(Part 1)

JBTM Daniel I. Block
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case with Prov 30:28: “A lizard can be caught in your hands, yet it lives in kings’ palaces.”
How do Proverbs Like This Work?
I have an idea that the biblical author who penned Prov 30:24–28 was dealing with a
puzzle like this. The author was obviously familiar with the court, for one day he apparently
noticed a lizard in the king’s palace. That the observer was in the king’s palace should
not surprise, because this text is found in the book of Proverbs, which has a royal flavor
from beginning to end. Many scholars think the book itself is the product of the court, and
that the sages (wise men and women) responsible for the collection of proverbs found
here were officials in the court, which would explain Prov 25:1: “These too are proverbs of
Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied.”
Indeed, the interest in the court is reflected in the entire book. The word “king/kings”
(melek/mĕlākîm) occurs 34 times, to which we should add the verb “to be king” (mālak which
appears in 8:15; 30:22), while the verb “to rule” (māšal) occurs 11 times. In the opening
chapters we discover this remarkable ode to wisdom:
12
I, Wisdom, share a home with shrewdness and have knowledge and discretion.
13
To fear the Lord is to hate evil.
I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
14
I possess good advice and competence; I have understanding and strength.
15
It is by me that kings reign and rulers enact just law;
16
by me, princes lead, as do nobles and all righteous judges.
17
I love those who love me, and those who search for me find me.
18
With me are riches and honor, lasting wealth and righteousness.
19
My fruit is better than solid gold, and my harvest than pure silver.
20
I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,
21
giving wealth as an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.
(Prov 8:12–21)
The book also ends on a couple of royal notes, with the “words of King Lemuel” (31:1–9),
and the alphabet acrostic, “In Praise of Feminine Nobility (ēšet ḥayil, 31:10–31; cf. Ruth
3:11). In his dissertation on this book, my doctoral student Christopher Ansberry (Be Wise,
My Son, and Make My Heart Glad: An Exploration of the Courtly Nature of the Book of Proverbs,
2010) has argued convincingly that this book was cast as a manual to prepare a young man
for responsible life in the court. So if the poet here notices a lizard in the king’s court, at
least we know that the poet himself is not an erratic in this picture; he is quite at home here.