Theological Commentary: Click Here
It is in
Proverbs 10 that we shift from the wisdom written down by David to the
collection of wisdom written down by Solomon.
Certainly, the Bible tells us that Solomon was wise. In fact, his wisdom was a gift from God. However, Solomon’s proverbs are sporadic and
always changing in focus. Whereas David’s
proverbs were thematic and feel as though they are written as a thematic whole,
Solomon’s proverbs feel like a collection that was assembled in the moment as
each piece of wisdom was revealed.
Neither is wrong; but I personally feel that Solomon’s proverbs are
harder to read.
All of
Solomon’s ideas in this chapter are contrasting thoughts. Solomon teaches through a saying, but then he
also teaches through a counter-example. As
an example, take the first verse of this chapter. Wisdom is paired up with joy while folly is
paired up with grief. We can see this throughout the whole chapter. Righteousness is contrasted with wicked. Laziness is contrasted with diligence. Hatred is contrasted with love. Discipline is contrasted with ignorance of
correction. Blessing is contrasted with
toil. These are all good pairings to see
as contrasts. One cannot be in both
camps of any of these pairs at the same time.
In addition,
Solomon also pairs up ideas to show links between camps. For example, righteousness is paired up with
joy while foolishness is paired up with false hope. Righteousness is also paired up with favor
while foolishness is paired up with false hope. Wisdom (fear of the Lord) is paired up with
longevity while folly is paired a short life.
These kinds of connections are also good to realize. What we find is that when we embody one
attribute in our life then it is easier to embody those attributes that are
connected to the one that we already have.
For example, if I am trying to be righteous, I can also focus on
bringing joy to others and living wisely.
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