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ONAL

CAL

MARY

D.D.
P.D.D.
S.D.D.

RBS

ARK
BIBLIOTHECA S. J.
Maison Saint-Augustin
ENGHIEN

E. 381/1
 The

International Critical Commentary

on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and

New Testaments .

UNDER THE EDITORSHIP OF

THE REV. SAMUEL ROLLES DRIVER, D.D. ,

Regius Professor ofHebrew, Oxford;
THE REV. ALFRED PLUMMER , M.A., D.D.,
Master of University College, Durham ;
AND
THE REV. CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS , D.D.
Edward Robinson Professor of Biblical Theology,
Union Theological Seminary, New York.
1
THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL COMMENTARY .

UNDER THE EDITORSHIP OF

PROFESSOR S. R. DRIVER, D.D. , OXFORD ; A. PLUMMER, D.D. ,
DURHAM ; AND PROFESSOR C. A. BRIGGS , D.D. , NEW YORK.

THE following eminent Scholars have contributed, or

-
are engaged upon , the Volumes named below :-

THE OLD TESTAMENT .

Genesis. T. K. CHEYNE, D.D. , Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of
Holy Scripture, Oxford.
Exodus. A. R. S. KENNEDY, D. D. , Professor of Hebrew, University of
Edinburgh.
Leviticus. J. F. STENNING, M.A. , Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford ;
and the late Rev. H. A. WHITE, M.A. , Fellow of New
College, Oxford.
Numbers. G. BUCHANAN GRAY, M.A. , Lecturer in Hebrew, Mansfield
College, Oxford.
Deuteronomy. S. R. DRIVER, D.D. , Regius Professor of Hebrew, and
Canon of Christ Church, Oxford. [Ready, 12s.
Joshua. GEORGE ADAM SMITH, D.D. , Professor of Hebrew, Free
Church College, Glasgow.
Judges. GEORGE F. MOORE, D.D. , Professor of Hebrew in Andover
Theological Seminary. [Ready, 12s.
Samuel. H. P. SMITH, D.D. , Professor of Biblical History and
Interpretation in Amherst College. [Ready, 12s.
Kings. FRANCIS BROWN , D.D. , Professor of Hebrew and Cognate
Languages, Union Theological Seminary, New York.
Isaiah. A. B. DAVIDSON, D.D. , LL.D. , Professor of Hebrew, Free
Church College, Edinburgh.
Jeremiah. A. F. KIRKPATRICK, D.D. , Regius Professor of Hebrew, and
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Minor Prophets. W. R. HARPER, Ph.D. , President of Chicago University.
Psalms. C. A. BRIGGS, D.D. , Edward Robinson Professor of Biblical
Theology, Union Theological Seminary, New York.
Proverbs. C. H. Toy, D.D. , Professor of Hebrew, Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts. [Ready, 12s.
Job. S. R. DRIVER, D.D. , Regius Professor of Hebrew, Oxford.
Daniel. Rev. JOHN P. PETERS, Ph.D. , late Professor of Hebrew,
P. E. Divinity School, Philadelphia, now Rector of St.
Michael's Church, New York City.
Ezra and Rev. L. W. BATTEN, Ph.D. , Professor of Hebrew, P. E.
Nehemiah. Divinity School, Philadelphia.
Chronicles. EDWARD L. CURTIS, D.D. , Professor of Hebrew, Yale Uni-
versity, New Haven, Conn.
[Continued on next page.
 THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL COMMENTARY- continued .

THE NEW TESTAMENT.

Synopsis of the W. SANDAY, D.D. , LL.D. , Lady Margaret Professor of

Four Gospels. Divinity, Oxford ; and Rev. W. C. ALLEN, M.A. , Exeter
College, Oxford.
Matthew. Rev. WILLOUGHBY C. ALLEN, M.A. , Chaplain , Fellow, and
Lecturer in Theology and Hebrew, Exeter College, Oxford.
S. Mark. EZRA P. GOULD, D.D. , Professor of the New Testament
Literature and Language, Divinity School of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, Philadelphia. [Ready, 10s. 6d.
S. Luke. ALFRED PLUMMER , M.A. , D.D. , Master of University
College, Durham. [Ready, 125.
Acts. FREDERICK H. CHASE, D.D. , Christ's College, Cambridge.
Romans. W. SANDAY, D.D. , LL.D. , Lady Margaret Professor of
Divinity, and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford ; and
Rev. A. C. HEADLAM, B.D. , Fellow of All Souls College,
Oxford. [Ready, 125.
Corinthians. ARCH. ROBERTSON, D.D. , Principal of King's College,
London.
Galatians. Rev. ERNEST D. BURTON, A.B. , Professor of New Testament
Literature, University of Chicago.
Ephesians and Rev. T. K. ABBOTT, B.D. , D.Litt. , formerly Professor of
Colossians. Biblical Greek, now of Hebrew, Trinity College, Dublin.
[Ready, 10s. 6d.
Philippians MARVIN R. VINCENT, D.D. , Professor of Biblical Literature,
and Philemon. Union Theological Seminary, New York City.
[Ready, 8s. 6d
The Pastoral WALTER LOCK, D.D. , Dean Ireland's Professor of Exegesis,
Epistles. Oxford.
Hebrews. T. C. EDWARDS, D.D. , Principal of the Theological College,
Bala ; late Principal of University College of Wales,
Aberystwyth.
James. Rev. JAMES H. ROPES , A.B. , Instructor in New Testament
Criticism in Harvard University.
Peter and Jude. CHARLES BIGG, D.D. , Rector of Fenny Compton, Leaming-
ton ; Bampton Lecturer, 1886.
The Johannine S. D. F. SALMOND, D.D. , Principal, and Professor of
Epistles. Systematic Theology, Free Church College, Aberdeen.
Revelation. Rev. ROBERT H. CHARLES , M.A. , Trinity College, Dublin,
and Exeter College, Oxford.

Other engagements will be announced shortly.

EDINBURGH : T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET.

LONDON SIMPKIN, MARSHALL , HAMILTON, KENT, & CO. LTD.
 PROVERBS

PROFESSOR C. H. TOY
 PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED,
FOR
T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH.
LONDON SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO. LIMITED.
NEW YORK : CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.
TORONTO : FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY.

The Rights of Translation and of Reproduction are Reserved.

 THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL COMMENTARY

Х
A

CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL

COMMENTARY

ON

THE BOOK OF PROVERBS

BY

CRAWFORD H. TOY
PROFESSOR OF HEBREW IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY
SOCIETATI

SE
IEN
ANG
M IU
LEG
+

IHS
COL

JE
SU

EDINBURGH

T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET

1899
 INTRODUCTION .

§ I. NAMES .

1. The Masoretic title is Proverbs of Solomon (nabw bwa,

Mishle Shelomo, by the later Jews usually abridged to Mishle) .
That this is old appears to be shown by the Grk. ( GB) title
παροιμίαι (the subscription is simply π. in Cod . Β, π. Σαλομωντος
in 8, π. Zoλ. in A and C ) . The name might naturally have been
suggested by 1 K. 432 ( 5¹²) , but would originally have been given
to the collection 10¹-2216, whence it would have been extended to
the whole book as additions were made to it from time to time.
That this was the common Talmudic title is shown by Bertheau. *
On the meaning of mashal and its synonyms see notes on 1¹.6
within.
2. By early Christian writers the book was commonly called
Wisdom or All-virtuous Wisdom,† † tavápeтos σopía, names which
were also given to Ben- Sira (Ecclesiasticus) and Wisdom of Sol-
omon. Other designations were σoon Bißλos ( Dionys. of Alex. )
and aidaywуikỳ σopía (Greg. Naz. Orat. 11 ) . Whether this
σopía represents an ancient Heb. title Пn is uncertain. Fritzsche
(Die Weisheit Jesus- Sirach's, Einl. p . xx) holds that the name
σopía given to Ben- Sira bears witness to a similar name for our
Proverbs ; but this is not certain . It is possible that the title
Wisdom was common in Jewish circles, and thence passed to the
Christians ; so Hegesippus (quoted by Euseb. ubi sup. ) refers the

* Einleitung to his Comin'y on Sprüche.

+ Clem. Rom. Cor. 157, Euseb. Hist. Eccl. 4, 22.
Cf. Fritzsche, Weish. Jes.- Sirach ; Nowack, Sprüche Salomo's. The expres-
sions σopia and ǹ nav. σop. sometimes, however, designate Wisdom simply (as the
speaker) , and are not titles of books. Cf. Frankenberg, Die Sprüche, Einl., § 1.
b V
vi INTRODUCTION

designation to " unwritten Jewish tradition. " But in that case it

would be rather a descriptive term than the official title, and in
the former sense we may naturally take the Talmudic name Book
of Wisdom.* In the same way we may explain the somewhat
curious fact that the Midrash on Proverbs begins by citing Job 2812 :
" and wisdom, where can it be found ? " the author has merely in
mind the fact that Proverbs deals with wisdom, which term was
obviously used to define the contents of all the philosophical
books.†

§ 2. DIVISIONS .
The divisions of the Book indicated in the text itself are as
follows :
I. A group of discourses on wisdom and wise conduct ( 1–9 ) :
1. General title ( 1¹ ) , purpose of the Book ( 12-6) , central or fun-
damental principle ( 17 ) ; 2. Warning against consorting with sin-
ners ( 18-19) ; 3. Wisdom's appeal ( 120 ) ; 4. Wisdom as guardian
against bad men and women ( 2 ) ; 5. Advantages attending obe-
dience to the sage's instruction , the fear of Yahweh, and devotion
to wisdom ( 3 ) ; 6. Exhortation to obey the sage (4) ; 7. Warn-
ing against unchaste women ( 5 ) ; 8. Three paragraphs, against
suretyship , indolence, slander, here misplaced ( 6¹-19 ) ; 9. Warn-
ing against unchaste women ( 620-35) ; 10. A similar warning ( 7) ;
II . Function of Wisdom as controller of life , and as attendant of
Yahweh in the creation of the world ( 8 ) ; 12. Wisdom and Folly
contrasted as hosts (91-6. 13-18) , and an interjected, misplaced par-
agraph of apophthegms on wisdom (97-12) .
II . A collection of aphorisms in couplet form ( 10¹- 22¹6) .
III. Two collections of aphoristic quatrains ( 22–242, and
2423-34) .
IV. A collection of aphoristic couplets ( 25-29 ) .
V. A collection of discourses of various characters ( 30. 31 ) :
the " words of Agur " ( 3014) ; the certainty of God's word ( 305. 6) ;

* , the name given to Proverbs in Tosephot Baba Bathra, 14 b.

+ See Hermann Deutsch, Die Sprüche Salomo's nach der auffassung im Talmud
und Midrasch, 1885. Deutsch also cites a synagogal prayer of the 12th century, in
which Proverbs is styled ponn ; but this hardly proves anything for the earliest
times.
 STRUCTURE OF THE MATERIAL vii

prayer for moderate circumstances ( 307-9 ) ; against slandering ser-

vants (3010) ; a collection of aphorisms citing certain things ar-
ranged in groups of fours ( 30-33 ) ; instruction to a king ( 31¹-9) ;
description of a model housewife ( 3110-31) .
The purpose of all these sections is the inculcation of certain
cardinal social virtues, such as industry, thrift, discretion, truth-
fulness, honesty, chastity, kindness, forgiveness, warning against
the corresponding vices, and praise of wisdom as the guiding prin-
ciple of life . If we compare Proverbs in this regard with Ben-
Sira, we find that the latter, while it deals in general with the
same moral qualities, goes more into detail in the treatment of
social relations, and has more to say of manners as distinguished
from morals .

§ 3. STRUCTURE OF THE MATERIAL.

The divisions indicated above suggest, by their differences of

tone and content, that the Book has been formed by the combina-
tion of collections of various dates and origins. It is not probable
that one man was the author of the philosophical discourses of
chs. 1-9, the pithy aphorisms of 10-226, the quatrains of 22"-24 ,
the couplets of 25-29 , and the mixed material of 30. 31 .
A similar conclusion is indicated by the repetitions which occur
in the Book. Thus, as between II . and III . we find variant coup-
iets : cf. 115 and 2226.27 ; 185 and 2424 ; identical lines : 11¹¹ and
246 ; 139 and 2420 ; 141 and 243 ; 2022 and 24. As between II.
and IV. identical couplets : cf. 188 and 2622 ; 19¹ and 286 ; 1924
13
and 2615 ; 2016 and 27¹³ ; 219 and 252 ; 223 and 272 ; variant coup-
lets : 12¹¹ and 2819 ; 1324 and 2915 ; 1523 and 2511 ; 1612 and 255 ;
1628 and 2620 ; 222 and 2913 ; 2213 and 2613 ; identical lines : 10¹
and 293 ; 1518 and 2922 ; 173 and 2721 ; 1913 and 2715. As between
III . and IV., an identical line : cf. 2423 and 28º¹. Cf. also 610.11
with 2433.
24° 34.
From these repetitions we infer that the collectors of II . , III . ,
IV. , were mutually independent - no one of them was acquainted
with the work of the others. In I. and V. we find no matter
that can be called repetition ; the peculiar tone of each of
7-12
these divisions kept it apart from the others ; 61-19 and 97-¹² are
misplaced.
viii INTRODUCTION

Subdivisions or smaller collections also appear to be indicated

by repetitions within each of the three middle sections. Within
II. identical or equivalent couplets : 10¹ and 1520 ; 102 and 11¹ ;
14
115 and 1718 and 2016 ; 13¹¹ and 142 ; 142 and 1625 ( and cf. 212 ) ;
1420 and 19 ; 162 and 212 ; 195 and 199 ; 20¹º and 2023 ; 21 ° and
2119 ; identical or equivalent lines : 10 and 10 ; 108 and 10¹º
(perhaps scribal error ) ; 105 and 181 ; 10 and 193 ; 11¹³ and
31
2019 ; 11 and 1522 ; 112 and 165 , 12¹ and 132 ; 14³¹ and 175 ;
33 Within III.: couplets
153 and 1812 ; 16¹8 and 18¹2 ; 1912 and 20².
or lines : 22 and 23¹¹ ; 2228 and 2310 ( the couplets which in 2310.11
form one quatrain are in 2223. 28 divided between two quatrains ) ;
17a la
23 and 24 ; 2318 and 2414 (a similar division of couplets) ; on
233.6 see notes . Within IV.: 2812 and 292.
In some cases these latter repetitions may be scribal errors .
Ewald , Delitzsch, and others, endeavor to determine the limits of
the smaller subdivisions, which are held to be indicated sometimes
by similarity of material, sometimes by catch- words ; see the
notes . The paragraphal divisions are obvious in I. and V. , and in
parts of III . and IV.; in II. the absence of logical arrangement
makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to recognize any such
paragraphs, and the divisions which have been suggested are com-
monly arbitrary and useless, as is pointed out within .
The misplacement of certain passages, as 418, 61-5.6-11 . 12-19," 97-12,
and of a number of lines in II. is discussed in the notes.

§ 4. RHYTHM AND PARALLELISM .

1. Hebrew poetry, as is now generally agreed , has neither

metre in the Greek and Latin sense, nor systematic rhyme ; there
are occasional sequences of syllables, which may be called iambic,
trochaic, anapaestic, etc. , and occasional assonances or rhymes ;
but these are of irregular occurrence, and obviously do not belong
to the essence of the form of the verse. *

* On the rhythmical form of Hebrew poetry see J. Ley, Grundzüge des rhythmus
etc., 1875, and Leitfaden der Metrik, 1887 ; G. Bickell, Carmina Vet. Test. metrice,
1882, his additions in Zeitschr. f. Kath. Theol. , 1885-1886 , and the introductory
remarks to his Kritische Bearbeitung d. Proverbien in the Wiener Zeitschr. f. d.
Kunde d. Morgenlandes, 1891 ; C. A. Briggs, Biblical Study³, 1891 , Hebraica, 1887,
1888, General Introduction to the Study of Holy Scripture, 1899, chs. xiv-xvii ;
 RHYTHM AND PARALLELISM ix

The rhythmical form of the poetic line or verse is marked not

by the number of words or syllables, but by the number of accents
or beats. The accent of each word or group of words is fixed by
the laws of Hebrew accentuation ; accepting the Masoretic system.
as correct (and we have nothing else to guide us ) , we can with
reasonable probability determine the number of beats in any line.
The chief source of uncertainty lies in the presence of possibly un-
accented words, which are to be combined into rhythmical unity
with following words ; such are short prepositions, conjunctions,
negatives, and nouns defined by following nouns (status construc-
tus) . These may or may not have an accent ; in determining
this point we may sometimes be aided by the Masoretic punctu-
ation ( the Maqqef or hyphen) , which gives the pronunciation of
the seventh century of our era ; but this is not always decisive,
and we must, in the last instance, be guided by the general nature
of the rhythm .
In order to avoid the possibly misleading suggestions of the
terms " dimeter, trimeter, tetrameter, pentameter, hexameter,"
etc., the lines are here called binary (" having two beats "), ter-
nary, or, quaternary. For the guidance of the English reader
(the translation rarely giving the rhythmical form of the Hebrew)
the rhythmical definition of every couplet is marked in the com-
mentary ; thus, ternary means that both lines of the couplet are
ternary, ternary-binary that the first line is ternary and the second
line binary, etc.
In Proverbs the lines are arranged almost without exception in
couplets (distichal) . A certain number of triplets occur (tris-
tichal) , and these must be dealt with every one for itself. The
presence of triplets, even in a passage predominantly distichal,
must be admitted to be possible. In some cases the third line
appears to be a corruption of some other line , or the remains of a
separate couplet, or an erroneous scribal insertion ; where there
is no reasonable ground of suspicion , beyond the irregularity, the
triplet form must be accepted .
2. Strophes (quatrains and other forms) occur in all parts of
the Book except II. It is not to be assumed that a discourse

Grimme, in ZDMG., 1896. On Babylonian rhythm see Delitzsch , Bab. Weltschöpf-

ungsepos ; H. Zimmern , in ZATW. , 1898.
X INTRODUCTION

must be strophic in form ; in every case the question must be de-

cided by the logical connection of the material. *
The principle of arrangement by couplets and strophes may
properly be used for the criticism of the text, always, of course,
with due caution ; it may easily be pressed too far.
3. The form of the parallelism varies in the different Sections.
In I. it may be said to be, in accordance with the tone of the dis-
courses, wholly synonymous ; the apparent exceptions are 37-31 32-35,
9 , all occurring in misplaced or doubtful paragraphs . II. divides
itself into two parts : in chs. 10-15 the form is antithetic , in 16–22¹6
the couplets are mostly comparisons and single sentences, with a
few antitheses. III . is made up of synonymous lines, except 2416.
IV. shows a division into two parts : in chs . 25-27 we find com-
parisons and single sentences, except in 25 , 2767.12, which con-
tains antitheses, while in chs . 28. 29 the two forms are nearly equal
in number (33 antithetic couplets, 22 comparisons and single
sentences ) . In V. the parallelism is, with a few exceptions (see
3012. 24-28 3130) , synonymous .
So far, then, as the rhythmical form may be regarded as an
indication of origin we must put in one group chs. 10-15 and part
of chs. 28. 29 , and in another group chs. 16–22 , 25-27 and part of
chs . 28. 29. I. and V. stand by themselves, and III . stands mid-
way between II ., IV., and I.
If we compare the rhythmical forms of Proverbs and the Psalter,
we find that most of the Psalms , being connected discourses , re-
semble I .; the aphoristic 37 shows the same variations as II .,
III ., IV. Lamentations is rhythmically unique , but belongs in the
same general category as I., as does also Canticles.

§ 5. THOUGHT .

Proverbs may be described as a manual of conduct, or, as

Bruch calls it, an " anthology of gnomes." Its observations relate
to a number of forms of life, to affairs domestic, agricultural,
urban (the temptations of city life ) , commercial, political, and
military.

* On strophic structure in the Old Testament see, besides the works mentioned
above, D. H. Müller, Die Propheten, 1895 , and Strophenbau und Responsion , 1898.
 THOUGHT xi

Many of the sayings are simply maxims of commonsense pru-

dence, enjoining industry and caution (61-5.6-11 104.19 II15 129
1420 1626 20³ 231.2 256 288 3010, etc. ) , sometimes with what
seems to be a humorous or sarcastic turn ( 63-5 192 233-35 3024) .
The most are ethical, inculcating lessons of truth and general good-
ness. A religious tone is found in different degrees in different
sections in I., if we omit the cosmogonic hymn in ch . 8 , the ref-
erences to God occur almost exclusively in chs . 1-3 , and there
partly in passages (such as 25-8327-35) which appear to be editorial
insertions ; the divine name is mentioned most frequently in II.
(21 times in chs . 10-15 , 13 times in chs . 16. 17, 21 times in 18–
2216) ; in III . there are 6 occurrences, and 8 in IV. ( 2 in chs. 25–
27, and 6 in chs . 28. 29 ) ; in V. a reference to God is found only
in 302-9 (3 times) . It appears then that II. is relatively more
religious, the rest of the Book more definitely ethical.
None of the aphorisms, however, - — not even such as " go to
the ant, thou sluggard ," or " answer a fool according to his folly,"
or the tetrads in ch. 30, - are popular proverbs or folk-sayings.
They are all reflective and academic in tone, and must be re-
garded as the productions of schools of moralists in a period of
high moral culture . The ideas of the Book may be considered
under their ethical, religious, and philosophical aspects .*

A. Ethical.

I. The high ethical standard of the Book is universally recog-

nized. Its maxims all look to the establishment of a safe, peaceful,
happy social life, in the family and the community ; the supposed
exceptions, cases of alleged selfish prudence ( as, for example, the
caution against going security) , are only apparent, since proper
regard for self is an element of justice .
Honesty and truthfulness in public and private life, especially in
business-transactions and courts of justice , are throughout insisted
on, and respect for human property and life is enjoined ; the mor-
alist has particularly in mind the urban crimes of perjury, theft,

* Cf. A. F. Dähne, Geschichtl. Darstellung d.jüd.-alex. Relig.-philosophie, 1834 ;

T. K. Cheyne, Job and Solomon , 1887 ; C. G. Montefiore, Relig. Value ofthe Book
ofProv., in JQR., 1890 ; R. Pfeiffer, Relig.-sittliche Weltanschauung d. B. d. Sprüche,
1897 ; Cheyne, Jewish Relig. Life after the Exile, 1898.
xii INTRODUCTION

robbery, and murder. A fine conception of political equity is

given in the picture of the king ( not a Messiah , but an ideal
sovereign in general) , who is represented as the embodiment of
justice in his dealings with his people ; the references to royal
authority occur almost exclusively in chs. 16-29 ( the other in-
35
stances are 815 148.5 30 3129) . The idea of justice is prominent
in all parts of Proverbs (as also throughout OT., and in Egyptian
and Greek ethical systems ) ; and , as the fundamental virtue in
human intercourse, it is identified with general probity or right-
eousness, the same terms being used to express both conceptions
(see notes on 13 al.) . Warnings against unchastity constitute a spe-
27
cial feature of I. (they are found elsewhere in 22¹4 23 3020) ; one
""
of the terms used for harlot, " strange woman (216 al.) , designates
the vice in question as an offence against the well-being of the
family. Kindness to man ( 3º al. ) and beast ( 1210) is enjoined fre-
quently in II ., and once in I. and V. each ; the fact that the term
(as elsewhere in OT. ) is several times associated with " truth " (3³
1422 166 2028) may indicate that the element of justice entered into
the conception of kindness. Love is extolled ( 1012) as minister-
ing to peace. There is a sharp polemic against slander and mali-
cious gossip ( 612-15.19 1628 al. ) . Special regard is shown for the
interests of the poor ( 2222 al. ) . Irascibility is condemned (1429) ,
and pride ( 13¹º) ; and modesty or lowliness is approved ( 11²) .
Frank acknowledgment of wrong is enjoined ( 2813) . Revenge is
forbidden ( 24¹ ) , and kindness to enemies is insisted on . Indus-
try is praised, sloth is ridiculed, temperance in eating and drinking
is urged. The ideal of family- life is high ( especially in I. , III . ,
and ch. 31 ) : monogamy is assumed ; parents are the responsible
guides of their children, and entitled to their obedience and
respect (love to parents is not mentioned, but is doubtless in-
volved) , the mother having equal honor with the father. Woman
is spoken of only in the relations of wife, mother, and housewife :
she is a power in the house, capable of making home miserable
( 1913 al.) or happy ( 1822 318 ) ; she has not only housekeeping-
capacity, but also broad wisdom ( 18 312") ; her position is as high
as any accorded her in ancient life (Egypt, Greece, Rome) .
Proverbs speaks ( 18 al. ) of the training of children at home ; but
of the method and extent of the education of children in Hebrew
 THOUGHT xiii

postexilian communities we know little ( cf. note on 226) . The

frequency with which terms for " instruction occur in the Book
makes it probable that a definite apparatus of training existed.
Among the virtues not mentioned in Proverbs are courage (see
note on 28¹) , fortitude (see 3 " ) , moderation in thought, self-
sacrifice, intellectual truthfulness. The silence of the sages (and
of OT. generally) respecting these traits is doubtless to be inter-
preted as indicating not that they did not exist among the Israel-
ites, but chiefly that the moralists attached more importance to
other qualities as effective forces in the struggle of life ; the last-
mentioned virtue, further, belongs to a mode of thought which was
foreign to the Jewish mind. The obligation to seek truth is rec-
ognized in I. ( 12 3º al. ) , but the " truth " is that law of conduct
obedience to which secures prosperity and happiness. Of beauty
as an element of life nothing is said ; the failure to mention it is
due not to the religious character of the Book ( for much of the
material of Proverbs is non-religious) , but to the fact that the Jew-
ish sages had not been trained to distinct recognition of the value
of the beautiful in the conduct of life . So also the silence of
Proverbs in regard to international ethics must be referred to the
times ; the Jews were not then a nation, and could not have
political relations with the surrounding peoples, and moreover, a
science of international ethics did not then exist in the world.
2. Life is contemplated on its external and visible side, as a
mass of acts . The freedom of the will is assumed , but there is no
inquiry into its nature and its relation to the absolute will of God
or to conditions of temperament and education . There is no
reference to such inward experiences as swaying between opposed
lines of conduct, struggle with temptation, and the mistakes of
conscientious ignorance. Men are judged, without allowance, ac-
cording to their actual conformity to law, and are sharply divided
into good and bad ; in 122 " simpleton," " scoffer," and " fool " are
equivalent terms, and these classes are set over against the obe-
dient in 132.33 In II.-V. characters are regarded as fixed ; in I.
the exhortations assume the possibility of change, but it is said
( 128 ) that when the hour of punishment comes it will be too late
to turn . There is no reference to sorrow for sin or in general to
processes of conversion from bad to good, or from good to bad
 xiv INTRODUCTION

(so in Ez. 18 ) . The advantages and disadvantages, for practical

morality, of this strictly external conception of life are obvious.
The absence of all inquiry into the psychological basis of the
moral life (which Proverbs has in common with the rest of OT. ) is
due to the Jewish practical, unspeculative habit of thought. There
are no terms for " conscience " and " duty " in Hebrew, and no
1 Hebrew prophet or sage troubles himself to examine into the
origin of the sense of obligation. The OT. ethical thought is
I wholly occupied with the question how to make the best of life .
3. The same practical point of view controls the determination of
the grounds of moral judgments, and the motives for the good life.
For the standard of rightdoing the appeal in Proverbs is to
commonsense or to the command of God . There is no reference
to the good of society as a whole, no recognition of society as an
ethical cosmos, * no attempt to define the relation between society
and the individual or to harmonize egoism and altruism in the
unity of the cosmos .
The motive urged for good living is individualistic utilitarian or
eudaemonistic - not the glory of God, or the welfare of men in
general, but the well-being of the actor. Nor is there specific
reference to man's obligation to seek moral perfection for its own
sake. The only point directly insisted on is that happiness follows
obedience to the law of right. It is unnecessary to call attention
to the fundamental value of this principle in practical life, and to
its ethical limitations. On the other hand, it cannot be assumed
that the broader and more ideal points of view were unknown to
the Jewish moralists ; we can infer only that such points of view
did not seem to them to have practical importance.
The scheme of life in Proverbs cannot strictly be called either
optimistic or pessimistic . The existence of moral and physical
evil is recognized, without attempt to explain its origin or to
reconcile it with the moral perfection of God . But there is also
recognition of the possibility of escaping or rising superior to all
evil ; universal happiness is contemplated as the ideal ultimate
lot of humanity.†

* That is, no recognition by the individual as guide of his own life. The
philosophical conception of the cosmos is found in ch. 8 ; see p . xvi.
On a supposed pessimistic sentiment in 1413 see note on that verse.
 THOUGHT XV

B. Religious.

1. Monotheism is taken for granted, God is regarded as su-

preme and absolute in power, wisdom, and goodness, and the only
trace of anthropomorphism in the theistic conception is the unsym-
pathetic (hostile and mocking) attitude of God toward the sinner
( 126 1120 al. ) . This conception is in the main that of OT. gener-
ally, and is a part of the practical point of view of the moralists.
2. Of other supernatural beings (angels and demons) there is
no mention ( see note on 30¹³ ) . The existence of such beings no
doubt formed part of the popular belief of the time (Job 16 333
† 91¹¹ 1 C. 21¹ ) ; but the sages, dealing with the everyday moral
life, saw no occasion to refer to these administrative agencies, and
confined themselves to the visible facts. Idolatry is not mentioned
the audience addressed in Proverbs is Jewish .
3. Sin is the violation of law in the most general sense, and
salvation, which is deliverance from earthly evil, is secured by
obedience to law, human and divine . There is no reference or
allusion to a Messiah, or to any national deliverance ( see notes on
the passages relating to kings ) .
4. The only national element in the Book is the mention of
sacrifice, which occurs five times ; of the occurrences only three
(158 21327) have an ethical tone, the others ( 714 171) being merely
allusions to feasting in connection with sacrifices. There is no
mention of temple or priests. As to a supposed reference to
tithes in 3º see note on that verse. Obviously the temple-cult is
recognized, but is not supposed to have a close connection with
moral life.
5. The sage speaks in his own name, without reference to divine
inspiration or to any book as authority. The " law " of which he
speaks is the law of his own conscience and reason ; he does not
name Moses or the prophets. In some cases (as in 682-35 ) he
appears to depart from the Pentateuchal legislation . He does
not mention a collection of sacred books ; but this silence is due
partly to the literary custom of the time, partly to the nature of
his material ; even the author of the Wisdom of Solomon, though
in chs . 10-19 he follows closely the narrative of the Hexateuch,
does not name that book. In Proverbs (306 ) there are two quo-
 xvi INTRODUCTION

tations, one from 1831 , the other from Dt. 4º 13', and neither of
these books is mentioned . The sages were doubtless acquainted
with the greater part of our Old Testament, but they use its mate-
*
rial freely as literature , and do not cite it as a Canon of Scripture.
1 Proverbs does not mention a class of scribes or extol learning as
Ben-Sira does ( 382-39¹¹ ) , but it makes mention of sages , and
assumes the existence of systematic instruction , in which the study
of the literature no doubt played an important part.
6. The eschatology is of the simple and primitive sort that is
found in the greater part of OT.: Sheol, the abode of all the
dead, has no moral significance ; there is no judgment after death,
and the position of men in Sheol has no relation to their moral
18. 19
character ; see 'notes on 2 5º al. The divine judgment is mani-
fested in the last moment of life ( 8, 54 al.). The idea of ethical
immortality was either unknown to the sages or was regarded by
them as unimportant for practical life.
7. The thought of the greater part of the Book is definitely
religious, standing in sympathetic and reverent contact with the
conception of a just and wise divine government of the world.
The sages are independent thinkers, but refer their wisdom
ultimately to God.
C. Philosophical. †
1. In agreement with other Wisdom books, and in contrast with
the rest of OT., Proverbs, in all its parts and especially in I. , iden-
tifies virtue with knowledge. Its position is thus sharply distin-
guished from that of the Prophets, the Law, and the Psalmists, in
which Yahweh, as national God, is always ready to favor his people
if he alone be recognized and obeyed . The central idea of the
Book is " wisdom ," which performs all the functions elsewhere in
OT. ascribed to Yahweh ( 120-31 210-22 313-18 91-6 22 al.) . This wis-
dom is, in parts of the Book, also identified with religion ( 17 al. )
a point of view proper and necessary for a Jew. But the sage's
chief interest, particularly in I. , is in the intellectual grasp of prac-
tical truth ; in certain places, as in 25-8, an editor has thought it

* Cf. the manner in which Jeremiah is referred to in Dan. 92, and the way in
which the translator of Ben-Sira puts his grandfather in the same category with the
prophets and other Israelitish writers.
+ Cf. H. Bois, Origines d. 1. philosophie judéo-alexandrine, 1890.
 THOUGHT xvii

desirable to introduce a specifically religious statement into the

sage's picture of the all-sufficiency of wisdom. The religious
coloring in I. and elsewhere is, however, not to be referred to a
desire on the part of the philosophers to placate the orthodox
party (Oort) , but must be regarded as a natural expression of the
view of the authors of the Book.
The conception of the world as a physical and moral cosmos or
orderly arrangement is found, at least in germinal form, in such
OT. passages as Gen. 1 , 104. But the conception is far dis-
tincter in Pr. 8, in which wisdom is said to control all human
society and to have been present at the creation of the world .*
Wisdom in Proverbs is a human quality, generally (in II.-V.)
regulating the ordinary affairs of men, but sometimes (in I. )
appearing in the larger character of sovereign of life . It is then
only a step to the still broader conception of her in ( 822-31) as a
divine attribute, as in fact the chief attribute of God. How this
scheme of different conceptions is to be unified is not explained
by the sages, and we cannot be sure that they had worked out a
self-consistent philosophical system . But the idea of " wisdom "
appears to be parallel to the OT. idea of " spirit " a life com-
mon to God and man, breathed into man by God - - treated ordi-
narily in its human relations and activities merely, but, in the
highest flights of the philosophical imagination ( as in ch . 8 ) , re-
garded as universal and all-controlling. The conception is not
pantheistic " in the modern sense of that term , but is an ethical
and philosophical expansion and purification of the old tribal and
national idea of the unity of the deity with his people . Cf. WS . 7 .
The question whether the representation of Wisdom in ch . 8 is a
personification or a hypostatization is discussed in the notes.
2. An expression of philosophical skepticism appears to occur
in 3024 (Agur) on which see notes ; the doubt expressed relates V
to man's capacity to understand God. The parallels are all in the
32
Wisdom books (Job 3 , 982 196 al. , Eccl . 3¹¹ ) . Elsewhere in OT.
(as in 139 ) the greatness of God is treated as a ground of awe
and reverence ; here it is regarded as a reason for refraining from
attempts to define him.

* See footnote on p. xiv.

xviii INTRODUCTION

D. Comparison with Other Books.

1. In its ethical code Proverbs agrees in the main with the
more advanced Jewish canonical and uncanonical books (the Pirke
Aboth is especially important) and with the New Testament ; in
the later period of Jewish history there had come to be a gener-
ally recognized moral code.* In some cases (as in 632-35) Proverbs
modifies the old law for the better, and its prohibition of revenge.
(2417.29 2521 ) not only stands in striking contrast with such senti-
ments as that of ↓ 109 , but appears to be unique in OT. ( it is not
exactly paralleled in Lev. 1918 & 1207) .
2. Its religious point of view is in general ( in respect to God ,
sin , salvation , Messianic expectation, the future life ) the same as
that of the other Wisdom books except Wisdom of Solomon ; but
it is less national than Ben- Sira (see, for example, BS. 24) , and
differs from our book of Job in that it makes no mention of sub-
ordinate supernatural beings ( cf. Job 16 38 51 2612.13 3323) ; WS.
is much later than Proverbs, and represents a different order of
ideas.
3. In its picture of social life it most resembles Ben- Sira † ;
the two books deal, in fact, with the same sort of society, chiefly
city life, with its commerce, its feasts, its gossip, its temptations to
licentiousness, its relaxation of family-ties, its worship of money,
and its close relations with royalty ; cf., among other passages,
Pr. 329 and BS. 712 (slander) , Pr. 5. 7 and BS. 92-9 2318-26 (the har-
lot) , Pr . 615 1718 and BS. 291.7 . 10. 18 (suretyship ) , Pr. 132 and
BS. 30.12 (chastisement of children ) , Pr. 114 2216 and BS. 58
(riches) , Pr. 1431 2216 and BS. 416 (the poor) , Pr. 1435 2815 and
BS. 10³ (kings ) , Pr. 1520 30.17 and BS. 31-16 (conduct toward
parents) , Pr. 1824 and BS. 67-16 (friends) , Pr. 20' 239-35 and BS. 19¹
3127-30 (wine) , Pr . 20¹¹ and BS . 272 ( buying and selling ) , Pr. 23¹-8
1-11 (conduct
and BS. 32¹¹¹ at feasts) . Ben- Sira goes more into detail
than Proverbs in the description of social relations, but the social

* Ben-Sira sometimes falls below the general level ; on this point and on the
ethics of Prov. and BS. see C. G. Montefiore in Jewish Quart. Rev. II. (1889-
1890), pp. 430 ff.
† And we may add the Syriac Menander, given in Land's Anecdota Syriaca,
Vol. I .; see Frankenberg's article in ZATW., 1895.
 ORIGIN AND DATE xix

organization contemplated appears to be the same in the two

books.
4. More generally, as regards the moral and religious point of
view and aim of the books of the Wisdom group : Job is a pas-
sionate discussion of the question whether the divine government
of the world is just ; Proverbs and Ben- Sira ignore this question,
and confine themselves to cheery practical suggestions for the
conduct of everyday-life ; Ecclesiastes treats life as a logically and
ethically insoluble riddle, and advises a moderate and wise enjoy-
ment of its good things ; Wisdom of Solomon dwells on eternal
wisdom, the architect and inspirer of the world, as the guide of
life, and on the hope of happy immortality as the consolation amid
earthly trials. Proverbs and Ben- Sira thus form a separate sub-
group, devoting themselves to practical morals in contrast with
the speculative element in the other books.

§ 6. ORIGIN AND DATE.

