To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
 to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles. Proverbs 1:2-6 ESV
Reflection
The book of Proverbs begins with the statement of purpose above. One of the purposes of Proverbs is to learn how to read “the words of the wise and their riddles†(v. 6). While we can see a book like Proverbs as a rather simplistic set of morals and aphorisms, it is more complex than that. It shares literary forms with several cultures of the Ancient Near East. It is one part of Biblical Wisdom Literature. And here it comes with a warning and an invitation. [Read more…] about Scholar’s Compass Navigating Wisdom: How I Fell in Love with the Library