DAVID FINKBEINER
OUTLINE
Introduction
I. Solomon’s Collection (1:1–24:34)
A. Introduction (1:1-7)
1. Title (1:1)
2. Purpose (1:2-6)
3. Theme (1:7)
B. Extended Discourses on Wisdom (1:8–9:18)
1. Lesson 1: Beware of Violent Companions (1:8-19)
2. Wisdom’s First Call (1:20-33)
3. Lesson 2: Wisdom’s Protection (2:1-22)
a. Wisdom’s Conditions: Receive and Seek It (2:1-4)
b. Wisdom’s Benefits: Protection (2:5-11)
c. What Wisdom Protects From (2:12-19)
d. Summary (2:20-22)
4. Lesson 3: Wisdom as Worship (3:1-12)
5. Poem: the Value of Lady Wisdom (3:13-20)
6. Lesson 4: The Benefits of Wise Dealings (3:21-35)
a. Wisdom’s Safety (3:21-26)
b. Wise Dealings with Others (3:27-31)
c. Motivations for Wise Dealings (3:32-35)
7. Lesson 5: A Grandfather’s Lesson on the Value of Lady Wisdom (4:1-9)
8. Lesson 6: Keeping on the Right Path (4:10-19)
9. Lesson 7: Guarding Your Heart (4:20-27)
a. Guarding the Receptive Organs (4:20-22)
b. Guarding the Heart (4:23)
c. Guarding the Active Organs (4:24-27)
10. Lesson 8: Passion’s Proper Place (5:1-23)
a. Introductory Exhortation (5:1-2)
b. The Seductress: Passion’s Improper Place (5:3-14)
(1) The Danger of the Seductress (5:3-6)
(2) The Central Exhortation (5:7-8)
(3) The Results of Not Heeding the Exhortation (5:9-14)
c. One’s Wife and Passion’s Proper Place (5:15-20)
d. Conclusion (5:21-23)
11. Warnings against Foolish People (6:1-19)
a. Warning Concerning Becoming a Guarantor (6:1-5)
b. Warning Concerning the Lazy Man (6:6-11)
c. Warning Concerning Troublemakers (6:12-19)
(1) Describing Troublemakers (6:12-15)
(2) The Lord’s View of Troublemakers (6:16-19)
12. Lesson 9: Warnings against the Adulteress (6:20-35)
a. Introduction (6:20-24)
b. Central Exhortation (6:25)
c. Supporting Reasons for the Exhortation (6:26-35)
13. Lesson 10: More Warnings against the Adulteress (7:1-27)
a. Introductory Exhortation (7:1-5)
b. The Story of the Seductress and the Simpleton (7:6-23)
(1) The Setting (7:6-9)
(2) The Seductress (7:10-12)
(3) The Seduction (7:13-21)
(4) The Surrender (7:21-23)
c. Epilogue: Concluding Exhortation (7:24-27)
14. Wisdom’s Second Call (8:1-36)
a. Preface to Wisdom’s Address (8:1-3)
b. Wisdom’s Opening Exhortation (8:4-11)
c. Wisdom’s Autobiography (8:12-31)
(1) Wisdom’s Autobiography in History (8:12-21)
(2) Wisdom’s Autobiography before History (8:22-31)
(a) Wisdom’s Existence before Creation (8:22-26)
(b) Wisdom’s Participation in Creation (8:27-31)
(3) Lady Wisdom and Christ
d. Final Exhortation (8:32-36)
15. Conclusion: Two Invitations (9:1-18)
a. Lady Wisdom’s Banquet Invitation (9:1-6)
b. Interlude (9:7-12)
c. Woman Folly’s Banquet Invitation (9:13-18)
C. The Proverbs of Solomon (10:1–22:16)
D. Thirty Sayings of the Wise (22:17–24:22)
E. More Sayings of the Wise (24:23-34)
II. The Collection of Solomon’s Proverbs by King Hezekiah’s Scribes (25:1–29:27)
III. Agur’s Collection (30:1-33)
A. Prologue (30:1-9)
B. The Proverbs of Agur (30:10-33)
IV. King Lemuel’s Collection (31:1-31)
A. Title (31:1)
B. Admonitions to a King (31:2-9)
C. The Excellent Wife (31:10-31)