Page 92 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

A’ Rival invitations of Wisdom and the foolish woman
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to the gullible 9:1-18
We should not limit our thinking to ill-gotten financial gain or material wealth. “We will get all sorts of
valuable things (1:12)” is greatly expanded as Proverbs goes on. The main form of communication of the
entire section is the personification of wisdom as a woman. In this figure of speech an inanimate object,
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wisdom, is spoken of as if it were alive with human characteristics, a woman. The father often
instructs his son under the figure of speech of a female. “Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises
her voice in the public square (1:20).

10.2 Objectives

1. You will be introduced to the distinct type of wisdom found in the Bible.

2. You will see how it is based on everyday family life.

3. You will begin to learn about the writer’s use of imagery such as personification. 4.) You will start to

compare Bible wisdom to wisdom in different cultures.

10.3 Value and Lady Wisdom

The theme of Proverbs is announced clearly. Solomon wants his readers to gain wisdom and
instruction (1:2) for the purpose of living a life that is “right and just and fair” (1:3). Not unlike
Psalms and Job, words like “righteous” and “wicked” can be found throughout. Proverbs is
highly ethical. Solomon is especially interested in helping the simple and the young, although
he wants the wise and discerning to learn also (1:4, 5). The simple are not mentally
handicapped in some way but those who do not have a lot of experience in life.

The beginning point for the learning process is the fear of Yahweh. He is the one with the answers. He is
the one who has structured life along moral principles. When we disregard him in our search for wisdom,
we become fools (1:7).

“Solomon as king of Israel looked at humanity and his world through the lens of Israel’s
covenants and drew the conclusion that one could enter the world of wisdom only
through the fear of the LORD (1:7). In contrast to Qoheleth [Ecclesiastes] and Job and his
three friends, who spoke mostly of “God” (‘Elohim), the title for God in his
transcendence, Proverbs speaks of “the LORD” (YHWH, normalized as Yahweh), the title
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of Israel’s immanent God who entered into covenant with Israel.”

153 Waltke, Proverbs, 12.
154 Milton S. Terry, Biblical Hermeneutics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 251.
155 Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2004), 52.
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