INTRODUCTION.

§ 1.

DIVINE AUTHORITY AND INSPIRATION OF THE BOOK.*

THE claim of this book to a place in the divine canon rests on the attestation of Christ and his inspired Apostles. It was a part of that collection of sacred writings,† known as the Oracles of God, with the care of which the Jewish people were intrusted (Rom. 3: 2). Of these writings, collectively, the Savior and his Apostles often speak as the word of God; recognizing, and directly asserting, their divine authority and inspiration. See, for example, such passages as Matt. 5: 17-19; John 5: 39; Rom. 3:2; Matt. 22: 43, and Mark 12:36; 2 Tim. 3: 16; 1 Pet. 1: 10-12; 2 Pet. 1: 21. This book was, therefore, as a part of these divine writings (called in the New Testament the Scriptures, the Holy Scriptures, the Oracles of God) expressly recognized by the Savior and his Apostles as of divine authority, and was declared to be "profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3 : 16).

In this character, as a book of divine instruction, it is often expressly quoted by the inspired writers of the New Testament. Compare, for example, Prov. 3 : 11, 12, with Heb. 12 : 5,6; Prov. 3 34, with James 4: 6; Prov. 10: 12, with i Pet. 4: 8; Prov. 25: 21, 22, with Rom. 12 20; Prov. 26: 11, with 2 Pet. 2: 22. Clear allusions are found in other passages; as in Rom. 2:6, compared with Prov. 24:12; Rev. 3: 19, compared with Prov. 3:12. The genuineness of the book (in other words, that it is a DIVINE BOOK, that in this sense it is not a spurious production) is thus established by the highest authority. To prove its claim to this character, it is not necessary that the writers of the several portions of the book (§§ 3 and 5) should be ascertained with certainty, and their relation to other writers of the Old Testament clearly known. This, if satisfactorily shown, would not of itself establish their claim to be regarded as divinely commissioned and inspired teachers. The authority of a writing, claimed to be divine, does not in any case rest on the particular writer or human instrumentality, but on the divine attestation given to it. The HOLY SPIRIT was not restricted in his choice of instruments, or in his methods of originating and communicating instruction.

* The remarks in this section are in part repeated here from the writer's Introduction to the Book of Job, Part Second, and to the Book of Genesis, revised version, with explanatory notes

†The proofs, that it was a part of that collection, belong to a general Introduction to the Old Testament.

RELIGIOUS CHARACTER AND TEACHINGS.

This portion of the Holy Scriptures is a book of practical wisdom. Its instructions are all practical; maxims for the conduct of life. It is the Economics of the Bible. The literature of the world may be searched in vain for its parallel, in the variety and completeness of its applications to all the relations and phases of human life, in the certainty of its foundation principles, and in the strength and effectiveness of its sanctions. It goes to the depths of man's moral nature, and arraigns him face to face with his Maker and Judge.

As the basis of its instructions, the ground of obligation to obey them, and their moral and penal sanctions, it recognizes the following points: 1st, A moral government of the universe by its Maker and Sovereign; 2nd, His will as the supreme law of his creatures, and their only safe guide in duty; 3rd, An intelligent filial love for him, and dread of his displeasure, as the highest and purest motive to virtuous action; 4th, His unerring justice, as a pledge of ultimate reward for obedience, and of punishment for transgression.

That God has a witness for himself, in the sense of moral accountability inseparable from man's nature, is every where presupposed. It thus appeals to the purest, noblest, and the strongest and most effective motives that can influence a moral being. The whole effect is to elevate and ennoble the life of man, while giving practical instructions for its proper direction.

Accordingly, we are taught (ch. 1:7), that the fear of God is the seminal principle of which the whole moral life is the outgrowth, and is the central law of all our moral relations; that in this all true knowledge has its beginning; whatever is called knowledge, without this its primal element, being essentially ignorance, a false perversion of the truth, serving only to misdirect the inquirer, and lead him further from it. The book begins (ch. 1 : 7), and ends (ch. 31 : 30), with the FEAR OF JEHOVAH as the ground of moral excellence, and the guide of practical duty.

