Scripture Commentaries

Practical Wisdom
Irene Nowell, OSB

Originally published in God’s Word Today
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Let me lead you through a little exercise. Think of someone who is wise. It is better if you think of someone you know. Then consider why you think that person is wise. What characteristic actions or words demonstrate wisdom? How did that person get to be wise? How would you define wisdom?

Basic Principles of Wisdom
The classic definition of wisdom is: knowing how to live well. We achieve wisdom in several ways. Experience is certainly one of the main routes to wisdom. But experience alone is not enough. Experience is only useful if we reflect on it and learn from it. As a wise person once said to me, “Have you had thirty years’ experience or one year’s experience thirty times?” We also gain wisdom by learning from the experience of others. That is the whole point of education from the parents’ first interactions with an infant to the highest degrees of formal training. We learn wisdom through our relationships with others, through the pains and joys of remaining faithful for a lifetime. Finally, we must never forget that wisdom is a gift from God. Our experience, our capacity to reflect, our very lives are God’s gift.

Three basic principles underlie biblical wisdom. First, the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. If our relationship with God is sound — if we know that God is God and we are not (and perhaps are even glad) — then we are on the way to wisdom. Second, wisdom is based on common human experience. We are not born wise; we get that way by living. Third, the goal of wisdom is the good life. The good life can be defined in a variety of ways. It includes health, good food, laughter, interesting work. Relationships are vital: loving family and faithful friends. The good life is also what we hope for in eternity.

Proverbial Wisdom
Wisdom is the art of living well. So any human activity or experience is a fair subject for wisdom. Go to your favorite bookstore and look at the best sellers. Page through current magazines. Listen (judiciously) to the talk shows. What are the subjects of discussion? Some have to do with our physical or psychological state: aging, health, depression, stress, addiction, anger. Some give advice about work: how to succeed, how to lead, how to make things happen. We are told how to educate our children, how to make friends, how to behave in public, how to speak persuasively. The search for wisdom is everywhere.

Proverbs are little snippets of wisdom. Cervantes says that a proverb is “a short sentence based on long experience.” Archer Taylor says that a proverb “has shortness, sense, and salt.” We all know some proverbs. Most of us learned them at home: “Birds of a feather flock together” or “A stitch in time saves nine.” The book of Proverbs is simply a collection of these wise sayings from several centuries of Israel’s experience. Because we share a common humanity, the subjects of these age-old proverbs and the subjects of current wisdom are remarkably similar. A few topics will illustrate the point.

Physical/Psychological Health: Aging, Anger and Stress, Addiction
Now that the baby boomers are getting older, aging is becoming a favorite topic as current book titles demonstrate: Rules for Aging: A Wry and Witty Guide for Anyone Who Wants to Learn from the Blunders of the Older Generation (Roger Rosenblatt) or simply Aging Well (George E. Vaillant). (Please note: mention of a book title is not a recommendation for the book.) Several modern proverbs treat the same topic: “I’m not getting older; I’m just getting better.” “Wine and cheese get better with age.” “The older the fiddle, the sweeter the tune.”

The book of Proverbs has a few things to say about aging also: “The glory of the young is their strength, but the beauty of the aged is their gray hair” (Prov 20:29). “Grandchildren are the crown of the old, and the glory of children is their parents” (Prov 17:6). “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by virtuous living” (Prov 16:31). We say, “I earned every gray hair!”

Our society is moving faster and faster and the demands on us grow ever greater. It is no wonder that we find books advising us about health when we are beset by depression, anger, and stress: Stress: Dealing with Disasters Great and Small (Georgia Wilken), Volcano in My Tummy: Helping Children to Handle Anger (Eliane Whitehouse), Healthy Women, Healthy Lives (Susan E. Hankinson, ed.). A wise saying from the Rule of Benedict is still heard often: “Don’t let the sun go down on your anger.”

Proverbs advises us to look for help: “a brother is born for the time of stress” (Prov 17:17). Responding slowly to anger is wise: “Fools show their anger at once, but the prudent ignore an insult” (Prov 12:16). “A mild answer calms wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Prov 15:1). Most of all, depression is unhealthy: “A joyful heart is the health of the body, but a depressed spirit dries up the bones” (Prov 17:22).

Drinking and drugs are not a new problem. Books continue to appear on how to control the addiction to alcohol, such as Sober for Good by Anne M. Fletcher. We know that “drinking and driving don’t mix” and “much drinking, little thinking.” Proverbs has a lot to say about excessive drinking and its consequences: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Prov 20:1). “The drunkard and the glutton come to poverty, and drowsiness clothes them in rags” (Prov 23:21). “Who scream? Who shriek? Who have strife? Who have anxiety? Who have wounds for nothing? Who have bleary eyes? Those who linger long over wine, those who go in search of mixed wine” (Prov 23:29-30).

