the Third Week of Advent
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Dictionaries
Proverbs, Book of
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or 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.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Hastings, James. Entry for 'Proverbs, Book of'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/p/proverbs-book-of.html. 1909.
