The Archetypes of Proverbs

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In the first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs, there are these long speeches from the perspective of or warning about one of four characters. Two of them represent God’s wisdom: The Wise King and Lady Wisdom, and two of them represent man’s desires: the Wicked Fool and Folly the Harlot. These character archetypes represent God’s ways vs the world’s ways.

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King Solomon’s Failure

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The Bible says God blessed King Solomon greatly because he asked for wisdom instead of wealth and power when God asked what he wanted (1 Kings 3:3-15). When Solomon built the Temple, he made sacrifices and honored God. In response, God promised to bless Solomon according to the promises he made to David (his father). However, he warned him that these blessings are conditional and based on his faithfulness to keeping God’s commands in the Torah (1 Kings 9:1-9). Solomon did not keep God’s instructions and eventually turned the nation away from God by endorsing idolatry and committing other sins. Let’s examine the laws Solomon broke.

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