Bible Commentaries
Proverbs

XVIII

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

The following works are commended as special helps on the book:

1. Conant, in American Bible Union Revision, which is the best.

2. Perowne, in "Cambridge Bible" which is very good.

3. Berry, in "American Commentary," which is good only in part.

4. Lyman Abbott, The Proverbs of Solomon, which is very valuable.

The authors of the book of Proverbs may be learned from the book itself, as follows:

1. In Proverbs 1:1 it says, "The Proverbs of Solomon the Son of David, king of Israel."

2. In Proverbs 10:1 it says, "The Proverbs of Solomon."

3. In Proverbs 22:17 it says, "Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise."

4. In Proverbs 24:23 it says, "These also are sayings of the wise."

5. In Proverbs 25:1 it says, "These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out."

6. In Proverbs 30:1 it says, "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the oracle."

7. In Proverbs 31:1 it says, "The words of King Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him."

8. In Proverbs 31:10 it says nothing about the author, and this part of the book (Proverbs 31:10-31) is, therefore, anonymous.

The book of Proverbs in its present form was completed in the eighth century, B.C. : "These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah King of Judah copied out," (Proverbs 25:1). By determining the date of Hezekiah’s reign we determine the time of the completion of this book except the three appendices.

The following is an outline of the book, stating the five main sections and giving chapter and verse for each section:

Introduction: Design of the author (Proverbs 1:1-6)

1. Wisdom and Folly contrasted (Proverbs 1:7-9:18)

2. A collection of 376 brief proverbs (Proverbs 10:1-22:16)

3. "The Words of the Wise" (Proverbs 22:17-24:22)

4. Another collection of the "The Words of the Wise" (Proverbs 24:23-34)

5. Another group of Solomon’s proverbs, copied by the scribes of Hezekiah (Proverbs 25-29)

Three Appendices (Proverbs 30-31)

Some critics wish to limit the authorship of Solomon to only a comparatively small number of detached proverbs in Sections 2 and 5. This is in keeping with the attempt to rob David of his glory as the most gifted and prolific hymn writer of Old Testament times. It is true that Sections 3-4 and the Appendices of the book are not ascribed to Solomon, but about five-sixths of the book is ascribed to him, and there is no good reason to discredit these ascriptions to the man who was most of all qualified to write proverbs.

The scriptural statement and reference showing extent of Solomon’s epigrammatic wisdom are as follows: "He spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five" (1 Kings 4:32) (See 1 Kings 10:1; 1 Kings 10:24; Matthew 12:42).

His gift of wisdom finds expression in wise and witty apothegms that show his intellectual capacity and his moral sagacity, his habits of close observation and scientific thought, his common sense and uncommon knowledge of human nature. It should be borne in mind that the circumstances of Solomon’s times, at all events in the earlier and happier years of his reign, were peculiarly favorable to the study and cultivation of wisdom, or philosophy. If the eventful periods of a nation’s history give scope and stimulus to the genius of the poet, the calmer atmosphere of national peace and prosperity is more congenial to the temper of the philosopher. The relations, both of recognition and of intercourse, which Solomon established and maintained for himself and his kingdom and other nations of the world, conduced largely to that interchange of thought and intellectual rivalry which give the highest impulse to the pursuit of wisdom.

The word rendered "proverb" means parable, or authoritative saying, and suggests that moral truths are taught by comparison or contrast. The English word "proverb" means a brief saying instead of many words (proverbs), and implies "pithiness in parallelism." Proverbs have always been the mottoes that mold life and history. The power of a proverb lies partly in its form; it is short, sharp, concisive, and impressive. It assumes truth, attracts attention, and imprints itself on the memory. The Hebrew proverbs, "like forceps," hold truth firmly between the opposing points of antithesis. A proverb may be easily expanded into a parable, especially is it true in the case of the parabolic proverb. Indeed, as Archbishop Trench remarks, "The proverb is often a concentrated parable; as, for instance, ’If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch’; which might evidently be extended with ease into a parable." It would be no less true to say that a proverb is often an epitome of a parable. Of the expansion of the proverb into the parable, or allegory, we have only a single example in this book, viz: that of "The Sluggard’s Vineyard," (Proverbs 24:30-34).

I here give several of the most common proverbs of our English-speaking people, thus: Actions speak louder than words. It is too late to shut the stable door when the horse is stolen. A stitch in time saves nine. Fools’ names like fools’ faces, Are often seen in public places. Never cry over spilt milk. Trust in the Lord and tie your camel. Trust in the Lord and keep your powder dry. A hint to the wise is sufficient.

Let us now state, define, and illustrate by full quotations the six leading varieties of Hebrew parallelisms found in this book:

1. Synonymous, a parallelism in which the members are alike in meaning. Example: The liberal soul shall be made fat; And he that watereth shall be watered also himself. – Proverbs 11:25

2. Antithetic, a parallelism in which the members are contrasted. Example: The labor of the righteous tendeth to life; The increase of the wicked, to sin. – Proverbs 10:16

3. Synthetic, a parallelism in which the members contain different truths, but have a common connecting link. Example: The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him; And the desire of the righteous shall be granted. – Proverbs 10:24.

