PROVERBS, Book of, a portion of the Old Testament. Date and Authorship.— The hook of Proverbs is the subject of much dis cussion in reference to date and authorship. The old view that King Solomon was the au thor of nearly or quite the whole of the book has been generally abandoned. Two classes of views are widely held at the present day. One is that all of the book or all but the last two chapters was written and compiled before the Babylonian exile. The amount attributed to Solomon varies, but is in any case an ap preciable quantity, forming the kernel of the whole. The other view is that most or all of the writing and compilation are to be dated long after the exile, little or no part having been written by Solomon. The completion of the work of compiling is assigned to various dates from about 350 to 180 s.c., the whole composi tion of the book being supposed to cover not more than a century. There is a growing tend ency toward the second view, which is held by most of the very recent writers on the book.
Arguments for Late The chief argument in favor of the late date of the book is from language, that is, the occurrence of a considerable number of words found elsewhere only in late Hebrew and of words borrowed from the Aramaic. But the number of words which can with certainty be assigned to these two classes is much smaller than is often claimed. Historical indications also urged for the same conclusion are that the book makes no mention of polygamy and idolatry, which were common before the exile, and that it as sumes the existence of a distinct class of sages, known as wise men, who are hardly mentioned in the historical and prophetical books before the exile, nor are any results of their activity apparent. These are arguments from silence and therefore, of course, to be used with cau tion. The resemblance to the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, which is also urged, has little bearing on the question, in view of the well known habit of the author of Ecclesiasticus of borrowing from other books.
Arguments for Early In favor of the early date, the chief argument is the thought of the book. The oft-repeated teaching of the book concerning the problem of God's govern ment of the world is this: the good will prosper, the wicked will be punished, in this life. This is generally acknowledged to be the pre-exilic doctrine, while the dominant view of the exile and after the exile is quite different. It is not difficult, however, to suppose that the pre-exilic doctrine had persisted after the exile, in certain quarters, in face of the teaching then current that the wicked prosper and the nghteous suffer. Further, the frequent allusions to a king sug gest the early date. Many passages speak of him as the promoter of justice and none refer to him as a foreigner. After the ex
ile the sovereignty of Palestine was in the hands of foreigners, with little justice in their administration. The syntax of the book, also, is of the classical, earlier type. The titles in chapter 1, I; x, 1 and xxv, 1, which attribute por tions of the book to Solomon represent a tradi tion, but have not necessarily much authority. In general, the background favors the late date; there is nothing seriously inconsistent with this view. There is no sufficient reason, however. for denying the presence of pre-exilic, and even of Solomonic material.
Divisions of the As ordinarily viewed, although with some variation, there are eight different portions into which the hook is divided, each of which is a separate compila tion. These divisions, in the chronological order usually, but not invariably, assigned to them, are as follows: chapter x, 1, to chapter xxii, 16, containing the title in chapter x, 1, °The prov erbs of Solomon." Chapter xxii, 17, to chapter xxiv, 22, called in chapter xxii, 17, "the words of the wise." Chapter xxiv, 23-34, a similar collection, of which it is said in chapter xxiv, 23, "These also are sayings of the wise.* Chapters xxv-xxix, headed by the statement in chapter xxv, 1, "These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out," which division, however, some regard as older than chapter x, 1; xxii, 16. Chapters i-ix, a connected discourse in praise of wisdom, in the form of advice to a son or scholar. Chapter xxx, with the title in chapter xxx, 1, "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh." Chapter xxxi, 1-9, described in chapter xxxi, 1, as the words probably should be trans lated, as "the words of Lemuel king of Massa." Chapter xxxi, 10-31, an anonymous alphabetic poem or acrostic in praise of the ideal house wife. The first division was probably com piled somewhat after the time of Solomon, the fourth is traditionally assigned to the time of Hezekiah, while the last three divisions prob ably belong soon after the exile. There are no indications of precise date for the other di visions, but on the view adopted all of them are to be regarded as Solomonic That the first and fourth divisions are not entirely the work of Solomon is clearly shown by the fact that there are many repetitions of proverbs partly the same and by the further fact that some are not written from his standpoint, especially the utterances concerning the king. While it is not unlikely that Solomon uttered some of these proverbs, it is difficult to be certain of his au thorship in any specific case. It is improbable that Solomon wrote any proverbs in the form now existent: 1 Kings iv, 32, does not mention Solomon as writing proverbs, but as speaking them.