hebrew · wisdom

The Book of Proverbs — Selected

c. 950–300 BCE · Iron Age to Persian Period · Jerusalem

Chapter 1 — The Beginning of Wisdom

1The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2To know wisdom and instruction;
3To perceive the words of understanding;
4To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
5To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
6The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom:
7And fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Chapter 3 — Trust in the LORD

8Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
9In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
10Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
11Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.
12My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction.

Chapter 8 — The Voice of Wisdom

13Doth not wisdom cry? And understanding put forth her voice?
14She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.
15She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.
16The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work,
17The first of his acts of old.
18I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth was.
19When there were no depths, I was brought forth;
20When there were no fountains abounding with water.
21Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth;
22While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields,
23Nor the highest part of the dust of the world.
24When he prepared the heavens, I was there:
25When he set a compass upon the face of the depth.
26Then I was by him, as one brought up with him:
27And I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always.

Chapter 9 — Wisdom's Feast and Folly's Table

28Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:
29She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table.
30She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city,
31Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither:
32As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
33Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.
34Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

Selected Proverbs

35A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
36Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
37A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
38As iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
39The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.
40Where there is no vision, the people perish.
41Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
42As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
43The heart of man deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.
44He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

notes

The Book of Proverbs is the central text of Hebrew wisdom literature — a collection of short, pithy sayings attributed primarily to Solomon but drawing on multiple collections compiled over several centuries. Unlike Job (which questions conventional wisdom) or Ecclesiastes (which undermines it), Proverbs presents wisdom as knowable, learnable, and directly connected to righteous living: the wise prosper, the foolish suffer. Chapter 8's extended personification of Wisdom as a divine figure present at creation — "I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always" — is one of the most significant theological developments in the Hebrew Bible, later interpreted by early Christians as a prefiguration of the divine Logos (Word) of the Gospel of John. The book's structure reveals its composite nature: "The proverbs of Solomon" (chapters 1–9, probably latest), "The proverbs of Solomon" again (chapters 10–22), "The words of the wise" (22:17–24:22), "Words of Agur" (chapter 30), "Words of Lemuel" (chapter 31). The famous closing poem, "A woman of valour" (31:10–31), is an acrostic in Hebrew. The Maxims of Ptahhotep in this archive represents the Egyptian tradition of wisdom literature that parallels and may have influenced the Proverbs tradition. Translation from the King James Version (1611). Public domain.

currently held: Manuscript tradition

Hebrew BibleCreationPhilosophy

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