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THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL COMMENTARY A
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL COMMENTARY
THE BOOK OF PROVER
BY
CRAWFORD H. TOY
PROFESSOR OF HEBREW IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY
EDINBURGH
T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET
1899
UNION THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE
INTRODUCTION.
§ r. NAMES.
i. The Masoretic title is Prorcrhs of Solomon ,
Mishle Shcldmo, by the later Jews usually abridged to MisMe). That this is old appears to be shown by the (irk. (61!) title TTupoifiiui (the .subscription is simply 77. in Cod. B, TT. SaAo/iwrros in K, TT. 2oA. in A and C). The name might naturally have been suggested by i K. 4-"'- (^-), but would originally have been given to the collection io'-221(;, 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 i1-" within.
2. By early Christian writers the book was commonly called Wisdom or All-virtuous Wisdom^ r/ Tram/aero? iro^'a, names which were also given to Ben-Sim (Rcclesiasticus} and Wisdom of Sol omon. \ Other designations were r/ ao^/ /^Ao? ( I )ionys. of Alex.) and r/ TruiSuywyi/a/ cro^t'x (Greg. Nax. Ornt. T[). U'hether this <roc£iu represents an ancient Heb. title r;:rn is uncertain. Krit/sche (Die Weisheit Jesus- SiracVs, Einl. p. xx) holds that the name o-o<£iu given to Ben-Sim bears witness to a similar n;'.me 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 Kuseb. ///'/. »•///>.) refers the
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 28'- : "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. j
§ 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) : i. General title (i1), purpose of the Book (i2-c), central or fun damental principle (i7) ; 2. Warning against consorting with sin ners (i^'J) ; 3. Wisdom's appeal (i*-33) ; 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 (6'-^''} ; 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 (g1-0-13-18), and an interjected, misplaced par agraph of apophthegms on wisdom (9M2)-
II. A collection of aphorisms in couplet form (io1-22lc).
III. Two collections of aphoristic quatrains (2217-2422, and
24»*).
IV. A collection of aphoristic couplets (25-29).
V. A collection of discourses of various characters (30. 31) : the " words of Agur " (so1-*) ; the certainty of God's word (30* fi) ;
* ncan IED, the name given to Proverbs in Tosephot Baba Bathra, 14 b.
t See Hermann Deutsch, Die Sprllche Salomos nach der aiiffassung im Talmud und Midrasch, 1885. Deutsch also cites a synagogal prayer of the lath century, in which Proverbs is styled n-um 12D ; but this hardly proves anything for the earliest times.
STKUCTURK OF Till'. MATERIAL vjj
prayer for moderate circumstances (307-;|) ; against slandering ser vants (30"') ; a collection of aphorisms citing certain things ar ranged in groups of fours (30"- ;;) ; instruction to a king (v ''''') : description of a model housewife (3i"l";1).
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 licn- 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 io1-221'i, 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 lets : cf. 1 11'"' and 22-1'--7; 18'"' and 24-'; identical lines : ii"and 24'''; 1 3'-' and 24-" ; 14' and 24''; 20'" and 24--'. As between II. and IV.: identical couplets : cf. i8sand26--; 19' anil 28''; i </' and 26''"'; 20"'' and 27'"'; 21 "and 25-'; 22" and 27'-; variant coup lets: i2uand 281'1'; i3L'4 and 291"'; 15"'" and 25"; i6lL> and 25'; i6-s and 262l) ; 22'-' and 29'"; 221:: and 26"; identical lines : 10' and 29'"'; 15'* and 29-' ; i f and 27-' ; 19' ''and 27'". As between III. and IV., an identical line : cf. 24-' and 28-'. Cf. also 6'" with 24'""'!"';1.
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 Y. we find no matter that can be called repetition ; the peculiar tone of each of these divisions kept it apart from tin; others; 61 " and y'"1- 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: 10' and i52"; io2 and 1 14 ; ii1"' and iyls and 20'"; 13" and 14-' '; i412 and i62:' (and cf. 2iL>u) ; I42" and ig4; i62 and 21" ; 19'"' and 19'-'; 20"' and 20L>:!; 21'-' and 2iw; identical or equivalent lines: 10" and ion; ios and io"' (perhaps scribal error); ior> and i8n; io27 and 19"'; n1:; and 2ow; n14 and 15-; n21 and 16% i214 and i32; i431 and 17"'; 15''" and i812; i6LS and i812; i912 and 2O2. Within III. : couplets or lines : 22s and 23" ; 222S and 2310 (the couplets which in 231"- form one quatrain are in 222;!-2S divided between two quatrains) ; 2317tt and 24^ ; 23"* and 2414 (a similar division of couplets) ; on 23;!-" 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 41S, 61"5 •<K M9, 97"12, and of a number of lines in II. is discussed in the notes.
§ 4. RHYTHM AND PARALLELISM.
i. 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, Gruitdzuge dcs rhythmus etc., 1875, and Leitfaden der Mctrik, 1887 ; G. Bickell, Carmina Vet. Test, metrice, 1882, his additions in '/.eitschr. f. Kath. Thcol., 1885-1886, and the introductory remarks to his Kritische Bearbeitung d. Proverbien in the Wiener 7.citsc/ir. 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 AXI) PARALLELISM jx
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 (sfatiis construc ts). 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 p;irts of the Book except II. It is not to be assumed that a discourse
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 3-''™ 2~y>, 98, all occurring in misplaced or doubtful paragraphs. II. divides itself into two parts : in chs. 10-15 the form is antithetic, in i6-2210 the couplets are mostly comparisons and single sentences, with a few antitheses. III. is made up of synonymous lines, except 24™. IV. shows a division into two parts : in chs. 25-27 we find com parisons and single sentences, except in 25-, 2f'-'-u, 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 2Oi2.24-28 ^ i30), 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 anc* part of chs. 28. 29, and in another group chs. 16-2 2™, 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. Miiller, Die Propheten. 1895, and Strophenbau und Kesponsion, 1898.
THOUGHT xi
Many of the sayings are simply maxims of commonsense pru- dence, enjoining industry and caution (61"- io4 Vl ii1'1 i2u
20
14-" i62<! 2O'! 231-" 25° 2 8s 301", etc.), sometimes with what seems to be a humorous or sarcastic turn (6:;~" 19-' 23""" 30-"'). 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 \ve omit the cosmogonic hymn in ch. S, the ref erences to God occur almost exclusively in chs. 1-3, and there partly in passages (such as 25~s 3L>7":r>) which appear to be editorial insertions; the divine name is mentioned most frequently in II. (21 times in chs. 10-15, T3 time.; in chs. 16. 17, 21 times in 18- 22'") ; 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 30--" (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 Hook may be considered under their ethical, religious, and philosophical aspects.*
A. Ethical.
i. The high ethical standard of the Hook 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 business-transactions and courts of justice, are throughout insis on, and respect for human properly and life is enjoined ; alist has particularly in mind the urban crimes of perjury.
*Cf A. F. mime, Gesclnchtl. l\n
T. K. Cheyne, Job and Solomon, 1887; C. G. Montcf.o.v, of Pro-.'., in 1QR., 1890 ; K. Pfeiffer, AV/^,,, 1897; Clicync, Jewish Ke/ijf. /-//.
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 stances are 815 I428-35 30^ 3i2~9). 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 i3 al.}. Warnings against unchastity constitute a spe cial feature of I. (they are found elsewhere in 2214 23-' 3O20) ; one of the terms used for harlot, " strange woman " (21<5 a/.), designates the vice in question as an offence against the well-being of the family. Kindness to man (3° al.} and beast (i210) 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 " (3° i422 i66 2O28) may indicate that the element of justice entered into the conception of kindness. Love is extolled (io12) as minister ing to peace. There is a sharp polemic against slander and mali cious gossip (612-L'-10 i628 «/.). Special regard is shown for the interests of the poor (2222 a/.). Irascibility is condemned (I429), and pride (13'°) ; and modesty or lowliness is approved (n2). Frank acknowledgment of wrong is enjoined (2813). Revenge is forbidden (2417), 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 (i913#/.) or happy (i822 3i28) ; she has not only housekeeping- capacity, but also broad wisdom (is 3i'-M>) ', her position is as high as any accorded her in ancient life (Egypt, Greece, Rome). Proverbs speaks (i8 at.} 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 (of. note on 22'''). 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 28'), 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. (i'J 3" a!.}, 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 T.od or to conditions of temperament and education. There is MO reference to such inward experiences as swaying between opposed lines of conduct, struggle with temptation, and the mistakes ot conscientious ignorance. Men are judged, without allowance, ac cording to their actual conformity to law, and are sharply divided into good and bad ; in i~ " simpleton," " scoffer," and " fool " are equivalent terms, and these classes are set over against the obe dient in r--"". In TI.-V. characters are regarded as fixed : the exhortations assume the possibility of change, but it i (i-'s) that when the hour of punishment comes it will 1' to turn. There is no reference to sorrow for sin or in gener; processes of conversion from bad to good, or from good to \
xiv INTRODUCTION
(so in Ez. 1 8). 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 Hebrew prophet or sage troubles himself to examine into the origin of the sense of obligation. The OT. ethical thought is 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 cli. 8; see p. xvi. t On a supposed pessimistic sentiment in I413 see note on that verse.
]>. A'f'/itfious.
1. Monotheism is taken for granted, Cud is regarded as su preme and absolute in po\ver, 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 (i-'! ii-° at.). 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 30'-'). The existence of such beings no doubt formed part of the popular belief of the time (job i" 3 •}-•'' i// pi11 i C. 2 11) ; 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 (i5s 2i:!--:) have an ethical tone, the others (7" 17') 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 3" 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 (V"1- ;'•"') he appears to depart from the 1'entateuchal 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 H'isJoin <>/' St'^nifii, though in chs. 10-19 nc follows closely the narrative of the Hexateuch, does not name that book. In Proverbs (30"' i;) there are two quo-
xvi INTRODUCTION
tations, one from \f/ iS'"'1, the other from Dt. 4- 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. * Proverbs does not mention a class of scribes or extol learning as Ben-Sira does (3824-39u), 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 character ; see notes on 218- 19 5"' al. The divine judgment is mani fested in the last moment of life (rnnK, 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.^
i. 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 Yahvveh, 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 (i20-31 2:°-22 313-18 9™ 2217 al.}. This wis dom is, in parts of the Book, also identified with religion (i7 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 2~''8, an editor has thought it
* Cf. the manner in which Jeremiah is referred to in Dan. 9-, and the way in which the translator of Deu-Sira puts his grandfather in the same category with the prophets and other Israelitish writers.
t Cf. H. Bois, Origiites d. I. philosophic judco-alexandrine, 1890.
TIlOUCiHT
des,rable to introduce a specifically religions statement into the sages picture of the all-sufficiency of wisdom. The r 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 Hook.
The conception of the world as a physical and moral cosmos or
orderly arrangement is found, at least in germinal form, in such
>r. passages as Gen. i, ^ I04. But the conception is far dis-
tmcter 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 (S---'!1) as a divine attribute, as in fact the chief attribute of Cod. 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 oh. 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. \VS. 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 3o--4 (Agur) on which see notes; the doubt expressed relates to man's capacity to understand God. The parallels are all in the Wisdom books (Job 3, f- 19" a/., Keel. 3"). Klsewhere in OT. (as in $ 139) the greatness of Clod is treated as a ground of awe and reverence; here it is regarded as a reason for refraining from attempts to define him.
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 Pirkc 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 i// 109, but appears to be unique in OT. (it is not exactly paralleled in Lev. ig18 \\i i2O7).
