(e) From the religious or .<nipra-hrimnn sphere the following sayinjjs are derived : ' In the mount of the Loud it is seen ' [i.e. Divine Provi- dence is exercised; see, further, art. Jkiiovah- JlHKH] (Gn 22'*") ; ' The blind and the lame must not come into the house ' ((.e. the temple, 2 S 5'") ; 'The davs are prolonged, and every vision faileth ' (Kzk 12--); 'God hath power to help' (2 Ch 2rfi ; cf. 'With God nothing is impossible,' Lk 1"). This noting of the spheres from which the biblical proverbs are derived, prepares us for recognizing the vriqin of these —
V. The source of the proverbs nf the Bible. — This was twofold — one source formal, and one material. Their formal source lay in the ability of the human mind to compare the objects of its observation, and, from comparison of the various phenomena, to draw conclusions. The material source was the
sura of experiences gathered by men in the dift'erent spheres ot their environment. Both sources were in the last resort ojiened up by God himself. For the human capacity for separating oU' points of diii'erence and combining similarities, was a feature in the Divine image which was bestowed on man at his creation (Gn 1^'- 2'), and which survived the FaU (Gn 5'-> 9", 1 Co 11', Ja 3"); cf. 'The spirit ai man is the candle of the Lokd' (Pr 20-'''), and '(God) gave man understanding' (Sir 38" puk'j [n'l nj'3). And is not the same God the linal author of the experiences which form the material sub- stratum of the biblical proverbs? Hence the aged appear as Jahweh's representatives in the congre- gation (Lv 19^''' 'Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, etc., and fear thy God'). They are celebrated also elsewhere as possessors of w isdom, cf. Pr 18 &\ Job 12'^ (' with the ancient is wisdom ') IS"'*, although in the opinion of Elihu this rule is not without exceptions (32"). So also Ben Sira: ' Miss not the discourse of the aged, for they also learned of their fathers' (Sir 8"*) ; and the Preacher drew his sayings (a-^v^ Ec 12") from the experi- ences of his long life (1'^ 7^) ; cf. the exhortation, ' Let our lord consult only his old men ' (Tel el- Amarna Letters, ed. Winckler, No. xli. 11), and the Arabic, ' Length of experience is increase of knowledge' (ap. Schultens, Gram. Arab. p. 281). Hence we need not wonder that in the Bible itself proverbs are viewed as legitimate elements in its contents. Like the information of the husband- man spoken of in Is 28-', they have their original source in the Divine arrangement of the world and disposition of history.
vi. Proverbs outside Scripture. — From the same standpoint as above it is explicable how the proverbs of the Bible agree essentially with those which we find in the post-biblical Jewish writings and in the literary treasures of other nations. Further materials for comparison beyond what have been already cited from both these classes of writings will be found in the Literature.
LiTKRATTiRE. — J. Buxt^rf, FlorHp()iuin Bcbraicum, 1648; R. J. Furstenthal, liaU/iiiincfte AntltoUi'iie, lfs35 ; J. Fiirst, Pet' lensc/itnac aramtiitffher (Jnomfn utM Licdrr, 1836; L. Dvikes, RabhiiiiKche BluirumU^c, 18i4, and Xur rahhinUchen Spriich- kunde, 1S.')1 ; C. Taylor, Sayings of the Jewish Fathers'^, Cam- bridj,'e, 1897, Appendix, Camb. 1900; S. Scliechter, Aboth d« liabbi Nathan, Vindobona), 1837 ; Gabirol's D'3":2.i iniD -IBD, A Choice of Pearls, orijf inally, compiled from the Arabic, translated into Hebrew, with a faithful Knj^. tr. by B. H. Asher, London, 1809 ; Freytag, A rabutn proverbia, 1838-43 ; the Ethiopia Book of the Philosophers, portions of which are given in Dillmann's Chrestomathia .^thwpica, p. 40ff. ; G. Gerber, l/ie Sprache ala Kunst, Bd. ii. (1885) p. 405 ff. ; W. Budge, Oriental Wit, etc., London, 18B9, p. 31 fl. ED. KoNIO.
PROVERBS, BOOK OF.—
Introduction. I. Analysis of the book, ii. Unity and Authorship.
iii. Dates of tlie various components of the book, iv. Relation of the Miuisoretic text to ttie Versions. Literature.
The Book of Proverbs (.ibV •^;f*? ; LXX title Uapoiixlat, subscr. B Ilopoi/ifai, A II. i'oXoyuiii'ros, N n. iaX.) belongs, with Job and Qohcletli, to the Wisdom literature. In harmony with the char- acter of the Hebrew I/o/chnuih (wisdom), which is inspired by religious motives, this book as a whole has a decidedly religious character, although we find also that many maxims have found their way into it which bear upon ordinary prudence of con- duct, and are the result of purely human experi- ence. See, further, art. Wisdom.
i. Analysis of the Book. — The Book of Pro- verbs falls into a number of parts which are clearly distinct, and which are partially marked off by special titles — I (1) Chs. 1-9, which form the introduction to the
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PEOVERBS, BOOK OF
PROVERBS, BOOK. OF
book which now follows. In V Solomon is named us the autlior of llie proverbs, but v.^ appears also to announce tlie intention of publishing ' words and riddles of the wise.' The author of those chapters exhorts the reader, whom he addresses as ' my son,' to give himself w'ith all earnestness to the pursuit or wisdom, and to flee folly, which is thou;,'bt of predominatingly as con.si.sting in sensual indulgences. In ch. 8 Wisdom is introduced speak- ing in person, while in ch. 9 'Madam Folly' is opposed to • Madam Wisdom,' and the two are represented as issuing rival invitations to men. It is not possible to regard these chapters as a collec- tion of various exhortations intended as words of Introduction to books of proverbs (Bertheati), nor have we any right to assume that they contain serious interpolations (Hitzig). On the contrary, the unity of diction and of the whole mode of pre- sentation, as well as the equally evident unity in the train of ideas throughout these chapters, point to a single author.