Proverbs

Objective: 

• The Beginning of Knowledge

• The Value of Wisdom

• Guidance for the Young

Resources:

• Fr Tadros Y Malaty Commentary
• Catena Bible Commentary
• Fr Dawoud Lamie Bible study (Arabic)

Reading:

• Chapter 1: 1-7
• Chapter 2: 1-22
• Chapter 3: 1-35
• Chapter 5: 1-14
• Chapter 6: 6-11

Key verse(s):

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” Proverbs 9:10

Encourage the youth to read the rest of the Book.
One chapter a day = Finishing the Book in 1 month.

Activity along reading: Identify Synonyms and Antithetical Parallelism.

 
Comments:

• The Book is very easy to understand and digest
• The Book talks about the heavenly wisdom attained from above
• The Book always compares the wise vs folly decisions and the wise vs foolish
  • This helps understand the rewards vs consequences of decisions
• Wisdom in this book only means abiding by God - Not the intelligent and clever person

• Proverbs provides God’s detailed instructions for His people to deal successfully with the practical affairs of everyday life: how to relate to God, parents, children, neighbors, and government

• Proverbs include oracles by the unknown figures named Agur the son of Jakeh (30:1) and King Lemuel (31:1).
• Hebrew Poetry and Proverbs are often written in two lines of equal length. This is called "Parallelism". There are two types of parallelism:
  • Type 1: Synonomys parallelism
    • Same thought in both lines
    • "Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares" Proverbs 1:20
  • Type 2: Antithetic parallelism
    • Contrast - Opposite thought
    • "The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot" Proverbs 10:7

• Chapter 1:

  • V.2: Wisdom = Godly wisdom attained from above not being clever or intelligent

  • V.7: Key verse of the book. Fearing God is the first sign of wisdom. When you fear Him, you walk in His ways, fear the second coming, fear and avoid sin, etc. This is wisdom!
• Chapter 2:
  • Value of Wisdom

  • V.1: It is important to "receive" the word. God's messages and signals surround us every day. It is important not just to hear it, but to receive it and do it

• Chapter 3:

  • Guidance for the Young
  • V.5: Many youth and young people rely on their understanding and don't have faith in God's ways which leads to a lack of patience. 
  • V.7: Who imagines himself to be wise, relies on himself, and he who trusts in himself and his wisdom, this contradicts complete faith in God
  • V.9: God gave the blessing and the increase. Let us honor Him and His people who are in need.
• Chapter 5:
  • The consequences of Adultery
• Chapter 6:
  • The danger of laziness

Review/recap questions:
**Servant may add more questions

1. How are we to gain the understanding of the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God?
2. Discuss and compare verse 6 with the Holy Book of St. James 1:5.
3. Does trusting God mean ignoring our own common sense?
4. What wisdom are we to draw from the ants?

Homework:
**Servant may add more questions

1. What is the beginning of knowledge?
   a) The obedience of our parents. b) The fear of the Lord. c) The reading of the Holy Bible. d) The attendance of church.
2. “My son, hear the _________ your father, and do not _________ the _____of your mother”_______.
3. According to Proverbs 2, the Lord gives:
   a) treasures b) gold c) wisdom d) victory
4. “So you may walk in the way of ________, and keep to the paths of _________."
5. “My son, do not despise the ________ of the Lord, nor detest His ________; for whom the Lord _______ He _______, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”
6. According to Proverbs 3, who are we to trust?
   a) friends b) God c) our understanding d) knowledge
7. “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the ______, and He _______ all his paths."