Proverbs

Proverbs is a book in the Bible in the Old Testament. It comes after the book of Psalms and precedes Ecclesiastes. It is grouped as part of the "wisdom literature" section of the Bible. Donald Trump declared that his favorite verse in the Bible is in this book.

Proverbs is a book of logic applied to human experiences, with particular focus on how to deal with (and not deal with) fools and evil people. Proverbs is both inspirational about what can be achieved from doing what is right, and cautionary about the failure that results from compromise with evildoers. Proverbs is particularly strong against "scoffers", observing that "Condemnation is ready for scoffers, and beating for the backs of fools." (Proverbs 19:29 ESV)

Proverbs emphasizes the unchanging nature of God, and how much better it is to adhere to his way than to fall for liberal gimmicks that may be superficially attractive.

## Contents

* 1 Authorship
* 2 Date
* 3 Message
* 4 Bible Study
* 5 On gluttony
* 6 Popular Proverbs
* 7 See also

## Authorship[edit]

Tradition is that Solomon was a primary author of Proverbs, but he was certainly not the only one. Proverbs 22:17 refers to the "sayings of the wise" and 24:23 mentions an additional saying of the wise, which suggests that the real authorship of Proverbs was the best of the public. Chapter 30 is attributed to Agur son of Jakeh and chapter 31 to King Lemuel; some scholars believe Lemuel was another name for Solomon.

## Date[edit]

Based on authorship, most of the book would have come from the 10th century B.C. Proverbs 25:1 makes reference to copying proverbs in the time of king Hezekiah, so at least part of the book, probably the later portion, was copied or appended at a later time (between 715 and 686 B.C.)

## Message[edit]

Proverbs is generally uplifting, giving advice on how to live life. Whether one believes it was inspired by God or not, the proverbs can still be appreciated for their simple messages and keen insights.

## Bible Study[edit]

Due to there being 31 Proverbs, it is a popular form of study for some devout religious people to read one Proverb a day, thereby going through the entire book in a typical month.

## On gluttony[edit]

Proverbs harshly admonishes against gluttony at Proverbs 23:2-3 .

## Popular Proverbs[edit]

* Proverbs 3:5: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.[1]
* Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.[2]

## See also[edit]

* Proverbs 2
* Proverbs 17
* Proverbs 30

v • d • e

Books of the Old Testament

Pentateuch (Torah)|

Genesis • Exodus • Leviticus • Numbers • Deuteronomy

History|

Joshua • Judges • Ruth • I Samuel • II Samuel • I Kings • II Kings • I Chronicles • II Chronicles • Ezra • Nehemiah • Esther

Wisdom Literature|

Job • Psalms • Proverbs • Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon

Major Prophets|

Isaiah • Jeremiah • Lamentations • Ezekiel • Daniel

Minor Prophets|

Hosea • Joel • Amos • Obadiah • Jonah • Micah • Nahum • Habakkuk • Zephaniah • Haggai • Zechariah • Malachi

1. ↑ NIV
2. ↑ NIV