4. Integral, or progressive (climactic), & parallelism in which the last member completes the thought or another gradation expressed by the first. Example: The law of the wise is a fountain of life, That one may depart from the snares of death. – Proverbs 13:14.

5. Introverted, a parallelism in which the first line corresponds with the fourth, and the second with the third. Example : My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine: Yea, my heart will rejoice, When thy lips speak right things. – Proverbs 23:15-16.

6. Parabolic (emblematic), a parallelism in which a lesson is drawn from natural objects. Example: As vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, So is the sluggard to them that send him. – Proverbs 10:26.

According to Spurgeon, these three things go to the making of a proverb: shortness, sense, and salt.

The key word of this book is "Wisdom," and the key verse is, The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. – Proverbs 9:10.

Wisdom, as used in Proverbs, is very comprehensive in its meaning and application. It is contrasted with folly, simplicity, and scorning. It is used synonymously with understanding, instruction, learning, knowledge, discernment, subtlety, counsel, discretion, prudence, and the fear of Jehovah. It covers the practical and moral world as thoroughly as it does the intellectual. True wisdom develops manhood; leads to morality and, in its highest reach, to piety; it demands obedience to both tables of the Law. It makes the understanding clear, the heart clean, the conscience pure, and the will firm. Wisdom, as here personified, corresponds to the Word, or Logos, of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1).

Of "Wisdom and her ways," Hooker says, "Whatsoever, either men on earth or the angels of heaven do know, it is as a drop of that unemptiable foundation of Wisdom; which Wisdom hath diversely imparted her treasures into the world. As her ways are of sundry kinds, so her manner of teaching is not merely one and the same. Some things she openeth by the Sacred Books of Scripture; some things, by the glorious works of Nature; with some things she inspireth them from above by spiritual influence; in some things she leadeth and traineth them only by worldly experience and practice. We may not so, in any one special kind, admire her, that we disgrace her in any other; but let all her ways be according unto their place and degree adored."

A French proverb on wisdom is, "The strongest symptom of wisdom in man is his being sensible of his own follies." A Latin proverb on wisdom is, "He is by no means to be considered wise who is not wise toward himself." Grymestone says this of wisdom: "Wisdom is the olive that springeth from the Heart, bloometh on the Tongue and beareth fruit in the Actions."

Colton, of the wise man and the fool, has this to say: "The wise man has his follies no less than the fool; but it has been said that herein lies the difference, the follies of the fool are known to the world, but are hidden from himself; the follies of the wise are known to himself, but hidden from the world. A harmless hilarity, and a buoyant cheerfulness are not unfrequent concomitants of genius; and we are never more deceived than when we mistake gravity for greatness, solemnity for science, and pomposity for erudition."

Other Jewish wisdom literature has come down to us, viz: Job, Ecclesiastes, and the apocryphal books of "The Wisdom of Solomon" and "The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach," or "Ecclesiasticus."

There is evidence in the Old Testament that there was a class, or school, of persons who devoted themselves to the study and promotion of wisdom. This is found in the expression) "The Wise," occurring in several places. For example: Proverbs 1:6; Proverbs 22:17; Proverbs 24:23; Job 15:18. The Jewish conception of wisdom differs from the ideas and methods of Western philosophers. The difference is wide and fundamental. "The Hebrew wise man does not propose to himself the abstract question, What is truth? and then pursue his independent search for an answer through all accessible regions of human thought and mind. His starting point is not a question, but a creed, or an axiom. Given, that there is a Supreme Being, Creator, Sustainer, Ruler, Judge of All, then wisdom is to understand so far as it is permitted to man’s finite intelligence the manifold adaptation and harmony, the beauty and utility, of his words and ways, and to turn our knowledge of them to practical account. Wisdom is, in all the complex relations of human life and conduct, to know and to do his will."

Then the Jewish idea of a perfectly wise man is, that the perfectly wise man is the one who, in his whole being, lives and thinks and acts in right relationship to the all-wise God. His wisdom commences emotionally in the fear of God; is manifested intellectually in his acquaintance with the manifestations of the divine nature in word and work; is active volitionally in obedience to the Will of God, as revealed in word and work.

Lange, of this Hebrew wisdom, says, "The essential character of the Hebrew Philosopher is far more practical than speculative; it is as little inclined to pursue or to prompt genuine speculation, as it is to identify itself with secular philosophy in general, and with unaided human reason to investigate the final causes of things. It is essentially a divine philosophy, planting its feet upon the basis of divine revelation, and staying itself upon the eternal principles of the divine law; and it is this determinate and positive character of its method of conceiving and teaching that chiefly distinguishes it from the philosophy of other nations and of other times." Such wisdom, to be obtained, must be diligently sought (Proverbs 2:4-6). In one respect the range of Hebrew wisdom is practically unbounded. It knows no distinction of race or country. It is not national, but human. Cradled in the stronghold of exclusiveness, it overlaps the barriers that would restrain it, and reaches forth to the whole family of man. It knows no "middle wall of partition," no "outer court of the Gentiles," in the temple of truth which it rears.