1. Various authors are named in the titles : to Solomon are
ascribed chs . 10-2216, 25-29, and apparently chs. 1-9 (though the
title in 1¹ may be intended to refer to the whole book) , to " the
17
sages " 22-2422 and 2423-34, to Agur 3024 (and possibly but not
probably other parts of ch . 30 ) , to the Mother of King Lemuel
312-9 ; 3110-31 and probably 305-33 are anonymous .
No OT. titles are in themselves authoritative in the sense that
they can be accepted without reference to the material involved .
The name " Moses " stands for legislators of all periods ; no
psalm or other production ascribed by the tradition to David can
be assigned him without examination of its contents ; large parts
of the books of Amos, Isaiah, Micah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, and
Zechariah were certainly not written by the prophets whose names
they bear, and Jonah and Daniel had nothing to do with the com-
position of the books called after them. The name " Solomon "
in titles is of equally doubtful import. The fact that he is said to
be the author of Proverbs, Canticles, Ecclesiastes, and 72. 127 *
shows that the Jewish tradition came to regard him as the ideal of

* To which somewhat later were added Wisdom of Solomon and Psalms of Sol-
отоп,
XX INTRODUCTION

wisdom and a writer of idealizing non-liturgical poetry, * and

ascribed to him indiscriminately everything of this sort. If the
titles in Canticles and Ecclesiastes cannot be accepted as authori-
tative , neither can those in Proverbs be so regarded . And if little
or no weight is to be attached to 1 (as is now generally held) ,
the same thing must hold of 10¹ and 25¹ . As to the latter title it
is sometimes said that so definite a statement ( namely, that prov-
erbs of Solomon were edited by scholars of Hezekiah's time)
must have an historical basis. But still more definite statements
are prefixed to certain obviously late psalms ascribed to David
(see, for example, & 51-60 ) , and the history of the Prophetic and
historical writings makes it improbable that the collection and
editing of literary material began so early as the reign of Heze-
kiah .
Agur and Lemuel's Mother are shadowy figures of whom little
of a helpful nature can be said ; see notes on 30' 31 '. With "the
sages " the case is somewhat different ; the term specifies not an
individual, but a class, and , since it is apparently derived from the
nature of the material, so far carries with it its own justification ;
but from it in itself we get no more chronological aid than we
should get in the criticism of the Psalter from the statement that
the book was composed by " psalmists . " Whether the ascription
to " sages " is probable must be determined by an examination of
the contents of the sections in question.
In the body of the book of Proverbs there is no mention of any
historical person or event from which a date can be drawn . Ithiel
and Ucal (30¹) appear to be corrupt forms, the attempt of Geiger
to find a King Alcimus in 3031 is unsuccessful, and the absence of
historical allusions elsewhere in the Book is intelligible from the
nature of the material.
For the determination of origin and date we must, therefore,
have recourse to internal data.
2. The following facts appear to point to the postexilian period
as the time of origination of the Book.†
The tacit assumption of monotheism can hardly belong to an

* 72 appears to have been referred to him because it gives the picture of a

splendid monarch, and 127 because of his fame as builder of the Temple.
† Cf. Stade and Holtzmann, GVI., II., pp. 292 ff.
 ORIGIN AND DATE xxi

earlier time. Ezekiel ( Ez . 6. 8. 23 al. ) declares that idolatry was

rampant in Israel down to the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Chaldeans, and its existence more than a century later is probably
vouched for by Zech. 132.* It may be said that the sages, as mor-
alists, might ignore purely religious errors, even though they were
as common as in the preëxilian period ; but astral worship is re-
ferred to in Job 3126. 27, and it is hardly likely that in a book of so
wide a range as that of Proverbs there should be no hint of a
usage that would have been the destruction of the " fear of
Yahweh."
The absence of characteristic national traits points in the same
direction . The terms -66 Israel, Israel's covenant with Yahweh,
temple, priest, prophet " (see note on 2918) , all common in the
Prophetic writings, do not occur in Proverbs. These expressions
are found in postexilian writings, and their absence in Proverbs is,
therefore, not merely a matter of date ; but it is difficult to under-
stand how an Israelitish ethical and religious writer of the preëx-
ilian time, whatever the literary form of his work, could refrain
from mentioning them. The same remark holds of other religious
ideas referred to above ( § 5 , B) . The fact that the term " law.”
which (whether priestly or Prophetic) in preëxilian writings always
means the command of Yahweh, here denotes the instruction of
sages is significant. As for the national name " Yahweh, " frequent
in Proverbs, it occurs in Ben- Sira, and we must assume that it
was in common use among the Jews down to the second century
B.C. In a word, if for the name Yahweh we substitute " God ,"
there is not a paragraph or a sentence in Proverbs which would
not be as suitable for any other people as for Israel. This non-
national form of thought belongs to a sort of culture which did
not exist among the Jews till they were scattered throughout the /
world and came under Persian and Greek influence .
The social life depicted in Proverbs does not bear the marks of

* Zech. 1-8 and Malachi bring no accusation of polytheism against their contem-
poraries ; perhaps idolatry, held under in the period of reconstruction, showed
itself at the later time represented by Zech. 132. It could not, however, have been
very prominent or dangerous after the exile.
When the Jews began to give up the utterance of the name Yahweh, and to
substitute for it Adonay and other terms, is uncertain.
C
xxii INTRODUCTION

Old Israel. While polygamy is recognized as legal or is assumed

in an exilian code ( Lev. 1818) , here monogamy is taken for
granted . Agricultural pursuits are mentioned ( 3º al.) , but the
chief attention is given to city life with its special occupations and
temptations (see § 5 ) . There are numerous and emphatic warn-
ings against malicious gossip, going security, greed of money, noc-
turnal robbery, murder, and unchastity - vices and faults which,
though possible in any tolerably organized community, were spe-
cially prominent in the postexilian cities ; on the last- named vice,
to which so much space is given in chs. 1–9 , see notes on 2¹6 53 al.
The system of education assumed as existing is of a much more
advanced sort than that indicated in Dt. 6. The frequent men-
tion of kings as a class in the world , and as persons whom the
private citizen might meet socially ( see 2312, and other references
in § 5 ) , belongs to an order of things foreign to the older life ( cf.
Dt. 1714-20 Isa. 115 al. ) ; the best commentary on it is found in
the pictures of royal life given in Josephus and similar histories.
The philosophical conceptions referred to above ( § 5 , C ) are
out of place in any preëxilian century or during the exile. They
manifestly belong to the time when the Jews came into close intel-
lectual contact with the non- Semitic world . It has been supposed·
that they were derived from Persia, but this is hardly probable if
we may judge from the extant Persian sacred books : wisdom
plays no such prominent part in the Avesta as it plays in Proverbs ;
in the Gathas, it is true, various qualities are personified , but
among these it is wisdom to which least importance is attached ,
and the Avesta is in general more ecclesiastical than philosophical.
In the West * it is only in Greece that we find that identification
of knowledge and virtue which is characteristic of the Jewish
Wisdom literature a trait which in Proverbs is especially prom-
inent in. chs. 1-9, but appears also throughout the Book. The
Jews seem not to have become acquainted with Greek philosophy
before the conquest of Alexander.
3. The same date ( postexilian ) is indicated by the use of the
terms " wisdom " and " wise " in OT. More than half of the oc-

* The Indian systems may be left out of consideration ; there is no good histor-
ical ground for supposing a Hindoo influence on Western Asia as early as the
third century B.C.
 ORIGIN AND DATE xxiii

currences of these terms are found in the Wisdom books, and in

the other books ( except in half a dozen passages in late reflective
psalms ) no philosophical sense attaches to them. In the histor-
ical and Prophetical writings they refer to mechanical or artistic
skill ( Ex. 3510 Isa . 4020 1 Chr. 225) , cleverness in ordinary affairs
33 13
( 2 Sam. 133 142) , political sagacity ( Gen. 41 Dt . 1¹³ Isa. 33 19¹¹
Jer. 89 Ez. 278 28 Esth . 1¹³ ) , magical or prophetic knowledge
11
( Ex . 7¹¹ Dan . 5¹¹ ) , or general intelligence ( Hos . 149(10) Isa . 112) .
In Proverbs and the other Wisdom books they relate to a definite
class of sages whose function is the pursuit of universal moral and
religious wisdom- men who, unlike the prophets, lay no claim to
supernatural inspiration, but make their appeal simply to human
reason. In at least one passage of the later preëxilian time (Jer.
923(22)) there is the suggestion that the ethical prophets looked
with suspicion on the contemporary " wise men, " whose wisdom
appears to be contrasted with the true ethical knowledge of Yah-
weh ; but in Proverbs the sages present themselves as legitimate
and competent teachers of this knowledge. There occurred, ob-
viously, a noteworthy change in the character and position of the
wise men, and the change could have taken place only after the
exile,
Confirmation of this view may be obtained from the considera-
tion of the unity of the group of Wisdom books (Job, Proverbs,
Ben- Sira, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom of Solomon) . All these books,
though there are differences among them, are substantially iden-
tical each with the others in their philosophical points of view and
in their ethical codes. They have the same conception of wisdom ,
and, if we omit Job, they portray the same general condition of
society. The similarity between Proverbs and Ben- Sira is espe-
cially striking.* It is not impossible that the similarity is due in
part to borrowing (though it may be equally well accounted for
by supposing that the two books drew material from the same
sources, and BS. has not the tone of an imitator) ; but in that
case the fact that Ben-Sira imitated Proverbs rather than the

*The most notable difference between the two books is the nationalistic con-
ception of wisdom in one passage of the latter ( ch. 24) ; but this does not impair
the general similarity between them. BS. 2423 (which in its present form appears
to identify wisdom with the Tora) is possibly a gloss.
xxiv INTRODUCTION

Prophetical books suggests that his affinities, intellectual, moral,

and religious, were with the sages, and that he belonged to their
period. When we consider the uniqueness of the Wisdom group
and the substantial mutual identity of the books composing it, it
is difficult to avoid the conclusion that they all sprang from one
intellectual and religious tendency, and that they belong to the
same cultural period . Three of them (BS. , Eccl. , WS. ) are cer-
tainly of the second and first centuries B.C., and the other two
cannot be very far removed in time .
4. It may be possible to obtain a more definite date for Prov-
erbs by comparing the Wisdom books one with another. A two-
fold division of these books may be made, according to the point.
of comparison. In regard to speculative thought they fall into
two sub-groups : Job, Eccl., WS., discuss the question of the justice
of the divine government of the world ; Prov. and BS. ignore this
question. In regard to literary form and general religious tone
there are the sub-groups : Job, Prov., BS., which agree in rhyth-
mical form , in the conception of the righteous and the wicked , and
in the view of the future life ; and Eccl., WS. , which depart from
the old literary form, and attack and defend the new doctrine of
immortality.
Though arguments from diction have to be used with great
caution, the following statement of the occurrences of 24 ethical
terms in Job, Prov., and Eccl. may be of value , it being borne in
mind that in extent the three books are to one another about as
35:32:13 . * Of the terms involving the idea of wisdom the
stem is most frequent in Eccl., somewhat less so in Prov.,
much less in Job ; the adj . is found 9 times in Prov ., once
in Eccl., not at all in Job ; of substantives ( = wisdom) is
peculiar to Prov. (chs. 1-9 ) ; is frequent in Prov. (mostly
in I. ) , much less frequent in Job, wanting in Eccl.; is com-
mon in Prov., much less common in Eccl., still less in Job ; M)an
is not infrequent in Prov., rare in Job, not found in Eccl.;
and (more general terms ) are equally common in Job and

* It would be desirable to include Ben- Sira in the comparison ; but this will not
be possible till we have more of its Hebrew text. Cf. the list of Heb . words given
in Cowley and Neubauer's Ecclesiasticus (BS. 3915-4911) ; the list, however, needs
revision. Ben-Sira appears to contain more late words than Proverbs.
 ORIGIN AND DATE XXV

Prov., and are lacking in Eccl. Of words expressing folly is

frequent in Prov. and Eccl., and wanting in Job; is common
in Prov., very rare in Job, lacking in Eccl.; nis peculiar to
Prov. The verb sin occurs 8 times in the poem of Job,
once in Eccl., not at all in Prov., the participle is not infrequent
in Eccl., less frequent in Prov. , lacking in Job, the substantive is
about equally common in Job and Prov. , and is wanting in Eccl.
Of terms for instruction the noun n is found only in Prov.,
the verb of this stem is about equally common in Job and Prov.,
and is lacking in Eccl.; the stem is rare in Job, frequent in
Prov., not found in Eccl. Of words signifying way in the sense
of conduct occurs only in Prov. , is common in Job and
Prov. and rare in Eccl., while and an , about equally com-
mon in Job and Prov., are lacking in Eccl. The terms and
, kindness and favor, are not uncommon in Prov., but the first
is rare in Job and wanting in Eccl., while the second is rare in
Eccl. and wanting in Job. command is found 10 times in
Prov., twice in Eccl., once in Job, but tora 11 times in Prov., once
in Job, and not at all in Eccl. Words = ethically crooked do not
occur in Eccl.; p is common and rare in Prov., and both
terms are very rare in Job (on the other hand , found several
times in Job, does not occur in Prov. and Eccl. ) . It will be ob-
served that, so far as this list goes, Eccl. is nearer than Job to
Prov. in certain terms of the more strictly scientific vocabulary
) ‫ חכם‬, ‫ ( חטא כסל דעת נבןחכמה‬, in general avoiding terms that
have a religious, ecclesiastical, or hortatory coloring ; Job, on the
other hand, is nearer Prov. in the diction which the latter shares
with the Psalter. We may thence probably infer that the philo-
sophical conception of wisdom is less developed in Job than in
Proverbs, and that the former book is earlier than the latter. The
same conclusion seems to be suggested by a comparison of the
representation of wisdom in Job 28 ( in which wisdom is said to
be undiscoverable by man, but is identified, as is also often done
in Prov., with obedience to God ) with that in Pr. 8 ( in which
wisdom is almost identified with God himself ) . *

* For the opposite view see Budde's Hiob, Einleitung. Some critics regard v.28
of Job 28 as an editorial addition ; the excision of this verse will not materially
xxvi INTRODUCTION

The general inference from these considerations is that most of

Proverbs stands in time between Job and Ben - Sira . The date
of the latter book is about B.C. 190. For Job the similarity be-
tween its historical milieu and that of Isa. 53 Mal. 314. 15 suggests a
time not earlier than c . B.C. 400, and the non-national and specu-
lative tone of the book points to a date fifty or a hundred years
still later. * We thus have c. B.C. 300 as the upper limit for Prov-
erbs ; for the lower limit see the following paragraph . In this
statement of the relation between Job and Proverbs there is one
point that may seem to make a difficulty. It is held by some
critics that the sceptical tone of the former must belong to a later
period than the calm unspeculative attitude of the latter, which
accords with the position of Job's Friends. But this point, very
interesting in its suggestions, seems not to be decisive for the
chronological relation of the two books. It is obvious, on the one
hand, from Malachi that the sceptical movement began as early
as B.C. 400,† and, on the other hand, from Ben- Sira it is no less
obvious that the unsceptical attitude was retained as late as
B.C. 200. What we have to conclude, therefore, is that the two
points of view continued to be held side by side for a consider-
able period , and it is perhaps an accident that we have only hints
of scepticism ( as , for example, in Agur) between Job and Eccle-
siastes. And that there was a continuous development of scepti-
cal thought is made probable by a comparison of the tones ofJob
and Ecclesiastes -the one passionate and profoundly religious,
the other indifferent and feebly religious ; these different phases
appear to indicate widely different periods of culture . The differ-
ence between Job and Proverbs is one not merely of time, but of
point of view as well. We must assume that the Jewish sages
of the four centuries preceding the beginning of our era were of
two general classes, the one content to consider the questions
of practical everyday life, the other not satisfied with anything
less than a solution of the great ethical and religious question

affect the view above expressed. Job 28 is, however, now out of place and inter-
ruptive, and may well belong in the same period with Pr. 1-9.
* On the date of Job cf. the commentaries of Davidson and Budde, and the
articles in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, Cheyne's Cyclopaedia Biblica, and
Herzogs. + And cf. Jer. 121 207.
 ORIGIN AND DATE xxvii

of the world the question of the justice of the divine govern-

ment of men. The first line is continued in Proverbs, certain
psalms, and Ben- Sira , the second in Job, certain psalms, Eccles.,
and Wisd. of Solomon. In these parallel lines the chronological
relations of the various writings may be measurably determined by
such considerations as are presented above .
5. It remains to ask whether the internal indications enable us to
fix the chronological order of the various parts of the Book. There
is an obvious division into three parts, I., II.-IV. , and V. , and of
these the central part appears to form the kernel of the Book.
a . Taking first this central part, we may begin by separating
III. ( 22-24 ) , which clearly differs from its context. It consists
of quatrains, with synonymous parallelism, which form short horta-
tory discourses. It assumes a system of instruction by sages, and is
marked by ethical inwardness and depth. It indicates, therefore,
an advanced stage of reflection and teaching. In its rhythmical
and strophic form it resembles Ben- Sira. Its two parts, 22 "-
2422 and 2423-3 , though separate collections, are so nearly akin in
form and thought that they must be considered to be products
of the same period and the same circle of sages.
b. The remainder of the central part is composed of two sorts
of aphorisms. 1. In chs. 10-15 and half of chs. 28. 29 we find an-
titheses, restrained and lapidary in style, expressing general moral
sentiments, with frequent mention of the divine name and of the
terms " righteous " and " wicked ." 2. In chs. 16-2216 25-27 and
half of chs. 28. 29 there is a predominant employment of compari-
sons and other single sentences, the style is more flowing than in
the first group ( 10-15 , etc. ) , the material is more varied , and
there is much less frequent use of the terms above- mentioned .
The question of chronological priority between these two sorts
of aphorism is not easy to decide. The compressed and vigorous
antithesis may seem to different persons to be earlier or later than
the more flowing form. It is probable that the two do not stand
far apart in time, but the more human and pointed tone of the
second group accords more closely with the style of Ben- Sira .*

* It is this fresh picturesqueness that has given us a number of household words

from chs. 25-29 (Davidson) , but this characteristic does not in itself indicate great
antiquity.
xxviii INTRODUCTION

This analysis indicates that there once existed various small

bodies of aphorisms (in oral or written form) , and that these were
variously combined into small books. They were all the products
of cultivated ethical reflection, though part of their material was
doubtless old . Thus the sub -section chs . 10-15 appears to have
been a separate book of antitheses, and a similar work was used
by the compiler of chs. 28. 29, and, more sparingly, by other
editors. We have another aphoristic book in 16–226, and still
another in chs. 25-27 and parts of chs. 28. 29. From portions of
these works an editor compiled our section 10' - 22 , and from
other portions the section chs. 25-29 was independently put
together. All this material was regarded by the tradition as
Solomonic, and, when the sections were combined, the editor,
aware of a difference, referred the formation of the second to the
scholars of Hezekiah's time ( see note on 25¹ ) . This statement
of the editor proves not the chronological priority of 10¹- 22¹ ,
but only that this latter collection was made before the other.
Smaller collections, such as the Book of Fools (in 261-12) are
referred to in the notes, and are further indicated in the lists of
repetitions given in § 3. Throughout the central part ( chs. 10-
29) the marks of editorial hands are visible .
c. The first main division of the Book (chs. 1-9, except 6¹-9
97-12) appears to be later than the central part. Such later date is
suggested by its precise pedagogic form, its philosophic concep-
tions (ch. 8 ) , and the prominence it gives to certain sins (robbery
and unchastity) . The question might be raised whether the sec-
tion is a unit whether it does not divide itself naturally into two
parts, one ( ch . 8 and parts of chs. 3. 4 ) philosophical and specula-
tive, the other hortatory and practical. There is, no doubt, such a
difference in the contents, but it is hardly of a sort to indicate
duality of authorship : the general conception of wisdom is the
same throughout, and the practical hortatory tone is not confined
to the distinctively pedagogic paragraphs . The relation between
the section and the Book of Job has already been referred to.
The two have the same rhythmic form (synonymous parallelism ,
and frequency of quatrain arrangement) ; but a similar agreement
exists between Proverbs, many psalms , and Wisdom of Solomon,
and is of no use for the determination of relative priority in time
 ORIGIN AND DATE xxix

between these books. The fact that the pessimism of Job is not
found in Proverbs is referred to above (in paragraph 4 of § 6 ) .
It is held by some critics that in Job 157 there is a direct allusion
to Prov. 822-31, that Eliphaz asks Job whether he is the personified
Wisdom there described . * But this view rests on an improbable
interpretation of the couplet. In the first line Eliphaz asks
whether Job was the first man created, assuming, apparently, that
the first man stood very near the counsels of God and was en-
dowed with special wisdom (cf. v. ) The parallelism ( synonymous
throughout the chapter) suggests that the second line is identical
in meaning with the first, and that the expression " before the
hills " is a rhetorical synonym of " in hoar antiquity." Or, if the
two lines be not mutually equivalent, the second must be regarded
as a heightening of the first, with more cutting sarcasm : 66 were
you created first of men ? or, forsooth, before the world ? " There
is no obvious allusion to a primeval Wisdom, or to any cosmogonic
history (and v. relates not to the past, but to the speaker's pres-
ent) . Finally, even if the second line be supposed to refer to the
same fact that is mentioned in Prov. 825, it does not appear why
Job, rather than Proverbs, should be considered the borrower ;
the conception in the latter book is certainly the more highly
developed. And, in general, the conception of wisdom seems to
be more developed in Prov. 1-9 than in Job ; in the latter book
(omitting ch . 28, which, on exegetical grounds, is probably to be
regarded as an interpolation ) wisdom is the reflection of sages,
handed down orally, on one great question - a question which
has its roots in the Prophetic writings ; in Prov. 1-9 wisdom is
the guide of life, with organized instruction , and in one passage
(ch. 8) there is a philosophical personification which approaches
nearer to WS. 7 than to Job 28.† Cf. notes on 30*.
The paragraphs 61-566-11 97-12 belong partly in the same category
with III ., partly with V.

* So Ewald, Davidson, Budde, al. The couplet in Job reads :

Wert thou the first man born?
Wert brought forth before the hills?
+ Cf. Seyring, Die Abhängigkeit d. Spr. Sal. Cap. I.-IX., etc. , 1889 ; Strack, in
Stud. u. Krit., 1896 ; Wildeboer, Litt. d. AT.
XXX INTRODUCTION

d. Chs. 30. 31 , a collection of unconnected fragments, have the

appearance of an appendix. The cool agnosticism of Agur re-
minds us of Koheleth rather than of Job . The artificial tetradic
form is probably late ; see note on 30 ff. The terms wise and
wisdom either relate to common- sense sagacity ( 3024 3126 ) , or when
they denote philosophical depth, are treated with contempt (303) .
On the strange titles in 30¹ 31¹ see notes on these verses.
The history of the formation of the Book appears to be some-
what as follows : Out of certain current collections of aphorisms
were first put together our subsections chs . 10-15 , 16–22¹6, 25-27 ,
and 28. 29, and from these by different editors the sections 10-2216
and 25-29 were made , the editor of the latter being aware of the
existence of the former.* The two may have received substan-
tially their present form between B.C. 350 and B.C. 300, the second
a little later than the first. During the next half- century the sec-
tion III. ( 22-24) was produced, and a book of aphorisms was
formed by combining II. and IV. and inserting III. between them ;
it is not apparent how this position came to be assigned III . , but,
as 251 (" these also are proverbs of Solomon " ) seems to presup-
pose 10¹ (" proverbs of Solomon ") , and III. is referred not to
Solomon but to the " sages," it is likely that it was added after II .
and IV. had been combined ; it is possible, however, that it was
first attached to II., the collection IV. , with its title unchanged ,
being then added. The opening section ( omitting 6¹-19 97-12) may
have been composed about the middle of the third century B.C. ,
and was combined by its author (or by some contemporary editor)
with II.-IV.; the introduction ( 127) is couched in the technical
terms of the schools, and is probably the work of the author of
the section ; he seems also to have prefixed the general title ( 1¹) .
The additions to the section ( 61-19 97-12) , which resemble III . , V.,
and II. , may be due to the final redactor, or to a very late scribe.
Finally the work was completed by the addition of the fragments
contained in chs. 30, 31 , the completion falling in the second
century B.C. Succeeding copyists introduced into the text a num-
ber of errors, not only in words and phrases, but also in arrange-
ment of lines and couplets .

* It is possible, however, that the title in 25¹ was inserted by the final redactor.
 TEXT AND VERSIONS xxxi

6. The linguistic phenomena of the Book are in accord with

these dates while the style, especially in the earlier parts, does
not differ substantially from that of the " classic " period (which
may be taken to include centuries 8-5 B.C. ) , there are passages,
chiefly in the later parts, which show a nearer approach to the
later usage . It is to be borne in mind, of course, that the vocabu-
lary and syntax are probably to some extent affected by the nature
of the material : in such a work there would naturally be a large
number of philosophical terms, and the more popular aphorisms
would use words which , though not new, might not be found else-
where . * Such expressions may characterize the individual style
of the Book, but do not determine its date. It is to be noted also
that a certain number of peculiarities are to be set down as scribal
errors . These deductions being made, there still remains a small
number of expressions which appear to belong to the later usage.
Some of these ( as in 312 ) are Aramaisms, others are late-
Hebrew ; reference is made to these in the critical notes. Ben-
Sira, so far as we can judge from the part of its Hebrew text
which we have ( chs. 395-49 " ) , contains a greater number of late
expressions than Proverbs — a fact which we might expect from
its later date and its fuller and freer treatment of matters of every-
day life . It is doubtful whether any Arabisms occur in Proverbs ;
the words which have been so explained may all be otherwise
satisfactorily accounted for. There are no Persian or Greek words.

§ 7. TEXT AND VERSIONS.

1. The text is not in good condition ; errors are more frequent

in II.-V. than in I., the simple style of the latter having saved it
to some extent from scribal misunderstandings and misrepresenta-
tions. The mistakes are to be set down partly to the ignorance
of copyists, partly to the freedom which they allowed themselves
in dealing with this book as with other OT. books ; we find much
the same state of things in Samuel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Psalms.
It does not appear that changes were made in Proverbs in the
interests of theological opinion or from a sense of propriety or de-

* This is the case with most of the words mentioned as rare in Driver's Introd.
to Lit. of OT.
xxxii INTRODUCTION

cency (causa honoris, c. reverentiae, etc. ) .* Such changes were

made in other OT. books ; the immunity of Proverbs is due in
part to its untheological character , in part to the fact that it was
looked on as less sacred and authoritative than the Pentateuch
and the Prophetic writings.
2. The extant Ancient Versions of Proverbs are the Septuagint
(from which were made the Coptic and the Hexaplar Syriac ) , the
Peshitta Syriac, the Targum, fragments of the later Greek transla-
tions (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, etc. ) , and the Latin of
Jerome.
Of these the oldest and , for the criticism of the text, the most
valuable is the Septuagint. It represents in general an older text
than that of the received Hebrew tradition ; † but its value as a
presentation of the old Jewish aphoristic thought and as a critical
instrument is impaired by the corruptions it has suffered and by
certain peculiarities in the mode of translation. In a number of
cases it offers good suggestions for the restoration of the original
Hebrew. In not a few instances the translator does not under-
stand the Hebrew. He sometimes departs from the literal
rendering in order to give the translation a smoother and more
idiomatic Greek form , § sometimes also in order to obtain a better
antithesis or a more appropriate thought. Possibly he is some-
times influenced by the desire to reproduce the later Pharisaic
orthodoxy, || but this is not clear ; there is no trace of distinctively
Christian ideas. The Greek book is somewhat longer than the
Hebrew some Hebrew couplets and lines it omits, but it includes
much that the Hebrew text has not. The omissions usually indi-
cate a Hebrew scribal plus. The additions are sometimes in the

* Geiger, Urschrift, pp. 378, 400, 403 , finds an example of such change in 718,
and Hitzig in 3031, on which see critical notes.
The translation may have been made as early as 100 B.C.
Such ignorance is found abundantly elsewhere in the Septuagint, but is here
especially obvious - a fact which may be due in part (as Frankenberg suggests) to
the absence of a good exegetical tradition ; Proverbs was not so much read and
commented on as some other books. It is not certain that one man translated the
whole of Proverbs.
§ Cf. Jäger, Observations in Prov. Sal. vers. alex., 1788. This, however, hardly
warrants us in supposing (Frankenberg) that the translation was made for a non-
Jewish public.
This hypothesis is carried to excess by Heidenheim .
 TEXT AND VERSIONS xxxiii

form of doublets, but oftener contain entirely new matter, which

the Greek translator has either himself composed, or, as is more
probable, has inserted from current collections of proverbs. They
appear sometimes to be based on a Hebrew original, sometimes to
have been written originally in Greek. There is rarely ground for
supposing of any one of them that it formed part of the original
Book of Proverbs ; but they show that our Hebrew Book is only
a selection out of a great mass of material then current, and they
thus corroborate the view of date given above . An unsettled con-
dition of the early Hebrew MSS. of Proverbs is possibly indicated
by the Septuagint order of sub- sections in III. , IV. , V. , which ( if
we designate the chapters as in the Hebrew) are arranged thus :
2217-2422 ; 301-14 ; 242-34 ; 305-33 ; 319 ; 25-29 ; 31 10-31
" * From
the point of view of similarity of material this arrangement is
manifestly inferior to that of our Hebrew text — it breaks up III .
and ch. 31 by the interposition of alien matter, and places IV. far
from its natural connection. But it does not follow that the mal-
arrangement is due to the caprice of a Greek translator. The
subsections composing III.-V. must once have circulated as sepa-
rate treatises, and may have been combined in different ways by
Jewish scribes or editors. What we know of the procedure of
Greek translators elsewhere in OT. (for example, in Jeremiah)
does not favor the supposition that they acted capriciously in this
regard.
The Coptic Version is useful for the control of the Greek. It
sometimes offers material not found in our Greek MSS.; all such
cases must be judged by the critical rules applied to the Greek
Version. +
The present Peshitta Syriac text of Proverbs has a perplexing
mixture of readings, agreeing sometimes with against G, some-
times with against ; the more important readings are given
in the Critical Notes . As it follows in general in material and

* Cf. the Greek arrangement of Jeremiah, and numbering of the Psalms, and
the modern attempts at rearranging Ecclesiastes.
+ So Strack and Frankenberg. The latter observes that the Greek arrangement
divides the latter part of the Book into two Solomonic collections, with only two
titles ( 101 251 ) . This may have been the principle of arrangement, but the trans-
lator may have found it in his Hebrew manuscript.
Cf. Bickell, who makes much use of the Coptic.
xxxiv INTRODUCTION

arrangement, it is probable that it is based on the Hebrew ; at

the same time we know too little of the history of Syriac transla-
tions to be able to say whether or how far the present text has
been corrected from the Hebrew. On the other hand, the nature
of the agreements between S and favors the view that the former
has in certain passages followed the latter ; whether, in that case,
this rendering from the Greek was the work of the original Syriac
translator or of a later reviser is a difficult question , though the
former supposition seems the more probable. If we add to all
this that the Syriac translation is often free , it is obvious that it
must be used with caution in the criticism of the Hebrew or the
Greek.*
The Targum, as is now generally held, is based on the Syriac,
though in a number of cases it follows the Hebrew.
Jerome for the most part follows the Masoretic text closely, and
gives little material for getting back of it. Where he follows the
rendering of or inserts from it couplets which are not in , he
probably retains the older Latin text, which was made from the
Greek. He represents the Jewish exegesis of his time, but is
rarely helpful in those cases in which the Hebrew is peculiarly
difficult or obscure.
§ 8. CANONICITY.

According to Rabbinical authorities † the reception of the Book

into the Canon was for a time opposed on the ground of its con-
tradictory statements ( 265) and its too highly colored descrip-
tions ( 77-20) . The latter class of objections seems to have arisen
early, if any chronological conclusion can be drawn from the state-
ment of the tradition that they were set aside by the " men of the
Great Synagogue." The solution of the question appears to have
been found in the allegorical interpretation of the passage in ch. 7.
The Talmud says nothing of any difficulty in connection with
Agur. The doubts concerning Proverbs soon passed away, and
its value was universally recognized. It is quoted or used in NT.
frequently (over twenty times) and in the Talmud (especially in

* On details of S and T see J. A. Dathe, 1764, in Rosenmüller's Opuscula, 1814 ,

Th . Nöldeke, in Archiv f. wiss. erforschung d. AT. , ii. , and Pinkuss ' articles in
ZATW., 1894.
+ Shab. 30 b, Aboth Nathan, Cap. i.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY XXXV

Pirke Aboth), is cited abundantly by the early Christian writers,

has always been highly esteemed for its practical wisdom, and a
number of its aphorisms have become household words.

§ 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
On Text and Versions.
PROCOPIUS, Ερμενεία. l'état d. texte d. livre d. Proverbes,
G. J. L. VOGEL, 1768 (in Schultens) . 1890.
J. G. JÄGER, Observv. in Prov. Sal. G. BICKELL, Krit. bearbeitung d.
vers. alexandrinam, 1788. Proverbien (in Wiener Zeitschr. f.
J. F. SCHLEUSNER, Opuscula, 1812, and d. Kunde d. Morgenlandes) , 1891 .
Lexicon2 , 1829. H. PINKUSS, Die syrische ueberset-
P. DE LAGARDE, Anmerkungen z. zung d. Proverbien (in ZATW.),
griech. uebersetzung d. Proverbien, 1894.
1863. H. GRÄTZ, Exeget. studien (in his
M. HEIDENHEIM, Zur textkritik d. Monatsschrift) , 1884, and Emenda-
Proverbien (in his Vierteljahr- tiones, 1892-1894.
schrift) , 1865, 1866. E. NESTLE, art. Bibelübersetzungen, in
DYSERINCK, Kritische Scholien (in Herzog's Real-Encykl3 (and pub-
Theol. Tijdschrift ) , 1883. lished separately) .
H. OORT, Spreuken I.-IX. ( in Th. Remarks on text in commentaries
Tijdschr.), 1885. of Hitzig, Ewald , Delitzsch , Zöckler,
A. J. BAUMGARTNER, Étude critique sur Nowack, Wildeboer, Frankenberg.

Translations and Commentaries.

Midrash Mishle, ed. S. Buber, 1893. H. DEUTSCH, Die Sprüche Sal's nach
SAADIA'S version, ed . J. Derenbourg, d. auffassung im Talmud u. Mid-
1894 ( cf. B. Heller, in REJ., 1898) . rasch dargestellt u. kritisch unter-
RASHI, Lat. transl. by Breithaupt, 1714. sucht, 1885.
ABEN EZRA,* ed. C. M. Horowitz, 1884. J. MERCERUS, Comm. in Sal. Prov.,
The commentaries of Rashi, Aben etc., 1573, 1651 .
Ezra, and Levi ben Gersom are given M. GEIER, Prov. regum sapientissimi
also in A. Giggeius' In Prov. Sal. Sal., etc., 1653, 1699, 1725.
Comment. trium Rabbinorum, 1620, C. B. MICHAELIS ( in J. H. Michaelis,
and are cited in L. Cahen's La Bible, Uberiores annotationes in Hagiogr.,
1847. In this last work Leopold etc.) , 1720.
Dukes, in his Introduction to Prov- A. SCHULTENS, Prov. Sal., etc., 1748,
erbs, gives a list of 38 Jewish com- and abridged ed . by G. J. L. Vogel,
mentators on the book, beginning 1769.
with Saadia (d . 942) and ending B. HODGSON, The Prov. of Sol. transl.,
with J. Löwenstein ( 1837) . etc., 1788.

* It is not certain that this work is by Aben Ezra ; it may be by Moses Qambi
(Kimchi). It was edited also, from another MS. , by S. R. Driver ( Oxford , 1880).
xxxvi INTRODUCTION

H. EWALD, in his Poet. Bücher [ Dich- | E. REUSS, in his annotated transl. of

ter] d. Alt. Bundes, 1837 , 1867. the Bible, French ed. ( La Bible),
G. R. NOYES, New Translation ofthe 1878, Germ. ed. (Das Alt. Test.) ,
Prov., etc., 1846. 1894.
M. STUART, Comm. on the Book of W. NOWACK (in Kurzgef. exeget.
Prov., etc., 1852. Handbuch z. AT. ) , 1883 ( revision
F. HITZIG, Die Sprüche Sal's über- of E. Bertheau, 1847) .
setzt, etc., 1858. H. L. STRACK (in Strack u . Zöckler's
O. ZÖCKLER, Comm. zu d. Spr. Sal. Kurzgef. Comm. z. AT.) , 1888.
(in Lange's Bibelwerk) , 1866 (Eng. | R. F. HORTON (in Expositor's Bible) ,
transl., 1870) . 1891.
H. F. MÜHLAU, De prov. quae di- G. WILDEBOER (in Marti's Kurzer
cuntur Aguri et Lemuelis origine Hand-Comm. z. AT.) , 1897 .
atque indole, 1869. W. FRANKENBERG (in Nowack's Hand-
FRANZ DELITZSCH, Das Sal. Spruch- komm. z. AT.) , 1898.
buch, 1873 (Eng. transl. 1875) .

General Works.

L. DUKES, Introduction to Proverbs in | C. G. MONTEFIORE, Notes upon the

Cahen, La Bible, 1847. date and religious value ofthe Book
J. F. BRUCH, Weisheitslehre d. He- of Prov. (in Jew. Quart. Rev.) ,
bräer, 1851. 1889-1890.
H. BOIS, La poésie gnomique chez l. R. SMEND, Alttestamentliche religions-
Hébreux et chez l. Grecs. Solomon geschichte, 1893.
et Théognis, 1886. R. PFEIFFER, Die relig.-sittliche Welt-
T. K. CHEYNE, in Job and Solomon, anschauung d. Buches d. Sprüche,
1887. 1897 .

Proverbs of Other Ancient Peoples.

Chinese : F. H. Jenings, Proverbial Hitopadeça, the Panchatantra, and
Philosophy of Confucius, 1895 ; W. the Fatakas.
Scarborough, Chinese Proverbs, 1875 . Greek : For the aphorisms which go
Egyptian : T. L. Griffith, art. Egyptian under the name of Menander see the
Literature, in Library ofthe World's collections of Meineke and Koch.
Best Literature. Syrian : The so-called Syriac Menan-
Assyrian : M. Jäger, Assyr. Räthsel u. der is given in Land, Anecdota Syr.,
Sprichwörter, in Beiträge z. Assyri- I.; cf. ZATW., 1895.
ologie, 1892. As a Semitic parallel we may add
Indian Böhtlingk, Ind. Sprüche ; Arabic : Freytag, Meidani ; Fleischer,
Muir, Sanskrit Texts ; M. Williams, Ali's Sprüche.
Indian Wisdom ; P. More, Indian See also L. Dukes, Blumenlese,
Epigrams, 1898 ; C. R. Lanman, and his Introduction to Proverbs in
Indic Epigrams, 1899 ; see also the Cahen, La Bible.
A COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF

PROVERBS .
1
 A COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF

PROVERBS.

I. CHAPTERS I.-IX.

A series of discourses on the excellence of wisdom, with illus-

trations of its principles taken from everyday life. These are
preceded by a general introduction, before which stands a general
title. On the date and origin see the Introduction .

I. contains the title (v. ) , an introduction (v.2-7) , and two

discourses (v.8-19 . 20-23).

1. Title. - The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of

Israel. The title king of Israel belongs to Solomon. On the
ascription to Solomon, and on the term proverbs ( Heb. mishlē) as
name ofthe book, see the Introduction. The title was probably pre-
fixed by the collector of I. , or by the editor of I.-IV. , or, possibly,
by the last compiler. The Heb. word mashal ( proverb) probably
signifies similarity, parallelism (nearly = comparison) , and seems
to have been used at an early time of all poetry, hardly with
reference to the form (parallelism of clauses, clause-rhythm, being
the distinctive formal characteristic of old- Semitic poetry) , but,
probably, with reference to the thought (short distiches made by
the juxtaposition of related ideas, originally comparisons with
familiar objects) ; the men called mashalists ( Nu. 21 ) appear,
like the Greek rhapsodists and the Arabian rawis , to have been
reciters (doubtless also sometimes composers) of narrative and
descriptive poems. There is no one English equivalent for ma-

* There is no OT. word for poetry, though there are terms for various species of
poetical composition , song, etc. On the late Hebrew terms for liturgical poetry and
poets, piyut, paitan (ñoɩŋτýs) , see Delitzsch, Zur Gesch. d. jüdisch. Poësie, pp. 49 ff.
3
4 PROVERBS

shal- it seems to cover the whole ground of Hebrew poetry. It .

may signify a simple folksaying or aphorism ( 1 Sam . 10¹2 2414(13)
Ez . 1222 182) , an allegory ( Ez . 17²) , an enigmatical saying ( Ez. 21³ ) ,
a byword (Jer. 24° Dt. 28 ) , a taunting speech ( Isa . 14* Hab. 2º ) ,
a lament ( Mic. 2 ) , a visional or apocalyptic discourse (Nu. 237
2415 ) , a didactic discourse ( 49. 78 ) , an argument or plea (Job
29¹) .* In the Book of Proverbs it is either an aphorism ( 10-22 )
or a discourse ( 1−9 , 2329–35 2723-27) .

