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 spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.
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 child makes a father glad, but a foolish child grieves his mother.
He who oppresses the poor [in order] to enrich himself, [or] gives to the rich, {will come to poverty}. Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise; you shall apply your heart to my teaching.
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise; you shall apply your heart to my teaching.
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise; you shall apply your heart to my teaching. For [it is] pleasant if you guard them {within you}; together they will be ready upon your lips.
For [it is] pleasant if you guard them {within you}; together they will be ready upon your lips. [In order] for your trust to be in Yahweh, I have made [them] known to you {today}--even you.
[In order] for your trust to be in Yahweh, I have made [them] known to you {today}--even you. Have I not written for you thirty [sayings] with admonitions and knowledge?
Have I not written for you thirty [sayings] with admonitions and knowledge? [In order] to show you what is right--sayings of truth-- [in order] to return a true saying to him who sent you.
[In order] to show you what is right--sayings of truth-- [in order] to return a true saying to him who sent you.
For suddenly their disaster will come, and the ruin of {both of them}, who knows? These [sayings] are also for the wise: {Partiality} in judgment is not good. read more. Whoever says to the guilty, "You are righteous," the people will curse him; the nations will abhor him. But they who rebuke will have delight, and upon them blessings of goodness will come. He will kiss [the] lips, he who gives an honest answer. Prepare your work in the street and get it ready for yourself in the field; afterward, then you shall build your house. Do not be a witness without cause against your neighbor nor deceive with your lips. Do not say, "Just as he has done to me, so shall I do to him; I will pay back the man according to his deed." I passed by the field of a lazy person, and over the vineyard of a person lacking {sense}; and behold, it was overgrown--all of it was covered [with] thorns, its surface with nettles, and {its stone wall} was broken down. Then I myself saw and my heart considered; I looked, and I took hold of instruction: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands for rest, and your poverty will come running, and your lack like an armed warrior.
You will surely know the {condition} of your flock; your heart attends to the herds. For riches [are] not forever, nor a crown for generation [after] generation. read more. When the grass is gone, then green growth will appear, and the herbs of the mountains will be gathered. Lambs [will be] your clothing, and goats the price of the field. And [there will be] enough goats' milk for your food, for [the] food of your household and [the] {nourishment} of your maidservants.
The words of Agur, son of Yakeh, the oracle. Thus says the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel, and Ucal:
Do not add to his words lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. Two things I ask from you; do not deny me before I die:
For the leech, [there are] two daughters; "Give, give!" [they cry]. As for three of these, they are not satisfied; as for four, they do not say enough.
The words of Lemuel, [the] king--an oracle that his mother taught him: What, my son? And what, my son in my womb? And what, son of my vows? read more. Do not give your strength to the women, and your ways to destroy kings. [It is] not for the kings, O Lemuel; drinking wine [is] not for the kings, nor [is] strong drink for rulers. Or else he will drink and forget what has been decreed, and he will pervert the rights of all the {afflicted}. Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those {in bitter distress}. He will drink and forget his poverty, and his misery he will not remember [any] more. Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the {needy}. Open your mouth, judge righteousness, and defend [the] poor and needy. A woman of excellence, who will find? For her worth [is] far more than precious jewels.
Give to her from the fruit of her hand, and may they praise her works in the city 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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"Yahweh possessed me, [the] first of his ways, before his acts {of old}.
rejoicing in the world of his earth, and my delight [was] with the children of humankind.
[There is] a generation [that] will curse its father, and its mother it will not bless. [There is] a generation [that is] pure in its own eyes, but from its filthiness it will not be cleansed. read more. [There is] a generation--how lofty [are] their eyes! And their eyelids they will lift. [There is] a generation whose teeth [are] swords, and its jawbones, knives, [in order] to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from humankind. For the leech, [there are] two daughters; "Give, give!" [they cry]. As for three of these, they are not satisfied; as for four, they do not say enough. Sheol and barrenness of womb, the land is not satisfied [with] water, and fire does not say "enough!"
Three of these are [too] wonderful for me, and four, I do not understand them: the way of the eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.
Under three [things] the earth trembles, and under four, it is not able to bear up: under a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is satisfied [with] food; read more. under an unloved woman when she gets married, and a maid when she succeeds her mistress. There [are] four small things on the earth, and they [are] {exceedingly wise}: The ants [are] a people [who are] not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer; the badgers [are] a people [who are] not mighty, yet they set their house on the rock; there is no king for the locust, yet it marches in rank; a lizard you [can] seize with hands, yet it is in palaces of kings. There [are] three [things] that are magnificent of stride, and four that are magnificent [when] moving: a mighty lion among the beasts, but he will not turn back from {any face}; a strutting rooster or he-goat, and a king [whose] army [is] with him.
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people {with whom he is pleased}!"
