READ IT! - Introduction to Proverbs 28-31

Readings for this week

Monday: Proverbs 28
Tuesday: Proverbs 29
Wednesday: Proverbs 30
Thursday: Proverbs 31
Friday: Amos 1
Saturday: Amos 2
Sunday: Amos 3

Introduction to Proverbs 28-31

Chapters 28-29 

In the next section of the Book, we read More Proverbs of Solomon. Chapters 25–29, attributed to editorial activity of "the men of Hezekiah," contrasts the just and the wicked and broaches the topic of rich and poor.

Section One-Miscellaneous Proverbs

Section Two-Proverbs Concerning Contrasts between the Wicked and the Righteous

Proverbs Which Contrast Wicked and Righteous Attitudes (28:1-28)

Proverbs Which Contrast Wicked and Righteous Relationships (29:1-27)

Examples:

Better to be poor and honest than crooked and rich.
Whoever confesses sins will find mercy.
Whoever trusts in the LORD will prosper.
By justice a king builds up the land.
Whether a fool rages or laughs, there is no peace.
Correct your son and he will give you rest. 

Chapter 30 

Chapters 30 and 31 (the "words of Agur," the "words of Lemuel," and the description of the ideal woman) are a set of appendices, quite different in style and emphasis from the previous chapters.

The "sayings of Agur", introduces creation, divine power, and human ignorance.

After the Introduction, Agur tells us about The Supremacy of Knowing God:

"Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
I do not have human understanding.
I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.
Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Whose hands have gathered up the wind?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is the name of his son?
Surely you know!"

“Two things I ask of you, Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.” 

Agur then presents several Proverbs Which Relate Things That Are Alike, but first briefly Advises Not to Tattle on a Slave.

First, he lists Four Kinds of Sinners:

“There are those who curse their fathers
and do not bless their mothers;
those who are pure in their own eyes
and yet are not cleansed of their filth;
those whose eyes are ever so haughty,
whose glances are so disdainful;
those whose teeth are swords
and whose jaws are set with knives
to devour the poor from the earth
and the needy from among mankind."

Second, he lists Four Things Never Satisfied:

“There are three things that are never satisfied,
four that never say, ‘Enough!’: the grave, the barren womb,
land, which is never satisfied with water,
and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’” 

Agur then briefly gives a Warning Not to Disrespect Your Parents. But then, thirdly, he lists Four Incomprehensible Things:

“There are three things that are too amazing for me,
four that I do not understand:
the way of an eagle in the sky,
the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
and the way of a man with a young woman.”

Agur then gives a brief Warning to Avoid the Adulteress. Fourthly, he lists Four Unfair Things:

“Under three things the earth trembles,
under four it cannot bear up:
a servant who becomes king,
a godless fool who gets plenty to eat,
a contemptible woman who gets married,
and a servant who displaces her mistress.”

Fifthly, he lists Four Wise though Small Animals:

“Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:
Ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer;
hyraxes are creatures of little power,
yet they make their home in the crags;
locusts have no king,
yet they advance together in ranks;
a lizard can be caught with the hand,
yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

Sixthly, he lists Four Strutting Beings:

“There are three things that are stately in their stride,
four that move with stately bearing:
a lion, mighty among beasts,
who retreats before nothing;
a strutting rooster, a he-goat,
and a king secure against revolt."

He then gives Advice to Avoid Pride and Anger. 

Chapter 31 

Chapter 31 contains the Sayings of King Lemuel. There was no King Lemuel of Israel, so we don't really know who this king is, but he may have been Arabian or Assyrian. This passage is describes as “…an inspired utterance his mother taught him.”

“It is not for kings, Lemuel—
it is not for kings to drink wine,
not for rulers to crave beer, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed,
and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. Let beer be for those who are perishing,
wine for those who are in anguish!
Let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.”

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

The Book concludes with an Epilogue: On The Wife of Noble Character.

Proverbs ends very much where it began, with a personification of Wisdom as a woman - more specifically, the wife of noble character. The conclusion of the father's advice to his sons seems then to be that a great way to go about attaining wisdom, or marrying yourself to that "Woman Wisdom," is to actually marry a real woman who has the same attributes of the "Woman Wisdom." Verses 10-31 are an acrostic poem. Each verse begins with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

“A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.”
“Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
‘Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.’
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”