Old Hebrew wisdom...

I love the book of proverbs and have recently been studying it. I am going to review each chapter and post my thoughts when I am done. I am going to start with an introduction to proverbs before I jump into to the book. It only seems fitting the some of the smartest men that has ever lived and one of the most beloved books of the bible is written in a different poetic forms. Hebrew poetry is not based on rhyme or meter, but on rhythm and parallelism let me explain. The forms are broken down into four different poetic forms: synonymous parallelism, antithetical parallelism ,emblematic parallelism, and finally synthetic parallelism. If you want and explenation for each just click on the link.

WHO WROTE THE BOOK OF PROVERBS? Well most people think it was all King Solomon who penned the entire book but people have been debating forever who wrote the book of proverbs. During the reign of Solomon it was often the custom to place the name of the King or someone of prominence in writings in order to honor them, or to give those writings more prestige.Not only are the names "Agur" and "Lemuel" linked to other sections of the book, there are elements of disunity within the book that suggest more than one author. Some of the authorship is attributed to "Men of Hezekiah", though it is stated that they simply transcribed the proverbs rather than writing them of their own accord.

WHEN WAS PROVERBS WRITTEN? Dates for the writing of the book are also unclear. Due to the suggested authorship of Solomon and the collaboration of Hezekiah’s men there are some dates that can be worked with. However there are not enough to give specific timing to the completion of the book though it could have been as late as third century BC

WHAT IS THE THEME OF PROVERBS? The book of Proverbs can be linked to Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction." This theme of centrality of the knowledge of God runs through the entirety of the book. The instructions that are given, although they are for everyday circumstances, allude to humankind’s uprightness before God. The thought pattern that the reverence and respect for God in all circumstances brings true knowledge is encouraged in this book. The book centers on the willingness to learn as important. God’s people were brought into the belief that God’s law is something that is part of life and is a duty, and this required obedience. Proverbs calls this kind of obedience the love of the Lord. This obligation, which is similar to the knowledge of God that they had from the prophetic books, involves reverence, gratitude, and commitment to do the will of God in every circumstance. The main goal of Proverbs is to define clearly what it means to be fully devoted to God’s will and seeing his will accomplished in this world.