2-7. Preface or introduction, stating the object of the book,

namely, that men may be induced to accept the teaching of
wisdom . -The structure is distichal, with synonymous parallelism
(except v. ) . The thought is similar to that of 2217-21, and the
preface, like the title, was probably prefixed by a late, perhaps the
latest, editor ; the paragraph is syntactically a continuation of v.¹.

2. That men may acquire wisdom and training,

May understand rational discourse,
3. May receive training in wise conduct —
In justice and probity and rectitude,
4. That discretion may be given to the inexperienced,
To the youth knowledge and insight.

5. Let the wise man hear and add to his learning,

And the man of intelligence gain education,
6. That he may understand proverb and parable,
The words of sages and their aphorisms.

7. The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge —

Wisdom and discipline fools despise.

As the Hebrew text stands the introduction appears to consist

of two parts, the statement of object (2-6) , and the definition of
knowledge (') ; and the former divides itself into a general refer-
ence to men (2³) , with special regard to the immature (*) , and a
particular reference to the wise (5.6) — that is, the work is said to
be addressed to all classes of intelligence . The definition (7)
stands by itself, being of the nature of a general reflection, an
appendix to the statement of object. V.5 appears to be a pa-
renthesis or an editorial insertion - the syntactical construction

* Cf. Delitzsch, op. cit., pp. 196 ff.

 I. 2 5

here changes (to be resumed in v.6) , and there is a certain incon-

gruity in bidding a sage learn to understand the words of sages.
If these two couplets be omitted, we have a symmetrical para-
graph of two quatrains : 23, " that men may acquire wisdom," and
4.6, " that the immature may be educated into understanding the
discourses of the sages."

2-4 . The general object of the book. _ The syntactical con-

nection with v.¹ is close : the proverbs of Solomon . . . [whose
object is ] that men may acquire, etc. - 2. Synonymous, ternary.
Lit. : to acquire (or, know) , etc., the subject of the Infinitive
being " men " or " the pupil." The parallel expressions are prac-
tically equivalent in meaning. Wisdom is the general expression
for knowledge of all good things ; it is practical sagacity (Ju. 529
2 Sam. 133 14 2016 ) , the skill of the artisan (Ex. 31³) , wide
acquaintance with facts ( 1 K. 429-34 [ 59-14] ) , learning (Jer . 8º) , skill
in expounding secret things ( Ez. 28³) , statesmanship (Jer. 1818) ,
and finally, knowledge of right living in the highest sense. This
last is its sense here - moral and religious intelligence . It ex-
cludes not only the morally bad , but also ( in contrast with Greek
wisdom) the philosophically speculative, though, in parts of Prov-
erbs, Ecclesiastes, and Wisdom of Solomon, it is tinged with Greek
philosophical thought. In it the religious element is practically
identical with the moral : no stress is laid in Proverbs on the
ritualistic side of life ( sacrifices, vows) , the devotional ( prayer,
praise, reading sacred books) , or the dogmatic ( monotheism, sin,
salvation) ; the writers of chs. 1-9 and of the whole Book are
concerned with practical affairs ; the law of God is for them
simply the moral law. The second term, training, discipline,
(or, instruction), signifies properly the fact of teaching, educa-
tion ( sometimes chastisement) , but must here be taken to mean
the result of right teaching, that is, wisdom ; the teacher may be
God, or a man who imparts the law of God. Rational discourse
" discernment ,
=
is lit. words of understanding ; this last term
comprehension," is in like manner identical with wisdom. ---
Man's relation to wisdom is expressed by the word acquire (lit.
know or learn) . So far as stress is thus laid on intellectual
recognition of right as the basis of a good life the thought of our
6 PROVERBS

section ( and of the whole Book) is allied to the Socratic-Stoic

conception of morality. The OT. term, however, like the Greek,
expresses more than bare intellectual recognition — it involves
intellectual assimilation and practical acceptance of truth as the
rule of life ; see Am. 310 Hos . 63 135 Isa. 1³ Jer. 1420 Job 2020
515). Still, knowledge is here set forth as the foundation of
conduct, that is, it is assumed that men will do right when its
nature and consequences are clearly understood by them. The
conception of a change of heart is not found in Proverbs . In the
second clause the verb understand = discern, distinguish, appre-
hend, is a synonym of know. — 3. Ternary ; line 2 is the defini-
tion of the last word of line 1. The element of assimilation is
expressed in the term receive = " apprehend, accept, and apply as
a rule of life." - The term training (or, instruction) is usually
defined by its source (v. , father, 31 Yahweh) , but here by its
object or aim, as in Isa. 535 the chastisement of [ = which should
procure] ourpeace. The aim is here expressed by four terms (so
RV.) , wise conduct, justice, probity, rectitude, the three last of
which are better taken as setting forth the content of the first.
From the signification of these words they cannot be understood
as objects of the verb receive (Nowack, Frankenberg) , or as ex-
pressing the content of the term instruction (Delitzsch) . Kamp-
hausen renders that men may accept instruction that makes
wise (klug), righteousness and [sense of] the right and rectitude,
taking instruction as = "the fact of teaching," and leaving it
uncertain whether the terms in the second clause are the object
of receive or are in apposition with instruction. Delitzsch and
Frankenberg, not so well : to attain intelligent instruction.- Wise
conduct is action which springs from insight and sagacity, in ordi-
nary affairs ( 1 Sam . 1830 Gen. 4814 36 Prov. 105 1435 al. ) , and espe-
cially in the moral and religious life ( Jer. 31511999) . Such action,
in its best sense , is controlled by moral principle, and is accordingly
here defined by several synonymous terms. Justice (RV. righteous-
ness) is a forensic term, expressing the quality of the character
and action of that one of the two parties to a lawsuit who has the
right on his side, and thus comes to signify right conduct in gen-

* In Kautzsch's Heilige Schrift.

 I. 2-5 7

eral. Probity is the procedure of a judge , especially legal deci-

sion (Ju. 45 2 Sam . 152) or custom ( 1 Sam. 213 1025 ) , law (Dt. 4º ) ,
God's acts of moral government in the world ( Isa. 26⁹ ↓ 105 ′) ,
then general conduct in accordance with legal decision (assumed
to be morally right) whether made by man or by God. Rectitude
is levelness, straightness, straightforwardness of conduct, as op-
posed to the crooked ways of those who abandon the guidance of
moral truth. These three words are variant expressions of recti-
tude, and thus define the content of the general term wise conduct.
V.2 declares that knowledge of right principle is the basis of true
life ; v.3 assumes that this knowledge necessarily leads to action
controlled by moral principle . - 4. Synonymous, ternary. From
the point of view of the teacher ; lit.: to give discretion, etc. The
inexperienced (RV. simple) are the uninstructed, the immature ;
the word is here used in a negative, indifferent sense, to indicate
need of instruction (used in v.22 with bad connotation ) . The Heb.
term appears to signify those whose minds are open to influence,
who can be easily led . The parallel youth likewise emphasizes the
idea of immaturity ( so that there is no need to substitute a term
= stupid) ; the word may mean babe (Ex. 2º) , child ( 2 K. 4º) ,
young man (Ju. 177) , or, without respect to age, servant ( 2 Sam. 9º) .
The Book of Proverbs addresses itself to men only, not to women ;
the silence respecting the latter is doubtless due to their domestic
isolation and comparative security from grosser temptations ; more
attention is paid them in Ben-Sira (724.25 91 2245 2322-26 2516-26 26
3621-26 429-11) . — Discretion is cleverness in general ( Gen. 3¹ ) , either
for good (so throughout Pr. ) or for evil ( Ex. 21¹ ) . The synonym
insight, or discretion, is the power of forming plans or perceiving
the best line of procedure for gaining an end, then the plan itself,
good or bad ; in Pr. sometimes employed in a bad sense ( 122 14¹
248) , oftener, as here, in a good sense .

5. Synonymous, quaternary-ternary (possibly ternary) . The

telic sense that the wise man may hear (RV. Orelli ) is not a
correct rendering of the Heb.; the hortative sense let ... hear
(De. , Frank .) though not in accordance with the construction of
the rest of the paragraph, is that which best suits the expression
of object which characterizes the introduction . The declarative
8 PROVERBS

rendering is adopted by the Vrss. , Schult. , Kamph.; the sentence

then breaks the connection , and must be taken to be parentheti-
cal. It seems, indeed, not to belong here, but in some such
connection as that in which the similar aphorism 9º now stands.
It is perhaps an old gloss (found in all the Vrss. ) the design of
which is to point out that the teaching of wisdom is appropriate
not only for the immature (v. ) , but also for the wise. Learning
is that which is received , the content or material of instruction .
The parallel expression in the second clause appears to be a nauti-
cal term (so the Grk. and Lat. Vrss . ) derived from the word for
rope, and meaning steering, guidance ; used in Job 3712 of God's
guidance of the clouds ; in Pr. 114 125 2018 246 = counsel, and
here power of guidance, of sound direction of life, = education.
-6. Synonymous, ternary. The scholarly aim. The verse con-
nects itself immediately with v.24 ; these refer to the subject-
matter of teaching, v.6 to its form. The allusion here seems to be
to organized schools, and to the habit of Oriental teachers of
couching their instruction in figures, parables, and allegories ( see
especially ch. 30 ) . The reference is not to esoteric teaching
intended to conceal the highest wisdom from the mass of men -
there is no evidence that such esoterism existed anywhere in the
ancient world * — though the teacher would naturally speak more
freely to the inner circle of his pupils ( cf. Mt. 1334 ) . — The three
terms here employed to describe the form of the sage's instruction
have no exact representatives in English. On proverb see note
on v.¹ . The meaning of the stem of the second term ( )
appears to be turn, bend ; Gen. 4223 an interpreter is one who
translates discourse from one language into another, and so the
Babylonian ambassadors or interpreters of 2 C. 3231 ; Isa. 4327 the
mediators or interpreters are the representative men, prophets, and
priests (the Grk. not so well, rulers ) , who made God's words intel-
ligible to the people, and the mediating angel of Job 332 interprets
man's case to God. Our word thus appears to mean a turned or
figurative saying, one that looks toward another sense, a parable ;
in the only other place in which it occurs, Hab. 26, it has the

* This statement can, I believe, be substantiated. The Greek Mysteries, and

such passages as Dan. 129, do not form exceptions.
 I. 5-6 9

connotation of taunt, sarcasm ; cf. the similar use of proverb.

Here it signifies a didactic utterance ( rhythmical in form ) , in
which the figurative need not be the predominant feature. The
third expression ( 7 ) comes in like manner from a stem meaning
turn aside, and signifies some sort of deflected discourse . Its
earliest use seems to be that of riddle, as in Ju. 14 , 1 K. 10¹
(= 2 C. 9¹ ) ; in Ez. 172 it = parable, and in Nu . 12º the parabolic
or visional form of the ordinary divine communication with priest
or prophet, in contrast with the direct speech which Yahweh
employed with Moses ; in Dan. 823 Antiochus Epiphanes is de-
scribed as understanding hidoth, which must mean tortuous ( mor-
ally tricky) words or procedures ; a shading of scorn and ridicule
appears in Hab. 2º, while in 494(5) 78², as in Pr. , the sense is
simply didactic . Here it obviously = aphorisms . — The three
terms are here synonyms. Their etymology indicates that the
earliest teaching was figurative in form (riddle, proverb, parable,
allegory) ; but, as prophecy naturally advanced from ecstatic
utterance to straightforward discourse, so the Israelitish sages
gradually abandoned the figurative form in the interests of clear-
ness, though it continued to be employed by popular teachers.
V.º assumes that it is a part of good education to understand
the aphorisms of the sages, and these, as Pr. and Ben-Sira show,
were simple and direct expositions and enforcements of duty.—
That a definite class of teachers with some sort of school -organi-
zation existed as early as the third century B.C. appears probable
from the way in which the sages are spoken of in Pr. ( especially
2217-21 ) , and Eccl. 12 , and from the account given in Pirke
Aboth of the heads of schools and their sayings from the middle
of the second century on. The aphorisms, and particularly the
discourses, in Pr. and Ben- Sira are for the most part not popular
in form , but bear the impress of cultivated thought. Later the
title sages was given to the teachers of the law. *
If v. be omitted, v.24.6 form a symmetrical strophe or paragraph :
To know wisdom and instruction , to discern words of understanding,
To receive instruction in wise conduct, in justice and probity and rectitude,
To give discretion to the inexperienced , to the youth knowledge and insight,
To understand proverb and parable, the words of sages and their aphorisms.

* See Schürer, Jewish People, Eng. tr., II . i . 324.

10 PROVERBS

-
7. The motto. Antithetic, quaternary. This general definition
of wisdom may be regarded as the motto of the whole book, and is
probably to be ascribed to the final editor ; see 111. The begin-
ning of knowledge, its choicest feature , its foremost and essential
element, is said to be the fear of Yahweh. The term fear goes
back historically to the dread which was felt in the presence of the
powerful and stern tribal or national deity ; Semitic deities were in
the historical period generally conceived of as lords or kings, exer-
cising constant control over their peoples, and inflicting punishment
on them for disobedience . This is the prevailing attitude of the
pious man toward God throughout the OT.; only the sentiment
gradually advances from the form of mere dread of the divine
anger to that of reverence for the divine law. It never entirely
loses, however, the coloring implied in the word fear. The OT.
ethical conception of life is not love of a moral ideal as the
supreme good, but regard for it as an ordination of the supreme
authority ; the world is looked on not as a household in which
God and man are co-workers, but as a realm in which God is king
and man is subject. This conception, the result of the moral
strenuousness of the Jewish people and of their Oriental govern-
mental scheme of life, helped to develop moral strictness. It is a
fundamental principle of moral life, though not the only principle.
The idea of the Hebrew sage is that he who lives with reverent
acknowledgment of God as lawgiver will have within his soul a
permanent and efficient moral guide ; other conditions of ethical
experience, such as native character, knowledge, temptation, sur-
roundings, are left unmentioned, not deliberately excluded , but
omitted because they are not prominent in the writer's thought ;
his purpose is to emphasize the one principle of reverence as
paramount, and he identifies the man's own moral ideal with the
divine moral law. The use of the name Yahweh instead of the
more general Elohim is not significant as to date or as to ethical
feeling. Yahweh, though in name nothing but the national deity
of the Jews, is here regarded as the supreme and only God . The
personal name was gradually replaced by the Lord (as in the
ancient Versions, except the Targum) , or the Holy One (as in
the Talmud ) , or God (as in Ezra, Neh ., Eccles ., and some
Psalms) , but, as appears from some late Psalms, continued to
 I. 7 II

be freely used, in certain circles, down to the second century B.C.

It is possible, however, that both in Egypt and in Palestine it was,
in this later time, though written, not pronounced, but replaced in
reading by Adonay ( the Lord ) .— The second clause states, not
formally but in substance, the antithesis to the first, the sense
being " absence of the fear of Yahweh ( in fools) is negation ( con-
tempt) of wisdom." The fool is primarily a person lacking in good
sense in general, uninstructed ( Isa . 358) , unskilled ( Pr. 1129) , or
offensively ignorant ( 108 203 299) , then, as here, one who is lacking
in the highest wisdom, and therefore devoid of piety toward God
(so the Grk. here ) . Such an one despises wisdom, is ignorant of
and does not value its high function, nor accept it as guide . —
Instead of the couplet of the Heb. the Grk. has a quatrain :
The beginning of wisdom is the fear of God,
And a good understanding have all they that practise it ;
Piety toward God is the beginning of knowledge,
But wisdom and instruction the impious will set at naught.

The second line of this quatrain now stands in 11110, and the
third line appears to be a doublet of the first ( except that the
terms wisdom and knowledge exchange places) , but may be an
original parallelism. Whether the longer form of the Greek is an
expansion of Heb. or Grk. scribes, or belongs to the original
reading, it is difficult to say. As this verse is an isolated apho-
rism , its length does not affect the rhythmical structure of the
succeeding discourse . Cf. BS. 111-27.

I. 1. The primitive sense of the stem en is doubtful. In all Semitic

languages it means to be like or equal, in Canaanitish ( Heb. , Phoen . ) also
to rule, and in Arab. to stand erect, be eminent, superior. The original
force is perhaps to be alongside of, above (cf. by = on, superposition, and at,
juxtaposition) , whence the notions of similarity and superiority. See Schul-
tens, Prov. , Fleischer (in De.) , Ges. Thes. , BDB. - ; Gös
èẞaoíλevoev év ' Iopańλ, possibly a variant reading ( cf. Eccl. 1¹) , but hardly
an indication (Jäger) that the Grk. translator considered the paragraph v.1-6
to be non- Solomonic. - 2. The primary sense of the stem seems (from
the Arab.) to be firm, fixed, whence the verb control, restrain, and the
noun fixedness of opinion, knowledge. - 3. n is taken as = intelligence,
wisdom, by Oort, Theol. Tijdsch., xix. 380 (L doctrinae) , as in Dan. 117 ;
the Inf. occurs elsewhere in Pr. twice, in 2111 = make wise, teach, in 2116
= wise conduct ; the latter sense is preferable here. ‫ מישרים‬is collective
12 PROVERBS

plu., a mass of equitable actions = equity ; syn. E, Mal. 26 Isa. 114 † 45€(7).
A different sense occurs in Dan. 116. — 6 divides the v. into three stiches :
δέξασθαί τε στροφὰς λόγων, νοῆσαί τε δικαιοσύνην ἀληθῆ, καὶ κρίμα κατευθύνειν.
On σTρ. Xoy. see Schleusner, Lex. What Heb. it represents is doubtful ; Lag.
Ma turnings ( cf. Ez. 417. 24) , which, however, is not used of speech ; Hei-
denheim (in Vierteljahrsschr. f. theol. Forsch. , ii. 401 ) ¹ph, the teachings of
discipline, which hardly explains G ; voñoai = bɔwn¬?, ¿λŋon is scribal insertion
(Lag., on the contrary, rejects dik. as usual rendering ) , каT. = some form of
, perh. taken as Inf., less probably Hif. . L = H. S to receive
instruction and fear, where п seems to be scribal error. T = H, except
that it prefixes to ps. — Graetz inserts n before D (as in 623) , and
writes ‫ להשכיל‬and ‫ ומשפט מישרים‬making a tristich ( so ( . -. ‫פתאים‬, written
v.22.32 on ; the is vowel-letter, and should be omitted. St. an open,
wide (Gen. 927) , then to be persuaded, enticed, seduced; open-minded, per-
suadable, simple-minded, inexperienced ; Ar. fată = broad-minded, generous,
and young man, fatwă = legal decision (opening, expounding of a legal ques-
tion) , mufti = judge. — - H nnb ; G iva de, free rendering. ; & maidi
dè véw, in which véw is perh. dittogram (Jäg.) , but may be orig. ( Lag.) ; accord-
ing to Heid. it is miswriting of véos, the two words . and v. being designed to
form a parallel to plu. . For Graetz unnecessarily writes y stupid.
Rashi cast out from or destitute of learning. - — 5. A telic force for
you is hardly supported by such a construction as that of Isa . 139 in
which the two clauses are closely combined . —nbann is denominative noun
of action; Kußépvŋoɩv, L gubernacula, AZ gubernationes ; on SH see
notes of Lag. and Field ; Fleischer (in De. ) compares Ar. tadbir, Syr. dubōro.
– V.5 is regarded as interpolation by Ziegler, and as parenthetical by Wilde-
boer. -6. ; σKOTELVòv λóyov ; AÐ épμevelav, and so L Rashi, AV.,
against the parallelism, the interpretation, marg. an eloquent speech ; RV.figure.
-7. On the etymology of s as = thick, dull, stupid, see Fleisch. , De. , SS.,
BDB.; Malbim, Heid. ( in De. ) sceptic, from perhaps. ― Bickell (Wiener
ZKM. v. 86) adopts the reading of on the ground that beginning of wisdom
as well as beginning ofknowledge is here absolutely necessary ; he holds that the
Psalmist took the passage from Pr. and that the translator of the followed the
translation of Pr., the clause falling out of by homoeoteleuton . It is, how-
ever, equally possible that Pr. followed the 4. Further, it is not clear what Heb.
would be represented by evoéßeia eis Oeòv, which Bickell renders by ¬¬ në~ ;
but evo. nowhere else represents , and the expression looks like original Greek
rather than like a translation . It is found in Cl. Al., Strom., 161. The Heb.
author may have written ny in first clause because he had in second.

8-19. Discourse against organized robbery : exhortation to

listen to instruction (v.8. 9) ; the temptation to robbery and
murder (v.10-14) ; warning against it, fate of the robber ( v.15-19) .
- The arrangement is in couplets, with varying number of beats.
 I. 8-9 13

Bickell further arranges it in quatrains : v.8. 9, 10. 11. 12, 13. 14, 15. 17, 18. 19.
The text is not quite clear ; some good emendations are suggested
by the Greek.

8. Hear, my son, thy father's instruction,

And forsake not the admonition of thy mother ;
9. For a chaplet of beauty they will be to thy head,
And chains about thy neck.
10. My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not,**.-
II. If they say : "Come with us,
Let us lay wait for the 6 perfect,
Let us lurk for the innocent [],
12. Let us, like Sheol, swallow them alive,
Sound as they who go down to the Pit;
13. All precious wealth we shall find ,
We shall fill our houses with spoil ;
14. Cast thou thy lot among us,
One purse we all will have," .

15. [ ] Walk not in company with them,

Keep thy feet from their paths; †
17. For in vain the net is spread
In the sight of any bird,—
18. And they for their own blood lay wait,
They lurk for their own lives.
19. Such is the fate of all who by violence seek gain :
It destroys the lives of its possessors.

8, 9. Exhortation . V.8 is synonymous, ternary ; v.9 synony-

mous, ternary- binary. On instruction see note on v.2. Admoni-
tion (Heb. tora, sometimes = law) is here synonym of instruction.
Forsake, more exactly reject, repel. Chains = necklace. The
address my son = my pupil, is characteristic of chs . 1–9 , and
also, though less markedly, of 22"-24" ; it occurs once (27 )
in the section chs. 25-29 , and once ( 19 ) in the central division

* Perhaps better :
10. My son, if sinners entice thee,
II. If they say : Let us lay wait for the " perfect,'
12. Let us, like Sheol, swallow them alive,
Sound as they who go down to the Pit ;
16. For their feet run to evil,
And haste to shed blood.
14 PROVERBS

of the Book, 10¹- 2216. It indicates an organized system of instruc-

tion, probably in schools ; see note on v." above . The instruction
here mentioned, however, is that not of sages but of parents. It
is assumed that the teaching of father and mother will be wise,
and this moral training of home would naturally form the basis of
the fuller instruction of the schools . The reference is to the
moral law in general, not specifically to the Tora ( Law of Moses) ,
though this would naturally be the foundation of Jewish home
teaching. The Talmud ( Ber. 35 a, Pes. 50 b , Sanh . 102 a ) explains
father here as = " God," and mother as = “ Israel ” (Ez. 19²) ;
according to Rashi the instruction of the father is what God gave
to Moses in writing and orally, while the law of the mother means
the words of the Scribes or Rabbis whereby they made a hedge to
the Law.* Ornaments of head and neck were anciently worn by
men as well as by women.†

10-19 . Alliance with bands of robbers and murderers can be

attended only with disaster. The organized robbery here referred
to suggests city life of the later time, the periods when, under
Persian and Greek rule, Jerusalem and Alexandria sheltered a
miscellaneous population, and a distinct criminal class became
more prominent. The references in the preëxilian prophets are
to a less organized sort of crime ; they speak rather of legalized
oppression of the poor by the rich ; see Am. 85.6 Hos . 42 68.9 71
23
Isa . 123 5 10¹ Mic. 22 33 612 72.3 Zeph. 33 Jer. 528 76.11 Ez. 1810-13
223-9 ; the passages in Hos . are the only ones that seem to relate
to bands of robbers, and they represent a state of anarchy under
the last kings of Samaria. The description here might be under-
stood (so Frank. ) as referring not to literal robbery and murder,
but to spoliation under legal forms ; but the language of the para-
graph (v.11 . 18 ) and the manner of I. (portrayal of open vice,
chs . 5. 6. 7) favor the former view. Frank . compares BS. 31 25f.

10. The rhythm is irregular : the first clause is ternary, the

second has only one beat ; the latter might be attached to v.", or

* On the education of Jewish children see J. Wiesen , Gesch. u. Meth, d. Schul-

wesen im talmud. Alterthume ; for the Greek customs, Becker, Charicles, Eng. tr.,
pp. 217 ff.; for the Roman, Gallus, pp. 182 ff.
+ See Ju. 826 ; Maspéro, Anc. Egypt and Assyria ; Becker, Char. , 198, n. 6, Gal.,
129ff,
 I. 8-12 15

omitted as gloss, and 10. 11a will then form the couplet. Sinners
is the general term for wrongdoers, persons of bad moral charac-
ter, etymologically " those who miss the mark " ; they are men who
fail in the performance of duty, and thus miss the aim of life .
The noun occurs most frequently in Ps. and Pr. ( 132 23¹7 ) , the
verb is common in all parts of OT. Instead of the conditional
construction the Grk. has the hortative : let not impious men lead
thee astray, but the conditional protasis is a natural if not neces-
sary preliminary to the hortative apodosis of v.5.- 11 . A triplet
in the Heb. , ternary-binary-binary ; the verse division is doubtful
(see note on v.10) . The Heb. text instead of perfect has blood,
and at the end of the verse adds without cause ; the first emenda-
tion (requiring the change of one Heb. letter) is called for by the
parallelism, and the addition without cause is superfluous, since
the victims are described as innocent. If the reading blood be
retained, it must be understood elliptically, as to shed blood; it
cannot be taken ( Fleisch. in De . ) to mean a youth, a young blood.
The adv. without cause must qualify the verb lurk ; the translation
innocent in vain ( that is, their innocence does not save them) ,
while grammatically possible, does not accord with the connec-
tion. ―Bloodshed is assumed to be a natural accompaniment of
robbery, and it is accomplished by lying in wait in the dark places
of the city. Ancient cities were badly lighted at night, and not
-
usually well policed . Cf. 108. — 12. Synonymous, ternary. The
word rendered sound is generally used of moral completeness
= perfect ( Gen. 69 Pr. 2º¹ ) , and is here so taken by some ( as
Kamph. ) ; but the parallelism favors the physical sense in full
bodily health and strength, equivalent to the parallel alive ( as in
Ez. 155, cf. the ritual use, Ex. 125 al. ) . The sense of the passage
is we will swallow them (Grk. him) alive and sound so that
they shall be as completely destroyed from the earth as those that
go down by course of nature into the pit of Sheol (that is, those
who die ) . Sheol (and so its equivalent the Pit) is the Under-
world, the abode of the dead, good and bad, a cheerless place
whose denizens have no occupation (Eccl . 910 ) and no relations
with Yahweh * ( Isa . 38¹8) ; descent to it is a misfortune , since it

* It is probable that in the oldest form of the Heb. religion (as in the Baby-
lonian) Sheol was under the control of a separate deity, independent of Yahweh ;
16 PROVERBS

deprives man of activity and happiness, but not a punishment ex-

cept when it is premature ( 553(24)) . - The second clause reads
in the Grk. and let us take away the remembrance of him from
the earth (cf. ¥ 3416(17) 10915 ) , which represents a different Heb.
text from ours, the general sense being unchanged ; in the Heb.
the parallelism to the first clause is presented in the adj . sound, in
the Grk. in the verb take away. The course of thought favors the
Heb.; the Grk. is probably an imitation of the psalm- passage.-
13. Synonymous, ternary. The object of the assault is treasure ;
the house is to be broken into ( Mt. 6¹ ) . The robbers have their
own houses, are residents of the city. The Vrss . give slightly
different readings ; 6 : let us seize his costly possessions ; : all
his wealth and glory ; : all wealth and glory (or property) .
gives a good sense = " all sorts of wealth . " -14. Synony-
mous, ternary. The word lot is primarily the thing (a die or
something of the sort ) used to procure the answer of the deity
(as by Urim and Thummim) to a question ( Lev. 168) , then the
thing assigned to the questioner by the divine decision (Jud . 1³) ,
then in general one's part in life (Jer. 1325 165 Dan. 12¹³) ; cast
thy lot among us = share our fortunes, identify thyself with us.
The disposition of the booty indicates a regular organization in
the robber-band. There is to be one purse, a common fund of
spoil to be equitably distributed among the members of the gang.
This is held out as an inducement to the neophyte , who would
thus get more than he could hope to gain by his own separate
efforts. Murder is lightly passed over by the robbers as a natural
and easy feature of their occupation ; the young man is supposed
to be accessible to the temptation of easily acquired wealth. The
picture of manners here given is historically valuable. For another
interpretation see note above (on v.10-19 ) .- 15-19 . The reason
for avoiding such companions : their path, though it may be tem-
porarily successful, leads finally to destruction . - 15 . Synonymous,
ternary. The received Hebrew text begins the verse with my son,
as in v.10, and a justification for this expression may be found

but in OT. there is no trace of any divine government in the Underworld (which is
an isolated and anomalous place) till late postexilic times when the one God
became universal (Job 1413 266) and the idea of resurrection arose ( Dan. 12², cf,
the doubtful Isa. 2619) .
 I. 12-17 17

in the length of the preliminary description, v.10-14, which might

make the resumptive my son natural ( Baumg. ) ; but, on the other
hand, as it is not found in 6, is unnecessary at the beginning
of the apodosis, and is rhythmically undesirable, it is better to
omit it. 16. Synonymous, ternary. On both internal and exter-
nal grounds this verse is probably to be regarded as a scribal
insertion. It breaks the connection between v.15 and v.", the
latter of which gives the ground ( namely, the peril of the robbers'
15-19
course) for the exhortation of the former ; and the section v.
is devoted to a description not of the character of the robbers
(which is given in v.10-14) but of their fate. Verse 16," further, is
identical with Isa. 597ª, and is not found in the best Grk. MSS.
It appears to be the gloss of a scribe who thought a reference to
the bloodthirstiness of the robber-band here appropriate, or wrote,
as a remark, on the margin this parallel expression, which was
then inserted in the text by a subsequent scribe. - In the second
clause we may take feet as subject of make haste, or we may insert
the subject they (the robbers) .- 17. Single sentence, ternary.
This statement is introductory to that of v.18, and its meaning is
fixed by the relation between the two : v.18 declares that the
robber murderer's course is destructive to him, and v. must
therefore set forth the destruction and the blindness not of the
victim but of the murderer himself ; the comparison refers not to
the futility of laying snares in the sight of birds (who thus see the
trap and avoid it) , but to the blindness and folly of birds who,
though the snare is laid in their sight, nevertheless fall into it. In
like manner the criminal, blinded by desire for gain, fails to see
the snare which God (working through society and law) spreads
for him, and falls irredeemably into it. The connection is not :
go not with them, the net which they spread for thee is clearly
visible , thou wilt surely not be blinder than a bird ( Ziegl. , De. ) ,
but go not with them, for, like silly birds, they fall into the net,
and thou wilt be entrapped with them ( Ew. , Nowack, Strack. , al.,
and cf. Schultens ) . Frank. renders : for without success is the
net spread, etc., that is, the efforts of the snarers [the sinners ] are
without result for themselves they catch no birds ; a possible
sense and good in itself, but the couplet appears to state a fact
always true of bird-snaring. Moreover, the sage probably intends
C
18 PROVERBS

not to deny that sinners get booty, but to affirm that, though they
get it, it does not profit them in the end . -- A different text is
offered by G, which reads : for not in vain are nets spread for
birds (inserting not, and neglecting in the sight of) , that is, not in
vain are there pitfalls for criminals in the shape of human laws and
dispensations of God- they (v.1 ) are laying up punishment for
themselves . This gives a natural connection of thought, but looks
like an interpretation of a text not understood. -The Heb. ex-
pression possessor of wings, = bird, is found only here and Eccl.
102018. Synonymous, ternary-binary. Their criminal proced-
ure, begun for their profit, turns out to be a plot against them-
selves ; they overreach themselves and become the executors of
their own doom. It is not said how this result is brought about,
but the allusion doubtless is to human law and divine judgments.
This is the old- Israelitish view that wrongdoing will be punished
in this life - perhaps also the belief that criminals cannot in the
long run escape the vigilance of the law. for they who have
to do with blood lay up evils for themselves, and the overthrow of
lawless men is grievous, in which the first clause is incorrect ren-
dering of the whole Heb. verse , and the second clause is a parallel,
probably a scribal addition ; the contrast given in own blood is
ignored, in accordance with the Grk, reading of v.1. - 19 . Single
sentence, ternary. Lit.: such are the ways, the manner and out-
come of life ( or, the sense latter end, fate, may be got by a slight
change in the Heb . word ) . Grk. , second cl .: for by impiety they
destroy their lives, an appropriate idea, but here probably not origi-
nal. See 1527 2816 Job 813 Hos . 41. The term gain has here the
connotation of violence, injustice, as in Ez. 2213 ; the simple sense
profit is found in Gen. 3726 Mal . 314 Job 223. — The argument of the
section v .10-19 is an appeal not directly to the sense of right, but to
rational self-regard : robbery and murder bring destruction on the
perpetrator, and must therefore be avoided. The connection ,
however, indicates that this law of prudence is regarded as the
law of God .

9. , only here and 4º, lit. twisted, any adornment for the head. py
apparently a denom . from pɔy neck, a word which occurs in Jew. Aram . and
Arab. , but not in Heb . Graetz, with little probability, emends to ♫ perfect.
Somits.01 ; GB Taidelav, GNAC vóμovs (and so S) ; the latter is prob.
 I. 17-19 19

scribal variation (cf. 620) , hardly (Lag .) rendering of D for D ; Heid.

holds that it comes from a Pharisaic hand. - Hon ; GB déen, GA ën , perh.
free rendering ( Heid.: allusion to phylacteries) , perh. representing a variant
reading, though the original in that case is not apparent. — 10, 11. divides
v.10. 11 as follows : My son, let not impious men seduce thee, Nor consent thou
if they urge thee, saying, Come with us, go shares in blood, And let us hide
the just man unjustly in the earth. Bickell, omitting 10a for rhythmical
reasons, writes : Consent not if they say, come with us, Let us lay wait for
blood, let us lurk for the innocent. The Heb. rhythm is not satisfactory, but
it is hardly improved by these variations. Bickell's omission of 10a is
unwarranted, and the resulting form is not good, either rhythmically or
rhetorically. is rhythmically better, but its rendering of is partly
incorrect, partly free. may be retained if we suppose 10b to be purposely
short, and take 11 as couplet : If they say, come with us, Let us lay wait for
the perfect, let us lurk for the innocent, or, if we throw out 10b. 1le, and part
of 11a, and take the rest as couplet. It is hardly possible to recover the
original form. 10. ; & un = ‫ אל‬- - 39 ‫) וּבֵא‬from ‫ ( אנה‬, in which the
and have changed places (full form 787) , or the is the writing of an
Aram. scribe for , the initial of the stem being omitted because it was
unpronounced. The regular form 78 is found in a number of MSS. (see
De' Rossi) , and either it should here be written, or we should, with Bi., write
‫ ; האב‬in several MSS . the verb is understood as ‫ ( תבא תבוא ) בוא‬, which is
improbable. — 11. After 1 have , perh. repetition from following
T ?.πаρaкаλéσwσɩ
: may = ' . -
—H ; Kovávηoov, from or
( Lag.) .— H ; Dyserinck, Theol. Tijd. 17 , 578, reads on , which suits the
next clause ; Oort, ib., 19, 381 , holds that the reading of v.18 (which ver. is
clearly parallel to v.11) sustains here. seems to be intrans. (as
apparently in 108 567) ; elsewhere the Qal is trans., and so it is here taken
by Frank. who renders : we will set (a trap) . —H pp ; Gåvôpa dikalov,
either not having the , or ( Lag.) taking it, according to the Aram. const., as
sign of Acc. - , found in the Vrss . (S ׬yɔ maliciously) , but superflu-
ous, and probably a gloss (Bi.) . The whole clause may be omitted without
detriment to the sense, and with advantage to the rhythm. -— 12. ;
Graetz Pi., as in 1928 212).. - As ad clause ( has καὶ ἄρωμεν αὐτοῦ τὴν μνήμην
Kys, representing the Heb. of 3417 10915, perh. editorial variation ; Lag.
suggests that, the Heb. text of being effaced, it took the appropriate
passage from the Ps.; for opp may have stood Don ; Heid. supposes
that may have had ng on on , improb. late Heb. - 13. in ;
← Tǹν KTĥol AỦтoû ; Bi. D , not so good a reading as that of .—
14. H ; GLST have Impv. , which is better, though not absolutely
necessary, since the assertory form of statement is possible ; Bi. omits 'n as
marring the parallelism, but thy lot is with us is hard.. Gb has a doublet, a
free and a literal rendering ; the former is probably the original (Jäg. , Lag. ,
Baumgartner) , the latter a correcting gloss . - 15 . ; Gc.aс. vié, H- P 23
(= V) , 252, 254, 295, 297, vié µov, lacking in NABC, and should probably be
20 PROVERBS

omitted. - sing.; plu. in GLST and several Heb . MSS . , the diff. not
appearing in script. defect. — 7712, lacking in L De'R 249. — 16 . Wanting
in the uncials of 6 ( exc. Nc. a A) and in Copt. ( Sahidic and Memphitic) ;
Cod. 23 ( of H-P) adds to it from Rom. 316. 17, and the cursives which contain
it place it some before and some after v.17. It appears not to belong to the
original text. After has (= p , as in Isa . 597 ) . —17. 6 prefixes
où ; has instead of 5, and for plu. act. Part. 1. — ¬ve
T : in
sense of spread is difficult, the word elsewhere meaning scatter, winnow ;
Schult. here ventilatum ; Rashi, in vain is (grain) scattered (on) the net.
We should perhaps read ‫ ) מפרשה רשת‬6 8tkova ) or ' ‫ חנס פרשו ר‬, which is
phonetically not too hard. In Hos. 51 renders by éктelveɩv, which is its
expression here.- ; plu. in GLAr. and 4 Heb . MSS. - 18. 17 ;
GμETÉXOVтES ; see v.11. H op ; GB al. øóvov ( H -P 23 aiµátwv) = D'^^, not
so well. 6, rendering › by Oŋoavpíšovoiv, adds κañá as necessary comple-
ment. appears to make v.18 a continuation of v.16 ( Pink. ) — 19 . ;
, probably to be adopted ; see 54 Nu. 23103737.38 7317 ; ´ is not
elsewhere used as = fate, the sense here required by the connection . —
Hvbya; G Tŷ ảσeßeig = nhiya (Jäg.) .

20-33. The appeal of Wisdom. - Wisdom, standing in a public

place, exhorts the ignorant and the scornful to listen to her words,
threatening them with destruction if they refuse . The section is
independent, having no immediate connection with the preceding
or the succeeding context. It resembles the first half of ch . 8,
but is minatory while that is persuasive in tone . As the text
stands, it is arranged in couplets (except v.22. 23. 27, which are trip-
lets) , which may be naturally combined into quatrains . After the
introduction (v.20.21) comes the address, which consists of a denun-
ciation ( v.22. 23 ) , the charge of disregard of her teaching ( v.24. 25) , a
description of the fate of the despisers ( v.26-31) , and a contrast
between the doom of fools and the happiness of the obedient
(v.32.33) . Wisdom is personified, as in chs. 8. 9.