Having laid down this elemental law, the book proceeds to develope its practical applications to human life. The instructions that follow never lose sight of it. It is the basis of all. But its too frequent repetition, with brief practical rules of conduct, would be wearisome as well as needless. In the explanatory notes, it has not been thought necessary or desirable to interpose strictly religious considerations, where they are not suggested by the text. It has rather been the interpreter's aim, to adopt everywhere the tone of the sacred writer, and to develope his thought in his own spirit and manner.

Practical precepts, for regulating what may be called the secular concerns of life, are an essential part of a divine revelation. It would be incomplete without them. Men need to know what divine wisdom approves in the management of worldly affairs.

They should

not be left to guide themselves by the maxims of worldly policy, or even of worldly prudence. So divine wisdom has judged; and accordingly, it has provided a code of practical œconomics, more comprehensive and more minute in its moral and prudential elements and applications, than is to be found in any other literature. Whoever masters its principles and rules of life, and intelligently applies them, can not fail to be a wise, a prosperous, and a happy man.

To treat such a book as intended for doctrinal religious instruction is to interpret it falsely, and to obscure its true aim and value. Every part of divine revelation has its appropriate object. It is no true conception of the divine word, to regard it as setting no value on the present life, and as leaving it without proper guidance. God's wisdom and goodness are as apparent in needful directions for man's earthly and temporal welfare, as in the provisions for his higher spiritual life. It is not therefore wise to say, for example, as has often been done, and as though it were a commendation of the Divine Book, that " CHRIST may be found anywhere in it, if one will but look for him." Wherever his wisdom and goodness are seen, in his word or in his works, there the devout spirit will find him. According to those beautiful lines of Cowper:

But we should not wisely interpret, if we treat this book as intended to teach our special relations to Him, so fully and clearly revealed in their appropriate place. To assume in ch. 18 24, for example, a reference to him in the sacred writer's mind, is to unsettle all just rules of interpretation applicable to this book. In itself the reference is certainly true; and the text may properly be made the occasion of directing the human spirit to one who alone knows all its wants, and is able and ever ready to supply them all.

Many have supposed that ch. 8: 22-31 is to be interpreted doctrinally, as relating to one of the profoundest mysteries of the divine nature. But WISDOM, the divine attribute that guides the purposes, and is seen in all the works and ways of the Divine Being, there claims to be the friend and guide of his creature, man. As such she is personified, speaking with divine authority, and demanding obedience to her will, as being the will of God. The reasons for this view of the passage are briefly stated in the concluding remarks on the chapter, and more fully in the critical and philological notes of Part First. The following remark, made in that connection, is appropriate here: The whole representation is highly poetic and figurative; and to base any doctrinal truth on single forms of expression, which are the mere drapery of the figure, is at variance with the best established principles of interpretation. One who should defend such a practice in general, as a principle of hermeneutics, would justly forfeit the character of a sober and judicious critic.

The book recognizes the obligation of every man to use wisely the talents intrusted to him; in other words, to develope and train his intellectual and moral powers, so far as his means and opportunities will allow. The neglect of this duty, through self-indulgent indolence, is not spared. This is a just as well as a marked feature of the book. For it is undeniable, that miscarriage in worldly affairs is oftener owing to indolent neglect of the powers given for our guidance, or to culpable misdirection of them, than to any original deficiency in them. Hence the simple, who indolently accept things as they may appear, without taking the trouble to look sharply into their real nature, and thus suffer themselves to be imposed upon, are properly rebuked; while the shrewd, who make diligent use of their powers of discernment and observation, are commended. It is not supposed that one will go through life with his eyes shut; or that, having them open, he will see nothing. The men who honestly prosper in worldly affairs are they who give themselves the trouble to think and observe, and who cultivate the power of thinking and observation.

