Part 39
In the meanwhile, prophecy had thrown much light on the ways of God, which prepare for His kingdom on earth. Even long before Amos (5 18 ff) the idea of a "day of Jeh," which was to be a day of revelation, on which God makes a settlement with the nations, must have been generally Icnown, since Amos is already compelled to protest against the abuse of this expectation. But hand in hand with this settlement we find also and at all times the expectation of the exaltation and of the salvation of
by Haggai, and still more by Zecha-
6. After the riah. Malachi announces the advent Exile of the Day of Jeh, but expects before this a complete purification of the people of God. God Himself will come, and His angel will prepare the way for Him. The visions of Daniel picture the transformation of the world into a kingdom of God. The latter will mark the end of the history of the world. It comes from above; the earthly kingdoms are from below, and are pictured as beasts; the Ruler of the kingdom of God is a Son of man. The latter comes with the clouds of the heaven to take possession of His kingdom (Dnl 7 13 ff). Then the judgment of the world will take place and include also each human being, who before this will bodily arise from the dead, in order to enter upon blessedness or condemnation. Here we find indicated a universal expansion of the kingdom of God extending over the whole world and all mankind.
Israel. Yet the prophets have all emphasized that Israel and Judah must first be thoroughly purified by a judgment, before the land could, through God's grace, be glorified and richly blessed. The judgment which the preexilio prophets are continually predicting is, however, only a means to an end. This judgment is not the final word of the Lord, as Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah and Habakkuk constantly teach. They announce that return to Jeh and obedience to His commandments is the way to salvation (Hos 6 1; Isa 1 18; Jer 4 1, and often). However, the prophets know that the people will not turn again to God, but that first the Jewish state must be entirely overthrown (Isa 6). It is par-
If we survey this prophecy of the kingdom of God and its Divinely blessed Ruler, the Messiah, from a Christian standpoint, we find that
7. Cona grand Divine unity connects its temperadifferent elements. The form of this neous Charprophecy is indeed conditioned by the acter of views and ideas of the time of utterProphecy ance. The prophets were compelled to speak so that their hearers could understand them. Only gradually these limitations and forms become spiritualized, e.g. the kingdom of God is still pictured by the prophets as established around the local center of Zion. Mt. Zion is in a concrete manner exalted, in order to give expression to its importance, etc. It is the NT fulfilment that for the first time gives adequate form to Divine revelation. At least in the person of Jesus Christ this perfection is given, although the full unfolding of this kingdom is yet a matter of the future.
ticularly deserving of notice, that believing trust in Jeh is regarded as the positive means for deliverance (Isa 7 9; 30 1.5; Hab 2 4). It is through
this that the "remnant" of the faithful, "the kernel"
of the people, is saved . Also in the case of Jeremiah, whose work it was to predict the immediate de-
struction of Judah, there is not absent a kind of an esoteric book of consolation. His battle cry
for the future is "Jeh our righteousness" (23 6; 33 16). In his case we find a rich spiritualization
of religion. The external customs, circumcision and the like, he declares, do no good, if the true
state of the heart is lacking. Even the ark of the covenant is unnecessary and is discarded in the enlargement of the sanctuary. Ezekiel, who lays more stress on the external ordinances, nevertheless
A second characteristic feature of prophecy is the partial nature of the individual prophetical utter-
agrees with Jeremiah in this, that Jerus together with the temple must fall. Only after this de-
ances and prophetical pictures. One
8. Partial picture must be supplemented by the Character others, in order not to be misunder-
struction the prophet in his spirit builds the sanc-
tuary again ; notwithstanding the external character
of Prophecy stood. Thus, e.g. according to Isa 11 14; Zee 9 13 ff, we might expect that the kingdom of God was to be established by force of arms. But the same prophets show in other utterances (Isa 9 6 f ; Zee 9 9 f ) that these warlike expressions are to be understood figura-
of his restoration, there is yet found in his picture
a further development of its spiritual character. The ethical rights and the responsibility of the mdi-
vidual are stronglv emphasized (chs 18,33). The
land becomes transformed; the Gentiles are re-
ceived into the covenant of God.
tively, since the Messianic King is more than all others a Prince of Peace.