20. Wisdom cries aloud in the streets,

In the broad places utters her voice,
21. Calls out at the head of the high places,'
In the gates of the gateways [ ] * she says :

22. How long, ye dullards, will ye love ignorance [ ] †,

And fools hate knowledge?

*The Heb. adds : in the city.

The Heb. adds : and scoffers delight in scoffing.
 I. 20-21 21

23. [] * I will utter my mind to you,

Will tell you my decision :
24. Because I have called, and ye refused,
I have stretched out my hand, and none regarded,
25. Ye have ignored all my counsel ,
My admonition ye have rejected , -
26. I, in my turn, will laugh in [ the day of ] your calamity,
I will mock when your disaster comes,
27. When your disaster comes like a storm ,
And your calamity like a whirlwind. [ ] †
28. Then will they call on me, but I will not answer,
They will seek me, but will not find me,
29. For that they hated knowledge,
And chose not the fear of Yahweh.
30. They would none of my counsel,
All my admonition they despised ;
31. Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own conduct,
And be sated with their own counsels.
32. For the indifference of the insensate will slay them ,
The careless ease of fools will destroy them.
33. But whoso hearkens to me will dwell secure,
Will be free from fear of harm .

The interpretation of the paragraph depends in part on the

22. 23 and the following verses .
view taken of the relation between v.2
If the former are held to contain an exhortation to repentance
(v.2 ) , they can hardly be closely connected with the latter, since
these presume that the call of Wisdom has been rejected, and the
discourse should state, after v.23, the repellant answer of the per-
sons addressed ; as the text stands, v. 24-31 constitute a separate
discourse which states the result of disobedience. Unity of
thought may be gained by omitting v.23a, and taking the whole
piece as minatory, the connection being : you have turned a deaf
ear to me long enough (v.2 ) , I have lost patience and will tell you
24-31
my decision (v . ) : because you have refused, etc. ( v.²+31 ) .

20, 21. Introduction : the publicity of Wisdom's appeal. -

Synonymous, ternary. After gateways the Heb. has in the city her

* V.23a in the Heb.: turn ye to my admonition.

+ Heb. v.2c : when distress and anguish befallyou.
22 PROVERBS

words she says ; the expressions in the city and her words, which
mar the rhythm in the original , appear to be glosses, the former
intended as an explanation of gateways (stating definitely that the
reference is to city gates) , the latter noting that the following
verses give the words then uttered by Wisdom. The Grk. has a
somewhat different reading : Wisdom sings in the streets (lit. exits ),
in the broad places boldly speaks, proclaims on the summits of the
walls, sits atthe gates ofprinces, at the gates ofthe city boldly says ;
this seems to be partly misreading, partly expansion, of our Heb.
text. ― Broad places are the wide open spaces in front of city
gates ; instead of high places the Heb. has a word which is com-
monly rendered noisy places, understood to mean crowded thor-
oughfares (including bazaars and market-places) ; but this sense
is doubtful, and a better term is given in 82 (high places) , or by
Sept. (walls) ; walls may be included in the high places ; these,
together with streets and gateways, were gathering- places for the
people. The gateway was a long structure entered at the extremi-
ties through gates. The verb cries aloud expresses an excited
emotional utterance, usually of joy (Lev. 924 Isa . 126 Job 387) ,
sometimes of sorrow ( Lam. 2119 ) , or general excitement ( 7865),
here of intensity of feeling. — Wisdom does not content herself
with being wise at home, but seeks men out in their everyday
life she is a preacher. The custom of speaking in places of
concourse was an old one, familiar to the prophets ; see Jer. 72,
and cf. Mic . 1 Isa . 202 Jer. 5¹ ; so also Socrates ( Xen . , Mem . I. 1 ,
10) . The later Jewish custom resembles both that of the proph-
ets and that of the Greek philosopher, the former in its hortatory
tone, the latter in its reflective, ethical subject-matter. The choice
of the term wisdom to denote the religious teacher points to a
phase of life which came after the great prophetic period (in the
prophets wisdom is not religious) , and probably indicates the
influence of the Greek atmosphere in which the Jews lived from
the close of the fourth century B.C. on * (see Introduction, § 6 ) .

* Cf. the similar use of wisdom in Ben-Sira, Eccl., Wisd. of Sol. The title
Koheleth, given in Eccl. to Wisdom (speaking in the person of Solomon) , if, as
is possible, it means a caller (or member) of a public assembly, supposes acquaint-
ance with Grk. forms of life ; see the commentaries of Tyler, Plumptre, Reuss,
Siegfried, Wildeboer, and Cheyne's Job and Solomon,
 I. 20-23 23

The exhortation in Prov. is not : put away all other gods and
serve Yahweh alone, or : bring offerings to the temple according
to the Law, but listen to reason and conscience , which are the
voice of God in the soul.

22-33 . The discourse of wisdom in the received Heb. text

falls naturally into two parts, an invitation , v.22. 23, and a denuncia-
tion, v. +33. The connection between the divisions is not clear
(see note above on v.20-33) . The denunciation is introduced
abruptly, as if the invitation had been refused, though nothing
is said of a refusal. On this point the Versions offer nothing
different from the Heb., and there is not good ground for exten-
sive alterations of the text (see below) . A closer connection
between the parts might be secured by giving v.24.25 the condi-
tional form , the apodosis following in v.26, but against this is the
form of the verbs in v.24. 25 Failing this we shall have to consider
the divisions as separate discourses, or suppose that an explana-
tory transitional statement has fallen out after v.23, or, what seems
23a 22. 23
most satisfactory, omit v.2 ; v. will then contain not an invita-
tion, but a denunciation . Cf. the connectedness and smoothness
of the similar discourse 81-11.

22, 23. The Heb. has two triplets : v.22 is quaternary- quaternary-
ternary, v.23 binary-ternary- ternary ; on the text see below. The
three classes of persons are practically the same, though the
words have different shades of meaning. Dullards (or simple-
tons, RV. simple) are the inexperienced (v.4) , here those who
positively love ignorance, and deliberately refuse to listen to
instruction in right living. — The terms scoffing ( or scorn) and
scoffer (or scorner) belong almost exclusively to the later relig-
ious vocabulary of Pss . , Pr.; they occur elsewhere only Hos. 75
Isa. 2814.20 2920 Job 1620, in which passages they express contempt
in general ; in Pr. scoffer bad man, one who turns his back on
what is good (so 1¹ ) , the special element of contempt not
being significant ; the simple sense occurs in 20¹. In 1195¹ the
reference is to apostate Jews or foreign enemies ; in Pr. there
is no reference to the nation Israel . — Fool ( Heb. kesīl ) is also
a term of the reflective moral literature , occurring, in the intel-
lectual or ethical sense, only in Pss. , Pr., Eccl. ( the verb is
24 PROVERBS

found once, Jer. 10 ) ; it seems to mean a stolid , dull person ,

in Pr. one who is insensible to moral truth and acts without
regard to it. By these three terms the sages express the con-
trast to that wisdom which consists in acceptance of and
obedience to the divine law of conduct written in man's heart .
As only two of these classes ( dullards and fools) are mentioned
in v.32 (which is a résumé of the preceding statement) , there is
ground for supposing v.22b to be a scribal addition ; Wisdom is
here dealing with the unwise. — In v.23ª of the Heb. these persons
are urged to listen to instruction, to turn (that is, give heed ) to
(not at ) the admonition of Wisdom ; she promises to impart her
knowledge to them. Admonition (or, reproof) (used chiefly in
Pss . , Pr. ) is exhortation tinged with imputation of blameworthiness.
For the reason given above this line should probably be omitted ;
the remaining couplet (v. ) will then be Wisdom's declaration that
she now utters her final word. The word rendered utter ( RV.
2.
pour out) is a poetical synonym of speak ; so 15228 ¥ 192(3) 78² 94*
1917 1457 ; and mind (spirit) = thought, here = purpose or deter-
mination. The Heb . word commonly rendered spirit means first
wind and so breath, and then the inward life or being ; in Pr .
it generally has this last sense, as 1113 16232 2528 29¹¹ ( so Isa . 40¹³
the mind, judgment of Yahweh) . Here the meaning is given by
the parallelism : I will tell (or make known) my words = I will
utter my thought. * The words (here = decision ) and the mind
are stated in the following address ( v.24-27 ) . My spirit may also
= myself. - The Heb. introduces the second line of v.23 with
behold. construes the two verses differently : So long as the
guileless hold fast to righteousness they shall not be ashamed, but
the foolish, being lovers of insolence, have become impious, have
hated knowledge, and have become liable to reproof; behold I
will pour forth to you the utterance of my breath, and teach you
my word. The declarative form (instead of the interrogation
of the Heb. ) is improbable, and the contrast in v.22 is against
the connection. Bickell reads : How long will ye love ignorance,
and scorners delight them in scorning, and fools hate knowledge
and incur my reproof? He thus gains a rhythmically symmetrical

* So Salomon ben Melek, cited by Heid.

 I. 22-27 25

quatrain, and (by obliterating the invitation of v.2 ) gets rid of

the break between v.22. 23 and the rest of the discourse . But the
substitution of incur for turn is arbitrary, v.23b.e (which he omits)
is a natural introduction to the denunciatory discourse, and the
omission of the subject (dullards) in v.22 is, from the parallelism,
improbable. S makes v.23 conditional : if ye turn ...I will,
24ff.
etc.; but this construction only introduces confusion , since v.2
assume that they have not turned .

24-33. The denunciation, consisting of a direct address (v.24-27) ,

a description, in 3 pers., of the fate of the recusant (v.28-31) , and
a statement of the contrasted positions of the ignorant and the
wise (v.32.33) .

24-27 . Wisdom will mock at the calamity of those who reject

her invitation . — The lines may be read as ternary, but the law or
rule governing the beats is not clear. -V.24. 25. 26 are couplets, v.27 is a
triplet in the Heb.; the Grk. converts v.27 into a quatrain (or two
couplets ) by adding at the end when destruction comes upon you.
Bickell, by omissions, substitutions, and transpositions, makes out
of v.26 .27 a quatrain : I also will laugh in ( the day of) your calamity,
when distress and anguish come upon you, I will mock when your
fear comes as a storm and your desolation comes as a whirlwind.
V. in the Heb. is expansion of the predicates of v.26, a recognized
poetical form. It is not necessary to insist on absolutely symmet-
rical couplets at all hazards ; but, as the rest of the paragraph is
arranged in couplets and quatrains, and as the two predicate-terms
of v.26, calamity and disaster, are given in v .27a. b." and v.27c appears
to be an afterthought (a scribal insertion) , it is better to omit this
last. _____- The verbs in v.24. 25 refer to Wisdom's invitations in the past,
that is, all the good influences of life ; warning has not been lack-
ing, and on the despised warning follows this minatory discourse.
The first verb in v.25 is primarily go freely about and let go free,
then neglect, avoid, ignore ; the sense of " allowing full play or
license " is found in Ex . 5* 32 Pr. 2918, that of " neglecting, avoid-
ing," in 415 833 1318 1532.- Laugh at (instead of laugh in, etc. ) ,
v.26,
" is possible ( Gen. 3914) , but does not agree so well with the
designation of time in the following clause. Mock is stronger than
laugh, expressing bitterness or exulting derision . The I in my
26 PROVERBS

turn (RV. I also) brings out the contrast of persons : " You have
had your turn, and I shall have mine ." Disaster is lit. fear ( par-
allel to calamity) = ground or cause of fear. Instead of storm we
may render by desolation ( RV. marg. ) , but the former sense is
favored by the parallelism. Distress and anguish are synonyms
(cf. Isa. 8° 30°) , both signifying distressful limitation , straitness ,
opposed to largeness, freedom of movement ( 3189) 1185) . Befall
is lit. come upon . V. is probably not original ; see note above .
-The address is minatory. The offence (v.24. 25) is disregard of
the exhortation of Wisdom she has implored, they have turned a
deaf ear. Their posture of mind is that of deliberate disregard
they have had sufficient warning. Whether their neglect came
from lack of previous training, or from superficiality and frivolity
of nature, or from conscious choice of evil in preference to good,
is not said. The picture is presented objectively : these persons,
for whatever reason, are outside the domain of Wisdom. This
objective view is characteristic of the old - Israelitish thought, which
does not seek nice psychological distinctions ; the prophets judge
individuals and nations by their relation to the law of Yahweh or
to the nation Israel, without examination of mental experiences ;
compare also the distinction, in the Fourth Gospel, between the
domains of light and darkness. Solidity of ethical judgment is
thereby gained, though at the cost of sympathetic discrimination .
-The result (v.26 . 27) is that when the punishment comes the dis-
obedient will be without the support of Wisdom . The calamity
(as everywhere in Pr. ) occurs in this life — it is not said to be
inflicted by Wisdom, but comes in the natural course of things ; it
is inevitable, a necessary result of the divine government of the
world, which includes both natural law and special divine interven-
tion. On the one hand, the sage intimates, those who neglect
Wisdom will naturally find themselves defenceless in the evil day
which Wisdom alone can avert ; on the other hand, God as gov-
ernor will punish the evildoer. Wisdom is here first ordinary
human sagacity, which saves man from misfortune, and then that
higher sagacity which is the comprehension and assimilation of
the good as divine, of that highest truth and right which God has
embodied in his law. There is an approach here to the concep-
tion of communion with truth, or with the divine source of truth,
 I. 24-31 27

as the strongest support of the ethical life. The personified

Wisdom, who speaks as the final arbiter of men's destinies, is the
insight that rules the world , and is identical with God's moral law.
- The discordant note in the announcement of retribution is
Wisdom's mockery of the wretched sufferer. This is not in accord
with her character as pure, divine intelligence, friendly to man (as
she appears, for example , in 831) * ; the unhappy fate of the evil-
doer, it would seem, should call forth sorrow and not exultation.
Such, however, is the tone of the old Hebrew thought ; the
prophets exult in like manner over the downfall of the enemies of
Israel. The Hebrew, whether prophet, psalmist, or sage, was a
thoroughgoing partisan, identifying himself with his circle , and
identifying his interests with the eternal order. Further, his gov-
ernmental conception of the world was purely external : the bad,
from whatever point of view they were adjudged bad, were
regarded as enemies of the realm, and their destruction was
hailed with joy. Such seems to be the point of view of the writer
of this passage . He does not feel that, though sin is to be de-
nounced and its consequences set forth , the sinner has a claim on
the sympathy of his fellowmen ; he does not take into account
temptations and struggles of soul. He contents himself with
dividing men into two classes - those who heed and those who
reject wisdom.

28-33. Resumptive description of the fate of the unwise

(who are spoken of in third person) , consisting of a detailed
explanation of their punishment (v.28-81) , and a statement of the
general rule of compensation in life (v.32.33) .

28-31 . Resumptive description of punishment. — Well formed

couplets, synonymous, ternary, except that v.3lb is binary, the penult
being a very long word. The correspondence with the preceding
paragraph is close, with inversion of the order of thought : v.28
answers to v.26. 27, and v.29.30 to v.224. 25 ; the conclusion is repeated
31
in v.3 . The rendering seek early (AV. ) or seek diligently ( RV . )
rests on the derivation of the verb from a noun meaning morning,
as if it signified to rise betimes in order to do one's work dili-

* According to the Masoretic Hebrew text ; see note on that verse below,
28 PROVERBS

15
gently ; but this derivation is improbable in the face of 75 11 ,
Job 72 the verb means simply seek, here parallel to call. The
terms hated, chose not, would none, despised (v.29. 30) are synonyms,
expressing indifference or hostility to the instructions of Wisdom .
In v."30.31 the counsel (or counsels ) and admonition (or admoni-
tions) of Wisdom are contrasted with the man's own way ( = man-
ner or scheme of life, conduct) and counsels (or devices) . In v.29
Bickell would read the knowledge of God as the appropriate
parallel to the fear of Yahweh ( so in 2") , which is also, perhaps,
rhythmically an improvement of the text ; yet, as the former ex-
pression occurs only once in Pr. (and elsewhere in OT. only twice ,
Hos. 41 66, knowledge of the Most High once, Nu. 2416 ) , it is per-
haps better to retain the general term knowledge, which in v. is
identified with the fear of Yahweh. — The thought is the same
with that of the preceding paragraph, only with an added touch of
irremediableness in v.28. The offenders who have deliberately
rejected the counsels and appeals of Wisdom will find, when the
day of punitive distress comes, that they need her aid, but they
will ask it in vain ; she will be deaf to their cries, as they were deaf
to her appeals . This is only a more vivid statement of the prin-
ciple affirmed in v.³ , that every one must eat of the fruit of his
own doings- a universally recognized law of life . If it be asked,
what room is here left for repentance ? the answer of the sage is
that the offenders have had ample opportunity to amend their
ways, and have refused to change ( v. ) . As to the term of
repentance and the limit of Wisdom's patience , it is assumed that
at a given moment God intervenes to punish, when sin has grown
too great to bear, when the iniquity is full ( Gen. 1516 1820. 21) , but
this moment is known to God alone. The point of view is exter-
nal at a certain moment retribution inevitably comes (whether
in the course of natural or civil law, or by supernatural inter-
vention) , and then, in the nature of things, it is too late for the
sinner to retrace his steps ; there is no reference here to a state
of punitive blindness and moral deadness in which the man
desires to repent and cannot, or is conscious that he is morally

* It need hardly be added that the word early in this rendering of AV, has
nothing to do with the time of life,
 I. 28-33 29

lost ; the cry of the sinner in v. 28 is for deliverance from physi-

cal evil.
32, 33. The general rule. - Both couplets are synonymous ,
ternary. -32. Indifference (n ) = averseness, apostasy, recu-
sance, refusal, is the " turning away " from instruction and conse-
quently from right living. Careless ease ( b ) is primarily quiet,
freedom from care and anxiety ( as in 17 ' ) , here, in bad sense ,
repose gained by ignoring or neglecting the serious responsibilities
of life ( nearly = negligence) . The two terms are, in their primary
senses, mutually complementary : rejection of knowledge produces
false security and deceptive peace, and the latter presupposes the
former ; they are here substantially synonymous : refusal is indif-
ference, negligence. Insensate ( = dullards) and fools as in v.22. —
33. Secure may mean, objectively, free from danger ( as in 323
Jer. 236) , or subjectively, free from sense of danger ( as in 329
Ju . 8¹¹1) . The contrast with the slay of v.32 favors the former
meaning, but the second line (fear = apprehension ) makes the
latter probable. The sense ofsecurity is thus put over against the
careless ease of fools ( v.2 ) . — Wisdom sums up by stating the gen-
eral principle that ethical folly is self-destructive ( so 522. 23) ; as to
the means by which this destruction is effected see note on pre-
ceding verse. - In contrast with the false peace of the ignorant is
put the true peace which comes from wisdom a security which
is assured by obedience to the laws of man and God . The refer-
ence is to freedom from outward misfortune ; the whole tone of
the Book makes it improbable that the writer has in mind the
inward peace which is independent of external experiences ; else-
where harm (RV . evil ) is visible " misfortune or 66 mischief"
(329.30 614.18 1321 164 173 22³ al. ) . Inward peace, resting on con-
sciousness of right and trust in God, was no doubt recognized and
valued, but it is assumed in Pr. to be coincident with freedom
from outward calamity, and is not treated as an independent fact.
20. The form , found elsewhere only 91 247 ( and by emend. 14¹ )
493(4), is prob. not abstr. sing. for nazɔn (Ols., Ew. , De.) , but plu. of exten-

* This is the doctrine of J. A. Alexander's hymn , beginning : " There is a time,

we know not when " (New York Church Praise-Book, 1881 ) , or : " There is a line,
by us unseen "" (Congregational Hymn-Book, 1858 ) , but it is not found here or else-
where in the Bible.
30 PROVERBS

sion and intensity (Bött., Now. , Siegf., Strack in Comm., Barth) ; its predicates
are sing. exc. in 247. * — 77, 3 sing. fem. Qal energic ( or possibly Q. plu . of
} ) ; it is unnecessary to point (as in Job 3923) ; Heid.'s emendation
, adopted by Oort, is simple, and secures parallelism in the nouns,
but loses it in the verbs. vuveîтaι ( Lag. = ) is perh. Mid. , prob. error
for vμveî; a Pass. is inappropriate and improbable. -21. vn; TELXÉWV
= pin; so Ts the tower (or castle or palace) . The Partcp. never
occurs alone, but always as predicate ( 711 918 20¹ Isa. 222 Jer. 419 Ez. 716) ,
and it is doubtful whether it can here be taken as subst.; the reading opp
(82) is graphically not too hard, or, after G, we may read non. — ---- onye ;
duvaσtŵv = (here inappropriate) to which πapedρevel is added, appar-
ently to fill out the clause. Jäg. thinks πì ... παρedρevel add. from 8³. —
Bickell omits and n (both of which, however, are called for by the
connection) , and for a writes . We should rather omity and
as glosses. The Vrss. (exc. 6) follow with unimportant variations, and
the glosses must have been early. -- 22. ny (Göσov av xpóvov) is always
interrog. in OT. — On see note on v.¹ above ; the final letter of the stem
is omitted because not pronounced - Qal = 1787-:::: ; exwvтaι, perh.
free rendering, perh. ( Lag.) scribal error for ¿pŵvral. — Instead of Perf. 1727
we expect Impf. — G ảσeßeîs yevóμevoɩ, perh. ( Lag.) = ‫) להיתס כסילים‬read
D ) instead of on . - 23. H ; G Kai úπεúðvνoι ÉYÉVOVтO POS-
sibly = (Lag., Heid., cf. Aboth, 1 , 11 ) or ( Bi. ) := ‫ויאשמו‬. But as an is
prob. a loan-word from the Aram ., found only Dan. 110 ( Ez. 187 the noun is
corruption, probably of a ) , its occurrence here is doubtful. If the line (v.23a)
be retained, the Impf. (which cannot have Impv. force) must be changed to
Impv. (the л perh. repeated from preceding ny ) ; so also Dyserinck . —
ya gush, 184 ; elsewhere only Hif. = speak, exc. in Eccl. 10¹, where the text
is doubtful.— 'n ; G ẻµŷs πvoĥs дñσ‹ν, paraphrastic, perh. ( Lag. ) to avoid
the expression voǹν πpôɩeσ0αɩ = die ; the verb has the sense of utter. - -The
change of pers. in the verbs in v.22. 23 is a common rhetorical usage in OT. —
24. , omitted by Bi., apparently for the sake of the rhythm, is desirable,
if not necessary, as introduction to v.26.- I; Kai ойX VπNKOÚσATE,
free rendering of H, or from some form of you or 7 (hardly from гp¬, as
in 2 (; 50 ‫ לא הימנתון‬from ‫לא תאמינו‬ 65 render ‫ מקשיב‬by a verb , 2 plus
assimilation of the translator. - 25. n , noun as obj . of as only here,
elsewhere (as v.30) with pref. , and so perh. to be written here ( Oort ) . The
two nouns in this v. are plu . in GS, the second in L , variations coming from
script. defect. - 26. prefixes тоɩуарoûν as natural connective. - ;
G ảπwλela, as Job 218 3012 ; Heid. , = 78. — ; Göλεopos, perh. = ‫פיר‬
(Gr.) , which, however, is nowhere else so rendered ( 2422 Job 3024 3129) . —
27. K. , Q. , both from ; & freely apvw, and so S, Rashi, and
apparently T. - 7 and 18 ; G Oóρußos and καTασтρоøǹ, rhetorical varia-

* On nibbin, Eccl. 117 212 al., cf. Barth, NB. , § 259c, Comms. of Tyler and Palm,
and Strack in Stud. u. Krit., 1896, IV.
 II. 31

tions from the renderings in v.26 . - attaches v.27a to v.26, and 6 adds a fourth
line (Jäg , Lag. ) in v.27 ; these changes show that the old translators found
difficulties in the rhythm. - Bi. takes v.26 . 27 in the following order : 26a . 27b.
26b. 27a, tranferring a to v.23, throwing out on No in v.27 as scribal
repetition, and writing instead of D. The rhythm thus gained is
hardly better than that of , except in that it gets rid of the triplet. It would
be simpler, if the triplet is judged insupportable, to regard v.27e as a gloss, the
addition of a familiar expression (see note on this line above) ; cf. the similar
expression in the triplet of 1163, in contrast with the couplets of † 185.6..
28. wrongly puts v.28a as direct address. -— The verb occurs, outside of
Job, Pss ., Pr., only in Hos. 515 Isa. 269 ; L here mane consurgent (and similarly
elsewhere in Pr., exc. 715). Denominatives of the caus. stem (rarely of the
simple stem) are frequent in Arab. and Heb. (so ) to express the doing
of a thing at a certain time of the day, but they do not then contain a substan-
tively additional idea like seek ; the primitive sense of the stem is doubtful. On
the old ending of the verb in see Böttcher, Lehrb., II . § 930, 1047 f.,
and Toy, in Trans. Amer. Phil. Assoc., Vol . XI . 1880. - — After adds
kakoć as subject, unnecessary general interpretative gloss, not ( Lag.) addition
of a Christian scribe to avoid contradiction of Mt. 77.8. - 29 . ny ; GB σo-
plav, for which we should expect aloŋow , yet σ . is not necessarily Christian
(Lag.) or Alexandrian (Heid.) ; GA raidíav, L disciplinam = ‫ מוסר‬2.v ( . -
H ; GB Moyov, perh. interpretation of an Alex. scribe. - 30 . has the
two nouns in plu. (script. defect. ) .- 31 . rsy ; freely doeßeías ; ´ is
used in OT. in bad sense, exc. Pr. 222. - 32. v , always in bad sense in
OT. - åve' ŵv yàρ díкovv vηπlovs, taking 'n as trans. = turn aside, oppress,
hardly = retribution (Jäg. because of retribution for [their treatment of]
children they shall be slain) , or from D (Schleusn. ) assailing, or (Lag.)
injustice. —H nhu; G éžeraσμòs = nhay or пhy ( so SH) ST y
error, free rendering of H. -Hy ; G 33, ȧþóßws åñò tavтòs kakoÛ,
where . is insertion for sake of definiteness. Cf. Clem. Alex ., 162 , 181. — In
39 ‫ שלות‬and ‫ון‬.there
‫שא‬ seems to be a verbal play ―- ‫בטח‬.is adverbial - ‫רעה‬
may mean disaster ofharm, but ´», = disaster, is not elsewhere defined by
a noun of source.

II. A discourse setting forth the blessings conferred by Wis-

dom, the sage (and not Wisdom herself) being the speaker. It
consists of one well-sustained sentence (Ew. ) , each paragraph
being linked to the preceding by a connective word ; the rhyth-
mical arrangement appears to be in quatrains. After the protasis,
stating, as the necessary condition, earnest application to the
teaching of wisdom (v.14) , comes the long apodosis (v.5-22) , giving
a double result : first, the knowledge of God and its attendant
blessing (v. , apparently an insertion or a parenthesis ) ; second
32 PROVERBS

(v.9-22) , the comprehension of probity (v.9. 20) , and the possession

of wisdom as guide (v.10.11) , which will deliver from evil men
(v.12-15) and evil women ( v.16-19) , and so lead to the reward of the
upright (v.2 ) , in contrast with the fate of the wicked ( v.2) .

1-4. The condition of enjoying the protection of Wisdom .

I. My son, if thou receive my words

And lay up my commandments with thee,
2. So that thou incline thine ear to wisdom,
Apply thy mind to discernment,
3. If thou cry to understanding,
And invoke discernment,
4. If thou seek her as silver,
Search for her as for hid treasures

1-4. Mind, lit. heart, is (as always in OT. ) the whole inward
nature, here particularly intellectual capacity, attention (so that thy
heart substantially = thyself).
thyself) . Discernment and understanding
are synonyms, equivalent to intellectual perception and wisdom,
here with ethical- religious coloring. It is unto (not for) discern-
ment and understanding that the pupil is to cry he calls to her
to come to him and instruct and help him. - — The Grk. and Lat .
Vrss. divide the sentence differently from the Hebrew. Grk.:
If thou receive the utterance of my commandment and hide it with
thee, thine ear shall hearken to wisdom, and thou shalt apply, etc. ;
Lat. Ifthou receive . . . and hide ... , that thine ear may hearken,
etc. (then) incline thy heart, etc. But it seems clear that the con-
dition includes the whole paragraph , v.¹ . -
— The sage emphasizes
the necessity of earnestness in the pursuit of wisdom - the expres-
sions increase in intensity from receive, lay up (hide) , incline,
apply, to cry, lift up the voice, and then seek, search. Study of
wisdom is represented as an organized discipline requiring defi-
niteness of purpose and concentration of powers. The prophets
demand conformity to the law of Yahweh , and exhort that he
himself be sought ; here attention is directed to a principle and
body of moral and religious knowledge .

1. Synonymous, ternary. The sage speaks on his own authority

(my words) , appealing neither to a divine revelation to himself,
 II. 1-4 33

nor to the teaching of a human master ( a trait characteristic of

the Wisdom literature ) . He is conscious of having words to utter
which it behooves all men to hear. He does not stand apart from
the law of God, but he is an independent expounder of the divine
moral law, having received it into his mind, and comprehending
its nature and effects intellectually and morally. The prophet
speaks in the name of Yahweh, and gives a specific divine
message ; the sage speaks in his own name, representing philo-
sophical reflection, the authority in which is the divinely given
human reason and conscience. The term commandments, the
same that is used in the prophetical and legal books for the moral
and ritual ordinances of Yahweh, here denotes the sage's own in-
structions, which in v.² are identified with wisdom. -2. Synony-
mous, ternary. Epexegetical equivalent of v .', put in Heb . as
purpose (in order that thou mayst incline) , or, as we more nat-
urally conceive it, as result (so that) .- Mind (lit. heart) is the
whole inward perceptive nature. The Heb. word is not properly
represented by Eng. heart, which conveys to the modern reader
the impression of a particularly emotional element. Physiologi-
cally, the OT. locates emotion in the bowels, and intellect in the
heart ; the brain (not mentioned in OT. ) was not regarded by
the ancients as having intellectual significance. * - 3 . Synonymous,
ternary. The Heb. begins with a particle (usually = for) which
may probably be rendered yea ( so RV. ) ; it is merely resumptive,
and may be omitted in an Eng. translation. The Syr. reads and
if; the Targ., by the change of a vowel, has and call understand-
ing mother. Invoke, lit. lift up the voice to = call to, synonym of
cry to.4. Synonymous, ternary-binary. Hid treasures, etymo-
logically something hidden, then treasure, from the custom , in the
absence of secure places in houses, of hiding valuables in the
earth or in holes in rocks : see Jer. 418 Job 32 Gen. 432 (some-
thing concealed and unknown) , Isa. 453 (where the word = simply
treasure, the adj . hidden being added ) ; cf. Mt. 134 ; the notion
of something hidden away for safety seems generally to inhere in
the expression ; here there is also the suggestion that effort is
necessary to find and secure it.

* Of the Semitic languages it is only Arabic that has a word (dimāģ) for brain ;
the origin of this word is uncertain ; the adj. damīġ means stupid.
D
34 PROVERBS

II. 1. (poetic word) always in plu. in Pr., 77 being used for sing.,
1113 al. 2. As to the force of and Inf. here cf. Ew., § 280 d; 6 vπaкOúσe-
Tai σopías Tò ous σov; ut audiat sapientiam auris tua, perh. free transla-
tion, perh. taking as subject, as in Isa. 323 (Qal Impf. ) , in which case,
though Inf. is possible, we should expect Qal Impf. , since µš never occurs as
subj. with Hif. (apparently not in 1017) ; ST render by the Impf. in con-
tinuation of the construction of v.¹, perh . = pm , a good reading, yet it is
doubtful whether GST had a text different from that of H. -The Impf. 77
continues the telic or ecbatic sense of the preceding construction ; a before
it is appropriate but not necessary. GST render it by a Fut., L by an Impv.
begins the apod . with v.2.v.2b is given by in double form, first =
and then an improbable variation ( regarded as genuine by Jäg., Lag.) in which
is read instead of 7 , but the introduction of son is pointless, doubtless
scribal error. -3. cannot here = for (GL) , nor can ɔs 'ɔ = but (Hitz.) ,
with supposition of a preceding neg. clause. Tomits and inserts 1 before
DN; has simply p , perh. free rendering of . There is no good
ground in ancient authorities for omitting 2, and it must be taken ( = yea)
as emphatic introduction of the new conditional clause. - ; Toy , and
so De'R. 874 (379) in Bibl. Erfurt . I .; see Berakoth 57 a , where this clause is
cited for the interpretation of a dream respecting one's mother, and cf. Cappel.,
Crit. Sac. 5. 2. 2. The reading of T comes from an old midrash (Norzi) , and
the omission of is a consequence of free citation. - ra ; G copiav
(instead of opóvŋoɩs) , which Heid. takes to be Alexandrian Jewish, and Lag.
Christian..- Some MSS. of ( Bab mg. inf. A sup ras Ca) and edd. (Comp. Ald .
and $Η obel.) add at end of v.3 τὴν δὲ αἴσθησιν ζητήσῃς μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ,
which Jäger considers to be the , true 6 text of b = ‫ ; ולתבונה תבקש בקל גדל‬in
favor of this is its divergence from H. Against its being the true text of Pr.
is perh. the parallelism and the occurrence of pa in the next verse. — Gr.
suggests, with little probability, that 3b may be dittogram of 2 .

5-8 . The consequence of the condition expressed in v.1-4. If

wisdom be embraced , then the man will understand the fear of
Yahweh (v.³ ) , for Yahweh is the source of wisdom (v.º ) , and the
protector of the upright (v.7.8) . Apparently an editorial insertion .
The proper apodosis to v.¹ is v.9ff : if thou seek wisdom, then
(v.1 ) wisdom will come to thee. V.5-8 introduce a new thought, and
were probably added by an editor who thought that the central
idea of these discourses, the fear of Yahweh, ought not to be
lacking here . See further in notes below.

5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of Yahweh,

And find the knowledge of God;
6. For Yahweh gives wisdom ,
Out of his mouth come knowledge and discernment ;
 II. 5-6 35

7. He lays up deliverance for the upright,

Is a shield to those who walk in integrity ;
8. He guards the paths of probity,
And protects the way of the pious.

5. The fear of Yahweh. Synonymous, ternary. The divine

name God (Elohim ) occurs elsewhere in Pr. four times, 217 3 252
309 ; the expression knowledge of God in OT. only here and Hos.
41 66 (Nu . 2416 knowledge of the Most High). In the preëxilian
literature Elohim is used as proper name only in the Elohistic
11
narrative (Am. 4¹¹ Hos . 12³(4) seem to be citations from this nar-
rative ) , not in any prophetic writing except in the passages above
mentioned (not in Hos. 41 66 Mic. 37 ) . After the exile it grad-
ually became a proper name (the local, national sense of Yahweh
disappearing) , and in Pr. = Yahweh. The change of name here
is rhetorical variation . The fear of Yahweh (the fear or rever-
ence directed toward him) is equivalent to the knowledge of God
(the knowledge which has to do with him) . The first expression
represents the God of Israel as the source of all ethical authority
and law, and reverent obedience to him as the principle of life ;
the second declares that true learning is concerned with the ethical
character of God and the duties which he imposes ; knowledge is
not only intellectual apprehension, but also communion of soul .
Wisdom is thus conceived of as both an attitude of soul and a
body of knowledge, all in the sphere of religion . This old-
Hebrew point of view stands in the Book of Proverbs in organic
union with the human ethical conception of life in this way : the
moral content of life is based not on ritual and ecclesiastical law,
but on reason and conscience, and these are the gift of God (see
next verse) . We have here , on the one hand, the recognition of
the mind of man as a source of truth , and, on the other hand, the
assertion that the moral potency of the mind is the creation of
God. This larger conception came to the Jews through natural
growth under the stimulus of foreign (mainly Greek) thought.
Instead of shalt (which implies determination on the part of the
speaker, or else is hypothetical) we may write wilt (which ex-
presses futurity simply) . Cf. note on 1. - 6. Synonymous, ter-
nary. Yahweh the source of wisdom . This is stated as the
ground of the affirmation of v.³, and brings this paragraph into
36 PROVERBS

logical relation with v.14. He who seeks wisdom will understand

the fear or knowledge of God, because all knowledge comes from
him. The reference is probably to the whole moral thought and
conduct of man— human instincts, the results of experience, the
common-law of morality, as well as the ethical prescriptions con-
tained in the Israelitish canonical and oral codes. The stress ,
however, is laid on man's moral nature, which is represented as a
divine gift. ― The expression out of his mouth (Grk. from his
presence) means from him ; he utters his command and man
receives wisdom ; the reference seems not to be to his giving a
law (the Tora), which would not agree with the general connec-
tion. The mouth of Yahweh, a frequent expression in the proph-
ets, is found only here in Pr. (Str. ) ; here alone God is teacher,
elsewhere Wisdom. The expression occurs in Job 2222, and in a
few lates, 1055 11972.88 1384.7, 8. Synonymous, ternary.
Yahweh protects the upright. The word rendered deliverance
occurs, except Isa. 2829 and (the textually doubtful) Mic. 6º, only
in Job and Pr. It appears to signify the act or power of estab-
lishment or arrangement, and so fertility in expedients, wisdom,
and, as result, achievement, help, deliverance. The last sense is
the one here naturally suggested by the parallel shield. This latter
word is to be taken (in the present Heb. text ) as in apposition
with the subject (Yahweh ) of the preceding clause . — The syn-
onymous expressions the upright and those who walk in integrity
indicate right conduct in general ; the upright are those who con-
form their lives to the straight line of moral and religious pro-
priety ; integrity is perfectness of life. The reference is to general
substantial rectitude, not to absolute freedom from sin or error, or
to the inner life of the soul ; cf. Gen. 20" 1 K. 9¹ 1012 Pr. 19¹. -
8 presents the same thought in the form of purpose or result
(epexegetical equivalent) , so as to guard, = he guards the way,
that is, the life and interests, of those who obey him. The ex-
pression guard the paths ofprobity is peculiar and difficult ; the
verb means either keep, observe, or guard, have an eye on ; in the
former sense it is followed as object by the law observed , as in 3¹
33
52 287 Dt. 33 ° 119 al.; in the latter sense by the person or
11
concrete thing to be defended, as in 2¹¹ 46 Isa . 26³ al. (once , 22¹²,
by knowledge) , or by the thing to be watched, as in Job 720. As
 II. 6-8 37

Yahweh is subject, it is the latter sense that appears to be

intended here ; yet everywhere else the path of probity ( or its
equivalent) is something that is walked in, as in v.20, not guarded,
though the way of a man is said to be scrutinized (Job 13 ") or
controlled ( 1393 ) by God. As the text stands, paths of probity
must be regarded as a poetical variation of paths of the upright
(cf. v.2 ) , equivalent to the parallel way of the pious ( Heb. his
pious ones, RV. saints ) . On probity see note on 1³. — The pious
man ( ) is he who is characterized by kindness, love ( " N) .
The stem seems to signify any strong feeling toward a person ,
whether unfriendly, envy (as in Arabic ) , or friendly, kindness (as
in Heb. ) , or both (as in Aramaic , and cf. 1434 2510 Lev. 2017) .
The substantive is used of kindness shown to man by man (Gen.
2412 ) or by God ( Ex . 34º, often in Pss . ) , whether of man's acts
toward God ( Hos . 6.6 8929 2 Chr. 3232 3526 Neh. 13¹¹) is doubt-
ful. The adj . is used twice of God (Jer. 312 1825(26) = 2 Sam.
2226) , many times of man. It may be active , loving, or passive,
= beloved. It is the former sense in which it is used of God, and
this seems to be its meaning throughout OT., though the other
is possible, and, in most cases, appropriate ; the deity might be
thought of as the bestower and the worshipper as the recipient of
favors, or the latter might be regarded as bound to his god by a
sentiment of love and devotion, which, at first physical and mer-
cenary, would grow more and more ethically and spiritually pure ;
the active sense is favored by the parallelism in 1825(26), with the
kind (merciful, good) , thou wilt show thyself kind. The adj.
occurs first in the second half of the seventh century ( Mic. 72 Dt.
338 Jer. 312) , and elsewhere only in late poetry ( 1 Sam. 29 2 Chr.
641 Pr. 28 and Pss.) . When it began to be employed in the sense
of devoted to God, pious (the rendering saint is inappropriate)
can hardly be determined. In the second century, in the struggle
between Antiochus Epiphanes and the Jews, it appears as a tech-
nical term to designate those who strictly maintained the religion
of Israel against the inroads of Hellenism ( 1 Mac. 242 Aoidaîoi,
Hasidean or Asidean ) . * In some Pss . ( 792 862 1165 al. ) it means
pious Israel in contrast with surrounding heathen oppressors or

* Cf. Wellhausen, Die Pharisäer u. d. Saducäer ; Schürer, Hist. of the Jew.

