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THE BOOK OF PROVERBS
Proverbs is an anthology of collections of sayings and instructions.
Many of the sayings and perhaps some instructions were composed in the monarchic period
(late eleventh to the early sixth centuries). Editing of the whole book was done in the early postexilic period,
in the view of most scholars; at that time chaps. 1-9 would have been added as the introduction.
Whether the material originated among royal scribes (as 25:1 seems to suggest) imitating common literary genres, or whether it arose among tribal elders inculcating traditional ways, is disputed.
The origin of the material, however, need not be imagined in an either/or scenario.
Folk wisdom and observations could surely have been elaborated and re-expressed by liarned scribes:
"What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed" (Alexander Pope). There can be no doubt, however,
that Proverbs is sophisticated literature by talented writers, winning readers with its compelling portrait of wisdom
and inviting them to see life afresh, "wisely," through its wit, originality, and shrewd observation.
The primary purpose of the book is to teach wisdom, not only to the young and inexperienced (1:2-4)
but also to the advanced (1:5-6). Wisdom in the ancient Near East was not theoretical knowledge
but practical expertise. Jewelers who cut precioous stones were wise; kings who made their dominion peaceful
and prosperous were wise. One could be wise in daily life, too, in knowing how to live successfully
(having a prosperous household and living a long and healthy life) and without trouble in God's suniverse.
Ultimately wisdom, or "sound guidance" (1:5), aims at the formation of character.
In the ancient Near East, people assumed that wisdom belonged to the gods, who were wise by reason
of their divinity; human beings needed to have wisdom granted them by the gods.
Creation accounts of neighboring cultures depict creation in two stages. In the first stage, human beings lived
an animal-like existence, without clothes, writing, or kingship (proper governance). Over time, the gods came to
realize that such a low grade of existence made the human race inadequate as their servants,
so they endowed the race with "wisdom," which consisted of culture (e.g., kingship)
and crafts (e.g., knowledge of farming, ability to weave). Such wisdom elevatged the race to a "human" level
and made them effective servants of the gods. Furthermore, divine wisdom was mediated to human beings through earthly institutions ── the king, scribes (who produced wise writings),
and heads of families (fathers, sometimes mothers). These traditional mediators appear in Proverbs:
the book is credited to King Solomon, and kings are respectfully mentioned as pillars of society (e.g., 16:12-15);
writings are a source of wisdom (1:1-7); the father instructing his son is the major paradigm of teaching.
Proverbs differs, however, from other wisdom books in concentrating on wisdom itself, treating it as a virtually
independent entity and personifying it as ann attractive woman. Other books urge readers to perform wise acts,
but Proverbs urges them to seek wisdom itself and portrays wisdom as a woman seeking human beings
as disciples and companions.
Chapters 1-9 introduce the book, drawing attention to wisdom itself and its inherent value rather than
exhorting to particular wise actions. The chapters personify wisdom as a woman and draw an extended analogy
between finding a wife, or founding and maintaining a house(hold), and finding wisdom.
The collections following chap. 9 consist largely of independent, two-line sayings, yielding their often indirect
or paradoxical meaning only to readers willing to ponder them. To reflect on the sayings is perhaps what chaps.
1-9 mean by living with Wisdom and dwelling in her house.
The Book of Proverbs can make an important contribution to Christians and Jews today.
First, it places the pursuit of wisdom over the performance of individual wise acts. To seek wisdom above all things
is a fundamental option and a way of life. Second, it portrays the quest as filled with obstacles. There are men
and women who offer a substitute for the real thing; discernment is required. Third, the book teaches
that acquiring wisdom is both a human task and a divine gift. One can make oneself ready to receive by discip-line, but one cannot take so divine a gift. Fourth, wisdom is in the world but it is not obvious to people entirely
caught up with daily activities. The instructions and the aphorisms of the book can free the mind to see new things. Christians will see in personified Wisdom aspects of Jesus Christ, who they believe is divine wisdom sent to give
human beings true and full life. Yet there is a universal dimension to Proverbs,
for in its attention to human experience it creates a likn to all people of good will.
