Proverbs: Annotated & Explained

by Rami Shapiro (Translator)

Overview

Wise and practical prescriptions for how to live with an honest perception of reality can become a companion for your own spiritual journey.

More than commonplace truisms, the biblical Book of Proverbs is an anthology of teachings designed to help you live with a sense of self-responsibility. Its wisdom, compiled in the seventh century BCE and credited to King Solomon, transcends nationality and politics, addressing instead the individual seeking the true satisfaction and tranquility that comes from living with an honest perception of reality.

In this fresh translation of an ancient "how-to," Rami Shapiro unpacks the proverbs, demonstrating how these complex poetic forms are actually straightforward instructions to live simply, without rationalizations and excuses. He shows how unlike almost anything else in the Hebrew Bible, the truths claimed in the Book of Proverbs are testable and verifiable. They force us to examine our lives and how we are living them without the benefit of psychological sophistry and New Age babble: We are either doing good or doing bad; we are either disciplined or lazy; we are either students of wisdom or puppets of desire.

Now you can experience the Book of Proverbs and understand Solomon's teachings with no previous knowledge of the Hebrew Bible. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents insightful commentary that shares these timeless principles and encourages us to put them into practice in ways that are uniquely our own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594733109
Publisher:	Turner Publishing Company
Publication date:	08/01/2011
Series:	SkyLight Illuminations
Edition description:	Annotated
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Rami Shapiro, a renowned teacher of spirituality across faith traditions, is an award-winning storyteller, poet and essayist. He is author of The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness: Preparing to Practice, Recovery—The Sacred Art: The Twelve Steps as Spiritual Practice and The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature: Selections Annotated & Explained (all SkyLight Paths), among other books.

Rami Shapiro is available to speak on the following topics:

• Writing—The Sacred Art: Beyond the Page to Spiritual Practice
• Stop Playing God: 12 Steps as Spiritual Practice
• Biblical Wisdom for Post-biblical Times: An Exploration of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job
• The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness: Cultivating Compassion in Daily Life
• Hasidic Wisdom: An Exploration of Hasidic Storytelling, Theology and Contemplative Practice
• Saints and Sages: Biblical Prophets, Ancient Rabbis and the Building of a Just World

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction xi

The Nine Foundational Teachings 3

Introduction 3

The First Teaching 5

The Second Teaching 11

The Third Teaching 17

The Fourth Teaching 25

The Fifth Teaching 31

The Sixth Teaching 37

The Seventh Teaching 45

The Eighth Teaching 51

The Ninth Teaching 59

The First Collection of Shorter Sayings 63

The Thirty Precepts of Wisdom 159

Sayings of Solomon's Contemporaries 179

The Second Collection of Shorter Sayings 183

Warnings and Numerical Proverbs 219

A Mother's Advice 229

Afterword 235

Bibliography 237

Editorial Reviews

"Clear, engaging and instructive ... a valuable teaching."
—Union of Liberal & Progressive Synagogues Newsletter

From the Publisher