People, II. ii. 26.
38 PROVERBS

apostate Jews. In Pr. it is found only here, in an editorial inser-

tion (perhaps of the second century B.C. ) ; it is here a general
term for pious.
5. ΕΝΑ συνήσεις φόβον, for which Clem. Αl. , 121 , has νοήσεις θεοσέβειαν.
In v.5b GB = H ; Cl. Alex . k. aťo@noɩv Delav evphoeɩs (and so Orig.) , free ren-
dering, probably original ( Lag.) . - — 6. H von ; GВ ȧπò πроσάTOV AVTOû =
, apparently scribal error. —-7. K¡ ±³), Q (and some MSS. ) , better, ¡Ð
(L custodiet), since the couplets appear to be independent statements ;
← K. Onσavpišeι, = Kethib ( not = 23 ) , as in 118. — ; 6 ( MSS.)
owτnplav, salutem, Cl. Al . Bońletav, T in MS. ( cited by Levy, Chald.
Wbch.) , in Bibl. Rab. , 1568, "720 help, in Buxt., Lag. nay glory. —
, rendered by vb. or partcp . in the Vrss.: & vπepaomieî, L et proteget,
ST op ; is curt poetic construction, instead of the ordinary ; we
expect a verb = protect (but the stem does not occur in OT. in this sense) or
a noun protection as object of ¡ з (but no such noun suggests itself) ; ´
cannot be object of " 1-1 προς τὴν πορείαν αὐτῶν := ‫) להליכתם‬.Vog,
Schleusn.) , as in 4 67 (68)25. — 8. s , equivalent proposition represented
as purpose or result ; has and Perf., and we may here read Impf.; Gr.
, but this does not accord with b.- is given in all the Vrss., except
that (except Cod. 23) has plu. —- K. pn sing.; Q and many Heb. MSS.
and all Vrss. have plu., as the context requires ; Tomits the suffix. - Oort, to
secure perfect parallelism, reads : 10 7771 and (that they may) pre-
serve the way ofpiety toward him (or, the way of his kindness) ; but this is
not in keeping with the general idea in v.6-8, in which Yahweh is subject, and
‫ דרך הסדו‬is hard ; it would be easier to change ‫ משפט‬to ‫ ישרס‬or ‫)צדקם‬ cf . v20
(.

9-22. The proper conclusion to the condition stated in v.1-4 :

first, the comprehension of righteousness (v.9. 20) , then the guid-
ance and protection of Wisdom ( v.10-19) , with the reward of
goodness and the punishment of wickedness (v.21. 22) .- V.20 should
probably be transposed so as to stand next after v .". In its present
position it interrupts the connection between v.19 and v.21, while
by its thought it attaches itself naturally to v.".

9, 20. Comprehension of rectitude.

9. Then shalt thou understand righteousness and probity,
Shalt keep every path of good,
20. That thou mayest walk in the way of good men,
Mayest follow the paths of the righteous.

9. The verse is not a poetical couplet in the Heb. , which reads

in second line and rectitude - every path ofgood, giving the first
 II. 9, 20 39

three nouns in the order in which they occur in 1³. There the
rhythmical form is proper ; here it is defective, and ( though it is
possible that the three nouns may have been originally taken from
1³) it seems better ( by an easy emendation) to write the verb
which the parallelism calls for : cf. the expressions keep ( =follow)
the paths in v.20, and keep my ways in 832. On the nouns in first
line see notes on 1³. — Path ( 215. 18 411. 26 56.21 23³) is lit. wagon-
road, then any way; the following good defines the path as lying
in the domain or leading in the direction of what is (morally)
good . ― The then attaches this section to v.4 : " if thou earnestly
seek wisdom, thou shalt be morally enlightened , shalt acquire intel-
lectual acumen in ethical questions, and [ if the emendation sug-
gested above be correct] the power of right action " ; freedom of
choice is implied , and it is assumed that he who fully knows the
good way will follow it.* On the substitution of wilt for shalt
see note on v.5 above . - 20. Synonymous, ternary. The purpose
that thou mayest walk involves result. The verse thus expands
the second line of v.9. -- At the end of first line the Heb. has
simply the word good ( plural) ; the parallelism favors the render-
ing good men (not good things) . Good is the general term for
fitness of all sorts, here used of moral fitness and rectitude. –
Follow is lit. keep. — The righteous or just man is he who does
justice, rightness (see note on 1³) . The epithet is applied in OT.
to man and to God, but its significance, depending on the con-
tent of the current idea of justice , varies with the different periods
of Heb. history. Yahweh is just to a man or to Israel when he
acts in accordance with natural or legal right. In the earlier
phase of thought Israel's national right was held to be victory over
its enemies, and justice came to be equivalent to victory, as in
Ju . 511 1 S. 127 Jer. 510. The purely ethical conception grew
with the general ethical growth of the people ; and in the pro-
phetical and later books (see, for ex., Ez. 18) tends to become
predominant, though the primitive idea lingers in places. In Pr.
righteous = morally and religiously good in general ; the word
(like good and perfect ) expresses not absolute sinlessness, but gen-
eral rectitude . In late exilian and postexilian writings it is often

* So Plato and the Stoics.

40 PROVERBS

11 18(19) 9421
a synonym for the faithful part of Israel ( Isa. 53¹¹ 262 ¥ 31′
al.) .— The Grk. reads the verse as a conditional sentence, and
connects it immediately with v.: for if they had gone in good
paths they would have found the paths of righteousness easy; the
Heb. is preferable . Bickell omits the verse as marring the
strophic structure of the paragraph ; but this difficulty disappears
in the arrangement here adopted.

10-19. The moral protection afforded by Wisdom . -Wisdom ,

entering the soul (v.1 ) and keeping watch over it (v. ") , saves
the man from the influence of bad men (v.12-15) and bad women
(v. 16-19).
10. For wisdom shall enter thy mind,
And knowledge shall be pleasant to thee,
II. Discretion shall watch over thee,
Discernment shall guard thee,

12. To save thee from the manner of life of bad men,

From men whose speech is wicked,
13. Who leave the paths of uprightness,
To walk in ways of darkness,
14. Who rejoice in doing wrong,
[And ] in iniquities take delight,
15. Whose paths are crooked,
And iniquitous their ways-―

16. To save thee from the lewd woman,

From the harlot with her cajoling words,
17. Who forsakes the friend of her youth,
And forgets the covenant of God.
18. For her house leads down (? ) to Death,
And her paths unto the Shades ;
19. None that go to her return,
Or attain the paths of life.

10, 11. Wisdom as guardian. -10. Synonymous , ternary.

The entrance of Wisdom into the soul ; cf. Job 1416. Knowledge
- wisdom ; see note on 12. On mind (lit. heart ) see note on
v.2 above. - Enter and be pleasant to are synonyms , = "become
acceptable to thee, a part of thy intellectual and moral being."
Thee is lit. thy soul; the term soul means the principle of life ,
and so life or being, and my soul, thy soul, are common expres-
 II. 10-II 4I

sions in OT. for me (or, myself) , thee (or, thyself) . The Heb.
word does not emphasize spirituality of thought, but, being a gen-
eral term for the principle of life, it may, like its synonym mind,
express any intellectual power. -11 . Synonymous, ternary-binary.
On discretion (or, insight ) and discernment (or, intelligence) see
notes on 1 and 2². — - The guardianship (the result of Wisdom's
entrance into the soul) is subjective — the man's security is in his
own reason and conscience, in the law of life which these give ;
the whole is, however, viewed as finally the ordination of God,
though not in the form of an external law. -These two verses
give the ground of the preceding statement (v.9. 20) ; understand-
ing will be gained by the entrance of Wisdom into the mind, not
in a forced manner, but so that she shall be acceptable, pleasant
to the soul. The man is represented as assimilating wisdom,
coming into harmony with it, following it not through external
pressure, but by inward impulse ; to do right becomes delightful
to him . This is largely because he sees the advantages of recti-
tude (v.2 ) ; but there is probably still to be recognized here the
germ of the idea of transformation of nature (a development out
of such conceptions as those of Jer. 313 Ez . 36 ) .— The Grk.
takes v.10 as condition, and v." as its result : 10. for if wisdom
enter . . . and knowledge seem beautiful ... II . good counsel
shall guard thee, etc. (the same construction may be got from the
Heb. by rendering when Wisdom shall enter) . This construction
is not decidedly against the context, and gives a good sense ; it
seems, however, to be less natural than the causal construction
(for) , not because the nouns in v." are identical in meaning with
those in v.10 (such repetition would not be against the manner of
Pr. ) , but because, as v.9. 20 state the result of the condition of v.14,
we more naturally expect in v.¹º not a new condition , but a ground
or reason of the preceding statement . The general sense is the
same in the two constructions. There is no need to take v.10. 11 as
11
parentheses ; v.12 is logically connected with v. (see below) . —
Bickell, in order to gain an additional couplet ( an omission being
indicated, as he thinks, by a discrepancy of gender in the Heb. )
expands v.10 as follows : for wisdom shall enter into thy mind and
knowledge unto thy soul [shall come, instruction shall be good to
thy mind, and learning to thy soul ] shall be pleasant. This inser-
42 PROVERBS

tion is without support from the Anc. Vrss ., and seems not to be
necessary or probable ; the text, as it stands, gives a satisfactory
sense and a good rhythm, and the quatrain, which is here desid-
erated, is gained by the transference of v.20. On the grammatical
point see critical note .

12-15. First, Wisdom saves from bad men. 12. Synonymous ,

ternary. Instead of the Infin . to save, expressing purpose or result,
we may, by a slight change , read she will save ( Bickell ) ; the change
does not affect the general sense. -Manner of life is lit. way, and
whose speech is wicked is lit. who speak wickedness (or wrong or
wicked things) . The Heb. has, in second clause, sing. man (appar-
ently used in collective sense ) ; the plu. form accords better in
Eng. with the following verses. Instead of way of bad (men) we
may render way of the bad (man) , and so in second clause the
man who speaks ; or way of evil ; or, possibly, evil (or, wicked )
way. The concrete form ( man or men ) in first clause is favored by
the parallelism , and the plu. is more natural here in English. The
adj . bad or evil (v ) is used in OT. of any sort of badness, of
body (Gen. 41³) , of appearance or deportment ( Ex. 21 °) , of expe-
rience or fortune (Jer. 4º) , of moral or religious conduct (passim) ;
it describes whatever does not conform to a norm - it is the oppo-
site of the equally general term good ( ) ; it is here the morally
bad. Cf. note on the subst. evil, 13. --- A wrong thing ( en )
is that which is turned aside from the path of right ; its meaning
is not precisely expressed by perverse (which answers to it etymo-
logically) , or by RV. froward (which = refractory, perverse, ob-
stinate ) ; it may sometimes be properly rendered by false, but in
Pr. it is a general term, signifying that which is opposed to the
right ( = wicked, bad ) ; it occurs in Dt. 3220 ( they are a genera-
tion given to falsities, persons in whom no confidence can be placed),
and elsewhere only in Pr. - Bad men are here described by their
conduct or manner of life (way) and their speech ; the two things
are treated as equivalent each to the other, speech being regarded
as the indication of thought and life . The sage lays stress on the
power of evil association : to avoid bad men is to be saved from
evil suggestion from without, from the reinforcement that sym-
pathy gives to the evil within the heart. He warns against a
 11. 11-14 43

malign moral influence , which is not the only one in life, but is
the most obvious, and one of the most powerful. Rashi says that
the men here referred to are Epicureans ( that is, heretics in gen-
eral) , who seduce Israel to idolatry and pervert the law to evil. *
—13. Antithetic, ternary. Description of the conduct of bad
men. Uprightness is a general term for rectitude ; it appears first
in the Deuteronomistic vocabulary ( Dt. 95 1 K. 9* 1 C. 29¹ ) , and
then only in the Wisdom books ; it always has a religious coloring,
except in Job 625, and, perhaps, Eccl. 1210. That these men leave
(or forsake) rectitude does not imply that they had once followed
right paths, but only that they have chosen other paths. Their
walk is the way of darkness in contrast with the light which illu-
mines the way of wisdom, the darkness (as the parallelism sug-
gests) here characterizing the sphere (as in Jno. 319-21) rather than
the result (as in 419) ; evil (in contrast with uprightness) seeks
the concealment of darkness . Such, from the parallelism, seems
to be the sense in this passage, though everywhere else in OT.
where light and darkness are used figuratively it is the guidance
and safety of the former and the danger of the latter that are indi-
cated ( Isa. 25 426271 Pr. 418 623 139 1615 Isa. 58101828(29) Eccl.
2¹4 Pr. 2020) , and so it may be here with the term darkness. The
employment of the two terms to express spheres of life charac-
terizes the Mazdean sacred books. -14 . Synonymous, ternary.
A stronger touch. The connective and is inserted in accordance
with the general norm of the couplets. Iniquities (lit. iniquities
of evil) is the same word in the Heb. that is rendered wrong
things in v.12 ; there the reference was to words, here it is to
deeds - in both cases it is the opposite of right that is meant ; it
is here (if the text be correct) , for the sake of emphasis and
vigor, qualified by the term evil (or, wickedness ) . — The rejoice
and delight are a heightening of the forsake of the preceding verse ;
bad men, it is said, not only deliberately choose wicked ways, but
also take pleasure in them. The sage, in stating this familiar fact,
is probably to be understood not as implying that men delight in
evil as evil, but only as meaning that wrongdoing, interwoven into
life, becomes a source of enjoyment, the enjoyment coming from
* On the terms Epicureans and Miņīm (Talmudic designations of heretics) see
Buxtorf, Lex., and Cheyne's Cyclop. Biblica, Art. " Canon."
44 PROVERBS

the momentary good result, not from the consciousness of commit-

ting an unlawful or unrighteous deed . Other things being equal,
men, as a rule, prefer right to wrong. The murderer in 111-13 is
represented as committing murder not for its own sake, but to get
gain of goods ; his wrong is not in desiring wealth, but in using
improper means to secure it. Wicked men are those whose con-
sciences are not tender and strong enough to prevent their enjoy-
ing good things evilly gained . There is a formal resemblance
between this v. and Job 3 , perh. imitation by our author.* —
15. Synonymous, ternary-binary. Variation of the preceding verses
- description of bad life as departure from the right path. The
Heb. reads (with insertion of a pronoun) whose paths are crooked
and (they) iniquitous in their ways (so substantially AV. ) . Slight
changes in the text give the renderings who are crooked in their
paths and iniquitous in their ways ( so substantially Oort, RV.) ,
or who make crooked their paths (Dyserinck, Kamphausen) and
in their ways turn into bypaths ( Kamp . ) , or whose paths are
crooked and their ways iniquitous (so substantially most of the
Ancient Vrss .) . Of these the last is simplest, requiring only the
omission of one letter of the Heb.; the meaning is the same in
all. Two new adjs. are here introduced, synonymous with each
other and with the iniquities of v.4 ; they occur in OT. in the
ethical sense only. Crooked ( pv ) is that which departs from
the right way ( allied to false ) ; outside of Pr. the adj . occurs in
Dt. 3251826(27) ( = 2 S. 222) 101¹, the vb. in Mic. 3º Isa . 598 Job
9. Iniquitous also (n , found, outside of Pr., only in Isa. 3012)
is that which turns aside into wrong ways, morally perverted,
wrong, false.

16-19. The second class of evil persons from whom Wisdom

delivers men : licentious women . The prominence given in Pr.,
especially in chs. 1-9 , to the vice of licentiousness shows that it
was a notorious social evil at the time when the book was written.
In the preëxilian and exilian books comparatively little is said of
it. That there were harlots and adulteresses in Israel from an
early time is shown by such passages as Judg. 11' (Jephthah's
mother) 1 K. 316 (the two women who appeared before Solomon)

* Cf. Strack, Stud. u. Krit., 1896, IV.

 II. 14-16 45

Hos. 3' (Hosea's wife ) , by the prophetic denunciations of the

crime ( Hos. 42 Jer. 79 Mal . 35) , by the laws against it ( Ex. 20¹4
Dt. 22 Lev. 2010) , and by the employment of the terms harlotry
and adultery (in Pent. Judg. Chr . Ps. Hos. Mic. Jer. Ez . ) as des-
ignations of religious unfaithfulness. Prostitution was a feature of
the Canaanitish religious cults, and made its way into Israel. If
we exclude the references to this last usage , the mention of the
vice in question in the prophetical books is not frequent ; less
stress is laid on it than on the oppression of the poor by the rich .
In a polygamous society and in a country without great cities it
was not likely to grow to great proportions. The case was differ-
ent when the Jews were dispersed through the world , and lived in
cities like Jerusalem and Alexandria, centres of wealth and luxury,
inhabited by mixed populations. This form of debauchery then
became commoner and better organized. Hetairae flocked to
the cities. Naukratis in the Egyptian Delta was famous under
the Ptolemies for its brilliant venal women. The temptations of
Alexandria are illustrated by the story told by Josephus ( Ant. 12,
4, 6) of Joseph the son of Tobias. The picture of society given.
in Ben-Sira (989 192 2316-26 2516-26 268-12 429-14) , based on life in
Jerusalem and Alexandria in the third and second centuries B.C.,
agrees in substance with the descriptions of the Book of Proverbs.
The tone is modern. Instead of the old clan-life of Israel, with
its definite family-ties and local bounds, we have the personal free-
dom of the Greek period in Syria and Egypt. This tone, most
observable in chs. 1-9, is not wholly wanting in the rest of the
book. The woman is represented as the temptress, the man as
the silly victim.

16. Synonymous, ternary. To save may be read (as in v.12)

she will save. The terms lewd woman and harlot are both lit.
strange woman (or, stranger). With her cajoling words, lit. :
who makes smooth her words ( RV. flatters, etc.) . The reference
is to dissolute women, but the precise sense in which the term
strange is here used is differently understood . The Heb. has two
synonyms, both of which occur in OT. in three significations : one
who is outside the circle of one's family or one's clan ; an alien
to one's nation, = " foreigner ” ; one not one's self, = " another."
 ERBS
46 PROV

For the first term ( ) see 1 K. 318 Dt. 255 Nu . 15¹ ; Ex. 3033 Lev.
2212 ; Pr. 61 115 1410 272 (this third sense is found only in Pr. ) .
For the second term (" ) see Gen. 315 Job 195 ↓ 698(9) Eccl. 6² ;
Dt. 153 1 K. 11 ' ; Pr. 272. Women of this class were doubtless
often non- Israelites, and such might be the sense here (so Siegfr. ,
Stade, and, so far as the second term is concerned , De. ) ; but
the general character of the descriptions here and in chs. 5 , 7,
913-18, and the contrast expressed in 519.20, make it almost certain
that the writer has in mind dissolute women without regard to
nationality, and that the strange woman is one who is not bound
to the man by legal ties, who is outside the circle of his proper
relations, that is, a harlot or an adulteress. Rashi : Epicureanism.*
The smooth, cajoling words are given in 713-20 ; 75 is identical
with our verse, except in the first word - the similarity between
the themes of the two discourses makes the repetition natural.
The Grk. connects v.16. 17 not with v.", but with v.15, taking them as
the description of the influence of bad men, and following a Heb.
text very different from ours : 16. To remove thee farfrom the right
way and estrange thee from righteous opinion . My son, let not
evil counsel take possession of thee, 17. which forsakes the teaching
of youth and forgets the divine covenant. This is a bit of rabbin-
ical or Alexandrian allegorizing, while in 75 the Heb. is literally
translated . 17. Synonymous , ternary. The strange woman's
social and religious infidelity. The reference is to a married
woman, and the friend of her youth is not God (to which sense
the parallelism is supposed by some to point) , but her husband.
For the use of the term friend ( 8) see 1628 179 Mic. 75 Jer. 3¹
551 (14) ; the sense guide, instructor, is not found in OT. The
expression of our verse is perhaps taken from Jer. 325, where the
adulterous spouse Israel, charged with her infidelities by Yahweh,
is exhorted to cry to him : my father, thou art the friend of my
youth, that is, " the husband of my youth (cf. Hos . 27. 15(9. 17) Ez.
163 ) whom I have forsaken for others " ; but while the infidelity

* Cf. Buxtorf, Lex. , s. v. px, for the use of Aramaean woman as ==foreign
woman and harlot. On the OT. sense of strange woman see Kuenen , Einl., iii.
$97 ; Wildeboer, Litt. des AT. , § 23 , Anm. 7 ; Bertholet, Die Stellung der Isr. und
Juden zu den Fremden, p. 195. — Cf. the Maxims of the Egyptian Any, of the New
Kingdom (Eng. transl, in art. Egypt. Literature in Library of the World's Best
Literature).
 II. 16-19 47

in Jer. is national and ritual , in Pr. it is individual and physical.

At the same time, the marriage-obligation is here regarded as a
divine law ( Ex . 20¹¹ ) , and so as an agreement with God to obey .
him and thus obtain his blessing. The Heb. has of her God; the
more general form of God (as, apparently, in the Grk. ) is better.
-The conception of the marriage- relation involved in the verse
(and throughout the Book) is a high one. The old polygamy or
bigamy (the rule up to the exile ) is ignored ; monogamy is
assumed as the established custom . The husband is the trusted
friend ; the marriage-tie has a divine sanction (cf. Mal. 2¹4) . The
expression covenant of God may refer simply to the general idea
of sacredness involved, or it may possibly allude to a religious
marriage-ceremony. Of the Israelitish marriage-ceremonies of
the pre-Christian time we know little . The old custom was that
the woman was brought into the man's dwelling, by that act be-
coming his wife ( Gen. 2467 2923 1 Sam. 2540 Dt. 2112) , purchase-
money (mohar) being paid the father ( Gen. 342 1 Sam. 1825) ;
sometimes the man, in the presence of witnesses, affirmed his pur-
pose to take the woman as wife ( Ru . 410-13) ; a feast was some-
times held ( Ju . 14¹º Tob. 8¹9) , and the bride was led to the hus-
band's home in procession ( 4514. 15(15. 16) cf. Mt. 251-10) .* A trace
of a religious ceremony appears in Tob. 712. 18(11 . 12), where Raguel
takes his daughter by the hand and gives her to Tobias as wife,
saying : according to the law ofMoses take her to thy father (there
was also a written contract, Tob. 714(16) ) ; it is not improbable that
in this later time it was customary for the father or guardian of
the bride to address a word of pious counsel to the newly married
couple. No part in the ceremony appears to have been taken by
priest or other official person. The modern Jewish marriage,
though it differs considerably from the customs of Bible and Tal-
mud , is still essentially a family-ceremony.† -18, 19. Synony-

* On the view that Canticles is a wedding-poem , consisting of the songs sung

by bride, bridegroom, and companions in the marriage-festival, see Wetzstein,
in De.'s Comm'y on Canticles ; K. Budde, in the New World, March, 1894, and in
his Comm'y on Cant. , in Marti's Hand- Commentar ; C. Siegfried, Hoheslied, in
Nowack's Handkommentar.
+ See the Talm. treatises, Ketub. and Kiddush., J. F. Schröder, Satzungen u.
Gebräuche d. talm.-rab. Judenthums , and I, Abrahams, Jewish Life in the Middle
Ages, 1896,
 BS
VER
48 PRO

mous, ternary. The fate of those who yield to the seductions of

the adulteress : physical death is their portion. The meaning is
plain, but the exact rendering of v.18 is doubtful. The Heb., as it
stands, must be rendered she sinks down to death, her house ; but
death, the house appointed for all living (Job 3023) , would hardly
be called the house of one person ; the rendering she ... together
with her house, that is, with her visitors ( Böttch. De . Now. ), is not
permissible. The reading of the Grk. (whose text differed from
our Heb. ) , she has set her house by death (adopted by Bickell) ,
does not give a satisfactory thought her house, which is on the
earth, is not naturally represented as being by Death, which is
here the underground-world ; and the Heb. preposition, = unto,
must also then be changed to one meaning near, by. The paral-
lelism suggests that house is the subject, and a change of the Heb.
accents (not the consonants) gives the possible sense, bows down,
or sinks down, = leads down, for the verb. The picture pre-
sented is of a path which leads from upper earth to Sheol, like
those by which Odysseus and Aeneas descend to Hades (less
probably of a pit through which one sinks into Sheol) ; on this
downward path she and her guests enter, and from the land of
the dead they never return. A slight change in the Heb. gives a
verb meaning goes down, = leads down ( 1710, used in Job 2113
of descent to Sheol) , a sense which is perhaps favored by the
similar expression in 55. — House ( if the text be correct ) is the
abode, the place from which goes the path to the Underworld,
with connotation of " household," the woman and those who go
to her house. Death = the realm of death, Sheol ( cf. & 913(14) Pr.
55 727) . It is not a place of punishment, but the abode of all the
dead . The punishment referred to in the verse is premature and
unhappy death, which is represented everywhere in OT. as a mis-
fortune, a visitation of God as retribution for wrongdoing ( 29¹
917(18)) ; long life is the reward of the good ( 316) , but the days of
the wicked shall be cut short ( 102 ) . This is the old- Hebrew con-
ception, which limits moral-spiritual life to the present world.
Here God, it was held, dispenses rewards and punishments ; when
one has entered Sheol, God no longer takes account of him (only
13
in Job 14¹³ 265.6 is there a suggestion that the power of the God
of heaven may extend to the Underworld ) . Death is the physical
 II. 18-19 49

event which transfers men from the sphere of activity to that of

inactivity, where there is no relation between man and God ( Isa .
3818, 19) . This conception seems to be a survival of the early
belief which assigned the Underworld to a separate deity (so in
Babylonia) , independent of the deity who ruled the world, and
supreme in his own domain ; the subterranean deity vanished
from the Israelitish system, but the gap between Sheol and the
God of Israel remained. Proverbs retains the old view ; its idea
of the future life is without ethical elements. The Shades (Re-
phaim) are the dead, the inhabitants of Sheol. * Earthly condi-
tions, such as distinctions of rank, are represented sometimes as
continuing in Sheol ( Ez. 322 Isa . 14 ) , sometimes as not con-
tinuing (Job 313-19885(6)) . The rephaim are without mundane
power or significance ( Isa . 1410) , and the pious among them
cannot praise God ( Isa . 38188810( 11)) . Yet they were popularly
thought of as being gods, or as possessing supernatural powers
(1 Sam. 2813 Isa. 819, a survival of the primitive belief on this
point). In Pr. the facts emphasized are that their existence is
without happiness, and that they never return to live the life of
this earth . The paths of life = the ordinary earthly life, not
moral-spiritual life or salvation. The statement that for the vic-
tims of the adulteress there is no return to this life is not meant
to indicate that for others (the followers of Wisdom) there is
return, but only to emphasize the fact that the fate of adulterers
(premature death) is irreversible. Pr. has nothing elsewhere on
the impossibility of return from Sheol, but it may be assumed that
its authors shared the opinion expressed in the other Wisdom
Books (Job 147-12 Eccl. 96 Ben- Sira 17 ) .

9. H (13 ) is rendered as noun (ST in stat. constr. and so

Gr.) by all Vrss. except perh. 6, whose кaтоρowσeis may be noun = (so
Lag. Baumg. ) , or verb = thou shalt establish ; the noun-form occurs elsewhere
only once, 962 (Heb . 972) , and then sing. = ; between noun and verb
it is hard to decide. The text of presents a serious rhythmical difficulty

* Whether the term has any etymological connection with the gentilic name
Rephaim (Dt. 211 al. ) is uncertain. Cf. Schwally, in ZAT. , 1898, 1. pp. 132 ff.
+ In the obscure passage Isa. 2619 it is doubtful whether the reference is to a
national resuscitation (as in Ez. 37) or to some sort of appearance of the rephaim
on the earth.
E
 50 PROVERBS

(in 13b, in which the same three nouns occur, the rhythm is good) . The diffi-
culty may be removed by writing en, from which we might come without
difficulty, especially if the scribe had 13 in mind. Gr. . - 10. ' ;
Ο ἐὰν γὰρ = 0.27 ; GB Tǹv diávoiav, ŒNA oǹv diávolav. — H dyr` ;
Kaλn elvaι dón. -The masc. vb. Dy with fem. subj. ny is poetic license,
as in 810 146 2925 ( where Bi . , who here by a long insertion introduces a masc.
subj., retains the masc. verb) ; is construed with fem. predicates in Isa. 4710
1396 Dan. 124, that is, in OT. three times with masc. and three times with
fem . predicates. In the former case it appears to be conceived of in a general
way as a thing (perh. as the act of knowing) without regard to gender ; see
other cases of such freedom in Ew. , § 1748. - 11. Hip; G (foll. by S)
Bouλn kaλn, to indicate that is here used in good sense. Similarly for
(and so S) has ěvvoia òσía. On the suff. in non see Ew.,
§ 250 a, Ols ., § 97a ; the 7 is for , in which is vowel-letter, and J♪ the
verb-ending (survival of the Energic form) .- 12. H bình ; G iva púontal
σe, apparently = H ; S xsonni, T , Lut eruaris, perh . Impf. instead of
↳ and Inf. , perh . free rendering of H; Bi. writes 3 on the ground that this
paragraph is not a consequence but an explanation ; on this point see notes
on v.2. better taken as subst. defining 177 ; the Vrss. render it by adj.
.Gr ‫ ? מרע‬-- ; BAC al. µŋdèv πioтÓv (and so SH marg.) ; H-P 23
=
( = Cod. Venet . San Marco, V) diaσтpaµµéva ( and so SH) H.-13. G
begins the v. with &, apparently reading 7, a particle which does not occur
elsewhere in Pr. , and would not be appropriate here. On the vocalization of
the art. ( 1) see Miklol, 53 b, and on the accentuation see Bär- Delitzsch, note
on this verse.-- In 2 cl. instead of and Inf. ( b) STL have 1 and vb. or
partcp. and walk, free rendering which gives the sense of correctly, substi-
tution of the coördinate for the subordinate construction. Bi. here retains .
— 14. H-P 23 , 68 al. prefix ŵ. — H yn nwy?; § èπì kakoîs. . 19 ‫תהפכת‬
― The second
written defect. in some MSS. , taken as sing. in GST Ar. y ,
supported by all Vrss. , is somewhat hard. Gr. regards it as dittogram , but the
rhythm calls for a word here ; Dys. emends to y , but the iniquities of another
is hardly possible. Failing a satisfactory emendation , may be retained.
15. The text of may be rendered who are crooked as to their paths andper-
‫נ‬
verse in their ways, or a 2 may be prefixed to , or the omitted (so
Oort ) before ‫ ; מעגלתם‬but the order ‫ ) אר ' עקשים‬or ' ‫באר‬-is( not quite satisfac
tory ( cf. 109 191 286. 18) ; Dys . (followed by Kamp. ) writes pyp (as in 109) ,
a phonetically easy emendation, then being supposed to have fallen out
through preceding , but the order is slightly against this construction also.
The simplest reading is that of the Vrss. (except AO) , which apparently did
not have a before yp, whose paths are crooked and their ways iniquitous ; the
order in that case hardly makes a difficulty. — Field suggests that L et infames
gressus eorum may have been influenced by A kai Opvλoûσiv ; cf. Job 176
where Opúλnua (or Opúλλnµa ) = HD by-word. - 16. 6 has a text wholly
different from that of : τοῦ μακράν σε ποιῆσαι ἀπὸ ὁδοῦ εὐθείας καὶ ἀλλό-
τριον τῆς δικαίας γνώμης . a consequence attached to v.15 instead of a new
 II. 9-19 51

paragraph. This is not a scribal heterogram of the particular words of H,

but an independent allegorizing reading of the schools. The next section also
is taken as a description of moral folly, and is introduced by the words vié un
σE KATAλáßη Kаkỳ Bovλý ( cf. BS 7¹) . The connection favors the personal
picture of ; the reading of 6 illustrates the manner in which the expounders
and scribes, in Jerusalem and Alexandria, sometimes dealt with such ethical
texts as this. writes Impf. at the beginning (and so Bi .) , inserts on as
subj., omits (for the sake of brevity) , and for Hapban has soon , possi-
bly = (Baumg.) , though this is generally rendered by ns ( Pink. ) .
Bi. omits on rhythmical grounds, but this seems hardly necessary. -
17. 18; G didαokaλíav (GV µálŋoiv) , probably in accordance with its
allegorical conception of the passage (cf. Aram. 1 ) , and so TBux. Σ ;
rearer, educator, A ǹyeµóva, ↔ ǹyoúμevov, L ducem . Though no
Vrs. renders by friend, this sense is assured in Heb. , and is the most appro-
priate here. The st. = come or bring together, whence Semitic thousand, Heb.
leader (head of clan or tribe) , Heb. Ar. friend, Arab. compose (a book) ,
Aram. teach ; the origin of the senses or (N. Sem. ) and ship (Ass ., Aram. ) is
not clear. - ; G dia @ýkyv Oelav = (and so T Bi) , a
better reading than that of H. — 18 . (mil'el) ; GB al. ĕ0€тo = ‫; שׁתה‬
V wpiσev; she forgets (nyo = , repeated from preceding v.) the
thresholds ( DE) of her house and the way ( = ) of her paths ; T,
freely, whose house is in the depth of death ; L inclinata est ... domus eius.
, fem., can hardly stand with masc. (if were meant as collective,
it would probably have a plur. verb) ; ny (st. third ~ ) , though it occurs in
Qal only once, and then not certainly ( Isa . 5123 ) , may be taken as = inclines,
sinks (Ibn Janaḥ) , or we may write nny (cf. 10739) ; perh. , however, we
should read nn). — Ho'o be ; 6 μеTÀ TŵV Yyyevŵv ( H- P 103 vntvwv) = :
; . is rendering of in 918, elsewhere of D (Jer. 3220) or
(ψ 492(3)) ; in WS 7' γηγενούς πρωτοπλάστου is Adam. Can γηΐνων earthy
be the true reading here and 918 ? cf. yhïvos, Σ Job 419 = ‫בעפר‬ has the
doublet #aρà τ ädŋ = binu 4x (cf. 918) . The meaning of the stem in is not
certain, possibly = weak, powerless ( cf. Isa. 1410) ; but this can hardly be the
signification of the gentilic . — 19. On the ending in a see critical note on
128. — For v.19a has two readings : one, which appears to be the earlier (so
Lag.) takes as pass., κатаλaµßávovтai, and for лns has vπò ¿viautŵv
= n , or ( cf. I K. 859 where ev. = D ) , scribal errors, the latter, perh.,
from 32 ; the other is identical with except that for on it puts ev0eías ( GV
ảyalás) , which may be a moralizing interpretation after the manner of v.16. 17, or
perh. ( Lag. ) a marginal note, or ( Baumg. ) a familiar term, which has ejected
the original word. Neither of these readings offers any advantages over that of
H.-For Shas e, remember, which in the connection yields
no sense, and is emended by Lag. to attain. T omits suff. in 8 ,
and, by way of interpretation, adds after ).
 52 PROVERBS

21 , 22. Conclusion, stating the consequences of good and bad

doing.
21. For the upright shall dwell in the land,
And the perfect shall remain therein ;
22. But the wicked shall be cut off from the land,
And the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.

21. Synonymous, ternary. The reward of the good stated as

motive for right conduct. On upright see note on v. , on perfect,
note on 1¹². The reward of good men is permanent abode in the
land ; the remain = survive ( or be left) , implies that certain per-
sons are ejected or destroyed from the land (see next verse) , in
which in all catastrophes the righteous are maintained . The
expression dwell in the land (not earth) refers to the land of
Israel. The ancient Israelitish conception (found also in other
peoples ) was that gods and men were attached to the soil. The
god protected his own land and no other, and the citizen as such
enjoyed the benefits of this protection. To leave the land was to
lose one's connection with its deity ( 1 S. 26¹9 2 K. 5¹) and to
give up the rewards which his favor promised . Hence in part the
anxiety of the Israelitish law to secure to each tribe family and
individual man a possession in the land (Ju. 26 Ez . 4713. Nu . 369
Ru. 46 and the genealogies in Chron. and Neh. ) , infringement on
which was regarded as a great crime ( Mic. 2º Dt. 19¹4 2717 Pr. 2228
2310 ) . Israel, and not any other nation, was Yahweh's own pos-
session and property (Ex. 195 Dt. 142 2618 135*, cf. Tit. 2¹4
1 Pet. 2º) . Thus the expression dwell in the land († 373. 11. 29, cf.
Mt. 55) came to be equivalent to enjoy the divine favor and all the
blessings of life, and such is its sense here. Though in later times
a large part of the Jews dwelt out of Palestine, the old expression
held its own as the symbol of happiness, and with it the hope
remained of living and dying in the land with which the divine
promises were believed to be connected. * - -22 . Synonymous, ter-
nary. The contrasted fate of evildoers. Wicked is employed in
Pr. as a general term ( along with foolish) for those who discard
and disobey the divine law of wisdom. The primitive sense is

* Much of this feeling still remains in countries in which the Jews are excluded
from the rights of citizenship ; it has almost completely disappeared in countries in
which they have full civil recognition.
 II. 21-22 53

doubtful, but in OT. it commonly means morally bad. It is also

a forensic term (the opposite of just ) , signifying one whose case
in law is bad, wrong, or adjudged to be bad (cf. Ex. 213) ; the
Causative of the verb adjudge one wrong or guilty in court ( 1715
=

Ex. 229(8) Isa. 50º Job 156) . In the prophetical and historical
books the noun generally means those who violate the moral law ;
in the Pss. it is often used, by a natural transition, as a name for
the persecutors of Israel ( 179 5810(11 ) 758(9) 11961 al. ) . In Pr.
there is no national limitation ; the wicked are they of all nations
who disobey the law of right. - The term transgressors or faithless
is here employed as equivalent to wicked. The original sense of
the word seems to involve the idea of underhand dealing, faith-
lessness to an agreement, treachery (Ju . 92 Jer. 320 ) , but it is
extended to include faithlessness to duty and right in general
= transgressors. In the Pss . it sometimes means Jewish apos-
tates (4 25³) .— The verbs in the verse express violent extirpation
by any means, by the hand of man or God. The first ( n ) is
the term used in the legal books to express the execution of intol-
erable offenders (that person shall be cut off from his people,
Lev. 720 al. ) ; the second ( D ) is once used ( Dt. 2863) for the
expulsion of the nation from its land. The writer of the verse
probably has these half-technical uses in mind , but employs the
terms in the broadest sense ; unrighteous persons, he says, shall
have no place in the land of promise, no claim, that is, to happi-
ness in this life. Here, as elsewhere, the mode of execution of
the punishment is not stated, but the divine judgment is to be
understood as coming in the way of natural law (courts of law,
failure of plans, sickness, natural death) , or through special divine
interposition (violent death) .
20.777; 6 тpíßovs ȧyalás, according to Lag. false reading of
the abbrev..- 21 . The Grk. MSS. exhibit two renderings, with a number
of verbal variations. The one which appears to be nearer to , writing
Xpησтol and aкaкoι, is found ( as doublet) in Compl. Ald. and (with obel. )
SH, in GA6 *6 c. a, H-P 23, 103, 109, 147, 248, 252, 253, 254, al., a group
which suggests a combination of the recension of Lucian and some other
recension ; the other, writing eveîs and oσɩɩ, is the text of GB, and appears
to show the hand of an Alexandrian revisor (see note on v.19) .- 22. For
Dy has odoì åσeßŵv ( ª ôdoì dè ảσ. ) , as in 16a (Jäg. ) , free or careless
transcription of a Grk. scribe, perh . corruption of or ( Heid .) . — D`, Qal
54 PROVERBS

Impf. , must be taken as indef., but the parallelism suggests a Pass. , as all
Vrss. have it (though this may be free rendering) ; we may point as Hof. ( so
Bi. ) , a form which, however, is not found elsewhere ; Gr. 1 , Hof. of п ) ;
Oort, Frank., Nif. of nd) . - Bi. omits 2 (as perh. gloss to ) , which in
fact does not appear in the similar passages 379. 22. 28. 38 ; yet such determi-
nations of ♫ ‍ by nouns of place occur elsewhere (Jer. 3519 Ez. 257 Lev. 17¹º) ,
and both rhythm and syntax appear to demand a word here, being
otherwise left without antecedent.

