Reference: Proverbs, Book of
Easton
a collection of moral and philosophical maxims of a wide range of subjects presented in a poetic form. This book sets forth the "philosophy of practical life. It is the sign to us that the Bible does not despise common sense and discretion. It impresses upon us in the most forcible manner the value of intelligence and prudence and of a good education. The whole strength of the Hebrew language and of the sacred authority of the book is thrown upon these homely truths. It deals, too, in that refined, discriminating, careful view of the finer shades of human character so often overlooked by theologians, but so necessary to any true estimate of human life" (Stanley's Jewish Church).
As to the origin of this book, "it is probable that Solomon gathered and recast many proverbs which sprang from human experience in preceeding ages and were floating past him on the tide of time, and that he also elaborated many new ones from the material of his own experience. Towards the close of the book, indeed, are preserved some of Solomon's own sayings that seem to have fallen from his lips in later life and been gathered by other hands' (Arnot's Laws from Heaven, etc.)
This book is usually divided into three parts: (1.) Consisting of ch. 1-9, which contain an exhibition of wisdom as the highest good.
(2.) Consisting of ch. 10-24.
(3.) 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 (1Ki 4:32). In the New Testament there are thirty-five direct quotations from this book or allusions to it.
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He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005.
Hastings
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:
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The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge,
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge,
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.
for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to you today, even to you.
That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to you today, even to you. Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge,
Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge, to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
for disaster will arise suddenly from them, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both? These also are sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good. read more. Whoever says to the wicked, "You are in the right," will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them. Whoever gives an honest answer kisses the lips. Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house. Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done." I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations? read more. When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered, the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field. There will be enough goats' milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls.
The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out.
Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:
The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough":
The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him: What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows? read more. Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
Morish
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:' Heb 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 Prov. 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 Prov. 10 onwards are the proverbs themselves. This latter portion divides itself into three parts: Prov. 10: to Prov. 24, the proverbs of Solomon; Prov. 25 to Prov. 29, also the proverbs of Solomon, which were gathered by "the men of Hezekiah king of Judah." Prov. 30 gives the words of Agur; and Prov. 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 Prov. 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.
Prov. 2 gives the results of following in the path of wisdom, whereas the wicked will be rooted out.
Prov. 3 shows that it is the fear of God, and subjection to His word, that is the only true path in an evil world.
Prov. 4 enforces the study of wisdom: it will surely bring into blessing. Evil must be avoided and be kept at a distance. The heart, the eye, and the feet must be watched.
Prov. 5 warns a man against leaving the wife of his youth (the lawful connection) for the strange woman, which leads to utter demoralisation.
Prov. 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.
Prov. 7 again shows the traps laid by the strange woman, which alas, are often too successful. Her house is the way to hell (Sheol).
Prov. 8 proclaims that wisdom calls, and invites all to listen: it is valuable for all
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"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.
There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers. There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth. read more. There are those--how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift! There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind. The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough": Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, "Enough."
Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin.
Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up: a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food; read more. an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress. Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer; the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs; the locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank; the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces. Three things are stately in their tread; four are stately in their stride: the lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any; the strutting rooster, the he-goat, and a king whose army is with him.
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
Smith
Prov'erbs, Book of.
The title of this book in Hebrew is taken from its first word, mashal, which originally meant "a comparison." It is sometimes translated parable, sometimes proverb as here. The superscriptions which are affixed to several portions of the book, in chs.
attribute the authorship of those portions to Solomon the son of David, king of Israel. With the exception of the last two chapters, which are distinctly assigned to other author it is probable that the statement of the superscriptions is in the main correct, and that the majority of the proverbs contained in the book were uttered or collected by Solomon. Speaking roughly, the book consists of three main divisions, with two appendices:--
1. Chs. 1-9 form a connected didactic Wisdom is praised and the youth exhorted to devote himself to her. This portion is preceded by an introduction and title describing the character and general aim of the book.
2. Chs. 10-24 with the title "The Proverbs of Solomon," consist of three parts:
a collection of single proverbs and detached sentences out of the region of moral teaching and worldly prudence;
a more connected didactic poem, with an introduction,
which contains precepts of righteousness and prudence;
with the inscription "These also belong to the wise," a collection of unconnected maxims, which serve as an appendix to the preceding. Then follows the third division chs. 25-29, which, according to the superscription, professes to be collection of Solomon's proverbs, consisting of single sentences, which the men of the court of Hezekiah copied out. The first appendix, ch. 30, "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh," is a collection of partly proverbial and partly enigmatical sayings; the second, ch. 31, is divided into two parts, "The words of King Lemuel," vs. 1-6, and an alphabetical acrostic in praise of a virtuous woman, which occupies the rest of the chapter. Who was Agur and who was Jakeh, are questions which have been often asked and never satisfactorily answered. All that can be said of the first is that he was an unknown Hebrew sage, the son of an equally unknown Jakeh, and that he lived after the time of Hezekiah. Lemuel, like Agur, is unknown. It is even uncertain whether he is to be regarded as a real personage, or whether the name is merely symbolical. The Proverbs are frequently quoted or alluded to in the New Testament and the canonicity of the book thereby confirmed. The following is a list of the principal passages:--
compare Roma 3:10,15
compare Roma 12:16
compare Hebr 12:5,6, see also Reve 3:19
compare Jame 4:6
compare 1Pet 4:8
compare 1Pet 4:18
compare Roma 12:17; 1The 5:15; 1Pet 3:9
compare Jame 1:19
compare 1Joh 1:8
(LXX.), compare 2Cor 9:7
compare, Roma 12:20
compare, 2Pet 2:22
compare, Jame 4:13,14
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The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor.
The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. read more. The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame. Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin. Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, but a babbling fool will come to ruin. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense. read more. The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near. A rich man's wealth is his strong city; the poverty of the poor is their ruin. The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin.
The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin. Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray. read more. The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool. When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth. The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense. The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.
If the righteous is repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!
If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.
Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
Who can say, "I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin"?
If one curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.
Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge,
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge, for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips.
for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you, if all of them are ready on your lips. That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to you today, even to you.
That your trust may be in the LORD, I have made them known to you today, even to you. Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge,
Have I not written for you thirty sayings of counsel and knowledge, to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
to make you know what is right and true, that you may give a true answer to those who sent you? Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate,
Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate, for the LORD will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them. read more. Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,
These also are sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good. Whoever says to the wicked, "You are in the right," will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, read more. but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them. Whoever gives an honest answer kisses the lips. Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house. Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done." I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.
If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.
Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
And "If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
What the true proverb says has happened to them: "The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire."
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.