_ Deutero-Isa (Isa 40-66), during the tune of the Bab captivity, enriches prophecy m an extraordinary manner, through the figure of the
A third feature that deserves attention is the perspective character of prophecy. The prophet sees together and at once upon the
6. During true "Servant of Jeh," who in a peace-
the Exile ful way, through his words of mstruc-
9. Persurface of the pictures things which spective are to be fulfilled only successively and Character gradually. Thus, e.g. Deutero-Isa sees
tion and esp. through his innocent
sufferings and his vicarious deeds, converts Israel,
the undeserving servant, and also wins over the
of Prophecy in the near future the return from captivity, and directly connected with
gentile world to Jeh. It was not possible that the
picture of a suffering man of God, who through his
this a miraculous glorification of the city of God. The return did as a matter of fact take place soon afterward, but the glorification of the city in which Jeh Himself had promised to dwell was yet in the distant future. The succeeding prophets, Haggai and Zechariah,
death as a martyr attains to exaltation, should be
suggested to the Jews by the altogether different
figure of a death and resurrection of a Bab god (Thammuz-Adonis!). Since the unjust persecu-
tions of Joseph and David they were acquainted
^ predict that this consummation
with the sufferings of the just, and Jeremiah's life
as a prophet was a continuous martyrdom. But
shall take place in the future.
Also in the predictions concerning the future made by Jesus and in the Apocalypse of St. John,
the writer of the second part of Isaiah had before
his eyes a vision that far excelled all of these types
Prophecy Proselyte THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2466
the prophets of Israel! Also what has in recent times been said concerning the "prophetical texts" from ancient Egypt (Gressmann, Tcxte und Bilder,
these characteristics of prophecy, its contemporaneous and perspective and at times symbolical features, are not disregarded. The firm prophetic word is intended to give the congregation certain directive lines and distinctive work. But an adequate idea of what is to come the Christian church will become compelled to form for itself, when the fulfilment and completion shall have taken place.
I, 20 ff) may indeed show some external similarity to the prophecies of Israel; but they lack the spiritual and religious depth and the strictly ethical dignity of the prophets of the Scriptures, as also the consistency with which these from century to century reveal the thoughts of God and make known with constantly increasing clearness their purposes and goal.
IV. Analogous Phenomena among Gentiles.— The uniqueness of Bib. prophecy is grasped fully only when we try to find analogies 1. Necroamong the gentile peoples. Here we mancy and find everywhere indeed the art of soothTechnical saying, the headquarters for which was Witchcraft Babylon. But with this art the prophecy, of the OT stands out in bold contrast (cf the prohibitions in Lev 19 26.31; 20 6.27; Dt 18 10 ff, prohibitions that refer to necromancy for the purpose of discovering the future). This art was practised through a medium, a person who had an 'obh (Bab ubi), i.e. a spirit that brought forth the dead in order to question them. The spirits were thought to speak in murmurings or piping sounds (Isa 8 19), which could be imitated by the medium (ventriloquist). According to the Law, which forbade this under penalty of death, Saul had tried to destroy those who practised incantations, who generally were women (1 S 28 9). This practice, however, continued to flourish. In addition, the Babylonians and other peoples had also a developed art of interpretation in order to find omens for the future. Esp. was the examination of intestines practised by them. The liver of sacrificial animals particularly was carefully examined, and, from this, predictions, good or bad, were inferred (cf Ezk 21 21). See Divination. This art passed over from the Babylonians to the seafaring Etruscans, and through these came to the Romans. But other phenomena also were by the different nations interpreted as prophetically significant and were by those skilled in this art interpreted accordingly. Among these were miscarriages by human beings and animals, the actions of hens, horses, the flight of birds, earthquakes, forms of the clouds, lightning, and the like. Further, mechanical contrivances were used, such as casting of lots, stones, sticks, etc.
