LiTERATUitK.— Bertholet, Di^ StfUuiig der Israclittn und tier Judrn zu </.» Frrmdm (1S06) ; Scluirer, IIJP M. ii. pp. 291- 827, c(. p. 2111 (f., iii. 27i)-320 (ct. GJi'^ § 31); Allen, "On the Meaning of -rp^rr./yTo.- in Ihe Septuafrint' (/i'x^'»*(f"r, 1S94, pp. 2W-27i) ; A. n. Davidson, 'They Umt Fear tlie l.oni,' in Ezpo». Timei, iii. (1&92). 491 ff.; J. Strau.ss, ' Table-Fellowship of Jew and Gentile.' in Expog. Timet. i». (1S93). 30711. On later liab- binical \iews see Bacher, />i> Afjada der Tannaiten, Die Agada der pahtxtitwiuiticltcn Ainoraer\iui\ii\, 8. ' I'roselyten ') ; Weber, Die J lidijiclie Theot'tyie (Indea, t. ' Proselyten ') ; Hamburger, Beal-Eney. (art. ' I'roseljt '). f . C. PORTER.
PROVE. — There are several Fleb. and Gr. verbs translated 'prove' in AV, but they fall into two classes, according a.s the Eng. word means (1) to test, put to the proof ; or (2) to bring forward proof, demonstrate. The lirst is the more primi- tive meaning, as well in the Lat. probare and the Fr. prover as in the Kng. ' prove.' It has now gone out of u.se, but in AV it is rather more fre- quent than the second meaning. A familiar ex- ample is Mai 3'° ' Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing.' Cf. Udall, Errismus' Paraphrase, i. 67, 'Jesus thought good to prove how much his scholars had
{)iohted by hearing so riiuche communicacioii, and )y seeing so many miracles . . . therefore he de- niandeth of them, sayin", Whom doe men talke that the sone of man is ? and p. 103, ' I'ilate per- ceyvyng that though he proved all wayes and meanes yet he i)reva3-led notliyng . . . he assoyled Jesus before that he condeuined hym.' This, as Skeat remarks, is the lue.-uiiiig of 'prove' in the proverb, 'The exception proves the rule' = Lat. exceplio pruhat regulam ; tlie idea that an excep- tion dcmonxtrateji a nile is, as he s.ays, plainly absurd. See also Driver, Parallel Psalter, 4.j'2 f.
J. Hastings. PROVERB. — 1. The connotation of the term ' ProDc.r/j.' The proverb is a familiar phenomenon, but when the question is put. What is its place in the system of devices that enter into the employ- ment of language, a correct reply will hardly be found in the literature dealing with the use of proverbs. An attempt will be made in the present article to fumisli a satisfactory answer. We assign the proverb to the category of aynecdocliiriil e.\- pressions, regarding it a.s a species of the tofum Itrn parts. The proverb is a general pr<)|iosition, which throws its light upon a number of single instances. This is coiiliniied by the biblical usajje in two ways— (a) It happens more than once in
• i'lta, 23, 31. and cf. Ant. iv. viii. 10, J. xX. 7, jcvi. vl. 8, •- All. ii. :i3, 40; I'hilo, de .Monarch, i. 7 (cf. Jer 2" 181»-'», Mi.- 4-''),
the OT that one and tlie same sentence is in ona passage put into the mouth of the general subject 'they' (Germ, mnn, Fr. <»!), and in another is called a 'proverb.' In 1 S IS)-"' we read, 'Where- fore they s.ay. Is Saul also among the prophets?' whereas in the p.arallel [lassage (10'-''') we find, ' Therefore it became a ma.i/uil. Is Saul also among the prophets'? Again, in Jer 31-'» we read, 'In those days they shall say no more. The fathers have e<aten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge,' but in Ezk 18^ we find in place of this, ' What mean ye, th.at ye use this mushal in the land of Israel, The fatliers have eaten sour gr.apes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?' (A) But even the meanin" of mdsheil appears to the present writer to show that the sayings to which this designation is applied were general proposi- tions. For in art. Parable (in OT) we consider we havo proved that the original sense of mashed was ' likeness ' or ' identity,' and as the usual form of an identiticatioii is the combination of subject and pre- dicate, mdshdl became an expression for a judgment in general. What, then, is the Hebrew md.<ihal but a general proposition ? In this way we may ex- plain the u»e of md.thdl also for an authoritative utterance iu Nu 23'- '» 24^- '»•»"• =3_ j„b 27' 29'. From this point md,9hfd could readily attain to the meaning 'proverb,' which it possesses also, e.g., in the recently-discovered Heb. text of Sir 47"', where
we read htra, Syr. ]JALd, Gr. irapoi/xiai, Vetus ( = Vulgate) Latina proverhia.
ii. The general proposition and the proverb in the narrower sense in their mutual relations. — These two belong to the same category, and the border-line between them <annot alwaj's be sharply drawn ; but the e.ssential difference between a general proposition and a proverb is this, that the proverb has entered more upon the stage of tin- conscious existence. Prominent representatives of the two groups &re the following : (a) General sentences such as ' Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the com ' (Dt 25''). This sentence is, so to speak, on the way to go over to the camp of the proverbs (cf. I Co 9», I Ti 5'"), but it has not yet reached this goal. Other general sentences ot the same kind occur '' ! S ,5-'^ ('To obey is better than sacrilice'), 1 IC 20'-^ Jer 13'-^ 23'"^ Ps 02"*', 2 Ch 2r)8'>;3, cf. I.k I".— (6) But such sayings as the following have more certainly at- tained to the stage of current use, and are tliere- fore jorowcrfc?in the more special sense: 'as Nimrod a mighty hunter [i.e. warrior or conqueror] before the Lord,' Gn 10"'', cf. 22'-"', ,Ig 8-'"', 1 S lo'^ (l| 19-') 24", 2 S 5"*'> •20'«, Is 32«'^, Jer 31-», Ezk 1'2" 16"'' IS-', Job 2^", Lk 4», .In 4" (6 \67os, k.t.X.), 2 P 2--' {wapoifila). — The genetic relation of the two groups is this, tliat tlie general sentences form a wider circle, from which the jnoverbs stand out as an /'lite, .and the two coiu-entric circle.^ form a constant parallel. — There is even a passage in the OT where the characteristic of currency which belongs to the proverb proper has clear expression gi\en to it. We refer to 1 S 24'^, where the sentence "Out of the wicked cometh forth wickedness ' is called Ss'? 'ppn, i.e. ' the proverb of the ancients ' (cf., on the collective sense of the singul;ir, Koiiig, .^i/ntax, § '2o6e). What can this mean but that this judg- ment has been long passed, and preserved during the centuries? It is the same when in 2 S 2U'" we read, ' They were wont in olil time to speak, saying. They shall surely ask counsel at Abel.' On the other hand, the OT contains a remark from which we see that general sentences might be regarded as the produit of reflexion. In the pasfage (Ec 1'2" ") where the Preacher says that he sotght out many parables (D''?»'?, lit. '.sentences'), he adds, ' Mudi study is a weariness of the flesh.' So in the Heb.