The genres and themes of Proverbs continued on in Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, and the later Pirqe Abot
(The Sayings of the Fathers), a treatise in the Mishnah, which became the object of commentary
in Abot de Rabbi Nathan. The New Testament saw Jesus as a wisdom teacher and employed the tradition
of personified wisdom of chaps. 2 and 8 to express his incarnation. The Letter of James is an instruction resembling
those in Proverbs. Wisdom traditions influenced the Gospels of Matthew and Luke through a common source
(see, e.g., Mt 11:25-27 and Lk 10:21-22, which seem to derive their father-son language, at least in part,
from wisdom descended from on high to offer human beings life and truth and make disciples of them,
a view largely reflected in Proverbs 1-9. In later Judaism, Hebrew ethical wills,
in which parents hand on to their children their wisdom, borrowed from the genre of instruction.
The original audience of the instructions and sayings seems to have been male. The father addresses his son,
marriage is finding a wife, success often is serving the king or farming effectively. The book itself, however,
expands the traditional audience of youths (1:4) to include older, more experienced, people (1:5).
It broadens the father-son language by mentionin g the mother, and incorporates sayings on human experience
generally. The father teaching his son becomes a model for anyone teaching a way of life to another person.
The canonical process furthered such inclusiveness, for Proverbs was made part of the Bible
that addresses all Israel.
The Book of Proverbs has nine sections:
Ⅰ. Title and Introduction (1:1-7)
Ⅱ. Instructions of Parents and of Woman Wisdom (1:8-9:18)
Ⅲ. First Solomonic Collection of Sayings (10:1-22:16)
Ⅳ. Sayings of the Wise (22:17-24:22)
Ⅴ. Further Sayings of the Wise (24:23-34)
Ⅵ. Second Solomonic Collection, Collected under king Hezekiah (25:1-29:27)
Ⅶ. Sayings of Agur and Others (30:1-33)
Ⅷ. Sayings of King Lemuel (31:1-9)
Ⅸ. Poem on the Woman of Worth (31:10-31)
Part Ⅱ is judged by many scholars to contain ten instructions
(1:8-19; chap. 2; 3:1-12, 21-35; 4:1-9,10-19, 20-27; chap. 5; 6:20-35; chap. 7),
three wisdom poems (1:20-33; chap. 8; 9:1-6 + 11, 13-18), and two interludes (3:13-20; 6:1-19).
Ⅰ. Title and Introduction
1
Purpose of the Proverbs of Solomon
1. The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David,
king of Isrel:
2. That people may know wisdom and discipline,
may understand intelligent sayings;
3. May receive instruction on wise conduct,
in what is right, just and fair;
4. That resourcefulness may be imparted to the naive,
knowledge and discretion to the young.
5. The wise by hearing them will advance in learning,
the intelligent will gain sound guidance,
6. To comprehend proverb and byword,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7. Fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
foolds despise wisdom and discipline.
Ⅱ. Instructions of Parents and of Woman Wisdom
The Path of the Wicked: Greed and Violence
8. Hear, my son, your father's instruction,
and reject not your mother's teaching;
9. A graceful diadem will they be for your head;
a pendant for your neck.
10. My son, should sinners entice you,
11. do not go if they say, "Come along with us!
Let us lie in wait for blood,
unprovoked, let us trap the innocent;
12. Let us swallow them alive, like Sheol,
whole, like those who go down to the pit!
13. All kinds of precious wealth shall we gain,
we shall fill our houses with booty;
14. Cast in your lot with us,
we shall all have one purse!"
15. My son, do not walk in the way with them,
hold back your foot from their path!
16. [For their feet run to evil,
they hasten to shed blood.]
17. In vain a net is spread
right under the eyes of any bird ──
18. They lie in wait for their own blood,
they set a trap for their own lives.
19. This is the way of everyone greedy for loot:
it takes away their lives.
Wisdom in Person Gives a Warning
20. Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the open squares she raises her voice;
21. Down the crowded ways she calls out,
at the city gates she utters her words:
22. "How long, you naive ones, will you love naivete,
23. How long will you turn away at my reproof?
[The arrogant delight in their arrogance,
and fools hate knowledge.]
Lo! I will pour out to you my spirit,
I will acquaint you with my words:
24. 'Because I called and you refused,
extended my hand and no one took notice;
25. Because you disdained all my counsel,
and my reproof you ignored ──
26. I, in my turn, will laugh at your doom;
will mock when terror overtakes you;
27. When terror comes upon you like a storm,
and your doom approaches like a whirlwind;
when distress and anguish befall you.'