This chapter states the economical or prudential conception of

the good life which is the prevailing view of the book of Proverbs
(see note on 1 ) ; the motive urged for good living is the earthly
well-being which attends it. This sort of eudaemonism, in which
the individual actor alone is considered, and the reward of virtue
is represented not as inward but as outward (long life , peace,
honor, riches, see ch. 3 ) , may seem to us ethically defective in
several points. It does not present the good as an independent
ideal, to be pursued solely for its own sake ; it does not hold up
the highest well- being of the world as the goal and standard of
moral conduct ; it says nothing of a sympathetic community and
coöperation of men as the instrument for the development of the
moral life ; it makes no direct mention of the function of con-
science as moral guide ; and it makes the unmodified declaration
that virtue is always attended by outward prosperity. In this last
point Pr. represents the old- Hebrew view, which made no analysis
of the inner life, conceived of goodness as obedience to outward
law, held that the deity controlled every man's life by occasional
and immediate intervention, and so necessarily regarded pros-
perity as the accompaniment of obedience to divine law. This
view is combated in the book of Job ; but it appears that Job's
argument made little impression (perhaps by reason of the absence
of an ethical conception of the future life) , and that many or
most of the sages saw nothing more practically helpful than the
old position. As soon as the idea of future compensation was
established (WS. 3 ) , the doctrine of present reward was modified ;
in Pr. this idea is not accepted . See the Introduction, 5 , A,
and § 6 , 4. — The defects of ethical theory mentioned above are
in part explained by the aim of the book. The sages no doubt
recognized the function of conscience , and believed in the value
 III. 55.

of right in itself. But they probably held that what men need is
not ethical theory, but practical considerations which shall help
them to live virtuously. In this they were right-the mass of
men are controlled by their relations to one another in society,
and by the hope of reward and the fear of punishment. It is true
also that men's experience has led them to believe that goodness
is profitable for this life as well as for the life to come. Further,
an ideal element is introduced by the identification of wisdom
with the will of God , which is held to be the absolute right, and
by the personification of wisdom ( ch . 8) as God's first creation
and intimate friend. The sages, it may be inferred, mean to say
that he who connects his ethical law with God is provided with a
restraining influence so far as he fears God, and with an elevating
influence so far as he loves him. In certain passages ( as, for
example, 2¹0) they appear to reach the ultimate moral conception,
namely, the ethical union of man with God conceived of as the
moral ideal. These considerations must modify our judgment of
what seems to be a baldly prudential scheme of ethical life.

III. Three independent discourses or paragraphs , introduced

each by the address my son,' all more or less fragmentary.
The first (v.1-10) consists of exhortations to follow the teacher's
instruction (v.2) and observe kindness and truth (v.34) , to trust
in Yahweh and fear him (v.5-8) , and to honor him with one's
wealth (v.9.10) . The second (v.11-20) sets forth the value of divine
chastening ( v.¹¹. 12) , the preciousness of Wisdom (v.13-18) , and her
function in creation (v.19. 20) . The third (v.21-35) describes the
safety which comes from discretion (v.21-24) and from the protec-
tion of Yahweh (v.25. 26), enjoins neighborly kindness (v.27-31) , and
sets forth the retribution of the upright and the wicked (v.32-35 ).
The third approaches, in parts (v.27-35) , the form of discourse of
chs. 25-27 . The poetical structure of the chapter is distichal, with
four-line strophes, though in some places the form is obscure.

FIRST DISCOURSE. V. I - IO.

1. My son, forget not my instruction ,
But keep my commandments in mind ;
2. For length of days and years of life
And peace will they bestow on thee.
 RBS
56 PROVE

3. Let not kindness and faithfulness leave thee -

Bind them on thy neck [ ] * -
4. So wilt thou find favor and good 6 repute ›
With God and man.

5. Trust to Yahweh with all thy heart,

And lean not on thine own understanding;
6. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
And he will smooth thy paths.

7. Be not wise in thine own eyes -

Fear Yahweh, and turn away from sin -
8. Then will there be health to thy body ,
And refreshment to thy bones.

9. Honor Yahweh with thy wealth,

With the best of all thy revenue —
10. Then will thy barns be filled with corn ,
And thy vats will overflow with must.

The teacher exhorts the pupil to remember his instruction,

urging the advantage it will bring him. - 1 . Synonymous, ternary.
Exhortation . Lit. let thy heart ( = mind ) keep ( = guard, pre-
serve) my commandments. Son = " pupil," as in 18. The con-
tent of the instruction (law, tora ) is to be inferred from the
precepts of the Book of Pr .; it is almost exclusively moral and
religious, never national, but always individual, very rarely cere-
monial, never dogmatic. It thus stands in contrast with the tora
of the prophet, which is national-religious (sole worship of Yahweh
and obedience to his will ) , and with that of the priest ( Penta-
teuch) , which is ritual. The sage presents himself as authority
and source of moral wisdom ; priest and prophet speak only in
the name of Yahweh, declaring his word. The prophet, it is said,
who shall speak a word not given him by God shall die ( Dt. 1820) ,
even though he has been deceived by Yahweh ( Ez. 14º) ; the sage
finds his word in his own mind — in the prophet this is a crime
(Ez . 1323) . This diversity is the result of the difference of the
points of view of different periods of Israelitish history. The
sages represent a period of reflection, in which human life is
studied for its own sake , and its natural laws investigated . -

The Received Text adds : Write them on the tablet of thy mind (lit. heart) .
 III. 1-3 57

2. Single sentence, which may be taken as binary, or as quaternary-

ternary. The reward. Long life is considered in OT. to be one
of the chief blessings of man's lot ( Ex. 20¹²) , including, as it does,
the idea of happiness ( so that the first line might be rendered : a
long and happy life) . Sheol offered nothing— the longer one
lived on earth the greater one's opportunities for work and enjoy-
ment ( Isa. 3819 6520) .* Peace is originally wholeness, completeness
of condition. It is used of bodily health ( Gen. 296 ) , of political
concord (Jud. 4") , of friendly relation between men ( † 41 (10) ) ,
of national tranquillity and safety (Jer. 61 336) , and, as here, of a
general condition of freedom from danger and disturbance.† The
reference is primarily to outward quiet, though inward serenity is
of course involved. This delightful ideal, a long and peaceful life,
is the favorite one in Proverbs. It is represented both as the nat-
ural product of devotion to wisdom ( intelligent uprightness of life) ,
and as the gift of God — two ideas easily harmonized by the con-
ception of wisdom as having its root in reverence for God .
Bestow on thee, lit. add to thee.

3, 4. An injunction parallel to that of v.1.2, and apparently

intended as explanation or definition of it. 3. Synonymous , ter-
nary (or, ternary- binary) . The verse is perhaps epexegetical of
v.¹, a description of the law of wisdom as the maintenance of kind-
ness and faithfulness. This combination of qualities (or its equiv-
alent) occurs often in OT. (Gen. 249 Ex. 34° Dt. 792510 8510 ( 11 )
Pr. 1422 166 2028 al.) as the expression of perfectly good relations
between man and man, or between man and God. Kindness
is friendly good feeling and the conduct appropriate thereto (see
note on 2º) , love of man for man ( Esth . 2¹ ) or of man for God
(Hos. 6º) . It is not properly mercy, compassion, clemency, for-
giveness (for which ideas Heb. has other expressions , Dt. 1317(18)
Ex. 34º Dan. 99(8)) . Yahweh is good and kind to Israel because
he loves the nation— that is the normal condition of things ; and

* Cf. Cic. De Senectute.

+ The OT. shelem (RV. peace-offering) is an offering which completes one's
duty to God or makes one whole with him by the fulfilment of a vow or by a free
gift of gratitude for favors received. Arabic Islam ( “ submission, resignation ") is
the putting one's self in a position of soundness with God by faith, obedience, and
submission,
58 PROVERBS

even when his kindness is brought into connection with the re-
moval of transgression, as in & 103 , it still remains simple kindness.
- Faithfulness (firmness) is steadfastness , fidelity to one's word
and to the obligations which spring from one's relations with
men. It is thus sometimes equivalent to truthfulness (4 152) or
to truth ( 1 K. 106 Dt. 13¹ (15) ) , but has usually, as here, a wider
signification. ― The two qualities together, complementing each
other (love being thus saved from feebleness, and fidelity from
harshness) , may be said to form a perfect moral character. They
are to be attached to the neck not as an amulet to ward off evil
(though such ornaments may originally have been amulets) ,* but,
as the general connection indicates, as a necklace ( 19) or a seal-
chain (Gen. 3818, possibly as bearing a seal-ring) , that one may
carry them with him always, and have them in remembrance . ·
The Heb. adds the parallel line : write them on the tablet of thy
mind, a form of expression which occurs only here and in 73 Jer.
17¹, but the same idea is found in Dt. 30¹ Jer. 313. The allusion
is to the tablets of the decalogue, and to the command (Dt. 68.9)
to write the divine precepts on hands and forehead , doorposts
and gates (the later phylacteries, etc. ) † ; cf. the Arab . expression
to write a thing with a needle on the inner corner of the eye. The
moral law is not only to be accepted as an external code, but also
to be received into the mind and form part of the man's nature
(cf. Jer. 31 ) .— This third clause is lacking in some Gk. Mss .,
and is probably not original- the verse is complete without it,
and it mars the symmetrical distichal form of the paragraph ; it
may have been inserted by a Heb . scribe from 7³, where it is in
place. The general idea of kindness tended to pass into that of
pity for the poor and almsgiving ; so the Lat. Vulg. here has mise-
ricordia, and the Grk. a word ( ẻλeŋμoσúvai ) which was later em-
ployed for alms ( BS. 3¹ Mt. 6² Lu. 11¹¹ Diog. Laert. 5 , 17 ) , and
has given us our word eleemosynary, though here it seems to mean
pity, mercy. - 4. Single sentence, ternary. The recompense.

* The preëxilian Israelites wore amulets called saharon ( Isa . 318, cf. Jud. 821. 26)
and laḥash ( Isa. 320) ; apparently also earrings served as amulets (Gen. 354, cf.
Hos. 213(15) ) . How long this practice continued is uncertain. The thummim
(tummim, sometimes improperly identified with Arab. tamima) was not an amulet.
+ Such legends also appear to have been originally of the nature of amulets.
 III. 3-5 59

The Heb. reads : And thou wilt find [ lit. and find ] favor and
good understanding in the sight of God and man, in which the
term understanding is unsatisfactory, since good understanding (or,
intelligence) is not of the nature of recompense, parallel to favor,
but is rather the cause of the latter (so 1315 good understanding gives
favor) . Most of the Vrss . have found difficulty with the expres-
sion. The Grk. attaches the first part (through the word favor)
to v.³, and then renders : and devise excellent things in the sight of
the Lord and of men (so quoted freely in Rom. 12 " 2 Cor. 82¹) ;
but this does not agree with the connection, from which we expect
the statement of the result of acting as v.³ enjoins . The Peshitta
Syriac has . · favor and good and understanding, and the Tar-
gum . . favor and understanding and good. A slight change in
the Heb. gives name instead of understanding; the expression
favor andgood name (cf. 22¹ ) expresses the recompense required
by the connection. -On favor see note on 19. To find favor is
to be acceptable, approved, well thought of ( Gen. 68 Ru . 2¹0) ; a
kind and faithful character, says the sage, will be acceptable both
to God and to men ( so Lu . 252) ; in the sight of:= "on the part
of," " with " ; the same isolation of moral qualities as the condi-
tion of the divine favor is found in Isa. 118. 19 662 24 al. , but is
more complete and persistent in Pr. than in any other Biblical
book. The good reward of right doing (if we accept this reading)
is this favor and the benefits ( friendship, protection, aid ) which
naturally flow from it.

5-10. The blessing attendant on trusting and honoring God.

Exhortation to trust (v. ) , acknowledge (v . ) , and fear him (v. ) ,
the result of which will be health (v. ) . Exhortation to honor
him in the use of wealth (v. ) , the result of which will be
abundance of wealth (v.10) . - The preceding paragraph (v.14)
deals with the ethical side of life, this with the religious side.
5-8. Benefit of dependence on God . - 5 . Synonymous, ternary,
or ternary-binary. The Grk. has God instead of Yahweh ; the in-
terchange of divine names seems not to be significant in Proverbs,
but the Grk. preference for God may indicate the later Jewish
feeling. To trust to God is, from the connection, to regard him
as the source of wisdom and power, the guide in the moral life
бо PROVERBS

and in all other things, to obey his law, and have confidence in
him ; see note on 17. We may render trust in, understanding this
expression in the sense indicated . With all the heart = with the
whole conviction and force of the mind, absolutely. - Opposed to
this posture of mind is the leaning on one's own understanding
(insight, wisdom ) as on a prop or staff ( 2 S. 16 Mic . 3¹¹ Job 24²) .
The assumption is that man's intellect, apart from God , will not
guide him aright. This assumption is founded not on any theory
of man's native depravity ( such a theory does not exist in OT. ) ,
but on observation of life. Man is often blinded by passion and
at the mercy of temptation ( 110-14) , but he may avoid sin by his
own will ( 110) if he will give heed to God's law, which is a fixed
rule of conduct unaffected by the mutations and perversions of
human passion. Man, further, is fallible, and does not always
know what is best to do— he must have confidence in a higher
wisdom if he wishes to feel secure and be free from anxiety. This
sense of security and peace is involved in the term trust (cf.
Ju. 8 ) . The sage probably does not mean to exclude human
thought and effort. In times of great national distress prophets
and psalmists sometimes represent the military strength of nations
as nothing when compared with the absolute power of the God of
Israel ( Hos. 17 Isa. 2¹7 10. 31 207 (8) 1188.9) ; but here, as gener-
ally in OT., the idea seems to be that human wisdom and strength
must be guided and sustained by God . - 6 . Single sentence , ter-
nary. Repetition of the injunction, with statement of the result
of obedience. Acknowledge = know, have intimate acquaintance
with, that is, know and obey the divine law, recognize its suprem-
acy and take it as guide. To smooth is to make level ; the meta-
phor is derived from the preparation of a highway, as in Isa. 40³.
The usual way of human life, the sage intimates, is full of inequali-
ties and difficulties, but he who has in mind the law of God will
find these hindrances removed and his path made easy. The
reference is not to nice moral problems which shall be solved by
the divine law, but, as the context indicates, to external difficulties
and dangers, such as poverty, sickness, enmities, evil allurements.
The paths are all a man's ways, social, commercial, political,
religious ; he has only to do right and trust in God, and affairs
will be made easy for him — he will enjoy prosperity in the sense
 III. 5-8 61

of v.10. 16. 24. 25 ; it is the old doctrine of the prosperity of the right-
eous. At the end of the verse some Grk. MSS. add and thyfoot
shall not stumble, a scribal insertion from v.23. - 7. Synonymous,
ternary, or, ternary-quaternary. Repetition of the warning against
self- confidence . Progressive parallelism . The holding one's self
wise is represented as the contrast to or negation of fearing God,
an antithesis similar to that of v.³ — it is assumed that to trust to
one's own wisdom is to follow another law than that of God,
ordinary human standards of judgment being different from the
divine standard ; a somewhat different view of conceit of wisdom
is given in Eccl. 716. The fear of Yahweh, which is assumed to
be the true wisdom (as in 17) , is defined as turning away from
sin (lit. evil ) . The evil in this case cannot = misfortune, escape
from which would then be the result of fearing God ( as in v.6b) ,
for the verb means a voluntary avoidance, and expresses moral
character (as in Job 1¹ Pr. 166) . The fear of Yahweh, it is
implied, gives the proper ethical norm of life , and wisdom, as
generally in chs. 1-9 , is understood to involve a religious element.
Clem. of Alex. ( Strom., 155 ) has fear God who alone is mighty, a
free expansion, perhaps suggested by Mt. 1028 ( Lag. ) . - 8. Synony-
mous, ternary-binary. The reward. The first line may be read :
it (the fearing Yahweh and departing from sin) will be, etc. , but it
is better to take health as subject of the verb ; and then may be
inserted (after the Grk.) as giving a better syntactical connection
with the preceding verses. Instead of body the Heb. has navel, an
improbable reading, since elsewhere (Ez. 16 , and a similar term
Cant. 72) the term is not used for the whole body and being. A
slight change in the Heb. gives the word for body (so the Grk.
reads) or the word for flesh. The latter term occurs in 117 for
the whole man ; the combination body and bone ( = flesh and
bone) is found, in this sense, in Gen. 29¹4 2 Sam. 5¹ Job 25 ( and cf.
Job 2124 3030) . Each of these terms is used as self (designation
of the spiritual from the physical) , as in Neh . 937 † 169 3510 631(2) ,
and we may here render : thou wilt have health and refreshment.
Of these two words the first is properly an abstract noun of action,
healing (deliverance from disease), and the second, refreshment, is
that which refreshes ( lit. drink, as in Hos . 27 102¹0 ) . The sense
of the verse is that obedience to the law of God secures for a man
62 PROVERBS

a thoroughly healthy and happy condition of being. The happi-

ness is primarily freedom from bodily and other outward ills, but
necessarily involves inward peace.

9, 10. Religious use of wealth . - 9 . Synonymous, ternary-

binary (or, ternary) . The word here rendered revenue (RV.
increase) commonly refers to agricultural produce , and this sense
is indicated by v.10 ; elsewhere in Pr. (as, for example, in 168) the
word appears to have a wider meaning. The reference in the
injunction seems to be rather to a general righteous employment
of riches than to the payment of the legal tithes. There is else-
where in this part of the book ( chs . 1-9 ) no reference to the
ceremonial law as obligatory (in 714 sacrifice is mentioned as a
popular observance ) , and the immediate context favors the more
general interpretation . The term here rendered the best ( 8 )
is so used in Am . 61 7851 10536 (of persons ) 1 Sam. 229 Am . 66 (of
things ) . See the injunction to give freely in v .", and compare the
similar injunction in Ben-Sira 299 11. God would thus be honored
by obedience to the commands respecting the care of the poor
and other general moral precepts. - The sense will, however, be
substantially the same if we translate with (or, out of) the first-
fruits of all thy revenue, the reference then being to the triennial
tithe for the poor ( Dt. 1428.29) and the annual tithe for the temple-
ministers (Dt. 1812. 13 Nu. 1812. 13) . These were doubtless regarded
as obligatory by all pious Israelites, though in Prov . they are else-
where silently passed over as part of the acknowledged routine of
religious life, observance of which did not necessarily argue a gen-
uine spirit of obedience to the moral law. - With is lit. out of, a
form of expression which is meant to indicate that it is a portion of
one's wealth that is to be thus used. The verse reads in the Grk.:
Honor the Lord out of thy righteous labors, and give him the first
ofthyfruits of righteousness, which appears to be a scholastic para-
phrase or interpretation of the Hebrew. - 10 . Synonymous-ter-
nary. Statement of the reward of such use of wealth. Our Heb.
text reads : thy barns will be filled with plenty ; but this last term
is elsewhere always adverbial ( Gen. 419 Eccl . 512 (11 ) ) , and never a
thing with which something may be filled ; an easy emendation
(suggested by the Grk. ) gives corn, parallel to must. Corn is
 III. 8-10 63

a general term for cereals. Must ( n, which the Vrss . here all
render by wine) is the wine -crop, the grape-juice expressed and
gathered into vats ; it is frequently mentioned, along with corn
and oil, as one of the main crops of the land of Canaan (Dt. 713
Neh. 5 ) . Apparently it was not commonly drunk till it was fer-
mented ; it is spoken of as exhilarating (Ju . 913) and intoxicat-
ing (Hos. 4 ) . The reward of honoring Yahweh is here physical,
in keeping with the old-Hebrew idea. The agricultural life con-
templated suits the Palestinian Jews throughout the whole of the
OT. period ; abundance of the standard crops, corn and wine,
was a synonym of prosperity down to the final dispersion of the
people (A.C. 70) . So wealth, in v.", " agricultural revenue."

III. 1. G voµíµwv (H-P, 68 al. vóµwv) takes nın as plu ., possibly ( Heid. )
a Pharisaic reading to include the oral tradition, more probably induced by
the plu. in b; Cl . Alex. eσμŵv, perh. from memory (so the Draconian laws
were called ) . -— G þýµará for HD is rhetorical, untechnical rendering, not
reference to the decalogue. - — is properly preserve, keep safe (and so sub-
stantially = remember) , though " keeping in mind " may be practically equiva-
lent to " observing, obeying ” ( 2510 787) . — 3. Jäger gets rid of the triplet
form by attaching a to v.2 ( changing to ) , but this clause belongs by its
content to v.3. It is better to omit , which is lacking in B al. (found in
GA al. 2 Compl., Ald . , Cl . Al. , Proc., S sub ast. LST) ; see note on 73. The
different positions given the clause in Grk . MSS. suggest that it is a gloss
(Lag. ) . —G ¿λeŋμooúvai (for ¬07) here = kindness, mercy, as in Gen. 4729,
not alms. - 4. For Impv. 3D Bi. writes Nзn, which, however, is unneces-
sary, the Impv. being not uncommon in prot. and apod . of a conditional
sentence (66 833 96 al. ) .— is taken by as Impv. , πpovοû, against the
connection ; disciplinam, a meaning which the word will hardly bear; as
(perhaps occasioned by 1315 11110) here affords no satisfactory sense,
we may emend to D , which suits the connection, though it is without support
from MSS. or Vrss . —ST take as subst., inserting before it, T following
the order of H, S transposing and . This latter fact may seem ( Baumg. )
to indicate that I here follows T, only introducing an error ; but elsewhere T
seems to be dependent on S, though it sometimes shows a correction after H.
- 5. (twice) ; read by (so & in second occurrence) ; throughout OT.
we should probably emend ‫ אל‬after ‫ בכח‬to ‫ על‬- 39 ‫; יהוה‬ .e .6- 19 ּ‫דיָהו‬
Gavrýv, scil. σopíav, against the connection ; 6 takes bas telic. —7. ma
← TÒV DEÒv. - — 8. In an axe it is doubtful whether the subject of is or
the statement in v.7b ; in the latter case we should expect after , in the
former case a connecting particle, as in fact 6 introduces the verse with TÓTE,
and with telic ; a connective seems preferable : so will there be or that
there may be. Dis an Aramaic form. - navel ; Gowμari, and so
64 PROVERBS

SH ; S 0] ; L = H ; _T_w ] ( Lag. ) or ¬ ( Buxt.) = (the word, in

.Syr ‫ כוּנַישר‬or ‫ כונשר‬seems to be a compd . of ‫ שר‬, but the force of the first
element is doubtful) . Read 2, with 6, Cler., Bi.; or, with Vog. , Schl., Ew.,
Hi. , Oort, Kamp. , 8. — On & éqµéλeia as rendering of "p see Schleusner's
note ; Procop . iµéveia stability ; ' A TOTIσμós, of which Deissmann (Bibel-
studien, p. 152) finds an example as early as B.C. 240. - 9. renders by
dikalwv πóvwv, a homiletical expression intended to warn against the unjust
acquisition of wealth ; for a similar use of π. see BS . 1415 2815, and for the
idea Pr. 1016 ; labor wealth Eccl. 222 al. 6 similarly defines nan by
dikaloσúvηs, and further omits 2, which term, here unnecessary though not
out of place, may have been lacking in the Heb. MS. of G. —10. Hy ;
Gπλησμovîs σítov (so rightly Procop.; the text has σiry by scribal error, or,
if λ. did not originally stand in the Grk. the Dat. oíry might have been used
after the vb. Tíµñλŋтai) ; but a marg. note in SH ( which = ) states that
the σ. is found neither in the Heb. nor in the Grk., from which it may be
inferred that the Grk. MSS. here varied . The text of presents a conflation
of two readings , πλ. = ÿÿ and σ. = , of which the latter is more likely to
be original, and the former a correction after Heb. The reading a suits
the context and is adopted by Oort, and regarded as original by Frankenberg ;
it is perh. against it that in the combination corn and wine in OT. it is always
and never that is used, though this is not decisive, and seems to
be required by the parallelism ; for its use see Gen. 421 al. Am . 85 Neh. 1032.

11, 12. A separate paragraph (a quatrain) on the benefit of

divine chastening, possibly here placed as a modification of the
preceding paragraph, to explain cases in which worldly prosperity
does not follow rectitude . It would then be of the nature of an
editorial insertion.
II. Reject not, my son, the instruction of Yahweh,
And spurn not his reproof,
12. For whom " he loves he reproves,
And he afflicts him " in whom he delights.

11. Synonymous, ternary- (or, quaternary- ) binary. Instead of

reject we may render despise (the general sense is the same in the
two renderings) , and instead of spurn (lit. loathe) the nearly
equivalent be wearied out with, weary of (so RV.), as in Gen. 2746 ;
The Grk. has faint not (so quoted in Heb. 125) , = " give not up thy
self-command and endurance, " which may be an interpretation of
our text, or may represent another Heb. term . - 12 . Synonymous,
ternary (in the emended text) . In the first line the Heb. has
Yahweh (Yahweh loves instead of he loves) , which is a scribal
 III. 11-12 65

-
insertion (explicitum) for clearness. The second line reads,
according to the Masoretic pointing, and [ = yea, reproves him]
as a father [reproves] the son in whom he delights, or delights in
him as a father in his son. These renderings, though possible,
are hard, and the suggested representation of God as father would
perhaps make a difficulty, since it would be unique in Proverbs.
The translation afflicts given above (which the Heb. consonants
permit) is supported by the parallelism, by the Grk. , and by
Job 518. The parallelism naturally suggests (though it does not
absolutely require) an explicit reference to disciplinary suffering.
The Grk. has for whom the Lord loves he reproves, and scourges
every son whom he receives (so quoted in Heb . 12 ") , in which
scourges = afflicts. Job 517. 18 reads :
Happy is the man whom God reproves,
Therefore despise [ or, reject ] not the instruction of Shaddai,
For he wounds and binds up,
He smites and his hand heals.

The similarity between the passages in Job and Prov. makes it

probable that one is an imitation of the other, or that the expres-
sions used were current in the schools . *. -The word son in second
line should be changed to him, so as to secure a better parallelism.
- Whichever translation be adopted, the sense is the same : the
suffering of a good man is to be regarded as a divine chastening
dictated by love . The thought is found in Job 4.5 (Eliphaz) and
33 (Elihu) , but only here in Proverbs . The sages of Prov. else-
where adopt the old view (defended by the three friends in Job)
that suffering is always the punishment of sin ; the author of our
passage (following the school of Eliphaz and Elihu) considers the
exception to the rule, and finds the explanation of the suffering of
the righteous in the disciplinary love of God, which is also the
NT. view (it is suggested in OT. in such passages as Am. 46-11) .
Though hinted by the earliest of the Israelitish ethical writers
(Amos) , it appears to have made no lasting impression till after

* Recent writers are divided in opinion on the question of priority between Job 5
and Pr. 1-9. As Pr. agrees, in the point of view under discussion , with Ben-Sira, it
should probably be regarded as the later, unless Job be put very late (in the second
or first century B.C.) . In both Pr. and Job it is individual rather than national
suffering that is contemplated,
F
66 PROVERBS

the acceptance ( in the second or first century B.C. ) of the doctrine

of ethical immortality. *
11. For various unimportant var. lect. of in v.11. 12 see H-P. ??
should probably be omitted as ( early) scribal insertion. - 12. ny: without
Makkef, as in 475 60², probably a scribal accident. in v.12 is sus-
tained by all Mss. and Vrss. , but may be omitted (as explicitum ) with advan-
tage to the rhythm. For read Hif. 18 , after μaσriyoî, and as in
Job 518 ; Pi. 2 (Dys., cf. Cappell. ) is possible, but does not occur in OT. –
Hans; (exc. H-P 106 ) τáνта viòν, adopted by Bi.; the π . is natural,
and may be rhetorical explanation ; the universality indicated by in a is
involved in the Heb. of b. The 12, found in all texts, probably suggested the
pointing , and must be early ; yet it is not appropriate here ( it probably
has no connection with the common address of v.11 ) ; we expect or
, and this reading may be adopted as the most probable.— ;
Tapadéxeтaι, free rendering of , as in Mal. 118; ST seems to be repe-
tition from preceding cl., or, instead of ¬¬ they perh. read ñ¬› or 777 .

13-20 . Excellence of wisdom. - A group of 8 couplets, v.19. 20

forming a separate sub-paragraph.
13. Happy the man who finds wisdom ,
And the man who gains understanding ;
14. For the profit she brings is better than [ ] silver,†
And the revenue she bestows than gold.
15. She is more precious than corals—
No treasures [] can compare with her.
16. Long life is in her right hand,
In her left hand riches and honor.
17. Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace ;
18. She is a tree of life to those who grasp her -
Happy are they who hold her fast.

19. Yahweh by wisdom founded the earth,

By understanding established the heavens.
20. By his knowledge the waters well forth,
And the clouds drop down dew.

13. Synonymous, ternary, or, quaternary-ternary. The Grk.

and Syr. Vrss. have two terms for man (human being . . . mortal ) ,

* On the doctrine of the Talmud , see Weber, Theol. § 69.

+ Heb.: better than the profit ofsilver.
Heb. no treasures ofthine,
 III. 12-14 67

and it is not improbable that the Heb. originally had such a vari-
ation, perhaps = homo . . . vir, or two equivalent words = homo.
Whether wisdom is acquired by one's own effort or received as a
gift from God, is not said ; the two points of view were probably
not distinguished by the writer. The beatitudes of Prov. all (with
the exception of 1620) relate to the individual moral life, standing
thus in contrast with those of the legal and historical books (and
3212 1465 Eccl . 10 ) which refer to national life, and to those of
the Psalter, which, with a few exceptions, have a personal- religious
tone .* 14. Synonymous, ternary-binary ( in the emended text) .
Literally for her acquisition is better than the acquisition ofsilver,
and her revenue than gold. The expression rendered her acquisi-
tion may mean the acquiring her, or what she acquires (her gain,
profit), or what she produces (= the gain that one gets from
her), or her trade, or trading in her ( = RV. the merchandise of it,
the word merchandise being used in the now obsolete sense of
commerce). The meaning seems to be fixed by the second clause,
in which her revenue must signify either what comes to her (her
income) , or what she yields to her possessor (the income from
her) ; the second of these senses is supported by the connec-
tion, in which the topic is the advantage that man derives from
wisdom, and by the similar passage 819 my fruit is better than
17
gold and my revenue than silver, that is, as v.¹ suggests, what she
has to offer to her followers . From the parallelism we may con-
clude that her acquisition or gain signifies the profit she brings.
The translation for to acquire her is better than to acquire silver
and to gain her (is better) than gold, though intelligible and not
out of keeping with the context, is hardly allowed by the Hebrew.
Grk.: for it is better to traffic for her than for treasures of gold
and silver; cf. Mt. 1344-46. Latin Vulgate for the acquisition of
her is better than traffic in silver and her fruit is of best and
purest gold. Peshitta Syriac and Targum : for traffic in her is
better than traffic in silver and her fruit than pure gold. These
various translations give the same general idea. The parallelism
here and 819 suggests the omission of the second profit (or acquisi-

* The Psalmist, however, often speaks as a member of the nation ; his individual
experience is the common one.
68 PROVERBS

tion) in first line. In ↓ 1910 (11) similar praise is given to the

Tora ; the points of view of the sage and the psalmist are different.
- 15. Synonymous, ternary. The Heb . has all thy treasures can-
not = none of thy treasures can) compare with her ; the Possess.
Pron., which is inappropriate, is better omitted with all the ancient
Versions . The meaning of the Heb . noun in first cl. ( ) is
uncertain. It was unknown to the ancient Vrss.: Grk., Syr.,
Targ., here have precious stones, Lat. Vulg. has all wealth ; else-
where Lat. has a number of other renderings ; in Job 2818 Targ.
has pearls. The rendering corals is based on Lam. 4′, where the
word is used to indicate ruddiness of complexion. There and
here RV. has rubies in the text, and corals in the margin ( see
Job 2818) ; the ruby would be appropriate in Lam. 47 by its color,
but the word here employed never occurs in lists of gems (such
as Ex. 2817-20 3910-13 Ez . 2813) , but only in poetical books ( Lam.,
Job, Prov. ) . The coral was highly valued by the ancients ( Plin. ,
H.N., 32, 11 ) , and , as it was found on the coast of India and in
the Red Sea, might well have been known to the Jews. The ren-
dering pearls ( Bochart, Ewald, Reuss, Noyes, Strack, al. ) would
suit if the complexion in Lam. 47 could be understood as pearly ;
corals is favored by Gesen., Fleischer, De., Kamphausen, and
others. Treasures is lit. what is desired, desirable, precious.
Wisdom is a source of gain (v.¹ ) and is thus precious . Between
the clauses of the Heb. text the Grk. inserts nothing evil shall
resist her, she is well known to (or easily recognizable by) all who
approach her; the first of these added clauses may be a corrupt
form of the Heb. second cl. ( perhaps for nothing desirable can be
set over against her) , and the second may come in like manner
from Heb. first clause . The addition is an interruption of the
connection, and its meaning is obscure . - 16 . Equivalent clauses,
ternary. At the beginning of second cl. and may be inserted , with
the Grk., and after the prevailing norm of the couplets. The pre-
ceding description of the excellence of wisdom is figurative-
nothing is said of the precise nature of the benefits she confers.
Here we have an explicit statement of the material rewards that
attend her ; see n. on v.2 Long life is lit. length of days. The
riches and honor, here mentioned in addition to long life, are to be
taken literally. The sage's point of view seems to be twofold.

#
 III. 14-18 69

On the one hand, his conception of wisdom includes prudence

and sagacity, qualities that usually secure both wealth and the
esteem of men ; cf. such passages as 10¹ 1126 12 1435 196 2122
10-31
2229 243-6 2723 311 - this idea runs through the whole book.
These qualities do not exclude the higher side of the conception
of wisdom which appears elsewhere in the book. On the other
hand, there is the idea that God , by some direct intervention or
according to the general laws of his government of the world,
bestows prosperity on those who obey the precepts of wisdom. -
After this verse the Grk. adds : out ofher mouth proceeds righteous-
ness, and law and mercy she bears on her tongue ; cf. Isa . 4523 out
of my mouth proceeds righteousness (Yahweh is the speaker) and
Pr. 3126 and the law of kindness [ = kindly instruction] is on her
tongue (said of the good housewife) . This couplet, which is not
in keeping with the context, is the addition of an annotator who
felt that the passage should contain not a Pharisaic glorification
of the Tora ( Heid .) , but a recognition of the ethical elements of
26 b
wisdom. Our present Grk. text of 31 (on which see note ) is
different from the clause here cited , and the latter must have been
translated from the Heb. or from a Grk. text which followed the
Hebrew ; the Grk. should probably here read : the law of kind-
ness, etc. The ethical element introduced by the Grk. lies out-
side the idea of the Heb. sage , whose purpose is simply to describe
wisdom as the summum bonum . 17. Synonymous, binary, or
ternary. The pleasantness and peace are to be interpreted accord-
ing to v.16 : a life controlled by intellectual and moral wisdom will
be free from disturbances and cares. Cf. Job 524 where peace is
the reward of the man whom God instructs. It is outward peace
that is primarily meant, but this would doubtless be accompanied ,
in the view of the writer, by serenity of mind ; the Heb. con-
ception of life, as is apparent throughout the Book of Proverbs,
was distinctly objective, but it necessarily included , as all human
thought does, the posture of soul. Peace ! is the common saluta-
tion among men in OT. ( as now among the Arabs ) , a general
expression, covering all the outward conditions of life ; the dis-
tinctively inward application of the term does not appear in OT.
Cf. Jno. 1427 1633. - 18 . Synonymous, probably ternary-binary.
Tree of life is a figurative expression (probably a commonplace of
70 PROVERBS

the poetical vocabulary) , equivalent (as appears from 1130 1322

154) to source of long life and peace ; the statement of this verse
is thus identical in meaning with that of v.16. 17. The poetical
image of lifegiving fruit (found also Ez. 4712, and cf. the fountain
oflife, Pr. 10" al. ) is probably connected with the conception of a
primitive sacred tree of life, and it is not unlikely that the allusion
here is to the tree of Gen. 2. 3 ; if this be so, it is the only such
allusion, besides that of Ez . 4712, in OT. (the description of the
garden of God in Ez. 28 has no mention of this particular tree).
In Genesis the life is physical ; the man, it is said, would have
lived forever if he had eaten of the fruit of the tree , even after he
had violated the command by eating of the other tree ( Gen. 322) . *
Here also the life is physical, as appears from v.16 ; there is no
reference or allusion to existence beyond the grave. But the sage
departs from the account in Gen. in that he attributes long life to
a quality of mind.

19, 20. A separate paragraph. From a description of the

blessings which wisdom confers on man, the sage goes on to
exalt it as a guiding principle of God in the creation and
maintenance of the physical world ; the same conception is
found in 818-31 (and cf. Job 2820-28) , BS . 124 WSol . 7. This view is
characteristic of the Wisdom books, while in the Prophets (Am. 4¹³ 13

58 96 Isa. 40- there are no such references in preëxilian writings)

and the Psalms ( 89. 104. 139 ) God's works are cited as illustra-
tions of his greatness and his care for his people . The cosmical
conception, which dwells on the order of the world for its own
sake, belongs to the post-prophetic period and indicates an influ-
ence of Greek thought. This paragraph obviously connects itself
with the preceding and not with the following (which is an exhor-
tation to obey the laws of wisdom ) ; whether it originally formed
part of a larger section is uncertain. 19. Synonymous , quater-
nary-ternary. Wisdom as primeval attribute of the Creator .

