The book of Proverbs characterizes five kinds of people and their relationship to wisdom. The primary topic or thrust, of course, is to help us not just know about wisdom but to become wise. Teaching about what a wise person looks like is often presented in relief, that is, contrasting with those who are not wise. Solomon throws down the gauntlet to all of them—the naïve ones, the scoffers, the fools, and the sluggards—if the shoe fits, then don’t wear it, but instead walk in wisdom.

“How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (Prov. 1:22)

How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? (Prov. 6:9)

Specifically, we see these five character types in more detail:

The Wise – This is the one who hears and incorporates wisdom into his life. The wise person is specifically mentioned 66 times in Proverbs but it is implied throughout the book.

The Naïve  – This is the one (in some versions called the simple person) who does not yet know wisdom. A young person might be excused because of age, but a person who remains content in his or her ignorance is the same as a fool. The naïve person can be found in Proverbs 1:4, 22, 32, 7:7, 9:4, 13, 9:16, 14:15, 18, 19:25, 21:11, 22:3, 27:12.

The Sluggard – This is the one who is too lazy to act upon wisdom. He is found in Proverbs 6:6, 9, 13:4, 19:24, 20:4, 21:25, 22:13, 24:30, with an extended description found in 26:13-16.

The Fool – The antithesis to the wise person is most often found in the fool, one who knows the truth but consciously rejects it. This person is specifically mentioned 65 times, with an extended description found in Proverbs 26:1-12.

The Scoffer – The scoffer knowingly rejects wisdom (like the fool) but takes it a step further by ridiculing the idea of wisdom and mocking wise people. This person can be found in Proverbs 1:22, 3:34, 9:7-8, 13:1, 14:6, 15:12, 19:25, 29, 21:11, 24, 22:10, 24:9.

In addition to these five main character types, the book of Proverbs deals with how wisdom applies to many practical areas of life. Some of these areas, to a degree, are touched upon in the prologue or introduction to wisdom in chapters 1-9, but they are mostly scattered throughout the compendium of proverbial statements in chapters 11-30.

We will not comment on these areas of topic for two reasons: 1) space considerations of this writing, and more importantly, 2) the proverbial statements speak for themselves. Though the reader may not be familiar with occasional mentions of ancient practices, the wisdom principles transcend cultures and time periods.

For your consideration, the following table lists some of the more common or important topics. By no means is this list exhaustive or complete. But we pray this will give you a framework for not just learning wisdom in the various areas of life, but for leaving behind naivety, laziness, foolishness and scoffing in the pursuit of wise living

Age – 16:31, 20:29

Alcohol – 20:1, 23:29-35, 23:19-21, 29-35, 29:4-7

Anger – 14:17, 29, 15:1, 15:18, 16:32, 19:19, 22:24-25, 29:11, 22, 30:33

Child raising – 13:22, 24, 14:26, 15:20, 17:6, 21, 23, 19:13, 18, 26, 20:11, 20, 22:6, 15, 23:13-14, 28:24, 29:15, 17, 30:17

Conflict – 16:28, 17:9, 14, 18:6, 25:7b-10, 21-22, 26:2, 26:4-5, 26:17, 20-21, 29:9

Correction – 9:7-9, 12:1, 15:4, 15:31-32, 17:10, 19:25, 21:11, 25:12, 27:5-6, 28:13, 23, 29:1

Discipline – 3:11-12, 10:17, 13:18, 19:16

Fear of the Lord – 1:7, 5:21, 8:13, 9:10, 10:27, 14:26-27, 15:3, 16, 33, 16:6, 19:23, 22:4, 23:17, 24:21, 29:25, 21:3, 24:21-22, 29:25

Finances – 3:9-10, 6:1-5, 11:15, 11:24-26, 28

Friendship – 27:9-10, 17, 28:7, 29:24

Gossip – 20:19, 26:22-26

Greed – 27:20, 28:25

Guidance & Counsel – 10:8, 11:14, 12:4, 13:1, 13:10, 13:13-14, 14:15, 15:12, 22, 16:1-4, 9, 16:20, 23, 33, 17:3, 18:15, 19:20-21, 27, 20:5, 18, 24, 27, 21:1-2, 30-31, 22:3, 23:22, 24-25, 24:6, 28:26

Home life – 24:3-4

Honesty – 11:3, 12:17-19, 22, 13:17, 14:2, 5, 25, 16:11, 19:5, 9, 21:28, 24:18, 26:18-19, 28, 29:12

Jealousy – 6:34, 27:4

Judging & Evaluating – 17:15, 18:5, 13, 17 (see Lev 19:15, 2 Chron 19:6,7 Job 29:16, John 7:51), 28:21

Justice – 29:7, 31:8-9

Leadership – 25:2

Personal issues – 12:25, 13:12, 19, 14:10, 30, 15:13, 15, 30, 17:22, 18:14, 19:8, 20:6, 9, 25, 29, 21:13, 21, 24:16

Personal relationships – 12:16, 12:26, 13:20, 14:7, 14:9, 21, 17:13, 17, 18:18-19, 24, 11, 19:22, 20:3, 22, 22:10, 24:17-18. 25:2, 25:7b-10, 25:17, 27:10

Pride – 12:9, 13:10, 16:18, 18:12, 21:4, 24, 22:4, 25:27, 26:12, 27:1-2, 21, 29:23, 30:33

Speech – 4:24, 10:19-21, 31-32, 12:13-14, 12:23, 13:3, 14:3, 15:2, 4, 7, 23, 28, 16:21, 23-24, 28, 17:7, 9, 14, 19, 27-28, 18:2, 4, 6-8, 20, 20:19, 21:23, 22:11, 25:11, 13, 20, 26:22-26, 26:28, 27:14, 29:5, 29:20

Temptation – 6:27-28, 9:17-19

Things that describe an ideal man – 20:6, 22:1, 22:11, 23:15-16

Things to adorn – 1:8-9, 6:20-22, 3:3-4, 4:7-9

Way that seems right – 12:15, 14:12, 16:25

Wealth – 11:4, 13:8, 13:11, 13:22, 14:20, 15:6, 27, 16:8, 16, 19, 17:5, 16, 18, 23, 16, 19:1, 4,6-7, 14, 17, 20:4, 10, 15, 16, 21, 23, 21:6, 21:14, 21:17, 20, 22:2, 7, 9, 16, 22-23, 26-27, 28, 23:4-5, 6-8, 10-11, 25:14, 27:13, 23-24, 28:6, 8, 28:11,16, 20, 22, 24, 27, 29:3, 4, 13, 14

Wisdom – 8:17, 22, 33-34, 10:8, 12:8, 14:15, 15:16-17, 16:16

Women – 11:16, 22, 12:4, 14:1, 18:22, 19:13, 21:9, 19, 25:24, 27:15-16, 31:2-3, 10-31

Work – 6:6-11, 10:4, 26, 11:1, 18, 12:11, 24, 27, 13:4, 14:4, 23, 35, 15:19, 16:11, 16:12-15, 26, 19:2, 12, 15, 24, 20:2, 4, 10, 13-14, 17, 23, 26, 28, 21:5, 21:17, 25-26, 22:29, 23:1-3, 25:2-7, 15, 26:6, 10, 27:18, 23-24, 28:3, 28:15-16, 28:19, 29:4, 12, 19, 21, 30:10, 30:24-28

Lord, may Your Spirit search out the un-wisdom in my life so that I might run full out and unhindered in living a wise life for You.