Book of Proverbs

Light iron-age reading
The Bible

Gabbin' with God

* Old / New Testament
* Apocrypha
* Annotated Bible

Analysis

* Apocalyptic literature
* Biblical literalism
* Biblical scientific errors

Woo

* Snake handling
* Zion Oil and Gas
* Christian Identity

Figures

* YHWH
* Joseph (husband of Mary)
* Adam and Eve

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The Book of Proverbs (sometimes known as the Proverbs of Solomon) is one of the books in the Bible. It takes the form of a collection of diverse advice, frequently organised as short sentences or paragraphs, many of which begin with the appellation "my son". In general, the Proverbs are concerned with wisdom and learning, based around the idea that the "fear of God" is the foundation of being a reliable member of a faith community, which is the highest from of tautological cringing.

The Proverbs do not claim to be an organized approach to knowledge, and the search for new knowledge is limited: "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; But the glory of kings is to search out a matter" (Proverbs 25:2; where "matter" relates to current events). "Wisdom" relates to social intelligence within a closed community that does not welcome intermarriage, but might have commercial transactions with outsiders. Although secrets and concealed things are mentioned from time to time, Proverbs is not a primary source for Kabbalah, but it is a source for secret Christian teachings about spanking children.

## Contents

* 1 Contents
* 2 Function
* 3 Authorship
* 4 See also
* 5 References

## Contents[edit]

The Proverbs provide guidelines for morality which are cobbled together from copybooks used by boys in Jerusalem, Samaria, Babylon, and Alexandria to learn Hebrew, and thus are included in the "Writings" rather than the Torah, which are direct commands of the Supreme Being. The main contributor is said to be Solomon, but there are also "sayings of Solomon" that were "copied down in the days of Hezekiah" (Proverbs 25) and, following the borrowings of the Egyptian Amenemope, there are sayings by the otherwise unknown Agur son of Jakeh (Proverbs 30), and King Lemuel (Proverbs 31).

For Jews, the message is to learn Hebrew wherever you may be, and marry a nice Jewish girl (Eshet Ḥayil, (Proverbs 31:10-31). Fundamentalist Christians take great comfort knowing that, no matter how ambiguous modern life gets, they can always turn to the Book of Proverbs to obtain such crystal clear guidance as the following:

* (Proverbs 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
* (Proverbs 26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

Thanks to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, conservative Christians know that the secret teaching of "Train up a child in the way he should go, And even when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6), means that you should spank your children. When the grown child blames their parents for a warped personality that they cannot "depart from", the parents will say "Can't you just get over it?"

However, non-Fundies can find some wisdom in Proverbs, such as this:

* Proverbs 31:6-7 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more.

## Function[edit]

Egyptian scribes learned to read and write by copying out proverbs from the Instructions of Ptah-Hotep, the Instructions of Amenemope, and other collections. The Babylonian system was to copy out lines of Hammurabi's code. The Greeks learned the Iliad and the Odyssey, while the Chinese copied out sayings of the Analects of Confucius. The Hebrew educational system follows the Egyptian pattern, and the book of Proverbs includes a section derived from the Instructions of Amenemope (the "thirty sayings of a man", Proverbs 22:17-Proverbs 23:11; it is difficult to split this passage up into exactly thirty sayings).

## Authorship[edit]

The exact authorship of the book is ambiguous, and widely disputed. The majority of the book is presumed to be roughly the work of King Solomon, the son of David, based on the presence of his name in the first chapter (Proverbs 1:1-4):

> 1\. The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
> 2\. To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
> 3\. To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
> 4\. To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.[1]

The final chapters of the book, there are references to two other authors, named Agur and Lemuel, who are apparently attributed with writing sections of Proverbs themselves, although this connection is far from clear[2][3]. In some versions of Proverbs, these references have been removed by scholars who believed that they were simply veiled references to Solomon himself. It is possible that Solomon is only mentioned in the Proverbs in order to pay respect to him.

## See also[edit]

* The Bible
* Guide to the Bible
* Guide to Bible translations
* RationalWiki:Annotated Bible/Proverbs
* To Train Up a Child — the book inspired by Proverbs 22:6 to rationalize Child abuse

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Proverbs, Chapter 1 (King James)
2. ↑ Proverbs, Chapter 30 (King James)
3. ↑ Proverbs, Chapter 31 (King James)

