Proverbs is not a story with a plot. It is a book of short, sharp sayings about ordinary life – how to talk, how to work, who to trust, how to treat your friends and your family – written so they stick in the memory.
It also tells you its purpose in the first few verses, and it puts one line underneath everything else: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. The rest of the book is that line worked out in the kitchen, the marketplace and the city gate.
The Story of the Book of Proverbs
The book opens with its author and its aim: The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; to know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding. It is written to give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion, and even a wise man will hear, and will increase learning. Then comes the foundation of the whole book: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Chapters 1 to 9 are longer talks, most of them beginning My son, as a father speaking to his child. He warns against joining sinners who say, Come with us, and he pictures wisdom as a woman who crieth without and uttereth her voice in the streets. In chapter 3 comes one of the best-known lines in the Bible: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
These chapters also teach through small pictures. Chapter 6 sends the lazy man to an insect: Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. The ant has no guide, overseer, or ruler, yet gathereth her food in the harvest, while the sluggard asks for yet a little sleep, a little slumber, until poverty arrives like one that travelleth.
In chapter 8 wisdom calls out again, at the gates, at the entry of the city: Unto you, O men, I call. She says that wisdom is better than rubies, that those that seek me early shall find me, and that the LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. The chapter ends with a choice: whoso findeth me findeth life, but all they that hate me love death.
At chapter 10 the style changes. A new heading reads The proverbs of Solomon, and from here the book is mostly single two-line sayings. Many are about the tongue: A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger, and Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Many are about friendship: A friend loveth at all times, there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
The book also names other collections. Chapter 22 turns to the words of the wise, and chapter 25 adds more proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out. Chapter 30 gives The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, who says, Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
The last chapter is The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. She tells her son, Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy, and then the book closes with a poem that asks, Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. She worketh willingly with her hands, stretcheth out her hand to the poor, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Key Verses
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” Proverbs 1:7
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” Proverbs 3:5-6
“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger” Proverbs 15:1
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue” Proverbs 18:21
“Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies” Proverbs 31:10
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), a public-domain translation.
What the Story of the Book of Proverbs Teaches Us
Proverbs puts God at the start of wisdom, not at the end. The book opens with the fear of the LORD as the beginning of knowledge, and chapter 3 tells the reader to trust in the LORD with all thine heart rather than lean on their own understanding. Being clever is not the same thing as being wise.
Wisdom in Proverbs is practical. It shows up in how a person answers an angry word, whether they get out of bed and work like the ant, and whether they stay loyal to a friend in hard times. The book treats speech as especially powerful, saying plainly that death and life are in the power of the tongue.
The book begins with a father teaching his son and ends with a mother’s words to her son, followed by the picture of a woman who feareth the LORD. Wisdom is meant to be handed down in families, from parents to children, and lived out in ordinary days of work, kindness and faithfulness.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who wrote the Book of Proverbs?
Proverbs 1:1 names Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, and most of the book is his. Proverbs 25:1 says the men of Hezekiah copied out more of his proverbs, and chapters 30 and 31 give the words of Agur the son of Jakeh and of king Lemuel.
What is the main message of Proverbs?
The key verse is Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. The rest of the book applies that to daily life.
Where is trust in the LORD with all thine heart in the Bible?
It is Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
What does Proverbs say about our words?
Proverbs 15:1 says a soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger, and Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue.
Who is the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31?
Proverbs 31:10-31 is a poem from the words king Lemuel’s mother taught him. It describes a hardworking, generous wife whose price is far above rubies and says a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
What does Proverbs say about the ant?
Proverbs 6:6 says, Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. The ant gathers food in the harvest with no one forcing her, while the lazy man sleeps until poverty comes.