Book Of Proverbs

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Proverbs 1:7

Date and Composition Though the title of Proverbs ( Proverbs 1:1 ) seems to ascribe the entire book to Solomon, closer inspection reveals that the book is composed of parts and that it was formed over a period of several hundred years. It is difficult to know precisely the role Solomon and his court may have had in starting the process which culminated in the Book of Proverbs. This process may be compared to the way psalms of Davidic authorship eventually led to the Book of Psalms. In Israel, wisdom was considered Solomonic almost by definition (see articles on Song Of Solomon , and Ecclesiastes, as well as the apochryphal work, Wisdom of Solomon). Thus the titles in  Proverbs 1:1 and   Proverbs 10:1 are not strictly statements of authorship in the modern sense.

That Proverbs is a collection of collections which grew over time is best seen from its variety of content and from its titles. These titles introduce the book's major subcollections, and are found in  Proverbs 1:1;  Proverbs 10:1;  Proverbs 22:17 (“words of the wise”);   Proverbs 24:23;  Proverbs 25:1;  Proverbs 30:1;  Proverbs 31:1 . For dating,  Proverbs 25:1 places the copying or editing of   Proverbs 25-29 in the court of Hezekiah, thus about 700 B.C., some 250 years after Solomon. The process of compilation probably extended into the postexilic period.

Because wisdom writings have almost no historical references, they are very difficult to date. Most scholars place  Proverbs 10-29 sometime in the period of kings.   Proverbs 1-9 are in a different genre (see below) from the Solomonic sayings of chapters   Proverbs 10:1-22:16 , and their date is disputed. Some say it may be as early as Solomon. Others say it is postexilic, that  Proverbs 1-9 were added to 10–29 to give later readers a context from which to understand the short sayings in the latter chapters. The date of   Proverbs 30-31 is also uncertain. One scholar has argued there is a play on the Greek word for wisdom ( sophia ) in  Proverbs 31:27 . This would date  Proverbs 31:1 after the conquest of Palestine by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.

Literary Character and Forms The Book of Proverbs uses a variety of wisdom forms or genres. The Hebrew word for proverb ( mashal ), found in the book's title, can refer to a variety of literary forms beside the proverb: prophetic “discourse” ( Numbers 23:7 ,Numbers 23:7, 23:18 ), “allegory” ( Ezekiel 17:2;  Ezekiel 24:3 ), “taunt song” ( Micah 2:4 ). Different sections of the book specialize in characteristic forms. Long wisdom poems, which scholars call “Instructions” after their Egyptian counterpart, dominate  Proverbs 1:8-9:18 . These usually begin with a direct address to “son/children” and contain imperatives or prohibitions, motive clauses (reasons for actions), and sometimes narrative development ( Proverbs 7:6-23 ). The setting of these instructions may be a school for young aristocrats. This section also contains public speeches by personified Wisdom ( Proverbs 1:20-33;  Proverbs 8:1-36;  Proverbs 9:1-6 ).

“Sayings” which express wise insights about reality are the primary forms in  Proverbs 10:1-22:16 and   Proverbs 25:1-29:27 . Sayings are characterized by extreme brevity. In Hebrew they usually have two lines with only six to eight words, in contrast to their much longer English translations. These sayings may simply “tell it like it is,” and let readers draw their own conclusions ( Proverbs 11:24;  Proverbs 17:27-28;  Proverbs 18:16 ). They can also make clear value judgments ( Proverbs 10:17;  Proverbs 14:31;  Proverbs 15:33;  Proverbs 19:17 ). Mostly “antithetical sayings” which contrast opposites appear in  Proverbs 10:1-15:33 , but mixed in are a few “better—than” sayings (“Better is a dinner with herbs where love is than a fatted ox and hatred with it,”  Proverbs 15:17; compare  Proverbs 15:16 ) which are also scattered in other sections ( Proverbs 16:8 ,Proverbs 16:8, 16:19;  Proverbs 17:1;  Proverbs 19:1;  Proverbs 21:9;  Proverbs 25:24;  Proverbs 27:5 ,Proverbs 27:5, 27:10;  Proverbs 28:6 ). The section  Proverbs 25:1-27 is especially rich in comparative proverbs which set two things beside one another for comparison: “Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country” (  Proverbs 25:25; compare  Proverbs 25:12-13 ,Proverbs 25:12-13, 25:14 ,Proverbs 25:14, 25:26 ,Proverbs 25:26, 25:28;  Proverbs 26:1-3 ,Proverbs 26:1-3, 26:6-11 ,Proverbs 26:6-11, 26:14 ,Proverbs 26:14, 26:20 among others). Such sayings also occur elsewhere, “Like a gold ring in a swine's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion” (  Proverbs 11:22 ).

“Admonitions” characterize  Proverbs 22:17-24:22 . Borrowing from Egyptian wisdom marks this section. These short wisdom forms contain imperatives or prohibitions, usually followed by a motive clause which gives a reason or two for doing that which is being urged: “Do not remove an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless; for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you” ( Proverbs 23:10-11 ). Admonitions are a shorter relative of the instruction.

The words of Agur ( Proverbs 30:1 ) specializes in numerical sayings ( Proverbs 30:15-31 ). The epilogue of the book ( Proverbs 31:10-31 ) presents an alphabetic poem on wisdom embodied in the “valiant woman.” This brief sketch of wisdom forms presents only the basic types. Even within the types here presented, a great deal of subtle variation occurs.

Themes and Worldview In spite of being a collection of collections, Proverbs displays a unified, richly complex worldview.  Proverbs 1-9 introduces this worldview and lays out its main themes. The short sayings of   Proverbs 10-31 are to be understood in light of the first nine chapters.

The beginning and end of wisdom is to fear God and avoid evil ( Proverbs 1:7;  Proverbs 8:13;  Proverbs 9:10;  Proverbs 15:33 ). The world is a battleground between wisdom and folly, righteousness and wickedness, good and evil. This conflict is personified in Lady Wisdom ( Proverbs 1:20-33;  Proverbs 4:5-9;  Proverbs 8:1;  Proverbs 9:1-6 ) and Harlot Folly ( Proverbs 5:1-6;  Proverbs 6:24-35;  Proverbs 7:1;  Proverbs 9:13-18 ). Both “women” offer love and invite simple young men (like those in the royal school) to their homes to sample their wares. Wisdom's invitation is to life ( Proverbs 8:34-36 ); the seduction of Folly leads to death ( Proverbs 5:4-6;  Proverbs 7:22-27;  Proverbs 9:18 ).

Mysteriously, Lady Wisdom speaks in public places, offering wisdom to everyone who will listen ( Proverbs 1:20-22;  Proverbs 8:1-5;  Proverbs 9:3 ). Wisdom does not hide, but stands there for all who seek her. Some scholars consider Wisdom to be an attribute of God, especially shown in creation ( Proverbs 3:19-20;  Proverbs 8:22-31 ). More accurately stated, however, Wisdom is “the self-revelation of creation.” That is, God has placed in creation a wise order which speaks to humankind of good and evil, urging humans toward good and away from evil. This is not just the “voice of experience,” but God's general revelation which speaks to all people with authority. The world is not silent, but speaks of the Creator and His will ( Psalm 19:1-2;  Psalm 97:6;  Psalm 145:10;  Psalm 148:1;  Job 12:7-9;  Acts 14:15-17;  Romans 1:18-23;  Romans 2:14-15 ).

This perspective eliminates any split between faith and reason, between sacred and secular. The person who knows God also knows that every inch of life is created by God and belongs to Him. Experiences of God come only from experiences in God's world. Experiences in the world point the person of faith to God.

Thus, the wise person “fears God” and also lives in harmony with God's order for creation. The sluggard must learn from the ant because the ant's work is in tune with the order of the seasons ( Proverbs 6:6-11; compare  Proverbs 10:5 ).

Thinking Proverbially The short proverbs in  Proverbs 10-29 cover a wealth of topics from wives (  Proverbs 11:22;  Proverbs 18:22;  Proverbs 25:24 ) to friends ( Proverbs 14:20;  Proverbs 17:17-18;  Proverbs 18:17;  Proverbs 27:6 ), strong drink ( Proverbs 23:29-35;  Proverbs 31:4-7 ), wealth and poverty, justice and injustice, table manners and social status ( Proverbs 23:1-8; compare  Proverbs 25:6-7;  Luke 14:7-11 ).

One cannot just use any proverb on any topic, for proverbs can be misused: “Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools” ( Proverbs 26:7; compare  Proverbs 26:9 ). Proverbs are designed to make one wise, but they require wisdom to be used correctly. Proverbs are true, but their truth is realized only when they are fitly applied in the right situation. Job's friends misapplied proverbs about the wicked to righteous Job. Many things have more than one side to them, and the wise person will know which is which. Wives can be a gift from the Lord (  Proverbs 18:22 ), but sometimes singleness seems better ( Proverbs 21:9 ,Proverbs 21:9, 21:19 ). Silence can be a sign of wisdom ( Proverbs 17:27 ) or a cover-up ( Proverbs 17:28 ). A “friend” (Hebrew, rea' ) can be trusted ( Proverbs 17:17 ), but not always ( Proverbs 17:18; “neighbor” = rea' )!

Wealth can be a sign of God's blessing ( Proverbs 3:9-10 ), but some saints suffer ( Proverbs 3:11-12 ). Wealth can result from wickedness ( Proverbs 13:23;  Proverbs 17:23;  Proverbs 28:11; compare  Proverbs 26:12 ). It is better to be poor and godly: “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice” ( Proverbs 16:8; compare  Proverbs 15:16-17;  Proverbs 17:1;  Proverbs 19:1;  Proverbs 28:6 ). In the end God will judge: “He who closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself cry out and not be heard” ( Proverbs 21:13; compare  Proverbs 3:27-28;  Proverbs 22:16;  Proverbs 24:11-12;  Proverbs 10:2;  Proverbs 11:4 ).

The problem of fittingness is most sharply put in  Proverbs 26:4-5 :

Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Such dilemmas force us to confront the limits of our wisdom ( Proverbs 26:12 ) and to rely upon God ( Proverbs 3:5-8 ).

Proverbs generally operate on the principle that consequences follow acts: you reap what you sow. In a fallen world, however, God's justice is sometimes delayed. The “better—than” proverbs in particular show the disorder of the present world, the “exceptions to the rule.” The righteous thus works and prays, like the psalmist, for the day when God will make all things right.

