Proverbs

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Here are 31 illustrations for the 31 proverbs attributed to King Solomon, who lived and ruled over Israel around 1,000 years before common era (BCE). These illustrations emerged over a period of one month, like an inspired prayer for personal and global peace. Here I'm sharing both images (above) and process (this writing). For reference I used Rabbi Rami Shapiro's modern 2011 translation of Proverbs; under each image is at least one of the stanzas from each proverb that I illustrated. I hope you will be inspired!

A proverb is a short bit of wisdom or instructive saying. 

The specific book called Proverbs is part of the Jewish Tanakh (Torah, Prophets, and Writings). Proverbs, one of the Writings attributed to King Solomon, is over 3,000 years old and is considered sacred by many religions today, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Rastafarianism. 

There are many translations of Proverbs, but I chose to use Rabbi Shapiro's 2011 translation for my inspiration (Shapiro, 2011) and online Proverbs in the original (English only, Hebrew and English). Note that I am receiving no benefit from any of the websites cited here.

Note that although Proverbs has been attributed to to King Solomon, the proverbs actually appear to be compiled from many near-eastern and African cultures before and at that time, including Egyptian (Ogden Bellis, 2022 review article). Yet, Proverbs is uniquely modern.

Proverbs exhorts us to live in selfless, joyful awe of the big oneness* and illustrates that the pursuit of wisdom is personal, situational, global, crosses cultural boundaries, and transcends time. Wisdom and understanding do not only exist as abstract concepts, but also must be honed and applied in real-life situations with consideration of likely consequences and equity, resulting in disciplined, mindful, lovingkind actions by individuals each day. 

The book of Proverbs is both art and a call to action. Proverbs contains suggestions for sustainable, healthy, and equitable action in a multicultural context, as well as challenging issues related to women, gender roles, literal interpretation, and more.

* Note: I choose to use the term "the big oneness" to refer to all of being, or what many people call "G-d" because we all -- whether secular, agnostic, atheist, G-d believer, or other -- are included. I also leave out the letter o in G-d to be inclusive.

I chose passages to illustrate that resonated for me, and left the others alone. If you read Proverbs you will find many sayings, some of which resonate and others, not so much. :-) 

The images that emerged (above) represent general ideas and/or specific concepts/stanzas that I chose to illustrate within each of the 31 Proverbs. The colors along the edges and in the art represent deeper meanings. Each color represents a specific Hebrew letter (alef through tav) or one of the 10th - 1st emanations/ numbers/ sefirot on the Kabbalistic tree of life (#1 keter -10 malkuth). Read more below.

Note: Proverbs is open to interpretation from many perspectives and frameworks (Ogden Bellis, 2022 review article), including the Kabbalistic perspective I chose!

I initially wanted to make art about Proverbs and conceived of this series over 25 years ago (see Background)! Why? Firstly, I made the images to celebrate and thank the big oneness for this life. Secondly, because Proverbs are challenging, complex, partly because of their inconsistency and multiple perspectives, I wanted to visually solve the puzzle presented by Proverbs as well as to learn and understand Proverbs. Thirdly, Proverbs reminds us that leading a simple upright life is a worthy goal and I wanted to learn so that I could better apply the lessons to make the world a better place (Tikkun Olam)!

Which proverbs resonate with you, now? How do you apply Proverbs (or not)? 

Before you read Proverbs (or reread) please take just a few minutes and think, then write a few proverbs of your own; what life-lessons have you learned that you want to share?

Proverbs is a call to action:*

• Proverbs challenges us to live in selfless awe of the big oneness, aware every moment of the poignance of existence!
• Proverbs demands self-discipline to curb one's selfishness, and to treat other beings equitably; sharing resources, tools, and training so we can all better fend for ourselves. 
• Proverbs inspires us to celebrate our interconnectedness with wonder, joy, kindness, simplicity, integrity, and equity for all on earth.
• Proverbs pleads that we consider other perspectives (including animals, plants, environment).
• Proverbs promotes individual empowerment, self-reliance plus stronger communities via resilience and sustainable planning based on evidence and good works. 
• Proverbs suggests rooting out our own personal and community vices, living a disciplined, healthy life, by neither doing harm nor associating with those who are hurtful, neither acting with bias nor tolerating inequity, neither abusing nor tolerating abuse.
• Proverbs supports considering the consequences of one's actions before taking action.
• Proverbs urges considered, mindful, lovingkind action based on balancing wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and evidence-based judgement, using what today we call the scientific method.

