The design and structure of the Book of Proverbs points to 10 speeches given by a father to a son. We should be reminded that although it’s the father’s voice speaking, he is speaking on behalf of his wife. This is consistent within this literature. The father’s voice is complimented at the end of Proverbs by the voice of Lemuel’s mother (Proverbs 31).
You might wonder, “Are all daughters excluded from the conversation? The answer is no. You will recall that the Proverbs are intended for “simple” ones (1:4). That is not intended to be derogatory. The purpose of Proverbs is for the children and the untaught. In fact, the word that Solomon uses “my son” in Hebrew includes all youths regardless of gender. But the author is portraying is a conversation between himself, the father, and his son. The father is collaborating with his wife; and his son is representing all children. The Apostles, in fact, never resisted applying Proverbial literature to the whole Church. So, in this series I will apply this as parents to children.
This is the first speech.