* On the tree of life in Gen., see Dillmann , Genesis ; Budde, Bibl. Urgeschichte;
Cheyne, Job and Sol., p. 123, and Bampton Lect., p. 441 f.; Schwally, Leben nach d.
Tode, p. 118.
† There is perhaps a trace of Persian thought also ; cf. Cheyne, Jew. Relig. Life
after the Exile, pp. 151 , 208. Whether the sages were affected by Egyptian cos-
mogonic ideas is uncertain.
 III. 18-20 71

It is the skill shown in the creation that is had in mind ( as

in Job 28 Pr. 8) ; contrast the national point of view of the
prophets and the psalmists, the social interest of Gen. 2, and
the statistical form of Gen. 1. Wisdom here seems to be simply
an attribute, with no approach to hypostatization. - The expres-
sions founded and established belong to the old- Hebrew cosmo-
gonical ideas. The earth was conceived of as a plane mass,
resting on an ocean ( 242 1366) , as having foundations ( Isa. 5113
1045 Pr. 829) and as supported by pillars (Job 96753(4)) ; Sheol
was apparently supposed to lie beneath the subjacent ocean (cf.
Am. 923) . Above the earth the heaven or sky was thought of as
a material expanse ( Gen. 1²) , fixed in its place by God and sup-
ported by pillars (Job 26¹¹ & 187(8) ) , by which we are probably to
understand the mountains. The plu . heavens represents the sky
as made up of contiguous parts ; the expression heavens of heav-
ens, elsewhere used of the celestial abode of the deity ( Dt. 10¹4
1 K. 82 1484) conceives of it as including different planes. The
three divisions of the world are given in Ex. 20 : the heaven
above, the earth beneath, the water under the earth.* - The
monotheistic view of creation is here assumed as generally held
(while Isa. 40 contains a polemic against polytheism ) .— 20 . Par-
allels, ternary. Wisdom in the divine direction of the material
world. The verbs are better taken as Present ; v..19 deals with the
creation of the world, here we pass to its present guidance ; if the
verbs be rendered as Past, the reference will be to the original
arrangement. Lit. the deeps are cleft, that is, the subterranean
structure is broken up so that the water may flow. The waters
include all bodies of water that issue from the ground , namely,
springs and rivers, and also the sea ; these come from the sub-
terraneous ocean . Along with them is mentioned the water that
is held to come from the other great aqueous supply : the dew
is supposed to fall from the clouds, and the term is probably
meant to include rain (cf. Job 2825.26 3628) ; the reference is to
an ocean above the sky. Cf. (Gen. 711) the double process by
which the flood is produced : the fountains of the great deep

* For later Jewish cosmogonic ideas see Secrets of Enoch, ed. R. H. Charles ;
Weber, Theol., § 44. On Babylonian ideas cf. Jastrow, Relig. of Bab. and Assyria,
pp. 442 f. , 489.
72 PROVERBS

burst forth (that is, water rises from the subterranean ocean ), and
the windows of heaven are opened ( that is, openings are made in
the sky through which the water of the celestial ocean may fall) .
Apart from any scientific conception of method the verse declares
that the divine wisdom appears in the distribution of water in the
world. It is possible that in the original form of the section other
illustrations of God's wisdom followed. Cf. 822-31

13. 現 DTN Ο ; (followed by 3) ἄνθρωπος ( ἀνὴρ) . . . θνητὸς ;

we should perh. read us or s (so Kamp. ) instead of second ' ; Lomits
it. — PD ; G eîdev, Cl. Alex. Migne I. 357 evpe (but 552 olde) , assimilation
to vb. of a ; Saadia po . —14. and ; & avτǹv ẻµπopeveσbaɩ ( Cl. Al. ¿µπopev-
θῆναι, Ped. 91 ) ; ( ἢ χρυσίου κ . ἀργυρίου θησαυρούς, prob. free rendering of
, cf. 3118 where is rendered by épɣášeσlaι ; S follows , only inserting
( b) , before last word. —15 . The tone in ¬¬p is drawn back for the
sake of the rhythm. — K D" , scribal error for Q.; a similar error in
Lam. 47 was perh. the source of Lebore antiquo. - — For 73 read with all
anc. Vrss. (so Оort, Bi .) , the restrictive suff. being out of keeping with
the context.Hnv ; G äžiov, and, in the doublet, åvriráğerαι (Nc. a A ÅνTI-
TáσσETαι) . G doublet πovηpóv († ) , perh. for πolηтóv (Jäg., Grabe, cited
by Schl.) . 6, second doub. εὔγνωστός ἐστιν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἐγγίζουσιν αὐτῇ
(Proc. by scribal error ópyíšovσiv, GV ¿paπtoµévois ) perh. = [ ] in my
‫ קרוביה‬or ‫ ; נ'ה ' לאשר לפניה‬in any case not original. -For 39 ‫ בה‬Oort would
rather read ; the Prep. after ( = like, equal) is ↳ or except here
and 811 Esth. 74 ; the may introduce the noun of estimation. - 16. After
7786 adds kai ětŋ jwîs, apparently from v.2 ; the addition mars the
rhythm . also introduces the v. by yàp ( adopted by Bi.) , but the causal
form does not agree with the context. --On the couplet inserted by see
what is said above, and cf. notes of Lag. and Heid. In b we should perh.
read voμov dè éλéov. — 17. Dihy : GB al. ¿v eipývn, GV al. µet' eɩp. , omits
prep.; is to be retained . — 18. In ª, as often elsewhere ( rhetorical expan-
sion) , prefixes Tâσ to the Part. (¤›› ¤) . — Instead of the suff. might
be attached to the Partcp. ― In b has sing. pred. w with plu. subj .
. (and so Bi. ) makes subj . sing., and ST pred. plu., but these ren-
derings do not necessarily indicate the precise form of the Heb. text of the
Vrss., since they might in any case make their translations conform to gram-
matical rules ; in the construction of , which occurs elsewhere (Gen. 2729
Ex. 3114 al., see Ew. § 319a) , the sing. pred . is distributive or individualiz-
ing, or it is a simplified ( unitary) form similar to initial sing. vb. followed by
plu . subject. The vb. make or call happy seems to be Denom.—
Clause b stands in ( B καὶ τοῖς ἐπερειδομένοις ἐπ' αὐτὴν ὡς ἐπὶ κύριον; (Bab
adds ȧopalń and c.a. A ȧopaλýs, and so SH Proc. Hil .; aσp. = ND
(taken as Pi. Part. = guide or as Pu. = guided, and perh. read ND) , is
understood as referring to wisdom ; ws e. K. apparently = ‫ כיה‬repetition out
 III. 20-21 73

of nɔpn ( Lag., Oort) . The Heb. text of G = H, only with Prep. ↳ before
. - 19. 'Ev ( = ) is prefixed to σopia by several Fathers, and to povýσeɩ
by c.a. A many curss. and several Fathers (see H - P) , probably a scribal
variation. ST attach 3 sing. masc. suff. to the second noun, to the first
also . - 20. Suff. in 177 omitted by BA, inserted by c.a H-P 69 al. Comp.
Ald. - — The precise sense of the expression pa nan is not quite clear ; we
expect : "the rock (or, the earth) was cleft, and the waters issued," as in † 7815.
The construction in Pr. is supported, however, by Gen. 711 † 7415 ; the latter
passage can hardly be rendered : thou didst cleave a way for fountain and
brook. Apparently the subterranean Dan is regarded as a mass, lying motion-
less, and requiring to be cleft in order that its waters may move. Instead of
4 MSS. have y with same meaning ( cf. Dt . 322) , perhaps scribal
error, or euphonic variation ; on transposition of radicals in stems see Böttch.,
Lehrb., I. § 265-267.

21-26. A separate section ( parallel to but distinct from the

preceding) , exhorting to the practice of Wisdom on the ground
that it will give security to life. Hitzig's reasons for regarding
the section as an interpolation (namely, that the repetition of the
promise of reward is unnecessary, that the vocabulary contains
late expressions, and that the omission of these verses secures a
division of the chapter into paragraphs of ten verses each) are
now generally rejected . The whole section, chs. 1-9 , is not early,
but late ; it is made up of sub- sections, in which there is neces-
sarily repetition ; and the hypothesis of decimal division is arbi-
trary.
21 b. My son, keep [with thee ] wisdom and discretion,
21 a. Let them not depart from thy sight ;
22. They will be life to thy being,
Adornment to thy neck.
23. Then wilt thou go thy way securely ;
Thy foot will not stumble ;
24. When thou sittest down * thou wilt not be afraid,
Thou wilt lie down, and thy sleep will be sweet .
25. Thou wilt not fear the calamity that befalls the ‹ foolish,' †
Nor the storm that strikes the wicked ;
26. For Yahweh will be thy protector,
And will keep thy feet from snares.

21. Synonymous, ternary, or, in the emended text, quaternary-

binary. The present Heb. text reads : my son, let them not

* Heb.: liest down. + Heb.: Fear not sudden calamity.

74 PROVERBS

depart (or, swerve) from thine eyes, keep wisdom (or, sagacity)
and discretion . But the subject of the first cl. is lacking. The
antecedent of them cannot be supplied from v.19. 20 (where wisdom,
understanding, and knowledge are attributes of God, and in any
case such reference to them would be too abrupt) , or from the
second cl. (which would be against Heb. usage) . A similar ob-
jection applies to the rendering (obtained by a slight change in
the Heb.) let it [wisdom] not swerve : the reference to wisdom
is abrupt, and the sing. does not agree with v.22. The Vrss. are
unsatisfactory. Grk. (the text of which may be corrupt) : my
son, do not escape ( lit. flow away) ; Lat.: let not these flow away
from thine eyes ; Syr. Targ.: let it not be despicable in thine eyes.
The beginning of the paragraph, which contained the antecedent
of them, may have fallen out ; it may perhaps be supplied from
the closely parallel passage 420-22. We may either insert a verse
similar to 420, or supply a single word and read let not my words
(or, let not wisdom) swerve, etc. The term swerve, turn aside,
seems strange in this connection, and the Vrss . assumed different
stems . We expect one of the usual words for depart, as in 2722
or 1713, or else, with inversion, turn not away from my instruction.
A proper form may be got by transposing the clauses : my son,
preserve sagacity and discretion, let them not depart from thine
eyes (Umbreit), which is without Versional support, but seems to
be the simplest solution of the difficulty of the first clause.
the terms sagacity ( == wisdom) and discretion see notes on 27 and
20
1ª, and on keep see notes on 22º 3¹. - 22 . Synonymous, ternary-
binary. The reward (the description of which goes through v.25) .
Instead of will, here and throughout the paragraph (simple state-
ment of result) , we may render shall ( authoritative statement) . —
Grk. in order that, but the verse is better understood as express-
ing result. The life is physical, as in 3216. Being is here better
than soul (as rendering of W ) , since the latter term conveys to
us a spiritual sense not contained in the Hebrew ; we might trans-
late they will (or, shall ) be life to thee, that is, they will ( or, shall)
confer on thee long life, a supreme blessing. Adornment is lit.
beauty, grace ofform (see note on 1º) , and so an ornament as a
thing of beauty, and as a lasting possession ; see notes on 19 3³.
True sagacity, it is declared, will bring its possessor not only long
 III. 21-25 75

life but also loveliness and graciousness, the reference being to

the attractiveness of a character moulded by a high, Godfearing
intelligence, beautiful in itself and attractive to men. - The Grk.
here inserts v. , with a slight variation (flesh instead of body) .—
23. Synonymous, ternary. Security in walk. The second cl. (which
12
reads lit. and shalt not strike thy foot) occurs in † 91¹² with the
addition against a stone ; there the guidance is referred to angels,
here to wisdom ; the whole psalm is parallel to our section, and
shows the difference between the points of view of psalmist and
-
sage. - A slight change in the Heb. gives the reading thy foot
will (or, shall) not stumble ( so Grk. RV . ) ; the sense is the same
in both renderings. The expression was probably a common one
to express safety ; it is unnecessary to suppose that Pr. took it
from , or from Pr. - 24. Parallels, ternary. Security at home.
The Heb. text reads : when thou liest down thou wilt ( or, shalt )
not be afraid, yea, thou wilt (or, shalt ) lie down and thy sleep
will (or, shall) be sweet. The repetition of the verb is somewhat
strange, though it is defensible on rhetorical grounds . The Heb.
vb. has the two senses lie down and sleep, and Schultens thinks
that the first of these is to be understood in first cl., and the
second in second cl.; but this is not permissible . Grk ., in first
cl. when thou sittest down ; Targ.: when thou liest down and
sleepest; Syr.: and thou shalt sleep; Lat.: ifthou sleep thou shalt
not be afraid, thou shalt rest, etc. In 35(6) 48(9) the expression is
lie down and sleep ; in Dt . 67 we have the pairs sit down, walk,
and lie down, rise. We might retain the Heb. text, and under-
stand it to refer to sleep undisturbed by attacks of robbers and
murderers ; but a more natural form is obtained by changing the
first lie to sit. - 25 . Synonymous, ternary. Security from calam-
ity. Lit. terror (or, calamity) of the foolish and storm (or, deso-
lation) of the wicked. The Heb., instead of terror of the foolish,
has sudden terror, which gives a good but less appropriate sense ;
the parallelism favors a reference to a class of persons, and this
reading is supported by 126. 27. The translation foolish requires no
change in the consonants of the Hebrew. At the end of second
line the Heb. has when it comes, an addition to complete the
rhythm , but unnecessary to the sense .- The declarative render-
ing thou wilt (or, shalt ) not be afraid is required by the connec-
76 PROVERBS

tion ; the imperative be not afraid is here out of place. The

wicked will be visited with storms of calamity, but when these
come the man who is guided by the divine wisdom need not fear
they shall not reach him. Cf. the similar statements in Job 521
¥ 9158.- 26. Progressive, ternary. The ground of hope. Pro-
24
tector is lit. confidence = ground of confidence ; cf. Job 8¹4 314.
The specifically religious theistic point of view (as in Job 51-26
91 ) is here introduced — wisdom is identified with trust in God,
according to the fundamental principle stated in 17.

21. If be referred to st. n , this use of the word ( = depart) must

probably be regarded as peculiar to the Hokma diction . (πapapvĝs = hin)
and L (effluant ) appear to have taken it from 3 flow, ST ( 11 , foll . by
Prep. ) from despicable. In 421 has ékλiπwoiv, ST 11 (from ↳5;) ,
recedant (from or ) . Lag. supposes that mapappvņs ( as he writes the
word, but apparently without MS. authority) comes from preceding éppúŋoav
by erroneous repetition of ppuŋs, and he thinks it impossible to restore the
verb. (which omits Typ ) must be rendered do not slip away (that is,
from my instruction, or, from wisdom ) , a strange reading, and STL are
equally unsatisfactory. There seems to be nothing better than to retain ;
on the construction of the verse see note above. Bi. reads 1 , 3 sing. fem.,
understanding wisdom as subject ; Oort (cf. the stems) . The reading
of ST is found in Kenn. 95 , 150, and is adopted by Houb., and the form
(as in 42¹) occurs in some printed edd . ( see De' Rossi) . — In ↳ GS attach
I pers. suff. to the nouns, and treats 3 as Inf. Heid.'s remark that ST
reverse the order of the nouns is not correct ( cf. Pink.) .— 22. Giva šýon
ǹ Yuxń σov (or oǹ Yuxǹ H-P 23, 252) is free rendering of H. - 23. G TETOL-
Ows and ev eipývŋ , doublet ; ráσas, rhetorical insertion.- ; the Qal is
regularly trans . , and is so rendered † 91¹2 by GL ; here intrans. by GL and
apparently by ST ; Saadia , in which the verb may be taken
either as trans. or as intrans., and thy foot will not strike (or, thou wilt not
strike thyfoot) against anything (rendered intrans. by Derenbourg and Lam-
bert) . There is no reason for abandoning the ordinary sense of the word. --- -
24. has in both clauses, Impf. and Perf., rhetorical variation ; a better
reading is given in aª by 6 (foll. by S¹¹) , кáðŋ an (referred by Hitz., Heid.
=
to influence of Dt . 67) , adopted by Bi. on the ground that is intolerably
tautological. The Vrss. all vary the expressions : káŋ and кałeúdŋs ;
Town in ª and in b; S in ª, yn in b ; L dormieris and qui-
esces ; and so Saad . lie down and sleep. These renderings may be rhetorical
variations of . In the is explanatory addition to 17 ( S) . — 25. H
may be changed to , after the norm of v.24, or perhaps may be taken
as declarative, which force it possibly sometimes has in poetry (Job 3221) and
elevated prose (Jer. 14¹7) , though in these passages it may be scribal errcr.
 III. 25-27 77

-For Gr. proposes , referring to 126. 27 where has λe@pos and

Oópußos ; yet these may be understood as free translations of taken
as cause offear ; & here has πтóŋσι èπeλ@oûσav, in which π. = ‫ פחד‬, and
π. is repetition from bor represents DND read as some form of § . The
terror and storm of are understood by 6, against the connection and
against the suggestion of 126. 27, as an attack made on the righteous by the
wicked. — ; point on (Oort) . — san ; cf. Na 126. 27. -— 26. On
the Beth essentiae in 70 (so Ex. 18+ Isa . 4010 1465) see Ges.26, § 119 i, Ew.,
§ 2296, and cf. T 702; on the similar Arab. construction see Casp. ed.
Wright, II. § 56 a and Rem. a, ed . Müller, § 423, 2a ; L in latere iuo and S
Tpy take as = loin, flank ; 6 èπì ñaöŵv ódŵv_σov = ‫במסלתך‬. - - 39 ‫ לכד‬.dr
Mey.; Oort suggests that it may be pointed as Qal Inf. or written Nif. Inf.
; Bal. σaλeveys ( = 1 or 1 ?) , which Semler would change to ȧypevons
(so H- P 23, 252marg., and SH nn) , and Lag. to σvλλŋp0ñs.

27-30 . A detached group of sayings , enjoining kindness to

one's fellowmen. They are prosaic in style, roughly formed
couplets, with scarcely perceptible rhythm . In their homely char-
acter they resemble rather some of the aphorisms of chs. 10-29
than the discourses of chs. 1-9, and seem out of place here.
Their presence appears to indicate that these two divisions of the
Book were finally edited about the same time. Cf. 61. 6–11. 12–19
97-12 Eccl. 71-9.

27. Withhold not good from thy 6 neighbor ,

When it is in thy power to do it;
28. Say not to thy neighbor : " Go and come again,
And tomorrow I will give," when thou hast it by thee.
29. Devise no injury to thy neighbor,
Seeing he dwells in confidence by thee.
30. Strive not with a man without cause,
If he have done thee no harm .

27, 28. Two nearly identical exhortations to beneficence . In

v. the Heb . has from its possessors, which cannot mean from the
poor (Grk.) , as if they were lawful owners of alms, or from them
to whom it is due (RV. ) ; nor can we render, with Lat. Vulg.:
Restrain not him who can from doing good; if thou art able, thy-
self do good. The connection (v.28. 29) suggests some such word as
neighbor, which may be got by a not very difficult change of the
Hebrew. The word is wanting in Peshitta and Targum , which
- have the general precept refrain notfrom doing good, but the con-
78 PROVERBS

nection favors the reference to the " neighbor." The term

means associate, clansman, neighbor, friend, but seems here to
be employed in the wider sense in which it is used in Dt. 152
Lu. 1027.. 229. 37 (taken from the Grk. of Lev. 1918) . Similar injunc-
tions are found in 1124. 26 14-21.31 1717 2126 2710 BS. 291.2.20. In all
these the tone is one of broad human sympathy. — 28 enjoins
prompt and hearty help, as in our proverb : " who gives quickly
gives twice " ; there is no ground for restricting the injunction to
paying a hired man his wages ( see Rashi) . The first cl. may be
understood as quoting two equivalent speeches of the man who
puts his neighbor off : Go and come again and Tomorrow I will
give. Grk. omits to thy neighbor, perhaps by scribal error ; the
expression is possibly an insertion of the Heb. scribe for the sake
of clearness, certainly not (as Lag. thinks) to restrict an injunc-
tion which was thought to be too general. Cf. the omission of
the similar expression of v.27 by the Aramaic Vrss. , which likewise
seems to be scribal abridgment or inadvertence . At the end of
the verse Grk. adds for thou knowest not what the next day
will bring forth, a not very appropriate gloss, taken from 271¹.—
29. Single sentence , ternary. Against malicious conduct. Seeing
he dwells in confidence by thee, that is, dwells unsuspecting, or, as
the Grk. has it, seeing he dwells by thee and trusts in thee. Trustful
feeling, here stated as the ground of obligation of kindness , is the
basis of social life ; to a generous mind the plea is a strong one.
30. Single sentence , ternary. Against groundless quarrelling.
The verb in first cl. means contend, in general, and in this sense is
found in proper names, as Jerubbaal, = " Baal [ that is, Yahweh ]
contends [ for me ]." It is a common term for litigation, but is
here used for any (unfriendly) disputation . The verse is tautolo-
gous, the second cl. merely repeating the without cause of the
first clause. One or the other of these might be omitted without
detriment, and in fact Syr. omits second cl. , probably for simpli-
fication ; but the repetition may be retained as rhetorical fulness.
The Grk. has, in second cl., lest he do thee harm, a suggestion simi-
lar to that of 61-5 14¹7 20³ 2224. 25, but here not in keeping with the
context, which contains merely injunctions without statement of
consequences. The meaning of the verse is that while contention
is sometimes right and necessary, it must always be for good cause.
 III. 27-30 79

27. In expressions of position or quality by always signifies one who

employs or controls the thing in question : husband = owner of a wife; ally,
Gen. 1418-= one who enters into and employs a treaty; dreamer, Gen. 3719 =
one who has and employs dreams ; archer, Gen. 4923 := one who uses arrows ;
a man ofaffairs, Ex. 24¹4, conducts his affairs ; creditor, Dt. 152 = one who
makes and controls a loan ; the hair of a hairy man, 2 K. 18, belongs by
nature to him ; a legal adversary, Isa. 50³, is one who conducts the prosecu-
tion ; one who is sworn, Neh. 618, makes an oath ; a bird, Pr. 117, uses its
wings; a waster effects waste ; an angry man, 222+ 2922, feels and shows anger ;
aglutton, 232, has appetite ; a rogue, 248, makes mischief; a babbler, Eccl. 10¹¹,
uses his tongue. There is thus no authority in Heb . usage for the statement
(made by Schult. , De. , and others) that by may here mean not him who
does good but him to whom good is done ; and further, the sense actually
given by them is something still different, namely, him who stands in need
of good or deserves it . Nor does Aram. permit such a rendering. The word
must be either, with ST, omitted, or else changed ; a corruption of ¶¶ into
ya offers no great graphic difficulty. From évdeŷ Gr. suggests , and
Oort sees nothing better than as ; but is probably free rendering of H.
—K is possible, but marginal reading is the common form and is found
in many MSS. of Kenn. and De'R.; Rashi gives two explanations, one == L,
one 6. ― -28. Hy is sing., the Yod being third rad.; the omission of
this letter, as in margin, is unnecessary, though it is omitted in many Span.
MSS. As the next word is , the omission of ¬ in G may be due to
homoeoteleuton, or possibly to homoeoarkton, especially if it were written in
the abridged form .- , probably by scribal inadvertence, transfers
from end to beginning of the verse. On the addition in see note on this
verse above. - 29. Hvann; G Tekтývn ; BS 712(13) ȧpoтpía ; the figurative
sense devise comes more naturally from carve, but possibly also from plough.
- 30. DN; un, perh. taking as = 1 , or perh. reading or
‫אשי לא‬. - It was hardly on moral grounds that b was omitted in S.

31-35 . Comparison between the fortunes of the wicked and

the righteous - a separate group of aphorisms, similar to the
religious aphorisms of chs. 10-22 , having a general connection
with the preceding paragraph . It is a warning against the seduc-
tion of the apparent prosperity of wickedness.

31. Envy not the man of violence,

And take no pleasure in his ways ;
32. For a bad man is an abomination to Yahweh,
But between him and the upright there is friendship.

33. The curse of Yahweh is on the house of the wicked,

But the habitation of the righteous he blesses,
80 PROVERBS

34. Scoffers he scoffs at,

But to the pious he shows favor.

35. Wise men obtain honor,

But ignominy is the portion of fools.

31. Synonymous , ternary. The warning. The second line

may be rendered : take pleasure in none of his ways (lit. take not
pleasure in all his ways) . The parallelism calls for take pleasure
( 129 Gen. 62) rather than choose ( which , however, gives a good
sense) . The violence is highhanded, unlawful procedure of any
sort ; man of violence = wicked man ; the " violence " was gener-
ally practised for purposes of pecuniary or political gain ; cf. 10°
1629. It is assumed that there is something in the fortunes of
such a person which one might be tempted to envy, and so to be
pleased with (or, choose) ; for the explanation see 373ff . It is
the problem of the Book of Job , which is here solved in the old
way ; see next verse . Grk. reads procure not the reproaches of
bad men, and covet not their ways, in which first clause comes
from scribal error, but second clause is favored by the parallelism
and by 2419 37¹ . On the other hand our text is supported by
24', and gives a good sense . Lat. do not imitate his ways, which
represents the Hebrew. — 32-34 . The reason for the warning is
here found in the way in which God deals with the righteous and
the wicked. The rewards and punishments are earthly and ex-
ternal ; there is no recognition of ethical immortality, and life is
regarded on the side of its outward experiences . — 32 . Anti-
thetic, ternary-binary. This form is common in chs. 10-22 , but not
in chs . 1-9 . The term abomination is used in the earlier historical,
the prophetical, and the legal literature of what is contrary to a
religious cult or usage, Israelitish or foreign, as in Gen. 4332,
K. 1424, Dt. 14³, Ez. 59, etc.; in later books it is extended to
include moral offences, as here ; it means something which is
incompatible with the nature of Yahweh. The bad (or iniquitous)
man (for the term see note on 215) is as abhorrent to Yahweh as
an idol or other abomination , but with the upright he sits as with
familiar friends (lit. with the upright is his friendship) . The word
rendered friendship means private, intimate converse and friendly
relation, then the assembly or persons who thus converse together,
 III. 31-34 81

and finally the secret counsel they take and the design or plan
they form . The connection must decide in any given case which
of these significations is most appropriate. With this passage cf.
14
Job 295 25¹ (and 5514(15) ) , in which the sense is clearly
friendship. The ground for avoiding the ways of the wicked
(v.³¹) is that Yahweh is hostile to him and friendly to the right-
eous ; what this friendliness secures is stated in the next verse.
33. Antithetic, quaternary-ternary, or ternary ( as in chs. 10–22 ) .
We may render on the house or in the house. The value of Yahweh's
friendship is here said to be the (external) prosperity it brings ; no
reference is made to the moral benefit of communion of soul be-
tween God and man - this latter is rather regarded as the ground
of the blessing. A curse in the mouth of God is a sentence or pro-
nouncement of evil ; in the mouth of man it is an imprecation, an
invocation of divine punishment. Similarly God blesses by pro-
nouncing good, man by invoking good from God. * - Lat. poverty
from the Lord is an interpretation of curse of Yahweh suggested
by second clause . -34. Antithetic, ternary (or, ternary-binary) .
The surely of RV. is incorrect ; see critical note below. Nor is
the hypothetical rendering satisfactory : if (or, though) he scorns,
etc., yet he shows, etc. , the preceding and succeeding verses being
declarative . Still less can v. be protasis and v.35 apodosis. A
variation of the preceding statement. On scoffers see note on 122.
For the conception of reciprocity in first cl. cf. 1825(26) . 26 (27) ; the
representation of God as acting toward men as they act toward
him rests on an ancient anthropomorphism, which in Pr. is prob-
ably purified by the conviction that God, as just, must be hostile to
evildoers ; but the thought never rises to the point of conceiving
of him as merciful to fools and sinners. -The word here trans-
lated pious ( ) is that which is variously rendered in RV.
by poor, afflicted, humble, lowly, meek. Its primary sense seems
to be one who is bowed, bent, or one who bows himself (under or
before a hostile force ) ; it thus comes to signify one who suffers
from financial poverty (Am. 8* al. ) , one who is oppressed by the
strong, particularly the nation Israel in the time of national afflic-

* The Heb. term for bless never means curse, blaspheme, or renounce ; in Job 15. 11
25.9 the Heb. word is to be changed so as to read curse.
G
82 PROVERBS

tion ( 7419 al. ) , or, one who afflicts himself by fasting or is

humble before God, and so in general the Godfearing, pious (so
used of Moses, Nu . 123 , and so 37 " , quoted in Mt. 55) . This
last is the sense suggested by the parallelism here, though lowly,
humble, is also appropriate. — Grk.: the Lord resists the proud,
but shows favor to the humble, quoted, with slight variations, in
Jas. 46, 1 Pet . 55. — Bickell omits the verse as an interpolation
which breaks the connection between v.3 and v.3 ; it is, however,
closely parallel to v.3, and , if any verse is to be omitted as irrele-
vant, it should rather be v.35 ( see note on this verse below) .—
For the sentiment cf. 1619. – 35. Antithetic, ternary. The first
cl. = honor is the portion of wise men. The thought is that of 112
128 13 14¹9 2229 al.: men of integrity and insight will receive
recognition at the hands of their fellowmen - the approbation
of society is presented as a motive for rightdoing a powerful
inducement. The term wise doubtless includes moral and re-
ligious as well as intellectual elements, and so fools in the second
clause . The verb means primarily to have or obtain possession (as
in Jos. 14¹ ) , and secondarily to inherit, a sense which is here not
appropriate . Honor is the respect or high recognition accorded
13
by God to man , or by man to God or man ( 1 K. 3¹³ Gen. 4513
1 Sam. 6º) ; opposed to it is the shame of the second cl ., slight
estimation, contempt. — The translation of the second cl. is doubt-
ful, one word being apparently corrupt. This word , as it stands,
may mean lift up (from the ground, 2 K. 213) , exalt (4 8920) , take
away, remove out of the way ( Hos . 11ª Isa . 57¹¹) , offer as gift or
sacrifice (that is, lift up before the deity, Ex. 3524 Lev. 48) . None
of these senses are here suitable : fools do not exalt or remove or
offer ignominy, nor does ignominy do these things to fools. No
satisfactory translation of the clause has been made. Grk.: the
godless exalt dishonor ; Lat. (followed by RV.) : ignominy is the
exaltation (or, promotion) of fools (lit. shame exalts fools ) , and
so Schult. the brand of infamy gives notoriety to fools ; Syr.
Targ. fools suffer (lit. receive) shame, which is not a translation
of the Heb. , the word in Heb. meaning not " to take away for one's
own benefit or use," but " to take out of the way, do away with, "
and , in the ritual, “ to take a portion not for one's self but for
God." A slight change of text, with an insertion, gives the ren-
 III. 34-35 83

dering fools change [ their glory] into shame (cf. Hos . 47 Jer. 21
1062 ) , but the insertion is improbable, and the resulting sense
not clear or appropriate . Another slight change gives fools in-
crease shame (cf. Isa . 4029 Eccl. 61 10¹ ) , a good and natural
sense ; and a similar rendering is appropriate in 1429. But an
equally easy and more probable emendation gives the verb possess,
get possession of ( = obtain) . In any case the meaning of the
second cl. is ignominy is the portion offools, that is, of those who
are not wise enough to see that it is their duty as well as their
interest to obey the divine law. The ignominy and the honor, it
is to be supposed, are assigned by God . The couplet appears not
to belong with the preceding quatrains, from which it differs in
tone ; it is probably the addition of an editor.

31. & μὴ κτήσῃ [ παρη] κακῶν ἀνδρῶν ὀνείδη, in which or. may - 39 ‫חמס‬
(Baumg. ) as in 266 Job 197, κ . being epexegetical ; Lag. suggests that к. a. o .
is simply poetical expression of κ . G. , like μέγα σθένος Ηετίωνος = Ηετίων. -
ζηλώσης may - 39 ‫ ; תבהר‬according to Oort , it = ‫ תתחר‬-which , seems unneces
s
sary.* -32 . s eems to make πapávoμo (nb ) subj . of bèv dè dikalois oỷ
šei s on g
ovvedpiá , but doubtles où is scribal error , repetiti of followin σv ( Lag. ) ,
wv
n
a k d ú p o s b j
is su . - He ., no i d t i n g th a t s
ha wr . ina p s t e a d of σk iάZ ( 142 )
o λ
a ρ r o s a d v y µ a s a i c tack
and ȧkál inste of the usuals ßdéλ , sees in this v. a Phari at
es ist šei s n lusion
on the Sadduce , the paranom , and regards σvvedpiá a a a l to
in y d
the Sanhedr . This is possible , but nontcenecessar , and the suppose allusion
s ara
in σvved . vanishe with the disappe of où. — 33. Hm ; & fɛoû . All
n g r
fol l o w i nou ngare plur in 6, perh . stylistic variation of the translato ,
n s a l
nti ns
perh . represe variatio from our Heb . text ; so ST Saad . have plu . in ª,
L in ¹, and in GL the vb . in bis Pass . plu . — 34 . □ cannot here mean
when he deals with scorners (Lag. , De ., Kamp .) as separate protasiosns(with
i
urely (RV .) , since , in asseverat , this
‫ הוא ילץ‬as apodosis v e ) , nor can ‫ = אם‬s e
word has negat i force . Gr ., Oort , chang as to ans (after Jas . 4º 1 Pet . 55 ) ,
and Oort omits pref. ; but is the divine name used above in the para-
ion
graph , and the further must then be omitted . Dys.'s emendat to y,
i o n t r g
w i t h om i s s e
of pr . (whf i c h ma eay s i l y be do u b l e ) is si m p l e , bringins
e ol
the sentencαι into the norm of 1826. Or , we may, with k úpios vπeρηpáv
σeт lly t
ȧvτiτáσ , omit DN (so STL ) , though this is graphica no so easy .
e n t i t u m
Kúρios may repres ¬¬ , or may be explic . — K. □» ÿ ; Q " ÿ,g for
n
which has un . For p 、 ST have no casts down , free renderi . –
o a v o r u m t i o e n t l y
35. ; Güy w p
; ST pha ; L stul t exal t a , appa r taking
p as subj .; Dys . emends to ' , Gr . better to ' , but we should proba-
bly read ְׁ‫ הרִיש‬or 27 ‫ייץ‬.

* Heid. , by oversight, quotes Procop.'s comments as additions to the Grk. text.

84 PROVERBS

IV. Three exhortations (v.19, v.10-19, v.20-27) , the theme of all

three being the excellence and beneficent power of wisdom.
-
They are like those of chs. 2. 3 in that the advice is of a gen-
eral nature, while in chs. 5. 6. 7 it is directed against a particular
sin.

1-9. The sage cites the instruction given him by his father.
The text is, in parts, in such condition that we cannot be sure of
the exact sense. The Vatican Grk. makes the teacher's instruc-
tion (and not wisdom) the subject of praise.
I. Hear, O children, the instruction of a father-
Give heed that ye may comprehend wisdom.
2. For good counsel I give you -
Forsake ye not my teaching.
3. When I was of tender age, [ ]
Beloved by my 6 father,'
4 a. He used to teach me and say to me :
46. " Let thy mind retain my words.
4 c. Keep my commandments and live ;
5 a. Get wisdom , get understanding.
6. Forsake her not, and she will preserve thee,
Love her, and she will keep thee.*
8. Prize her, and she wilt exalt thee,
She will honor thee if thou embrace her;
9. She will encircle thy head with a chaplet of beauty,
Bestow on thee a crown of glory."

1. Extensive or exegetical (the second cl. repeating first cl.

and giving the reason for it) , ternary. Exhortation to hearken .
The sage (by the plu. children or sons ) addresses himself to a
circle of hearers, a school, though the difference of number is not
significant ; when the sing. is used, the address is to a class of
persons, young men in general. Father is not here used in the
stricter (family) sense of the word, but with the wider connota-
tion of teacher; see note on 1º, and cf. v.³ below. On instruction
and wisdom (the term usually rendered understanding ) see notes
on 12. The word rendered give heed, = hearken, attend, is a syn-
onym of hear used only in poetry and solemn prose. Compre-

* On the omission of v.5b. 7, see note on these verses below.