The relation of this wisdom to Christian faith and Christian science is vital. Such wisdom, while it is in the highest degree religious, consecrating man and all creation to God, is also in the truest sense free, claiming for man’s intelligence and advantage all that proceeds from God. "The cedar tree that is in Lebanon and the hyssop that springeth out of the walls" are alike within its cognizance; "Beast and fowl and creeping thing and fishes," are not beneath its notice, for they are all the works of God. And thus it is akin to and the precursor of that wisdom which Christ both is and teaches, and wisdom which gathers up all things through himself in God, and which by himself gives all things back again to man from God, the wisdom that is at once the offspring of Christian faith and the parent of Christian science.

The essential teachings of the book of Proverbs are moral and religious:

1. The moral element is essentially prophetic.

2. It bears a close relation to the teaching of Christ himself by the fact that a considerable number of directly religious proverbs and instructions are given in the book and religion itself is the basis of their teaching.

3. The prophecy of the book is by ideals. Horton, in his "The Book of Proverbs," calling attention to the historical accounts, different and to all appearance irreconcilable, of the Hebrew Monarchy, its origin on the one hand in the divine appointment, and its consequent ideal of perfection, and its institution on the other hand as a rebellion against the sovereignty of the Lord, says, "The contrast just pointed out in the historic books appears with equal distinctness in this book of wisdom; the proverbial sayings about the king exhibit the twofold thought; and the reconciliation is only found when we have realized the kingship of Christ and can bring that idea to explain the ancient forecast. Thus the study of the things concerning the king is to the thoughtful reader of the proverbs a study of the things concerning Christ. The ideal elements speak of him; the actual shortcomings cry out for him."

The direct quotations of the book of Proverbs in the New Testament are only four: Compare (1) Proverbs 3:11-12 with Hebrews 12:5-6; (2) Proverbs 3:34 with James 4:6; (3) Proverbs 11:31 with 1 Peter 4:18; (4) Proverbs 25:21-22 with Romans 12:20. These quotations are regarded as proof of the canonicity of the book.

It has been said that the morality inculcated in the book of Proverbs is of no very lofty type; that the motives for right conduct are mainly prudential, that is, "Be good and you will prosper; be wicked and you will suffer." It goes without saying that prudential considerations must influence our moral conduct. This is forcefully illustrated by Coleridge’s familiar description of the three steps, "The Prudential," "The Moral." and "The Spiritual," by which the whole ascent to godliness is made. So we may say, that true morality is hostile to that prudence only which precludes true morality. A thoughtful study, therefore, of the moral teaching of this book leads us with reverent admiration to conclude that here, too, "wisdom is justified by her works."

QUESTIONS

1. What special helps are on this book?

2. Who is the authors of the book of Proverbs?

3. Give the time limits for the completion of the book of Proverbs in its present form and quote the scripture to prove the statement.

4. Outline the book, stating the five main sections and give chapter and verse for each section.

5. To what portions of the book: of Proverbs do some critics wish to limit the authorship of Solomon?

6. With what other evil tendency in Old Testament authorship is this in harmony ?

7. What sections of the book are not ascribed to Solomon?

8. Give scriptural statement and reference showing extent of Solomon’s epigramatic wisdom.

9. What especially fitted Solomon for writing proverbs?

10. What is the origin, nature, meaning, and force of "Proverbs"?

11. What is the relation of proverb and parable?

12. Give several of the most common proverbs of our English speaking people.

13. State, define and illustrate by full quotations the six leading varieties of Hebrew parallelisms found in this book.

14. What things, according to Spurgeon, go to make a proverb?

15. What is the key word and what the key verse of this book?

16. Describe "Wisdom" as used in the book of Proverbs, stating with what it is contrasted, with what it is synonymous, and what sphere it covers.

17. What says Hooker of "Wisdom and her ways"?

18. What is the French proverb on wisdom?

19. What is a Latin proverb on wisdom?

20. What says Grymestone of wisdom?

21. What says Colton of the wise man and the fool?

22. What other Jewish wisdom literature has come down to us?

23. What evidence in the Old Testament that there was a class, or school, of persons who devoted themselves to the study and promotion of wisdom?

24. How does the Jewish conception of wisdom differ from the ideaa and methods of Western philosophers?

25. What is the Jewish idea of a perfectly wise man?

26. What says Lange of this Hebrew wisdom?

27. How is such wisdom to be obtained?

28. In what one respect is the range of Hebrew wisdom practically unbounded?

29. What the relation of this wisdom to Christian faith and Christian science?

30. What the essential teachings of the book of Proverbs?

31. What are the direct quotations of the book of Proverbs in the New Testament and what the value of this fact?

32. What can you say of the type of morality inculcated in the book of Proverbs?