10 Fast Facts about the Book of Proverbs

If you want a quick overview of the book of Proverbs, you can check out the Top 25 Bible Verses from the Book of Proverbs.

10 Fast Facts about Proverbs

1. Solomon is credited as the author of most of the Proverbs.

2. The proverbs in chaps. 25-29 were Solomon’s proverbs collected by King Hezekiah. The last two chapters are credited to Agur (ch. 30) and Lemuel (ch. 31) about whom nothing else is known. An editor was inspired to collect the proverbs of Solomon, Agur, and Lemuel into the book we now have.

3. The reign of Solomon represented the peak of prosperity for the nation of Israel.

4. Proverbs is written as Hebrew poetry. Hebrew poetry is terse and concise; it uses a lot of imagery, and generally, the second line complements or contrasts the thought of the first. Contemplating how the second line relates to the first is a profitable way to meditate on a proverb.

5. Proverbs states its theme right at the book’s beginning (1:1-7): its goal is to describe and instill “wisdom” in God’s people, a wisdom that is founded in the “fear of the Lord” and that works out covenant life in the practical details of everyday situations and relationships.

6. The book of Proverbs, the book of Ecclesiastes, and the book of Job all make up the Old Testament wisdom literature, and together they teach us an important lesson about the meaning of life.

7. Proverbs describes wisdom as “lady wisdom.”

8. A key term in Proverbs is of course “wisdom.” The word can have the nuance of “skill,” particularly the skill of choosing the right course of action for the desired result. In the covenantal framework of Proverbs, it denotes “skill in the art of godly living.”

9. Proverbs provides detailed instructions for His people to deal successfully with the practical affairs of everyday life.

• • • How to relate to God
    • How to relate to neighbors
    • How to relate to parents
    • How to relate to government
    • How to relate to children

10. Proverbs 31 includes an acrostic of 22 verses (the first letter of each follows the complete Hebrew alphabet) portraying the virtuous woman.

* These facts have been compiled from many resources such as the CSB Study Bible, ESV Study Bible, Reformation Study Bible, and BibleCharts.com.