And have you completely forgotten the exhortation which instructs you as sons? "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, or give up [when you] are corrected 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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Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
for their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed blood,
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Yahweh and retreat from evil.
Do not despise the discipline of Yahweh, my child. Do not be weary of his reproof because whomever Yahweh will love, he will rebuke, as a father delights in his son.
With those who scorn, he is scornful, but to those who are humble, he gives favor.
The proverbs of Solomon: A wise child makes a father glad, but a foolish child grieves his mother.
The proverbs of Solomon: A wise child makes a father glad, but a foolish child grieves his mother. Treasures of wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. read more. Yahweh will not cause a righteous person to go hungry, but the craving of the wicked he will thwart. A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent enriches. He who gathers in the summer [is] a child who is prudent; he who sleeps at the harvest [is] a child who brings shame. Blessings [belong] to the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. The memory of righteousness [is] like a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. A heart of wisdom will heed commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin. Whoever walks in integrity will walk securely, but whoever follows perversity, his ways will be made known. The winking of an eye causes trouble, and the foolishness of lips comes to ruin. A fountain of life [is] a mouth of righteousness, and a mouth of wickedness conceals violence. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers over all offenses.
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers over all offenses. On the lips of one who has understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod [is] for the back of one who lacks {sense}. read more. Those who are wise lay up knowledge, but [to] the mouth of the fool, ruin draws near. The wealth of the rich [is] the city of his strength; the ruin of the poor [is] their poverty. 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. [On] the path to life is he who guards instruction, but he who rejects rebuke goes astray. read more. He who conceals hatred [has] lips of deceit, and he who utters slander--he is a fool. In many words, transgression is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is prudent. Choice silver is a tongue of righteousness, a heart of wickedness is {of little worth}. Lips of righteousness feed many, but fools {die for lack of sense}. The blessing of Yahweh makes [one] rich, and he does not increase sorrow with it.
If the righteous on earth will be repaid, {how much more} the wicked and sinner.
[For] he who returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.
He who spares his sayings knows knowledge, and a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
Who will say "I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin"?
He who curses his father and his mother, his lamp will be extinguished {in the midst of darkness}.
He who sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his anger will fail.
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise; you shall apply your heart to my teaching.
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise; you shall apply your heart to my teaching. For [it is] pleasant if you guard them {within you}; together they will be ready upon your lips.
For [it is] pleasant if you guard them {within you}; together they will be ready upon your lips. [In order] for your trust to be in Yahweh, I have made [them] known to you {today}--even you.
[In order] for your trust to be in Yahweh, I have made [them] known to you {today}--even you. Have I not written for you thirty [sayings] with admonitions and knowledge?
Have I not written for you thirty [sayings] with admonitions and knowledge? [In order] to show you what is right--sayings of truth-- [in order] to return a true saying to him who sent you.
[In order] to show you what is right--sayings of truth-- [in order] to return a true saying to him who sent you.
[In order] to show you what is right--sayings of truth-- [in order] to return a true saying to him who sent you. Do not rob the poor because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate;
Do not rob the poor because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate; For Yahweh will plead their case and despoil those who despoil them of life. read more. Do not befriend an owner of {anger}, and with a man of wrath you shall not associate;
These [sayings] are also for the wise: {Partiality} in judgment is not good. Whoever says to the guilty, "You are righteous," the people will curse him; the nations will abhor him. read more. But they who rebuke will have delight, and upon them blessings of goodness will come. He will kiss [the] lips, he who gives an honest answer. Prepare your work in the street and get it ready for yourself in the field; afterward, then you shall build your house. Do not be a witness without cause against your neighbor nor deceive with your lips. Do not say, "Just as he has done to me, so shall I do to him; I will pay back the man according to his deed." I passed by the field of a lazy person, and over the vineyard of a person lacking {sense}; and behold, it was overgrown--all of it was covered [with] thorns, its surface with nettles, and {its stone wall} was broken down. Then I myself saw and my heart considered; I looked, and I took hold of instruction: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands for rest, and your poverty will come running, and your lack like an armed warrior.
These are also proverbs of Solomon which officials of Hezekiah king of Judah copied:
If your enemy [is] hungry, feed him bread, and if thirsty, let him drink water. For coals of fire you will heap upon his head, and Yahweh will reward you.
Like a dog returning to his vomit [is] a fool reverting to his folly.
Do not boast {about tomorrow}, for you do not know what the day will bring.
Each one [should give] as he has decided in his heart, not {reluctantly} or from compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
Above all, keep your love for one another constant, because love covers a large number of sins.
And if the righteous are saved with difficulty, {what will become of the ungodly and the sinner}?
The [statement] of the true proverb has happened to them, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and "A sow, [after] washing herself, [returns] to wallowing in the mud."
If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.