Starting in Proverbs chapter 8, King Solomon, the author of Proverbs, emphasizes wisdom regularly. Known as “Solomon the Wise,” he says that wisdom is the basis of civil rulership and everybody who hates wisdom loves death.
Similar to earlier chapters in Proverbs, chapter 10 focuses more on God’s sanctions. The text states that God’s rewards and punishments will be predictable, but if you do not follow God’s rules, you will lose your inheritance, while the righteous will still gain their inheritance.
Between Proverbs chapter 10 and 31, the verses about sanctions and wisdom are again reinforced in chapter 30 with King Solomon talking about how God’s word will always be pure, but He will give you negative sanctions in life if you disobey Him. The next chapter instructs Kings to avoid alcohol and only marry virtuous women.
The two main themes of Proverbs are wisdom and sanctions. Virtuous men love wisdom and will strife to attain it, but some hate wisdom and will see the wrath of God. If you keep God’s commandments and do the right thing in all situations, then you will get a seat in heaven next to the Lord. Another theme stated multiple times is the importance of working for God, with Solomon explaining that you need to labor like an ant and do good works to please God.
Inheritance of God’s kingdom will be taken away from those who disobey his word and break away from God. Much of biblical literature is a warning of what will happen if you do not follow God, and a reward for what will happen if you obey God’s judgment.
Following his father David, King Solomon, wrote the vast majority of the book of Proverbs. Unlike the Psalms, Solomon asks not God for forgiveness for his actions but instead gives wisdom to his own son, Rehoboam. Like the Psalms, however, Solomon discusses ethics and God’s sanctions in history.
Interestingly, what is known as “the intro” to Proverbs is nine chapters long, despite the book being only 31 chapters in total. In this, Solomon provides an overall view of his goal: wise moral instruction. Solomon was widely regarded as an extremely wise man in Israel, so Proverbs presents the battle between wisdom and foolishness, righteousness and sin, which compete for the affections of men. Solomon uses analogies to illustrate these conflicts. One such example is people in a public space fighting over competing ideas. Portraying “wisdom” as a woman, she tries to turn wise “simpletons” who are not just people leading simple lives but they are foolish due to their regular sin. “A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands. Those who follow the right path fear the Lord; those who take the wrong path despise him. A fool’s proud talk becomes a rod that beats him, but the words of the wise keep them safe.”
While urging his son to practice wisdom, Solomon says that wisdom is ignored by the people and also uses real-life examples of temptation. For instance, he tells his Rehoboam that thieves will entice him to join their evil ways, but he must avoid them and pursue righteousness. “Do not be envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them. For their heart desires violence, and their lips speak of troublemaking.”
Athens was one of the first true democratic governments in the world. The people would vote for their rulers, who would then be representatives of the people’s will. When Draco was elected ruler in 621 BC, he made punishment for all crimes extremely harsh to persuade families to not seek revenge on their transgressors. Draco’s reign caused many Athenians to become enslaved because slavery was the punishment for not paying taxes to the government. The next ruler, Solon, freed all the slaves and declared that every citizen could vote and not just aristocrates.
Four courts made up the government in Athens: The Assembly, The Council of Five Hundred, The Law Court, and The Magistrates. One thousand people represented the 40,000 Athenians in the courts during the elections.
In 499 BC, Ionian Greeks in Asia Minor rose up against their Persian oppressors. They sought assistance from Sparta, which refused, but Athens sent 20 ships to support the revolt. Nonetheless, the rebellion was put down quickly by Persia. Enraged that the Athenians had helped a revolt, King Darius of Persia sought revenge on the Greeks and invaded but was defeated at the Battle of Marathon. Now the Spartans, who had initially refused to help Athens, joined the fight. King Xerxes of Persia, Darius’s son, sent 250,000 troops through the Greek mountains to face off against a small force of 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. The Spartans fought well but were eventually defeated by the much larger force. Their heroic fight inspired other Greek city states to join in against Persia.
Battle of Thermopylae.
After the Battle of Thermopylae, the Persians sacked and burned Athens, but most of the Greek Army and population had escaped already. The Greeks defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis, and they were victorious over Persia in 479 BC.
After the Persian War, the Greek states formed the Delian League, a defensive pact under the direction of Athens. Each state had to provide ships, money, and supplies. The League even supplied an Egyptian revolt against Persia. Many of the city-states were alarmed at how powerful Athens had become. Messenia withdrew from the League first, and Athens demanded its return. In response, the other city-states formed the anti-Athens Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta, and declared war on Athens.
Athens mainly stuck to naval combat, which was their strength, so the Spartans could not inflict a decisive blow. In 430, a plague broke out and killed two thirds of the Athenian population. Later, a truce was signed and peace lasted from 421-415. In 414, Athens went on an expedition to Sicily to try to take out Syracuse, who was loyal to the Peloponnesian League. The Athenians could not defeat Syracuse, so they decided to go back to Greece. However, they saw a Lunar Eclipse, which they took as a sign to keep fighting. This gave Syracuse time to encircle and destroy the Athenian forces. Fifty thousand Athenians were killed and Sparta took control of most of Greece.
The Athenians being defeated by Syracuse.
Sparta briefly had control over all of Greece before the other city-states rebelled against them in 371 BC. By 350, none of the city-states dominated over each other. Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides both wrote about the Peloponnesian War and much of the information we have of the war comes from them.