*This summary contains what I gleaned! What was your take-away from Proverbs? Each of us will have a different take-away! There are many possible interpretations of Proverbs!

It is important to mention that modern scholars (Ogden Bellis, 2022) have found that, although some proverbs might have been written by King Solomon and/or compiled during the time of King Solomon, most or all of Proverbs is a compilation of wisdom sayings derived from many near-eastern and African sources, some from cultures that existed 4,000-5,000 years before present (Ogden Bellis, 2022, review article).

In the original, on superficial reading, many proverbs within the 31 chapters of Proverbs are internally inconsistent, confusing, dated, biased, and often present advice that seems dangerously simple. But Proverbs can be pertinent to today if you look deeper, use Rabbi Shapiro's translation or one of your choice, and respectfully compost the remains.

Be aware that literal interpretation and translation of Proverbs results in stereotypes of women, all types of gender role bias' and other issues that can be avoided by looking deeper and interpreting intent through an inclusive, personally relevant lens. 

I am not getting paid anything by anyone to tout their book or web site. I use Rabbi Shapiro's translation because it makes sense to me; what makes sense to you? I read Proverbs critically-- compared different translations, and had fun discussing them with family and friends. 

What are your biggest issues with Proverbs? What aspects did not make sense to you? Why?

The superficial meaning is repeatedly stated in Proverbs itself: the proverbs present a multifaceted world- view where awe of and service to G-d, considering consequences, disciplining ourselves to avoid dissolute choices/friends and instead balancing wisdom and evidence before acting or speaking are worthy lifetime goals, whether or not our behavior is rewarded or even noticed by anyone else!

There are many levels to Proverbs. Throughout history scholars have studied mysticism or esoteric aspects of religions. Kabbalah (Kabala, Quabbala, etc.) is the esoteric realm of Judaism and includes hidden meanings of the 22 Hebrew letters and the 10 numbers or emanations represented by a tree of life. For example, the tarot deck's major arcana illustrate each of the 22 Hebrew letters (alef - tav), plus the 4 suits of 10 cards represent the 4 levels of emanations or sefirot (numbers 1-10). 

My illustrations for Proverbs incorporate not only the superficial images based on quotes (I chose to focus on stanzas to quote that were meaningful to me at the moment), but also, the deeper Kabbalistic meanings I express using a language of color I created based on Kabbalistic meaning. Each color represents a specific Hebrew letter or number (sefira). 

I believe that Kabbalah provides a rationale for why the compilers of Proverbs should have included 32 Proverbs but purposely only included 31, rendering Proverbs unfinished, or missing one.

My hypothesis is that there are only 31 Proverbs rather than 32 because the final missing proverb is intended to leave the door open for each reader to insert themselves and their own actions.

The missing #32 is our actions in life; each of us manifesting that 32nd in our own place and time!

Proverbs is not complete in itself. Proverbs is not just a compilation of wisdom. It is a call to action. Proverbs is a work of art; great art forces the viewer to complete the experience themselves, adding their own unique perspective. Think about the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. Each of us has our own idea about why she might be smiling. The artist created an image that uniquely speaks to everyone. Proverbs demand that we take action as individuals to complete the series. 

Our actions, each of us individually and as world, completes the series of 32 living Proverbs. 

Kabbalah Background

You might be asking, why does the number of 31 Proverbs suggest that there is something missing? Because, in kabalah there are 22 Hebrew letters + 10 sefirot totaling 32. Each sefira (number, or emanation of the 1-10) and Hebrew letter (of the 22) has its own set of esoteric, kabbalistic meanings open for you to interpret in your own way, through your own personal, community, and cultural lens! Have fun with that! 