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 i6 38 5* 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. 320 and BS. 712 (slander), Pr. 5. 7 and BS. ^ 2318-20 (the har lot), Pr. 61-' I?18 and BS. 29'-' 10-18 (suretyship), Pr. i324 and BS. 30L12 (chastisement of children), Pr. n4 22™ and BS. 58 (riches), Pr. i431 221G and BS. 41'0 (the poor), Pr. i4a5 2815 and BS. io3 (kings), Pr. is20 3O11-17 and BS. 31-16 (conduct toward parents), Pr. i824 and BS. 67-1(i (friends), Pr. 201 2^ and BS. I91 3 127"30 (wine), Pr. 2OU and BS. 27-' (buying and selling), Pr. 231"8 and BS. 321"11 (conduct 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.
t And we may add the Syriac Menander, given in Land's Artec data Syriaca, Vol. I. ; see Frankenberg's article in ZATW., 1895.
ORIGIN AM) DATK xix
organization contemplated appears to be the same in the twc books.
4- More generally, as regards the moral and religious point of view and a.m 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 Bcn-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-Sin* thus form a separate sub group, devoting themselves to practical morals in contrast with the speculative element in the other books.
§ 6. ORIGIN A\D DATE.
i. Various authors are named in the titles: to Solomon are ascribed chs. io1-221(!, 25-29, and apparently chs. 1-9 (though the title in i1 may be intended to refer to the whole book), to "the sages" 2217-24-- and 24*"", to Agur 30^ (and possibly but not probably other parts of ch. 30), to the Mother of King Lemuel
- -
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 i// 72. 127 * shows that the Jewish tradition came to regard him as the ideal of
* To which somewhat later were added \Visdom ,<f .V/Vw.v/ and /'.,,;/w.r of Sol omon.
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 i1 (as is now generally held), the same thing must hold of lo1 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 301 3I1. 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. Ithicl and Ucal (30') appear to be corrupt forms, the attempt of Geiger to find a King Alcimus in 30"* 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.f
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 i// 127 because of his fame as builder of the Temple, t Cf. Stade and Holtzmann, GVI., II., pp. 292 ff,
.
ORICLN AND I)ATK
earlier time. Kzekiel (!•/. 6. 8. 23 a/.) declares that idolatry \v;.. 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. 13-.* It may be said that the sages, as mor alists, might ignore purely religious errors, even though they were as common as in the preexilian period; but astral worship is re ferred to in Job 3I26-27, 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 Yahvveh."
The absence of characteristic national traits points in the same direction. The terms "Israel, Israel's covenant with Yahweh, temple, priest, prophet " (see note on 29|S), 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 preex 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 preexilian 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 Bcn-Sira, and we must assume that it was in common use among the Jews down to the second century H.C.f In a word, if for the name Yahweh we substitute "Cod," there is not a paragraph or a sentence in Proverb* 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 Creek influence.
The social life depicted in l^niverbs does not bear the marks of
* Xecli. i-S and M.ilachi bring no accusation of polytheism against their contem poraries ; perhaps idolatry, licid under in the period of reconstruction, shuucd itself at the later time represented by Xech. 13-. It could not, however, have been very prominent or dangerous after the exile.
t 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
xxn INTRODUCTION
Old Israel. While polygamy is recognized as legal or is assumed in an exilian code (Lev. i8u), here monogamy is taken for granted. Agricultural pursuits are mentioned (3' a/.), 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 2W 5* a/. 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 23* -. and other references in § 5 ) , belongs to an order of things foreign to the older life (cf. Dt. ij14-20 Isa. ii1"5 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 preexilian 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 Prtrcerbs; 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 Proi'erbs 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 centurv B.C.
currences 01 tr.ese trrms ire lounc ::. tr.e the other books 'except in half a dozen : - _ psalms i no philosophical -er.se attaches to them. In the histor ical and ProTjhetical writing thev r e:\-r to mechanical or artbtir skill (Ex. 5_:; Isa. 40- i Cnr. -j-'j, cleverr.e- in oriinarv 2 (2 Sam. 15 14-1. political sagacity (Gen. 41"- lr.. r I-:,. 3' io:;
< Ex. 7 - Dan. :•'• >. or reneral intelligence ' Hos. 14 1-a. i i-j. In Prcrfrf-j and the other V>";sdom book: they relate to a definite class of sare^ -R-hose function is the pursuit of universal moral and relirlous wisdom — men who. unlike the pror,hets. lav no cla
wi:h suspicion on the contemporarv "' «dse men." whose wisdom appears to he contrasted with the true ethical kr.',".ded_'e of ^"oh-
and competent teacners ',: tn:s .•:no".v.eu..'e. I. '.ere occurreu. oo- w;^e men. an . t a v
tion of the unity of the ^roup of Wisdom books '/ ;. Pr^-crl:, E;n-S:ra, £:;.'-: -:a-t>:;. 11': : :
society. Tne similarity bet-veen /-r- :-r; an 1 /.V;:-.SV>j
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 (J3S., 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 cm is most frequent in Eccl, somewhat less so in Prov., much less \& Job ; the adj. p: is found 9 times in Prov., once in Eccl. not at all in /<>/>; of substantives n»W (= wisdom) is peculiar to Prov. (chs. 1-9) ; n:s is frequent in Prov. (mostly in I.), much less frequent in Job, wanting in Eccl; nin is com mon in Prov., much less common in Eccl, still less \\\ Job ; n;2n is not infrequent in Prov., rare in Job, not found in Eccl ; HUIJ and mrn (more general terms) are equally common in Job and
* It would be desirable to include lien- Sir a 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 Neubaucr's Ecclesiasticus (BS. 3915-49U) ; the list, however, needs revision. Ben-Sir a appears to contain more late words than Proverbs.
ORIC.IX A.\n n.vn. xxv
Prov., and arc lacking in Reel. Of words expressing / frequent in Prov. and I'.ee!., and wanting in Job; "TS is common in Prov., very rare in Job, lacking in EC T£ is peculiar to /Vc><'. The verb S"-~ .v/// occurs 8 times in the poem oi\/W<. once in Zur/., not at all in /Vr'., the participle is not infrequent in Reel., less frequent in Prov., lacking in Job, the substantive is about equally common in Job and Prov., and is wanting in Reel. Of terms for instruction the noun r.nrr, is found only in /'n the verb of this stem is about equally common in Job and Prov., and is lacking in EccL; the stem -r' is rare in Job, frequent in Prov., not found in EccL Of words signifying way in the sense of coin/net h:"K occurs only in /J/YT'., T~ is common in/'/' and Prov. and rare in Reel., while rr.K and nir;, about equally com mon in Job and Prov., are lacking in Reel. The terms -icn and jr, kinJness and favor, are not uncommon in /'/w., but the iirst is rare in Job and wanting in Reel., while the second is rare in Reel, and wanting in Job. !TS:E command is found 10 times in />;w., twice in /:Vf/., once in /<;/>, but fora n times in /J/w., once in /<;/y, ami not at all in Reel. Words = ethically crooked do not occur in AY<7. / tt'pir is common and "rrs: rare in /J/v<-., and both terms are very rare in Job (on the other hand r,"J, found several times in Job, does not occur in Prov. and /:Vr/.). 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 /-._ -«-.- ... ry~} K-2, ^n), in general avoiding terms that have 'a religions, ecclesiastical, or hortatory coloring; /'/', 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 h be undiscoverablc by man, but is identified, as is also often clone- in Prov.,vtih obedience to Cod) with that in Pr. wisdom is almost identified with (lot! himself).*
XXVI INTRODUCTION
The general inference from these considerations is that most of Proverbs stands in time between Job and Ben-Sim. 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 Mai. 3H- '"' 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. 40o,f and, on the other hand, from Ben-Sim 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 of Job 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. f And cf. Jer. 12! 20".
ORIC.IX AXD D.VI'K xxvii
of the \vorld — the question of the justice of the divine govern ment of men. The first line is continued in /'/vrv/YV, certain psalms, and Hen-Sim, the second in Job, certain psalms, /'.'<Y/,X, and U'isi/. 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 liook. 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 HI (22l~-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-Sim. Its two parts, 22''- 24-- and 242:i""', 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, i. 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. 16-22'" 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 tin- second group accords more closely with the style of Ben-Sin
XXV111 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 16-2 2 10, and still another in chs. 25-27 and parts of chs. 28. 29. From portions of these works an editor compiled our section io'-22lfi, 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 25'). This statement of the editor proves not the chronological priority of io1-22ic, 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 6T"'J 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 >J 6). It is held by some critics that in Job 15' there is a direct allusion to I'rov. 8"""'1, that Klipha/, asks Job whether he is the personified Wisdom there described.* P>ut this view rests on an improbable interpretation of the couplet. In the first line Kliphaz 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. \\) 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 : '•' 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.8 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. 8-"', 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 28.7 Cf. notes on 30'.
The paragraphs 61"' 6'M1 97"1- belong partly in the same category with III., partly with V.
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 Kohelcfli 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 (3Q-4 3i~';), or when they denote philosophical depth, are treated with contempt (30"). On the strange titles in 3Ol 31' 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, I6-2210, 25-27, and 28. 29, and from these by different editors the sections 10-2 2lti 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. (2217-24) 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 25' ("these also are proverbs of Solomon") seems to presup pose xo1 ("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 1 1. -IV. ; the introduction (i"~7) 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 (i1). The additions to the section (6'~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 25! was inserted by the final redactor.
TKXT AND VKRSIONS \\.\i
6. The linguistic phenomena of the Hook 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 maybe taken to include centuries 8-5 n.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, antl 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 -i in 31-) are Aramaisms, others are late- Hebrew ; reference is made to these in the critical notes. Ben- Si ra, so far as we can judge from the part of its Hebrew text which we have (chs. 39lr-49u), contains a greater number of late expressions than Frorerbs — 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 Frovcrbs ; the words which have been so explained may all be otherwise satisfactorily accounted for. There are no Persian or (ireek words.
§ 7. TKXT AND VKRSIOXS.
i. 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
o
the same state of things in Samuel, Jsaia/i, I^ckicI, and Psalms.
It does not appear that changes were made in /V<
interests of theological opinion or from a sense of propriety or de-
XXXli INTRODUCTION
cency (causa honoris, c. reverentiac, 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 ; f 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 3O31, on which see critical notes.
f The translation may have been made as early as 100 B.C.
J 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. Jager, 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 AM) VERSIONS X.xxiii
form of doublets, but oftcner 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 Prorcrbs ; but they show that our Hebrew Hook 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 : 22ir-24--; 30'-"; 2_r!-34; 3ou-:!;;; 31'-'''; 25-29; 3i"u;i1.* 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 Prorcrbs has a perplexing mixture of readings, agreeing sometimes with %] against &, some times with (£> against %} ; the more important readings are given in the Gritical Notes. As it follows %} in general in material and
* Cf. the Greek arrangement of "Jcreiii the modern attempts at rearranging l:.cclcsia>ta.
t So Strack and Frankenherg. The latter observes that the Greek arrangement divides the latter part of the Hook into two Solomonie collections, with only two titles (lo1 25'). This may have been the principle of arrangement, but the trans lator may have found it in his Hebrew manuscript.
j Cf. Hickell, 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 ffc|, 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 f the reception of the Book into the Canon was for a time opposed on the ground of its con tradictory statements (264"') 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 5 and C see J. A. Dathe, 1764, in Rosenmiiller's Optisctila, 1814, Th. Noldeke, in Archiv f. wiss. erforschung d. AT., ii., and Pinkuss' articles in Z.-1TW., 1894.
t S/tab. 30 b, Aboth Nathan, Cap. i.
Pirkc 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.
I'uoroi'H N, 'Epfj-eveia. l\'tat d. tc.\U d. Ircrc d. Proi'crbes,
('•. J. L. YOCF.L, 1768 (in Schukens). 1890.
J. ('-. JACKK, Ol>ici"T. in Pror. Sal. ('•. HicKr.i.i., Kril. bcarbciluu^ d. -•crs. alcxandrinam, 1788. Prorcrbicn (in ll'ioicr /.citschr. /.'
d. Kundc d. Moi-£cnlijndt's}, 1891. II. I'INKT.SS, Die syrische itcbcrsct-
1894.
scln-if!}, 1865, 1866. ' L". \F,sri, K, art. Bibeliibersetzn)i£cnt in
DYSERINCK, Kritische Scholien (in ] Icr/.o^'s Real-Encykl? (and puh-
Theol. Tijdschrifl}, 1883. lished separately).