28. Then they will call me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me, but will not find me,
29. Because they hated knowledge,
and the fear of the LORD they did not choose.
30. They ignored my counsel,
they spurned all my reproof;
31. Well, then, they shall eat the fruit of their own way,
and with their own devices be glutted.
32. For the straying of the naive kills them,
the smugness of fools destroys them.
33. But whoever obeys me dwells in security,
in peace, without fear of harm."
2
The Blessings of Wisdom
1. My son, if you receive my words
and treasure my commands,
2. Turning your ear to wisdom,
inclining your heart to understanding;
3. Yes, if you call for intelligence,
and to understanding raise your voice;
4. If you seek her like silver,
and like hidden treasures search her out,
5. Then will you understand the fear of the LORD;
the knowledge of God you will find;
6. For the LORD gives wisdom,
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7. He has success in store for the upright,
is the shield of those who walk honestly,
8. Guarding the paths of justice,
protecting the way of his faithful ones,
9. Then you will understand what is right and just,
what is fair, every good path;
10. For wisdom will enter your heart,
knowledge will be at home in your soul,
11. Discretion will watch over you,
understanding will guard you;
12. Saving you from the way of the wicked,
from those whose speech is perverse.
13. From those who have left the straight paths
to walk in the ways of darkness,
14. Who delight in doing evil
and celebrate perversity;
15. Whose ways are crooked,
whose paths are devious;
16. Saving you from a stranger,
from a foreign woman with her smooth words,
17. One who forsakes the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God;
18. For her path sinks down to death,
and her footsteps lead to the shades.
19. None who enter there come back,
or gain the paths of life.
20. Thus you may walk in the way of the good,
and keep to the paths of the just.
21. For the upright will dwell in the land,
people of integrity will remain in it;
22. But the wicked will be cut off from the land,
the faithless will be rooted out of it.
3
Confidence in God Leads to Prosperity
1. My son, do not forget my teaching,
take to heart my commands;
2. For many days, and years of life,
and peace, will they bring you.
3. Do not let love and fidelity forsake you;
bind them around your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4. Then will you win favor and esteem
before God and human beings.
5. Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
on your own intelligence do not rely;
6. In all your ways be mindful of him,
and he will make straight your paths.
7. Do not wise in your own eyes,
fear the LORD and turn away from evil;
8. This will mean health for your flesh
and vigor for your bones.
9. Honor the LORD with your wealth,
with first fruits of all your produce;
10. Then will your barns be filled with plenty,
with new wine your vats will overflow.
11. The discipline of the LORD, my son, do not spurn;
do not disdain his reproof;
12. For whom the LORD loves he reproves,
as a father, the son he favors.
The Benefits of Finding Wisdom
13. Happy the one who finds wisdom,
the one who gains understanding!
14. Her profit is better than profit in silver,
and better than gold is her revenue;
15. She is more precious than corals,
and no treasure of yours can compare with her.
16. Long life is in her right hand,
in her left are riches and honor;
17. Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace;
18. She is a tree of life to those who grasp her,
and those who hold her fast are happy.
19. The LORD by wisdom founded the earth,
established the heavens by understanding;
20. By his knowledge the depths are split,
and the clouds drop down dew.
Justice Toward One's Neighbor Brings Blessing
21. My son, do not let these slip from your sight:
hold to deliberation and planning;
22. So will they be life to your soul,
and an adornment for your neck.
23. Then you may go your way securely;
your foot will never stumble;
24. When you lie down, you will not be afraid,
when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.
25. Do not be afraid of sudden terror,
of the ruin of the wicked when it comes;
26. For the LORD will be your confidence,
and will keep your foot from the snare.
27. Do not withhold any goods from the owner
when it is in your power to act.
28. Say not to your neighbor, "Go, come back tomorrow,
and I will give it to you," when all the while you have it.
29. Do not plot evil against your neighbors,
when they live at peace with you.
30. Do not contend with someone without cause,
with one who has done you no harm.
31. Do not envy the violent
and choose none of their ways:
32. To the LORD the devious are an abomination,
but the upright are close to him.
33. The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
but the dwelling of the just he blesses;
34. Those who scoff, he scoffs at,
but the lowly he favors.
35. The wise will possess glory,
but fools will bear shame.
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