I'll explain my visual interpretation of Kabbalah:

Tree of Life is Dancing

The tree of life is a representation of the manifestation of G-d in our lives. Mystics for millennia have been exploring this aspect of Kabbalah and explaining their insights. 

Here is my perspective: we are extrusions of the big oneness reflecting upon itself. As such, our being encompasses and is encompassed by the entire tree of life which is composed of the 22 Hebrew letters like paths or branches between and among the 10 sefirot. Each sefira (#1-10) is like a node; 22 Hebrew letters connect the nodes. Like neurons and synapses.

I envision the tree of life (Eitz Chaim) as spinning and dancing rather than set in stone. Traditional interpretations of scholars and Kabbalists I also embrace and do not contest, but rather suggest that the sefirot are additionally more personal and can also shift in relative importance depending on the need of the moment. I suggest that G-d would not create something that exists only to be taken literally, or is utterly inflexible in its structure. G-d is not limited by time, human bias, or ignorance. Proverbs presents a subjective perspective of personal pursuit of wisdom and evidence. Proverbs disputes a one-size-fits-all objective framework. As we enter an age of quantum computing we must also recognize and expand our understanding of G-d as encompassing the ultimate in flexibility and celebrate of all of life's rainbow of possibilities, in shifting contexts, and probabilities.

If you are a traditional scholar, please imagine that my Eitz Chaim is spinning and dancing, and that the sefirot are free to change partners and move as they are needed, when conditions shift, with joy and self-awareness, moment by moment, age by age. 

I think about the tree of life like constellations. Constellations are our human imposition of patterns and names that made sense to us millennia ago through to today. Yet, the stars do exist, are moving, each in their own directions, and it is right that we should be open to shifting interpretations as understanding expands, with new evidence, and as cultural norms shift. There is also great benefit to exploring new interpretations of our beloved texts, including Proverbs. What do you think?

22 Hebrew Letters and Colors

The 22 Hebrew letters are represented by color in my Proverbs illustrations. The Hebrew letters are alef (light yellow), bet (lemon), gimel (dark purple-blue), dalet (grass green), heh (red-orange), vav (gold), zayin (orange), chet (rust), tet (yellow-green), yud (green-yellow), kaph (purple), lamed (aqua), mem (blue), nun (dark green), samech (royal blue/rainbow), ayin (indigo blue), peh (pink/magenta), tzaddi (lavender), kuf (dark blood red), resh (scarlet), shin (red), tav (brown/mix of colors).

10 Numbered Sefirot

The 10 numbered emanations or sefirot (plural) are represented by #1-10 in my Proverbs art.

The #1 emanation, keter, connects us to the "Ain Soph" (no thing, nothingness). Our actions take the abstract highest principle of lovingkindness (#1, grey, neutral gender/both genders/agender) which is the middle path between wisdom (#2, black, female in Proverbs, chokmah) and understanding (#3, white, binah). Traditional scholars call the middle path da'at (daat), knowledge. The path of lovingkindness and knowledge lies somewhere between mercy (#4, blue, chesed) and severity/ judgement/ strength (#5, red, din/gevurah). Lovingkindness, or knowledge, is also the path between splendor (#7, orange, hod) and victory (#8, green, netzach). Lovingkindness runs straight through beauty (#6, yellow, tiferet), foundation (#9, purple, yesod), and kingdom (#10, brown/mix of colors, malkuth).

Many scholars put the emanations, the sefirot, in different orders than I did in this Proverbs project. The order I chose for each sefira is one possible order, but it influenced my images and gave me a structure for the Proverbs images. 

My images start with alef -​ tav​ for Proverbs 1-22, but in my imagery I'm reinterpreting and redefining traditional Kabbalah concepts of the sefirot, numbered emanations of the big oneness (G-d) through Proverbs in new ways that add to this venerable body of knowledge, rather than reduce it! Remember that the sefirot (emanations, numbers) are often represented as nodes labeled with numbers 1-10 arranged in a "tree of life" with #1 at the top? In my framework is #1 is grey, not white, (keter, crown, grey). In my framework is #2 (chokma, wisdom, black, unfiltered, intuition, inspiration, medium) then #3 (binah, understanding, white, rational, light). Proverbs often personifies wisdom as feminine, rather than masculine, and in my framework the feminine is associated with black (yin), the deep dark womb or medium of space in which light moves freely and matter is scarce! 

