Proverbs, Part II

These are notes from Sunday, March 9 class.

We looked at the last five sections of Proverbs:

2) Chapters 10:1 - 22:16 -- Solomon
3) Chapters 25:1 - 27:27 -- Solomon
4) Chapter 30, Words of Agur
5) Chapter 31:1-9, Words of Lemuel
6) Chapter 31:10-31, The Good Wife Poem

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Scholars believe that sections 2 and 3 had their origin in Solomon's writings. Section 2 is considered the core of the book and the oldest composed of short, simple proverbs. They reflect wisdom (ethical and religious correctness) about political, economic, and social situations.

Chapters 10-15 deal with contrast, as the main characters are:
RIGHTEOUS vs. WICKED
RICH vs. POOR
HUMBLE vs. PROUD
THRIFTY vs. LAZY

In Jewish society consideration for parents was regarded as both a mark for wise living and a motive for it. They placed the honoring of father and mother high on their list of values. So it was a 2-way street: wise parents make children glad and wise children make the parent's hearts glad.

Although there is no sequential order to Proverbs, we examined certain concepts by reading key verses. The writers of Proverbs believed that there was something more important than money. Poverty was not to be cherished for its own sake since there are some good things money can provide. Wealth is not to be sought for its own sake since it can bring with it many evils -- a false sense of security and it often damages the character of the possessor.

Even though the writers warn men about evil women, on a whole this book provides the most positive image of women.

Section 4 contains words from an Arab Ruler, Agur, King of the Massa tribe, in 2 parts: 1) Reflections and 2) Numerical insights.

Section 5 is also wisdom from an Arab ruler Lemuel.

Section 6 is an acrostic poem about the "good wife". Each line begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, all in alphabetical order.

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For this coming Sunday, March 16 -- Read the Book of Ruth!

-- Notes from Harrell Guard