Literature.—Witsius, De prophetis et prophetia, 1731; Ctir. A. Crusius, Hypomnemata ad theologiam propheticam. Part I, 1764; A. Knobel, Der Prophetismus der Hebrcier, 18.37; F. B. Koester, Die Prophelen des AT und NT, 1S3S: B. Dulim, Die Theologie der Propheten; Kuenen, The Prophets and Prophect/ in Israel; F. E. Koenig, Der Offenbarungsbegriff des AT, 1882; G. von Orelli, Die alttestamentliche Weissagung von der VoUendung des GoUesreiches, 1882; W. Robertson Smith, The Prophets of Israel and Their Place in History, 1882; E. Riehm, Die messianische Weissagung, ET, 1885: Delitzsch, Messianic Prophecy, 1891; A. T. Kirkpatrick, The Doctrine of the Prophets, 1892; G. Fr. Oehler, Theologie des AT, 1891; Ed. Koenig, /)a.s Berufungsbewusstsein der alttestamentlichen Propheten, 1900; F. H. Woods, The Hope of Israel. 1896; R. Kraetzschmar, Prophet und Seherim alien Israel. 1902; A. B. Davidson. OT Prophecy. 1903; Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das AT, 1902; C. von Orelli, Allgemeine Religionsgeschichte; IM. Jastrow, Die Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens, 1903; Gressmann, Ursprung der israelitisch-jildischen Eschatologie, 190.5; W. J. Beecher, The Prophets and the Promise, 1905; C. S. Macfarland, Jesus and the Prophets, 1905; G. G. Findlay, The Books of the Prophets in Their Historical Succession, 1906—7: Gressmann, Alt-orientalische Texte und Bilder zum AT. 1909; Sclwyn, Christian Prophets.
C. VON Orelli PROPHECY, GIFT OF. See Spiritual Gifts.
PROPHESYINGS, prof'5-si-ingz, FALSE: The distinction between the true and the false prophecy and prophets is very difficult to state. Broadly speaking, the false prophesying related itself to the national ideal independently of any spiritual quality, while the true prophesying ever kept uppermost the spiritual conception of the national life. Among those given to false prophesying were the ones who spoke after "the deceit of their own heart" (Jer 14 13.14); those who without real prophetic gift borrowed a message and assumed the speech of prophecy (Jer 23 28.31); and those who sought the prophet's role in order to gain the material gifts which came from the people to their prophets (Mic 3 5). These, when discovered, were counted worthy of punishment and even death. There were, however, false prophesyings from men who honestly believed themselves to have a message from Jeh. These prophecies from self-deceived prophets often led the people astray. The dream of national greatness was substituted for the voice of Jeh. It was against such prophesying that the true prophets had to contend. The only test here was the spiritual character of the utterance, and this test demanded a certain moral or spiritual sense which the people did not always possess. Consequently, in times of moral darkness the false prophets, predicting smooth things for the nation, independent of repentance, consecration and the pursuit of spiritual ideals, were honored above the true prophets who emphasized the moral greatness of Jeh and the necessity of righteousness for the nation. In NT times false prophesying did much injury in the church. See Prophecy.
