How to Learn Mishlei: a Step by Step Guide (Version 2.0)

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The title of this blog post should really be "How I Learn Mishlei," which is far more accurate and far less authoritative than the one I settled on. I certainly do not claim that my method is the only approach to Mishlei, and I wouldn't want to give that impression. But alas, I feel that "How to Learn Mishlei" is better for Google searches, so I've chosen to go with that title instead.

This post was inspired by a student of mine who, after graduating from high school, asked me if I could remind her how we learned Mishlei when she was in 9th grade. When I realized that I have never written a "Guide to Mishlei," I responded to her via email with a summary of what steps to take, sprinkled with tips on how to achieve the best results. Afterwards, I thought it would be a good idea to edit that email and publish it on the blog. 

I'm calling this "Version 2.0" because I suspect that I will revisit and rewrite this post in the future. This is merely my second attempt to write such a guide - and a broad one, at that. If I allow myself to try to write a completely comprehensive guide, I'll never finish. I hope that by getting this down in writing, it will help at least one aspiring student of Mishlei to benefit from the wisdom of Shlomo ha'Melech. 

Artwork: Emmessi Tome, by Craig J. Spearing

How to Learn Mishlei: a Step by Step Guide (Version 2.0)

Dear aspiring student of Mishlei,

First of all, I am SO happy that you decided to learn this wonderful (but overlooked) sefer! If I had to teach only one thing for the rest of my life, it would be Sefer Mishlei. This book, more than any other, has enriched my life, taught me how to think, and granted me access to the rest of the Torah's teachings.

Before we begin, I highly HIGHLY recommend that you read my other two blog posts on the subject of How to Learn Mishlei:

1. The first is on Saadia Gaon's Introduction to Mishlei, which presents my understanding of what Mishlei is about. If I had to summarize this post in one sentence, it would be this: Mishlei is a book about how to make intelligent everyday decisions which maximize long-term pleasure and minimize long-term pain.
2. The second post is on the Meiri's approach to Mishlei. If I had to summarize this post in one sentence, it would be this: always take the pasuk as literally as possible unless you are forced to interpret it otherwise. 

Please read both posts for an elaboration on these points.

While those two posts address the content of the book as a whole, this post is intended as a practical guide for how to learn Mishlei. When someone says, "My chavrusa and I want to learn Mishlei, but we don't know what to do," I want this post to provide an answer. 

My method of learning (and teaching) Mishlei consists of five phases:

Phase #1 - Reading and Translation: Your goal in this phase is to figure out how to read and translate the pasuk. This process is a lot more complex than it sounds. The vast majority of pesukim in Mishlei can be read in several different ways, depending on how the words are translated, how the pasuk is punctuated, and what you make of the denotations and connotations of the words. Your objective is to find a working translation - not necessarily a final one, but at least something that is coherent and can serve as a basis for further analysis. 

Pro Tips: I usually approach this phase through a tiered set of tools. In Tier 1, I rely on my own knowledge of Hebrew, along with the help of a dictionary and/or English translation(s) of Mishlei. If that isn't enough, I'll move to Tier 2: meforshim who function as dictionaries. I'll begin with the Targum, who translates the pasuk from Hebrew into Aramaic, and - like any translator - infuses his translation with a minimal degree of commentary. Then I'll move to Saadia Gaon's Arabic translation, which Qafih so helpfully translates back into Hebrew in order to bring out the subtlety of the Gaon's reading. Finally, I'll consult Metzudas Tzion, who offers a glossary-style commentary to explain obscure words. If I still feel that I don't have enough material for an adequate working translation, I'll move to Tier 3: consulting the actual meforshim for their translations of the pasuk, while trying as hard as I can to ignore their explanations of the pasuk - since I don't want to be prematurely influenced by their ideas. 

Phase #2 - Questions: Next, try to formulate any and ALL questions on the pasuk - major and minor, obvious and non-obvious, she'eilos (factual question) and kushyos (difficulties, contradictions, problems). I think it is important to identify and express every single question because the "main idea" will often emerge from what seems like an obvious question that didn't need to be asked. 

Pro Tips: One of the common problems I've noticed among beginners in Mishlei is that they feel like they need to ask specific kinds of questions and are worried about whether their questions are "the right kind" or "the wrong kind." In my opinion, this should not be a concern at all. Every question is worthy of being asked because every question has the potential to yield insight. Don't censor your own questions!

Phase #3 - Thinking: Now comes the fun part: letting your mind go free to ponder the questions and the words of the pasuk. There are basically two ways to go: either you can try figuring out answers to specific questions, or you can try searching for "the main idea." In each pasuk there must be at least one main idea about everyday decision-making that Shlomo ha'Melech aims to convey. Usually, that main idea answers all of the questions - at least, all of the major ones. In an ideal scenario, your intuition will pick up on the "scent" of the main idea, and you can just follow your mind's nose. In most cases, it'll be necessary to start with the individual questions. Sometimes you'll have an intuition about which question to start with. Maybe one question will seem to be the most important, and it'll be clear that if you answer that question, the answers to the others will follow. Perhaps it'll make sense to you to start with the most difficult question, or the easiest, or the most basic. Usually, it's best to let your mind roam until it latches on to something. 

