138
PKOVERB
PROVERB
text of Sir IS™*" we read ' Study and meditation is wearisome thought,' where in tlie Greek version this 'study' is specialized as eOpftris rapajioXui', 'in- vention of parables.'
iii. The form of the proverb. — The following varieties of form are to be noted — (n) Some of these sentences are affirmative, and serve to commend the individual to whom the general judgment is applied. This is illustrated by the very tirst pro- verb we encounter in the Bible, namely, 'as Nim- rod a mighty conqueror in the estimation of Jahweh' (Gn lO^*"). Another nuishCil may have a negative character, and pass a taunting criticism on the persons to whom such a negative mdshcil refers. Tliis is the case with the sentence, ' Where- fore they that speak in proverbs say. Come unto Heshbon,' etc. (Nu 21"), or with the question, ' Is Saul also among the prophets?' (1 S 10'- II IQ^-*). A tauuting oracle of this kind is also to be spoken over the king of Babylon, when that city at last reaps the reward of her tyranny (Is U* 'Thou slialt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say. How hath the op- pressor ceased, the golden city ceased ! '). The same phenomenon occurs in Hab 2*, and a similar negative jndshdl is spoken about disobedient Israel in Mic 2*. Hence a formidable threat, occurring not rarely in the OT, is that some one shall be made the subject of a mdshal. Thus Israel, if it persists in its impiety, is to be a 'proverb' (Dt 28"). The other e.\aniple3 are : 1 K 9', Jer 24', Ezk 14' (D'^V'D^), Ps 44»5 69l^ Job 17» ('^s'o'?), 2 Ch
(J) Another formal difierence amongst proverbs shows itself in their varying lengths. A judgment is naturally expressed, of course, in a single simple sentence, and so we find it not only in that ' pro- verb of the ancients' in 1 S 24''', but in the great majority of the proverbs contained in the historical and, prophetical books of the Bible. Jer SI-"* and Ezk 12*-' 18- are e.xceptions, for in these the sen- tences are made up of two simple statements : for instance in the mdshal ' Tlie days are prolonged, and every vision faileth' (Ezk 12~). From this formal point of view we naturally obtain a rule of considerable importance for determining the date of the proverbs contained in the ' book of meshdlim' (Pr 1'-* 26'-«). That tlie Book of Proverbs does not form a unity is evident even from the titles wliich we meet with in 10' 22" 24=^ 25' 30' 31'. For whoever prefi.xed to the lOtli chapter the title ' the Proverbs of Solomon,' did not suppose that proverbs of Solomon were contained also in chs. 1-9. Now, the section 10'-22" posse.sses this for- mal characteristic, that the sentences contained in It are, with the exception of 19' (cf. 2r-^'-), expressed in isolated duitirhs, and although in these sentences causal (I6'2- =» 19" 21-» 22-') or final (lo*" 16^) clau-ses make their appearance, yet they form a part of the particular distich. But in tne section 22"-24*' groups of four, five, six, or more stichoi are more frequent. On the other hand, in chs. 25-29 the sentence is again frequently expressed by isolated distichs (25"- '^-''^-^s*-, esp. chs. 28 and 29), or by tristichs (25'* "), although tetrastichs also occur (perliaps in 25»-*'-, certainly in s'- «•"'•) The last two chapters of tlie book contain as a rule larger groups of lines, and exhibit also such devices as the alphabetical poem (31'"'"). But the isolation of the sentences is almost entirely wanting in chs. 1-9. There the teacher of wisdom develops his ideas almost always in connected expositions (cf. jst. lo-n 2'-i>- lo'- etc.). From these considerations alone the conclusion may be drawn with much probability that in the section 10'-22" we have the oldesi, collection of sayings (so recently also Wil- deboer in his essay, De Tijdsbepaling van het hoek der Spreuken, 1899, p. 7). See, further, the follow-
ing article. This rule that the extent of tha clauses in which a sentiment is expressed, increased in general as time went on, is favoured also when we compare the groups of sayings of Ben Sirs (p-2o.2i-:d. 57-30 21-18 etc.). The Book of Qohelcth, which, in the opinion of the present writer (cf. Einleitung, pp. 433-435), was written still later, \a likewise composed for the most part of continuous expositions. Post-biblical Jewish works also ex- hibit proverbs only of that kind which are inwoven in a continuous text, as pearls are wont tc be set in gold. Such is the case in the tractate Pirki Aboth (lit. 'chapters of the fathers'), which is per- haps the oldest portion of the Mishna.
iv. The material of the Biblical proverbs. — This may be best illustrated by indicating the spheres from which the particular sayings are diawn. Tliese are mainly five —
(a) From the Mineral Kingdom we have the following : ' The waters wear the stones ' (Job 14"), the Hebrew pendant to ' gutta cavat saxum ' ; ' A word fitly spoken (is like) apples of gold in pictures of silver (Pr 25"); 'Iron sharpeneth iron' ("27"); ' In the fire is the gold tried ' (Sir 2°) ; ' Gold has ruined many ' (8-°) ; ' Whoso toucheth pitch it shall cleave to his hand' (13'', Heb. text translated by C. Taylor) ; ' What fellowship shall earthen pot have with kettle, when, if this smite that, it is dashed in pieces?' (13-'=); 'What is heavier than lead,' etc. ? (22''') ; ' Sand and salt and a mass of iron is easier to bear than a man without under- standing' (v.").