Proverbs begins and ends with women. Perhaps it is a bit delayed in the beginning (more on that below) but, once Wisdom is revealed to be a female human being, it becomes clear that even Proverbs 1:2 may be about more than you think when it declares the writings are to enable the reader “to know Wisdom.”
Peter Leithart recently summarized the theme in his Theopolis Institute post on “The Dramatic Structure of Proverbs.” He writes:
The first nine chapters are full of references to two women who compete for the prince’s attention and affection. Lady Wisdom is introduced in chapter 1, in the street exhorting the simpletons to abandon their folly and warning them of the consequences if they refuse to hear (1:20-33). Chapter 2 introduces the second woman, the adulteress, Dame Folly (9:13); her ways are the ways of death (2:16-18). She is a loud and boisterous woman who preys on the simple (9:13).
Throughout the early chapters, the father alternately encourages his son to pursue Lady Wisdom (3:13ff.; 4:1-9; 8:1-36; 9:1-6) and warns him about the dangers of following Dame Folly (5:1-23; 6:20-35; 7:6-27; 9:13-18)…
It is no accident that the Proverbs ends with a celebration of the excellent wife. In the drama of Proverbs, the excellent wife is Lady Wisdom from the earlier chapters. Her husband, the Prince, now sits in the gates of the city. The prince has successfully resisted the seductions of the adulteress, Folly. He has chosen well. Together, the Prince and his bride form the royal household.
But while those “bookends” establish one definite theme in Proverbs, there is another. A man not only needs to choose a good wife, but he needs to be the kind of man that such a woman would want to marry. He needs to become husband material.
Solomon’s first descriptive warning against temptation if Proverbs 1-9 is not against the adulterous woman (chapter 7) but against the life of violent plunder (1:10-19). Wisdom is officially introduced as a desirable woman after Solomon’s warning against trying to make a living by robbery.
Proverbs 1-9 is the first book of Proverbs. The second section or book in Proverbs begins with the same concern:
The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise son makes a glad father,
but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,
but righteousness delivers from death.
The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry,
but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. (Proverbs 10:1–6; ESV)
But it doesn’t stop there. The third book, after a general exhortation to wisdom and faith in the true God, also warns against theft:
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise…
Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate,
for the LORD will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them (Proverbs 22:17a, 22–23; ESV).
The fourth book of Proverbs begins with an exhortation for being impartial in court, but then gives instructions on how to prosper in labor. It is a short book and half of it is about how to work. If the court cases envisioned involve property disputes and fraud, then maybe the entire section is about honest labor versus pillage:
These also are sayings of the wise.
Partiality in judging is not good.
Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”
will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
and a good blessing will come upon them.
Whoever gives an honest answer
kisses the lips.
Prepare your work outside;
get everything ready for yourself in the field,
and after that build your house.
Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause,
and do not deceive with your lips.
Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man (Proverbs 24:23–34; ESV).
So four out of the six books of Proverbs prominently contrast honest labor with the alternatives.
In the first warning passage in Proverbs 1, Solomon deals with an extreme rejection of honest labor and trade. He warns against trying to live by the exact opposite means. As Albert Jay Nock once wrote, “There are two methods, or means, and only two, whereby man’s needs and desires can be satisfied. One is the production and exchange of wealth; this is the economic means. The other is the uncompensated appropriation of wealth produced by others; this is the political means.”
Solomon doesn’t believe that all ethical decisions are about that choice, but he does think it is a fundamental contrast in how people live their lives. It is so important that it is the first temptation he mentions.
The extreme rejection of honest work sets the stage for Proverbs to warn of other deviations that develop as bad habits, such as sloth, hastiness after riches, inordinate consumption, and lack of attention to one’s resources.
Ultimately, Solomon is obsessed with the Dominion Mandate (Genesis 1:28) which commissions mankind to and labor to marry.
Solomon warns against the adulteress because he wants young men to be and remain devoted to their wives. He warns against a life of theft because he wants young men to be diligent providers. The problem of sex and violence for young men is solved by wife and work.
