The Pulpit Commentary — Proverbs — Section 18

outside title in the Vnlgiite is more elab,,. CHAPTER I. rately given as, 'Liber Provcrbiorum, quern Ver11. l~-Part I. THE TITLE AND Hebrrei Misle appellant' (' The Book of the SUPERSCRIPTION. The superscription of the Proverbs, which the Hebrews call M'isle '). Proverbs, which extends from ver. I to ver• In the Talmud it is called the 'Book of 6, furnishes us with an epitome in short aud Wisdom' (n~?i;i ;~9, Sepher Khokhmah); and concise language of the general sco e Origen (Ensebius, 'Hist. Eccl.,' vi. 25) de- bearing of the book an porn s out its signates it Mur,1.w9, the Greek form of the spec1lio utn¾,both 'to the inexperienced Hebrew M'shaloth (n1S~72). Among the and to those already wise. Thus (1) in ver. ancient Greek Fathers, e.g. Clement, Hege- I it gives the name of the author to whom sippus, Irenreus, the book was known by a the proverbs are attributed; (2) in vers. 2 variety of titles, all more or less descriptive e.nd 3 it declares the e.im, object, or design of of its contents as a repository of wisdom. the collection, which is to lead fu the acqu~ ment of wisdom generally ; and (3) in vers. Ver. 1.-The proverbs of Solomon. The 4-6 it proceeds to indicate the special word which is here translated "proverbs " utility the collection will be to two main is the original mishle ('~i;p ), the construct classes-to the simple and immature, on the case of mashal (':>~,;,), which, again, is derived one hand, in opening and enlarging their from the verb mashal 0~9), signifying (1) understanding, o.nd so providing them with "to make like," "to assimilate." and (2) "to have dominion" (Geaenius). The radical prudent rules of conduct by which they me.y signification of mashal is "comparison" or 1·egulate the course of life ; and, on the "similitude," and in this sense it is applied other, to the wise e.nd intelligent, in further generally to the utterances of the wise. In increasing their knowledge or learning, ancl. Numb. xxiii. 7, 8 it is used of the prophetic thus rendering them competent to compre- predictions of Balaam ; certain didactic psalms, e.g. Ps. xlix. 5 and lxxviii. 2, ure hend, and also to explain to others less so designated, and in Job (xxvii. 1 r,nd favourably situated than themselves, other xxix. I) it describes the sententions dis- proverbs, or enigmas, or sayings, of a like courses of wise men. While all these come recondite nature to those now to be brought under the generio term of m'shalim, though before them. few or no oompe.risons a.re found in theru. we find the term mashal sometimes used of The title of the book embodied in the text what are proverbs in the sense of popular is, ' The Proverbs of Solomon the son of sayings. Compare " Therefore it became u. David, King of Israel,' but the shorter de- proverb (Sr.;~), Is Saul e.lso among the pro- signation by which it was and is known phets?" (1 Sam. x. 12); and see nl,o 0Lhc1 among the Jews is Mishle ('11?1?), taken from instanoes in Ezek. xvi. 4 and xviii. 2. In the word with which the book begins, this sense it is also found in the collection before us. The predominant idea. of the Analogously, in the Authorized Version it term, however, is that of comp,uison or is styled 'The Proverbs,' and the heading similitude, e.nd as such it is better repre- in the LXX. is mzpo,µ/111 ~o,\0~11Tos. The sented by the Greek 1ra.p11/30,1.{, (from 1rapa.· PROVERBS, B  2 THE PROVERBS, [OH, I, 1-33,