In Front | Workbook: Poverty and Wealth in Proverbs

Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

Among the most prominent themes in Proverbs are those of wealth, poverty and social status. Of the 513 verses in Proverbs, 158 contain direct references to these themes—more than 30 percent of the verses in Proverbs. Many other verses not included in that percentage reference these themes indirectly as they address the “proud,” the “wicked” and assets like “ill-gotten gains.”

Source: R. N. Whybray, “The Vocabulary of Wealth and Poverty in the Book of Proverbs (10:1–22:16 and 25–29),” Learning from the Sages: Selected Studies on the Book of Proverbs, edited by Roy Zuck, 1995, pp. 125-137.

Read Proverbs 10 and 11.

12. Note in your workbook any terms that refer to financial or social status. Then, offer a brief summary of the view of wealth and poverty here using at least five of the terms you identify.

13. In order to see how people continue to be drawn to the book of Proverbs for insights into wealth, do a simple test. Go online and do a search with these three words: Bible, Proverbs, wealth. Do a quick scan of some sites or even some books that might show up. What do you think is motivating interest in what the Proverbs have to say about wealth?

14. How might the Proverbs be viewed as self-help advice to simply advance a person’s agenda to acquire wealth? What would you say is the proper attitude to have toward the advice of Proverbs—like the advice it gives about wealth?