Proverbs
Proverbs is the practical, down-to-earth side of biblical wisdom, less interested in theology than in how to actually live well.
Read this if you…
- like wisdom literature stripped down to pithy aphorisms you can chew on for years
- want Lady Wisdom personified (calling out in the streets, contrasted with Folly the seductress)
- care about the OT's most practical book: business, marriage, friendship, anger, money, drink
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Why It Matters
Proverbs is the practical, down-to-earth side of biblical wisdom, less interested in theology than in how to actually live well. Its sayings came into English through the King James translation, and a lot of them are still in everyday speech.
Where to go next
- The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin. Proverbs shaped it. - One verse out of *Proverbs* became the engine of an American life - Franklin's father drilled Solomon's line into him — "Seest thou a man diligent in his calling, he shall stand before kings" (22:29) — and Franklin made it his work-ethic creed - He quotes it by name in the *Autobiography*, then notes he has since stood before five
- The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Proverbs shaped it. - *Proverbs* is one of the books Bunyan keeps reaching for in the margins — Christian quotes its maxims to cut through worldly counsel (28:26, "he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool"; 3:5, trust the Lord, not your own understanding) - The By-path Meadow trap is *Proverbs* 14:12 made into a scene: "a way that seemeth right... the end thereof are the ways of death"
Depicted in Art
Solomon, robed and crowned in old age, sits with quill and scroll among books and writing materials, composing his proverbs.
Gustave Doré, 1866
Divine Wisdom enthroned at the center on a golden seat supported by seven pillars, with the Theotokos and Christ Immanuel and a feasting heavenly host arrayed around.
1548
An aged, white-bearded Solomon sits enthroned beneath columns, scroll in hand, surrounded by attendants in a hall heavy with shadow.
Gustave Doré, 1866
A full-page illuminated frontispiece prefacing Proverbs, depicting the Judgment of Solomon as the iconic emblem of his wisdom.
870
King Solomon, crowned and robed, holds an unfurled scroll inscribed in Romanian Cyrillic with the opening of Proverbs 31:29 — 'Many daughters have done virtuously.'
1750
A triple-scene folio: Solomon enthroned instructs his young son Rehoboam at left, judges between the two mothers at center, and tests three brothers at right.
Master of Jean de Mandeville, 1360
Decorated incipit page opening the Book of Proverbs in an Armenian manuscript Bible from Isfahan, with floral marginalia and a calligraphic Armenian title.
1662
A four-panel etching contrasting the industrious and the indolent, the righteous and the wicked, with biblical verses from Proverbs 10 inscribed below.
Daniel Hopfer, 1534
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Cambridge University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Deep Dive
What It's About
This summary gives away plot details.
Notable Quotes
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
More by Solomon
- Song of Solomon
c. 300 BCE · Lyric
- Ecclesiastes
c. 250 BCE · Wisdom
- Wisdom of Solomon
c. 50 BCE · Wisdom