II. OOKT, Sprcukcn I. -IX. (in Th, Remarks on text in commentaries
Tijthchr.}, 1885.
Translations and Commentaries.
Midrash Mishle, ed. S. Iluher, 1893. II. DKIISCII, /;/,- Sf^riichc Sal.\< nn,-/'i
SAAIM.VS version, ed. |. Derenbourg, d. aiiffassmig 1111 I'liluncd n. .!//</-
1894 (cf. li. Heller, in REJ., 1898). rasch dar^csldlt it. krithch unier-
I\ASUI, Lat. transl. by Breithaupt, 1714. sutht, 1885.
AUEN EZRA,* ed.C. M. Horowit/,, 1884. J. MKKCKUI'S, ('<»/////. in Sit/. r>\>;\,
The commentaries of Rashi, Aben ete., 1573. 1651.
Ezra, and Levi ben Gersom are given M. (IKIKK, Proi'. re^iuti sapicnlissiini
also in A. ( ii^ijeius' /// Pro-'. Sal. Sal., etc., i<S3, i(>9<), 172^.
Comment, friiiin Rabbinoriun. 1620. C. 15. MKIIAKI.IS (in J. II. Michaelis.
and are eited in I,. Cahen's f.ii Riblc, I'hcriorcs annotationcs in //ti^ii^r..
XXX VI
INTRODUCTION
II. EWALD, in his Poet. Biicher
ter~\ d. Alt. Bundes, 1837, 1867. G. R. NOYES, New Translation of the
Prov., etc., 1846. M. STUART, Com /a. on the Book of
Prov., etc., 1852. F. HITZIG, Die Spriiche Sat.'s iiber-
setzt, etc., 1858. O. ZOCKLER, Com m. zu d. Spr. Sal.
(in Lange's Bibelwerk), 1866 (Eng.
transl., 1870). H. F. MUHLAU, DC prov. quac di-
cuntur Aguri et Lemuclis origine
atque indole, 1869. FRANZ DELITZSCH, Das Sal. Spruch-
buch, 1873 (Eng. transl. 1875).
E. RKUSS, in his annotated transl. of
the Bible, French ed. (La Bible),
1878, Germ. ed. (Das Alt. Test.),
1894. W. NOWACK (in Kiirzgef. exeget.
Handbuch z. AT.), 1883 (revision
of E. Bertheau, 1847). H. L. STRACK (in Strack u. Zockler's
Kurzgef. Comm. z. AT.), 1888. R. F. HORTON (in Expositor's Bible),
1891. G. WILDEBOER (in Marti's Kurzer
Hand-Comm.z. AT.), 1897. W. FRANKENUERG
komm. z. AT.), 1898.
General Works.
L. DUKES, Introduction to Proverbs in
Cahen, La Bible, 1847. J. F. BRUCH, Weisheitslehre d. He-
br'der, 1851. H. Bois, La po'csie gnomique chez I.
Ifebreux et chcz 1. Grecs — Solomon
et Thi-ognis, 1886. T. K. CHEYNE, in Job and Solomon,
1887.
C. G. MONTEFIORE, Notes upon the date and religious value of the Book of Prov. (in Jeiu. Quart. Rev.), 1889-1890.
R. SMEND, Alttcstamentliche religions- geschichte, 1893.
R. PFEIFFER, Die relig.-sitlliche Welt anschauung d. Buchcs d. Spriiche, 1897.
Proverbs of Other Ancient Peoples.
Chinese : F. H. Jenings, Proverbial
Philosophy of Confucius, 1895; W.
_ Scarborough, Chinese Proverbs,i%']<*>.
Egyptian : T. L. Griffith, art. Egyptian Literature, in Library of the World'1 s Best Literature.
Assyrian : M. Jager, Assyr. Rathsel u. Sprichivorter, in Bcitrage z. Assyri- ologie, 1892.
Indian: Bohtlingk, Ind. Spriiche; Muir, Sanskrit Texts ; M. Williams, Indian Wisdom ; P. More, Indian Epigrams, 1898 ; C. R. Lanman, Indie Epigrams, 1899 ; see also the
Hitopadec.a, the Panchatantra, and the Jatakas.
Greek : For the aphorisms which go under the name of Menander see the collections of Meineke and Koch.
Syrian : The so-called Syriac Menan der is given in Land, Anecdota Syr., I.; cf. ZATW., 1895.
As a Semitic parallel we may add
Arabic : Freytag, Meidani; Fleischer, Alt's Spriiche.
See also L. Dukes, Blumenlese, and his Introduction to Proverbs in Cahen, La Bible.
A COMMENTARY ON THE BOOK OF PROVERBS.
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.1), an introduction (v.--7), and two discourses (V.S-K|- -IU2;!).
1. Title. — T/ie 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. mis/tie) as name of the 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 maslial (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 mas/ialis/s (Xu. 2i'J7) appear, like the Greek rhapsodists and the Arabian raiL'is, to have been reciters (doubtless also sometimes composers) of narrative and descriptive poems. There is no one English equivalent for ma-
4 PROVERBS
shal — it seems to cover the whole ground of Hebrew poetry. It may signify a simple folksaying or aphorism (i Sam. io12 24H(1 Ez. i2~ i82), an allegory (Ez. iy2), an enigmatical saying (Ez. 21'"'), a byword (Jer. 24° Dt. 2837), a taunting speech (Isa. i44 Hab. 2'''), a lament (Mic. 24), a visional or apocalyptic discourse (Nu. 23' 241'"'), a didactic discourse (i/'49- 7$), an argument or plea (Job, 29').* 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.7). 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"c), and the definition of knowledge (7) ; and the former divides itself into a general refer ence to men (~3), with special regard to the immature (4), and a particular reference to the wise (5- G) — 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. Delitzscb, op. cit., pp. 196 if,
I. 2
5
here changes (to be resumed in v.r>), 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 : *•*, "that men may acquire wisdom," and 4-r>, "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. ^ 2 Sam. 13" 14- 201'1), the skill of the artisan (Ex. 31'''), wide acquaintance with facts (i K. ^'?A [s"-'4]), learning (Jer. 8"), skill in expounding secret things (Kz. 28"), statesmanship (Jer. iSIS), 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 Hook 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 Cod. Rational discourse is lit. words of understanding; this last term --_-" discernment, 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 uood 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 13' Isa. i3 Jer. i4a) Job 20-° if/ 5i:i(5). 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 i. 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.8, father, 3" Yahweh), but here by its object or aim, as in Isa. 53* the chastisement of [ == which should procure'} our peace. 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 (king), 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 (i Sam. 18™ Gen. 4814 3" Prov. io5 14*"' a/.), and espe cially in the moral and religious life (Jer. 3r> \j/ 119") . 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 Katitzsch's Heilige Schrift.
eral. Probity is the procedure of a judge, especially legal deci sion (Ju. 4" 2 Sam. 15-') or custom (i Sam. 21:; 10'-'), law (Dt. 4'). God's acts of moral government in the world (Isa. 26'-' i//io5;), 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.:! 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." 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 (Kx. 2'''), child (2 K. 4'-'°), young man ( Ju. i f) , or, without respect to age, servant ( 2 Sam. 9") . 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 Een-Sira (y-1--"' 9' 224 " 23--"-'' 25""-'' 26 36-'1--0 42;M1).— Discretion is cleverness in general (Gen. 3'), either for good (so throughout Pr.) or for evil (Kx. 21"). 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 (i2J 14'' 24s), oftener, as here, in a good sense.
5. Synonymous, quaternary-ternary (possibly ternary). The telic sense that the wise man may hear ( KY. Orelh) is not a correct rendering of the Heb. ; the hortative sense / (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 9° 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.4), 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. n14 12^ 2O18 24" = 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.2-4; 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. i334). — 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 (nr'ra) 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. ^y~ 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 33^ 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. 2fi, it has the
* This statement can, I believe, be substantiated. The Greek Mysteries, and such passages as Dan. 12°, 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 (rrrn) comes in like manner from a stem meaning ///;-;/ aside, and signifies some sort of deflected discourse. Its earliest use seems to be that of riddle, as in Ju. 14, i K. to1 /_ 2 (^ Q!) • in Kz. 1 7- it = parable, and in Nu. i 2s the parabolic or visional form of the ordinary divine communication with priest or prophet, in contrast with the direct speech which Vahweh employed with Moses ; in Dan. 8±! Antiochus Kpiphanes is de scribed as understanding hi doth, which must mean tortuous (mor ally tricky) words or procedures ; a shading of scorn and ridicule appears in Hab. 2'"', while in i// 49V>) 78-, 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.° 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 n.c. appears probable from the way in which the sages are spoken of in Pr. (especially 2217'-1), and Eccl. 12". and from the account given in /'// 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/1 be omitted, v.--4-'! 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 ivc To ajve discretion to the inexperienced, to the youth knowledge and insi- To understand proved, and parable, the words of sa-es and their aphorisms.
TO 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 \j/ 1 1 11". 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 Targtim), 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
1-7 II
be freely used, in certain circles, down to the second century i;.c. It is possible, however, that both in Kgypt and in Palestine it was, in this later time, though written, not pronounced, but replaced in reading by Adona\ (f/ie Lord}. — The second clause states, not formally but in substance, the antithesis to the first, the sense being : " absence of the fear of Vahweh (in fools) is negation (con tempt) of wisdom." The fool is primarily a person lacking in good sense in general, uninstructed (Isa. 35^), unskilled ( Pr. n '-"•'), or offensively ignorant (ios 2O:: zy'), 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 (irk. has a quatrain :
The beginning of wisdom is the fear of (loci,
And a good understanding have all they that practise it;
Piety toward (iod is the beginning of knowledge,
Hut wisdom and instruction the impious will set at naught.
