Many people use Proverbs as a daily study and guide to increase their wisdom and understanding. There are 31 chapters to Proverbs so reading one chapter a day, allows readers to complete the book of Proverbs in one month, but it is common for people to continue to read one chapter a day as part of their daily routine.
 

How many verses are there in Proverbs?

There are 31 chapters for a total of 915 verses. The amount of verses for each chapter (or day for our studies) are as follows.

• Day 1 – 33 Verses
• Day 2 – 22 Verses
• Day 3 – 35 Verses
• Day 4 – 27 Verses
• Day 5 – 23 Verses
• Day 6 – 35 Verses
• Day 7 – 27 Verses
• Day 8 – 36 Verses
• Day 9 – 18 Verses
• Day 10 – 32 Verses
• Day 11 – 31 Verses
• Day 12 – 28 Verses
• Day 13 – 25 Verses
• Day 14 – 35 Verses
• Day 15 – 33 Verses
• Day 16 – 33 Verses
• Day 17 – 28 Verses
• Day 18 – 24 Verses
• Day 19 – 29 Verses
• Day 20 – 30 Verses
• Day 21 – 31 Verses
• Day 22 – 29 Verses
• Day 23 – 35 Verses
• Day 24 – 34 Verses
• Day 25 – 28 Verses
• Day 26 – 28 Verses
• Day 27 – 27 Verses
• Day 28 – 28 Verses
• Day 29 – 27 Verses
• Day 30 – 33 Verses
• Day 31 – 31 Verses

Proverbs Authors/Collectors
• 1:1 Solomon
• 10:1 Solomon
• 25:1 Solomon (as copied by Hezekiah’s men)
• 30:1 Agur son of Jakeh
• 31:1 Lemuel (or his mother)
• 31:10-31 author unstated
  Family
  Court
  School

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It is difficult to pin the provenance of Proverbs down. Several suggestions have been made.

In the society of ancient Israel, the family played an important role in the upbringing and education of children. Some internal evidence hints to the use of Proverbs in a family setting; the phrase “my son” appears some 20 times throughout the book. The role of the mother is also listed some 10 times.

The name of Solomon stands in the title of the book, thus suggesting a royal setting. Throughout the Old Testament, wisdom is connected with the court.

It is possible practical and reflective wisdom was transmitted in a house of learning or instruction.

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There are found in Proverbs, and other wisdom literature, references to Wisdom as a personification. These have long been taken by Christian exegetes as references to Christ, who is called the wisdom of God by Paul the Apostle.
The first time Wisdom is personified is at Prov 1.20. In all these passages Wisdom is spoken of as a woman because the Hebrew word for “wisdom” is itself feminine; thus there is no problem associated feminine-personified Wisdom with the male Messiah.

The King James Bible reads, in reference to wisdom, that “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.” The LORD possessed wisdom and it, or she, was with him from the beginning. She was with him to create what has been created. However some apparently claim that Prov 8:22 was a crucial verse in the Arian controversies of the fourth century. The RSV reads “The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.” Proverbs 8 has long been taken to refer to Christ, so whether or not the Hebrew qanah should be taken as created or as possessed was used in the debate over the eternity of Christ. Both these meanings are used in the Old Testament, but created is never the sole possible meaning. Kidner goes on to point out that it is absurd to think that God would need to create Wisdom, implying there was a time when he lacked Wisdom. Also, “Prov 8 starts from the indisputable commonplace that God existed before the start of time and ascribes the same precedence to wisdom.” The remainder of Prov 8 shows Wisdom taking a role in creation, and contrasts Wisdom with created things. It is therefore best to take qanah to mean “possessed”; and Wisdom not as a creature.

It has been noted that Col 1:15-16 is dependent on this chapter of Proverbs. The parallels in the roles of Christ and Wisdom lend credence to understanding qanah as possessed rather than created. We are told that Wisdom was, before the Lord made even a particle of matter (verse 26) or gave order to creation (verse 29); Wisdom participated in the creation story. This strongly parallels the role of Christ in Colossians, where he is the “first-born of all creation” and in him were all things created. To add to the identification of Wisdom with Christ, we find that Wisdom was identified with the Greek concept of logos, which was in turn identified with Christ.

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References and works cited

The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is “Míshlê Shlomoh” (“Proverbs of Solomon”). When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint (LXX) the title became “paroimai paroimiae” (“Proverbs”). In the Latin vulgate the title was “proverbial”, from which the English title of Proverbs is derived.

The authorship of Proverbs has long been a matter of dispute.
Solomon’s name appears in Proverbs 1:1, “The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, King of Israel.” There are also references within Proverbs to Agur (30:1) and Lemuel (31:1) as authors distinct from Solomon. These names are missing in the Greek translation of the Septuagint. Medieval scholars used in the Vulgate the Hebrew rendering of these two verses, and in their eyes the words “Agur” and “Lemuel” were but symbolical names of Solomon.[1] Solomon is often mentioned as someone who has extensive wisdom in the Bible as well as in extra-biblical literature. However at the time of composition it was often the custom to place the name of the King or someone of prominence in writings in order to honor them, or to give those writings more prestige[citation needed]. In 1 Kings 4:29-34, 3000 proverbs and over 1000 songs are said to have come from Solomon and it is also said that people came from all over to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

The general assumption is that Solomon was a part of the authorship to some extent, but that the book was not solely his work.[citation needed] Not only are the names “Agur” and “Lemuel” linked to other sections of the book, there are elements of disunity within the book that suggest more than one author. Some of the authorship is attributed to “Men of Hezekiah” (25:1), though it is stated that they simply transcribed the proverbs rather than writing them of their own accord.

In terms of the text itself there are at least eight specific instances where authorship is mentioned: