Book of Proverbs
| Books of the |
| Tanakh Torah | Nevi'im | Ketuvim Books of Ketuvim |
| Three Poetic Books |
| 1. Psalms |
| 2. Proverbs |
| 3. Job |
| Five Megillot |
| 4. Song of Songs |
| 5. Ruth |
| 6. Lamentations |
| 7. Ecclesiastes |
| 8. Esther |
| Other Books |
| 9. Daniel |
| 10. Ezra-Nehemiah |
| 11. Chronicles |
The Book of Proverbs is one of the books of the Ketuvim of the Tanakh and of the Writings of the Old Testament.
Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs belongs to the group of Ḥokmah, or "Wisdom" books, in which Job and Ecclesiastes are also included.
The following divisions of the book are indicated in the text:
- A group of discourses on the conduct of life (ch. 1-9), comprising the praise of wisdom as the guide of life (1-4); warnings against unchaste women (5-7); the description of wisdom as the controller of life and as Yahweh's companion in the creation of the world (8); and a contrast between wisdom and folly (9).
- A collection, or book, of aphoristic couplets (10-22).
- Two small groups of aphoristic quatrains (22-24).
- A second collection of couplets (25-29).
- A miscellaneous group of discourses and numerical aphorisms (30-31), mostly in tetrads (30); and a picture of a model housewife (31).
These divisions, various in form and content, suggest that the book was formed by the combination of a number of booklets, rather than being a unitary work.
Authorship
The ascription of the book to Solomon, in the titles and in tradition, is though by critical scholars to be without valid foundation. The elaborate heading to the section 25-29 ("Proverbs of Solomon Edited by Scholars of Hezekiah's Court") is paralleled by the superscriptions to some of the Psalms (51, 59, 60.), is likewise considered untrustworthy. Hezekiah's time may have been chosen by the author of this heading because he recognized the collection as later than the one which precedes it. Moreover the thought of the Book of Proverbs differs significant from that of the Hezekian as to the Solomonic age.
In the first place, there is no trace in the book of the religious problems and conflicts of the pre-exilic period. The prophets, from Amos to Ezekiel, are in deadly fear of foreign cults, and testify that Israel is largely given over to the worship of other gods than Yahweh and to idolatry. The polemic against such infidelity is the dominant note of the prophetic preaching down to the latter half of the sixth century. But in Proverbs there is not a word of all this. Monotheism is quietly taken for granted. There is no mention of priests or prophets, and the sacrificial ritual is almost completely ignored. Throughout the biblical literature till the time of Ezra the national interest is predominant. Here it is quite lacking—the name Israel does not even occur.
The fact that religious atmosphere of the book is wholly different from that which characterizes Jewish thought down to the end of the fifth century leads most scholars to conclude that the work is post-exilic.
Wisdom
In no point is the change more noticeable than in the attitude toward wisdom. The wisdom of the pre-Ezran Old Testament writings is shrewd common sense and general keen intelligence (II Sam. xiv.; I Kings iii.); and because it was controlled by worldly considerations it was looked on with disfavor by the Prophets as not being in harmony with the word of God as they understood it (Jer. viii. 9, ix. 23; Ezek. vii. 26). In Proverbs it stands for the broadest and highest conception of life, and is identified with the law of God. Yet it is the utterance of sages, whose counsel is represented as the only sufficient guide of conduct (i.-iv., xxii. 17-21). The sages do not employ the prophetic formula "Thus saith the Lord" or appeal to the law of Moses; they speak out of their own minds, not claiming divine inspiration, yet assuming the absolute authoritativeness of what they say—that is, they regard conscience as the final guide of life. While the contents of the book are various, parts of it dealing with simple, every-day matters, the prevailing tone is broadly religious: God is the ruler of the world, and wisdom is the expression (through human conscience) of His will. In one passage (viii.), animated by a fine enthusiasm, wisdom is personified (almost hypostatized) as a cosmic force, the nursling of God, standing by His side at the creation of the world (comp. Job xxviii.; Wisdom of Solomon vii.). This conception, foreign to the pre-Ezran Old Testament thought, suggests the period when the Jews came under Greek influence.
No Immortality or Messiah.
The theology of Proverbs is the simplest form of theism. The individual man stands in direct relation with God, needing no man or angel to act as mediator (comp. Job v. 1. xxxiii. 23). No supernatural being, except God, is mentioned. Salvation lies in conduct, which is determined by man's will. Men are divided into two classes, the righteous and the wicked: the former are rewarded, the latter punished, by God; how one may pass from one class into the other is not said. Reward and punishment belong to the present life; the conception of the underworld is the same as in the body of Old Testament writings; there is no reference to ethical immortality (on xi. 7 and xiv. 32 see the commentaries). Wickedness leads to premature death (v. 5, ix. 18, et al.); wisdom confers long life (iii. 16). Doubtless the authors, pious men, observed the national sacrificial laws (xv. 8), but they lay no stress on them—they regard conduct as the important thing. The book contains no Messianic element. The description in xvi. 10-15 is of the ideal king, who is controlled by the human law of right (in contrast with the delineations in Isa. xi. 1-5, xxxii. 1, 2; Zech. ix. 9). This attitude may point to a time when there was a lull in the general Messianic i nterest (about 250-200 B.C.E.), but it is satisfactorily accounted for by the supposition that the sages, concerned with the inculcation of a universal code of life, took little interest in the popular hope of a restoration of national independence.
Proverbs bears witness, especially in the first and the third division, to the existence of some sort of organized higher instruction at the time when it was composed. The frequent form of address, "my son," indicates the relation of a teacher to his pupils. There is no information regarding regular academies before the second century B.C.E. (from Antigonus of Soko onward), but it is probable that those that are known did not spring into existence without forerunners. The instruction in such schools would naturally be of the practical ethical sort that is found in Proverbs (on the "mashal" form here adopted see Proverbs). The book has been always highly valued for the purity and elevation of its moral teaching. Not only are justice and truthfulness everywhere enjoined, but revenge is forbidden (xxiv. 17), and kindness to enemies insisted on (xxv. 21). The conception of family life is a high one: monogamy is taken for granted; children are to honor parents, and parents to be the guides of children; an honorable position is assigned the wife and mother. Infidelity on the part of a married woman is denounced at length (v., vii.), and the youth is repeatedly warned against the "strange woman," that is, the unchaste wife of another man. There are many maxims relating to thrift and economy (vi. 1-11, xxvii. 23-27, et al.). Excess is denounced, and self-control and temperance enjoined. The motive urged for well-doing is well-being, success, and happiness. In so far the ethical system is utilitarian, but the success presented as a goal, while sometimes merely material (xi. 15; xviii. 2, 18, et al.), rises at other times to the height of an ideal conception of a happy life (iii., viii.). In this higher sense the utilitarian view approaches the idea of a life devoted to humanity, though this idea is not definitely expressed in Proverbs.
Date.
The characteristics described above point to the post-Ezran period as the time of origination of the book; to this period alone can be referred the tacit recognition of monotheism and monogamy, the absence of a national tone, and the marks of a developed city life. These traits are reproduced in Ben Sira (B.C. 190), the similarity of whose thought to that of Proverbs is obvious. But this latter is made up of different parts that appear to be of different dates. From a comparison of thought and form the following conclusion may be regarded as probable: The earliest collections (about the year 400) were the aphorisms contained in x.-xv., xvi.-xxii. 16, xxv.-xxvii., and xxviii.-xxix., from which later editors formed the two booklets, x.-xxii. 16 and xxv.-xxix. (350-300). A little later came the collection of more elaborate quatrains, xxii. 17-xxiv., and, toward the middle of the third century, the sustained discourses of i.-ix. The latest section, probably, is xxx.-xxxi., and the whole may have been edited not long before the year 200. These dates are approximate, but it seems reasonably certain that the book is later than the year 400 B.C.E. On the objection made to its canonization see Bible Canon (§ 11); on the text and versions see the commentaries. In the Septuagint the order of subsections in the third, fourth, and fifth divisions is as follows: xxii. 17-xxiv. 22; xxx. 1-14; xxiv. 23-34; xxx. 15-33; xxxi. 1-9; xxv.-xxix.; xxxi. 10-31. Whether this divergence from the Hebrew order is due to accident, or to caprice, or to an original difference of arrangement, it is hardly possible to say.
Date of writing
Dates for the writing of the book are also unclear. Due to the suggested authorship of Solomon and the collaboration of Hezekiah’s men there are some dates that can be worked with. However there are not enough to give specific timing to the completion of the book though it could have been as late as third century B.C.E.
Influences
There have been suggestions that there is a crossover of some Egyptian nature in the proverbs from The Instructions of Amenemopet.
Proverbs as wisdom literature
The book of Proverbs is referred to as wisdom literature along with several other books: the book of Job, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, along with several apocryphal books.
Setting
It is difficult to pin the provenance of Proverbs down. Several suggestions have been made.
- Family
In the society of ancient Israel, the family played an important role in the upbringing and education of children. Some internal evidence hints to the use of Proverbs in a family setting: The phrase "my Son" appears some 20 times throughout the book. The role of the mother is also listed some 10 times.
- Court
The name of Solomon stands in the title of the book, thus suggesting a royal setting. Throughout the Old Testament is wisdom connected with the court.
- School
It is possible practical and reflective wisdom was transmitted in a house of learning or instruction. [1]
What is the central theme of the book?
The central theme to the book of Proverbs can be linked to Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction." This theme of centrality of the knowledge of God runs through the entirety of the book. The instructions that are given, although they are for everyday circumstances, allude to humankind’s uprightness before God. The thought pattern that the reverence and respect for God in all circumstances brings true knowledge is encouraged in this book. The book centers on the willingness to learn as important. God’s people were brought into the belief that God’s law is something that is part of life and is a duty, and this required obedience. Proverbs calls this kind of obedience the fear of the Lord. This obligation, which is similar to the knowledge of God that they had from the prophetic books, involves reverence, gratitude, and commitment to do the will of God in every circumstance. The main goal of Proverbs is to define clearly what it means to be fully devoted to God’s will and seeing his will accomplished in this world.
A second theme is that obedience to God's law will bring His blessing, while disobedience will result in disaster.
See also
- Pride goes before a fall
- Proverbs 31
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Benson, Clarence H., Old Testament Survey: Poetry and Prophecy, 1972
- Blank, S. H. "Book of Proverbs," in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible [1962]
- Chapman, Milo L., Purkiser, W.T., Wolf, Earl C. & Harper, A. F. Beacon Bible Commentary: Job through Song of Solomon, 1967
- Crenshaw, James L. "Book of Proverbs," The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 1992
- Dean, Matt. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume II, 2003
- Jewish Encyclopedia, with dates of compilation and manuscript traditions
- Lasor, William Sanford, Hubbard, David Allan, & Bush, Frederic Wm., Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament, 1996
- Murphy, Roland E., Wisdom Literature: Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Canticles, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. Grand Rapids, 1981
- Perdue, Leo G. Proverbs: interpretation A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, 2000
- Steinmann, Andrew E. "Proverbs 1-9 as a Solomonic Composition," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 43, no. 4
- Waltke, Bruce (2004). Book Of Proverbs: Chapters 1-15. Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0802825452.
- Waltke, Bruce (2005). The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31. Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0802827760.
External links
Online translations of Book of Proverbs:
- Jewish translations:
- Mishlei - Proverbs (Judaica Press) translation with Rashi's commentary at Chabad.org
- Christian translations:
Notes
- ↑ W. Dennis Tucker, "Literary Forms in the Wisdom Literature" In: An introduction to Wisdom Literature and the Psalms, FS Marvin E. Tate, ed. H. Wayne Ballard, 163-166
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