Some classify the Books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon as “Poetical Books” or “Wisdom Literature.” It is, perhaps more precise to classify Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes as Wisdom Literature.
At the most basic level, Proverbs is a book of wisdom. In a way, it’s a book of wit.
Much of the collection is in couplets and, as we noticed in the Psalms, parallelism is very easy to see.
Beyond parallelism, the literary style is referred to as māšāl or something like a byword, or to be compared to, or we could simplify it to a simile: Proverbs 6:23 – the commandment is a lamp, the teaching is a light.
According to Wilkinson and Boa in their book Talk Thru the Bible: Proverbs is perhaps the most practical book in the Old Testament because it teaches wisdom (lit., “skillful living”) in the multiple aspects of everyday life. In short pithy statements, maxims, and stories, Solomon and other contributors set forth about nine hundred proverbs—inspired precepts dealing with wisdom and folly, pride and humility, justice and vengeance, laziness and work, poverty and wealth, friends and neighbors, love and lust, anger and strife, masters and servants, life and death. These maxims are not theoretical but practical; they are easily memorized, timeless truths that touch on every facet of human relationships. Reading a proverb takes only a few seconds; applying a proverb can take a lifetime.
Join Michael as he teaches an overview of the book of Proverbs.
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