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PROVERBS, BOOK OF

A collection of various wisdom sayings that seem to come from a wide span of centuries and from several separate sources and life settings. The name of the book derives from the heading found at 1:1 and again at the start of a second major collection at 10:1, “The mĕšālîm (proverbs) of Solomon.” Heb. mĕšālîm generally signifies didactic sayings which use a comparison or illustrative lesson, together with a poetic form or style of presentation. Its singular form, māšāl, describes a number of diverse literary genres: the simple proverb or folk saying (1 Sam. 10:12; Jer. 31:29), an oracular vision of Balaam (Num. 23:7-10), an extended allegory (Ezek. 17:1-10), or a psalm on the meaning of life (Ps. 49). Some of the simple sayings stem from the everyday life of the village and home (Jer. 23:28; Ezek. 16:44), but a great number that occur in Proverbs are directed at students from a master, and so seem to have been cultivated by a professional class of teachers. From Sumerian and Egyptian sources, we know that rote learning of lessons was favored in schools, and that often these consisted of lists of proverbial maxims about successful behavior. We can reasonably conclude that Proverbs developed from such school texts.

Outline

Proverbs contains six major groupings which can be identified as separate collections:

1:1–9:18

made up of 10 rather large instruction discourses from a teacher to his pupil and three speeches by personified wisdom;

10:1–22:16

a collection of the proverbs of “Solomon,” the largest body of sayings in the book;

22:17–24:22

The “Thirty Sayings” (cf. the NAB translation of 22:17-20), another collection of proverbs, which have a decided relationship to an Egyptian work, the Thirty Precepts of Amenemope;

24:23-34

listed as an appendix of proverbs to the previous collection;

25:1–29:27

a second collection of proverbs attributed to Solomon;

30:1–31:31

two collections from foreign kings, Agur and Lemuel.

As is evident from chs. 30–31, which combine two sources, and from the note at 25:1 that Hezekiah’s men copied older proverbs, these six groupings themselves may have been gathered from smaller and earlier collections. The book can also be divided differently, into two major parts: chs. 1–9, which contain a number of larger “instruction genres” with only a few individual proverbs; and chs. 10–31, which contain just short proverbial sentences.

The entire book, however, has been unified by two devices: a general introduction in 1:2-7 that states the purpose is to help all to gain wisdom by both learning and piety; and several reflections on “woman wisdom” which are carefully positioned to organize the whole. She speaks on her own behalf in 1:20-33; 9:1-18 to open and close the first part, and is described in 31:10-31 as the ideal woman for a “wise husband” to marry, matching the general summons of 1:1-7. This editorial use of personified wisdom serves as a structural unifier, but it also makes the book more than a general textbook of maxims by announcing a religious claim on the reader who must first embrace the call of wisdom and then live by it, seeing it both as a gift from God and as a daily way of response to God.

Date

Since proverbs occur in the earliest known literary works in Sumer, and examples of the “instruction genre” (chs. 1–9) are known from Egypt in the early 2nd millennium, the book of Proverbs stems from very ancient roots. Many of the individual instructions and sayings may be among the oldest written parts of the Bible, but the question remains open whether the cultivation of learned proverbs and the editorial gathering of these collections did not occur at a later time. Solomon in 1 Kgs. 4:32(MT 5:12) is credited with composing many proverbs, and royalty are especially associated with the gift of divine wisdom in the ancient Near East (cf. 1 Kgs 3:9-28). Thus there is nothing improbable in a tradition that many proverbs came from the court of the kings of Judah or of northern Israel. Indeed, it is common scholarly opinion today that although some individual wisdom sayings and maxims might well have originated in the home or village life where elders were the respository of folk wisdom, the present books of wisdom stemmed from either the royal court and its training of government and priestly officials (e.g., Job and Proverbs) or from later schools for upper-class educated youths in postexilic Judah (e.g., Ecclesiastes and Sirach).

In particular, Proverbs’ lack of interest in sacred history and its failure to group sayings by subject matter (qualities found in 2nd-century Sirach) probably reflects preexilic wisdom composition during the Monarchy, even if the book later received some editorial refinement in the early Second Temple period. Scholars half a century ago judged that its theology of righteousness and evil reflected either Deuteronomic influence or a postexilic piety of the “Fear of the Lord.” As a result they tended to date all wisdom books in the Hellenistic era. Now that most themes in Proverbs are well known in ancient Near Eastern wisdom sources prior to David, general consensus agrees that the basic book in Hebrew reflects the period of the Monarchy, confirming what the individual headings claim. Not one of the six collections needs to be dated after the Exile. The fact that the LXX contains 130 additional proverbs, mostly very Hellenistic in nature, supports this conclusion since it indicates that the text in Greek had a lively period of growth after the MT was fixed and closed.

The Individual Sections

1:1-7

Challenging the reader to cultivate wisdom, this general preface piles up a number of synonyms that seem to be technical terms for aspects of being wise. The different terms reflect professional interest in distinctions that can be used as teaching tools. It ends with the clear identification of proper religious observance (“fear of the Lord”) with obtaining wisdom.

1:8–9:18

The body of the first part of the book is made up of distinct instructions from teacher to pupil, built around the search for wisdom during the educational period of youth and around a sharp metaphorical contrast between “woman wisdom” and “dame folly” who seduces the young both sexually and intellectually away from prudence and wisdom. The units are 1:8-19; 1:20-33; 2:1-22; 3:1-12; 3:13-35; 4:1-9; 4:10-27; 5:1-23; 6:1-19; 6:20-35; 7:1-27; 8:1-36; 9:1-18. No single “plot” runs through all the instructions, and they frequently return to the same themes. But as a whole, they create a model for conduct and decision making based on trust in and faithfulness to the God of Israel. Unlike the proverb collections in chs. 10–31, God is frequently mentioned as the source of wisdom in these chapters, and the instructions shape a vision by which the student will find guidance in life’s decisions.

10:1–22:16

This collection contains 375 individual sayings, and they include practical advice on how to succeed in life (e.g., 12:9, “better a lowly man who supports himself than one of apparent dignity who lacks bread”), as well as specifically Israelite piety (e.g., 16:6, “By kindness and piety guilt is atoned for, and by fear of the Lord one avoids evil”). Major topics include the contrast between the ways of the wicked and of the righteous, parental advice on the education of children, proper treatment of the poor, developing good work habits, and the right use of speech. A single plan for grouping sayings has eluded commentators until now, and the principle seems to be that repetition and variation is the mother of learning.

22:17–24:22

There are decided parallels between this collection and the Egyptian Teaching of Amenemope. Since the latter was composed between 1000 and 600 b.c.e., it is likely that Israelite sages knew of it and composed their own table of 30 sayings using pieces of the Egyptian work. In general, its themes are similar to those of chs. 10–22.

24:23-34

The heading in v. 23, “These also are sayings of the wise,” marks this as an appendix to the previous section. Its few proverbs focus on work habits and justice in the courts and may be from a much older text now lost.

25:1–29:27

This second collection attributed to Solomon repeats many of the topics in the first collection. It echoes the practical wisdom of success, and God’s name occurs rarely. The heading says it was gathered by Hezekiah’s scribes in the late 8th century, and there is no reason to doubt this. Sharp contrasts are drawn between the wise and the fool, and the lazy versus the hardworking. The problems of wealth, poverty, speech, trust between coworkers, and friendship all receive attention.

30:1–31:31

From the headings at 30:1; 31:1, it seems there are two collections, the words of Agur and those of Lemuel. But by form and content, there appear to be four units (30:1-6; 7-33; 31:1-9, 10-33). The latter is more likely, especially since 31:10-33 is an alphabetic acrostic poem seemingly composed as a final conclusion to the whole book. The stress in both chapters is on foreign (eastern) kings or sages who also search for the wisdom found in this book.

Theological Themes

Wisdom’s spirituality is practical and prudent. It counsels caution in matters between sexes, commitment to work as a source of success; careful and coolheaded speech, respect for authority, personal humility, and control of the passions in general. These were the qualities of leadership and were highly prized personal virtues for all social interaction. They are usually assumed to be indications of the upper-class audience for whom the book was written.

The most frequent message of individual proverbs and sayings is to avoid the way of the “wicked,” which involves scoffers, slanderers, troublemakers, heedless behavior, arrogance, rash actions, hotheaded reactions, and even practical atheism about the divine consequences from human actions. The “wicked” can range from the senseless and naive to the cruel and brutish.

The way of the “righteous” involves understanding, discipline, skill in setting a life course, and taking or giving good advice about God and the world. These contrasts betwen the “wicked” and the “righteous” are scattered in every chapter of the book and form a thread of unity among the diverse counsels. Interestingly enough, they are expressed altogether only in one place, Ps. 1, , which appears to interpret the Psalter in light of the wisdom of Proverbs.

Utterances and instructions are often contradictory: e.g., “the mouth of the righteous is a source of life” (10:11); “A man of understanding remains silent” (11:12). This does not matter, for proper conduct means choosing the right option for each situation. Discretion in new circumstances and wonder at the mystery of life with its limits and boundaries are tolerated as respectfully as the traditional knowledge passed down by the masters.

The questions of why God permits suffering or injustice or death are rarely posed in Proverbs. They are addressed only where specific behavior reveals how acts bear evil consequences, where cause leads to effect. In these cases the wise pupil must master the lessons on how to avoid evil. Where experience offers no clear explanations or guidelines, Proverbs counsels staying close to the way of the Lord known by traditional faith or seen in the good order of creation.

A remarkable exaltation of wisdom as the expression of the divine will is provided by 8:22-31 (and less clearly in personified wisdom at 1:20-33; 9:1-12). After describing the role of wisdom in everything that God made, 8:30-31 suggests wisdom was the ʾāmôn, the “architect” or “divine delight” (i.e., God’s beloved child), who was both inspirer and designer of the universe by being at play with God. Behind this imagery, wisdom is clearly seen as a gift of God to help us understand the divine personal creator.

Finally, the portrait of the ideal wife in the closing passages of 31:10-33 sums up the model of the wise, and extends the message of the book clearly beyond a targeted audience of promising young males in higher education to all men and women alike with the same lesson for all: wisdom comes to fruition in fear of the Lord, the same point at which the book started in 1:7.

See Wisdom, Wisdom Literature.

Bibliography. L. Boadt, Introduction to Wisdom Literature and the Book of Proverbs. Collegeville Bible Commentary 18 (Collegeville, 1986); W. McKane, Proverbs. OTL (Philadelphia, 1970); R. N. Whybray, Proverbs. NCBC (Grand Rapids, 1994).

Lawrence Boadt

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PROVERBS, BOOK OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)