I combined ​Proverb 22 ​​(​ta​v) ​​and ​Proverb 23 (#10, malkuth) into a single illustration. Why?​​ B​ecause  the final #10 sefira, malkuth (kingdom), is the emanation linked to the  physical world (brown) just as tav of the Hebrew letters is linked to matter/sign (brown​ - ​mustard, ​olive, ​navy blue, maroon). Combining Proverbs 22-23 seems justified also in regard to the actual Proverbs which ​in the Shapiro (2011) translation ​Proverb 22 concludes the '"First collection of shorter teachings" and Proverb 23 is the beginning of the "30 precepts of wisdom."​ Proverbs 24 -31 were sefirot ​#9 - #2, respectively.

Finally, I combined #32 (wise action by each of us) with #1 (keter, crown) because my intuition says that we are instantiations of action of the big oneness. Our actions, if wise actions, reflect service to the big oneness.

In my interpretation of the numbered sefirot, each color has meaning:

• Grey is associated with awe, awareness, and mindfulness of what I call the big oneness (G-d) and the path or emanation of, ideally, lovingkind actions from the crown (keter, #1). 
• Shades and tints of grey emerge as a titration between opposites (black #2 and white #3) that defines this active middle path that passes between the crown (keter, grey), through the hidden, colorless, collective and personal subconscious background (hidden da'at, knowledge) through all of the emanations to malkuth (kingdom, earth) which connects energy to matter with the big bang, atomic energy, chemical bond energy, photosynthesis, respiration, the use of inspiration, breath (alef) to generate symbolic communication (Hebrew letters bet - tav).
• Black is associated with wisdom (chokma) because in my interpretation black symbolizes intuition, deep connectedness with the big oneness, like the apparent darkness of space/ time behind the moon (yin).
• White is associated with understanding (binah) because in my interpretation white symbolizes shining light, rational thought, reflection (yang). Like the moon's pale light is a reflection of the sun, our understanding is a rational reflection, use of scientific method, or logical analysis of likely consequences, upon the big oneness via experiences in this life. Looking directly at the sun might blind us, but we can reflect, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate! White light can be split into all the other colors: 
• Blue is associated with kindness (chesed), mercy, softness, melting.
• Red is associated with severity, judgement (din), strength/might (gevurah), hardness.
• Yellow is associated with beauty (tiferet), center, source of joy, dancing, interconnections.
• Orange  is associated with splendor (hod), integrity, vigor, majestic action.
• Green  is associated with victory (netzach), self-discipline, endurance, persistence.
• Purple  is associated with foundation (yesod), base (of altar).
• Brown (or mustard, maroon, navy blue, olive), kingdom (malkut), reign, physical matter.

It is my perspective that taking only a one-size-fits-all, black/white, literal interpretation of Proverbs is contrary to the essence of Proverbs. 

Multiple Perspectives 

Proverbs, underneath a literal interpretation, has been promoting multiple perspectives and theory of mind, not just individually but as cultures, for at least 3,000 years. Maybe we can accept the relativism and personal application of those aspects of Proverbs that resonate for us today.

Non Literal Interpretation

For a logical person, literal interpretation of Proverbs is impossible due to contradictions; Proverbs compels us to make sense of the oft-conflicting advice in our own way, using our own lives and experiences to determine the best course of action in each new situation. We are exhorted to apply wisdom, understanding, and self-discipline as we consider all the potential consequences before we act in daily life. WHEW. That is a lot of responsibility. Add onto this the recognition that one way doesn't work all the time, we have many options in regard to action, and we should choose that which is equitable and does least harm on a case-by-case basis. Double WHEW! 