More spiritual and popular was the interpretation of dreams. It also was the case that mediums intentionally would convert themselves 2. The into a semi-waking trance. In this Mantic Art way the suitable mediums attained to a certain kind of clairvoyance, found among various peoples. This approaches the condition of an ecstatically aroused pseudo-prophet, of whom mention is made above. In Greece, too, oracles were pronounced by the Pythian prophetess, who by vapors and the like was aroused to a practice of the mantic art. In Dodona it was the voice of the divinity in Nature, which they sought to read in the rustling of the trees and the murmuring of the water. How uncertain these sources were was well known to heathen antiquity. The ancients complain of the enigmatical character of the Sibylline utterances and the doubtful nature of what was said. See Greece, Religion of. In contrast to this, Israel knows that it possesses in prophecy a clear word (Nu 23 23). But the contents also of the Bib. prophecies are unique through their spiritual uniformity and great-
C. E. SCHENK PROPHET, THE OLD. See Old Prophet, The.
ness. The oracle at Delphi, too, at 3. Contents times showed a certain moral elevaof Extration and could be regarded as the conBiblical science of the nation. But how inOracles significant and meager was that which
PROPHETESS, prof'et-es (nX^a: , n'hhl'ah;
irpo<|)TjTis, prnphetis) : Women were not excluded from the prophetic office in the OT, and were honored with the right of prophetic utterance in the
it offered to those who questioned it, in comparison with the spontaneous utterances of
2467 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Prophecy Proselyte
NT. It should be noted, however, that women like Mh-iam (Ex 15 20), Deborah (Jgs 4 4) and Huldah (2 K 22 14) were not credited with the seer's insight into the future, but were called "prophetesses" because ot the poetical inspiration of their speech. Among others mentioned as having the prophetic gift we find Hannah (1 S 2 1), Anna (Lk 2 36) and the four daughters of Philip
to be kindly disposed. The Gr terms lack the physical reference to covering but introduce the idea of friendliness where antagonism
2. Theowould be natural; hence graciousn&ss.
logical Naturally, therefore, the idea of expiaImplication tion entered into the concept. It is esp. to be noted that all provisions for this friendly relation as between God and offending man find their initiation and provision in God and are under His direction, but involve the active response of man. All heathen and unworthy conceptions are removed from the Christian notion of propitiation by the fact that God Himself proposed, or "set forth," Chri.st as the "mercy-seat," and that this is the supreme expression of ultimate love. God had all the while been merciful, friendly, "passing over" man's sins with no apparently adequate, or .just, ground for doing so. Now in the blood of Christ sin is condemned and expiated, and God is able to establish and maintain His character for righteousness, while He continues and extends His dealing in gracious love with sinners who exercise faith in Jesus. The propitiation originates with God, not to appease Himself, but to justify Himself
(Acts 21 8.9). See Prophet. C. E. Schenk
PROPITIATION, pro-pish-i-a'shun: The word
is Lat and brings into its Eng. use the atmosphere of
heathen rites for winning the favor, 1. Terms or averting the anger, of the gods. In and the OT it represents a number of Heb Meaning words—ten, including derivatives which are sufficiently discussed under Atonement (q.v.), of which propitiation is one aspect. It represents in LXX the Gr stems iXacrx-, hilask- (iXe-, hile-), and KaraWay-, katallag-, with derivatives;^ in the NT only the latter, and is rarely used. Propitiation needs to be studied in connection with reconciliation, which is used frequently in some of the most strategic sentences of the NT, esp. in the newer VSS. In He 2 17, ERV and ARV have both changed "reconciliation" of AV to "propitiation," to inake it correspond with the OT use in connection with the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement (q.v.). Lk 18 13 ("God, be thou merciful [m "be propitiated") to me the sinner" [ARVm]); He 8 12 (quoted from LXX); and Mt 16 22 (an idiomatic asseveration like Eng. "mercy on us") will help in getting at the usage in the NT. In LXX hilastirion is the term for the "mercy-seat" or "lid of the ark" of the covenant which was sprinkled with blood on the Day of Atonement. It is emploj'ed in exactly this sense in He 9 5, where later VSS have in m "the propitiatory."
in His uniform kindness to men deserving harsh-
ness. Cf also as to reconciliation, as in Rom 5 1-11; 2 Cor 5 IS ff. See also Johannine Theology, V, 2. Literature.—Besides the comms., the literature is the same as for Atonement, to recent works on which add Stalker, The Atonement: Workman. At Onement, or Reconciliation with God; Moberly, in Foundations, Christian Belief in Terms of Modern Thought.