The second line of this quatrain now stands in \p in1", 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 (ireek 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. iu~'-\
I. 1. The primitive sense of the stem L>.-~ is doubtful. In all Semitic languages it means to be like or cijnal, in Canaanitish (Heb., I'hoen.) z\-<> to rule, and in Arab, to stain/ erect, be eminent, superior. The original force is perhaps to be alongside of, u/>orc (cf. ^ = on, superposition, and at. juxtaposition), whence the notions of similarity and superiority. See Schul- tens. Pror., Fleischer (in Do.), C.es. Thes., l',I >]'..— ID sx^-" V": <P os fpa.ffi\evcrfv ei> ']ffparj\. possibly a variant reading (cf. lied. I1), but hardh an indication { lager) that the (irk. translator considered ihe paragraph v. to be n.m-Solomonic. — 2. The primary sense of the stem -:~ tlie Arab.) to be _//>;;/, fixed, whence the verb ,r,v/Vv/. retrain, and the noun fi.\-cJne>s of opinion. /v/iw/Vi/cV- — 3. ^-~'~ i> taken as - /;/A'/ K'isitom, by Clort, 'J'heol. Tijdsch., xix. ^So ( 1L doctrinai). as in Dan. I17; the Inf. occurs elsewhere in IV. twice, in 2I11 = = wise conduct: the latter sense is preferable here. =-^". is collective
I 2 PROVERBS
plu., a mass of equitable actions = equity ; syn. ii""ir, Mai. 26 Isa. 1 14 A different sense occurs in Dan. 11°. — (5 divides the v. into three stiches: d^affdai re O"r/)o0as \6ywv. voTJtrai re diKaiocrvvTji' aXr/Or), KO.I Kpifj.a KarevOvveiv. On <rrp. \oy. see Schleusner, Lex. What Heb. it represents is doubtful; Lag. P12DVD turnings (cf. Ez. 41"- 24), which, however, is not used of speech; Hei- denheim (in Vierleljahrsschr. f. theol. Forsch., ii. 401) 1D13 'tip?, the teachings of discipline, which hardly explains <S; vorjvai = SotrnV, d\T)6r) is scribal insertion (Lag., on the contrary, rejects SIK. as usual rendering), /car. = some form of T.J", perh. itt'^D taken as Inf., less probably Hif. nrn. 3L = $?. & to receive instruction and fear, where NnSm seems to be scribal error. & = $J, except that it prefixes i to pis. — Graetz inserts nnoin before tois (as in 6-;i), and writes SwnS and ons^D ODiJ'Si, making a tristich (so (5). — 4. D^NPC, written v>22. 32 Q>pS; the x is vowel-letter, and should be omitted. St. nns = open, wide (Gen. 927), then to be persuaded, enticed, seduced ; \~ifl open-minded, per suadable, simple-minded, inexperienced ; Ar. fata, = broad-minded, generous, and young man, fat' vd = legal decision (opening, expounding of a legal ques tion), mufti = judge. — |^ nnS; (5 iva 5y, free rendering. J§ !>JL'; (5 TrcuSt 5£ vty, in which v^ is perh. dittogram (Jag.), but may be orig. (Lag.) ; accord ing to Heid. it is miswriting of vtos, the two words IT. and v. being designed to form a parallel to plu. T. For nyj Graetz unnecessarily writes i>'3 stupid. Rashi i>*j = ij?uc cast out from or destitute of learning. — 5. A telic force for ysv is hardly supported by such a construction as that of i^ce" Isa. 13° in which the two clauses are closely combined. — niSann is denominative noun of action; (3 Kv/3fyvr]<riv, 3L gnbernacula, A26 gubernationes ; on jj11 see notes of Lag. and Field; Fleischer (in De.) compares Ar. tadbtr, Syr. duboro. — V.5 is regarded as interpolation by Ziegler, and as parenthetical by Wilde- boer. — 6. |i| nos^o; (5 ffKoreivbv \6yov; A9 fpfjitvelav, and so 5L Rashi, AV., against the parallelism, the interpretation, marg. an eloquent speech ; \\.V. figure. — 7. On the etymology of S>ix as = thick, dtill, stupid, see Fleisch., De., SS., BDB. ; Malbim, Heid. (in De.) sceptic, from ^Six perhaps. — Bickell {Wiener ZKAT. v. 86) adopts the reading of © on the ground that beginning of wisdom as well as beginning of knowledge 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 pj by homoeoteleuton. It is, how ever, equally possible that Pr. followed the i/'. Further, it is not clear what Heb. would be represented by (5 eiW/3aa e/s 6ebv, which Bickell renders by nvr> nx-r ; but eve. nowhere else represents "v, 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 P>'i in first clause because he had noon in second.
8-19. Discourse against organized robbery: exhortation to
listen to instruction (v.s ") ; the temptation to robbery and
murder (v.1"-14) ; warning against it, fate of the robber (v.1M1').
-The arrangement is in couplets, with varying number of beats.
I. S-y I 3
Bickell further arranges it in quatrains : v.s '•' • ly.
The text is not quite clear ; some good emendations are suggested by the Greek.
S. Hear, my son, thy father's instruct inn,
And forsake IK it the admonition of thy mother,
9. For a chaplet of beauty they will he to thy head, And chains about thy neck.
10. My son, if sinners entice tliee, consent thou not,* -
11. If they say: "Come with us, Let us lay wait for the <. perfect,' Let us lurk for the innocent [],
12. Let us, like Sheoi, swallow them alive, Sound as they who i;u down to the Pit;
14
15. [] Walk not in company with them, Keep thy feet from their paths; f
17. For in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird, —
1 8. 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.s is synonymous, ternary ; v.y synony mous, ternary-binary. On instruction see note on \v. Admoni tion ( Heb. tora, sometimes = law} is here synonym of instruction. Forsake, more exactly reject, repel. Chains = necklace. The address i/iv son — in\ pupil, is characteristic of chs. 1-9, and also, though less markedly, of 2217-24" ; 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 tliee,
11. 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;
14 PROVERBS
of the Book, io1-22IG. 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^, Sanh. 102 a) explains father here as = " God," and mother as = " Israel " (Ez. ig2) ; 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 preexilian prophets are to a less organized sort of crime ; they speak rather of legalized oppression of the poor by the rich ; see Am. 85-c Hos. 42 6s-9 71 Isa. i2;J S- lo1 Mic. 2- 33 612 f'3 Zeph. 33 Jer. 528 7«-n Ez. i8UM:! 223-<J; 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- IS) and the manner of I. (portrayal of open vice, chs. 5. 6. 7) favor the former view. Frank, compares BS. 3i25f.
10. The rhythm is irregular : the first clause is ternary, the second has only one beat ; the latter might be attached to v.11, or
* On the education of Jewish children see J. Wiesen, GescA. u. Me/A. d. Schul- wesen im talmud. Altcrthume ; for the Greek customs, Becker, Charicles, Eng. tr., pp. 217 ff. ; for the Roman, Callus, pp. 182 ff.
t See Ju. 8-c; Maspero, Anc. Egypt and Assyria; Becker, Char., 198, n.6, Gal., 429 ff-
I. 8-12 15
omitted as gloss, and "' 1Ul will then form the couplet. — Sinner* 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 1'r. (13' 23'"), the verb is common in all parts of ( )T. Instead of the conditional construction the (irk. has the hortative : let iu>t impious men lead thec astrav, but the conditional protasis is a natural if not neces sary preliminary to the hortative apodosis of v.15. — 11. A triplet in the Heb., ternary-binary-binary ; the verse division is doubtful (see note on v."1). The Heb. text instead of perfect lias I'/oix/, 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 l)e.) to mean a \outJi, a \oung blood. The adv. without cause must qualify the verb ////•/• ,- the translation innocent in rain (that is, their innocence does not save them), while grammatically possible, docs 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. i// ios. — 12. Synonymous, ternary. The word rendered sound is generally used of moral completeness = perfect (Gen. 6;| Pr. 2-1), and is here so taken by some (as Kamph.) ; but the parallelism favors the physical sense /// ///// liodily health and strength, equivalent to the parallel alive (as in l'>.. 15"', cf. the ritual use, Kx. 12'"' <?/.). The sense of the passage is: we will swallow them ((irk. 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 I'nder- world, the abode of the dead, good and bad, a cheerless place whose deni/ens have no occupation (Keel. 9"') and no relations with Vahweh* (Isa. 3<8ls) ; descent to it is a misfortune, since it
1 6 PROVERBS
deprives man of activity and happiness, but not a punishment ex cept when it is premature (<A 55~'i(~4))- — The second clause reads in the Grk. : and let us take away the remembrance of him from the earth (cf. \\i 341<i(17) IOQ'"'), 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. 619). The robbers have their own houses, are residents of the city. The Vrss. give slightly different readings ; (§:/<?/ us seize his costly possessions ; S : all his wealth and glory; 9T : 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. i68), then the thing assigned to the questioner by the divine decision (Jud. i3), then in general one's part in life (Jer. I325 i/' i6'5 Dan. i213) ; 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.1(MO). — 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
hut 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 26°) and the idea of resurrection arose (Dan. 12'-, cf, the doubtful Isa.
17
in the length of the preliminary description, v."M1, which might make the resumptive my son natural (Ikming.) ; but, on the other hand, as it is not found in (£> is unnecessary at the besiinnin"
* o o
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 lie regarded as a scribal insertion. It breaks the connection between v.1-' and v.17, the latter of which gives the ground (namely, the peril of the robbers' course) for the exhortation of the former ; and the section v.1:"ia is devoted to a description not of the character of the robbers (which is given in v."1-") but of their fate. Verse"'', further, is identical with Isa. 597:l, 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/6r/ as subject of make Jiastc, or we may insert the subject they (the robbers). — 17. Single sentence, ternary. This statement is introductory to that of v.'s, 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.'r 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 (/iegl., He.), but : go not with them, for, like silly birds, they fall into the net, and thou wilt be entrapped witli them ( Kw.. Xowack, Strack., a/., and cf. Srhultens). I'Vank. renders: for ^<i//ioi// success /V 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
I 8 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 (§, 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.18) 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. lo20. — 18. 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 iip 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.17. — 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 i5<J7 28™ Job 813 Hos. 4". The term gain has here the connotation of violence, injustice, as in Ez. 2 a13; the simple sense profit is found in Gen. 37-'° Mai. 3" Job 22". — 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. "M^, only here and 4°, lit. twisted, any adornment for the head, \>\y apparently a denom. from pj>' neck, a word whieh occurs in Jew. Aram, and Arab., but not in Heb. Graetz, with little probability, emends to nS^Sj perfect, & omits. — 1$ "'D1"; (5B TraiSeiav, (SNAC v6/J.ovs (and so 5?) ; the latter is prob.
T. 17-19 JQ
scribal variation (cf. 6'2"1), hardly (Lag.) rendering of >D'"j for ->Dr:; Heid. holds that it comes from a Pharisaic hand. — |Q :i ; (51! 5e£j7, (5 A ££77, prrh. free rendering (Heid.: allusion to phylacteries), perh. representing a variant reading, though the original in that case is not apparent. — 10, 11. (5 divides v.1"- n as follows : My son, let not impious men seduce tlice, Xor consent thou if they urge thec, saying, Come with us, go shares in blood, And let us Slide the just man unjustly in the earth. ISickell, omitting 1"a for rhythmical reasons, writes : Consent not if thev stir, come with its, Let us lav wait for blood, let us lurk for the innocent. The Ileb. rhythm is not satisfactory, hut it is hardly improved by these variations. I>ickell's omission of "'" is unwarranted, and the resulting form is not good, either rhythmically or rhetorically. (5 is rhythmically better, but its rendering of 11) is partly incorrect, partly free. fi) may be retained if we suppose lob to be purposely short, and take n as couplet: If they sav, come with us, Let us lay wait for tlie perfect, let us lurk for the innocent, or, if we throw out lnh- 1I(', and part of 1Ia, and take the rest as couplet. It is hardly possible to recover the original form. — 10. ID =N; (5 /J.T/ = \v. — 1) N3> (from nax), in which the N and 2 have changed places (full form rasr), or the N is the writing of an Aram, scribe for n, the initial N of the stem being omitted because it was unpronounced. The regular form rnxr is found in a number of MSS. (see l)e' Rossi), and either it should here be written, or we should, with l!i., write axr; in several MSS. the verb is understood as NO (xur, to"), which is improbable. — 11. After ncN' (5S1 have -|s, perh. repetition from following n?1"1. (f5 Trapa/caXeVwcrt may = '»s\ — |1) ."O^xj; (5 Kuivuvriaov, from 2~*" or "on (Lag.). — |1) 2^; Dyserinck, Theol. 'J'ijd. 17, 578, reads z~^, which suits the next clause; Oort, i/>., 19, 381, holds that the reading of v.1* (which ver. is clearly parallel to v.n) sustains 21 here. — %] r\i;>; seems to be intrans. (as apparently in $ ios 56") ; elsewhere the (^al is trans., and so it is here taken by Frank, who renders: w^e will set (a trap}. — |l] -p^; (5 &i>5pa 5i.Ka.Lov, either not having the ^ or (Lag.) taking it, according to the Aram, const., as sign of Ace. — $•) c:n, found in the Yrss. ($ s~v3 maliciously'), but superflu ous, and probably a gloss (Bi.). The whole clause maybe omitted without detriment to the sense, and with advantage to the rhythm. — 12. Jt) C;-S2;; (iraetx. Pi., as in 19-* 21-'. — As 2d clause (P has KO.I Upwuev avrou TT^V fj.vij/j.rii> e'/c yrjs, representing the Ileb. of \j/ 3417 ioyi:>, perh. editorial variation; Lag. suggests that, the Ileb. text of (5 being effaced, it took the appropriate passage from the Ps.; for It) o^cn may have stood c?";i; Heid. supposes that 15 may have had n-?xs": cr^-n^ s~r', improb. late Ileb. — 13. 11) ; "; <5 rrjv KTTJtriv avrou; I»i. syn, not so good a reading as that of 11). — 14. |i) s-i:-; (P115C have Impv., which is brttcr. though not absolutely necessary, since the asscrtory form of statement is possible; lii. emits T as marring the parallelism, but /// r lot is with us is hard. - - - (p'1 has a <loublct. a free and a literal rendering; the former is probably the original (Jag-. Lag.. Haumgartner), the latter a correcting gloss - 15. 11) •;::; C?Sl :> ru'. II-l' J.^ (= V), 252, 254, 295, 297, i'ie Mm1, lacking in (5SABC, and should probably be
2O PROVERBS
omitted. — J^ ro'rij sing.; plu. in (5ILSC and several Ileb. MSS., the cliff, not appearing in script, defect. — pj "P13) lacking in 31 De'R 249. — 16. Wanting in the uncials of (§ (exc. NC. a A) and in Copt. (Sahiclic and Memphitic); Cod. 23 (of H-P) adds to it from Rom. 310 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 m & has N^U: (= ^p.% as in Isa. 59").' — 17. <§ prefixes ov; J5> has i instead of T, and for '$ m'ra plu. act. Part. pans. — $| mVo in sense of spread is difficult, the word elsewhere meaning scatter, -winnow ; Schult. here ventilatum; Rashi, in vain is (grain) scattered (on} the net. We should perhaps read pan nines (@ SIKTVO.) or -\ -lins a:n, which is phonetically not too hard. In Hos. 51 <Q renders '3 by ^Kreivetv, which is its expression here. — |$ Sj?j; plu. in ©IL^V. and 4 Heb. MSS. — 18. |§ I3i,v; <S (CieT^xoires; see v.11. |^ DST; (5Bal- 06wf (H-P 23 tu/zciTajj>) = a^a^, not so well. @, rendering Ufli"1 by BTjo-avpifrvtriv, adds /ca/cd as necessary comple ment. J5 appears to make v.18 a continuation of v.10 (Pink.) — 19. pj PUTIN ; <!§ Pnn.v, probably to be adopted; see 5* Nu. 2310 ^3787.38 73!"; -IN is not elsewhere used as = fate, the sense here required by the connection. — ft i^;3; (5 TV dffcjSe^ = nS,;3 (Jag.).
