Bible crossword puzzle: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes

TL;DR: This crossword puzzle covers material about three wisdom books of the Bible: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Topics include God's relationship to the world and His governance of everything, comforting the suffering, finding meaning in life, and living wisely and well.

Based on Chapter 11 of Discovering the Bible, edited by Alex Varughese

Challenge: Can you solve this puzzle even if you do not have the textbook edited by Varughese?

Across

• 2 A Bible book that has "meaningless" or "vanity" for a key word. This book looks for the meaning of life and concludes that a God-fearing life is better than a life filled with wicked schemes.
• 3 A book with the story of a wealthy man who lost all he had in a series of disasters. It deals with the question: Why do the righteous suffer?

Down

• 1 A book of wise sayings that deal with discovering the way to the good life and how to live up to your full potential. It has a paragraph extolling the virtuous woman.

"We'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality."

— Proverbs 1:2–4, The Message

This crossword puzzle was created for use in the course Introduction to Biblical Literature. The words and clues come from the textbook Discovering the Bible: Story and Faith of the Biblical Communities, edited by Alex Varughese and published by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, now The Foundry Publishing.

— Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu

Afterword: What is the "Wisdom Literature" of the Old Testament?

The Bible books of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes offer insights into the human condition and wisdom for facing life's challenges. Job portrays the story of a righteous man who faces immense suffering. He grapples with questions of faith, justice, and the nature of God's sovereignty. Proverbs, a book traditionally associated with Solomon, is full of practical guidance for living a righteous and prosperous life. It zeroes in on virtues such as wisdom, humility, and integrity. Ecclesiastes, also traditionally associated with Solomon, examines questions of life's meaning and purpose. It considers the fleeting nature of earthly pursuits and calls for a life centered on fearing God and keeping His commandments. These three books are treasuries of spiritual and practical wisdom. They can guide us in living a life of righteousness.

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Brief Bible book overviews and meditations

• Overview of the book of Job
• Job's humility
• This far, but no further: Job 1:6-12
• Overview of the book of Proverbs
• Overview of Ecclesiastes
• Death and dying
• Crossword puzzle: Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Song of Songs

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Chapters 1-2 |  Chapters 4-5  |  Chapter 6  |  Chapters 7-8  |  Chapter 9  |  Chapter 10  |  Chapter 11  |  Chapter 12  |  Chapter 13  |  Chapter 15  |  Chapter 16  |  Chapter 17  |  Chapter 18  |  Chapter 19  |  Chapter 20  |  Chapter 21  |  Chapter 22  |  Chapter 23  |  Chapters 24-25  |  Chapters 26-27  |  Chapter 28  |  Chapters 29-30  |  Chapter 31  |  Chapter 32  |  Supplementary puzzles

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