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Knowing the Bible
Proverbs: A 12-Week Study
The book of Proverbs uncovers the foundation of wisdom, marks out the paths that make us wise, and points us to the ultimate source of all true understanding: Jesus Christ.
Helping make sense of a unique book, this guide explains the biblical text with clarity and passion--revealing its wise instruction for godly living that glorifies God and leads to blessing for his people.
Over the course of 12 weeks, these studies explore books of the Bible and: Ask thoughtful questions to spur discussion Show how each passage unveils the gospel Tie the text in with the whole story of Scripture Illuminate the doctrines taught in each passage Invite you to discover practical implications Help you better understand and apply God's Word
Helping make sense of a unique book, this guide explains the biblical text with clarity and passion--revealing its wise instruction for godly living that glorifies God and leads to blessing for his people.
Over the course of 12 weeks, these studies explore books of the Bible and: Ask thoughtful questions to spur discussion Show how each passage unveils the gospel Tie the text in with the whole story of Scripture Illuminate the doctrines taught in each passage Invite you to discover practical implications Help you better understand and apply God's Word
- GenresTheologyNonfiction
98 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 31, 2014
102 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Lydia Brownback
51 books128 followersLydia Brownback (MAR, Westminster Theological Seminary) serves as a senior editor at Crossway in Wheaton, Illinois, and an author and speaker at women’s conferences around the world. Lydia previously served as writer in residence for Alistair Begg and as producer of the Bible Study Hour radio program with James Montgomery Boice.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 29, 2023
If you ask me, these Bible studies are hands down one of the best things for me to discover and learn how to read God’s word in a deeper and fuller way. I have done several of these studies but have been wanting to do Proverbs for awhile because I’ve often strayed away from this book because of lack of understanding. This study was so helpful and gave me a fuller picture of this book and what it means to walk in the fear of the Lord. Highly recommend if you’re looking for a new Bible study, they have these studies for every book of the Bible. Might just do another one after this!
May 22, 2024
I started getting into the study towards the end of the 12 weeks. I felt like it took me awhile to adjust to her phrasing and sentence structures. There were a few weeks though were her questions did help guide me to see such beauty is this wisdom book!
November 22, 2020
Meh. Spends the first and the last week in overviews. Not much help in organizing proverbs. I was teaching and bought two other books that were much more helpful.
January 18, 2022
I worked through this book in a women's Bible study in a semester, doing a chapter a week. This was my first time reading a book in this series.
This is not a study that will walk you through a passage and explicitly teach you everything it wants you know as you go through each question. Some questions expected the reader to be able to pull ideas across scripture together (sometimes not always with scripture references to do this). Although I think all of us were able to successfully do this for the study, I felt like these kinds of questions would be very challenging for believers who are new to the faith or have not read through their Bible before.
Several of the questions in the book had us all scratching our heads, as we didn't know exactly what these questions were asking us. In this instance, we often ended up discussing the verses referenced within the question. So, even in these cases, it was still fruitful discussion.
The book is theologically sound. However, there were some challenges in one of the questions and the summaries at the end of Chapter 11 on the Proverbs 31 woman. One of the questions entails asking what the prevailing attitude of women in the workforce is today in asking about the Proverbs 31 woman's attitude. In the summaries at the end of the chapter, one section makes the claim that, "The whole course of redemptive history is built on the family structure..." This not only subtly muddles the gospel with family structure, but also excludes Christians called to singleness and their value to the Christian community. Finally at the end of the section, the text briefly mentions that all marriages are pre-arranged by God with a few scripture references to support this. Of course, this is true. But it could have used an addendum to discuss how broken marriages or divorces can still be used for God's glory, and that He is still sovereign in those situations.
As another review mentioned, this book worked well with a study group, because of the discussions that it fostered. Without the discussions from the group, some weeks of this study would have fallen flat if only studied individually. The discussions we had really fleshed out some of the ideas that questions hinted at, and the openness of some of the questions allowed room for encouraging discussions.
