Proverbs is often viewed as a canonical outlier. It is understood as a practical, non-theological book that is difficult to integrate into a larger biblical theology. However, the connections between Proverbs 1 and other passages, especially other foundational passages like Deuteronomy 6 and Psalm 1, show the importance of Proverbs 1 within the canon. Proverbs is not a canonical outlier. It is integrated into the rest of the canon.
Proverbs opens with the title “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.” This opening recalls texts in Kings in which Solomon is depicted as the wise king (1 Kings 3:12, 28; 4:34; Mt 12:42). It also looks forward to Christ, who will also be called the Son of David (Mt 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31l 21:9, 15; 22:42; Mk 10:47-48; 12:35; Lk 3:31; 18:38-39; 20:41). Jesus is the “greater than Solomon” (Mt 12:42; Lk 11:31), the antitype of the type. He is the wisdom from God (1 Cor 1:30) and in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). This title indicates the book was written from the king of Israel to his son, the Davidic king who would follow him. Thus, in a sense, Proverbs was written to Christ as the ultimate Davidic Son. He alone of all the Davidic kings would keep the wisdom of Proverbs perfectly.
The prologue (1:2-7) climaxes with the statement that the fear of Yhwh is the beginning of knowledge. Notably, “this “fear of Yhwh” is an important phrase in Deuteronomy and Joshua. Note especially the connection between fear of Yhwh and wisdom in Proverbs and fear of Yhwh and “keeping all his statutes and his commandments” in Deuteronomy 6:2 (cf. 6:13, 24). In both of these contexts there is an emphasis on the father instructing his son. Isaiah may be looking back to Proverbs 1 when he says that the Spirit of Yhwh that will rest on the Messiah will be “the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of Yhwh” (11:2). The Messiah will fulfill Proverbs 1:7.
Proverbs 1:8 continues the allusions to Deuteronomy 6. The idea and language of instructing a “son” is present in both passages. In Proverbs 1:8 the son is called to “hear” just as in Deuteronomy 6:3, 4 Israel is called to hear. Thus, Proverbs 1:8-19 is an application of Deuteronomy 6. The word “instruction” links 1:8 (and thus 1:8-19) back to the prologue (The word מוּסָר appears in vv. 2, 3, and 7; it serves as part of an inclusio, bracketing 1:2-7.)
The word “teaching” (תּוֹרָה, torah) links back to the law of God (Ex 24:12). It is God’s law that the parents are to be teaching their children (cf. Dt 6:1-2, 7 Andrew Steinmann proposes that the ten discourses directed to the son in Proverbs 1-9 allude to the Decalogue. The first address alludes to the fifth commandment in calling for the son to hear and obey his father and mother’s teaching. The topic of the instruction focuses on keeping the sixth and eighth commandments, the commandments concerning unlawful killing and stealing (CC, 61-63). The fifth commandment is transitional between the first and second tables of the law. Thus, the father begins his instruction of his son by beginning with the first commandment of the second table of the Decalogue. (The first table is comprehended in the prolgoue’s statement about the foundational nature of the fear of Yhwh.)
The reference to parental instruction and teaching being adornment to the neck does not directly allude back to Deuteronomy 6, but Schipper notes, “The word גַּרְגֶּרֶת (“neck, throat”) occurs in the Hebrew Bible only in Prov 1:9; 3:3, 22; and 6:21. The instructions in 3:1–12 and 6:20–35 both allude to the Shema in Deut 6:6–9” (Herm., 78).
The reference to torah also links Prov. 1:8-19 to Psalm 1. The blessed man meditates day and night on the torah. (Note that Psalm 1 is connected to Joshua 1:7-8 and the need to be strong and courageous; later Joshua will emphasize fear of Yhwh [4:24; 22:25; 25:14].) The blessed man is one who “walks [הלך] not in the counsel of the wicked” (Ps 1:1), and the father in Proverbs warns his son against sinners who say, “Walk [הלך] with us” (1:11, lit. trans.). He tells his son, “do not walk [הלך] in the way [דֶּ֫רֶךְ] with them” (1:15). The “them” have already been identified as “sinners” (חַ֝טָּאִ֗ים, 1:10), and Psalm 1:1 says that the blessed man “stands [not] in the way [דֶּ֫רֶךְ] of sinners [חַ֭טָּאִים].” Psalm 1 concludes by contrasting “the way of the righteous” and “he way of the wicked.” Proverbs will also lay two ways out before the son. Finally, Psalm 1 notes that “the way [דֶּ֫רֶךְ] of the wicked will perish” (1:6) while Provebs 1:19 concludes by noting that the “unjust gain” of the sinners “takes away the life of its possesors.”
Proverbs 1:20-33 has some notable connections to Psalm 2. When Wisdom says that she will “laugh” [שׂחק] and “mock” [לעג] at the calamity the comes on the wicked, the same two words are used as are found in Psalm 2:4, “He who sits in the heavens laughs [שׂחק]; the Lord holds them in derision [לעג].” Note also that the outcome of these fools is the same in a that of the wicked in Psalm 2:12 (cf. 1:6) and Prov. 1:32 (the word אבד is used in all three verses).
Note also that because fools did not choose the “fear of the Lord” (1:29; cf. 1:7), they will have terror/dread [פַּ֫חַד] instead (1:26, 27, 33). The word פַּ֫חַד is elsewhere used in the phrase “fear of God” or “fear of Yhwh”—often of the dread unbelievers have of God (Isa 2:10, 19, 21;1; 2 Chr 14:14; 17:10; 19:7; 20:29). These texts all post-date Proverbs. Interestingly, Psalm 36, a psalm of David, says that the wicked has “no fear [פַּ֫חַד] of God before his eyes” because he “flatters himself” that his iniquity will not be found out. But Proverbs 1:26, 27) teaches that the wicked will indeed come to experience “terror.”
Romans 1:18-32 may be drawing on Proverbs 1:20-33. I take wisdom to be creational norms and her crying in the streets to refer to her accessibility. That is, her calling in the market squares is general revelation. Romans 1 is also concerned with the rejection of general revelation. The statement in Romans 1:26 about acting contrary to nature also fits with wisdom as creational norms. In addition, Romans 1:21 speaks of not honoring/glorifying God, which seems equivalent to not fearing him. Romans 1:22 also uses the language of the wise and fools, which links back to Proverbs. The links to Proverbs may be broader than just Proverbs 1. Romans 1:28 says they did not acknowledge God, which may allude to Proverbs 3:6.
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