Outline

I. Proverbs Is Designed to Impart Divine Wisdom Concerning Life ( Proverbs 1:1-6 ).

II. Wisdom's Contribution to Life Is to Be Praised ( Proverbs 1:7-9:18 ).

A. The goal of all wisdom is that people “fear the Lord” ( Proverbs 1:7 ).

B. Wisdom identifies sin and calls sinners to repentance ( Proverbs 1:8-33 ).

C. Wisdom enables the sinner to be set free and experience meaningful life ( Proverbs 2:1-22 ).

D. Wisdom produces a sense of divine presence, joy, and peace in the believer ( Proverbs 3:1-26 ).

E. Wisdom admonishes believers to share God's love with others ( Proverbs 3:27-35 ).

F. Wisdom helps a father instruct his son how to obtain a meaningful life ( Proverbs 4:1-27 ).

G. Wisdom calls for purity and honesty in all marriage relationships ( Proverbs 5:1-23 ).

H. Wisdom admonishes the believer to work hard and spend wisely ( Proverbs 6:1-19 ).

I. Wisdom warns against the peril of adultery ( Proverbs 6:20-7:27 ).

J. Through divine wisdom, God offers Himself to humankind ( Proverbs 8:1-36 ).

K. Wisdom presents us with two choices, life or death ( Proverbs 9:1-18 ).

III. One's Response to Wisdom Brings About Earthly Consequences ( Proverbs 10:1-22:16 ).

A. The righteous find blessings, but the wicked suffer greatly ( Proverbs 10:1-32 ).

B. The deceitful pay a terrible price, but the honest find God's favor ( Proverbs 11:1-31 ).

C. The righteous are open to instruction, but the wicked are not ( Proverbs 12:1-28 ).

D. The righteous are obedient to God's will; however, the wicked rebel ( Proverbs 13:1-25 ).

E. The foolish will be judged, but the righteous will be accepted by God ( Proverbs 14:1-35 ).

F. The Lord watches over all humankind and judges each accordingly ( Proverbs 15:1-33 ).

G. The Lord is the fountain of life for the faithful ( Proverbs 16:1-33 ).

H. The foolish thrive on bribery, but the wise are honest yet merciful ( Proverbs 17:1-28 ).

I. The foolish are haughty, but the righteous are humble ( Proverbs 18:1-24 ).

J. The poor are to be pitied, but the wealthy are honored by God ( Proverbs 19:1-29 ).

K. The wise work hard and treat both friend and foe with love ( Proverbs 20:1-30 ).

L. God requires holy lives and not just holy rituals ( Proverbs 21:1-31 ).

M. The wise discipline themselves to follow God in everything ( Proverbs 22:1-16 ).

IV. Wisdom Provides Prudent Counsel for Both the Present and the Future ( Proverbs 22:17-24 ).

A. Wisdom tells one when to speak and when to be silent ( Proverbs 22:17-21 ).

B. The wise ones care for and protect the poor ( Proverbs 22:22-29 ).

C. Wisdom warns one not to fall into the trap of another's craftiness ( Proverbs 23:1-11 ).

D. Youth need instruction and correction to become what they should be ( Proverbs 23:12-28 ).

E. The drunkard destroys his life and that of others ( Proverbs 23:29-35 ).

F. Wisdom leads to a meaningful life, but wickedness leads to destruction ( Proverbs 24:1-9 ).

G. The wise ones steadfastly trust God in both the good and bad times ( Proverbs 24:10-22 ).

H. Wisdom promotes true justice ( Proverbs 24:23-34 ).

V. Wisdom Constantly Reminds People of Their Past Heritage ( Proverbs 25:1-29:27 ).

A. The king shares in the responsibility for promoting wisdom ( Proverbs 25:1-14 ).

B. The righteous exercise self-discipline and love in all of life ( Proverbs 25:15-28 ).

C. The foolish fail the test of life and face God's judgment ( Proverbs 26:1-28 ).

D. Life's quest for meaning is brief and frustrating at times ( Proverbs 27:1-22 ).

E. People should learn to live as responsible stewards ( Proverbs 27:23-27 ).

F. God expects justice from His followers ( Proverbs 28:1-28 ).

G. Discipline is an essential part of life ( Proverbs 29:1-27 ).

VI. The True Source of Meaningful Existence Can Be Found Only in God ( Proverbs 30:1-31:31 ).

A. Human beings cannot fully discover or understand God's wisdom ( Proverbs 30:1-33 ).

B. Humans can practice righteousness and show loving-kindness ( Proverbs 31:1-9 ).

C. The key to meaningful existence is found in one's faith relationship to God ( Proverbs 31:10-31 ).

Raymond C. Van Leeuwen

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Proverbs, Book Of . The second book among the ‘Writings’ is the most characteristic example of the Wisdom literature in the OT. 1 . We may adopt the division of the book made by the headings in the Hebrew text as follows:

I.  Proverbs 1:1-33;   Proverbs 2:1-22;   Proverbs 3:1-35;   Proverbs 4:1-27;   Proverbs 5:1-23;   Proverbs 6:1-35;   Proverbs 7:1-27;   Proverbs 8:1-36;   Proverbs 9:1-18 , The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel (heading for more than this section). See below.

II.  Proverbs 10:1 to   Proverbs 22:16 , The proverbs of Solomon.

III.  Proverbs 22:17 to   Proverbs 24:22 , … the words of the wise (  Proverbs 22:17-21 forms an introductory poem).

IV.  Proverbs 24:23-34 , These also are the sayings of the wise.

V.  Proverbs 25:1-28;   Proverbs 26:1-28;   Proverbs 27:1-27;   Proverbs 28:1-28;   Proverbs 29:1-27 , These also are the proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah copied out.

VI.  Proverbs 30:1-33 , The words of Agur, etc.

VII.  Proverbs 31:1-9 , The words of king Lemuel, etc.

VIII.  Proverbs 31:10 to   Proverbs 31:31 , Without heading, but clearly distinct from VII.

Sections I., II., and III. form the body of the book; sections IV. and V. are additions to the earlier portion, and Vi., Vii and VIII. are still later additions.

We consider section II. first, because here the typical Hebrew proverb is best seen, especially if chs. 10 15 are taken by themselves as II a . These chapters consist of aphorisms in the form of couplets showing antithetic parallelism (see Poetry). The couplets are wholly detached, and little order is observable in their arrangement. In content they come nearest being popular, even if they are not so actually. In general they show a contented and cheerful view of life. The wise are mentioned, and with admiration, but not as a class or as forming a school of thought or instruction. They are the successful, upright, prosperous men, safe examples in affairs of common life. In II b the lines are still arranged in distiches, but the antithetic parallelism has largely given way to the synonymous or synthetic variety. This form gives a little more opportunity for classifying and developing the sentiment of the proverb. ‘My son’ is addressed a few times, but not regularly. Section III. again marks an advance over II a and II b . The verses   Proverbs 22:17-21 are a hortatory introduction. There follows a collection of quatrains, instead of couplets. They are maxims with proverbs among them. Consecutive thought has developed. The truths stated are still the simple every-day ones, but they show meditation as well as observation. Section IV. is an appendix to the third, both coming from ‘the Wise.’ It is very defective in rhythm, and seemingly the text has suffered corruption. In the few verses three themes are treated, chiefly the sluggard. Section V. is easily subdivided. Chs. 25 27:22 contain proverbs in the form of comparisons. Chs. 28 29 are in the style of section II. Between the two a little piece (  Proverbs 27:23-27 ) praises the life of a farmer. Section VI. consists of several independent discourses. The heading (  Proverbs 30:1 ) separates the chapter from the preceding, but otherwise adds little to our knowledge of the origin, for it is wellnigh unintelligible, Even if it consists of proper names, as is most likely, there is no gain from knowing them and nothing more. In   Proverbs 30:15 ff. are several stanzas of peculiar ‘numerical’ style: ‘there are three things that … and four … namely …’ Section VII. is a brief manual for a king or judge, though the maxims are rather rudimentary and homely. If there is a temperance lesson, it is only for the king; the advice to the poor and oppressed is very different (see   Proverbs 30:6-7 ). The remainder of the chapter, section VIII., is noticeable for two things: its alphabetical structure, each couplet beginning with a new letter in regular order, and the unusual subject, the capable housewife. A most delicate tribute is in the omission of any reference to her virtue, which is tacitly assumed, and not even mentioned.

There remains the important section chs. 1 9. Its position at the head of the book does not show that it was first in point of time. It is clearly a preface, or hortatory introduction. It does not so much give wise counsel of a concrete kind, as praise the wisdom illustrated in the concrete counsels of the following sections. It is studied, philosophical, flowing in style. It addresses ‘My son’ at the beginning of a new paragraph, exactly as a teacher addresses ‘My hearers’ as he begins a lecture. In one chapter at least, the eighth, the adoration of wisdom is carried to the limit, and in spite of the fine personification one feels, regretfully, far removed from the plain practical precepts of sections II. and III. In this ‘cosmogonic hymn’ wisdom is assigned a dignity in the universe hardly inferior to that of the Creator.

Among the various attempts to explain the form in which the book comes to us, perhaps the following will be found as simple as any. We may suppose that the proverbs ‘of Solomon’ in II a and II b were collected separately and then combined in II.; that ‘the words of the wise’ in III. at first stood by themselves, and were supplemented by IV.; that the two groups, II. and Iii. Iv were then joined together, becoming known as the proverbs ‘of Solomon’; that the collection in V. was attached; that to this book section I. was then prefixed as an introduction, which was thus stamped as the literature of the school of Wisdom. The few remaining chapters, sections Vi., Vii and VIII., were added later from the mass of Wisdom literature which must have been in existence, or later came into existence.

2 . As for the date of the book, the traditional ascription of parts of it to king Solomon must, of course, be discarded. And with this rejection there disappears any reason for seeking an early date for it. The time when, all things considered, the compilation is best explained, is between b.c. 350 and 150. From the nature of the case it is impossible to fix even approximately the date of the origin of individual couplets. Many of the arguments valid against an early date of compilation are valueless so far as the single proverbs are concerned.

3 . The authors of the Wisdom literature do not claim revealed wisdom; their teachings are only practical common sense. They are humanists, basing their morality upon the universal principles underlying all human nature. From this practical interest the view broadens to the wide sweep of ch. 8. ‘Proverbs may be regarded as a manual of conduct, or, as Bruch calls it, an “anthology of gnomes.” Its observations relate to a number of forms of life, to affairs domestic, agricultural, urban (the temptations of city life), commercial, political, and military’ (Toy, Proverbs , p. x.).

O. H. Gates.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

In this book God has furnished, through the wisest of men, principles and precepts for the guidance and security of the believer in passing through the temptations to which he is exposed in an evil world. The admonitions speak in terms of affectionate warning 'as to sons:'  Hebrews 12:5 . Under symbolic terms, such as 'the evil man' and 'the strange woman,' the great forms of evil in the world, violent self-will, and corrupting folly, are laid bare in their course and end. Wisdom is shown as the alone guard against one or the other. Wisdom is presented, not as a faculty residing in man, but as an object to be diligently sought after and acquired. It is often personified, and is spoken of as lifting up her voice. In  Proverbs 8 , under the idea of wisdom, we have doubtless Christ presented as the resource that was with God from 'the beginning of His way,' so that God could independently of man establish and bring into effect His thoughts of grace for men.

In detail the book refers to the world, showing what things are to be sought and what to be avoided, and evinces that in the government of God a man reaps according to what he sows, irrespective of the spiritual blessings of God in grace beyond and above this world. It maintains integrity in the earthly relationships of this life, which cannot be violated with impunity. The instruction rises altogether above mere human prudence and sagacity, for "the fear of the Lord is the beginning [or 'principal part,' margin ] of knowledge." We have in it the wisdom of God for the daily path of human life.

The book divides itself into two parts: the first nine chapters give general principles, and  Proverbs 10 onwards are the proverbs themselves. This latter portion divides itself into three parts:   Proverbs 10 : to  Proverbs 24 , the proverbs of Solomon;  Proverbs 25 to   Proverbs 29 , also the proverbs of Solomon, which were gathered by "the men of Hezekiah king of Judah."  Proverbs 30 gives the words of Agur; and   Proverbs 31 the words of king Lemuel.

The Proverbs is a book of poetry. The proverbs vary in style: some are antithetical couplets, one being the opposite of the other, as "a wise son maketh a glad father; but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother." Others are synthetical, the second sentence enforcing the first, as "The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil." See Poetry

In  Proverbs 1 the purport of the proverbs is pointed out: it is that instruction in wisdom, justice, judgement, and equity might be received: the fear of the Lord is the starting point. Satan would of course oppose this, so warnings are at once given to avoid the enticings of sinners. Wisdom cries aloud and in the streets: her instructions are for all. Retribution is for such as refuse her call.

 Proverbs 2 gives the results of following in the path of wisdom, whereasthe wicked will be rooted out.

 Proverbs 3 shows that it is the fear of God, and subjection to Hisword, that is the only true path in an evil world.

 Proverbs 4 enforces the study of wisdom: it will surely bringinto blessing. Evil must be avoided and be kept at a distance. The heart, the eye, and the feet must be watched.

 Proverbs 5 warns a man against leaving the wife of his youth (the lawful connection) for the strange woman, which leads to utter demoralisation.

 Proverbs 6 enjoins one not to be surety for another. Wisdom is not slothful, violent, nor deceitful. There are seven things which are an abomination to the Lord. The strange woman is again pointed out to be avoided as fire  : there is no ransom for adultery.

