Table Of ContentTable of Contents
Acknowledgments
Series Introduction
Section 1—Selected Passages
Wisdom: A Person, Not Tips 1:1-7
Falling Among Thieves 1:8-19
Wisdom Is a Street Preacher 1:20-33
I Hear Voices All the Time 2:1-22
Does Proverbs Preach a Prosperity Gospel? 3:1-12
I’d Rather Have Wisdom than Silver or Gold
3:13-35
You’ve Got a Problem with Jesus 4:1-19
You Need a Change of Heart 4:20-27
Honey Lips 5–7
Come Thou Wisdom from On High 8
The Marriage Supper of Wisdom 9
How to Read Proverbs 10:1-32
The Ways of the Fool 18:1-9
Section 2—Riddle Me This: Unlocking the Difficult
Proverbs
The Sovereignty of God 16:1-15
Is “Train Up a Child” a Promise? 22:6
Does Proverbs Contradict Itself? 26:4-5
The Proverbs Code: What Do All These Numbers
Mean? 30:1-33
Section 3—Family Relationships
Manhood 13:22 et al.
God’s Portrait of a Wonderful Wife and
Marvelous Mother 31:10-31
Having a Happy Home 24:3-4
Section 4—Sticks and Stones: The Power of Words
Shut Up! 26:18-28
Listen Up! 15:31-33
Speak Up! 27:5-6
Pray Up! 15:29
Section 5—Seven: The Deadly Follies
Envy 14:30
Gluttony 23:19-21
Greed 11:24-28
Lust 23:26-28
Pride 16:18-20
Laziness 24:30-34
Wrath 20:22; 24:17-18; 25:21-22
Works Cited
Scripture Index
“What could we possibly need more desperately than Wisdom? Danny and Jon
are speaking my language in their heart-warming exposition of Proverbs. A
treasure I have longed for.”
Johnny Hunt, senior pastor, First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Georgia
“A wise father and son have written a wise commentary on the greatest book on
wisdom ever written. Read it, and you will be much the wiser for it!”
James Merritt, senior pastor of Cross Pointe Church, Duluth, Georgia
“Danny and Jon have written great fresh insight from the very old wisdom of
God through Solomon. They have mined the text to explain the practical insights
of Proverbs, yet their illustrations are wonderfully relevant to the age in which
we live. What a blessing to the church to combine ‘timeless’ wisdom with such
‘timely’ illustrations!”
Bryant Wright, senior pastor, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church of Marietta, Georgia
Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary: Exalting Jesus in Proverbs © Copyright 2017 by Daniel L. Akin
and Jonathan Akin B&H Publishing Group
Nashville, Tennessee
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8054-9766-3
Dewey Decimal Classification: 220.7
Subject Heading: BIBLE. O.T. PROVERBS— COMMENTARIES \ JESUS CHRIST
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the Christian Standard Bible® Copyright 1999,
2000, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.
Scripture passages marked ESV are taken from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version®). ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry
of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of
Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.
Scripture passages marked The Message are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996,
2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scripture passages marked GNT are taken from the Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version,
Second Edition), Copyright © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Scripture passages marked NASB are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.
Used by permission.
Scripture passages marked NIV are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights
reserved worldwide.
“Death in His Grave,” John Mark McMillan. Copyright © 2008 Integrity’s Hosanna! Music (ASCAP)
(adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com). All rights reserverd. Used by permission.
“In Christ Alone,” Stuart Townend. Copyright © 2002 Thankyou Music (PRS) (adm. worldwide at
CapitolCMGPublishing.com excluding Europe which is adm. by Integrity Music, part of the David C. Cook
family. [email protected]) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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BTH
SERIES DEDICATION
Dedicated to Adrian Rogers and John Piper. They have taught us to love the
gospel of Jesus Christ, to preach the Bible as the inerrant Word of God, to pastor
the church for which our Savior died, and to have a passion to see all nations
gladly worship the Lamb.
—David Platt, Tony Merida, and Danny Akin March 2013
AUTHORS’ DEDICATION
To our families, where we enjoy the fear of the Lord, feasting, and love.
“Better a little with the fear of the L than great treasure with turmoil. Better a
ORD
meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox with hatred.” (Prov
15:16-17)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed”
(Prov 15:22). Many advisers and helpers have aided us in successfully
completing this project. We owe them a debt of gratitude.
I (Danny) want to thank Shane Shaddix, Mary Jo Haselton, and Kim
Humphrey for their work on this project.
I ( Jon) want to thank Ken Mathews, who supervised my doctoral work on the
book of Proverbs; Russell Moore, who taught me a Christ-centered approach to
Proverbs; Jim Hamilton, who helped me develop a biblical theological approach
to Proverbs; and my Fairview Church family, for faithfully enduring hours and
hours of sermons in Proverbs.
Furthermore, we are grateful to God for families. Our wives, children, and
grandchildren are a constant source of joy and blessing in our lives. Solomon
wisely said, “Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly, and the pride of
children is their fathers” (Prov 17:6). His twelve grandchildren crown Danny;
and Nathan, Jonathan, Paul and Timothy are extremely proud of their dad.
Finally, to the Greater Solomon, our Savior and King, the Lord Jesus, be all
glory now and forevermore. Amen.
SERIES INTRODUCTION
Augustine said, “Where Scripture speaks, God speaks.” The editors of the
Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series believe that where God
speaks, the pastor must speak. God speaks through His written Word. We must
speak from that Word. We believe the Bible is God breathed, authoritative,
inerrant, sufficient, understandable, necessary, and timeless. We also affirm that
the Bible is a Christ-centered book; that is, it contains a unified story of
redemptive history of which Jesus is the hero. Because of this Christ-centered
trajectory that runs from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22, we believe the Bible
has a corresponding global-missions thrust. From beginning to end, we see
God’s mission as one of making worshipers of Christ from every tribe and
tongue worked out through this redemptive drama in Scripture. To that end we
must preach the Word.
In addition to these distinct convictions, the Christ-Centered Exposition
Commentary series has some distinguishing characteristics. First, this series
seeks to display exegetical accuracy. What the Bible says is what we want to
say. While not every volume in the series will be a verse-by-verse commentary,
we nevertheless desire to handle the text carefully and explain it rightly. Those
who teach and preach bear the heavy responsibility of saying what God has said
in His Word and declaring what God has done in Christ. We desire to handle
God’s Word faithfully, knowing that we must give an account for how we have
fulfilled this holy calling ( Jas 3:1).
Second, the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series has pastors in
view. While we hope others will read this series, such as parents, teachers,
small-group leaders, and student ministers, we desire to provide a commentary
busy pastors will use for weekly preparation of biblically faithful and gospel-
saturated sermons. This series is not academic in nature. Our aim is to present a
readable and pastoral style of commentaries. We believe this aim will serve the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Third, we want the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series to be
known for the inclusion of helpful illustrations and theologically driven
applications. Many commentaries offer no help in illustrations, and few offer
any kind of help in application. Often those that do offer illustrative material and
