Introduction to Proverbs

In thinking about the best way to proceed with a study of the Proverbs would be to write an introductory post that outlines briefly, my plan of attack, and add a few notes about the structure of the book. Then in the next post, to begin looking at the text in earnest. Along the way, I will also add several notes about the background and history of the work in the form of “Bonus Posts”.

Some thoughts about the structure are necessary to study any book of the Bible, but it is even more important for this one because of its unusual nature. Proverbs obviously is not structured quite like any other book of the Old Testament. For one thing, it appears to be a collection of collections, as many commentators before me have pointed out. For another, it is a book that has a subtle, but definite structure, aside from the divisions of collections; a structure that provides a cohesiveness that might otherwise be overlooked.

Collections

We can easily glean from the text that there are six collections of material in this book:

Passage	Collection
10:1-22:16	“the proverbs of Solomon”
22:17-24:22	“the words of the wise”
24:23-34	“also these are by the wise”
25:1-29:27	“also these are the proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah transcribed”
30:1-33	“the words of Agur”
31:1-9	“the words of Lamuel”

Overall Structure

Some have suggested that the structure of the book is like an envelope: Chapters 1-9 open in the form of an instruction of a father to his son, and it concludes with wisdom personified in the form of a beautiful woman. Chapter 31begins with the introduction of a queen mother to her son in verses 1-9 and then concludes with the remaining verses consisting of a beautiful poem that personifies wisdom in the form of the perfect wife. In between these two sections are the collections of short verses and passages that are contained within the envelope.

At first blush, Proverbs seems to be a random collection of fragments all thrown together. Topics appear here and there, but aren’t always organized together, yet the book isn’t quite as random as it may seem at first. Proverbs is a teaching about life, and life isn’t so well organized either. Things come up here, then aren’t mentioned for a time, and then pop up again, just as in life itself. As we continue through the book, I think you’ll start to see this random, yet not really so random structure, for the truly wonderful collection of collections that it is.