 Proverbs 7 again shows the traps laid by the strange woman, which alas, are often too successful. Her house is the way to hell (Sheol).

 Proverbs 8 proclaims that wisdom calls, and invites all to listen: it is valuable for all — kings, princes, rulers, judges. With wisdom are linked durable riches and righteousness: her fruit is better than gold. All God's works in creation were carried out in wisdom. This introduces Christ as the wisdom of God , from  Proverbs 8:22 . He was there before the work of creation was begun. His delights were with the sons of men ( Proverbs 8:31 ), with which agrees the song of the heavenly host at the birth of the Lord Jesus: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward man."  Luke 2:14 . Wisdom says, "Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life."

 Proverbs 9 . Wisdom is established: she has her house, her food, her bread, and her wine. Her maidens are sent forth with loving invitations to enter. Again the world has its counter attractions by the strange woman; but the dead are there, and her guests in the depths of Sheol.

Thus far are the general principles on which wisdom acts: in  Proverbs 10 to the end are the proverbs themselves. They enter into details of dangers and how they are to be avoided, and show the path that wisdom leads into, and in which there is safety.

 Proverbs 30 has a heading, "The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal." As these names are not known, it has been supposed that they are symbolical, and that Agur refers to Solomon. Whether this is so or not does not in any way affect the value of the proverbs in the chapter. There are six sets of four things:

Four generations that are evil. ( Proverbs 30:11-14 .)

Four things that are insatiable. ( Proverbs 30:15,16 )

Four things that are inscrutable. ( Proverbs 30:18,19 )

Four things that are intolerable. ( Proverbs 30:21-23 .)

Four things that are weak, yet wise. ( Proverbs 30:24-28 .)

Four things that are very stately. ( Proverbs 30:29-31 .)

 Proverbs 32 . Here are "the words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him." Who king Lemuel was is not known: this has caused some to suppose that Solomon is again alluded to. The first nine verses speak of the character of a king according to wisdom. The principal things are that his strength should not be given unto women, nor to strong drink, and that his mouth should be opened for those ready to perish, the poor, and the needy. The rest of the chapter is devoted to the description of a virtuous woman. She fills her house with good things, and brings prosperity to the household and honour to her husband. The king and the virtuous woman may in some respects be typical of Christ and the church.

Christians should study the Book of Proverbs, for (even when properly occupied with heavenly things, and the interests of Christ on earth) they are apt to overlook the need of wisdom from heaven to pass through this evil world, and to manage their affairs on earth in the fear of God.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Containing proverbs of Solomon "which the men of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, collected" (ch. 25-29).

These are followed by two supplements, (1) "The words of Agur" (ch. 30); and (2) "The words of king Lemuel" (ch. 31).

Solomon is said to have written three thousand proverbs, and those contained in this book may be a selection from these ( 1 Kings 4:32 ). In the New Testament there are thirty-five direct quotations from this book or allusions to it.

Copyright Statement These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., DD Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.

Bibliography Information Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Proverbs, Book of'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/p/proverbs-book-of.html. 1897.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

the 20th book of the Old Test., according to the arrangement of the English Bible, where it is placed between the Psalms and Ecclesiastes, doubtless from its presumed relation to the other works of Solomon; and in the Hebrew Bible it likewise follows the Psalms as part of the Kethubim, or Hagiographa. In the German MSS. of the Hebrew Old Test. the Proverbs are placed between the Psalms and Job, while in the Spanish MSS., which follow the Masorah, the order is Psalms, Job, Proverbs. This latter is the order observed in the Alexandrian MS. of the Sept. Melito, following another Greek MS., arranges the Hagiographa thus: Psalms. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job, as in the list made out by the Council of Laodicea; and the same order is given by Origen, except that the book of Job is separated from the others by the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel. But our present arrangement existed in the time of Jerome (see Prtf. in Libr. Regum, iii: "Tertius ordo Ἁγιόγραφα possidet. Et primus liber incipit ab Job. Secundus a David....' Tertius est Solomon. tres libros habens: Proverbia, quae illi parabolas, id est Masaloth appellant: Ecclesiastes, id est,'Coeleth: Canticum Canticorum, quem titulo Sir Asirim prmnotant"). In the Peshito Syriac, Job is placed before Joshua, while Proverbs and Ecclesiastes follow the Psalms, and are separated from the Son Song Songs by the book of Ruth. Gregory of Nazianzum, apparently from the exigencies of his verse, arranges the writings of Solomon in this order: Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Proverbs. Pseudo Epiphanius places Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. and Song of Songs between the 1James, 2 d books of Kings and the minor prophets. The following article treats of the book both from an internal and an external point of view. (See Bible).

I. Title. — As in the Pentateuch, the book of Proverbs takes its Hebrew title from its opening words — מַשְׁלֵי , שְׁלֹמֹה , or מַשְׁלֵי , Mishly, simply. From this are directly derived the titles it bears in the Sept. Παροιμίαι , Σαλομῶντος ) and Vulgate ( Libel Proverbiorum, Quem Hebraei "Misle" Cappellant ) , and the name by which it is universally known in English. Another title, perlalps more appropriate to the book as a whole, is derived from its chief subject, " Wisdom." In the Tosaphoth To Baba Bathra (fol. 14 B ), we find Proverbs and Ecclesiastes combined under the name סֵפֶר חָכְמָה , "the book of wisdom," and this title appears to have passed thence into the early Church. Clemens Roman. ( Lj. Ad Coo-. i, 57) when quoting i, 23-31 says, Οὕτως Λέγει Ἡ Πανάρετος Σοφία , a name which, according to Eusebius (H. E. 4:22), was adopted by Hegesippus. Irenteus, and "the whole band of the ancients," following the unwritten Jewish tradition, and by Clem. Alex. ( Strom. ii, § 22). It is styled by Gregory Naz. ( Orat. xi) Παιδαγωγικὴ Σοφία , and by Dion. Alex. Σοφὴ Βίβλος . In the catalogue of canonical books compiled by Melito of Sardis preserved by Eusebius ( ''H. E'' 4:26), we find Παρ . Σαλομ . Ἡ Καὶ Σοφία , a name which, as well as Sopientia, is of frequent occurrence in the early fathers (see Cotelerius in Clem. Rom. L.C.; Vales. ad Euseb. L.C. ) , though by no means restricted to the book of Proverbs, being equally used. as Cotelerius proves, of ‘ Ecclesiasticus" and "The Wisdom of Solomon," a circumstance from which some confusion has arisen.

The word מָשָׁל , Mashal. by which the so-called "Proverbs" of Solomon are designated ( Proverbs 1:1;  Proverbs 1:6;  Proverbs 10:1;  Proverbs 25:1; and  1 Kings 4:32 [5:12]), is more appropriately translated in the Vulgate "parabola." It is akin to the verb מָשִׁל , corresponding with the Arabic Mnathala and the Syriac Methal, " to be like," and primarily signifies "a comparison," "similitude," "parable" ( Ezekiel 17:2;  Ezekiel 24:3); whence it easily passed to those pithy, sententious maxims so often in the East appearing in the form of a terse comparison, of which many are to be found in the book before us e.g.  Proverbs 26:1-3;  Proverbs 26:6-9;  Proverbs 26:11;  Proverbs 26:14;  Proverbs 26:17 — and then to "proverbs" in general, whether containing a similitude or not ( 1 Samuel 10:12;  1 Samuel 24:13 [14];  Ecclesiastes 12:9). Its scope was still further enlarged by its application to longer compositions of a poetical and figurative character — e.g. that of Balaam ( Numbers 23:7;  Numbers 23:18, etc., and  Job 27:1; comp.  Psalms 49:5;  Psalms 78:2), and particularly to taunting songs of triumph over fallen enemies-e.g. against the king of Babylon ( Isaiah 14:4), the Chlalleans ( Habakkuk 2:6 : comp. also  Micah 2:4;  Deuteronomy 28:37;  1 Kings 9:7). (See Proverb).

But the book of Proverbs, according to the introductory verses which describe its character, contains, besides several varieties of the mashal, sententious sayings of other kinds, mentioned in 1:6. The first of these is the חַידָה , Chidah, rendered in the A.V. "dark saying," "dark speech," "hard question," "riddle," and once ( Habakkuk 2:6) "proverb." It is applied to Samson's riddle (Judges 14), to the hard questions with which the queen of Sheba plied Solomon ( 1 Kings 10:1;  2 Chronicles 9:1), and is used almost synonymously with Marshal in  Ezekiel 17:2, and in  Psalms 49:4 (5);  Psalms 78:2, in which last passages the poetical character of both is indicated. The word appears to denote a knotty, intricate saying, the solution of which demanded experience and skill: that it was obscure is evident from  Numbers 12:8. In addition to the Chidah was the מְלַיצָה , Melitsah ( Proverbs 1:6, A.V. "the interpretation," marg. "an eloquent speech"), which occurs in  Habakkuk 2:6 in connection both with Chidch and Marshal. It has been variously explained as a mocking, taunting speech (Ewald); or a speech dark and involved, such as needed a Melits, or interpreter (comp.  Genesis 42:23;  2 Chronicles 32:31;  Job 33:23;  Isaiah 43:27); or again, as by Delitzsch ( Der Prophet Htbclukmk, p. 59), a brilliant or splendid saying ("Glanz-oder Vohlrede, oratio splendida, elecyas, lumninibus ornata"). This last interpretation is based upon the usage of the word in modern Hebrew, but it certainly does not appear appropriate to the Proverbs; and the first explanation, which Ewald adopts, is as little to the point. It is better to understand it as a dark, enigmatical saying, which, like the mashal, might assume the character of sarcasm and irony, though not essential to it. (See Parable).

As might be expected from the nature of the work contemplated, the proverbs before us almost exclusively bear reference to the affairs of this life; but while a future existence is not formally brought to view, yet the consciousness of such an existence runs throughout, and forms the basis on which many of the strongest, most decisive. and oft-repeated declarations are made. For example,  Proverbs 11:7 has no meaning except on the supposition that the writer believed in a future life, where, if not here, the hope and expectation of good men should be realized. If death were, in his judgment, annihilation, it would be equally the overthrow of the expectation of the righteous as of the wicked. See also, as affording similar indication,  Proverbs 14:32;  Proverbs 23:17-18. (See Immortality).

II. Canonicity. — The canonical authority of the book of Proverbs has never been called in question, except among the Jews themselves. We learn from the Talmud ( Shabbath, fol. 30 B ) that the school of Shammai, thus early adopting the principle of the free handling of Scripture, was led by some apparent contradictions in the book (e.g.  Proverbs 26:4-5) to question its inspiration, and to propose to cast it out of the canon. It is indeed certain, if we credit the Jewish tradition, that it did not at once take its place on a level with the other canonical Scriptures, but, like the Antilegomena of the New Test., remained for a time in suspense. According to Wolf (Bibl. Hebr. 2, 119) and Zunz (Gott. Vor'traag. p. 14), it was not till the period of the Persian rule that "the men of the great synagogue" admitted it to an equal rank with the other Hagiographa. In the remarkable passage of the Talmud, however, which contains the most ancient opinion of the Jews on the formation of the Old-Test. canon (Baba Bathra, p. 14, apud Westcott, Bible in the Church, p. 36), its recognition is fixed earlier: the Proverbs (" Meshalim") being included with Isaiah, Canticles (" Shir Hashirim"), and Ecclesiastes (" Koheleth") in the memorial word Jamshak, specifying the books "written" — i.e. reduced to writing-by Hezekiah and his learned men. With the trifling exception mentioned above, its right to a place in the canon has never been questioned since its admission into it, and there is no book of Holy Scripture whose authority is more unshaken. The amount of inspiration in the book has been a matter of speculation since the days of Theodore of Mopsuestia, who believed that the wisdom contained in it was that of Solomon only, not of the Spirit of God; even as some of the rabbins found in Ecclesiastes no divine wisdom, but merely that of Solomon. Leaving such vain and impracticable distinctions, the canonical authority of the book is attested to us by the frequent use of it in the New Test. The following is a list of the principal passages:

 Proverbs 1:16  Romans 3:10;  Romans 3:15.

