Who Wrote the Proverbs?
Who Wrote the Proverbs?
Who Wrote the Proverbs?
But other people and groups participated in the process of writing and collecting the sayings as well. Agur (30:1) contributed sayings and King Lemuel passed on the oral teaching of his mother (31:1). Men of King Hezekiah's court copied sayings of Solomon that had been passed down but apparently had not made it into the book of Proverbs yet (25:1). These various contributors to the final collection of the proverbs indicates the process involved numerous personalities over a period of hundreds of years.
Four different groups and social settings have been proposed for the authorship and collecting of Proverbs. One group is the Royal court. A king could have either produced or collected wise sayings himself, like Solomon, or he could have employed the services of wise men to do the work, like Hezekiah. Training young men in wisdom would benefit a king by producing responsible citizens and workers for the healthy functioning of society. Further, young men who performed in an exemplary manner would qualify for service in the king's court. Proverbs about kings appear in chapters 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 and 29. The fact that many of these proverbs present the king in a positive light indicates the king's interest in their message. "When a king sits on his throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes" (20:8) is one example.
Another possible setting is in schools run by professional teachers of wisdom material. Other ancient societies had such schools, so it is possible that Israel had some. There is a reference to such a school during the intertestamental period (in Sirach 51:23), but that does not establish that there were such schools during the period of the kings when the proverbs were being written and collected.
A third suggestion is the village. In ancient communities older men would sit at the village gates hearing the concerns of the citizens and rendering judgments. It is natural to assume that these men would also talk about how to deal with problem situations relating to communal behavior such as neighborliness (27:14), friendship (27:6, 10), work ethics (10:4; 18:9), management principles (27:23) and healthy living in general (11:25, 27). Many proverbs deal with these particular issues. Related to these concerns are the numerous proverbs that reflect a rural setting. Community elders would want young farmers to know that "He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son" (10:5). Such wisdom teaching handed down by communal leaders would promote healthy social functioning.
Finally, the family setting is proposed as a possible setting for the wisdom sayings in Proverbs. Numerous times the proverbial writer says, "My son," then appeals for a hearing, arguing for the superiority of wisdom, and then offering some teaching or insight. "My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge" (5:1-2) is directed to a young man about to face an exciting but dangerous temptation: an immoral relationship. The writer then informs the young man of the dangers inherent in such a pursuit, followed by a convincing argument for the sanctity and beauty of a covenant relationship (marriage). Wisdom is the key to save this naive young man.
Proverbs 4:1ff. presents a strong case for the family setting of Proverbs. "When I was a boy in my father's house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me..." (4:3-4). Three generations of a family are involved in the educational process: a grandfather and grandmother, a dad and his son. "The explicit comments about education in the O.T. (Deut. 4:10; 5:31; 11:19) as well as the dynamics of Prov. 1-9 suggest that learning came about when a father instructed his son in a family setting" (Waltke, "Proverbs" 1:27).
The fingerprints of several individuals and groups have been left on the writing and collecting of the proverbs. Over the years these various groups could have produced the wisdom germane to their particular concerns. As the assimilators of the wisdom material became aware of other sayings, they could have easily incorporated them into the larger collection.
Because a number of individuals were involved in producing Proverbs, many writers today prefer to refer to the author of individual proverbs, and even of the book as a whole, as "the Sage." This term allows for the contributions of Solomon, Augur, Lemuel, Lemuel's mother, the men of Hezekiah's court, and any other personalities without having to discern who penned any particular saying.
Of course, we trust that working behind any individual or group was the hand of God, ultimately producing this compendium of wisdom so that we might fear the Lord (1:7) and trust in him with all of our being (3:5).
Warren Baldwin
Warren Baldwin is a family counselor, teacher and author. You can follow his writing athttp://www.warrenbaldwin.blogspot.com.
How Does Duty Free Work? The Significance of Posture Correction for a Better Life Burberry Outlet Is Actually Surprisingly Long Promoting Burberry Outlet World-wide Four Things You Should Never Do When Cleaning a Stainless Steel Sink Building Vocabulary: Using Context Clues SETI Versus The Trickster Gods Armor-bearing - Developing Effectiveness With the Spirit of Armor-bearing Kingdom Buildersgc: Feedback Plays The Best Role Tata indigo manza Test Drive Chiesa di San Giovanni Maggiore - Naples Pain - Where You Hurt is Not the Actual Pain Source The Intriguing Namibia at its Best