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--7, 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.2(Kil), and a contrast between the doom of fools and the happiness of the obedient (v.32-83). 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 [] f, And fools hate knowledge?
* The Heb. adds : /'// the city.
f The Heb. adds : and scoffers delight in scoffing.
I. 20-21 21
23. [] * T will utter my mind to you5 Will tell you my decision:
24. Because I have called, and ye refuse 1,
1 have stretched out my hand, and none regarded.
25. Ye have ignored all my counsel, My admonition ye have rejected,— -
26. I, in m\' turn, will lair^h in [the dav of ] your calamity, I will mock when your disaster comes,
27. When your disaster comes like a storm, And your calamity like a whirlwind. [J t
28. Then will they call on me, but I will not answer, They will seek me, hut 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 tho paragraph depends in part on the view taken of the relation between v." -•" and the following verses. If the former are held to contain an exhortation to repentance (v."la), 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.-:!, the repellant answer of the per sons addressed ; as the text stands, \v'4~;n constitute a separate discourse which states the result of disobedience. Unity of thought may be gained by omitting v.-;'a, and taking the whole piece as minatory, the connection being : you have turned a deaf ear to me long enough (v.~), I have lost patience and will tell you my decision (v.'") : because you have refused, etc. (\v'";l).
20, 21. Introduction: the publicity of Wisdom's appeal. -
Synonymous, ternary. After gateways the Heb. has /// tJie city her
22 PROVERBS
wonts 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 at the gates of princes, at the gates of the 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. g24 Isa. 12" Job 38'), sometimes of sorrow (Lam. 2i18), or general excitement (^ 78°-'), 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. f, and cf. Mic. i8 Isa. 2O2 Jer. 51 ; so also Socrates (Xen., Mem. I. i, 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 Koheletk, 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,
The exhortation in Prov. is not : put away all other gods and serve Vah\veh alone, or : bring offerings to the temple according to the Law, but : listen to reason and conscience, which are the voice of ( lod in the soul.
22-33. The discourse of wisdom in the received Heb. text falls naturally into two parts, an invitation, v." -;;, and a denuncia tion, v.1'^". The connection between the divisions is not clear (see note above on v.20'^). 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.21 ":> the condi tional form, the apodosis following in v.2ti, but against this is the form of the verbs in v.-4'-5. 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.2:\ or, what seems most satisfactory, omit v.2;'a ; v.22-23 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.1), here those who positively love ignorance, and deliberately refuse to listen to instruction in right living. — The terms scoffing (or scorn} and scoffer (or scorncr} belong almost exclusively to the later relig ious vocabulary of Pss., Pr. ; they occur elsewhere only Hos. T' Isa. 2814-2" 2920 Job 1 6-", in which passages they express contempt in general ; in Pr. scoffer = bad man, one who turns his back on what is good (so i// i1), the special element of contempt not being significant ; the simple sense occurs in 20'. In i// IK;"' the reference is to apostate Jews or foreign enemies : in Pr. there is no reference to the nation Israel. — Fool ( Heb. kcsi/ ) is also a term of the reflective moral literature, occurring, in the intel lectual or ethical sense, only in Pss., 1'r., Eccl. (the verb is
24 PROVERBS
found once, Jer. io8) ; 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 resume of the preceding statement), there is ground for supposing v.~b 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.23) will then be Wisdom's declaration that she now utters her final word. The word rendered Jitter (RV. pour out) is a poetical synonym of speak ; so i5~28 \\i i92(3) y82 94* iQi1'1 145' ; 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 u13 i62 3L> 2$'2S 29" (so Isa. 40" the mind, judgment of Yahweh). Here the meaning is given by the parallelism : / will tell (or make known} my words = / 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.
25
quatrain, and (by obliterating the invitation of v.") gets rid of the break between v.----;!and the rest of the discourse, lint the substitution of incur for turn is arbitrary, v.-:k (which he omit>) is a natural introduction to the denunciatory discourse, and the omission of the subject (dullards} in v."!1 is, from the parallelism, improbable. ,§ makes \v";a conditional : // \c turn . . . / 7t<///, etc. ; but this construction only introduces confusion, since v.-"1 assume that they have not turned.
24-33. The denunciation, consisting of a direct address (v.-1""7), a description, in 3 pers., of the fate of the recusant (v.LN";l), and a statement of the contrasted positions of the ignorant and the wise (v.:J"-;!;:).
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.-1- -*• -" are couplets, v."7 is a triplet in the Heb. ; the Grk. converts v.-7 into a quatrain (or two couplets) by adding at the end when destruction comes upon \ou. Bickell, by omissions, substitutions, and transpositions, makes out of v.-(i- -7 a quatrain : I also will laugJi in (the day of} your calamity, wJien distress and anguish conic upon you, I will mock when \our fear comes as a storm and your desolation comes as a whirlwind. V.-7 in the Heb. is expansion of the predicates of v.-'5, 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.L'", calamity and disaster, are given in v.-7" '', and v.-7° appears to be an afterthought (a scribal insertion), it is better to omit this last. — The verbs in v.-1 -•' 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.23 is primarily go freely al>out and let go free, then neglect, avoid, ignore; the sense of "allowing full play or license " is found in Ex. 5'' 32 ;:> I'r. 29", that of " neglecting, avoid ing," in 41' 8:" 13" i5';j. — Laugh at (instead of laugh in, etc.), v.-1', is possible (den. 39"), but does not agree so well with the designation of time in the following clause. Afock is stronger than laugh, expressing bitterness or exulting derision. The / /// 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 \\\.. 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 (^ 3i8(9) 1 185). Befall is lit. come upon. V.270 is probably not original ; see note above. — The address is minatory. The offence (v.24 a) 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,
T. 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 \vorld, and is identical with (iod's moral la\v. -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 8"1)* ; 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.-s-'!1), and a statement of the general rule of compensation in life (v.;!- • '•"').
28-31. Resumptive description of punishment. — Well formed couplets, synonymous, ternary, except that v.;:lh 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" answers to v.-"--7, and v.29-30 to v.24-25; the conclusion is repeated in v:'1. The rendering seek early (AY.) or seek diligently (\\\'.} 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 Musoretic Hebrew text ; sec note on that verse below.
28 PROVERBS
gently;* but this derivation is improbable in the face of y1"' n27, Job 7"1-— the verb means simply seek, here parallel to call. The terms hated, chose not, would none, despised (v.'-"J- :!0) are synonyms, expressing indifference or hostility to the instructions of Wisdom. In v:*' ;u 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 6°, knowledge of the Most High once, Nu. 241G), it is per haps better to retain the general term knowledge, which in v.7 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.31, 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.30). 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. i510 i8-°-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 tirne of life,
lost ; * the cry of the sinner in v.'js is for deliverance from physi cal evil.
32, 33. The general rule. — Both couplets are synonymous, ternary. — 32. Indifference (r^w'S) = arerscness, apostasv, recu sance, refusal, is the "turning away" from instruction and conse quently from right living. Careless ease (r'S'w) is primarilv ////if/, 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.". — 33. Secure may mean, objectively, free from danger (as in y' Jer. 23'''), or subjectively, free from sense of danger (as in 3-'' Ju. 8"). The contrast with the slay of v."- favors the former meaning, but the second line (fear = apprehension) makes the latter probable. The sense of security is thus put over against the careless ease of fools (v."'1') . — Wisdom sums up by stating the gen eral principle that ethical folly is self-destructive (so 5- •-•'') ; 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 Clod. 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. cril} is visible "misfortune" or "mischief" ( v-'!>. :;n £H. is ^1 T£4 j ^-, 22' a!.}. 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.