 Proverbs 3:7  Romans 12:16.

 Proverbs 3:11-12  Hebrews 12:5-6;  Revelation 3:19.

 Proverbs 3:34  James 4:6.

 Proverbs 10:12  1 Peter 4:8. *

 Proverbs 11:31  1 Peter 4:18.

 Proverbs 17:13  Romans 12:17;  1 Thessalonians 5:15;  1 Peter 3:9.

 Proverbs 17:27  James 1:19.

 Proverbs 20:9  1 John 1:8.

 Proverbs 20:20  Matthew 15:4;  Mark 7:10.

 Proverbs 22:8 (Sept.)  2 Corinthians 9:7. *

 Proverbs 25:21-22  Romans 12:20. *

 Proverbs 26:11  2 Peter 2:22.

 Proverbs 27:1  James 4:13-14;  James 4:16.

Of these only those marked with an asterisk are actual quotations; in the others there is a more or less direct allusion. (See Wisdom Personified).

III. Divisions. — The thirty-one chapters of the book of Proverbs may be roughly divided into four sections:

1. The hortatory introduction (1-9);

2. The first collection of "the Proverbs of Solomon," properly so called, with its appendices (10-24);

3. The second collection, compiled by Hezekiah's scribes (25-29);

4. An appendix by different writers.

1. The first of these sections has no continuous connection, and is hardly capable of any very accurate subdivision. The separate chapters form in some instances a connected whole (e.g. 2, 5, 7, 8, 9); sometimes the connection does not extend bevond a few verses (e.g.  Proverbs 3:1-10;  Proverbs 3:13-26;  Proverbs 4:14-19;  Proverbs 6:1-11). There is little coherence between the separate chapters, and little unity beyond that of the general subject or the mode of treating it; so that if one chapter were to be removed, the organization of the whole would not be affected, and it would hardly be missed. Ewald, however, who, somewhat in defiance of the internal evidence, looks on this portion as "an original whole, thoroughly connected, and cast, as it were, at one gush," after the general introduction ( Proverbs 1:1-7) discovers three subdivisions, marked as well by the contents as by the position of the imperative verb at the beginning of the sections (e.g.  Proverbs 1:8;  Proverbs 4:1;  Proverbs 6:20); while in the smaller divisions "mi son" stands before the verb (e.g.  Proverbs 1:10;  Proverbs 1:15;  Proverbs 2:1;  Proverbs 3:1;  Proverbs 3:11;  Proverbs 3:20;  Proverbs 4:21, etc.). Ewald's subdivisions are —

(1) a general admonition to the pursuit of wisdom, not fully completed, but running off into particulars (Proverbs 1:8-3);

(2) an exhaustive enumeration of the particular points of his admonition ( Proverbs 4:1 to  Proverbs 6:29), until

(3) the discourse, gradually rising in power and grandeur, at last attains an almost lyrical flight ( Proverbs 6:20-29). According to Delitzsch (in Herzog's Encyklop. ) this section is divisible into fifteen separate strains —

(1)  Proverbs 1:7-19;

(2)  Proverbs 1:20-33;

(3) Proverbs 2,

(4)  Proverbs 3:1-18;

(5)  Proverbs 3:19-26;

(6)  Proverbs 3:27-35,

(7)  Proverbs 4:1 to  Proverbs 5:6;

(8)  Proverbs 5:7-23;

(9)  Proverbs 6:1-5,

(10)  Proverbs 6:6-11,

(11)  Proverbs 6:12-19;

(12)  Proverbs 6:20-35;

(13) Proverbs 7;

(14) Proverbs 8;

(15) Proverbs 9.

2. The second section (10-24) evidently contains three subdivisions —

(a) the collection of unconnected proverbs or gnomes ( Proverbs 10:1-22;  Proverbs 10:16);

(b) " the words of the wise" (comp.  Proverbs 1:6;  Ecclesiastes 9:7;  Ecclesiastes 12:11), consisting of a more connected series of maxims, with a hortatory preface recalling the style of the first section ( Proverbs 22:17;  Proverbs 24:22);

(c) a shorter appendix of proverbial sayings, with the title "these also belong to the wise," ending with a description of a sluggard ( Proverbs 24:23-34).

3. The third section is a continuous series of gnomic sayings without any subdivision (Proverbs 25-29).

4. The fourth section, like the second, separates into three parts —

(a) "the words of Agur," a collection of proverbial and enigmatical sayings (30),

(b) "the words of king Lemuel" ( Proverbs 31:1-9); and

(c) a short alphabetical poem in praise of a virtuous woman ( Proverbs 31:10-31).

IV. History Of The Text. — The variations from the existing Masoretic text of the book of Proverbs presented by the versions of the Sept., the Peshito- Syriac, the ‘‘ argum, and to some extent by the Vulgate, bear witness to the former existence of copies differing in many and not unimportant points from that which has become the authoritative text. The text, as preserved in these ancient versions, differs from that of our Hebrew Bibles both in excess and defect. They contain clauses, verses, and sometimes paragraphs not to be found in our extant copies, for the existence of which it is difficult to account, unless they formed part of the book which was before the translators; while other portions are wanting, for the absence of which no sufficient account can be given, except that they were not read in the ancient Hebrew MSS. they employed. The very large number of minor discrepancies, both in language and arrangement, which we meet with, all tend to confirm this view, and it well deserves consideration what influence these variations, which every student knows are not confined to this book, should have on the ordinarily received hypothesis of the integrity and purity of the present Hebrew text. This, however, is not the place for the prosecution of this investigation. We shall content ourselves with pointing out the principal points of variation.

1. To commence with the Sept., the earliest of the existing versions. The translation of this book, like that of Job, proves a more competent acquaintance with the Greek language and literature than is usual with the Alexandrine translators. The rendering is more free than literal, giving what the writer conceived to be the general spirit of the passage without strict adherence to the actual words. Bertheau remarks that the version of this book appears to have been undertaken rather with a literary than a religious object, as it was not read in the synagogues or required for their internal regulation. It is to this freedom of rendering that not a few of the apparent discrepancies are due, while there are others which are attributable to carelessness, misconception of the writer's meaning, or even possibly to arbitrary alterations on the part of the translators. In some cases, also, we find two incompatible translations fused into one — e.g.  Proverbs 6:25;  Proverbs 16:26;  Proverbs 23:31. Of the majority, however, of the variations no explanation can be offered but that they represent a different original, and therefore deserve consideration for the history of the text.

In the first division (1-9) these variations are less considerable than in the second. Two verses appended to ch. 4 remove the abruptness of the close and complete the sense. To the simile of the ant (6:8), that of the bee is added. The insertion after 8:21 seems out of place, and disturbs the continuity. In ch. 9 there are two considerable additions to the description of the wise and foolish women, which seem to complete the sense in a very desirable manner. The variations are much more considerable in the section 10-24. A large number of verses are wanting ( Proverbs 11:4;  Proverbs 13:6;  Proverbs 16:1-4;  Proverbs 18:23-24;  Proverbs 19:1-2;  Proverbs 20:14-19;  Proverbs 21:5;  Proverbs 22:6;  Proverbs 23:23 — which comes in very awkwardly in the Hebrew text;  Proverbs 24:8); the arrangement of others is dislocated — e.g. ch. 15 closes with  Proverbs 24:29,  Proverbs 24:30;  Proverbs 24:32-33 standing at the beginning of ch. 16, while a verse very similar to  Proverbs 24:31 is found after  Proverbs 16:17;  Proverbs 19:3 stands as the last verse of ch. 18; in ch. 20  Proverbs 19:20-22 come between  Proverbs 19:9-10. The most extraordinary dislocation, hardly to be ascribed to anything but an error of the scribe, appears in ch. 24. After  Proverbs 19:22 is introduced  Proverbs 29:27, to which succeed four distichs descriptive of the wrath of a king and urging attention to the writer's words, not found in the Hebrew. We then find 30-31, 9 (i.e. the prophecy of Agur and of Lemuel), with the remainder of ch. 24 foisted in between  Proverbs 29:14-15 of ch. 30. The remainder of ch. 31, the acrostic on a virtuous woman, stands in its right place at the end of the book. The additions in this section are also numerous and important. We find proverbs intercalated between the following verses:  Proverbs 10:4-5;  Proverbs 11:16-17 (by which a very imperfect antithesis in the Hebrew is rectified);  Proverbs 12:11-14;  Proverbs 13:9-10;  Proverbs 13:13-14 (found in the Vulgate,  Proverbs 14:15-16);  Proverbs 14:22-23;  Proverbs 15:5-6; Proverbs 18, 19, 27, 28; Proverbs 28, 29;  Proverbs 17:6-7; Proverbs 16, 17;  Proverbs 18:22-23;  Proverbs 19:7-8;  Proverbs 22:8-9 (found with slight variations  2 Corinthians 9:7);  2 Corinthians 9:9-10;  2 Corinthians 9:14-15. In the dislocated ch. 16 five or perhaps six new proverbs appear. Intercalated proverbs are also found in the section 25-29 — e.g.  Proverbs 25:10-11; Proverbs 20, 21;  Proverbs 26:11-12 (found also in Ecclesiastes 4:21),  Proverbs 27:20-21;  Proverbs 21:22;  Proverbs 29:25-26. Besides these, a careful scrutiny will discover a large number of smaller interpolations throughout, many of which are only explanatory clauses.

To specify the words and clauses which vary from the Hebrew would carry us far beyond our limits. For these and the comparison of the two versions generally, the student may be referred to Jager, Observ. in Prov. Salom. vers. Alex., and Schleusner, Opusc. Critic. In many of these cases the Sept. has probably preserved the true reading (e.g. 10:10, b); but, on the whole, Ewald and Bertheau agree that the Masoretic text is the better and purer.

2. The Peshito-Syriac version, like the Sept., while it agrees with the Hebrew text generally, presents remarkable deviations in words and clauses, and contains whole verses of which there is no trace in the Hebrew. Some of the variations only prove a different interpretation of the text, but others are plainly referable to a difference in the text itself (e.g.  Proverbs 7:22 sq.;  Proverbs 15:4-15;  Proverbs 19:20;  Proverbs 21:16;  Proverbs 22:21, etc.), and thus confirm the view that at the time the version was executed — i.e. anterior to the 4th century — the present Hebrew text was not universally recognised.

3. The Vulgate translation of Proverbs, hastily executed by Jerome in three days (together with Ecclesiastes and Canticles), offers largely the same phenomena as the Sept. version. Many of the additions of the Sept. are to be found in it — e.g.  Proverbs 10:4;  Proverbs 12:11;  Proverbs 12:13;  Proverbs 15:5;  Proverbs 15:27 (comp.  Proverbs 16:6); 16:5, etc.; and in one or two instances it has indepenennt additions — e.g.  Proverbs 14:21;  Proverbs 18:8. There can be little doubt that in these points it preserves an authentic record of the state of the text at a period anterior to any existing Hebrew MS.

4. We may conclude this hasty review with the Targum. That on the Proverbs is considered by Zunz (p. 64), on lingutistic grounds, to be nearly contemporaneous with those on the Psalms and Job, and is assigned by Bertheau to the latter half of the 7th century, though it is not quoted before the 12th. The version is close, and on the whole follows the original text very faithfully, though with some remarkable deviations (the following are quoted by Bertheau —  Proverbs 7:22;  Proverbs 10:3;  Proverbs 14:14;  Proverbs 25:1;  Proverbs 25:20, etc.). Its similarity to the Peshito is too remarkable to be accidental ( Proverbs 1:2-3;  Proverbs 1:5-6;  Proverbs 1:8;  Proverbs 1:10;  Proverbs 1:12-13;  Proverbs 2:9-10;  Proverbs 2:13-15;  Proverbs 3:2-9, etc.), and is probably to be accounted for by the supposition of a subsequent recension of the text, which is very corrupt, based upon that version. See Wolf, Biblioth. Hebrews 2, 1176; Dathe, De Rat. Consens. Rems. Chald. Et Syr. Proverbs Salom. ; Zunz, Gottesdienst. Vortrag.

