(viii. 1).
2. In the second division, " the Proverbs of Solomon," which form the kernel of the book, (x-xxii, 17). we linil a striking similarity of structure throughout. Ev- ery verse (reckoned by Delitzsch at 375) in its normal form consists of two members, each containing three, four, or more randy live short words. (The one ex- ception to this rule | xix. 7 | is probably due to the Ins- of a member, which is supplied by the Sept.) Every verse i- independent, with no necessary connection with those that precede or follow, and. generally speaking, no attempt at arrangement. Ewald's theory of a con- tinuous thread of connection running through this col- lection in iis original form, and binding together the scattered sayings, has absolutely no evidence in its fa- vor, and can only In- sustained by supposing an almost total dismemberment of this portion of the hook. It is true there are cases in which the same subject recurs in two or three successive verse9 (e. g. \. 2 5; 1* 21 : xi. I 8; 21 26), bul these are the exceptions, and only oc- cur, as Ewald elsewhere allows, when, from the studied brevity ol the proverbial form, a thought cannot he ex- pressed in all its fulness in a single verse. The eases in which the same characteristic word or words recur in successive proverbs arc more frequent (e. i,r. x, 6, 7: 8, HI; xi. 5, ii; 10, 11. etc.). But in every instance each 3 a single definite idea, nor do we ever meet
with two \crses so cm 'ted that the latter contains
the reason of the counsel, or the application of the illus- tration given in the former.
Nearly the whole of the proverbs in the earlier part of this division are antithetical; hut after the middle of ch. w this characteristic gradually disappears, and is almost i ii ti rely lost in the concluding chapters. A large number are synonymous (e. g. \i. 7. 25, 30; x ii. I I. 28; \i\ . 13, 17. 19, etc. i. some aphoristic i <•. g. \i. 31 : xiii, i ally with the comparative and "" ( e. g. xii. 9; xv. 16, 17; xvi. 8, '.'. etc.), or *~ 7X. ••much more" U; xv. ll: xvii. 7 >. Others are synthetic (x, 18; xi. 29; xiv. 17. etc); only two arc parabolic >\. 2H: xi. 22).
The style is lower and more prosaic than in the for- mer -eci ion. Ewald regards il as an example oi' the
most ancient and Bimpleal poetical style, full of prime- val terseness, and bearing the visible stamp of antiquity in its language and imagery without any trace of later coloring. He remarks very justly that the proverbs in
this collection are not to he looked upon as a collection of popular sayings, embodying mere prudential wisdom, hut that they belong to the higher life, and are as broad in their grasp of truth a- in their range of thought The germ of many of them may have been found in popular saying8; hut the -kill and delicacy with which
they have been fashioned into their present shape, though of the simple-i kind, display the hand of a master.
Ewald remark- i in following peculiar phrases a- oc- curring in this section. ■• Fountain of life," x, 11; xiii, II: xiv. 27: xvi, 22 (comp. Psa. xxxvi, 9 [10 i: ■■tree of life." iii. IS; xi, 30; xiii. 12: xv. 1: "snare- of death." xiii. II; xi\.27ic p. 1'sa. xviii. ."> ; r. \ : and
the following favorite word- Xii"":. •• healing," in va- rious similes and application-, xii. 18; xiii. 17: xvi, 21
ihut this als :curs in the former section, iv. 22; vi.
15) : rrri*2. "destruction," x. 1 1. 15, 29; xiii. 3; xiv, 28; xviii. 7: xxi. 15; and only in four other place- iu the whole Bible: !?"". part, from rys. -to blow," xii, 17; xiv. 5. 25; xix. 5 9 (comp. vi. 19; Psa. xii. 6; xxvii, 11): the unfrequenl roots r.bo, " perverseness," xi, ;i : xv, 4, and the verb r23. "to pervert." "de- stroy," xiii. ti: xix, :J : xxi, 12: xxii. 12: the phrase ~~}~ N5. "shall not go unpunished," xi. 21 : xvi, 5; xvii. 5 (comp. xxviii. 20; vi. 29): T". "he ihat pur-
sueth." xi. 19; xii. II: xiii. 21: xv. 9; xix. 7 (( p.
xxviii, 19 I, and now here else. Ewald instances also as archaic phrases not met with elsewhere, ri^'":."5< ~tv, "hut for a moment." xii. 19: "*" "". "hand join in hand," xi. 21; xvi, 5: "rrr". "meddled with." xvii, 11: xviii. 1: xx. :!: "j:H5, " whisperer," "talebearer," xvi, 28; xviii. 8 (comp. xxvi, 20 22). The word "J", ■■i here i-." though frequent elsewhere, scarcely occurs in Proverbs, save in this section, xi, 24; xii. 18; xiii, 7, 23; xiv. 12. etc.
o. With xxii. 17." the word- of the w i-," (comp. i, 6), we are carried hack to the style and language of the proem (ch. i ix I, of which we ari' also reminded by the continued addle-- in the second person singular, and the use of "my son." There i-. however, a difference in the phraseology and language; and. as Maurer re- marks, the diction is not unfrequently rugged and awk- ward, and somewhat labored. Parallelism i- neglected. The moral precept- are longer than those of ch. x-xxii. hut not so diffuse .as those of the first section. We find examples of the distich, xxii, 28; xxiii.'.1: xxiv. 7 10: the trisiich. xxii. 29; xxiv. 29: hut the tetrastich is the most frequent, the favorite form being thai in which the second member gives the ground of the tir-t. xxii. 22, 23; 21. 2.".: 26, 27. etc. We also tin. I proverbs of live members, xxiii. 1. 5; xxiv. :;. I: several of six.