Some people do not know what to make of the Wisdom literature in the Bible, especially since some Wisdom books make only scant reference to God. That is true enough but it is far from making Wisdom literature agnostic, much less atheistic. These books issue from a tradition that was based on a conviction that God allowed, indeed, encouraged people to employ their natural human capabilities to the fullest in exploring life’s puzzles and problems. So that, even though God may not be explicitly mentioned, what we have in these books is genuine religious teaching.

The Book of Proverbs is a prime example of Wisdom literature. Each proverb is a saying in its own right. That is to say, it need not relate to the saying that precedes it or to the one that follows. Various maxims are juxtaposed without any regard for logical sequence. The individual proverb is an example taken from life and is intended to instruct the reader. Proverbs are expressed in poetic form: the two parts of the proverb being either compared or contrasted in a parallelism that is characteristic of Hebrew poetry. An example:

The earliest sections of the book are attributed to Solomon. In 1 Kings 5: 12, Solomon is credited with composing three thousand proverbs — an assertion that harmonizes with Solomon’s reputation for exceptional wisdom.

Some of the proverbs in the collection appear to draw on Egyptian and other foreign sources. It must not be overlooked that though the human authors of Proverbs may have taken from non-Hebrew sources, they transformed the borrowed material by sifting it through the Hebrew author’s faith in Yahweh. Further, one must never lose sight of the fact that all the literary activity expended on the writing of the Book of Proverbs, as on any book of Scripture, falls under the control of God through his inspiration.

The writers of the New Testament, working under the inspiring influence of God — just mentioned — quote the Book of Proverbs fourteen times and make an estimated twenty allusions to it. Consequently, Proverbs should command the respect of every Christian. It says things we would be greatly helped in knowing.