V. Form And Style . —

1. The difference of style and structure between the first and second divisions is apparent on the most cursory perusal. Instead of the detached gnomes of the latter, we find a succession of hortatory addresses, varying in length and differing in subject, though for the most part on the same plan and with the same general object, in which the writer does not so much define wisdom as enlarge upon the blessings to be derived from its possession, and the lasting misery which is the consequence of the violation of its precepts, and in the most powerful and moving language urge the young to the earnest pursuit of it as the best of all good things. Whether originally written as a proem or introduction or not, it is certainly well fitted to occupy its present place, and prepare the mind of the reader for the careful consideration of the moral and practical precepts which follow. The style is of a much higher and more dignified character than in the succeeding portions; the language is more rhetorical; it abounds in bold personifications and vivid imagery. The concluding chapters (8, 9) are cast in the grandest mould of poetry, and are surpassed in true sublimity by few portions of Holy Scripture. At the same time, when this portion is viewed as a whole, a want of artistic skill is discoverable. The style is sometimes diffuse and the repetitions wearisome. The writer returns continually on his steps, treating of the same topic again and again, without any apparent plan or regular development of the subject.

As regards the form, we find but little regularity of structure. The paragraphs consist sometimes of no more than two or three verses ( Proverbs 1:8-9;  Proverbs 3:11-12;  Proverbs 6:1-19); sometimes the same thought is carried through a long succession of verses, or event an entire chapter ( Proverbs 2:1-22;  Proverbs 5:1-20;  Proverbs 6:20-35; Proverbs 7, 8, 9). A very favorite arrangement is a paragraph of ten verses ( Proverbs 1:10-19;  Proverbs 3:1-10; Proverbs 11-20;  Proverbs 4:10-19;  Proverbs 8:12-21; Proverbs 22-31), a form which, if we may trust the Sept. version, existed also in the copies employed by them in  Proverbs 4:20-27;  Proverbs 5:6-11; and, according to the Peshito-Syriac, in  Proverbs 4:1-9. The parallelism of members is sometimes maintained, but frequently neglected. The parallels are usually synonymous (e.g.  Proverbs 1:8-9;  Proverbs 1:11-12, etc.). The antithetical parallels found in  Proverbs 3:32-35 belong to a series of gnomes which disturb the harmony of the passage, and appear scarcely in their appropriate place. It may be remarked that the name "Elohim" occurs only six times in the whole book, and thrice in this section ( Proverbs 2:5-17;  Proverbs 3:4). The other places are,  Proverbs 25:2;  Proverbs 30:5-9. Other unusual words are חָכְמוֹת , "wisdoms," for wisdom in the abstract ( Proverbs 1:20;  Proverbs 9:1; found also in  Proverbs 24:7); זָרָה " The strange woman," which occurs repeatedly (e.g.  Proverbs 2:16;  Proverbs 5:3;  Proverbs 5:20, etc., found nowhere else save in  Proverbs 22:14;  Proverbs 23:23); and נָכְרַיָּה , "the stranger" ( Proverbs 2:16;  Proverbs 7:5, etc.; found also in  Proverbs 20:16;  Proverbs 23:27;  Proverbs 27:13); i.e. the foreign prostitute, then as now lurking at the dark corners of the streets, taken as the representative of the harlot sense seducing the youlng and inexperienced from true wisdom. Ewald also notices the unusual construction of שְׁפָתִיַם , a dual fem. with a verb in the masc. plur. ( Proverbs 5:2); while in the next verse it has properly a fern. plur., and the unusual plur. אַישַׁים ( Proverbs 8:4).

2. In the second division, "the Proverbs of Solomon," which form the kernel of the book, ( Proverbs 10:1 to  Proverbs 22:17), we find a striking similarity of structure throughout. Every verse (reckoned by Delitzsch at 375) in its normal form consists of two members, each containing three, four, or more rarely five short words. (The one exception to this rule [19:7] is probably due to the loss of a member, which is supplied by the Sept.) Every verse is independent, with no necessary connection with those that precede or follow, and, generally speaking, no attempt at arrangement. Ewald's theory of a continuous thread of connection running through this collection in its original form, and binding together the scattered sayings, has absolutely no evidence in its favor, and can only be sustained by supposing an almost total dismemberment of this portion of the book. It is true there are cases in which the same subject recurs in two or three successive verses (e.g.  Proverbs 10:2-5; Proverbs 18-21;  Proverbs 11:4-8; Proverbs 24-26), but these are the exceptions, and only occur, as Ewald elsewhere allows, when, from the studied brevity of the proverbial form, a thought cannot be expressed in all its fulness in a single verse. The cases in which the same characteristic word or words recur in successive proverbs are more frequent (e.g.  Proverbs 10:6-7;  Proverbs 8:10;  Proverbs 11:5-6; Proverbs 10, 11, etc.). But in every instance each verse gives a single definite idea. nor do we ever meet with two verses so connected that the latter contains the reason of the counsel, or the application of the illustration given in the former.

Nearly the whole of the proverbs in the earlier part of this division are antithetical; but after the middle of ch. 15 this characteristic gradually disappears, and is almost entirely lost in the concluding chapters. A large number are synonymous (e.g.  Proverbs 11:7;  Proverbs 11:25;  Proverbs 11:30;  Proverbs 12:14;  Proverbs 12:28;  Proverbs 14:13;  Proverbs 14:17;  Proverbs 14:19, etc.), some aphoristic (e.g.  Proverbs 11:31;  Proverbs 13:14), especially with the comparative and מַן (e.g.  Proverbs 12:9;  Proverbs 15:16-17;  Proverbs 16:8-9, etc.), or אִ כּיַ , "much more" (e.g.  Proverbs 11:31;  Proverbs 15:11;  Proverbs 17:7). Others are Synthetic ( Proverbs 10:18;  Proverbs 11:29;  Proverbs 14:17, etc.); only two are Parabolic ( Proverbs 10:26;  Proverbs 11:22). The style is lower and more prosaic than in the former section. Ewald regards it as an example of the most ancient and simplest poetical style, full of primeval terseness, and bearing the visible stamp of antiquity in its language and imagery without any trace of later coloring. He remarks very justly that the proverbs in this collection are not to be looked upon as a collection of popular sayings, embodying mere prudential wisdom. but that they belong to the higher life, and are as broad in their grasp of truth as in their range of thought. The germ of many of them may have been found in popular sayings; but the skill and delicacy with which they have been fashioned into their present shape, though of the simplest kind, display the hand of a master.

Ewald remarks the following peculiar phrases as occurring in this section. "Fountain of life,"  Proverbs 10:11;  Proverbs 13:14;  Proverbs 14:27;  Proverbs 16:22 (comp.  Psalms 36:9 [10]): "tree of life,"  Proverbs 3:18;  Proverbs 11:30;  Proverbs 13:12;  Proverbs 15:4 : "snares of death,"  Proverbs 13:14;  Proverbs 14:27 (comp.  Psalms 18:5 [6]): and the following favorite words — מִרְפֵּא , "healin in" in various similes and applications,  Proverbs 12:18;  Proverbs 13:17;  Proverbs 16:24 (but this also occurs in the former section,  Proverbs 4:22;  Proverbs 6:15) מְחַתָּה , "destruction,"  Proverbs 10:14-15;  Proverbs 10:29;  Proverbs 13:3;  Proverbs 14:28;  Proverbs 18:7;  Proverbs 21:15; and only in four other places in the whole Bible: יָפַיחִ , part from פּוּחִ , "to blow,"  Proverbs 12:17;  Proverbs 14:5;  Proverbs 14:25;  Proverbs 19:5-9 (comp.  Proverbs 6:19;  Psalms 12:6;  Psalms 27:11): the unfrequent roots סֶלֵ , "perverseness,"  Proverbs 11:3;  Proverbs 15:4, and the verb סַלֵּ , "to pervert," "destroy,"  Proverbs 13:6;  Proverbs 19:3;  Proverbs 21:12;  Proverbs 22:12 : the phrase לאֹ יַנָּקֶה , "shall not go unpunished,"  Proverbs 11:21;  Proverbs 16:5;  Proverbs 17:5 (comp.  Proverbs 28:20;  Proverbs 6:29): רַדֵּ , "he that pursueth,"  Proverbs 11:19;  Proverbs 12:11;  Proverbs 13:21;  Proverbs 15:9;  Proverbs 19:7 (comp.  Proverbs 28:19), and nowhere else. Ewald instances also as archaic phrases not met with elsewhere, עִד אִרְגַּיעָה , "but for a moment,"  Proverbs 12:19 : יָד לְיָד , "hand join in hand,"  Proverbs 11:21;  Proverbs 16:5 : הַתְגִּלִּע , " ‘ meddled with,"  Proverbs 17:14;  Proverbs 18:1;  Proverbs 20:3 : נַרְגָּן , "whisperer," "talebearer,"  Proverbs 16:28;  Proverbs 18:8 (comp.  Proverbs 26:20-22). The word יֵשׁ , "there is," though frequent elsewhere, scarcely occurs in Proverbs, save in this section,  Proverbs 11:24;  Proverbs 12:18;  Proverbs 13:7;  Proverbs 13:23;  Proverbs 14:12, etc.

3. With  Proverbs 22:17, "the words of the wise" (comp.  Proverbs 1:6), we are carried back to the style and language of the proem (ch. 1-9), of which we are also reminded by the continued address in the second person singular, and the use of "my son." There is, however, a difference in the phraseology and language; and, as Maurer remarks, the diction is not unfrequently rugged and awkward, and somewhat labored. Parallelism is neglected. The moral precepts are longer than those of ch. 10-22, but not so diffuse as those of the first section. We find examples of the distich,  Proverbs 22:28;  Proverbs 23:9;  Proverbs 24:7-10 : the tristich,  Proverbs 22:29;  Proverbs 24:29 : but the tetrastich is the most frequent, the favorite form being that in which the second member gives the ground of the first,  Proverbs 22:22-23; Proverbs 24, 25; Proverbs 26, 27, etc. We also find proverbs of five members,  Proverbs 23:4-5;  Proverbs 24:3-4 : several of six,  Proverbs 23:1-3;  Proverbs 23:12-14;  Proverbs 23:19-21;  Proverbs 24:11-12 : and one of seven,  Proverbs 28:6-8. We have a longer strain,  Proverbs 23:29-35, against drunkenness.

4. The short appendix,  Proverbs 24:23-34, comprising more "words of the wise," can hardly be distinguished in style or form from the preceding. It closes with a "proverb-lay" of five verses on the evils of sloth.

5. The second collection of "the Proverbs of Solomon" (ch. 25-29), transcribed ( הֶעְתַּיקוּ , Sept. Ἐξεγράψαντο , Aq. Μετῆραν ; Gr. Ven. Μετήνεγκαν ; comp. Pusey, Daniel, p. 322 note) by the scribes of Hezekiah, closely resembles the former one. They are, according to Pusey, "identical in language." It has, however, some very decided points of difference. The "parabolic" proverb is much more frequent than the "antithetical," the two members of the comparison being sometimes set side by side without any connecting link (e.g.  Proverbs 25:12-13), which is in other cases given merely by ו , "and," or כֵּן , "so" ( Proverbs 26:1-2;  Proverbs 26:18-19;  Proverbs 27:8, etc.). The parallelism is sometimes strict, sometimes lax and free. There is a want of the sententious brevity of the former collection, and the construction is looser and weaker. The proverbs are not always completed in a single verse ( Proverbs 25:6-7;  Proverbs 25:9-10;  Proverbs 25:21-22;  Proverbs 26:18-19); and more frequently than in the former section we have series of proverbs with an internal connection of subject ( Proverbs 26:23-25;  Proverbs 27:15-16;  Proverbs 27:23-27), and others in which the same key-word recurs ( Proverbs 25:8-10;  Proverbs 26:3-12; Proverbs 13-16). This is not foumnd so often after  Proverbs 27:5; but a close examination of the text suggests the idea that this may be due to a disturbance of the original order (comp.  Proverbs 27:7;  Proverbs 27:9;  Proverbs 28:4;  Proverbs 28:7;  Proverbs 28:9;  Proverbs 29:8;  Proverbs 29:10, etc.). Ewald discovers a want of the figurative expressions of the earlier collection, and a difference of language and phraseology, while Rosenm Ü ller remarks that the meaning of the proverbs is more obscure and enigmatical. The greater part of them are moral precepts. "The earlier collection may be called ‘ a book for youth;' this ‘ a book for the people'" (Delitzsch); "the wisdom of Solomon in the days of Hezekiah" (Stier).