Pro Tips: This process should be as free as possible, which makes it hard to give tips. The best I can do is to suggest the "mode" you should be in when you're freely thinking. To me, this mode resembles fishing: you cast your fishing line, let it sit in the water, and wait for the fish to bite. Sometimes you'll feel a tug and it'll turn out to just be a nibble. But sometimes a tug means that you're onto something - hopefully, a "main idea."

I can't help but quote my favorite passage from Einstein's & Infeld's The Evolution of Physics (1967) to describe this stage: "In nearly every detective novel since the admirable stories of Conan Doyle there comes a time where the investigator has collected all the facts he needs for at least some phase of his problem. These facts often seem quite strange, incoherent, and wholly unrelated. The great detective, however, realizes that no further investigation is needed at the moment, and that only pure thinking will lead to a correlation of the facts collected. So he plays his violin, or lounges in his armchair enjoying a pipe, when suddenly, by Jove, he has it! Not only does he have an explanation for the clues at hand, but he knows that certain other events must have happened. Since he now knows exactly where to look for it, he may go out, if he likes, to collect further confirmation for his theory." 

Phase #4 - The Main Idea: Once you have a solid intuition of what the main idea is, or wherein it lies, you should allow yourself to temporarily forget about the questions, the answers, and sometimes even the words of the pasuk, and focus exclusively on defining, formulating, and clarifying the main idea. Your goal is to be able to state the main idea as clearly and concisely as possible - preferably, in 1-4 sentences. 

Pro Tips: Remember that this is a book about everyday decision-making. Your idea must be practical. It must pertain to a specific decision-making scenario, or  at least to decision-making in general. It must provide some new insight, which you didn't already know. Ideally, you should be able to express your main idea in the form of opposites: what would the chacham/tzadik do, and what would the fool/rasha do? The more you familiarize yourself with the types of ideas that Mishlei teaches, the more you'll know what to look for.

Phase #5 - Testing the Main Idea: Once you have a decently formulated main idea, then it's time go back and test it - against the words of the pasuk, against the questions, and against reality. Does this idea flow naturally from the words in the pasuk, or does it feel forced? Does it answer all of your questions - and if it doesn't, does that mean that the idea is incomplete, or does it seem like the idea stands as a valid interpretation even if it leaves some questions unanswered? And last but not least, is the idea actually true (i.e. in line with reality) or does it merely "sound good"?

Pro Tips: The best tip I can give here is to be ruthlessly honest. Just because you really like your main idea doesn't mean that it reflects the pshat of the pasuk. It is almost always helpful to tell over your interpretation to someone else. Sometimes the main idea will sound really good in your head, but once you begin to say it over, you'll realize that you're forcing it, or that it doesn't make sense.

Now, here's the important part to remember when applying this method: over the course of learning a pasuk you must be flexible enough to go back and forth between these phases. For example, you'll start off translating the pasuk in Phase #1, then move on to asking questions in Phase #2 - but maybe a question will make you rethink your translation and you'll go back to Phase #1. Or maybe you'll be in the process of formulating your main idea in Phase #4 when you'll realize that you missed a glaring question, and you'll go back to Phase #2. Or maybe you'll formulate your main idea in Phase #4, and when you start Phase #5 you'll realize that a translation you initially dismissed in Phase #1 fits better, in light of your new understanding. And so on. And sometimes you'll encounter a problem so big that you'll have to go back to the drawing board, and begin from Phase #1 all over again.

Now that you have the method, there's only one more thing to note before you get started: the structure of the sefer. Basically, there are five sections: 

1. Chapters 1-9 are introductory, and consist of paragraphs of pesukim which must be learned together, in order. In my opinion, these chapters are difficult to learn until you have a sense of Shlomo ha'Melech's terminology - and the best way to learn his terminology is to plunge into the main part of the sefer. You can begin with Chapters 1-9, and the meforshim will help, but don't expect the method outlined above to provide much help. You're on your own. 
2. Chapters 10-24 are the core of Mishlei. Each pasuk contains its own idea, and there is seldom a connection between pesukim. Occasionally you'll find a pair or a trio of pesukim which clearly belong together; in such cases, treat them like one long pasuk. 
3. Chapters 25-29 are similar to 10-24, but were recorded by the Anshei Chizkiyahu (the men of King Chizkiyahu's court), and have a slightly different style than 10-24. They can still be learned with the same method, though.
4. Chapters 30 through 31:9 constitute a section onto itself, with its own unique style.
5. 31:10 until the end is the famous Eishes Chayil, which can be viewed as the conclusion of Mishlei, and also has its own style.

My advice is to focus on Chapters 10-29, using the method described above. Once you become familiar with that, you can venture into the other areas of Mishlei with greater ease, and greater productivity. 

Well, I think I've given you what you need in order to get started. Once again, it is imperative that you read the blog posts about the approaches taken by Saadia Gaon and by the Meiri. With these posts together with this one, you should be good to go. I hope you find this Mishlei guidebook to be helpful! 

Please let me know if you have any further questions. Best of luck,

- a fellow student of Mishlei