Work: Leadership and Success
Success is a favorite topic in contemporary America. There are seminars on leadership, web courses on management, workshops on persuasive speech, and books like The 100 Simple Secrets of Successful People (David Niven) and Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done (Larry Bossidy and Ram Charon) and Speak Up with Confidence (Jack Valenti). We hear it said that “nothing succeeds like success” and “you can’t argue with success.” We also know the importance of work: “You’ll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind.” What does the book of Proverbs tell us about leadership and success?

Proverbs about the king give us a clue to wisdom in leadership. What kind of person is the king? “His steadfast loyalty safeguards the king, and he upholds his throne by justice” (Prov 20:28). Today we say, “honesty is the best policy.” What should the king do or not do? “If a king is zealous for the rights of the poor, his throne stands firm forever” (Prov 29:14). “By justice a king gives stability to the land; but one who imposes heavy taxes ruins it” (Prov 29:4). (Some things never change!) Who should be the king’s advisors? “The king takes delight in honest lips, and he loves those who speak what is right” (Prov 16:13).

Hard work is Proverbs’ recipe for success. “Go to the ant, you lazybones, study her ways and learn wisdom” (Prov 6:6). “The appetite of the lazy craves and gets nothing, while the appetite of the diligent is richly supplied” (Prov 13:4). “You see those who are skillful in their work? They will stand in the presence of kings” (Prov 22:29). Steady work accompanied by skillful speech is even better. “The person of winning speech has the king as a friend” (Prov 22:11). Timing is everything. “Like golden apples in silver settings are words spoken at the proper time” (Prov 25:11). Silence is wise. “Those who spare their words are truly knowledgeable, and those who are discreet are intelligent. Even fools, keeping silent, are considered wise” (Prov 17:27-28).

Education and Friendship
Wisdom is gained through common human experience, but each of us cannot have every experience. If we are wise, we will learn from the experience of others. Education is a primary responsibility of parents and ongoing education becomes a responsibility for anyone who seeks the good life. As the saying goes, “it’s never too late to learn.” The purpose of the book of Proverbs is the education of young men. Many of the sections are introduced by the phrase, “hear, my son” (see Prov 1:8; 4:10; 23:19). The biblical sages were well aware that wisdom is only acquired through discipline. Our modern ideas of how that discipline is to be achieved differ from the methods of the ancients, but the goal is the same. In the ancient world the young were trained through physical means. We have all heard: “Spare the rod and spoil the child,” which is probably derived from the proverb, “Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them” (Prov 13:24). Somewhat milder is the advice, “Discipline your children, and they will bring you comfort and give delight to your soul” (Prov 29:17). Some current book titles could almost be subtitles for the book of Proverbs: The Good Son: Shaping the Moral Development of Our Boys and Young Men (Michael Gurian); Queen Bees and Wannabees: A Parents’ Guide to Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence (Rosalind Wiseman); A Mind at a Time: America’s top Learning Expert Shows How Every Child Can Succeed (Mel D. Levine and Mel Levine).

The other side of education has to do with the student. In every case it has to do with willingness to listen and learn. “A wise child loves correction, but the senseless one heeds no rebuke” (Prov 13:1). “One who ceases to hear instruction wanders from words of knowledge” (Prov 19:27). “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom for the future” (Prov 19:20).

A major characteristic of wisdom is the capacity to form and maintain relationships. From How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie) to How to Be a People Magnet: Finding Friends, Lovers, and Keeping them for Life (Leil Lowndes) authors have been giving us advice on good relationships. There are many modern proverbs. “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” “A friend is my second self.” “Friends double our joy and divide our sorrow.”

Friendship is a favorite topic in the book of Proverbs too. What are friends like? “A friend is always a friend” (Prov 17:17) and “a friend is like the bars of a castle” (Prov 18:19). Friendship is not always what it seems. “Some friends bring ruin on us, but a true friend is more loyal than a brother” (Prov 18:24). “Wounds from a friend are to be trusted, but one prays against the kiss of an enemy” (Prov 27:6). Friendship must be treated with care; it can be destroyed: “Perverse speech sows discord, and talebearing separates bosom friends” (Prov 16:28). “Whoever overlooks an offense fosters friendship, but whoever gossips about it separates friends” (Prov 17:9). “Hatred stirs up disputes, but love covers all offenses” (Prov 10:12). Friendship is worth any effort. “Better a dish of vegetables where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it” (Prov 15:17).

Conclusion
Human beings have always longed for the good life, the goal of wisdom. There have always been sages who have guided us toward that goal. From the biblical period until now, the general areas that characterize the good life have remained the same: personal health of mind and body, successful and satisfying work, loving and lifelong relationships. On these topics the book of Proverbs provides wisdom for the ages.