6. The three supplemental writings with which the book closes (ch. 30, 31) are separated from the other portions and from one another no less by style and form than by authorship. Ewald somewhat arbitrarily divides ch. 30 after  Proverbs 29:14 (a division, however, sanctioned by the Sept.), and thinks it not improbable that ch. 30 and  Proverbs 31:1-9 are from the same pen. He also regards the opening verses of ch. 30 as a dialogue,  Proverbs 31:2-4 being the words of an ignorant disciple of Agur, to which the teacher replies. The difference between the enigmatical savings of Agur (which find a counterpart in the collections of Oriental proverbs) and the simple admonitions of Lemuel's mother is very great if we assign them to one author. In ch. 30 we have, in Ewall's words, instead of moral aphorisms, a succession of elegant little pictures illustrative of moral truths, evidencing a decay of creative power, the skill of the author being applied to a novel and( striking presentation of an old truth. The ancient terse proverbial form is entirely lost sight of, and the style rises to a height and dignity warranting the use of the term מִשָּׂא (comp.  Isaiah 13:1;  Habakkuk 1:1, etc.) applied to both. In "the words of king Lemuel" we find much greater regularity. The parallelism is synonymous, and is maintained throughout. The alphabetical ode in praise of a virtuous woman — "a golden A B C for women" (Doderlein) — has all its verses of about the same compass. The parallelism is very similar to that of the Psalms, especially those in which the same alphabetical arrangement is found.

VI. Authorship And Date. — On these points the most various opinions have been entertained, from that of the rabbins and the earlier school of commentators, with whom some modern writers (e.g. Keil) agree, who attribute the whole book to Solomon (even  Proverbs 30:31 are assigned to him by Rashi and his school), to those of Hitzig and other representatives of the advanced critical school, who, however widely at variance with one another, agree in reducing to a minimum the wise king of Israel's share in the book which from the remotest antiquity has borne his name. In the face of such wide

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

prov´ẽrbz  :

I. The Book 'S Account Of Itself

1. Title and Headings

2. Authorship or Literary Species?

II. The Successive Compilations

1. The Introductory Section

2. The Classic Nucleus

3. A B ody of Solicited Counsel

4. Some Left-over Precepts

5. The Hezekian Collection

6. Words of Agur

7. Words of King Lemuel

8. An Acrostic Eulogy of Woman

III. Movement Toward A Philosophy

1. Liberation of the Mashal

2. Emergence of Basal Principles

3. The Conception of Wisdom

IV. Considerations Of Age And Literary Kinsh IP

1. Under the Kings

2. The Concentrative Point

3. Its Stage in Progressive Wisdom

The Scripture book which in both the Hebrew and the Greek arrangements of the Old Testament Canon immediately succeeds the Psalms. In the Hebrew Canon it stands second in the final or supplementary division called kethūbhı̄m Septuagint Παροιμίαι , Paroimı́ai ), "writings"; placed there probably because it would be most natural to begin this section with standard collections nearest at hand, which of course would be psalms and proverbs. This book is an anthology of sayings or lessons of the sages on life, character, conduct; and as such embodies the distinctively educative strain of Hebrew literature.

I. The Book's Account of Itself.

1. Title and Headings:

At the beginning, intended apparently to cover the whole work, stands the title: "The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel." It seemed good to the compilers, however, to repeat, or perhaps retain an older heading, "The proverbs of Solomon" at  Proverbs 10 , as if in some special sense the collection there beginning deserved it; and at  Proverbs 25 still another heading occurs: "These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out." All these ascribe the proverbs to Solomon; but the heading (  Proverbs 30:1 ), "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the oracle," and the heading ( Proverbs 31:1 ), "The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him," indicate that authorship other than that of Solomon is represented; while the mention of "the words of the wise" ( Proverbs 1:6;  Proverbs 22:17 ), as also the definite heading, "These also are sayings of the wise" ( Proverbs 24:23 ), ascribe parts of the book to the sages in general. The book is confessedly a series of compilations made at different times; confessedly, also, to a considerable extent at least, the work of a number, perhaps a whole guild, of writers.

2. Authorship or Literary Species?:

It is hazardous to argue either for or against a specific authorship; nor is it my intention to do so. The question naturally arises, however, in what sense this book, with its composite structure so outspoken, can lay claim to being the work of Solomon. Does the title refer to actual personal authorship, or does it name a species and type of literature of which Solomon was the originator and inspirer - as if it meant to say "the Solomonic proverbs?" We may work toward the answer of this question by noting some literary facts.

Outside of the prophets only three of the Old Testament books are provided in the original text with titles; and these three are all associated with Solomon - two of them, Proverbs and the Song of Songs, directly; the third, Ecclesiastes, by an assumed name, which, however, personates Solomon. This would seem to indicate in the composition of these books an unusual degree of literary finish and self-consciousness, a sense on the part of writers or compilers that literature as an art has its claims upon them. The subject-matter of the books, too, bears this out; they are, relatively speaking, the secular books of the Bible and do not assume divine origin, as do law and prophecy. For the original impulse to such literary culture the history directs us to the reign of King Solomon; see  1 Kings 4:29-34 , where is portrayed, on the part of king and court, an intense intellectual activity for its own sake, the like of which occurs nowhere else in Scripture. The forms then especially impressed upon the literature were the māshāl (proverb) and the song, in both of which the versatile young king was proficient; compare  1 Kings 4:32 . For the cultivation of the māshāl these men of letters availed themselves of a favorite native form, the popular proverb; but they gave to it a literary mold and finish which would thenceforth distinguish it as the Solomonic māshāl (see Proverb ). This then was the literary form in which from the time of Solomon onward the sages of the nation put their counsels of life, character, conduct; it became as distinctively the mold for this didactic strain of literature as was the heroic couplet for a similar strain in the age of Dryden and Pope.

It is reasonable therefore to understand this title of the Book of Proverbs as designating rather a literary species than a personal authorship; it names this anthology of Wisdom in its classically determined phrasing, and for age and authorship leaves a field spacious enough to cover the centuries of its currency. Perhaps also the proverb of this type was by the term "of Solomon" differentiated from māshāl of other types, as for instance those of Balaam and Job and Koheleth.

II. The Successive Compilations.

1. The Introductory Section:

That the Book of Proverbs is composed of several collections made at different times is a fact that lies on the surface; as many as eight of these are clearly marked, and perhaps subdivisions might be made. The book was not originally conceived as the development of a theme, or even as a unity; whatever unity it has was an afterthought. That it did come to stand, however, for one homogeneous body of truth, and to receive a name and a degree of articulation as such, will be maintained in a later section (see III, below). Meanwhile, we will take the sections in order and note some of the salient characteristics of each. The introductory section,  Proverbs 1 through 9, has the marks of having been added later than most of the rest; and is introductory in the sense of concentrating the thought to the concept of Wisdom, and of recommending the spiritual attitude in which it is to be received. Its style - and in this it is distinguished from the rest of the book - is hortatory; it is addressed to "my son" (  Proverbs 1:8 and often) or "my sons" (  Proverbs 4:1;  Proverbs 5:7;  Proverbs 7:24;  Proverbs 8:32 ), in the tone of a father or a sage, bringing stores of wisdom and experience to the young. The first six verses are prefatory, giving the purpose and use of the whole book. Then  Proverbs 1:7 lays down as the initial point, or spiritual bedrock of Wisdom, the fear of Yahweh, a principle repeated toward the end of this introductory section (  Proverbs 9:10 ), and evidently regarded as very vital to the whole Wisdom system; compare  Job 28:28;  Psalm 111:10; Sirach 1:14. The effect of this prefatory and theme-propounding matter is to launch the collection of proverbs much after the manner of modern literary works, and the rest of the section bears this out fairly well. The most striking feature of the section, besides its general homiletic tone, is its personification of Wisdom. She is represented as calling to the sons of men and commending to them her ways ( Proverbs 1:20-33; 8:1-21,  Proverbs 8:32-36 ); she condescends, for right and purity's sake, to enter into rivalry with the "strange woman," the temptress, not in secret, but in open and fearless dealing (Prov 7:6 through 8:9;  Proverbs 9:1-6 ,  Proverbs 9:13-18 ); and, in a supremely poetic passage ( Proverbs 8:22-31 ), she describes her relation from the beginning with God and with the sons of men. It represents the value that the Hebrew mind came to set upon the human endowment of Wisdom. The Hebrew philosopher thought not in terms of logic and dialectics, but in symbol and personality; and to this high rank, almost like that of a goddess, his imagination has exalted the intellectual and spiritual powers of man. See Wisdom .

2. The Classic Nucleus:

The section  Proverbs 10:1 through 22:16, with the repeated heading "The proverbs of Solomon", seems to have been the original nucleus of the whole collection. All the proverbs in this, the longest section of the book, are molded strictly to the couplet form (the one triplet,   Proverbs 19:7 , being only an apparent exception, due probably to the loss of a line), each proverb a parallelism in condensed phrasing, in which the second line gives either some contrast to or some amplification of the first. This was doubtless the classic art norm of the Solomonic māshāl .

The section seems to contain the product of that period of proverb-culture during which the sense of the model was a little rigid and severe, not venturing yet to limber up the form. Signs of a greater freedom, however, begin to appear, and possibly two strata of compilation are represented. In  Proverbs 10 through 15 the prevailing couplet is antithetic, which embodies the most self-closed circuit of the thought. Out of 184 proverbs only 19 do not contain some form of contrast, and 10 of these are in   Proverbs 15 . In  Proverbs 16 through 22:16, on the other hand, the prevailing form is the so-called synonymous or amplified couplet, which leaves the thought-circuit more open to illustrative additions. Out of 191 proverbs only 18 are antithetic, and these contain contrasts of a more subtle and hidden suggestion. As to subject-matter, the whole section is miscellaneous; in the first half, however, where the antithesis prevails, are the great elemental distinctions of life, wisdom and folly, righteousness and wickedness, industry and laziness, wise speech and reticence, and the like; while in the second half there is a decided tendency to go farther afield for subtler and less obvious distinctions. In this way they seem to reflect a growing and refining literary development, the gradual shaping and accumulation of materials for a philosophy of life; as yet, however, not articulated or reduced to unity of principle.

3. A B ody of Solicited Counsel:

In the short section  Proverbs 22:17 through 24:22, the proverb literature seems for the first time to have become as it were self-conscious - to regard itself as a strain of wise counsel to be reckoned with for its educative value. The section is introduced by a preface (  Proverbs 22:17-21 ), in which these "words of the wise" are recommended to some person or delegation, "that thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee" ( Proverbs 22:21 ). The counsels seem intended for persons in responsible position, perhaps attached to the court (compare  Proverbs 23:1-3 ), who, as they are to deal officially with men and affairs, need the prudence, purity, and temperance which will fit them for their duties. As to form, the detached couplet appears only occasionally; the favorite form is the quatrain; but proverbs of a greater number of lines are freely used, and one, the counsel on wine drinking ( Proverbs 23:29-35 ), runs to 17 lines. In tone and specific counsel the section has many resemblances to the introductory section (Proverbs 1 through 9), and provokes the conjecture that this latter section, as the introduction to a compiled body of Wisdom, was composed not long after it.