,n
3O PROVERBS
sion and intensity (Bott., Now., Siegf., Strack in Comtn., Karth) ; its predicates are sing. exc. in 247.* — n;i->, 3 sing. fern. Qal energic (or possibly Q. plu. of pi) ; it is unnecessary to point njnri (as in Job 3923) ; Heid.'s emendation n.31 n'sina, adopted by Oort, is simple, and secures parallelism in the nouns, but loses it in the verbs. <S v/jLveirai (Lag. = ^.nn) is perh. Mid., prob. error for v/j,ve?; a Pass, is inappropriate and improbable. — 21. |l] rvcn; © reixtwv — nicin; so 5£ Nm'3 the tower (or castle or palace). The Partcp. *n never occurs alone, but always as predicate (jn 913 2Ol Isa. 22'2 Jer. 419 Ez. 71'"'), and it is doubtful whether it can here be taken as subst.; the reading D^cin (8-) is graphically not too hard, or, after ©, we may read nsn. — 1§ an""1; <S dwao-Tuv — c^i-' (here inappropriate) to which wapedpevei is added, appar ently to fill out the clause. Jag. thinks tirl . . . irapedpeijei add. from 83. — Bickell omits a"1-^' and icxn (both of which, however, are called for by the connection), and for "vya writes ci". We should rather omit "vyj, and mcN as glosses. The Vrss. (exc. <@) follow |^ with unimportant variations, and the glosses must have been early. — 22. inn ~\y (<S '6uov &v %p6wv) is always interrog. in OT. — On ovifl see note on v.4 above; the final letter of the stem is omitted because not pronounced — •nnsn Qal = 13?NP ; © exw"rcu> perh. free rendering, perh. (Lag.) scribal error for tpuvrai. — Instead of Perf. ncn we expect Impf. — (& acre/Sets yev6/j.ei>oi, perh. (Lag.) = ai*?'D3 onTiS (read C^rro) instead of $,} '01 cn1^. — 23. $fy Uirr; (5 Kal vwetiOvvoi iytvovro pos sibly = 13 irr (Lag., Heid., cf. Aboth, i, 11) or (Bi.) = I^-NII. But as 3in is prob. a loan-word from the Aram., found only Dan. I11 (Ez. i87 the noun is corruption, probably of air), its occurrence here is doubtful. If the line (v.23") be retained, the Impf. (which cannot have Impv. force) must be changed to Impv. m-' (the n perh. repeated from preceding nyi) ; so also Dyserinck. — J?3J gush, iS4; elsewhere only Hif. = speak, exc. in Eccl. lo1, where the text is doubtful. — 1£? ^nn; (5 e/x^s TTPO^S pTjatv, paraphrastic, perh. (Lag.) to avoid the expression TTVOTJV TrpoieaOai = 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.2G. — |^ UNcm; $5 Kal ovx vwriKova-are, free rendering of $?, or from some form of yss» or r\y; (hardly from 3Tpn, as in 2'2) ; 52u pnjcin «S, from irsxn NS. (SS2T render a'^pn by a verb 2 j)lu., assimilation of the translator. — 25. >nrm-", noun as obj. of ri3N only here, elsewhere (as v.33) with pref. S, and so perh. to be written here (Oort). The two nouns in this v. are plu. in <@£, the second in 1L, variations coming from script, defect. — 26. (5 prefixes roiyapovv as natural connective. — 1$ TN; © cbrwAet'i?, as Job 2i3 3<D12; Ileid., = i3N. — 5^J IHD; © SXefyos, perh. = -i-o (Gr.), which, however, is nowhere else so rendered (24— Job 30-* 3i29). — 27. K. nixr, O. ns'^c1, both from nsir; © freely &(pvu, and so <S, Rashi, and apparently 3C. — p? ino and TN%; (5 ^6pn/3os and Karaffrpo^r], rhetorical varia-
* On rv>SL"n, Eccl. ii" 212 «/., cf. Barth, A7/?., } 259 c, Comms. of Tyler and Palm, and Strack in Stud. u. A'rif., 1896, IV.
II. 3,
lions from the renderings in v.-';. — 5 attaches v.-7a to v.'-Vl, ami <S adds a fourth line (Jag, Lag.) in v.-7; these changes show tliat the old translators found difficulties in the rhythm. — I'.i. takes v.-l!- -'" in the following order: -'la- -71'- -W'- -"', tranferring HN'-JT to v.-1, throwing out C:-~D xbi in v.-7 as scribal repetition, and writing cr^u- instead of C:TN. Tlie rhythm thus gained is hardly better than that of |i), except in that it gets rid of the triplet. It would be simpler, if the triplet is judged insupportable, to regard v.-7'' as a gloss, the addition of a familiar expression (see note on this line above); ef. the similar expression in the triplet of \f/ n6'\ in contrast with the couplets of ^ i8:' •''•.— 28. <5 wrongly puts v.-Sa as direct address. — The verb ->n-j' occurs, outside of Job, I'ss., Pr., only in IIos. 515 Isa. 26''; 1L here mane consiir^ent (and similarly elsewhere in Pr., e\c. y10). Denominalives of the caus. stem (rarely of the simple stem) are frequent in Arab, and Ileb. (so zy-'-,') 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. ( >n the old ending j of the verb in •j:'nn;:"> see liottcher, I.ehrb., II. §950, 1047 f., and Toy, in Tram. Amer. Phil. Assoc.,Vol XI. iSSo. — After -:- (3 adds KO.KOL as subject, unnecessary general interpretative gloss, not (Lag.) addition of a Christian scribe to avoid contradiction of Mt. 7"- s. — 29. |1) r •;-<•, t^l! <ro- (piav, for which we should expect aiffOrjo-iv, yet <7. is not necessarily Christian (Lag.) or Alexandrian (Ileicl.); (5 A ira.i.oia.v, 1L disciplinam (= "Di^ v.'2).— |t? rs-"; (5B \6yov, peril, interpretation of an Alex, scribe. — 30. (3 has the two nouns in plu. (script, defect'). — 31. 11) .-'•>•;••:; 6 freely dcre/ie/as; •;: is used in ( )T. in bad sense, exc. Pr. 22-'. — 32. nj>u;", always in bad sense in ( )T. — <S dvd' wvyap r;5iKovi> vrjiriovs, taking "2 as trans. = turn aside, oppress, hardly = retribution (Jag. because of retribution for \_thcir treatment of ] children they shall be sluing, or from ns^-^ (Schleusn.) assailing, or (Lag.) ."•^-•30 injustice. — |t? ri^u1; © eferaa-^o? = r^xr or r^r (so £•") 5»T \vv- ^;v-or, free rendering of %). — |i] n;-i in:1:; (^ *', dfio/lus dirb wavrbs KCLKOV, where IT. is insertion for sake of definiteness. Cf. Clem. Alex., 162, 181. — In |1) r^U' and pxu; there seems to be a verbal play. — ^'J3 is adverbial. — n;-~ ^n; may mean disaster of harm, but ••:, = disaster, is not elsewhere defined by a noun of source.
II. A discourse setting- forth the blessing's conferred by Wis dom, the sage (and not AYisdom herself) being the speaker. It consists of one well-sustained sentence (K\v.), 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.1"4), comes the long apodosis (v. ''-'-), giving a double result: first, the knowledge of (lod and its attendant blessing (v/'"8, apparently an insertion or a parenthesis) : second
32 PROVERBS
(v.9"22), the comprehension of probity (v.!) -20), and the possession of wisdom as guide (v.1(l ll), which will deliver from evil men (v.12"15) and evil women (v.1&~la), and so lead to the reward of the upright (v.-1), in contrast with the fate of the wicked (v.22).
1-4. The condition of enjoying the protection of Wisdom.
1. 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}. 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. : If thou 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"4. — 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 clefi- 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,
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.1, 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 nwtJicr. Invoke, lit. lift up tlie 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. 41* Job 3-' Gen. 43>J;{ (some thing concealed and unknown), Isa. 45 ; (where the word = simply treasure, the adj. hidden being added) ; cf. Mt. 13"; 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 (divu^ for brain; the origin of this word is uncertain ; the adj. dam'ig means stupid. 1)
34 PROVERBS
II. 1. inN (poetic word) always in plu. in Pr., 121 being used for sing., II13 al. — 2. As to the force of S and Inf. here cf. Ew., § 280 d ; (5 vwaKovcre- TQI ffo<pias rb ols <rov; IL ut audiat sapientiam auris tua, perh. free transla tion, perh. taking I;TN as subject, as in Isa. %2S (Qal Impf.), in which case, though Inf. is possible, we should expect Qal Impf., since ftN never occurs as subj. with Hif. (apparently not in i/' io17) ; <§{£ render by the Impf. in con tinuation of the construction of v.1, perh. = a^'prn, a good reading, yet it is doubtful whether ©SC had a text different from that of f|J. — The Impf. ron continues the telic or ecbatic sense of the preceding construction; a i before it is appropriate but not necessary. ©JoJC render it by a Fut., li, by an Impv. © begins the apod, with v.'2. — v.2b is given by © in double form, first = j£, and then an improbable variation (regarded as genuine by Jag., Lag.) in which •ijaS is read instead of "pS, but the introduction of son is pointless, doubtless scribal error. — 3. >a cannot here = for (<5IL), nor can ax o = but (Hitz.), with supposition of a preceding neg. clause. @T omits •o and inserts i before ax; J5 has simply &np.i% perh. free rendering of |^. There is no good ground in ancient authorities for omitting T, and it must be taken ( = yea\ as emphatic introduction of the new conditional clause. — 1§ ON; {£ a.v, and so Ue'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 2T comes from an old midrash (Norzi), and the omission of o is a consequence of free citation. — 1§ nra; <@ ffofiiav (instead of <t>povr]<ris'), which Heid. takes to be Alexandrian Jewish, and Lag. Christian. — Some MSS. of© (Bal"»g-i»f- A sup ras Ca) and edd. (Comp. Aid. and J511 obel.) add at end of v.3 TTJK 5£ afodr)crii> fijr^o-ijs /xe7(£Xr? rrj 4>uvfj, which Jager considers to be the true <8 text of1', = Sij Spa c»pan njnnSi; in favor of this is its divergence from J§. Against its being the true text of Pr. is perh. the parallelism and the occurrence of s«pa in the next verse. — Gr. suggests, with little probability, that 3b may be dittogram of 2b.
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.5), for Yahweh is the source of wisdom (v.G), and the protector of the upright (v.7 8). Apparently an editorial insertion. The proper apodosis to v.1"4 is v.9ff : if thou seek wisdom, then (v.10) 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 shall 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
y. He lays up deliverance for the upright,
Is a shield to those who walk in integrity;
8. lie guards the paths of probity,
5. The fear of Yahweh. Synonymous, ternary. The divine name God {Elohini) oecurs elsewhere in Pr. four times, 2'" 3' 25- 30'-'; the expression knowledge of God in OT. only here and Hos. 4' 6U (Nu. 2410 knowledge of the Most Jligli}. In the preexilian literature Elohim is used as proper name only in the Elohistic narrative (Am. 411 Hos. i2:H4) seem to be citations from this nar rative), not in any prophetic writing except in the passages above mentioned (not in Hos. 4' 6'; 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 sJialt (which implies determination on the part of the speaker, or else is hypothetical) we may write wilt (which ex presses futurity simply). Gf. note on i:. — 6. Synonymous, ter nary. Yahweh the source of wisdom. This is stated as the ground of the affirmation of v.', and brings this paragraph into
36 PROVERBS
logical relation with v.1"4. 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 22", and in a few late v/^s, 105'' up72-88 138*. — 7, 8. Synonymous, ternary. Yahweh protects the upright. The word rendered deliverance occurs, except Isa. 2S29 and (the textually doubtful) Mic. 69, 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. 2o5 i K. g4 i// ioi2 Pr. 19*. - 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 of probity 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 52 287 Dt. 33° \l/ iiQ33 al. ; in the latter sense by the person or concrete thing to be defended, as in 211 4° Isa. 26" 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", not guarded, though the way of a man is said to be scrutinized (Job i$-7) or controlled (i// 139") by God. As the text stands, paths of probity must be regarded as a poetical variation of paths of the upright (cf. v.-°), equivalent to the parallel wav of tJie pious (Heb. his pious ones, RV. saints"). On probity see note on i:;. — The pious man (~*C~) is he who is characterized by kindness, lore ('"""). 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. 14"'' 25'" Lev. 20''). The substantive is used of kindness shown to man by man (Gen. 24lL>) or by God (Ex. 34", often in Pss.), whether of man's acts toward Gotl (Hos. 64-'1 <// 89-'' 2 Chr. 32;!- 35-° Xeh. i314) is doubt ful. The adj. is used twice of God (Jer. 31- ^ i8'-'"": = 2 Sam. 22'-'"), 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 i// i<S'-''(-';', with the. kind (merciful, good) thou wilt show thyself kind. The adj. occurs first in the second half of the seventh century (Mir,. 7- Dt. 33s Jer. 3'-), and elsewhere only in late poetry (i Sam. 2'' 2 Chr. 6" Pr. 2s 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 Kpiphanes 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 (i Mac. ^'- 'AmSiuot, Hasidean or Asidean).* In some Pss. ( -<>' K(>- i lO1' ,i/.) it means pious Israel in contrast with surrounding heathen oppressors or
* Cf. \\Vilh;msen, Die P/ia/'isacf u. d. SaducAa / Schurcr, IIi.it. .'/ the '}'. 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 (gu s A a-uvrjo-ds (frbfiov, for which Clem. Al., 121, has wjycrets In v.5b ©B = ?£?; Cl. Alex. K. a.tff6t)<Tiv 6da.v evpri<Teis (and so Orig.), free ren dering, probably original (Lag.). — 6. ^ v:r; <SB airb irpoauTrov af/rov = vjsr, apparently scribal error. — 7. K jasi, Q (and some MSS.), better, fOi"> (1L custodief), since the couplets appear to be independent statements; <@ K. Orjffavpifei, = pj Kethib' (not = las), as in i18. — 1$ nv^.-i; <§ (MSS.) ff<i3T7]pia.v, 5L salutem, Cl. Al. jloriOeiav, @T in MS. (cited by Levy, Chald. Wbch.*) "?•}, in Bibl. Rab., 1568, "nap /^#, in ]>uxt., Lag. -pnar glory.— f$ fir, rendered by vb. or partcp. in the Vrss. : <@ vwepainrie?, 1L et proteget, S?2C V'Doi; |Q is curt poetic construction, instead of the ordinary Kin *c; we expect a verb — protect (but the stem does not occur in OT. in this sense) or a noun = protection as object of IDS' (but no such noun suggests itself); '3 cannot be object of "> — JJJ ah vp^nS; © rrjv tropeiav avrCiv = an^SnS (Vog., Schleusn.), as in i/' 67 (68)25. — 8. $% li'j1', equivalent proposition represented as purpose or result; <§ has i and Perf., and we may here read Impf. ; Gr. •isiV, but this does not accord with b. — fQ asu'3 is given in all the Vrss., except that (@ (except Cod. 23) has plu. — K. ipn sing.; Q and many Ileb. MSS. and all Vrss. have plu., as the context requires; 9T omits the suffix. — Oort, to secure perfect parallelism, reads : n2w'1> iion "pii and {that they may) pre serve the way of piety 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 iiDn TIT is hard; it would be easier to change !OD-'3 to B">:y or apis (cf. v20).