Context- based Interpretation

Proverbs has different meanings for different people at different times in our lives. Meaning need not be set in stone! We benefit both personally and as a society from individuals using and interpreting evidence and reason with self-awareness and kindness in each context, rather than blindly imposing neither our own undisciplined will nor arbitrary rules on everything and everyone. Rules of the past from 3,000 years ago might have worked in the past for a small sector of society, but might not adequately address today's challenges. 

Critical Interpretation: Reject Bias and Inequity

I reject gender-based bias, stereotypes, and imposed gender roles in Proverbs and in life. 

In this series of images, although I respect millennia of scholarly dialog, I embrace multiple perspectives, context-based and critical interpretation.

Taken literally, Proverbs seems to be written mostly from the perspective of men writing advice to other men. Women are mostly talked about rather than addressed as equal participants in the pursuit of wisdom. 

In a literal reading of Proverbs, women are often stereotyped as either mothers, sisters, valorous, and personified as wisdom, or conversely vilified as evil temptresses distracting the pious from the path. This third-person (she, her), all or nothing perspective about women is utterly unacceptable. Both women and men are shallow, simple, deep, and complex. It is not fair to stereotype anyone. People each have their own qualities and challenges which change over time in response to our context. 

For example, today as in the past, sex workers fulfill individual needs within communities. It is wrong to pathologize sex workers as wicked, to denigrate desire, or to condemn the joys of sex, sexual attraction, sexual congress, and love. I know you probably understand this already, but it must be said that, in balance, moderation, and with consent plus proper safety precautions, everything has its place, including sex and sex workers.

Finally, I would like to address gender roles. Abstract qualities and archetypes should be open to shifting interpretation, rather than arbitrarily or literally affixed and limited. 

For example, defining abstract qualities like understanding, severity, and splendor as female with wisdom, mercy, and victory as male artificially limits individuals, communities, cultures. Also, where does all this gender stuff leave the non-binary? Marginalized! Grrr. 

Let's start a new thread of interpretation, please, where gender-roles are fluid rather than fixed, like in real life. While Hebrew, like many languages, has words with masculine or feminine endings, we need not let those endings define us, others, our interpretations, or our actions. How do you think we can best get beyond gender role stereotypes based on superficial characteristics? What should we do as individuals and in our communities to be more inclusive?

Over 25 years ago, for 5 years in the late 1990s I worked full-time (then part time) doing the receiving at J. Levine bookstore in the heart of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. That was just prior to, and during, my MFA in illustration at School of Visual Arts (SVA). When I did receiving, I got to see and explore the available literature and scholarship related to Proverbs (Mishlei in Hebrew), one of the 5 Writings (Ketubim in Hebrew). From my perspective, compared to the plethora of literature on Psalms (Tehillim), Proverbs seemed almost neglected. I wanted to explore, delve deeper, then make illustrations for Proverbs!

Then, in 2001 Rabbi Rami M. Shapiro published a small modern translation of Proverbs that I loved. He has since, in 2011, added commentary to his modern translation. I also referred to the original Hebrew while I conceptualized an entire series of illustrations for an illuminated manuscript, then in 2005 I put the project on hold. I often wondered why I was unable to do this series and repeatedly tried to get started, but nothing emerged.

In 2023 I faced health challenges that I'm still in the midst of now, as I write this. This version of the series emerged in one month like a peaceful prayer for healing made of color, for which I am deeply thankful. All of the images required much reflection, reading, and rereading of different versions and online translations. The images emerged as if live-born, rather than planned and sketched ahead of time.

I hope you will enjoy the images, be inspired to read Proverbs and look deeper than the surface!

Contact me if you want me to do a drawing of your favorite stanza from Proverbs! I chose to illustrate the aspects of Proverbs that resonated with me, today. However, there were so many passages from Proverbs that were great that did not emerge during my painting. I can do it remotely if you tell me which proverb passage you like! Contact me at jen@jenseron.com

Even better than me painting for you . . . I hope you'll be inspired! For those of you who like to do fun activities: create your OWN interpretation of a proverb! Draw, paint, create music about it, dance it, make a poem about it yourself in your own style, and medium! Post it online and send me a link! I'll create a special page for feedback!