Overall, I enjoyed the study. It was a good review of Proverbs, and I feel like I did walk away with a few new takeaways. Our ladies' Bible study is going to be doing another book from this series this semester, and I'm looking forward to it.
This is not a study that will walk you through a passage and explicitly teach you everything it wants you know as you go through each question. Some questions expected the reader to be able to pull ideas across scripture together (sometimes not always with scripture references to do this). Although I think all of us were able to successfully do this for the study, I felt like these kinds of questions would be very challenging for believers who are new to the faith or have not read through their Bible before.
Several of the questions in the book had us all scratching our heads, as we didn't know exactly what these questions were asking us. In this instance, we often ended up discussing the verses referenced within the question. So, even in these cases, it was still fruitful discussion.
The book is theologically sound. However, there were some challenges in one of the questions and the summaries at the end of Chapter 11 on the Proverbs 31 woman. One of the questions entails asking what the prevailing attitude of women in the workforce is today in asking about the Proverbs 31 woman's attitude. In the summaries at the end of the chapter, one section makes the claim that, "The whole course of redemptive history is built on the family structure..." This not only subtly muddles the gospel with family structure, but also excludes Christians called to singleness and their value to the Christian community. Finally at the end of the section, the text briefly mentions that all marriages are pre-arranged by God with a few scripture references to support this. Of course, this is true. But it could have used an addendum to discuss how broken marriages or divorces can still be used for God's glory, and that He is still sovereign in those situations.
As another review mentioned, this book worked well with a study group, because of the discussions that it fostered. Without the discussions from the group, some weeks of this study would have fallen flat if only studied individually. The discussions we had really fleshed out some of the ideas that questions hinted at, and the openness of some of the questions allowed room for encouraging discussions.
Overall, I enjoyed the study. It was a good review of Proverbs, and I feel like I did walk away with a few new takeaways. Our ladies' Bible study is going to be doing another book from this series this semester, and I'm looking forward to it.
September 15, 2017
It's hard to find a good study guide for a Bible study group. My wife and I have led a group of about 10 people for a couple of years, and the best resources we've found are N. T. Wright's The Bible for Everyone volumes. Unfortunately, Wright is just New Testament. When the group decides for something from the Old Testament, we have to look elsewhere for materials.
Earlier this year, the group chose to study Proverbs together. I think Proverbs might be even more difficult than other OT books to find good materials for a group study. This book that we settled on, Lydia Brownback's Proverbs: A 12-Week Study is . . . okay. It's not terrible, it's not especially wonderful.
Even so, it led us to some really good discussions together, and I learned more about Proverbs in the group than I would have on my own. Though I'm not thrilled with the book, I do like that it includes connections to bigger theological issues, some of which were quite insightful.
Earlier this year, the group chose to study Proverbs together. I think Proverbs might be even more difficult than other OT books to find good materials for a group study. This book that we settled on, Lydia Brownback's Proverbs: A 12-Week Study is . . . okay. It's not terrible, it's not especially wonderful.
Even so, it led us to some really good discussions together, and I learned more about Proverbs in the group than I would have on my own. Though I'm not thrilled with the book, I do like that it includes connections to bigger theological issues, some of which were quite insightful.
December 30, 2019
Good for a group study, but does require some homework - researching the verses mentioned, reading summaries of each, etc - to get the full understanding. Starts off with the summary, gets deeper (learning more about the bible and about yourself), then back to summary again.
September 25, 2025
Overall, this was a good study. It was a bit challenging in spots and a bit dense at times, but it was very helpful in providing context around the book of Proverbs and posed questions that really made you think.
April 4, 2019
Solid study book. Used in a Bible study group. Well written for group study. Not sure it would work well for individual study.
June 1, 2023
I was a big fan of this study. While proverbs can sometimes seem like a "stand-alone" book without much connectedness to the Gospel or to the narrative of Scripture, this study did an excellent job of connecting this book's wisdom to both.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews