Proverbs - John Cunyus

Proverbs, 6
Introduction to Proverbs
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As the first verse of the Book of Proverbs makes clear, Jewish and Christian traditions both long
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assumed that King Solomon was its author . The book itself acknowledges the contributions
made by others to its composition. The collection of proverbs from chapters 25 through 29 are
presented as, proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied. Chapter 30
is presented as “The words of Agur son of Jakeh of Massa,” though Jerome translates the names
more colorfully. Chapter 31 is ascribed to King Lemuel. Neither Agur nor Lemuel appear
elsewhere in the Bible.
The book is divided into the following sections:
• Chapters 1-9, contains the intertwining of several similar themes: exhortations to youth;
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hymns praising Wisdom, and speeches by Wisdom herself .
• Chapters 10-22:16, offers us the largest collection of Solomon’s proverbs.
• Chapters 22:17-25, presents further instructions on living wisely, differing in format
from the two-line couplets of the previous section.
• Chapters 25 through 29 shares further Solomonic proverbs, as described above.
• Chapters 30 and 31 gives the appended words of Agur and Lemuel.
The book contains religious poetry, a form that is more or less familiar to us. It contains
exhortations, a scholarly term many of us are not familiar with. An exhortation urges us to
behave in a certain way. Parents often exhort their children, in more or less colorful language, to
clean up their rooms or do their homework. We may not know the word “exhortation,” but all of
us know what it means to be exhorted.
It also contains the proverbs themselves. Proverbs are brief, episodic lessons in applied wisdom.
Proverbs are written in such a way that, when we read them, our minds tend to fill in the blanks
with real-life experiences. We find the proverbs relevant to our lives, however distant they may
seem from us in space and time. In the words of Baba Ram Dass, they have “an intuitive
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validity .”
Proverbs have come down to us from many sources and traditions. Through them, teachers try
to communicate to us the essence of what it means to live intelligently. Their teaching speaks to
us, wherever we find ourselves in life. Quick to read, they are far from quick to understand
fully, much less exhaust.
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See Proverbs 1:1, RSV: The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel.
Sapientia, “Wisdom” in Latin, is a feminine noun, as is sofi,a in Greek.
See http://www.ramdasstapes.org/index.htm.