The Jews had three types of teachers: (Jer. 18:18)
A. Prophets.
B. Priests.
C. Wise men.
About 200 B.C. the “scribes” replaced the “wise men.” Scribes began to appear even in David’s time. 2 Sam. 8:17.
Wise men were found in Israel before the eighth century B.C. See Isa. 29:14; Jer. 18:18.
There were also “wise women.” One such lived in Tekoa-the home of Amos. 2 Sam. 14:1-20.
Solomon’s wisdom was known to “all the kings of the earth.” 1 Kings 4:29-34. (Possibly much of Solomon’s wisdom was lost-by loss of the record.)
Wise men sat at the city gate-dispensing (for a fee) both wisdom and judgment.
They also gave advice in private-making “house calls.”
Isaiah taunts the wise men for charging fees. Isa. 55:1.
The wise men, in Israel, did the work of modern psychologists and psychiatrists.
The wise men were naturalists-dealing with ants and other animal life.
Hebrew wise men often administered their wisdom in religious capsules, like “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Many of the wise men tended to personify wisdom. (Wisdom was a member of a later Jewish and early Christian trinity.)
Personification of wisdom is suggested in Job 28. (Also 8 and 9)
The New Testament concept of wisdom is suggested in Jas. 3:17. “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity.”
Like the psalms, the proverbs are formulated in three styles.
The fact that Proverbs and Ecclesiastes got into the sacred canon proves that the teachings of the wise men became recognized and “respectable” in Israel.
To some extent “wisdom” became equated with the law.
In dealing with the practical problems of everyday life, wisdom somewhat made atonement for the grave errors of the false belief in Providence.
Wisdom literature held up high standards for:
A. Family life-monogamy.
B. Respect for mother and wife.
C. Chastity and marital fidelity.
Oppression of the poor was condemned, and gluttons, drunkards, sluggards, and robbers were denounced.
But in spite of such high ethical standards in the proverbs, they taught that goodness was usually motivated by personal interest and success.
In warning men against “strange women,” the man is told to shun such a life because of its effect upon his physical and material state-nothing is said about sinfulness.
Proverbs foreshadows a growing belief in the “resurrection and life after death.”
But in general, Proverbs teaches that all of the rewards for goodness and penalties for wickedness are fully experienced right here on earth. In neither case do they carry over into the next life.
Proverbs is liberally quoted in the New Testament. In other passages the teachings of Proverbs are implied. Even Jesus quoted from Proverbs a few times.