1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4 to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
A word about the authorship of the book. The first verse says, 'The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David', and traditionally his name has been associated with the proverbs. The book itself however tells us that it is the work of several authors, three of whom are named, Solomon (10:1), Agur (30:1), Lemuel (31:1). In addition, there are 'the words of the wise' (22:17, 24:23); Hezekiah's collection of Solomon's words (25:1); and one section anonymous (31:10-31).
As to analysis of the book, the following is given by Kidner, and may be usefully followed:
1. Introduction 1:1-7
2. A Father's Praise of Wisdom 1:8-9 9:18 3. Proverbs of Solomon 10:1-22:16
4. Words of Wise Men 22:17-24:32
5. Further Words of Wise Men 24:23-34
6. Further Proverbs of Solomon 25:1-29:27 7. Words of Agur 30:1-33
8. Words of King Lemuel 31:1-9
9. Alphabet of Wifely Excellence 31:10-31.
The subject-matter is remarkably varied, dealing with the relationship between God and man, with wisdom in its many facets; we read about the fool, the sluggard, the sim- pleton, the scoffer, we have a good deal about friends and friendship; a great deal about words and the power of words, words at their best and words at their worst; about the family, the relationship between husband and wife, parents and children; about life and death. And throughout, the predominant emphasis is on the 'behaving' side of religion over against the 'believing' side; but not the one divorced from the other, for faith is everywhere assumed, and what is spoken of is the 'works' without which faith is dead. Throughout, the 'covenant' idea is everywhere the foundation of the thought. Of the 100 references to God, all but a few use the covenant name, Jehovah. It is no mere moralistic teaching that we have in Proverbs, but ethics based upon and issuing from the idea of the covenant.