 IV . 1-3 85

hend know (12) . The source of authority of the teaching is

the experience of the teacher. —2. Continued thought, ternary-
(or, quaternary- ) binary. The ground of the sage's claim to be
heard . The sage speaks with conviction and authority ; he believes
that his teaching is sound and important, and the teaching or law
that he gives is his own , that is, is grounded in his own soul,
though derived from divine teaching ; the prophet, on the con-
trary, never speaks in his own name . Counsel or instruction
(RV. doctrine) , with which law is synonymous, is here given to
others ; in 1 ( on which see note) it is received from others .
Grk. gift = something received . Lat. I give you a good gift
(omitting for, which, though not necessary, is appropriate, nearly
= namely) .- 3. The sage refers to his own childhood . The
Heb. reads : For I was a son to my father [or, my father's son] ,
tender [= oftender age, weak] and an only child in the presence of
[ = with] my mother. Grk.: I also was a son, obedient to a father,
and beloved in the presence ofa mother. The first cl. is strange -
it seems unnecessary and unnatural to describe a boy as the son
of his father, and it is not probable that any writer would use such
an expression ; we expect a word descriptive of the son's rela-
tions with the father (as the relations with the mother are de-
scribed in the second cl. ) . The obedient of the Grk. seems to be
free rendering of our Heb. (instead of tender) , though it may rep-
resent a different Heb. word ; something like this would be pos-
sible, but is not particularly appropriate ; it would require a
change in the order of the words. The only child also is improb-
able ; an adj . like the beloved of the Grk. would be appropriate ;
but this sense (RV. only beloved ) does not properly belong to the
Heb. word here used ; the expression as an only child would be
in place. After calling on his pupils to give heed to his instruc-
tion, the writer ( in order to give the weight of tradition to his
words) might naturally say for I myself was a son, under the
authority of a father, and beloved by a mother. But, as only the
father is referred to (in the Heb. text) in the following couplet, it
seems probable that the mention of the mother here does not
belong to the original form, and that my mother took the place of
myfather in the second line after the expression to my father had
been introduced, by scribal error, into the first line. If, with this
86 PROVERBS

correction, we substitute beloved for only son, we have a simple

and clear sentence . The verse suggests an interesting picture of
the family-training of the time ( probably the third century B.C. ) .
The father is the authoritative guide of the children . * The in-
struction is oral there is no reference to books ; books were
rare, and were probably used only by advanced students, though
children of the better families may have been taught to read at
home. There is no sign of the existence of children's schools at
this time.† 4-7. It is not easy to determine the precise con-
nection of thought in this passage. V.4a. b and v.6 are plain ; the
difficulty lies in v.4.5.7. The following considerations may help to
fix the wording. V. , since it interrupts the connection between
v." and v. , is syntactically confused, and is not found in the Grk. ,
may be omitted ( see note on this verse below) . V.5b also inter-
5а
rupts the connection between v.5ª and v.6 (this last verse supposing
a preceding reference to wisdom) , and should be omitted. We
shall thus have to form a couplet out of v.¹ and v.5ª . The resultant
paragraph is not free from difficulties ; but it follows the indica-
tions of the Heb. text, and affords a clear sense. - -4. The two
first clauses make a couplet, continuous, ternary. The father's
address, beginning with the second clause, appears to extend
through v.9. The father alone is here cited, in the Heb. , as
teacher ( see note on preceding verse) . Grk. (reversing the order
of the verbs ) : they said and taught me, thus including the mother ;
in v. , however, it makes the father alone the speaker, and so , prob-
ably, it should be throughout, in accordance with the manner of
the rest of the section, chs . 1–9. - On mind (lit. heart ) see note
on 22. Retain = grasp, hold firmly in hand, hold fast . — The
third line of the verse is identical with the first line of 72, and is,
for this reason, here thrown out by some critics as a scribal inser-
tion ; but such repetition is possible (for ex. , 18620b) . Grk. has
only the first half, omitting the words and live ; but for this omis-
sion there is no good reason. In the present state of the text there
seems to be nothing better than to attach the line to the first line

* The mother also was doubtless the instructor of the child (see 18) , whether or
not she is mentioned in this verse.
† On the education of children see Nowack, Heb. Arch. , I. p. 172 ; Schürer,
Gesch. (= Hist. ofthe Jew. People, II ., 2, § 27) , and the literature therein named,
 IV. 3-6 87

of the next verse, though it is an objection to this construction

that the resultant couplet does not present a satisfactory parallel-
ism we expect a whole couplet devoted to wisdom, preparatory
to v.6. No arrangement of the lines, however, is entirely free
from objections . And live = that thou mayest (by them) live,
that is, " that they may secure the happiness of a long earthly
life ; " for the idea see 32. - 5 . The present Heb. text reads : get
wisdom, get understanding, forget not, and turn not away from
the words of my mouth. If the wording be genuine, the iteration
expresses the earnestness of the sage, who identifies his instruc-
tions with wisdom. But the present form is hardly original. The
second line (and turn, etc. ) belongs naturally with v.; and the
expression forget not should properly follow not get wisdom, etc.,
but keep my commandments. The former phrase is omitted in the
Grk., which reads : keep commandments, forget not, and neglect
not the discourse of my mouth ; this is in itself clear, but it makes
the teacher's discourse the antecedent of v. (forsake it not ) ,
whereas the tone of v.6.8.9 almost forces us to regard wisdom as
their subject. It is, therefore, better to omit the second clause
(and turn, etc. ) as a gloss on v.b.e, and also the forget not, and
retain the rest as an introduction to v..— Other proposed con-
structions are : forget not to acquire wisdom, and swerve not from
the words of her mouth ( Graetz) , which has the advantage of offer-
ing only one subject ( as in v. ) , but is open to the objection that
Wisdom's " mouth " is nowhere else mentioned ; Oort also would
omit get understanding ( as gloss on get wisdom) , and add to
forget not some such expression as my law (as in 3¹ ) , but thinks
that the whole verse is probably a scribal insertion ; get wisdom,
get understanding, forget not [ the instruction of my lips] , and
swerve not, etc. (Bickell) . While the general sense is plain, the
original form can hardly be recovered. It seems probable that in
v.³ the writer passes from reference to his own " instruction " to
the praise of " wisdom." If the Grk. reading of v.4c. 5 be adopted
(see above) , we must probably suppose a break at the end of v.",
the following paragraph (v.6.8.9) having lost a couplet in which
wisdom was introduced . - 6 . Synonymous, binary. In the Heb.
the subject of the discourse is wisdom or understanding which
preserves its followers, as in 2 " ; in the Vat. Grk. the subject is
88 PROVERBS

the utterance or instruction of the sage, the function of which is

the same as in 32 ; the essential thought is the same in both .
The verb love, used in the ethical sense , with man as subject, here
has the abstract wisdom as object (in 122 its opposite, ignorance) ;
in the Prophetical books (Am. 515 Mic. 32 al. ) the object is gen-
erally right conduct, in the legal books (Dt. 65 Lev. 1918 al.)
Yahweh and man, in ( 268 11997 al. ) Zion and the Tora. - The
sing. her appears to point to one antecedent in v.5, whereas Heb.
there has two terms. 7. The text is corrupt, and the verse
should probably be omitted . The Heb. reads : the beginning of
wisdom - get wisdom, and in all thy substance get understanding,
or buy wisdom, and, with all that thou hast gotten, buy, etc., that
is, buy wisdom at the price of all thy property, cf. 2323 Mt. 1345.46,
or, along with all, etc. (AV. with all thy getting is incorrect) .
The rendering wisdom is the principal thing ( RV. Zöckler, in
Lange) is here out of the question ; the word ( n ) , in the
sense of best, chief, principal, never occurs undefined (only twice
in OT. undefined, Isa. 46¹º and the doubtful Gen. 1 ', both times
in the sense of beginning) , and here we obviously have the familiar
expression the beginning of wisdom. This expression cannot be
brought into intelligible connection with the rest of the verse .
The statement the beginning of wisdom is "get wisdom," if syn-
tactically possible ( which is doubtful) , involves an intolerable tau-
tology, and the same objection holds to the rendering ( obtained
by changing Impv. to Inf. ) . . . to get wisdom. Bickell, to avoid
the tautology, reads the beginning (or, chief) of thy wealth is,
etc., which is out of keeping with the tone of the paragraph, is
without Versional support, and is an unnatural form of expression .
-The resemblance between v . and v.5ª is obvious ; the former is
expansion of the latter, or both are corruptions of the same orig-
inal. In any case v. interrupts the connection between v.6 and
v. , and is probably a gloss . Possibly the expressions get wisdom
and get understanding, written in the margin as a summary of v.49,
got into v.³, and then in expanded form were inserted as v.; this ,
if it happened, must have happened after the Vat. Grk. Vrs . was
made — the omission of such passages by the Grk. translator is
not probable. See note on v..- 8 . Synonymous, binary. The
meaning of the first vb. is not quite certain. It may signify cast
 IV. .6-9 89

up an embankment against a thing, or ( Grk . ) around a thing,

so as to protect it ; or, make a rampart of a thing (Jäger) ,
surround one's self with a thing as a protection ; or cast up as a
highway ( cf. 1519 Isa. 57¹ ) , and so make plane and firm ; or, per-
haps, simply raise up, exalt, esteem highly, prize ( cf. the similar
form in Ex. 9¹) . This last agrees with the parallel embrace, and
is adopted by most expositors. Syr. Targ. have freely love her ;
Lat. Rashi lay hold ofher; Saad.: give thyself up to her. A pro-
posed emendation is : despise her not ( Frankenberg ) , which gives
a good sense but not a perfect parallelism. - 9 . Synonymous, ter-
nary. Lit. give to thy head a chaplet. Beauty (or, grace) and
glory are physically descriptive terms -the sense is beautiful
chaplet and glorious (or, splendid) crown ; cf. 19 BS. 629-31 256.
The expression may be suggested by a custom of wearing chaplets
and crowns at feasts, or on other joyful occasions, as weddings ; 1
cf. Ez. 16¹2 2342 Isa . 28¹ Job 199 BS. 322 ; how far such a custom
existed among the earlier Hebrews the OT. does not inform us,
but it may easily have been borrowed at a later time . *

1. S takes ny as subst., and connects it by with a. - .2 39 ‫; לקה‬

dwpov, L donum.; H- P 68. 161. 248 Comp. Ald. Tòv eµòv Xóyov,
which hardly represents a different Heb. text from ours-:-not necessarily
Christian correction ( Lag. ) , more probably rhetorical variation . — 3. Œ Ùπýкоos
may be rendering of taken as = soft, submissive; Lag. holds it to be
rendering of poor (Lev. 2525 al .) ; Heid. of 77 oppressed (2628 ¥ 1018 al. ) ,
neither of which terms is here appropriate, or likely to be rendered by úπýкoos.
The connection in requires a descriptive term between 1 and 8 ; 77
might be transposed so as to stand before or before , but the signifi-
cation would still make difficulty unless it could be understood as = petted
(TPD ), parallel to beloved in b. Read ‫ כי בן היְהִי רָךְ וְיָדִי לפני אבי‬- The
kảyw of ☞ is probably inserted to bring out the proper emphasis. —H ^ 7^ ;
read ; here has ȧyaπúμevos ; is rendered by άyαπηtós Gen. 222. 12. 16
( B does not contain these passages) Am. 810 Jer. 626 Zech . 12¹º, by μovoyevýs
Ju. 1184 ( A adds åɣaπŋτý ) ¥ 2221 2516 3517, and by μоvотρóπoυs 687 ; 77 is
always rendered by some form of åуая.; we cannot, therefore, determine
from ; but in any case must here mean only child, and this in the
connection is inappropriate. On the MS. reading instead of see
De' Rossi's note. -4. In a the vbs. might be read as sing., as in H, or plu. ,
as in .-' Epeidéтw may represent taken as Nif. (see Concord. of

* Cf. Nowack, Heb. Arch., I. p. 185 f., and for the Grk. and Rom. customs, Becker,
Char., Exc. I., Gall. , Exc, I., and the refs, in the Dicts, of Antiqs.
90 PROVERBS

Grk.), or perh. 20' (De . ) . — ỏ ǹµétepos λóyos , = 77, hardly original, proba-
bly rhetorical interpretation of Grk. translator. - , lacking in GB (SH
ast., retained by Proc.) ; the clause was perhaps introduced from 72, where it
is natural ( adds 72b at end of v. ) ; according to Lag. comes from the
half-obliterated 5 of a gloss (see note on next verse ) . - — After inserts
, so as to express divine authority for the teaching, or it = " , erroneous
repetition of the two • in ‫) לי יתמך‬Pink .( . - .5 19 ‫ קנה חכמה קנה בינה‬, lacking
in GB (SH ast .) ; Gr. reads 'n up as obj . of nons, and omits ´´p as gloss,
but p as obj. of does not occur elsewhere and is not a natural construction.
The whole expression (together with ) interrupts the connection between
(v.4) and , and if v.5b be retained must be regarded as a gloss ;
it may be retained if v.5b be thrown out ; see note on v.7. - 7. Lacking in B
(Sast.) ; it interrupts the connection between v.6 and v.8, is syntactically
and lexicographically difficult, and must be regarded as scribal insertion.
Lag.'s explanation of v.7 and v.5a is as follows : v. , in distichal form, stood
in the margin of some Heb. MS., and was incorporated into the text in two
places by two different scribes ; one inserted it after v.6, writing ¬¬ for an
illegible word which followed ¬ (the word should be a synonym of s ♪ ,
and Bi. writes ) ; the other found and bɔ illegible, and omitted
them, made out of the first ´n, and attached the resulting sentence to v.4.
This ingenious and complicated reconstruction still leaves an unsatisfactory
couplet the best of wealth is get wisdom and, etc. As cannot be brought
into syntactical relation with the rest of the sentence, it may be better to
regard it as a fragment of a distich similar to 17, and to take the rest ofthe
verse as a fragment of another distich similar to 2323, though it is hard to say
how the text assumed its present shape. - 8. Hobo ; G (and so SH) πepɩ-
Xaрáкwσov; ST van; L arripe. The vb. may be denom. from or
app; but, as from these nouns it may be inferred that the st. == lift up (so
here Aben Ez. Qamḥi) , it may here be rendered, in general accord with the
rest of the v., prize. For other renderings see Schultens' note. Frank. pro-
poses to emend to ‫ל תסליה‬, ‫ א‬.from Aram ‫סלה‬ Heb. 2, on which see note
on this v. above. -— In b G, not so well, takes 2 as Impv. with 3 sing. fem.
suff., attaches 2 sing. suff. to ' , and connects by iva ( ) . ST reverse
the positions of the vbs . -9. occurs only twice in OT., here and 19 ; the
stem in Heb. and Aram. = be attached to, accompany, in Arab. and Eth. twist,
wind (so perh. also in Heb. ) , which is the meaning in . Gr. (as in
19) reads - Hu ; Greрaoπion, but stem 1 ( = give, give up
Gen. 1420 Hos. 118) is not connected with an shield, which appears to come
from enclose, protect. Gr. proposes yn bind (see 621) which is hardly
better than .

10-19. A separate discourse, consisting of exhortation to obey

the sage's instruction ( v.10-13) , and to avoid the way of the
wicked in view of their character (v.14-17) , with a description
 IV . 10-11 91

of the paths of the righteous and the wicked (v.18. 19) . The
order of verses in the second half is unsatisfactory, and is variously
changed by commentators . Hitzig omits v.16. 17 as interpolation,
inverts the order of v.18. 19, and before the latter inserts for;
Delitzsch, Nowack, Strack, Graetz simply invert the order of
v.18 19 ; Bickell places v.16. 17 after v.18 . 19. The inversion of the
order of v.18. 19 seems to be all that is needed to secure a natural
sequence.
10. Hear, my son, and receive my words,
And the years of thy life will be many.
II. In the way of wisdom I instruct thee,
Lead thee in the paths of uprightness.
12. When thou walkest, thy steps will be unimpeded,
And if thou run , thou wilt not stumble.
13. Hold fast 6 my instruction - let it not go –
Keep it, for it is thy life.
14. Enter not the path of the wicked ,
Walk not in the way of bad men ;
15. Avoid it, traverse it not,
Shun it, and pass on.

16. For they sleep not unless they have done harm,
Nor slumber unless they have made some one stumble ;
17. They eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
19. The way of the wicked is like darkness -
They know not at what they stumble.
18. But the path of the righteous is like the light of the dawn
Which shines ever brighter till the full day comes.

10. Protasis and apodosis, ternary, or quaternary. Lagarde (by

a slight change of text) reads : hear, my son, the instruction of my
words, etc., but elsewhere instruction is ascribed not to words, but
to a person, and the verb receive is favored by 2¹ . The form of
address is similar to that of v.¹ ; on sing . son , instead of plu . sons,
see note on that verse. The reward - long life - as in 32.16. It
is again the sage that is the source of instruction. - 11 . Synony-
mous, ternary. The sage ( as in v.2) characterizes his instruction.
Not (RV. ) have taught (or, instructed) and have led ; the refer-
ence is to the present instruction, Wisdom is here parallel to
92 PROVERBS

uprightness, practical moral goodness. There is no mention of a

divine law ; this, no doubt , is taken for granted, but the teacher's
present interest is the practical guidance of life . - 12 . Synony-
mous, ternary- binary, or ternary. The inducement. For the ex-
pression of first cl . cf. Job 187 ; lit. thy step will not be straitened.
The life of a good man is likened to a journey on a well-made
road — there will be no narrow and difficult ways, nor any stones
or other occasions of stumbling, even when one runs ; cf. 36.23.
13. Synonymous, ternary. Repetition of exhortation . The my in-
struction (after the Grk.-- the Heb. has simply instruction) is in
accordance with v.10. 11, in which the teacher offers his own words
for the guidance of the pupil. The it is fem. in the Heb. , though
the word for instruction is masc .; the writer in thought identifies
1.2 .
the latter with wisdom ; cf. 21.2 31. 2. 21. 22. Life is to be understood
as in v.10 ; it includes not only length of days, but also all else
that is desirable ; while the reference is not primarily or chiefly to
the inner life, this is probably involved in the writer's scheme —
moral enlightenment, he means to say, is the essence of life ( cf.
Eccl. 12¹³ ) , and is to be resolutely grasped and held . Grk.: keep
it for thy life, the same idea as in the Hebrew.

14-17. Warning against association with bad men on the

14
ground of their moral character. — 14 , 15. Synonymous ; v.¹¹ is
ternary, v.15 is binary (curt, sharp injunction) . Warning. Emphatic
iteration. In v.14b the sense is not even if thou enter, continue not
to walk therein. On walk see critical note . -16 , 17. Synony-
mous ; v.16 is quaternary, v. ternary. Characterization of the
manner of life of the wicked . Hyperbolical expression of their
life as one of violence (legal and illegal unkindness, oppression,
robbery, murder) . The type of character portrayed is an ex-
treme one, reckless violence ; no account is taken of those whom
moral evil has only slightly touched . The writer may have in
mind the foreign and native oppressors of the Jews in the fourth
and third centuries B.C. , as in 14. 53. 64. 74 , etc.; more proba-
bly he is thinking of a class of men that was numerous in the
great cities of that period, unscrupulous government agents, reve-
nue farmers, grasping and desperate men of all sorts, some of
whom are described by Josephus. The conditions of the society
 IV. 12-19 93

of the time were favorable to violence and oppression, and it is on

these conditions that the writer bases his description , which must
thus be taken as a local picture of life . His division of men is
simple they are wholly good, or wholly bad, or ignorant and
stupid ; he does not recognize the nicer and more complicated
experiences of the soul. There is a certain justification for this
general point of view : evil, it may be said, whatever its degree,
is always evil, and therefore to be avoided ; dallying with trans-
gression of assured moral rules is dangerous. This is the sharply
defined, objective old- Hebrew view, which stands in contrast with
the modern disposition to distinguish and divide, to recognize
- The defining terms wickedness and
good and evil in all things. —
violence (v. ) may express substance or origin ; the meaning may
be that these are the food and drink of the wicked ( cf. Job 1516
34 ) , or that the latter procure the necessaries and goods of life
by these means ( cf. 9¹) , and both these senses are permitted by
the general connection and by the parallelism of v.16 ; the first
interpretation is favored by Procopius, Schultens, Umbreit al. , the
second by C. B. Michaelis, De . , Zöckler, Strack, Nowack. The
general sense is not affected by this difference of interpretation ;
- The last word of
the first sense appears to suit the context better. —
v.16 cause (some one) to stumble presents a difficulty : the object is
not expressed in the Heb. (the form in the text is intrans. , the
trans. form is given in the margin ) , and the Syr. has till they do
theirdesire ; the Heb. may be corrupt, but no satisfactory emenda-
16. 17
tion is obvious . - Hitzig omits v.' on the ground that they have
no logical connection with v.15, but the relation between the verses
seems clear.

18, 19. Contrasted fortunes of wicked and righteous, pre-

sented as a motive for living righteously. As v.19 connects itself
by the sense with v.", and the initial and (but) of v.18 more natu-
rally indicates a contrast with v.19, it is better to transpose the two
verses . -19. Progressive , ternary. The characterization of the
life of bad men as uncertain and perilous follows fitly on the pre-
ceding description of their moral character. The figure is that of
a man stumbling on in darkness - so the wicked is exposed to
perils of fortune. These pertain not to his inward moral and
94 PROVERBS

religious experiences, but to his outward fate ; the reference, as

the context shows, is not to the darkening of the intellect and the
hardening of the conscience by sin, but to outward uncertainty
and misfortunes, such as sudden death and the loss of worldly
goods (cf. 119.32 222 etc . ) .— Instead of as darkness some Heb.
MSS. have in darkness, and the ancient Vrss . dark ; our text is
favored by the as of v.18. The noun, used only in poetry and
solemn prose, means deep darkness and gloom ; so in Ex . 1022
Dt. 2829 Joel 22 etc. , and cf. the similar term in Job 36 1022 ↓ 916.
18. Comparison, quaternary. From the connection the refer-
ence is not to the glory of the righteous life, but to its security.
The good man walks in safety-—his path is clear, and not beset
with dangers ; the explanation is given in 31-26. It is happiness
and security from outward evils in this life that is meant. Such a
conception of the perfect well-being of the righteous may have
paved the way for the later doctrine of immortality, though this
doctrine is not hinted at in Proverbs . - The rendering dawn is
not certain. Grk., taking the word as verb : the ways of the
righteous shine like light- grammatically good, but not favored
by the form of v.19, in which the standard of comparison is a noun
(darkness). The rendering of the Lat. Vulg. (and so Syr. Targ.
RV.) , shining light (obtained by a change of vowels) , is not
probable, as this expression (light defined by its brightness ) does
not occur elsewhere. The term brightness is used in a general
way ( Ez. 1ª Isa . 62¹ ) , and with reference to the light of fire
(Isa. 4 ) , of the moon ( Isa. 6019) , the stars (Joel 210) , the sun
(Am . 520 Isa. 603 Hab. 3 2 Sam. 23 ) ; here, as in Isa. 603, it
seems to be the light that precedes the full day. — The last expres-
sion in the v., lit. till the day is established (or, certain) , probably
means the coming of full day in contrast with early light or dawn
(see critical note ) . Many expositors, however (Rashi, Schult. ,
Fleisch., De . , Reuss, al. ) understand it to signify noon, when the
day reaches its height, or (De. ) when the sun appears to stand
still in the zenith , or ( Fleisch . ) , in a figure taken from scales,
when the tongue of day is vertical. The perfect day of the Lat.
(adopted by RV. ) lends itself to either interpretation , and is per-
haps preferable for that reason. Ewald, who takes the reference
to be to the forenoon sun , thinks that the figure is derived from
 IV. 19, 18 95

Ju. 51 (the rising sun dispersing darkness ) . However the doubt-

ful terms be rendered , the general sense is plain : the God - fearing
man walks in a light ( divine guidance ) which, so far from growing
less, continually increases, and shields him from all harm .

10. Instead of the noun is read by Lag., who objects to the

obj. after two Imps .; yov, he thinks, cannot well be taken as isolated exhorta-
tion, and elsewhere in this series of paragraphs ( 41. 20 5¹ ) the initial vb. of hear-
ing or heeding is followed by its own noun (some word signifying utterance or
teaching) . On the other hand, see note above on this word ; = H. In b G
has two renderings, one , while in the other s or stands instead
of ♫ , or ( Heid.) , less probably, bay ( ba ?) , which does not occur else-
where in Pr. The second rendering, as freer, is prob. original (Jäg., Lag. ) ,
only odol, which is unnatural, seems to be scribal error, through incorrect hear-
ing of the copyist ( itacism) , or through ỏdoùs in next v., or through corruption
of the Heb. - -T , error for 2. — 11. The vbs. are Pres. Perfs. — 777 ;
odovs (and so ST) , which agrees with plu . in b, and may be rhetorical
assimilation, or original Heb. reading. — -12. Hy , poetic and elevated term
for step, walk; plu., by natural usage of language, in GSL and RV.-
― 13. Read D , with uns
5 ‫ נזוען‬shaken , free rendering of 3 ( ‫יצר‬
Taidelas, as the connection requires. In b has free rendering of H.-
14. (st. as in , and Arab. ) ; the Pi. occurs elsewhere only in
caus. sense = lead, or call happy, and, as the connection (parallel san) here
suggests the meaning go forward, walk, it is better to point as Qal, as in 9º ;
Lag. writes (for sn) , which perh. gives an easier rhythm. The Vrss.
translate by regard as fortunate (desirable) , be pleased with, envy, G jnλwons,
AO μakaρions, ST on, L tibi placeat (and in a L, by assimilation, has
delecteris) . — 15. His sustained by parallel ; 6 ( foll. by S) ¿v
ᾧ ἂν τόπῳ στρατοπεδεύσωσιν, perh. = ‫)רעהו‬ ‫ מ‬Jag . ) or‫)רימו‬ ‫ מ‬Lag . ) ,or‫מרערְס‬
(Oort) their pasture-ground or camp, though the word occurs in OT. only of
flocks ; Heid. suggests the improbable district ( only Neh. 39 al. G πepí-
Xwpos) ; Schult., after the Arab. , disturba seriem ejus, " give up association
with them; " TLag. (Buxt. 8 Ar. 8) , heed not, pass over, without
suff., and following suffs . in plu.— is perhaps Aramaism. - 16. K
, Q better (so T) , though without obj . expressed (see Ew., § 303 c) ;
KOLμŵVтaι (writing instead of DN) = ‫)ו‬ ‫ ישכב‬Schleusn ., Lag .or ) ‫שכבו‬
(Oort) , less prob. " ( Heid. ) ; Sy do their will, not = ‫יבשילו‬
cook, mature (Umbr. ) or get control of (Heid . ) , but free rendering or
interpretation of = do harm, work their wicked will on ( work fall or
destruction) . Oort proposes to read y destroy, of which, he suggests, the
n of v.17 may be mutilation . Bi. regards as scribal erroneous copy of
last word of v.19 (which v. he puts immediately before v.16) , and reads "
murmur, speak blasphemously, which 6, he holds, took wrongly in its other
sense of lodge. These readings offer no advantage over . - 17. Haben ;
96 PROVERBS

Ο παρανόμῳ = 1 - 1 την ; ( μεθύσκονται = ‫ ישכרו‬or ‫ שכרו‬, which Oort

thinks may be the true reading of , the in being then corruption of
(see n. on v.16) . ST their bread ( on ) is the b. of wickedness (T ofthe
wicked) , which is not favored by b. - 19. ; 15 MSS. and Bibl. Brix.
have instead of 2, and so STL have adjs. = dark, a reading which agrees
well with b, giving explicitly the reason why the wicked stumble -- their way is
in darkness ; on the other hand is favored by the of v.18 - — the way is dan-
gerous, like darkness.— Instead of 1 × 722 Bi. (on what ground he does not
state) reads [they do not perceive or take note of] its stumbling-blocks,
which does not appear to be rhythmically or otherwise better than H. - 18 . G
takes , and as preds. of пs (which it reads as plu., odoì) ; this is
hardly possible so far as regards the two last, which naturally refer to the noun
18; the first may be understood as Partcp. agreeing with 8 (so STL and
RV.) or, less probably, with пs (in which case it- must be fem. -- so perh.
6) , or as vb. ( Oort) referring to пs (so perh. G) , or as subst. defining 8.
In this last case it must mean dawn, early light, and this rendering is favored
by the fact that it offers a contrast to the full day of b. The pointing as
Partcp. agreeing with us, while grammatically good, is rhetorically not proba-
ble ; light is said to shine ( Isa. 92(1) Job 185 2228 ) , and the moon is said
(Isa. 1310) to cause its light to shine, but light is not elsewhere described as a
shining thing; if the epithet were employed, the expression would naturally
be defined by the name of the luminary or source of light. does not else-
where in OT. certainly occur in the sense of dawn (possibly in Isa. 62¹, cf.
2 Sam. 23 ) ; but cf. Sam BS 50º, where has dσTǹp éwoivos and stella
matutina. — ɔ , an impossible pointing, since the word is not a subst.;
point ɔ , Perf. Nif. The OT. meaning of the word is simply fixed, firm,
which may here refer either to full day or to noon ; on the expressions ò
σταθερὸν τῆς ἡμέρας, ἡ σταθερὰ μεσημβρία, Arab. NON NP,= noon, see
Schult., Ges. ( Thes.) Fleisch ., De. , and cf. Lucan, Phars., ix. 528, 529.

20-27 . A paragraph similar to the three preceding, containing

injunctions to give heed to the teacher's instructions (v.20-23)
and to practise rectitude ( v.24-27).

20. My son, attend to my words,

To my instructions lend thine ear.
21. Let them not depart from thee,
Keep them in mind.
22. For they are life to those who find them,
Health to their whole being.
23. With all vigilance guard thou thyself,
For thus wilt thou gain life.
24. Banish from thee wickedness of mouth,
Sinfulness of lips put far from thee.
 IV. 20-23 97

25. Let thine eyes look straight forward,

Thy gaze be directed straight before thee.
26. Let the path of thy feet be smooth,
Let all thy roads be firm.
27. Turn not to right nor to left,
Keep thy feet away from eyil.

20, 21. The exhortation. - 20 . Synonymous, ternary. Instruc-

tions and lend are lit. sayings (or, words) and turn (or, incline) .
See notes on 321 41.10 .- 21 . Synonymous, binary-ternary. Lit. :
Let them not depart from thine eyes, keep them in thy mind (lit.
heart, the inward being) , = keep them in mind. On depart sce
note on 321. Syr. and Targ. have the improbable reading let them
not be despicable in thine eyes. - 22, 23. Ground of the exhorta-
tion. - 22. Synonymous, ternary (or, binary) . The grammatical
number is uncertain . We may read : for they are life to those
who find them and health (or, healing) to all their being (lit. flesh),
13
or . . . to him who finds . . . all his. Life, as in 221 322 41, =
long life or preservation of life, which comprehends all outward
earthly blessing. The synonym health (or, healing) , involves de-
liverance from the evils of life ; cf. 38. Flesh stands for body, and
SO = being; cf. bones and (in the corrected text) body in 38. The
- self. The Gk. here has all flesh,
terms flesh, heart, soul often
= all men, as in Gen. 612, etc. -23. Single sentence, ternary.
Vigilance as source of life and happiness . The Heb. in first line
reads more than all guarding ( = " with more vigilant guarding
66
than in any other case ") watch thou over thy heart, = watch thy
heart (or, thyself) more than anything else " ; the same general
sense is given by the rendering : above all that thou guardest, etc.
(De., RV. marg. ) , but this signification (" the thing guarded ")
the word has not elsewhere in OT. In this interpretation the
object of the comparison ( between the heart or self and other
things) is not clear, and is not found elsewhere in Proverbs. A
better sense is given by the Greek reading : with all watching
guard etc., that is, in every way, with all possible vigilance and
diligence (so AV. , RV. ) .— The second line is lit.: for from it
are the outgoings of life, that is, the beginning or origin ( usually
the " border " or " boundary," Ez . 4880, once , apparently, " escape,"
6820(21)) . The it may grammatically refer to heart, but Prov.
H
 ERBS
98 PROV

everywhere else (as in 327. 8.21. 22 44. 10. 13 623 885) represents life as
the result of acceptance of wisdom and obedience to instruction ;
we should probably, therefore, take the it to refer to the " guard-
ing " of first line : " therefrom ( = from thy diligent obedience )
proceeds life." * The word heart is to be understood as = self ,
and not as indicating a contrast between inward and outward life ;
such a contrast is not found in Prov. ---- the outward life is treated
as the expression of the inward self. -Life = prosperity. The
sense of the couplet is : with utmost care guard thyself from sin
thus wilt thou be happy. The use of heart as = intellectual
being does not rest on a belief that the heart is the centre of the
physical life . The blood was held, by common observation , to be
the life ( Dt. 123 ) , but the function of the heart in the circulation
of the blood was unknown to the Hebrews, and , whatever impor-
tance they may have attached to this physical organ as prominent
in the cavity of the body, no less importance was attached to
other organs, as the bowels and the kidneys (and perhaps the
liver, but not the brain) . The ground of their assignment of par-
ticular mental functions to various physical organs is not known to
us. - 24, 25. Against wicked speech. - 24. Synonymous, quater-
nary. Wickedness and sinfulness (RV. froward and perverse)
mean departure (turning aside ) from truth and right, contrariness
to good ; cf. notes on 215 332. The man's utterance is understood
to express and be identical with his thought and purpose ; so that
the precept is equivalent to " think no evil." There is perhaps
also the implication that evil thought, when embodied in words,
acquires greater consistency, and goes on its bad mission beyond
the thinker's control. - 25 . Synonymous, ternary. Uprightness
of conduct symbolized by straightforwardness of look, in contrast
with the devious and crooked ways of wickedness (v.2) . The
serious man fixes his gaze on the goal and suffers nothing to turn
it aside . The rendering in first line : look to the right ( = right-
eousness) ( Frank. ) is unnecessary, and is not in keeping with the
figurative form of second line and v.26. 27. - 26, 27. The path of
rectitude. - 26. Synonymous, ternary-binary (or, perhaps, ter-
nary) . That is, " make thee a plane , solid road in life." The

* This seems to be the interpretation of Saadia and Rashi,

 IV. 23-27 99

figure is taken from the preparation of a highway for a king or an

army (Isa. 404) - hills are cut down and valleys filled, crooked
roads are made straight and rough places smooth, so that there
shall be no need to turn aside from the highroad . Even so a man
must arrange his path in life, walking in the straight and smooth
way of rectitude. —The word make level occurs in 56.21 Isa . 267,
7850 ; the sense weigh, ponder (denom. from scales, 5823)) is
not here appropriate . The second verb is equivalent to the first,
meaning put in good condition of stability and security, not mark
off, lay out, though these terms, like ordered and RV. established,
involve the same general idea ; like the first it has the general
sense of preparedness ( Ex. 19¹¹ & 7¹ ) . Grk.: make straight
paths for thy feet (so freely Heb. 12¹³) and make thy ways
straight, which agrees in sense with the Heb., though it is not
verbally accurate ; evil is crookedness (v.24) and good is straight-
ness. ―- The plane and solid way in life is to be secured (v.20-22)
by accepting the instruction of the sage, that is, of Wisdom.
27. Synonymous, ternary. The straight way. Duty consists in
walking unswervingly in the path so prepared (v.26) -— to swerve ,
the second cl . explains, is to fall into evil, physical and moral .
Grk. appends the quatrain : For the ways of the right hand God
knoweth, but distorted are those of the left. And he himself will
make straight thy paths, and guide thy goings in peace. The con-
ception here differs from that of v.26.27 in two points ( Hitz.) :
right and left, instead of representing both of them divergencies
from the straight path of rectitude, express the one the good way
and the other the bad, and the ways are made straight not by the
man but by God . The insertion (which is the expansion, by
the addition of the second and fourth lines, of a modified form
of 521) was made by some one who felt that the fact of divine
supervision ought to be strongly brought out. Lagarde thinks
that it does not go back to a Semitic original, but is the work of
a Greek-speaking Christian of the primitive period ; he refers to
the numerous dissertations on the two ways in life.* On the
other hand, De. shows that it can be naturally expressed in He-
brew. It is hardly possible to determine whether it is due to a

* Plato, Laws, iv, 717 , referred to in Plut., Isis, 26.

100 PROVERBS

Jew or to a Christian , but in any case it bears witness to the free-

dom, in dealing with the text, which copyists or editors allowed
themselves . Hitzig regards the Heb. v.2 as a superfluous scribal
amplification ; however, it adds something to the thought of v. ,
is not out of keeping with the tone and manner of the section,
and is found in all Ancient Versions.

21. Hi., only here ; we should perh. read Qal (as in 321 ) , so Bi.
← Öπws µỲ ÈKλíπwσiv σe, perh. reading , from ; cf. note on 321. For
GABN have ai nyal σov ( Typ) and 23. 252. 254. 297 ai π. TŶs
Swns σov ( 295 omits σov) ; Lag. regards the latter (which Procop. also has)
as the original ; but as the reading of ABN has no meaning, the words
T. §. σ. may have been added by a Grk. scribe to make sense. Nor is there
probability in Lag.'s view that the dià mavròs ( = ny bɔɔ ) of 6254. 297 ( inserted
after ) belongs to the Heb. original ; cf. 621. Heid. suspects in 6 pro-
vision against a possible Pharisaic interpretation of the cl. as a reference to
the frontlets of Dt. 68 ! —ST ya ( Lag. ´yp) 1 , from ↳ , as in 321, on
which see note. - 22. As the suffs . in and are inconcinnate, one
of them must be changed ; the sing. cannot be retained as individualizing ;
ST write the first as sing ; here has plu ., but in b GB N* Lomit suff.
( giving an improbable reading) , avroû is added in șc.a. A 23, 254 SH and
avrŵv in 109, 157 , 252, 297 ; these all go back to H, and show that its form is
early. - The âσ of 161 al. before Tоîs evρloкovσ may be a part of the Grk.
original, but does not call for the insertion of 5 in . The aury in ª seems
to have pýσɩs (v.2º ) in view. — 23. Hp on; the prep. is † in T and AÐ
(ἀπὸ παντὸς φυλάγματος) , a in $ and apparently in 6 (πάσῃ φυλακῇ) , and
(omni custodia) ; the latter is adopted by Oort, Bi., Frank., RV., and
seems preferable ; means properly the act of watching, hardly the thing
watched - the two interpretations give the same general sense. - - The τούτων
of in b appears to refer to the Xoyos of v.20 (so Procop. understands it) ;
the pronouns in the section are strangely varied in 6. - 24. The Vrss. except
T, render by various adjs. the substs. which in are defined by л and
DDY (So RV. ) sppy deep, representing np , is apparently miswrit-
ing of ‫ ; ( עיקותא ) עקיתא‬.cf 5 .225- On ? see Ew., § 165 b, Stade, § 304 c,
Preuschen, in ZAT., 1895, and De.'s note ; the regular form of stat. const.
(from ) would be —this seems to be poetic variation, unless it be from
.an otherwise unknown st ‫ לזה‬like ‫ שבית שבות‬from ‫ שנה‬The forms in n
appear to be Aramaisms . - 25. Both terms of direction and are
improperly understood by in an ethical sense, ¿p¤à and díxaιa (and so SH
Procop .) , and the first by STL (not by AOE) ; cf. 178. - 26. Ha is para-
phrased by ST keep thy feet (lit. make t. f. pass by) from evil ways (as in
v.27). L dirige for DD. — is omitted by ( in reversal of its custom ,
which is to insert a in such statements ) , except H- P 296 (correction after
H). is taken as active by GAZO . -— For variations of patrist. writers see
 IV. 27-V. 2 ΙΟΙ

H-P. - 27. vn ; G ảπò ódoû kaкîs, as in 2¹2. - On the added quatrain

insee note above.

V. A discourse against sexual licentiousness in men . - — After

the usual introductory exhortation to give heed to instruction
(v.1.2) , the deadly influence of the harlot is described (v.³-6) , the
pupil is cautioned to avoid her lest loss of wealth and destruction
come on him (v.7-14) , and is urged to conjugal fidelity ( v.15-20) , the
motive presented being the fate of the wicked ( v.22. 23) . * Cf.
BS. 2317-26 429-14

THE DEADLY POWER OF THE HARLOT. V.1-6.

1. My son, give heed to [ ] wisdom,†

To [] understanding † lend thine ear,
2. That discretion may watch over thee,,
That knowledge [ ] may preserve thee,'
[To save thee from the harlot,
The woman of enticing words. ]

3. For the lips of the harlot drop honey,

Her words are smoother than oil ;
4. But at the last she is bitter as wormwood,
Sharp as a two- edged sword.

5. Her feet go down to Death,

Her steps lead down to Sheol ;
6. No , well-built highway of life she walks,
Uncertain her paths and not 6 firm .›

1 , 2. The general exhortation . - 1 . Synonymous, ternary. The

1,2.
Heb. (in this followed by all Anc. Vrss. ) has the poss . prons. my
wisdom and my understanding; but the sage, while he speaks of
his own words, commandments, law, instruction, never elsewhere
claims wisdom ( = understanding, knowledge, insight, or discretion)
as his own, but represents it as the goal to which his instruction
leads ; see 21-3.9–11 31. 21 4"1. 2. 10. 20 ; for the meanings of the terms see
note on 124. - 2. The text is in disorder, and can be only con-
jecturally restored ; and the connection between v.2 and v.3 is not
expressed. The Heb. (followed substantially by all Vrss. except

* On v.21 see note on that verse below.

+ Heb. my wisdom and my understanding.
102 PROVERBS

Grk.) reads to preserve [ = that thou mayest preserve] discretion

[= sagacity, insight ] , and that thy lips may keep knowledge. But
the reference to the lips of the pupil, proper in 424, is out of place
here ; lips utter, but do not keep; we should rather expect thy
mind (heart) , as in 3 ' 4' , or simply keep thou, as in 413 72, if the
point is the inward acceptance of wisdom or instruction. The
mention of the lips of a strange woman, in v.³, might suggest, as
contrast, my lips ; so Grk.: and the knowledge of my lips is en-
joined [or, according to another reading, I enjoin] on thee. This
is so far better than the Heb. as it refers to the utterance of lips,
but it is syntactically not in accord with the preceding (in which
the pupil is the subject) , and the expression is strange- the lips
of the teacher are nowhere else described as the possessors of
knowledge, though they are said ( 157) to scatter knowledge, that
is, by words. These considerations are unfavorable to the emen-
dations that the knowledge of my lips may be preserved for you
(Oort) , and that my lips may enjoin knowledge on thee ( Bickell ) .
It is hardly possible to construe the expression thy lips (or, my
lips) , which appears to have been introduced by an early scribe
from the next verse. Dyserinck, omitting this expression, and
seeking a connection between v.2 and v.³, reads : that thou mayest
keep discretion and knowledge, that they may preserve (thee) from
the strange woman ( cf. 75) . Some such form as this is required
by the connection. The resemblance between this passage and
211.1671-5 is obvious, and we should probably here introduce a
couplet like 216 75, and read : that discretion may watch over thee
and knowledge preserve thee, to save thee from the strange woman,
etc. (as in the translation given above).

3-6. Description of the harlot ; cf. 216-19 75-21.

5-21 . 26. 27. The de-
scription follows abruptly on the exhortation, while elsewhere
there is an easy transition from the appeal (hear, attend ) to the
subject-matter of the instruction. Befor