4. Some Left-Over Precepts:

The little appendix ( Proverbs 24:23-34 ) is headed, "These also are sayings of the wise." They refer to wise intercourse and ordered industry. The little poem on the sluggard ( Proverbs 24:30-34 ), with its refrain ( Proverbs 24:33 ,  Proverbs 24:14 ), is noteworthy as being apparently one stanza of a poem which is completed with the same refrain in the introductory section ( Proverbs 6:6-11 ). The stanzas are of the same length and structure; and it would seem the latter named was either discovered later or composed as a supplement to the one in this section.

5. The Hezekian Collection:

The long section ( Proverbs 25 through 29) is headed, "These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out." The collection claims to be only a compilation; but if, as already suggested, we understand the term "proverbs of Solomon" as equivalent to "Solomonic proverbs," referring rather to species than personal authorship, the compilation may have been made not merely from antiquity, but from the archives of the Wisdom guilds. If so, we have a clue to the state of the Wisdom literature in Hezekiah's time. The collection as a whole, unlike secs. 3,4, returns predominantly to the classic form of the couplet, but with a less degree of compression and epigram. There is a tendency to group numbers of proverbs on like subjects; note for instance the group on the king (  Proverbs 25:2-7 ). The most striking-feature of the collection is the prevalence of simile and analogy, and in general the strong figurative coloring, especially in Proverbs 25 through 27; it reads like a new species of proverb when we note that in all the earlier Solomonic sections there are only two clearly defined similes ( Proverbs 10:26;  Proverbs 11:22 ). In Proverbs 25 through 27 are several proverbs of three, four, or five lines, and at the end ( Proverbs 27:23-27 ) a charming little poem of ten lines on husbandry. Proverbs 28; 29 are entirely of couplets, and the antithetic proverb reappears in a considerable number. As to subject-matter, the thought of this section makes a rather greater demand on the reader's culture and thinking powers, the analogies being less obvious, more subtle. It is decidedly the reflection of a more literary age than that of section 2.

6. Words of Agur:

 Proverbs 30 is taken up with "the words of Agur the son of Jakeh," a person otherwise unknown, who disclaims expert knowledge of Wisdom lore (  Proverbs 30:3 ), and avows an agnostic attitude toward theological speculations, yet shows a tender reverence before the name and unplumbed mystery of Yahweh ( Proverbs 30:6 ,  Proverbs 30:9 ,  Proverbs 30:32 ). His words amount to a plea against a too adventurous, not to say presumptuous, spirit in the supposed findings of human Wisdom, and as such supply a useful makeweight to the mounting pride of the scholar. Yet over this peculiar plea is placed the word "Massa" (המּשּׂא , ha -massa ̄' ); "burden" or "oracle," the term used for prophetic disclosures; and the word for "said" ("the man said," הגּבר נאם , ne'um ha - gebher ) is the word elsewhere used for mystic or divine utterance. This seems to mark a stage in the self-consciousness of Wisdom when it was felt that its utterances could be ranked by the side of prophecy as a revelation of truth (compare what Wisdom says of herself,  Proverbs 8:14 ), and could claim the authoritative term "oracle." For the rest, apart from the humble reverence with which they are imbued, these words of Agur do not rise to a high level of spiritual thinking; they tend rather to the riddling element, or "dark sayings" (compare  Proverbs 1:6 ). The form of his proverbs is peculiar, verging indeed on the artificial; he deals mostly in the so-called numerical proverb ("three things ... yea, four"), a style of utterance paralleled elsewhere only in  Proverbs 6:16-19 , but something of a favorite in the later cryptic sayings of the scribes, as may be seen in Pirḳe 'Ābhōth .

7. Words of King Lemuel:

 Proverbs 31:1-9 (possibly the whole chapter should be included) is headed, "The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him." Here occurs again the mysterious Word "oracle," which would seem to be open to the same interpretation as the one given in the previous paragraph, though some would make this otherwise unknown monarch a king of Massa, and refer to the name of one of the descendants of Ishmael (  Genesis 25:14 ), presumably a tribal designation. The Hebrew sages from the beginning were in rivalry and fellowship with the sages of other nations (compare  1 Kings 4:30 ,  1 Kings 4:31 ); and in the Book of Job, the supreme reach of Wisdom utterance, all of the sages, Job included, are from countries outside of Palestine. King Lemuel, if an actual personage, was not a Jew; and probably Agur was not. The words of Lemuel are a mother's plea to her royal son for chastity, temperance and justice, the kingly virtues. The form is the simple Hebrew parallelism, not detached couplets, but continuous.

8. An Acrostic Eulogy of Woman:

The Book of Proverbs ends in a manner eminently worthy of its high standard of sanity and wisdom. Without any heading (it may possibly belong to the "oracle" that the mother of Lemuel taught her son) the last 22 verses (31:10-31) constitute a single poem in praise of a worthy woman, extolling especially her household virtues. In form these verses begin in the original with the successive 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet; a favorite form of Hebrew verse, as may be seen (in the original) in several of the psalms, notably  Psalm 119 , and in  Lamentations 1 through 4.

III. Movement Toward a Philosophy.

It has been much the fashion with modern critics to deny to the Hebrews a truly philosophic mind; this they say was rather the distinctive gift of the Greeks; while for their solution of the problem of life the Hebrews depended on direct revelation from above, which precluded that quasi-abeyance of concepts, that weighing of cosmic and human elements, involved in the commonly received notion of philosophy. This criticism takes account of only one side of the Hebrew mind. It is true they believed their life to be in direct contact with the will and word of Yahweh, revealed to them in terms which could not be questioned; but in the findings and deliverance of their own intellectual powers, too, they had a reliance and confidence which merits the name of an authentic philosophy. But theirs was a philosophy not of speculative world-making, but of conduct and the practical management of life; and it was intuitive and analogical, not the result of dialectical reasoning. Hence, its name wisdom, the solution itself, rather than philosophy, the love of wisdom, the search for solution. This Book of Proverbs, beginning with detached maxims on the elements of conduct, reveals in many suggestive ways the gradual emergence of a philosophy, a comprehensive wisdom, as it were, in the making; it is thus the pioneer book of that Hebrew Wisdom which we see developed to maturer things in the books of Job and Ecclesiastes. Some of its salient stages may here be traced.

1. Liberation of the Mashal:

We may first note it, or the literary preparation for it, in the opening up of the māshāl , or proverb unit, toward added elements of illustration, explanation, amplitude, a development that begins to appear, in the oldest section (the classic nucleus, section 2) at about   Proverbs 16 . The primitive antithetic māshāl contrasted two aspects of truth in such a way as to leave the case closed; there was nothing for it but to go on to a new subject. This had the good effect of setting over against each other the great elemental antagonisms of life: righteousness and wickedness, obedience and lawlessness, teachableness and perversity, industry and laziness, prudence and presumption, reticence and prating, etc., and so far forth it was a masterly analysis of the essentials of individual and social conduct. As soon, however, as the synonymous and illustrative māshāl prevails, we are conscious of a limbering up and greater penetrativeness of the range of thought; it is open to subtler distinctions and remoter discoveries, and the analogies tend to employ the less direct relationships of cause and effect. This is increased as we go on, especially by the greater call upon the imagination in the figurative tissue of the Hezekian section, and by the decidedly greater tendency to the riddling and paradox element. The māshāl increases in length and amplitude, both by the grouping of similar subjects and by the enlargement from the couplet to the quatrain and the developed poem. All this, while not yet a self-conscious philosophy, is a step on the way thereto.

2. Emergence of Basal Principles:

One solid presupposition of the sages, like an axiom, was never called in question: namely, that righteousness and wisdom are identical, that wickedness of any sort is folly. This imparts at once a kind of prophetic coloring to the Wisdom precepts, well represented by the opening proverb in the original section (after the prefatory one about the wise son), "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing; but righteousness delivereth from death" ( Proverbs 10:2 ). Thus from the outset is furnished an uncompromising background on which the fascinating allurements of vice, the crooked ways of injustice and dishonesty, the sober habits of goodness and right dealing, show for what they are and what they tend to. The sages thus put themselves, too, in entire harmony with what is taught by priests and prophets; there is no quarrel with the law or the word; they simply supply the third strand in the threefold cord of instruction (compare  Jeremiah 18:18 ). From this basal presumption other principles, scarcely less axiomatic, come in view: that the fount and spring of wise living is reverence, the fear of Yahweh; that the ensuring frame of mind is teachableness, the precluding attitude perverseness; that it is the mark of wisdom, or righteousness, to be fearless and above board, of wickedness, which is folly, to be crooked and secretive. These principles recur constantly, not, as a system, but in numerous aspects and applications in the practical business of life. For their sanctions they refer naively to the Hebrew ideal of rewards on the one hand - wealth, honor, long life, family (compare  Proverbs 11:31 ) - and of shame and loss and destruction on the other; but these are emphasized not as direct bestowments or inflictions from a personal Deity, rather as in the law of human nature. The law that evil works its own destruction, good brings its own reward, is forming itself in men's reason as one of the fundamental concepts out of which grew the Wisdom philosophy.

3. The Conception of Wisdom:

From times long before Solomon sagacity in counsel, and. skill to put such counsel into maxim or parable, gave their possessor, whether man or woman, a natural leadership and repute in the local communities (compare  2 Samuel 14:2;  2 Samuel 20:16 ); and Solomon's exceptional endowment showed itself not merely in his literary tastes, but in his ability, much esteemed among Orientals, to determine the merits of cases brought before him for judgment ( 1 Kings 3:16-28 ), and to answer puzzling questions ( 1 Kings 10:1 ,  1 Kings 10:6 ,  1 Kings 10:7 ). It was from such estimate of men's intellectual powers, from the recognition of mental alertness, sagacity, grasp, in their application to the practical issues of life (compare  Proverbs 1:1-5 ), that the conception of Wisdom in its larger sense arose. As, however, the cultivation of such sagacity of utterance passed beyond the pastime of a royal court (compare  1 Kings 4:29-34 ) into the hands of city elders and sages it attained to greatly enhanced value; note how the influence of such sage is idealized (Job 29:7-25). The sages had definite calling and mission of their own, more potent perhaps than belonged to priests and prophets; the frequent reference to the young and the "simple" or immature in the Book of Prov would indicate that they were virtually the schoolmasters and educators of the nation. As such, working as they did in a fellowship and collaboration with each other, the subject-matter with which they dealt would not remain as casual and miscellaneous maxims, but work toward a center and system of doctrine which could claim the distinction of an articulated philosophy of life, and all the more since it was so identified with the great Hebrew ideal of righteousness and truth. We have already noted how this sense of the dignity and value of their calling manifested itself in the body of precepts sent in response to solicitation (3 above), with its appendix (4 above) (Prov 22:17 through 24:34). It was not long after this stage of Wisdom-culture, I think, that a very significant new word came into their vocabulary, the word (תּוּשיּה , tūshı̄yāh , a puzzle to the translators, variously rendered "sound wisdom," "effectual working," and called by the lexicographers "a technical term of the Wisdom literature," BDB , under the word). Its earliest appearance, and the only one except in the introductory section ( Proverbs 18:1 ), is where the man who separates himself from others' opinions and seeks his own desire is said to quarrel with all tūshı̄yāh . The word seems to designate Wisdom in its subjective aspect, as an authentic insight or intuition of truth, the human power to rise into the region of true revelation from below, as distinguished from the prophetic or legal word spoken directly from above. Outside of Proverbs and Job the word occurs only twice: once in  Micah 6:9 , and once in  Isaiah 28:29 , in which latter case the prophet has deliberately composed a passage ( Isaiah 28:23-29 ) in the characteristic māshāl idiom, and attributed that strain of insight to Yahweh. Evidently there came a time in the culture of Wisdom when its utterances attained in men's estimate to a parity with utterances direct from the unseen; perhaps this explains why Agur's and Lemuel's words could be boldly ranked as oracles (see above, 6 and 7). At any rate, such a high distinction, an authority derived from intimacy with the creative work of Yahweh ( Proverbs 8:30 ,  Proverbs 8:31 ), is ascribed to Wisdom (חכמה , ḥokhmāh , in the introductory section; "counsel is mine," Wisdom is made to say, "and tūshı̄yāh " ( Proverbs 8:14 ). Thus the Book of Proverbs reveals to us a philosophy, as it were, in the making and from scattered counsels attaining gradually to the summit where the human intellect could place its findings by the side of divine oracles.

