I.
What Kind of Book Is Proverbs?
1.
A portrait album (It contains the pictures of several different kinds of people, but these pictures are not for our examination as they would be in an album. They are instead for our Christian education .)
2.
A book of manners (Manners are based on societal standards. This book is based on God’s standards, and it deals with right and wrong behavior [ ethical standards].)
B.
It Is This Kind of Book:
1.
It teaches moral and ethical principles, often teaching by contrasts . Hebrew poetry does not rhyme like ours does. It is called parallelism. One statement is related to another statement. Antithetic parallelism The parallelism of antithetic parallelism is contrast parallelism, which is the greatest type of Hebrew peotry found in Proverbs. In fact, chapters 10-18 are filled with it. The key is “but” often before the negative words. () There are five types of parallelism. Here are 2 more common ones: synonymous and emblematic. Synonymous and Emblematic Synonymous is a shadow of the first line. () Emblematic is a picture. One line has a picture word or words () The other two parallelisms are not common. We’ll mention them when we come to them. Who can give the five Old Testament Books of Poetry?
2.
Temptation is personalized as Folly and righteousness is personalized as Wisdom.
3.
It deals with sinful behavior to avoid and righteous behavior to practice. Read Supplementary Text: (#1)
C.
How It Compares with the Book of Psalms
1.
Throughout the book of Psalms, we see God as a Person . (We see a personal relationship between man and God.)
2.
Throughout the book of Proverbs, we see the different attributes of God. (We see how God interacts with all kinds of the people He created.)
1.
The Hebrew word for proverb is mashál, which means a comparison, similitude, representation, or generalization. Mashál is mentioned in Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. It occurs 38 times in the Old Testament, mainly in the Poetic Books.
2.
Mashál is translated " parable " or “wise saying” in the OT Poetic Books. Cross out “three times” and add “wise saying.”
3.
A biblical proverb is a brief, pithy, and pointed saying, expressing divine wisdom . It is often a saying compared to another saying (one, a sin and one, a righteous act). Antithetic Parallelism
E.
How Proverbs Compares with Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon:
1.
Solomon is the author of these three Books of Poetry.
2.
Solomon was a young king when he wrote Song of Solomon; a middle-aged king when he wrote Proverbs; and an aged king when he wrote Ecclesiastes.
3.
Proverbs expressed divine wisdom as Solomon exercised His divine gift (Yahweh) personal name , while Ecclesiastes expressed the human wisdom of a sinning king (Elohim) generic name . Song of Solomon expressed the wisdom of both human and divine love as a gift from God.
II.
Wisdom Literature’s Outstanding Example Is the Book of Proverbs.
1.
Wisdom Literature was featured in part of the Old Testament apocryphal books (Greek for “ hidden things”). However, before the time of Solomon (who put his stamp on the Wisdom Literature of Scripture), these evidences are found in the Bible:
a.
( proverb sung about the greatness and power of Heshbon, the Amorite capital city, when they sought passage through Amorite territory and were met with resistance . They added a special verse to the proverb (verse 30). This was during the early wilderness wanderings of the Children of Israel in 1461 BC.
b.
( parable . The youngest of Gideon’s 70 sons, the only survivor of a royal slaughter, he told the first parable in the Bible in 1194 BC.
c.
( gifts for his wedding in 1108 BC.
d.
((when sparing Saul’s life). This proverb said that “out of the wicked comes forth wickedness ,” so David did no evil thing to Saul in 1028 BC.
B.
The Riddle, Parable, and Proverb
1.
These were favorite methods by the Jews and all the people of the East in those days to ask a question centered around the word, “ What ? They asked, “ What is this?” “ What is that?” The wise men and their counselors would wrestle with these questions, centered on this four-letter word.
2.
A proverb answered one of these “what” questions with a life lesson; a parable, with an illustration of a life lesson; and a riddle, with a puzzle about a life lesson. Read Supplementary Text: (#2)
C.
Wisdom Literature of Scripture
1.