William Owen Carver PROPORTION, prfi-por'shun: Occurs once in the sense of "space" as the tr of "1?'3 , ma'ar, "void
or open space" (1 K 7 36, AVm "Heb 'nakedness,'" RV "space"); once in the obsolete sense of "form"
as the tr of 'erekh, "array," or "row" (Job 41 12, RV "frame"); and once in the sense of "measure"
Elsewhere in the NT this form is found only in Rom 3 2.5, and it is here that difficulty and difference are found extensively in interpreting. Greek fathers generally and prominent modern scholars understand Paul here to say that God appointed Christ Jesus to be the "mercy-seat" for sinners. The reference, while primarily to the Jewish ceremonial in tabernacle and temple, would not depend upon this reference for its comprehension, for the idea was general in religious thought, that some place and means had to be provided for securing friendly meeting with the Deity, offended by man's
as the tr of analogia, "proportion," "equahty" (Rom 12 6, "the proportion of faith," RV "the proportion of our faith"). "Proportionally" occurs
in Wisd 13 .5, analogos, RV "in like proportion," m "correspondently."
PROSELYTE, pros'5-lit (irpoo-^Xvixos, prost-
lulos, from proserchoinai, "1 approach"): Found 4 t
in the NT. In the LXX it often occurs as the tr of
"13, ger. The Heb vb. gur means "to sojourn";
ger accordingly means a stranger who has come to
sin. In He particularly, as elsewhere generally,
settle in the land, as distinguished on the one hand from 'ezrdh, "a homeborn" or "native," and on the other from nokhri or ben-nekhdr, which means a stranger who is only passing through the country. Yet it is to be noted that in 2 Ch 2 17 those of the native tribes still living in the land as Amoritcs,
.Je.sus Christ is presented as priest and sacrifice. Many modern writers (cf Sanday and Headlam),
therefore, object that to make Him the "mercyseat" here compUcates the figure still further, and so would understand hilasterion as "expiatory sac-
rifice." While this is not impossible, it is better to take the word in the usual sense of "mercy-seat."
Hittitcs, etc, are also called gcrim. In two places (Ex 12 19; Isa 14 1) LXX uses g[e]idras, which is derived from giyor, the Aram, equivalent for ger. LXX uses pdroikos (the Gr equivalent for Heb toshdbh, "a settler") for ger when Israel or the patriarchs are indicated (Gen 15 13; 23 4; Ex 2 22; 18 3; Dt 23 7; 1 Ch 29 1.5; Ps 39 12; 119 19; Jer 14 8), and in a few other cases. In Talmudical
It is not necessary to comphcate the illustration by bringing in the idea of priest at all here, since Paul does not do so; mercy-seat and sacrifice are both in
Chri.st. iXair/xij, hilasmos, is found in the NT only
in 1 Jn 2 2; 4 10. Here the idea is active grace,
or mercy, or friendliness. The teaching corresponds exactly with that in Rom. ".Jesus Christ the righteous" is our "Advocate [m "Helper"] with the Father," because He is active mercy concerning
lit. ger always stands for proselyte in the NT sense,
i.e. a Gentile who has been converted to Judaism. Onkelos, who was himself a proselyte, always trans-
(vrepi, peri) our sins and those of the whole world. Or (4 10), God "loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for [active mercy concerning] our
lates the word in this way.
No difficulties were put in the way of those strangers who wished to settle down in the land of
sins." This last passage is parallel with Rom 3
Israel. All strangers, the third gen-
2.5, the one dealing with the abstract theory, and so Christ is set forward as a "mercy-seat," the other dealing with experience of grace, and so Christ is the mercy of God in concrete expression.
