WALKING IN GOD’S WISDOM

THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

TRANSFORMATIVE WORD

BENJAMIN T. QUINN

Series Editors

Craig G. Bartholomew & David J. H. Beldman

Walking in God’s Wisdom: The Book of Proverbs

Transformative Word

Copyright 2021 Benjamin T. Quinn

Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

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You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at permissions@lexhampress.com.

Unless specified otherwise, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible (nrsv), copyright © 1989, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (esv) are from ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (hcsb) are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked (nkjv) are from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Print ISBN 9781683594796

Digital ISBN 9781683594802

Library of Congress Control Number 2021933207

Series Editors: Craig G. Bartholomew and David J. H. Beldman

Lexham Editorial: David Bomar, Allisyn Ma, Mandi Newell, and Abigail Salinger

Cover Design: Joshua Hunt

To Mom and Dad

(Proverbs 1:8–9)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1: Introduction to Proverbs

2: Contours and Core Ingredients of Wisdom

3: Wisdom—The Clue to Worldview

4: Fear of the Lord

5: Wisdom, Creation, and Christ

6: Two Women and Two Ways

7: The Wise Woman and Man

8: Wisdom’s Way in the World

Conclusion

Appendix: Tips for Reading and Teaching Proverbs

Recommended Reading

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To the LifeChange Class at North Wake Church—thank you for your interest and feedback in my teaching of Proverbs. Your insights and questions were invaluable in helping me better understand and articulate the wisdom of Proverbs. Special thanks to Dr. Jerry Lassetter and Dr. Chip McDaniel, who taught with me in this class and were ever-wise conversation partners as we worked through the material.

To Holly Grove Baptist Church—you showed such grace and patience as I taught this material in the early months of serving as your pastor. Thank you for your love and support!

To Kay Smith—thank you for your hours of proofreading and advice on the manuscript.

To Craig Bartholomew and David Beldman—for the invitation to contribute to this series, and for your patience and wise counsel throughout.

To Lexham Press—for your willingness to publish and your sage advice in fine-tuning the final form of the manuscript.

To Ashley—the greatest model of the ...