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Articles about the Bible

Old Testament: |  Goliath • Tamar • Tower of Babel • Abel • Joseph (Old Testament) • Firmament • Baal • Noah • Isaac • Ishmael • Amalekites • Curse of Ham • Jacob • Sodom and Gomorrah • Ezekiel's wheel • Lot • Nephilim • G'Tach • Joseph was Imhotep • Moses • Global flood • Cain • Gibeah • Abraham • Old Testament • Incubus and succubus myths • King David • Serpent seed doctrine • Leviathan • Messiah • Mark of Cain • Asherah • Nimrod • Sirach • Jezebel • Adam and Eve • Moloch • Book of Joel • Garden of Eden • Satan • List of actions prohibited by the Bible •
| Torah: |  Torah • Book of Exodus • Book of Genesis • Book of Leviticus • Book of Numbers • Book of Zechariah • Book of Deuteronomy •
| Old Testament History: |  Book of Esther • Book of Ezra • Book of Judges • Book of Ruth • Books of Chronicles • Books of Kings • Books of Samuel • Book of Joshua •
| Old Testament Wisdom: |  Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon • Book of Job • Book of Psalms •
| Major and Minor Prophets: |  Book of Daniel • Book of Ezekiel • Book of Isaiah • Book of Lamentations • Book of Jeremiah •
New Testament: |  Mary Magdalene • New Testament • Mary (mother of Jesus) • Joseph of Arimathea • Paul of Tarsus • Good Samaritan • Authorship of the New Testament • Magi • John the Baptist • Principalities and powers • Joseph (husband of Mary) • Nag Hammadi library • Messiah • Jesus • Gospel of Barnabas • Peter the Apostle • Pontius Pilate • Judas Iscariot • Book of Revelation •
| Gospels and Acts: |  Acts of the Apostles • Gospels • Q gospel • Gospel of John • Gospel of Mark • Gospel of Luke • Gospel of Matthew •
| Pauline Epistles: |  Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Colossians • Epistle to the Philippians • Epistle to Philemon • Epistle to the Romans • Epistle to Titus • First Epistle to the Thessalonians • Second Epistle to the Thessalonians • Second Epistle to Timothy • First Epistle to Timothy •
| General Epistles: |  Epistle of Jude • Epistle of James • Epistle to the Hebrews • First Epistle of John • First Epistle of Peter • Second Epistle of John • Second Epistle of Peter • Third Epistle of John •
Bible analysis: |  Apocalyptic literature • Authorship of the New Testament • Bible interpolation • Biblical sexism • Bibliolatry • Documentary hypothesis • Evidence for the Exodus • Gospels • Horizontal reading • King James Only • Pesher • Q gospel • Septuagint • Skeptic's Annotated Bible • Ten Commandments • Torah • Bible translation • Word of God • Biblical literalism • Biblical contradictions • List of mistakes made by God • Abomination • Firmament • G'Tach • Arsenokoites • Genealogy of Jesus • Nag Hammadi library • Noah's Ark • Annotated Bible • Slavery in the Bible • Examples of God personally killing people • Herod • The Brick Testament • Evidence against a recent creation • EvilBible.com • List of actions prohibited by the Bible • Biblical scientific errors •
| Bible translations: |  Cockney Bible • Douay-Rheims • Jefferson Bible • King James Only • Septuagint • Vetus Latina • Bible translation • Annotated Bible •
| Apocrypha: |  Didache • Apocrypha • Nag Hammadi library • Book of Judith • 2 Maccabees • 3 Maccabees • 4 Maccabees • Books of Enoch • Books of the Maccabees • Gospel of Judas • Gospel of Mary • Gospel of Philip • Gospel of Thomas • Infancy Gospel of James • Infancy Gospel of Thomas • 1 Maccabees •
Biblical figures: |  Abel • Cain • Ishmael • Jacob • Joseph of Arimathea • Joseph (Old Testament) • Mary (mother of Jesus) • Noah • Paul of Tarsus • Mary Magdalene • Lot • Goliath • Nephilim • Moses • YHWH • Amalekites • Baal • King David • Joseph (husband of Mary) • God • Jesus • Asherah • Nimrod • Habakkuk • Adam and Eve • Herod • Pontius Pilate • Jezebel • Tamar • Judas Iscariot • Satan •
Bible woo: |  Jesus diet • Name it and claim it • Snake handling • Speaking in tongues • Spiritual warfare • The Bible Code • Gematria • Stigmata • Biblical longevity • Hanzi of Genesis • Dr. Bronner's Soap • Presidential Prayer Team • Trinity Broadcasting Network • Zecharia Sitchin • James Ussher • Creation Week • Zion Oil and Gas • The Drama of the Lost Disciples • Roman Piso • Jose Luis de Jesús • Prayer • Black Hebrew Israelites • Jonathan Otto • Benny Hinn • Presents Of God Ministry • Solfeggio frequencies • Ken Ham • Harold Camping • Institute for Creation Research • Steve Quayle • Kabbalah Center • Acharya S • Christian Identity • Peter J. Peters • Ezekiel's wheel • Creation Research • Biblical scientific foreknowledge • British Israelism •
| Scientific foreknowledge: |  Gaps between Science and the Bible • Scientific Facts in the Bible: 100 Reasons to Believe the Bible is Supernatural in Origin • Science Confirms the Bible • Eternal Productions: 101 Scientific Facts and Foreknowledge • Modern Science in the Bible • Biblical scientific foreknowledge •