How to Read Proverbs
Overview
In How to Read Proverbs Tremper Longman provides a welcome guide to reading and studying, as well as understanding and savoring the Proverbs for all their wisdom. While many proverbs speak to us directly, we can gain much greater insight by studying the book of Proverbs as a whole, understanding its relationship to ancient non-Israelite wisdom, and listening to its conversation with the other great voices of wisdom in Scripture—Job and Ecclesiastes.
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- Provides a welcome guide to reading and studying Proverbs
- Looks at how Christians can understand the Proverbs for all their wisdom
- Helps readers gain a greater insight by studying the book of Proverbs as a whole
- Why Read Proverbs?
- Walking on the Path of Life
- Woman Wisdom or Folly—Which Will It Be?
- What Exactly Is a Proverb—and How Does It Work?
- Are Proverbs Always True?
- Did Solomon Know Amenemope and Ahiqar? Biblical Proverbs and International Wisdom
- Proverbs in Conversation with Job and Ecclesiastes
- Proverbial Wisdom in Action: Joseph and Daniel
- Where Is God in Proverbs? Christ, the Treasure of God’s Wisdom
- How to Study Themes in Proverbs: Money Matters
- On Loving the Right Woman
- Wise Words, Foolish Words
Top Highlights
“Running throughout Proverbs and wisdom literature in general is the idea that proverbs are not universal truths that are always relevant and rightly applied; rather, they are context-sensitive.” (Page 19)
“They describe actions that are right (sedeq), just (mispat), and fair (mesarim). These are ethical terms, and as we read on we will see that one cannot possess them without wisdom—nor wisdom without righteousness, justice and virtue. In other words, wisdom in Proverbs is an ethical quality. The wise are on the side of the good.” (Page 17)
“Wisdom, then, is not just an intellectual category but is closely entwined with ethical behavior.” (Page 30)
“How do we handle life’s problems? How do we deal with difficult people or uncomfortable situations? What do we say and how do we act? How do we express our emotions? The Bible has a word to describe the person who navigates life well; that word is ‘wise.’ A wise person lives life with boldness in spite of the inevitable difficulties.” (Page 13)
“The two cola are not ‘saying the same thing twice’—a common misunderstanding of parallelism. Instead, the second part sharpens and intensifies the thought of the first part.” (Page 39)
- Title: How to Read Proverbs
- Author: Tremper Longman III
- Publisher: IVP Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2002
- Logos Release Date: 2014
- Pages: 174
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subject: Bible. O.T. Proverbs › Criticism, interpretation, etc
- ISBNs: 9780830875610, 0877849420, 9780877849421, 0830875611
- Resource ID: LLS:HOWREADPROVERBS
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T00:35:11Z
Tremper Longman III serves as Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Westmont College. He has written over 35 books, including commentaries on Genesis, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Daniel, Nahum, and Revelation. His books have been translated into 18 different languages. In addition, as a Hebrew scholar, he is one of the main translators of the popular New Living Translation, and has served as a consultant on other popular Bible translations, including The Message, the New Century Version, the Christian Standard Bible, and the Common Bible. He has also edited and contributed to a number of study Bibles and Bible dictionaries, most recently The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary.
He earned his BA from Ohio Wesleyan University, his MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary, and both his MPhil and PhD from Yale University. Dr. Longman and his wife, Alice, have three sons and eight grandchildren.
Reviews
37 ratings
Richard C. Hammond, Jr.
1/5/2023
Matt DeVore
7/17/2022
Forrest Cole
11/9/2021
underGrace.social
6/9/2020
Jared Brooks
4/24/2020
Engaging, gave me a lot to think about. I differ with Tremper on an issue or two but that certainty wouldn't stop me from reading his work.
SEONGJAE YEO
10/5/2019
Tankiso Letseli
1/8/2019
Joshua Tan
12/31/2018
