Lately I’ve been meditating on the phrase “tree of life.” It occurs in only three books of the Bible: Genesis, Revelation, and Proverbs. In Genesis, we find the tree of life in the garden of Eden, while in Revelation the tree of life is mentioned in the book’s concluding chapter, which addresses the new heaven […]
The word “quarrelsome” is almost exclusive to the book of Proverbs, occurring six times there and only two other times in the rest of the Bible. Quarrelsome means “given to quarreling, contentious, belligerent”; some of its synonyms are argumentative, fractious, and petulant. Five of the six occurrences relate to a quarrelsome wife—she is undesirable and […]
The word meditate is a verb. Verbs are action words; they are doing words. To mediate means to reflect on; to contemplate; to think about something deeply (especially spiritual matters). I often meditate on what God tells me in the Bible and through his Spirit. The result of one such season of meditation culminated in […]
The word “folly” occurs 23 times in Proverbs and only 16 times in the rest of the Bible. The dictionary defines folly as “a lack of good sense, understanding, or foresight; an act of foolishness; or a costly undertaking having an absurd or ruinous outcome.” I think that is exactly what Solomon had in mind […]
The word “simple” is found 14 times in Proverbs and only six other times in the entire Bible. The dictionary defines a simple person as a “simpleton” or a “fool.” However, the way “simple” is used in Proverbs seems to go beyond merely being a fool or a simpleton (that is, lacking common sense), but […]
My typical day is divided between three activities: writing, job, and personal (which includes work around the house and leisure pursuits). To make matters more complicated, each of these three tasks takes place at home. Sometimes I am self-disciplined enough to attend to each undertaking in its apportioned time, but not always. I too often […]
In contrast to the sluggard, is the prudent person. The word “prudent” also predominates the book of Proverbs with 10 appearances, contrasted to only two in the rest of the Bible. “Prudent” means “wise in handling practical matters; exercising good judgment or common sense; careful in regard to one’s own interests or conduct.” It seems […]
Where is Church? Over the holidays I reconnected with a valued friend. Although our paths had diverged for a couple of years, we easily picked up where we left off. We talked about writing and family and faith—and eventually, church. He had taken a time-out from attending, only recently returning for the sake of his […]
There are several words that appear with disproportionate frequency in the book of Proverbs—and with minimal representation in the rest of the Bible. They are: Plus, there are some additional words that appear with surprising regularity in Proverbs: In upcoming posts, we will look at each of these words. [The 1984 NIV version of the […]
The book of Proverbs in the Bible has 31 chapters. I see them organized as follows: So there are essentially three segments to Proverbs: In the next few weeks, we will look at the book of Proverbs in greater detail.