9-22. The proper conclusion to the condition stated in v.1-4 : first, the comprehension of righteousness (v.!) 2U) , then the guid ance and protection of Wisdom (v.1(MO), with the reward of goodness and the punishment of wickedness (v.21 -). — V.20 should probably be transposed so as to stand next after vA 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 of good, giving the first
IT. 9, 20
39
three nouns in the order in which they occur in i\ 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 i3) 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.-°, and keep my ways in 8"-. On the nouns in first line see notes on r. — Path (21:'-lfS 4u--° 5° -1 ^ 23') 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.M : " if thou earnestly seek wisdom, thou shall be morally enlightened, shall 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 shall see note on v/' above. — 20. Synonymous, ternary. The purpose that thou maycst walk involves result. The verse thus expands the second line of v.!l. — At the end of first line the Heb. has simply the word good (plural) ; the parallelism favors the render ing good men (i\Q\.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, Tightness (see note on r'). The epithel 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 ihe different periods of Heb. hislory. 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 rictorv, as in Ju. 5" i S. i27 Jer. 5 110. The purely ethical conception grew with the general ethical growth of the people ; and in the pro phetical and later books (see, for ex., K/. iS) tends to become predominant, though the primitive idea lingers in places. In I'r. righteous = morally and religiously good in general ; the word (\\ke good a.v\& perfect} expresses not absolute sinlessncss, but gen eral rectitude. In late exilian and postexilian writings it is often
* So Pluto and the Stoics.
40 PROVERBS
a synonym for the faithful part of Israel (Isa. 53" 26* \f/ 3i18'19' 94^ «/.). — The Grk. reads the verse as a conditional sentence, and connects it immediately with v.19 : 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.10) and keeping watch over it (v.11), saves the man from the influence of bad men (v.12~15) and bad women
(v.10~ly).
10. For wisdom shall enter thy mind,
And knowledge shall be pleasant to thee,
11. 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 —
1 6. To save thee from the lewd woman, From the harlot with her cajoling words,
1 7. WTho forsakes the friend of her youth, And forgets the covenant of God.
1 8. 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 14"''. Knowledge = wisdom ; see note on i2. — 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. 10-11 41
sions in OT. for me (or, myself), t/iee (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 mint/, express any intellectual power. — 11. Synonymous, ternary-binary. On discretion (or, insight) ax\& discernment (or, intelligence) see notes on i4 and 2-. — 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.;> •-") ; 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.L>1) ; 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. 3i:!:! Ez. 36-'). — The Grk. takes v.10 as condition, and v.11 as its result : 10. for if wisdom enter . . . and knowledge seem beautiful ... n. 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.11 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.'~ we more naturally expect in v.10 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 \ parentheses; v.1- is logically connected with v." (see below). - Jiickell, in order to gain an additional couplet (an omission being indicated, as he thinks, by a discrepancy of gender in the Heb.) expands v.1" as follows : for wisdom shall
knowledge unto thy soul \jhall come, instruction sliall />e goo,/ /<> thy mind, and learning to '/iy 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 (in) is used in OT. of any sort of badness, of body (Gen. 4i3), of appearance or deportment (Ex. 2i8), of expe rience or fortune (Jer. 4°), 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 (Sits) ; it is here the morally bad. Cf. note on the subst. evil, i33. — A wrong thing (rTCBnn) 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. f reward (which = refractory, perverse, ob stinate) ; it may sometimes be properly rendered \yyfalse, 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
n. ii-i4 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 (l)t. 9' i K. 9' i C. 29'"), and then only in the Wisdom books; it always has a religious coloring, except in Job 6"', and, perhaps, Keel. 12"'. 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. 31;'~21) rather than the result (as in 41;|) ; 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. 2-' 42" i// 271 Pr. 41S 6-:! 13" i613 Isa. 58'° .// iSLS(-;" Keel. 214 Pr. 20'-1"), 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 cril (or, wickedness}. — The rejoice and delight are a heightening of \\\z 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
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 i11"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 322, 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.14 ; they occur in OT. in the ethical sense only. Crooked (c?|2$?) is that which departs from the right way (allied to false) ; outside of Pr. the adj. occurs in Dt. 32' ^ i82G(27) (=28. 222r) ioi4, the vb. in Mic. 3° Isa. 59* Job 920. Iniquitous also (n^D, found, outside of Pr., only in Isa. 3O12) 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 preexilian 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. n1 (Jephthah's mother) i K. 31G (the two women who appeared before Solomon)
* Cf. Strack, Stud. it. Krit., 1896, IV.
I i. 14-16 45
Hos. 31 ( Hosea's wife), by the prophetic denunciations of the crime (Hos. 4- Jer. f Mai. 3''), by the laws against it (Ex. 20" ])t. 22 Lev. 20'"), and by the employment of the terms harlotry and adultery (in Pent. Judg. Chr. Ps. Hos. Mic. Jer. E/..) 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 (^ itf 2^-<] 25^'* 26s-1- 421M4), based on' life in Jerusalem and Alexandria in the third and second centuries i:.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.1-) she will sai'e. The terms lewd woman and harlot are both lit. strange woman (or, stranger}. M'itli her cajoling won/s, 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."
46 PROVERBS
For the first term (-IT) see i K. 3'" Dt. 25-'' Nu. isl ; Ex. 30™ Lev. 2212; Pr. 61 ii15 i410 27- (this third sense is found only in Pr.). For the second term ('"5:) see Gen. 3i15 Job 19" ^ 698(9) Eccl. 62; Dt. i5:i i K. n1; Pr. 2y2. 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; f 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.1G 17 not with v.11, 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 far from 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 ana1 forgets the divine covenant. This is a bit of rabbin ical or Alexandrian allegorizing, while in f 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 (^K) see i628 17° Mic. f Jer. 34 "A5513(14); the sense guide, instructor, is not found in OT. The expression of our verse is perhaps taken from Jer. 3", where the adulterous spouse Israel, charged with her infidelities by Yahweh, is exhorted to cry to him : my father, thon art the friend of my youth, that is, "the husband of my youth (cf. Hos. 27-15(<J-17) Ez. i643) whom I have forsaken for others" ; but while the infidelity
* Cf. Buxtorf, Le.r., s. v. >cnx, for the use of Aramaean woman as = foreign woman and harlot. On the OT. sense of strange woman sec Kuenen, Einl., iii. { 97 ; Wildeboer, Lift, des A T., § 23, Anm. 7 ; Bertholet, Die Stellung der hr. 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).
u. 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 (Kx. 20"), 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 (Irk.) 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. Mai. 2U). 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. 24°" 29"' i Sam. 2$w Dt. 21'-), purchase- money (inohar) being paid the father (Gen. 34'- i Sam. 18-'); sometimes the man, in the presence of witnesses, affirmed his pur pose to take the woman as wife (Ru. 4'"~I:1) ; a feast was some times held (Ju. i410 Tob. 8ut), and the bride was led to the hus band's home in procession (i// 45"- r'<1:j-1(i> cf. Alt. 25M").* A trace of a religious ceremony appears in Tob. y1' '-', where Raguel takes his daughter by the hand and gives her to Tobias as wife, saying : according to the law of Moses take her to thy father (there was also a written contract, Tob. 7U(lt;)) ; 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. t — 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 \\Vtxstein, in De.'s Comm'y on Canticles; K. Budde, in the AVra \Vorld, March, 1894, and in his Comm'y on Cant., in Marti's Hand-Commentar ; C. Siegfried, Holiesiicd, in Nowack's Handkomnictitar.
t See the Talm. treatises, Kctiib. and Kiddush., J. F. Schroder, Satziingen Gebrauchc d. talm.-rab. Jiidcnthmns, and I, Abrahams, Jcii'isk Life in the Middlt Ages, 1896.
48 PROVERBS
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.18a 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 3O23), would hardly be called the house of one person ; the rendering she . . . together with her house, that is, with her visitors (Bottch. 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 (i?10, used in Job 2i13 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. i// 913(14) Pr. 55 7*}. 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 (29* ^917<18)) ; long life is the reward of the good (3™), but the days of the wicked shall be cut short (iow). 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 in Job i413 26s-6 is there a suggestion that the power of the God of heaven may extend to the Underworld). Death is the physical
II. iS-iy 49
event which transfers men from the sphere of activity to that of inactivity, where there is no relation between man and God (Isa. 3S18-19). 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. 32"~:!" Isa. i49), sometimes as not con tinuing (Job 31;J-1!) \p 88r>t(i)). The rephaim are without mundane power or significance (Isa. I41"), and the pious among them cannot praise God (Isa. 3818 i// 8S10(ll)). Yet they were popularly thought of as being gods, or as possessing supernatural powers (r Sam. 28" Isa. S19, 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. f — 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 I47"1- Eccl. 9° Ben-Sira 17"").
