1 Kings 4:32

And he spake three thousand proverbs,.... Wise sayings, short and pithy sentences, instructive in morality and civil life; these were not written as the book of Proverbs, but spoken only, and were

And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. Three thousand proverbs - embodying his moral sentiments and sage observations on human life and character. Songs were a thousand and five.

Proverbs, i.e. short, and deep, and useful sentences, whereof a great and the best part are contained in the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Of his songs the chief and most divine are in the Canticles.

1 Kings 4:32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.Ver. 32. And he spake three thousand proverbs.] Which others, likely, took from his mouth, and made books of them; such as contained cunctam saeculi doctrinam, as Jerome saith of Tertullian’ s works, who was, saith Lactantins, a general scholar. Of these proverbs of Solomon, not the one half are come to hand, as being no part of holy writ. And his songs were a thousand and five.] Whereof is extant only that Song of Songs, that singular song. This and the rest of his works extant in the Church, show his divine learning: as his other lectures his human.

(32) Proverbs.—The word “proverb” (mashal), from a root signifying “comparison,” has the various meanings of (a) parable or allegory, (b) proverb in the modern sense, (c) riddle or enigmatical poem, (d) figurative and antithetical poetry, like the “parable” of Balaam. The Book of Proverbs belongs mainly, but not exclusively, to the second class. Its main part consists of two series of “Proverbs of Solomon” (Proverbs 10-24, 25-29), composed or collected by him; falling, however, far short of the number given in this verse. The earlier portion (see especially 1 Kings 1:20-33; 1 Kings 1:2; 1 Kings 1:8) partakes more of the character of the first and fourth classes; and in Ecclesiastes 12:3-6, and perhaps Proverbs 30:15-16; Proverbs 30:24-31, we have specimens of the third. If the “three thousand” of the text be intended to be taken literally, it is obvious that only a small part of Solomon’s proverbs has been preserved. His declension into idolatry might induce care in selection. by such prophetic compilers as “the men of Hezekiah” (Proverbs 25). His songs.—We have still ascribed to Solomon the “Song of Songs” and two Psalms (72 and 127); but nothing else is, even by tradition, preserved to us. This passage is singularly interesting as showing that the Old Testament Canon is not a collection of chance fragments of a scanty literature, but that out of a literature, which at this time, at any rate, was large and copious, deliberate selections by prophetic authority were made. (The “men of Hezekiah,” named in Proverbs 25:1, are by Jewish tradition Isaiah and his companions.) In the case of Solomon some special caution would be natural, and much of his poetry may have been purely secular. The “Psalter of Solomon” (including eighteen psalms) is a Greek apocryphal book, of the time of the Maccabees or later.

Verse 32. He spake three thousand proverbs] The book of Proverbs, attributed to Solomon, contain only about nine hundred or nine hundred and twenty-three distinct proverbs; and if we grant with some that the first nine chapters are not the work of Solomon, then all that can be attributed to him is only about six hundred and fifty. Of all his one thousand and five songs or poems we have only one, the book of Canticles, remaining, unless we include Psalms 127:1-5, Except the Lord build the house, &c., which in the title is said to be by or for him, though it appears more properly to be a psalm of direction, left him by his father David, relative to the building of the temple.

32. three thousand proverbs] Of which some are contained in the book of Proverbs to which his name is given, but these are not all his, nor would all that are attributed to him there approach the number in the text. The proverb (îùׁ ?ì) of the Hebrews was, as we see from those preserved, more of the character of a parable, or wise comparison, than what we commonly call by that name. his songs] No doubt some of these were preserved, though not included in the Canon of Scripture, and their character is perhaps impressed upon the Song, which is called of Solomon, that has come down to us. The LXX. makes the number of the songs to be 5000; Josephus agrees with the Hebrew text. We need not suppose that these songs were of a sacred character. Psalms 72, 127 are (if we be consistent in translating the preposition) ascribed to Solomon in their titles, but the titles are of small authority, and in the latter case the LXX. omits the ascription to Solomon. Ewald thinks the second Psalm may be one of Solomon’s composition. Dean Perowne, thinking it probable that Solomon made a collection of his father’s poetry for the service of the Temple, attributes the first Psalm to him. The sententious and somewhat proverbial character of the language gives support to this opinion.

Proverbs - In the collection which forms the “Book of Proverbs,” only a small portion has been preserved, less certainly than one thousand out of the three.

32. He spake three thousand proverbs — He seems to have first established among the Hebrews this species of gnomic didactic poetry.