The book of Proverbs, like other books typically identified as part of Israel’s “wisdom literature,” is full of pithy, provocative statements. (Here I cannot enter into a debate about whether “wisdom literature” is an actual genre.) Consider the following set of verses from chapter 26:
Do not answer fools according to their folly,
or you will become like a fool yourself.
Answer fools according to their folly,
or they will be wise in their own eyes. (Prov 26:4–5)
The style here is very different from what we find in other biblical books such as Genesis, Leviticus, or the writings of Paul. The verses of books like Proverbs appear loosely arranged and even simplistic. But to write off these works as “simplistic” is to fail to read them closely.
The careful reader will discover that the book of Proverbs is not unaware of the complexities of life. Take for instance its juxtaposition of the two sayings above. By placing these two admonitions next to one another, the final redactor of the book is indicating that dealing with fools is no easy task.
On the one hand, it is often best to remain silent. Attempting to correct a fool will likely fail. In engaging a fool, one risks looking like a fool oneself. On the other hand, the foolish do need to be corrected, otherwise they or others may never know the error the fools person espouses.
By bringing together the two sayings in Proverbs 26:4–5, the final compiler sends a message—namely, that wisdom involves understanding that one must weigh different principles and learn how to best apply them in specific situations.
In fact, that wisdom consists of more than simply knowing the sayings of the wise is evident in a passage found in Proverbs 15:
It is a joy to a person to have an answer in his mouth,
and a word in its time, how good it is! (Prov 15:23)
True wisdom, we are told, involves understanding how to speak the right word in the right circumstance. The right word must be spoken “in its time” in order to be “good.”
The book of Proverbs, then, does not offer the reader a how-to manual on how to apply its maxims. The final compiler of the book’s contents is not unaware that we often find ourselves in situations in which it is difficult to determine what the right course of action is. Yet that is precisely why Proverbs’ teaching is so important.
The complexities of life might lead one to embrace a relativistic outlook, which concludes that, in the end, there are no “right” or “wrong” ways to live. Proverbs is emphatic in rejecting such a view: “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Prov 14:12). As difficult as it may sometimes be to recognize, there are ways that lead to death. Just because life can be complicated and discerning the right path can be difficult, this does not mean that essential principles should discarded; not all ways lead to life.
The recognition that wisdom involves learning how to apply timeless principles in specific circumstances may help explain the apparent random way Proverbs moves from one saying to another. In her excellent book on Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, Ellen Davis writes:
“One might expect all the proverbs on one subject—wealth and poverty, discipline of children, sexual relations—to be gathered in one place, as in a modern reference book. But instead they are scattered widely, across many chapters; it is impossible to “look up the answer” to the problem at hand. . . In other words, the structure of Proverbs blocks the desire, so much encouraged by modern education, to look for solutions in the abstract.”[1]
Wisdom is not a technique. Right action is determined by thinking about how principles are to be weighed and applied in particular circumstances.[2] For example, giving to the poor may be virtuous, but only in the right situation. If one is simply giving to the poor as a publicity stunt to manipulate others’ opinion, the act is not a good one.
Proverbs therefore does not offer a simplistic, one-size-fits-all approach to wisdom. It often moves rapidly from one subject to the next, without any apparent clear rational for its selection of subjects. The folly of cursing the poor is followed by a proverb about the glory of grandchildren (Prov 17:5–6). The condemnation of dishonest scales leads to instruction about not loving sleep (Prov 20:10–13). In short, very different concerns are brought together. But this is intentional. The reader is inexorably led to think about principles in different contexts. What cannot be doubted is this: there are timeless truths. One of them is this: the way that may seem right, is “the way to death.” For Proverbs, learning the way to life means learning wisdom.
[1] Ellen F. Davis, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs, Westminster Bible Companion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), 21.
[2] See, e.g., the discussion in Steven J. Jensen, Living the Good Life: A Beginner’s Guide to Thomistic Ethics (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2013), 123–35.