March 8

The Book of Proverbs

Of King Solomon—his glory and his shame, his greatness and his littleness, his wisdom and his foolishness, we have already had full occasion to speak. That which we read in the sacred book of his marvellous sagacity, and his high and varied attainments, creates a strong desire to possess some specimens of his writings and utterances, and were these altogether wanting, some feeling of disappointment might reasonably be entertained. It is, therefore, a matter of satisfaction that we do possess some very important portions of his works, although we may regret that, as we know from the account given in 1 Kings 4:32, some very interesting parts of his productions, chiefly those on natural history and in song, have been irrecoverably lost.

The most important and extensive of the writings of Solomon which remains to us, is contained in the Book of Proverbs—a book which enables us to test the quality of his wisdom, and to find that it is in all respects equal to the high report which has been given to us. It is a book of priceless value to those who know how to use it aright; and these must be nearly all that read it with becoming care, for most of that which is here written, is so plainly set down, that he may run who reads. The sage rules for the guidance of the life and manners, and for the improvement of the heart and spirit which it offers, are so justly founded on the principles of nature, and so adapted to the permanent interest of man, that they are applicable to all times, all conditions, and all countries, and may be studied with fully as much benefit and interest by men who are here, in the nineteenth century, “in populous cities pent,” amid the whirl of chariots, the clang of machinery, and the hiss of steam, as by the plain men who, thirty centuries ago, rode quietly about on asses, and sat in peace under their vines and fig-trees.

A wealthy-minded expositor on Proverbs, Note: Exposition of the Book of Proverbs. By the Rev. George Lawson, D.D. Edinburgh: Oliphant, 1829. thus commences his work: “Of Augustus Caesar it is said, that when he read the works of men of learning and genius, he used to extract such precepts as might prove useful to him in his government. This part of his conduct manifested wisdom; the precepts thus collected served to assist him and his ministers, in managing the affairs of the empire. But the necessity of our imitating this part of his conduct, has been, in a great measure, superseded by that Spirit of truth under whose guidance Solomon wrote his Proverbs, and transmitted them to future ages for their instruction in righteousness. In this little book there appears more wisdom than in the combined monuments of Greek and Roman learning. The wisest of men wrote it, and its effect is to make us wise—but a greater than Solomon is here, for Wisdom speaks in her own person.” From this book we learn, as is indeed declared in the history, that the wisdom in the royal sage was often promulgated to the people in short aphorisms and sententious maxims, expressed, for the most part, in that sort of thought-rhythm or parallelism, which characterized the poetry of the Hebrews. In this form, the effusions of his wisdom would be more easily remembered, and be more practically useful to the great mass of the people, than abstruse arguments and methodical discourses. Short and pithy sentences have, from the most remote times, been employed as the vehicle of moral instruction, and were peculiarly adapted to the simplicity of early ages. When writings were but few, and the reasoning of systematic philosophy almost unknown, just observations on life and manners, and useful moral precepts, delivered in concise language, and often in verse, would form a body of the most valuable practical wisdom, which, by its influence upon the conduct, could not but contribute largely to the peace and well-being of society. But, in every age, such maxims of life and conduct are well suited to impress the minds of the young and uninformed; and as they are most valuable guides in the affairs of life, when we are called upon not to deliberate but to act, not to unfold a circuitous argument, but to transact business, all must find it highly advantageous to retain in their memories the maxims of proverbial wisdom. Aphorisms excite attention by elegance of diction, or the beauty of rhetorical figures; they command respect by their oracular brevity; and the smart and poignant truths contained in them, penetrate deeply into the mind, and infix themselves in the memory. But, indeed, what more can be required to recommend this kind of composition to our notice, than its adoption by the Holy Spirit as the means of disseminating inspired knowledge? Note: See Holden on Proverbs. Liverpool, 1819. Preliminary Dissertation.

It is, however, to be observed, that although there is no nation which has not resorted to this kind of moral teaching, it seems peculiarly adapted to the genius of the Orientals. The Gymnosophists of India delivered their philosophy in brief enigmatic sentences; a practice adopted and carried to a great extent by the ancient Egyptians. The mode of conveying instruction by compendious maxims, obtained footing among the Hebrews from the first dawn of their literature, and was still familiar with the inhabitants of Syria and Palestine in the time of Jerome. Note: Comment in Matthew 18:23. “Familiare est Syris, et maxime Palestinis, ad omnem sermoneni suum parabolas jungere.” The eloquence of Arabia was mostly exhibited in detached and unconnected sentences, which, like so many loose gems, attracted attention by the fulness of the periods, the elegance of the phraseology, and the acuteness of proverbial sayings.

