RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Proverbs
earlier times — indeed they appear in prophetic discourse. The linguistic argument has also been used to press for a late date, the basis being the presence of " late Hebrew " and " Aramaic " words. Without reckoning words which are doubtfully deemed " late Hebrew " as occurring in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the priestly writings, there remain forms which are erroneously counted Aramaisms, and a few words or forms which are only possibly late or Aramaic. Similarly some constructions counted as Aramaisms can be otherwise accounted for. When these cases are removed the number of undoubted Aramaisms which remain do not amount to a proof that the section is of postexilic origin.
A third part follows in xxii. 17-xxiv. 22, usually regarded as an appendix to the part just considered; but it differs both in form and in content. In form it is a letter or exhortation to a young man whose parents still live (xxiii. 22) ; it is designated as " words of the wise " (xxii. 17), and 6. The the substance is set forth in a series of Third Sec- lines of poetry. Among exhortations tion, xxii. to rectitude and kindness appear 17-xxix. warnings against indulgence in wine, unchastity, and unbecoming behavior in business and society. The king is mentioned, but in the general sense of " ruler " (xxiv. 21) and not involving a Palestinian kingdom. The general situation and style make this part seem nearer in date to the first section than to the second. Another little appendix (xxiv. 23-34) begins with the words: " These also are of the wise," and the last two verses repeat vi. 10—11. A larger collection is found in xxv.-xxix., with a heading of its own (xxv. 1), and in character it closely resembles the second part of the book. The derivation of the Hebr. masked from the verb meaning " to compare " is strengthened by the fact that in this section many individual sayings consist of comparisons drawn from the regions of nature and of human life. Practical wisdom is here also emphasized — right speech, right conduct in crises, scorn of folly, form the principal themes. Occasional sayings denote a sharp observation of passing events (xxv. 26, xxvi. 11). A curious fact appears in this part, viz., that against the rule of the book prophecy is definitely recognized (xxix. 18), though at first glance as something lacking or past, but in reality demanding the present existence of prophetical direction. It is noticeable that the king is prominent in the foreground (xxv. 2-7) as a contemporary institution (xxix. 26, xxx. 27-28, 31). While the form of the title " king of Judah " presents a certain difficulty, there is no inherent and stringent improbability in the attribution of the collection to Hezekiah, though the title may be later than that king's time. The question of how much of the material in this section, which is probably made up of matter from various periods between Solomon and Hezekiah, is traceable to Solomon and his times can only be answered by saying that while the correctness of the attribution of proverbs to Solomon is doubtless correct, to assert that this or that proverb is his is beyond possibility. The passage xxv. 2 can hardly have had a king as its author. The close of the book is composed of three small | IX.— 20
sections which follow in the way of addenda to the rest of the work. The first embraces chap, xxx., headed by the title which should read, " The words of Agur ben Yakeh of Massa " (cf. I Chron. i. 30). The following context is probably cor- 7. The rupt and to be corrected: "I am great- Closing ly troubled, O God, troubled and Section, wasted away," this touching confession xxx.-xxxi. proceeding in verses 2 sqq. After this come sayings in somewhat novel form, some in the shape of riddles; verses 11-14, dealing with the godless, are also in strange construction, lacking a predicate; in v. 15 is mentioned the vampire [R. V. margin], a weird, perhaps demonic, being, with her daughters; while verse 31 contains a word which seems more Arabic than Hebrew. Marked individualities appear in this little piece — the four " who's " in verse 4, the four " way's " in 19, and others. A similar style is to be found only in vi. 16-19 in this book, though the exact method of naming first a certain number and then increasing that number by one is peculiar to this chapter in the canonical writings (cf. Ecclus. xxiii. 16, xxv. 7, xxvi. 5, 28). It would be interesting to discover who this Agur ben Yakeh is. The name has not an Israelitic sound, and individual words and phrases suggest an Arabic or Arabic-Aramaic or Edomitic origin for the piece. This does not answer the questions raised, for then one asks how out of such origins comes a piece which fits in so well with what a worshiper of Yahweh might have said. Somewhat similar is the little piece xxxi. 1-9, the title of which is to be read: " The words of Lemuel, king of Massa, which his mother taught him." So it seems that Massa is the name of a country, and, from the Aramaisms in the piece, Massa may have lain east or northeast of Palestine. The piece contains exhortation to rectitude and warnings against the contrary. The close of the book is an acrostic in praise of a virtuous woman. There is no datum, internal or external, suggesting the date of these last pieces. The first two must have been appended at a time when the book was otherwise practically complete; and xxx. 6 seems to look to a time when the " word of God " had received canonical assent. But then — what does the expression " word of God " mean, especially in a non-Israelitic writing ?
Thus the book in its present form is made up of several parts. The earlier dates given in the preceding discussion are the limits before which the collection could not have been begun 8. Conclu- — those limits are not determined by sion. the date of the latest parts, though these, of course, mark the earliest date for the redaction of the entire work and bring that down to postexilic times, but just when in that period is the question. Much depends upon the degree of Greek influence exhibited. Ecclesiasticus is a book so like Proverbs, and also one the date of which is closely fixed, that comparison of the two is invited; it is, moreover, a branch from the same stem as that from which Proverbs sprang. Gasser has shown with great assurance the dependence of Ben Sirach upon the book of Proverbs, in which it appears that Ben Sirach regarded Proverbs as one of the old possessions of his people, from which he
Proverbs Providence