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Lady Wisdom has delivered her invitation to feast on the good life. How do we respond to her call? What does it look like to apply wisdom and the fear of Yahweh to our everyday lives?

Today’s reading launches us into the second main section of Proverbs. This section contains hundreds of ancient aphorisms or sayings, each like a mini case study on wisdom applied to real life. Remember, this is proverbial wisdom, not divine promise. If it says “the one who works diligently becomes wealthy” (Prov. 10:4b), that’s a wise reality in general; diligence is a wiser route than laziness. It’s not a promise from God that all diligent work guarantees big money.

Most of the proverbs appear as a pair of statements, or a couplet, with the second line building on the first in some way. The relationship between the two lines invites you to meditate on the couplet’s meaning.

Notice, for instance, the careful design of Proverbs 11:16, “A gracious woman attains honor, and ruthless men attain riches.” The two lines start with several pairs of opposites: female and male, one and many, gracious and ruthless. When we meditate on these early contrasts, we realize the final words are opposites too: Honor is antithetical to riches in this proverb.

Proverbs offers valuable principles for the good life—as long as we don’t treat those guidelines as guarantees.

Reflection Questions

• Choose one or two proverbs from today’s reading and meditate on their poetic design. What parallels and contrasts do you see between the two lines? What might be the value in this kind of slow, contemplative reading?
• Take a moment to re-read Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel 2. What does that passage say about pride and humility? How do the proverbs in today’s reading add to the biblical portrait of pride?