The Asiatics of the present day do not differ in this respect from their ancestors, as numerous Amthâl or moral sentences are in circulation throughout the regions of the East. Many of these have been collected and published by different European orientalists, and we have seen very large collections in manuscript in the East. Tomorrow we will present the reader with a small selection, which he may find some pleasure in comparing with those of Solomon. Meanwhile, we may proceed to remark that the ingenious, disputatious, and loquacious Greeks were indebted to the same means for their earliest instruction in wisdom. The sayings of the Seven Wise Men; the golden verses of Pythagoras; the remains of Theognis and Phocylides, if genuine; and the Gnomai of the elder poets, testify to the prevalence of aphorisms in ancient Greece. Indeed, had no specimens of Hellenic proverbs remained, we might have concluded this to be the case; for the Greeks borrowed the rudiments, if not the material parts of their knowledge from those whom they arrogantly termed barbarians; and it is only through the medium of compendious maxims and brief sentences, that traditional knowledge can be preserved. This mode of communicating moral and practical wisdom was found to be equally accordant with the sedate and deliberative character of the Romans; and, in truth, from its influence over the mind, and its fitness for popular instruction, proverbial expression exists in all ages and in all languages.

It is right to state, that the exclusive claim of Solomon to be regarded as the author of the Book of Proverbs, has been held open to some question. An eminent commentator Note: Grotius. founds his doubt of this on his inability to conceive that experience so extensive and varied as the work embodies, could possibly be possessed by one man; and he therefore concludes that the book is really a collection of the finest proverbs of the age, perfected from various other collections in the time of Hezekiah. He forgot that the inspiration of the book adequately accounts for all the wisdom it embodies, whether it be the work of one man or of many; but, apart from this, the notion, founded partly on rabbinical accounts, cannot be allowed to invalidate the exclusive claim of Solomon to what is usually ascribed to him. The work might comprise the best of the 3000 proverbs which Solomon is said to have uttered, being probably digested, as far as the twenty-fifth chapter, by that monarch himself, and afterwards received into the canon of Scripture, with some additions. The Proverbs between the twenty-fifth and thirtieth chapters, appear to have been selected from a much larger number, by “the men of Hezekiah.” These proverbs, indeed, bear internal evidence of having been collected after the age of Solomon, as they repeat some which had already been introduced in the former part of the book. The thirtieth chapter is occupied with the prudent admonitions which Agur, the son of Jakeh, delivered to his pupils, Ithiel and Ucal; and this is followed in the thirty-first chapter, by the precepts which the mother of Lemuel delivered to her son.

Respecting these personages there has been some difference of opinion. Most of the elder commentators conceived that Solomon himself is indicated by the name of Agur; but no satisfactory reason has been assigned for his assuming this name; and it is now very generally understood that Agur was an inspired writer, whose moral and proverbial sentences were, by “the men of Hezekiah,” added to those of the wisest of men, on account of the general conformity of their matter. By the Lemuel of the thirty-first chapter, we are probably to understand Solomon; and, in that case, the wise and prudent counsels he is represented as receiving from his mother, enable us to realize a most satisfactory impression of her sense and character. The description of a virtuous woman and good wife which she gives, is unequalled in all literature, and the woman who exhibits such keen and accurate perceptions of what belonged to these characters, shows that she must have realized them in her own experience, and that, although a deep stain rests on her early life, she proved a good wife to David, and an admirable mother to Solomon.

If, however, we find any difficulty in identifying Lemuel with Solomon, the dignity and authority of the book is not in any way affected by our supposing its last chapter to have been the work of a different hand, and admit the mother of Lemuel to have been a Jewish lady, married to some neighboring prince; or, as some think, Ahiah, the daughter of the high priest Zechariah, and mother of Hezekiah. But there hardly appears any better reason why Hezekiah should be called Lemuel, than why Solomon should bear that name.