9. 11) 2'->tr^ (I3 s^r?) is rendered as noun (S£ in s/,jf. fons//: and so (!r.) by all Vrss. except pcrh. (!?, whose KaropOucreis may he noun — '2 (so I, at;. Bailing.)* or vcr'> = ^<7" s/"J/f cs/ii?>/is/i : the noun-form occurs elsewhere only once, \f/ 96- (Ileh. 97-), and then sing. = p:" ; between noun and verb it is hard to decide. The text of fl> presents a serious rhythmical difficulty
* Whether the term has any etymological connection with the gentilic name Rephaim (Dt. 211 ,;/.) is uncertain. Cf. Schwallv, in /. / 7'.. iS<)S, j. pp. I.-P ft'.
f In the obscure passage Isa. 26I;» it is doubtful whether the reference i- national resuscitation (as in Kz. 37) or to some sort of appearance of the rephaim on the earth. E
50 PROVERBS
(in I3b, in which the same three nouns occur, the rhythm is good). The diffi culty may be removed by writing -IDSPP, from which D-C'C might come without difficulty, especially if the scribe had i3 in mind. Gr. 'B"n t3DS»3. — 10. $ "o; (@ (av yap = SN ^. — $ p^; (@B rrjv didvotav, (5s' A <rV Sidvoiav. — $ a]?;1'; (5 Ka\7) e'tvat S6^. — The masc. vb. nyj1 with fern. subj. njn is poetic license, as in 810 14° 2925 (where Bi., who here by a long insertion introduces a masc. subj., retains the masc. verb); 'i is construed with fem. predicates in Isa. 47™ i/' I396 Dan. I24, 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 E\v., § 174^. — 11. $? HOTS; <S (foil, by S) /3ou\7? KaXrj, to indicate that "o is here used in good sense. Similarly for $ nijan (S (and so £•) has evvoia off la. — On the suff. in ns-\sjn see Ew., § 250 a, Ols., § 97 «; the n;_ is for ruj_, in which n is vowel-letter, and j the verb-ending (survival of the Energic form). — 12. $? YvsnS; <5 IW piiff-rj-rat ye, apparently = $; S> xsanni, & 'n ", 1L «/ eruaris, perh. Impf. instead of •? and Inf., perh. free rendering of $; Bi. writes -f^r on the ground that this paragraph is not a consequence but an explanation; on this point see notes on vA y-\ better taken as subst. defining TH; the Vrss. render it by adj. Gr. p-:? — PiD2np; @BNACai. ^Siv viffTov (and so &11 marg.) ; H-P 23 (=Cod. Venet. San Marco, V) oiavrpawiva (and so S11) =$. — 13. © begins the v. with u, apparently reading NH, a particle which does not occur elsewhere in Pr, and would not be appropriate here. On the vocalization of the art. (i) see Miklol, 53/>, and on the accentuation see Bar-Delitzsch, note on this verse. — In 2 cl. instead of S and Inf. (PD^) S3TIL have i and vb. or partcp. and walk, free rendering which gives the sense of $ correctly, substi tution of the coordinate for the subordinate construction. Bi. here retains $. — 14. H-P 23, 68 al. prefix w. — $ >"> nr;^; @ tiri KaKols. — $ r^anr, written defect, in some MSS., taken as sing, in <5S£ 'St. —The second y->, supported by all Vrss., is somewhat hard. Gr. regards it as dittogram, but the rhythm calls for a word here; Dys. emends to "^, 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 and per verse in their ways, or a 3 may be prefixed to crvnmx, or the i omitted (so Oort) before BnSjrs; but the order a^rpy 'is (or -1x2) is not quite satisfac tory (cf. io» ig1 28" 18); Dys. (followed by Kamp.) writes a^'pjrn (as in io9), a phonetically easy emendation, the s 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 A9), which apparently did not have 3 before ";s, whose paths are crooked and their ways iniquitous ; the order in that case hardly makes a difficulty. — Field suggests that H et infantes gressus ear urn may have been influenced by A KCU 6pv\ov<ri.v, cf. Job if where <@ 6pv\^a (or fytfXXijjueO = !$ s-s by-word. — 16. © has a text wholly different from that of $ : roO paKpav ue Tron/crai a7r6 65oO evdeias xal aXX<5- rpiov T?)S SiK-aias yv<i>;j.i}S — a consequence attached to v.15 insteal of a new
IT. 9-19 5!
paragraph. This is nut a scribal heterogram of the particular words of It), 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 vit fj.r) ere KaraXdpfl /ca/cr? /3ou\7? (of. BS 71). The connection favors the personal picture of fij; the reading of (5 illustrates the manner in which the expounders and scribes, in Jerusalem and Alexandria, sometimes dealt with such ethical texts as this. — 5 writes Impf. at the beginning (and so Bi.), inserts x.-"rn as subj., omits m; (for the sake of brevity), and for It) np^nn has Nrrir. possi bly = n-j^nn (Baumg.), though this is generally rendered by <]S~N (Pink.'). Bi. omits nnr.x on rhythmical grounds, but this seems hardly necessary. — 17. ft) IPX; (5 8i.§affKa\iav (<&v /j.d&T]<riv), probably in accordance with iis allegorical conception of the passage (cf. Aram. J2six), and so {T'Sux- 1! ; J5 Nj'ai:: rearer, educator, A T]ye/.LOi>a, Q ^yov/j.evov, TH dncein. Though no \"rs. renders by friend, this sense is assured in Ileb., and is the most appro priate here. The st. = come or bring together, whence Semitic thousand, Ileb. leader (head of clan or tribe), Ileb. Ar. friend, Arab, compose (a book), Aram, teach : the origin of the senses o.v (X. Sem.) and ship (Ass., Aram.) is not clear. — ft) rrnSx m:; G 8ia6^K-qv Oeia.v = C'nsN o (and so <T Bi), a better reading than that of ft). — 18. ft) -nu: (mil'el) ; 6BaL tOero — nrr; (@^ upia-ev; *» she forgets (r;"j — nnx1, repeated from preceding v.) the threshold!, (=-;r2-;) of her house and the ivay (=-m,N) of her paths : 2T, freely, u<hose house is in the depth of deatJi ; IL inclinata est . . . tfomits cins. It) nnr, fern., can hardly stand with masc. r"3 (if '2 were meant as collective, it would probably have a plur. verb); nn'J1 (st. third n), though it occurs in Oa! only once, and then not certainly (Isa. 5i-3), may be taken as = inclines, sinks (Ibn Janah), or we may write nnr (cf. ^ icy"'11) ; perh., however, we should read rru. — |t) 2^X3T \x; (5 /J-era rCiv •yrftevuv (H-P 103 ^rjtvuv') — '-> .~N; 7177. is rendering of ">, in 91?, elsewhere of 2~N (Jer. 32-') or six 'ja (i// 492'3)); in WS y1 yrjyevovs TrpwToirXdffTov is Adam. C'an yrjivui/ earthv be the true reading here and 918? cf. yrjivos, 2 fob 4''-' = ia"2. (5 has the doublet irapa. T£ q.5rj = SiXU' SX (cf. 918). The meaning of the stem in 'i is not certain, possibly = weak, powerless (cf. Isa. I41'1); but this can hardly be the signification of the gentilic "i. — 19. On the ending in pavj"1 see critical note on I-8. — 1'or v.I;)a (5 has two readings: one, which appears to be the earlier (so Lag.) takes UJ'1 as pass., Ka.Ta.\a.fj.'^6.vovTai, and for rimx has virb fviavruv = rij"'. or 'ni11 (cf. I K. 85!l where ev. — sv), scribal errors, the lattir. perh., from 3-; the other is identical with It) except that for C'-n it puts evQdas (C?v dyadds), which maybe a moralizing interpretation after the manner of v.1'1 '•. or perh. (Lag.) a marginal note, or (ISaumg.) a familiar term, which has ejected the original word. Xeither of these readings offers any advantages over that ol |t). — For 1i) irs" 5 has ]^^r^, remember, wliicli in the connection yields no sensj, and is emended by Lag. to p;^i~: attain. (L omits sutf. in "-x^, and, by way of interpretation, adds zTa after ji3jr\
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.7, on perfect, note on i12. 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 (i S. 2619 2 K. 517) 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. 2° Ez. 4713ff Nu. 36° Ru. 4° and the genealogies in Chron. and Neh.), infringement on which was regarded as a great crime (Mic. 22 Dt. 19" 2y17 Pr. 2228 2310). Israel, and not any other nation, was Yahweh's own pos session and property (Ex. i9r> Dt. 14" 2618 $ i354> cf- Tit- 2" i Pet. 29). Thus the expression dwell in the land (^ $f -1 '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.
53
doubtful, but in OT. it commonly means morally bad. It is also a forensic- term (the opposite of /V/v/), signifying one tchosc case in IctK' /.v bad, wrong, or aJjiiJ^cd to be had (cf. Kx. 2'') ; the Causative of the verb = adjnJge one wrong or guilty in court ( i 7'"' Kx. 221''l-") Isa. 50'-' Job 15'''). 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 (^ if 58"l(1" 75H|!1> ii9';i «/.). 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. 9'-" Jer. 3-"), but it is extended to include faithlessness to duty and right in general = transgressors. In the Pss. it sometimes means Jewish apos tates (i// 25'''). — The verbs in the verse express violent extirpation by any means, by the hand of man or Cod. The first (rn~) 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. 7"° al.) ; the second (nc:) is once used (I)t. 28m) 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. It) rrsvj -p-<; (5 rpifiovs ayaOdi, according to Lajj. false reading of the ahhrev. 'TJ. — 21. The (Irk. MSS. exhibit two renderings, with a number of verbal variations. The one which appears to be nearer to li), writing Xpytrroi and S.KO.KOI, is found (as doublet) in ( 'ompl. Aid. and (with ubel.) 5", in (5 A (?<*(£* >••• ", II-I' 23, 103, 109, 147, 248, 252, 253. 254. ,!/., a t,'roup wliieli su^ests a combination of the recension of I.ucian and some other recension; the other, writing evdfts and oaioi, is the text of &'\ and appears to show the hand of an Alexandrian revisor (see note on v.19). — 22. For 1») 2'i^-i (p has odol aaepuv (<$ -v 6^01 Se do-.), as in ^ il!:l (Ja.i;."). free or carch-ss transcription of a C.rk. scribe, peril, corruption of on (Held.).- -11) i--\ ',>al
54 PROVERBS
Impf., must be taken as indef., but the parallelism suggests a Fas<;. , as all Vrss. have it (though this may be free rendering) ; we may point as I Inf. (so Bi.), a form which, however, is not found elsewhere; Gr. irw, Ilof. of mj; Oort, Frank., Nif. of r.D:. — Bi. omits V"^- (as perh. gloss to nj?;;), which in fact does not appear in the similar passages ^ 37<J' • -S-38; yet such determi nations of ma by nouns of place occur elsewhere (Jer. 3519 Ex.. 25" Lev. I710), and both rhythm and syntax appear to demand a word here, njsc 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 r~) ; 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 cooperation 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 (\VS. 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 \vliat 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, 2'°) 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.M") consists of exhortations to follow the teacher's instruction (v.1'-) and observe kindness and truth (v.: 4). to trust in Yahweh and fear him (v.vs), and to honor him with one's wealth (v.'-'-1"). The second (v.11--") sets forth the value of divine chastening (v.11-1-), the preciousness of Wisdom (v.13'18), and her function in creation (v.111 -"). The third (v.21-35) describes the safety which comes from discretion (v.-'1 -') and from the protec tion of Yahweh (v .-'•"'• -'"), enjoins neighborly kindness (v.-:";l). and sets forth the retribution of the upright and the wicked (v. -'"'•'). The third approaches, in parts (v.-7~;r'), 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.
V. i-io.
But keep niv commandments in mind;
56 PROVERBS
3. Let not kindness and faithfulness leave thee — Hind them on thy neck [] * —
4. So wilt thou find favor and good < 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 i8. 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. iS20), even though he has been deceived by Yahweh (Ez. 14°) ; the sage finds his word in his own mind — in the prophet this is a crime (Ez. is23). 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).
in- i-3 57
2. Single sentence, which may be taken as binary, or as quaternary- ternary. The reward. Pong life is considered in ()'!'. to be one of the chief blessings of man's lot (Kx. 20'-), including, as it does, the idea of happiness (so that the first line might be rendered : a Ion* and happy lift'}. Sheol offered nothing — the longer one lived on earth the greater one's opportunities for work and enjoy ment (Isa. 3SU' 65-").* Peace is originally wholeness, completeness of condition. It is used of bodily health (Gen. 29'''), of political concord (Jiul. 417), of friendly relation between men (i// 41'''""), of national tranquillity and safety (Jer. 6" 33'''), 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 tlice, lit. add to tJice.
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. 24''-' Kx. 34" Dt. 7''' iff 25"' Sj1"'1 Pr. 14- i6(1 20JS a!.} as the expression of perfectly good relations between man and man, or between man and God. Kim/ness is friendly good feeling and the conduct appropriate thereto (see note on 2s), love of man for man (Ksth. 217) or of man for God (Hos. 6r'). It is not properly mercy, compassion, clemency, for giveness (for which ideas Heb. has other expressions, Dt. 13''' Kx. 34" Dan. f/1*')- Vahweh is good and kind to Israel because he loves the nation — that is the normal condition of thing:, ; and
* Cf. Cic. De