Reading: Proverbs 25-27, Psalm 6

Today we get to the third major section of the book of Proverbs, the collection of Hezekiah. Let’s recall the story once again: Hezekiah was king in Judah who came to the throne right as the northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria. Judah was ravaged by Assyria, but Jerusalem and the king were saved by the miraculous direct intervention of God, who wiped out their army and sent their king scurrying home, where he was murdered by his sons. Assyria was thrown into disarray by this, and the upstart city of Babylon started a massive rebellion against them that would last decades. Hezekiah eventually signs on to this rebellion, and according to the book of Isaiah, it is a great mistake, as he is counting on the power of human kingdoms rather than God. What we have here is a collection of wise sayings, handed down from the days of Solomon, which Hezekiah’s men wrote down. Presumably previous to this they had been passed down via a generational game of telephone, but as part of his reforms of the kingdom, Hezekiah wanted them on permanent media.

Okay, enough of the history, what is the subject of these wise sayings? Well, in many ways they are similar to the previous proverbs, but these have a particular bent towards the person in power. They address gluttony, boasting, mercy, true friendship, and the proper application of wealth far more than the previous sections have done. These subjects were present before, but now they are front and center. Solomon’s favorite metaphor, women, are in the background rather than front and center. The subjects and order of the proverbs written down at the order of Hezekiah can be seen in the light of his story and that of his son, and we can perhaps see the reason he had these recorded. Hezekiah’s son was Manasseh, an incredibly violent and dangerous king. The book of Kings tells us he made the streets of Jerusalem run with innocent blood. Perhaps Hezekiah saw the direction his son was headed and attempted to give him character forming wisdom from their ancestor Solomon, hoping it would curtail his excesses and make him a good king. We are not told such details, but given the story we are told, it makes decent sense.

This section contains some all time favorite sayings in the book, like If your enemies is hungry give him something to eat, and if he is thirsty something to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head and the Lord will reward you. The practice of generous hospitality was not excepted for enemies, though the teacher wisely says such generosity is weaponized, for the enemy will be damaged by it. Like a dog that returns to it’s vomit, is a fool who repeats his folly. The wisdom teachers had… colorful word pictures. Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Jesus pulls this one out into a whole parable in Luke 12. Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing. Don’t be loud in the morning. It’s not just rude, it’s a curse.

We have almost wrapped the book of Proverbs. Tomorrow we get the last two writers, enigmatic characters named Agur and Lemuel, who we really know nothing about but apparently had enough clout to be included in the collection of Proverbs. What is most interesting about them is that they stand in full agreement with the teaching of Solomon to his son, the more general words of the wise, and the collected wisdom by Hezekiah. In all cases, the fear of the God of Israel is the beginning. All the wise sayings in the world come later. Hezekiah could have collected all the wisdom of Solomon for Manasseh, but if he did not fear the God of Israel, it simply didn’t matter. Moral lessons are good, but they are not enough.