Wit and humor are here made to serve a good purpose. No weapon is more effective against certain vices than well-directed ridicule. Indeed every vice has its ludicrous aspect. Crime, when properly viewed, is a hideous absurdity; and vice, in all its forms, is intellectually and morally a monstrous blunder. As such, it is as much a matter of derision and scorn, as it is of a profounder moral reprobation; and there are those who have a far keener sense of the former than of the latter, and dread it more. To make vice ridiculous, and raise the laugh against it, is the surest way to discountenance and check it. Many who care nothing for serious admonition, however just, can not stand before the shafts of ridicule. In this book, a grave oriental humor, a polished irony, witty turns, and grotesque description, sometimes give point to the exposure of folly and vice.

§ 3.

DIVISIONS AND CONTENTS.

In these there is much variety, both as to form and spirit, in different parts of the book. In all of them, however, there is one principle of unity, the object of all being practical instruction. Strictly doctrinal teaching, as already observed, is not the object in any portion of the book; though in all, correct doctrinal views are the recognized groundwork of the instructions given.

The following are clearly marked divisions of the book; indicated partly by its contents, and partly by appropriate introductory headings.

First division. Chapters i.-ix. Short continuous discourses, ten in number, chiefly for the guidance of the young, imparting practical principles of religion and morals for the conduct of life.

The aim of these beautiful discourses is to bring the human spirit into immediate

consciousness of the Divine; to show with what tender solicitude the Infinite Father seeks the welfare of his children, both by holding out the rewards of piety and virtue, and by showing the fearful penalties of disobedience.

The perils that beset the unwary feet of the young, in the temptations to which that period of life is specially exposed; the obligation of the law of chastity, and the tendency of its violation to destroy both body and soul; the pure and chaste enjoyments of the connubial relation, and their healthful and refining influences; the value of truth and uprightness, of kindness and fidelity, in all the relations of life; the duty and necessity of industry, of prudent foresight, of thoughtful provision for the wants of the body, and for the higher and nobler aspirations of the soul; these and other kindred topics are pressed on the mind and heart of the reader, with a tender and earnest warmth, and with the charms of poetic conception and imagery. In no other part of the sacred writings do we find moral painting so delicate, so glowing, so charming in its pictures of virtue and its rewards, so startling in vivid delineation of the allurements to vice, and their fatal snares.

Second division. Chapters x.-xxii. 16. This division bears the heading, Proverbs of Solomon, and differs essentially, in form and in its general spirit and manner, from the preceding one. It consists of single, disconnected sayings or maxims, mostly expressed in two lines closely related in substance and form, and containing the choicest treasures of practical wisdom.

Third division. Chapters xxii. 17-xxiv. 22. Very brief continuous discourses for practical direction in life, less extended than those of the first division, from which they differ much in general tone and manner, and distinguished by continuity of discourse in each from the single isolated sentences in the preceding division.

Fourth division. Chapter xxiv. 23-34. A distinct collection of a few sayings of the wise, distinguished by the separate heading, These also are of the Wise; closing with the spirited description of indolent unthriftiness and its results.

Fifth division. Chapters xxv.-xxix. Another and distinct collection of Solomon's proverbs, copied out by the men of king Hezekiah; differing somewhat, in form and spirit, from the preceding collection of his proverbs.

Sixth division. Chapter xxx. Words of Agur. These consist, 1st, of an Oracle, apparently intended to expose the vain pretensions of those who assume to be wise above what is written, and to comprehend the mysteries of the universe; 2nd, a prayer, containing a brief summary of daily wants and desires; 3rd, spirited and instructive sketches of various characters, typical forms of humanity, that appear in every age.

It is thought by some, that among the instances in the third class are specimens of grave oriental sportiveness, in the form of ingenious enigmas, with a moral purport. Three things being proposed, to find a fourth of similar traits or qualities, with a moral lesson; or one being proposed, to find three others like it; the task being, to find out not only the similitudes, but an ingenious and pointed expression, for them and for the moral. If this