Discreet vs. Paradigmatic Wisdom in Proverbs

The shelves of various Christian bookstores are filled with an endless array of books on "Biblical" dating, relationships, self-help, and prosperity. Contrary to popular belief, these books were not written because of a secret alliance of high-level book publishers determined to shove pathetic and poorly written books down the open throats of so many baby-bird Christians. Rather, these books exist because there is a market for them. Occasionally I am asked by a well-meaning soul if I could recommend a good "Biblical" book on marriage, or counselling, or automobile maintenance. I usually smile, and ask in simple honesty if they have read Proverbs recently. The response that I get is usually something to the effect that Proverbs has got great wisdom, but it is hard to get to. One has to wade through all sorts of stuff to get to the verses on marriage (still looking for the auto maintenance bit).

This response stems from a popular-level understanding of Proverbs that only comes to term with the book's discreet wisdom. Proverbs is full of discreet wisdom - memorable little sayings about all kinds of topics. In fact, one hardly has to be a spiritual giant to recognize the legitimate truisms in Proverbs. "Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it." (Prov. 13:11) One has only to read stories of lottery winners filing for bankruptcy to realize the truth of this saying.

This of course leads to the obvious question - if these sayings are so, well, obvious, then what is so special about Proverbs? Well, there is a reason that one has to wade through whole chapters of stuff to get to the verses on marriage. The greater wisdom of Proverbs is not in its discreet wisdom, but in the way it puts it all together. Proverbs emphasizes what is important, and suppresses what is less important. In so doing, Proverbs creates a values paradigm for thinking wisely about life. It is this higher-order paradigmatic wisdom that is the great strength of Proverbs.

Maybe the reason Proverbs doesn't answer your questions about marriage is that you are asking the wrong questions. Perhaps you should read the book, seeking not to find your way through discreet packets of wise counsel, but in reordering your thoughts to align with the values paradigm of the book as a whole. I suspect the latter might truly make one wise.