Tomorrow, we’re going to start moving through the book of Proverbs on the Read & Reflect section of the site. I hope you’ll consider joining us if you haven’t already!

As we get ready to dive into this book full of inspired wisdom, I wanted to offer a perspective that I hope will help as you glean your insights.

A big part of Hebrew poetry revolves around presenting two concepts side-by-side. These concepts are designed to rhyme—that is, they share some kind of a connection, and reflecting on one side of the equation often reveals a new perspective about the other.

For example, here’s one concept presented late in the book:

Take away the dross from the silver,
and the smith has material for a vessel.

(Proverbs 25:4, ESV)

If we try to let that verse stand on its own, we don’t learn very much. All we have are instructions for metallurgy, which probably isn’t why most of us read the book of Proverbs.

But it’s not meant to stand on its own. Verse 4 rhymes with what comes next:

Take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
and his throne will be established in righteousness.

(Proverbs 25:5, ESV)

A rhyme.

Before silver can be shaped into something useful and precious, the blacksmith has to remove the impurities within the ore.

Before a throne can be established in righteousness, the king has to remove the impurities within his court.

As we reflect on the first half, the truths of the second half come into focus. And then we take it one step further and apply it to ourselves:

What dross is there in me that God is looking to remove? Am I letting it go willingly, or clinging to it in desperation? If I’m fighting Him in that process, why? What’s about those impurities are so important to me—and how can I start seeing them as God sees them?

That’s a lot from two verses.

There’s a psalm that says, “I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp” (Psalm 49:4, BSB). And that’s an important key to the whole thing: Proverbs are often riddles.

Think about the classic “contradiction” in the book of Proverbs:

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest you also be like him.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
Lest he be wise in his own eyes.

(Proverbs 26:4-5)

Don’t answer him. Do answer him. That’s not clear instruction! But it is an invitation to sit and think. It’s a reminder that, sometimes, one size doesn’t fit all—the circumstances should inform how we tackle the problem. And it’s also a reminder of how infuriating foolishness can be—sometimes you’re bound to lose no matter what approach you take.

The fancy term for this pairing of concepts is called parallelism, and there are four major kinds of parallelism worth watching out for as you read Hebrew poetry:

• Synonymous parallelism, which repeats the original concept with different words, inviting you to reflect on what makes them the same (see Proverbs 3:11).
• Antithetical parallelism, which contrasts two opposite concepts, using those opposites to highlight an important truth (see Proverbs 13:7).
• Synthetic parallelism, which takes the concept and builds on it with more information (see Proverbs 4:23).
• Emblematic parallelism, which uses one concept as a metaphor or simile to illustrate the other (see Proverbs 26:18-19).

The terms are unimportant, of course. But if we start looking out for these things—concepts that repeat, concepts that contrast, concepts that build, and concepts that illustrate, we’ll start discovering more and more insights lying beneath the surface.

If we speed through the book of Proverbs, we’re only going to speed through a lot of insightful riddles that ask us to really ponder what’s being presented and why. My challenge to you (and to myself) is to spend a little more time looking for the rhymes and puzzling over the riddles.

God put them there for a reason.