IV. Considerations of Age and Literary Kinship.

To get at the history of the Book of Proverbs, several inquiries must be raised. When were the proverbs composed? The book, like the Book of Psalms, is confessedly an anthology, containing various accumulations, and both by style and maturing thought bearing the marks of different ages. When were the successive compilations made? And, finally, when did the strain of literature here represented reach that point of self-conscious unity and coordination which justified its being reckoned with as a strain by itself and choosing the comprehensive name Wisdom? What makes these inquiries hard to answer is the fact that these proverbs are precepts for the common people, relating to ordinary affairs of the village, the market, and the field, and move in lines remote from politics and dynastic vicissitudes and wars. They are, to an extent far more penetrative and pervasive than law or prophecy, the educative literature on which the sturdy rank and file of the nation was nourished. 'Where there is no vision, the people let loose,' says a Hezekian proverb ( Proverbs 29:18 ); but so they are also when there is no abiding tonic of social convention and principle. Precisely this latter it is which this Book of Prey in a large degree reveals; and in course of time its value was so felt that, as we have seen, it could rank itself as an asset of life by the side of vision. It represents, in a word, the human movement toward self-directiveness and self-reliance, without supine dependence on ruler or public sentiment (compare  Proverbs 29:25 ,  Proverbs 29:26 ). When and how was this sane and wholesome communal fiber developed?

1. Under the Kings:

When Solomon and his court made the māshāl an elegant fad, they builded better than they knew. They gave to the old native form of the proverb and parable, as reduced to epigrammatic mold and polish, the eclat of a popular literature. This was done orally at first (Solomon spoke his proverbs,   1 Kings 4:32 ,  1 Kings 4:33 ); but the recording of such carefully expressed utterances could not be long delayed; perhaps this brief style coupe was the most natural early exercise in the new transition from the unwieldly cuneiform to the use of papyrus and a more flexible alphabet, which probably came in with the monarchy. At any rate, here was the medium for a practical didactic literature, applied to the matters of daily life and intercourse to which in Solomon's time the nation was enthusiastically awake. There is no valid reason for denying to Solomon, or at least to his time, the initiation of the Solomonic māshāl  ; and if, as has been suggested, the name "proverbs of Solomon" designates rather literary species than personal authorship, the title of the whole book ( Proverbs 1:1 ), as well as the headings of sections ( Proverbs 10:1;  Proverbs 25:1 ), may be given in entire good faith, whatever the specific time or personal authorship of the utterances. Nor is there anything either in recorded history or the likelihood of the case to make improbable that the activity of the "men of Hezekiah" means just what is said; these men of letters were adding this supplementary collection (Prov 25 through 29) to a body of proverbs that already existed and were recognized as Solomon's. This would put the composition of the main body of the Proverbs (chapters 10 through 29) prior to the reign of Hezekiah. They represent therefore the chief literary instruction available to the people in the long period of the Kings from Solomon onward, a period which otherwise was very meagerly supplied. The Mosaic Law, as we gather from the finding of the Law in the time of Josiah (2 Ki 22), was at best a sequestered thing in the keeping - or neglect - of priests and judges; the prophetic word was a specific message for great national emergencies; the accumulations of sacred song were the property of the temple and the cult; what then was there for the education of the people? There were indeed the folk-tales and catechetical legends of their heroic history; but there were also, most influential of all, these wise sayings of the sages, growing bodies of precept and parable, preserved in village centers, published in the open places by the gate (compare  Job 29:7 ), embodying the elements of a common-sense religion and citizenship, and representing views of life which were not only Hebrew, but to a great extent international among the neighbor kingdoms. Understood so, these Solomonic proverbs furnish incomparably the best reflection we have of the religious and social standards of the common people, during a period otherwise meagerly portrayed. And from it we can understand what a sterling fiber of character existed after all, and how well worth preserving for a unique mission in the world, in spite of the idolatrous corruptions that invaded the sanctuaries, the self-pleasing unconcern of the rulers and the pessimistic denunciations of the prophets.

2. The Concentrative Point:

For the point in the Hebrew literary history when these scattered Solomonic proverbs were recognized as a homogeneous strain of thought and the compilations were made and recommended as Wisdom, we can do no better, I think, than to name the age of Israel's literary prime, the age of Hezekiah. The "men of Hezekiah" did more than append their supplementary section ( Proverbs 25 through 29); the words "these also" ( גּאלּה , gam'ēlleh ) in their heading imply it. See Hezekiah , The Men Of .

I apprehend the order and nature of their work somehow thus: Beginning with the classic nucleus ( Proverbs 10 through 22:16) (see above, II., 2.), which may have come to them in two subsections (  Proverbs 10 through 15; 16 through 22:16), they put these together as the proverbs most closely associated with Solomon, without much attempt at systematizing, substantially as these had accumulated through the ages in the rough order of their developing form and thought; compiling thus, in their zeal for the literary treasures of the past, the body of educational literature which lay nearest at hand, a body adapted especially, though not exclusively, to the instruction of the young and immature. This done, there next came to their knowledge a remarkable body of "words of the wise" (  Proverbs 22:17 through 24:22), which had evidently been put together by request as a vade mecum for some persons in responsible position, and which were prefaced by a recommendation of them as "words of truth" designed to promote "trust in Yahweh" (  Proverbs 22:19-21 ) - which latter, as we know from Isaiah, was the great civic issue of Hezekiah's time. With this section naturally goes the little appendix of "sayings of the wise" ( Proverbs 24:23-34 ), added probably at about the same time. These two sections, which seem to open the collection to matter beyond the distinctive Solomonic māshāl , are, beyond the rest of the book, in the tone of the introductory section (Proverbs 1 through 9), which latter, along with the Hezekian appendix (Proverbs 25 through 29), was added, partly as a new composition, partly as incorporating some additional findings (compare for instance the completion of the poem on the sluggard,  Proverbs 6:6-11 ). Thus, by the addition of this introductory section, the Book of Proverbs was recognized as a unity, provided with a preface and initial proposition ( Proverbs 1:1-6 ,  Proverbs 1:7 ), and launched with such hortatory material as had already, on a smaller scale, introduced the third section. This part not only contains the praise of Wisdom as a human endowment, sharing in the mind and purpose of the divine ( Proverbs 8:22-31 ), but it has become aware also of the revelatory value of tūshı̄yāh ( Proverbs 2:7;  Proverbs 3:21;  Proverbs 8:14 ), or chastened intuition (see above, III, 3), and dares to aspire, in its righteous teachableness, to the intimacy or secret friendship of Yahweh (סודו , ṣōdhō ,  Proverbs 3:32 ). All this indicates the holy self-consciousness to which Wisdom has attained.

I see no cogent reason for postponing the substantial completion of the Book of Proverbs beyond the time of Hezekiah. The words of Agur and of King Lemuel, with the final acrostic poem, may be later additions; but their difference in tone and workmanship is just as likely to be due to the fact that they are admitted, in the liberal spirit of the compilers, from foreign stores of wisdom. For spiritual clarity and intensity they do not rise to the height of the native Hebrew consciousness; and they incline to an artificial structure which suggests that the writer's interest is divided between sincere tūshı̄yāh and literary skill. For the sake of like-minded neighbors, however, something may be forgiven.

3. Its Stage in Progressive Wisdom:

It is too early in the history of Wisdom to regard this Book of Proverbs as an articulated and coordinated system. It is merely what it purports to be, a collected body of literature having a common bearing and purpose; a literature of reverent and intelligent self-culture, moving among the ordinary relations of life, and not assuming to embody any mystic disclosures of truth beyond the reach of human reason. As such, it has a vocabulary and range of ideas of its own, which distinguishes it from other strains of literature. This is seen in those passages outside of the Book of Proverbs which deliberately assume, for some specific purpose, the Wisdom dialect. In  Isaiah 28:23-29 , the prophet, whom the perverse rulers have taunted with baby-talk ( Isaiah 28:9 ,  Isaiah 28:10 ), appeals to them with the characteristic Wisdom call to attention ( Isaiah 28:23 ), and in illustrations drawn from husbandry proves to them that this also is from Yahweh of hosts, 'who is transcendent in counsel, preeminent in tushı̄yah' ( Isaiah 28:29 ) - teaching them thus in their own vaunted idiom. In  Micah 6:9-15 , similarly, calling in tūshı̄yāh to corroborate prophecy ("the voice of Yahweh," יהוה קול , ḳōl Yahweh , ותוּשׁיּה , wethūshı̄yāh ,  Micah 6:9 ), the prophet speaks of the natural disasters that men ought to deduce from their abuse of trade relations, evidently appealing to them in their own favorite strain of thinking. Both these passages seem to reflect a time when the Wisdom dialect was prevalent and popular, and both are concerned to call in sound human intuition as an ally of prophecy. At the same time, as prophets have the right to do, they labor to give revelation the casting vote; the authentic disclosure of truth from Yahweh is their objective, not the mere luxury of making clever observations on practical life. All this coincides, in the Wisdom sphere, with what in Isaiah's and Micah's time was the supreme issue of state, namely trust in Yahweh, rather than in crooked human devices (compare  Isaiah 28:16;  Isaiah 29:15 ); and it is noteworthy that this is the venture of Wisdom urged by the editors of Proverbs in their introductory exhortations (compare  Proverbs 22:19;  Proverbs 3:5-8 ). In other words, these editors are concerned with inducing a spiritual attitude  ; and so in their literary strain they make their book an adjunct in the movement toward spirituality which Isaiah is laboring to promote. As yet, however, its findings are still in the peremptory stage, stated as absolute and unqualified truths; it has not reached the sober testing of fact and interrogation of motive which it must encounter in order to become a seasoned philosophy of life. Its main pervading thesis - that righteousness in the fear of God is wisdom and bound for success, that wickedness is fatuity and bound for destruction - is eternally sound; but it must make itself good in a world where so many of the enterprises of life seem to come out the other way, and where there is so little appreciation of spiritual values. Nor is the time of skepticism and rigid test long in coming. Two psalms of this period (as I apprehend) (Psalms 73 and 49) concern themselves with the anomaly of the success of the wicked and the trials of the righteous; the latter pointedly adopting the Wisdom or māshāl style of utterance ( Psalm 49:3 ,  Psalm 49:4 ), both laboring to induce a more inward and spiritual attitude toward the problem. It remains, however, for the Book of Job to take the momentous forward step of setting wisdom on the unshakable foundation of spiritual integrity, which it does by subjecting its findings to the rigid test of fact and its motives to a drastic Satanic sifting. It is thus in the Book of Job, followed later by the Book of Ecclesiastes, that the Wisdom strain of literature, initiated by the Proverbs of Solomon, finds its Old Testament culmination.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A book of the Hebrew Scriptures, full of the teachings of wisdom bearing on the conduct of life, and though ascribed to Solomon, obviously not all of his composition, or even collection, and probably ascribed to him because of his fondness for wisdom in that form, and from his having procured the first collection. The principles inculcated are purely ethical, resting, however, on a religious basis, and concern the individual not as a member of any particular community, but as a member of the human race; the lessons of life and death are the same as in the covenant with Moses, and the condition in both cases is the observance or non-observance of God's commandments. There is no change in the principle, but in the expansion of it, and that amounts to the foundation of a kingdom of God which shall include all nations. In them the bonds of Jewish exclusiveness are burst, and a catholic religion virtually established.