gave me the slightly embarrassed big-eyes stare which means I should not enquire further.
Next : The next two Old Testament books are very short, so I will finish those next. Firstly Ecclesiastes (of which I know absolutely nothing) and then The Song of Solomon.
Ah, I’ve always wondered where the phrase ‘Inherit the Wind’ (used as a title for the great Spencer Tracy movie) came from, so now I know – thank you!
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The same thought occurred to me. There must be many examples of authors using quotes from the Old Testament for their titles. Consider her ways was the title of a collection of short stories by John Wyndham.
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