Meaning of PROVERBS (Book)

Poetic book that deals with morality and piety applied to daily life. Both in the Hebrew canon and in the Greek, Latin and Spanish versions, etc., it follows the book of Psalms.

The Hebrew term. "mãshãl", translated proverbs, also denotes a maxim, enigma, satire, parable (Num. 23:7; Is. 14:4; Ezek. 17:2).
A. Outline of the book:

(A) Title and introduction (Prov. 1:1-16), which recapitulates the content of the work, whose objective is to give wisdom and discernment.

The attribution of the authorship of Proverbs to Solomon, son of David and king of Israel, does not mean that the entire book is Solomon's (cf. Pr. 30-31).

(B) Body of the book:
(1) Praise of wisdom (Prov. 1:7-9:18). It is a didactic poem, in the form of a speech from a father to his son.

(2) Proverbs specifically assigned to Solomon (Proverbs 10:1-22:16). These are maxims without a rigorous order, and presented mainly in the form of antithesis.

(3) Section of Pr. 22:17-24:22. The comparison of Pr. 22:17 with Pr. 24:23 allows this section to be titled "The words of the wise": it incorporates a poem in which intemperance is attacked (Pr. 23:29-35).

Other words of the wise are added to this section (Prov. 24:23-34), which contain the ode to the sluggard.

(4) Other proverbs of Solomon, transcribed by "the men of Hezekiah" (Pr. 25-29). These thoughts, with the purpose of teaching wisdom to the people, are presented in the form of parallels in 2, 3, 4 and even 5 members.

(C) Third part, composed of three appendices:

(1) Words of Agur (Pr. 30), sometimes enigmatic, and among which numerical proverbs occupy an important place.

(2) Advice given to King Lemuel by his mother (Prov. 31:1-9).

(3) Praise of the virtuous woman (Prov. 31:10-31). It is an acrostic poem, in which each of its twelve verses begins with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, following its usual order.
B. Author:

The book is only partly attributed to Solomon: the fact is that he did not write it in its entirety. The section of chaps. 25 to 29 has the heading:

"These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied," which proves that this book did not have its present form until the time of Hezekiah.

The introduction (Prov. 1:1-6) gives the recapitulation; the praise of wisdom (Prov. 1:7-9:18) constitutes a kind of preface to the proverbs specifically attributed to Solomon; However, it cannot be ruled out that these first pages do not belong to him (cf. 1 Kings 4:32).

The chapters of Pr. 10:1-22:16 and 25-29, that is, almost 2/3 of the book, are expressly attributed to Solomon.

The attacks against idolatry do not appear in this section, so it has been deduced that these proverbs were composed or collected after the great struggle of the prophets against the influence of paganism in their time.

However, this reasoning lacks basis, since it is no less logical that they come from before this fight. The language of chapters 10 to 22:16 and 25 to 29 is in a Heb. remarkably pure, which supports the position that Solomon was its author.

Works written immediately before the exile, or later, give evidence of foreign influences on the language, which is never seen in the spelling or style of the sections discussed.

Furthermore, linguistic arguments have led critics to opinions so conflicting that they cancel each other out. Thus, Eicchorn dates this book to the 10th century BC, Hitzig to the 9th, and Ewald to the 6th.

The literary use of proverbs appeared very early among the Hebrews, as well as among other nations (1 Sam. 24:14; 2 Sam. 12:1; Judges 9:7).

Very ancient texts testify that Solomon wrote and compiled three thousand maxims and proverbs (Proverbs 25:1; 1 Kings 4:32; 10:1; Eclos. 47:12-17).

The two headings that attribute these sections to King Solomon must be considered authentic, without ruling out that he was the author of other sections, as already mentioned above.

Several important passages from Proverbs are cited in the NT (cf. Rom. 3:15; 12:16, 20; Jas. 4:6; 1 Pet. 4:18; 2 Pet. 2:22). This book contains a large number of practical observations about behavior and education.

Under symbolic terms such as "the wicked" and "the strange woman," the great forms of evil in the world, violent voluntarism and corrupting folly, are revealed as to their course and end.

In a detailed way, this book refers to the world, showing the things to avoid and to follow, highlighting the government of God, in which each one reaps what he sows, regardless of the blessings of God given in grace beyond and above this world.

It sustains integrity in earthly relationships, which cannot be violated with impunity. It is truly God's wisdom for the daily walk of human life.

Although the sentences follow one another in no apparent order, it is very useful to try to group together those that deal with the same topic: the fear of Jehovah, source of true wisdom and right conduct; wisdom and foolishness; the rich and the poor; the diligent, the lazy, the drunk; the parents and the children, the young people; the corrupt woman and the virtuous woman, marriage; language; anger, quarrels, kindness, humility, character, heart, health, prayer, testimony, government, etc.

Chapter 8 presents an impressive personification of eternal wisdom, which has the same characteristics as the divine Word mentioned in John. 1:1-18; 17:5; Col. 1:15-17; 2:2-3.