It dealt with far more than the question, “What?” It dealt with “ Why ?” and “ Wherefore ?” Psalms relates all life situations to God . Proverbs answers why people behave the way they do and expects us to learn how to behave in a godly way and avoid the ungodly way. Ecclesiastes shows the futility of human wisdom applied to all the pursuits of life.
2.
Proverbs contains principles , not promises , except when God directly addresses readers not exclusive to the original audience.
III.
The Author, Date, and Composition of the Book of Proverbs
A.
It Is the Work of Several Authors. Only Three of These Are Named:
1.
( Solomon is the major author of Proverbs. (He wrote 27 of the 31 chapters.)
2.
( one chapter of Proverbs (Chapter 30).
3.
() The Queen Mother of King Lemuel is only the author of nine verses in one chapter of Proverbs (the last proverb: ).
B.
Authorship Cannot Be Considered Apart from Understanding the Book’s Structure in Eight Books:
1.
( Solomon .”
2.
( Solomon .”
3.
( Words of the Wise .” The identity of these authors is unknown.
4.
( Hezekiah . Thus Solomon wrote 87% of all the Proverbs in 4 of the 8 Books (1-3, 5).
5.
( Agur , a non-Israelite, whose name means “ Gatherer .” Book 6 was a very short book.
a.
Jakeh was his father . He addressed two unknown men: Ithiel and Ucal.
b.
The LXX (Septuagint Version of the Old Testament in Greek) mentioned no proper names at all in . Agur was thus not the author according to the LXX.
1.
We must keep in mind that vowel points were not added to Hebrew consonants by scribes called Masorites until the AD 500s. The LXX was written in 100s-200s BC, 600-700 years earlier. The LXX translated all-consonant text of verse 1: "My son, reverence my words, and receive them and repent. Thus says the man to them that believe in God, and I cease."
(a)
The Masoretes did not copy these variants of the 2 and 3 centuries BC because the manuscripts were considered inferior . The Dead Sea Scrolls of the 2 and 3 centuries BC do not support the LXX Text of () either (thus DSS and Mazorites supports Agur as the author).
c.
Book 6’s author is Agur, who is unknown to LXX and history .
6.
() Book 7 ( Lemuel of what his mother taught him. His origin and identity is obscure. Lemuel means “ Devoted to God .” This book was 1/3 page long!
a.
Rabbinical commentators identified him as Solomon. They were closer than we are to the time. They may be correct . If so, Bathsheba was the mother here.
7.
( acrostic poem — thus a distinctive part of Proverbs. Its authorship is unknown.
C.
The Date of the Various Books of Proverbs:
1.
Books 1-3 are from the 10th Century BC (Solomon reigned from 971-931 BC).
2.
Book 4 is either from the 10th Century BC or earlier. The wise men of the east were either contemporary with or before Solomon’s time.
3.
Book 5 was compiled between 729-686 BC (Hezekiah’s years as King of Judah).
4.
Books 6-8 cannot be dated. About all Bible scholars can say is that these Books were composed no later than 424 BC.
IV.
The Treatment of the Book of Proverbs in the Canon
A.
The Old Testament Canon Was Completed in 424 B.C.
1.
Proverbs was accepted as a canonical book at this Jewish council.
2.
Proverbs was later disputed by some Jewish Rabbis and it and four more Old Testament books (Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon., Esther, & Ezekiel) were ejected from the canon.
a.
Rabbis alleged that Proverbs was illogical in (There are or there are not times to answer a fool — it can’t be both.
b.
Later Rabbis (of 300 BC) said of hat there are times to answer a fool (to expose him) and other times not to answer one (not stooping to his level).
B.
All Five Disputed Books Became Part of the Canon By a 300 B.C. Council.
V.
The Outline of the Book of Proverbs
1.
() The author of Books 1-2 and literary form
a.
“The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.”
2.
( purpose of the book
3.
( ) The theme of the book
a.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Read Supplementary Text: (#3)