An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 126: Solomon looks up “wisdom” in a thesaurus (Proverbs 1-5)

Proverbs 1-5
Solomon looks up “wisdom” in a thesaurus.

Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version).

In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT

For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP

And now:

Proverbs 1

“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:”

After 150 chapters of psalms it seems strange to be embarking on a new book. Not without trepidation did I approach Proverbs, thinking that each verse might be an individual aphorism, but this isn’t so for the first chapter at least.

So this is pitched as Solomon leaving collected wisdom for the benefit of his son. I remember back in Kings and Chronicles when Solomon appeared there was very little of his vaunted wisdom. There were lots of mentions of how wise he was but the only concrete example was the infamous “half a baby is better than none” incident. Perhaps this book will redress the balance.

The bulk of this chapter is taken up with an exhortation to listen to wisdom and not to fall in with thieves; strangely specific, the advice is to avoid the company of those who would kill or harm people and take their possessions. I presume this doesn’t apply if the people are Amorites or Edomites or Philistines, or the various other enemy kingdoms. These people, so says Solomon, will come to a bad end by their deeds, and then you can laugh at them. “And the scorners delight in their scorning”, in other words, haters gonna hate.

Proverbs 2

“If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures”

This chapter is still preamble, as Solomon explains that wisdom is something to be sought out as a safeguard against some vague, unspecified wickedness, either dodgy men or women of dubious morality (I’m reminded of “Mother” by Pink Floyd – “Mother is she dangerous, to me?” Some of the theological ideas use words in ways that are perhaps not how we would use them – seeking after knowledge will bring understanding of the fear of God, and find the knowledge of God, apparently. I don’t understand how that is supposed to parse. I suppose it pans out that wisdom will find you if you look hard enough for it.

Proverbs 3

“Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart”

Here we get some more meaty advice, although there’s not anything that isn’t also expressed in the psalms. There’s some nice stuff about helping your neighbour if you have what he needs, and of not starting arguments without cause, nor of trying to emulate oppressors. There’s also some advice on humility, to assume that anything good comes from God and not the listeners own doing. The rest is more about finding peace and comfort in correct worship of God, something covered quite a lot in the psalms.

Proverbs 4
“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

I’m wondering here what the differences between “wisdom”, “understanding” and “knowledge” are held to be, if any, in these chapters, as to certain extent there’s some circular reasoning about one leading to another. Further, this chapter pretty much repeats the encouragement of the previous three; that wisdom is something to be sought (here personified in female form, I guess the Hagia Sophia) and the company of “bad” people to be avoided. Something else that occurred to me is that this advice is pitched at Rehoboam, who turned out to be a pretty mediocre king who managed to let the kingdom of Israel get split on two and wasn’t a very devout worshipper. So I guess he didn’t listen to his father very well.

Proverbs 5

“For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil”

More exhortations not to take up with the wrong sort of woman. I think what Solomon means here, as he uses the term “strange”, are foreign, non-Israelite women who may worship the disturbing Ashtarte and other gods. They are portrayed as honeyed seductresses which, to be honest, probably increases their appeal. Solomon encourages his son to “rejoice with the wife of thy youth”, perhaps an arranged bride but at least a nice Israelite girl. “Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times” he says. I mean, really, would you want your father saying something like that to you?