How to Read Proverbs
Digital Verbum Edition
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)
Tremper Longman III is an Old Testament scholar and the Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Prior to joining Westmont in 1998, Longman taught for 18 years at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He received his MDiv from Westminster and a PhD from Yale University. In addition, he is one of the main translators of the popular New Living Translation, and has served as a consultant on other popular translations of the Bible, including The Message, the New Century Version, and the Holman Standard Bible.
Reviews
38 ratings
Werner Braun
6/26/2025
Tremper Longman III bietet mit „How to Read Proverbs“ ein hervorragendes Einführungswerk für alle, die sich intensiver mit dem Buch der Sprüche auseinandersetzen möchten. In drei klar gegliederten Teilen (Understanding Proverbs, Reading Proverbs in Context, Following the Themes in Proverbs) führt er den Leser systematisch in Struktur, Inhalt und Auslegung dieser zentralen Weisheitsschrift ein. Besonders hilfreich ist Longmans Unterscheidung zwischen absoluter und allgemeiner Weisheit – ein wesentlicher Punkt, der vor einem vereinfachten Tun-Ergehen-Zusammenhang bewahrt. Statt blanker Versprechungen lädt das Buch der Sprüche ein, das allgemeine Prinzip hinter den Aussagen zu erkennen – und Longman zeigt überzeugend, wie das zu verstehen ist. Zudem weitet er den Blick für die alttestamentliche Weisheitsliteratur insgesamt: Durch Vergleiche mit dem Alten Vorderen Orient (AvO) sowie mit anderen biblischen Weisheitstexten entsteht ein tieferes Verständnis für die theologische Eigenart und Relevanz der Sprüche. Abgerundet wird das Buch durch praktische Tipps, wie sich thematische Zugänge zu einzelnen Sprüchen erschließen lassen – sehr hilfreich sowohl für persönliche Bibellese als auch für die Predigtvorbereitung. Ein rundum gelungenes Buch: präzise, verständlich und theologisch reflektiert. Eine klare Empfehlung für alle, die die Tiefe und Struktur der biblischen Weisheit besser verstehen wollen.
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