1. Ger in eration of Egyptians and Edomites the OT included, and only Ammonites and Moabites excluded, could enter "the congregation of God" without circumcision and without the obligation to keep the ceremonial law.
The basal idea in Heb terms is that of covering what is offensive, so restoring friendship, or causing
Proselyte Proverb THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2468
conversion of ])agans. The Jews began to feel that they were "a guide of the blind, a light of them that
'The stranger within the gate' was free to eat meat which was prohibited to the Israelite (Dt 14 21).
are in darkness" (Rom 2 19). Not only Jos {CAp, II; BJ, VII, iii, 3), but also Seneca (A-pud Aug. De Civil. Dei vi.U), Dio Cassms
If, however, the stranger wished to take part in the Passover, a feast permeated with national ideals, he must be circumcised. The keeping of the Sabbath and other feasts was regarded rather as a privilege than as a duty (Ex 23 12; Dt 16 11.14)
(xxxvii.l7), Tacitus (Ann. ii.85; Hist. v. 5), Horace
[Sat. i.4, 142), Juvenal [Sat. xiv.96ff), and other Gr and Rom writers testify to the widespread effects of the proselytizing propaganda of the Jews.
but according to Lev 16 29 the ger was obliged to keep the fast of Atonement. He was forbidden on pain of death to blaspheme (Lev 24 16) or to
Many gladly frequented the synagogues and kept some of the Jewish laws and customs. Among
offer children to Molech (Lev 20 2). If he de-
those were to be found the "men who feared God," spoken of in Acts. They were so called to distin-
sired to bring a burnt offering, the same law applied to him as to the Israelites (Lev 17 8; 22 18). Though the law of circumcision was not forced upon the ger, it seems that the Mosaic Law endeavored to bring him nearer to the cult of Israel, not from any proselytizing motives, but in order to preserve the theocracy from admixture of foreign elements, which would speedily have proved fatal to its existence.
guish them from full proselytes; and it was probably
for this class that tablets of warning in the temple were inscribed in Gr and Lat.
Another class kept practically all the Jewish laws and customs, but were not circumcised. Some
again, though not circumcised, had their children circumcised (Juvenal Sai. xiv.96ff). Such Jewish customs as fasting, cleansings, abstaining from pork,
Though the God of Israel, when He is thought of only as such, ceases to be God; though Israel was chosen before all nations for all nations; though
lighting the candles on Friday evening, and keeping the Sabbath (Jos, CAp, II, 29, etc) were observed by these gentile sympathizers. Schiii-er holds that there were congregations of Greeks and Romans in Asia Minor, and probably in Rome, which, though they had no connection with the synagogue, formed themselves into gatherings after the pattern of the synagogue, and observed some of the Jewish customs.
Israel had been again and again reminded that the Messiah would bring a blessing to all nations; and though there were instances of pagans coming to believe in Jeh, yet it did not belong to the economy
of OT rehgion to spread the knowledge of God directly among the Gentiles (the Book of Jon is an exception to this). There was certainly no active propagandism. Though we read in Neh 10 28 of those who "separated themselves from the peoples
Among the converts to Judaism there were probably few who were circumcised, and most of those who were circumcised submitted to the rite in order
to marry Jewesses, or to enjoy the rights and privi-
of the lands unto the law of God" (cf Isa 56 3, "the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Jeh" the only and exact description of a proselyte proper
leges granted to the Jews by SjTian, Egyp and Rom
rulers (Jos, Ant, XIV, vii, 2; XX, vii, 1; cf XVI,
vii, 6). It would appear from Christ's words (Mt 23 15, "one proselyte") that the number of full proselytes was not large. Hyrcanus forced the Edomites to adopt Judaism by circumcision (129 BC); and on other occasions the same policy of propagandism by force was followed. Jos tells an interesting story {Ant, XX, ii, 1) of the conversion of Queen Helena of Adiabene and her two sons. The conversion of the sons was due to the teaching of a merchant called Ananias, who did not insist on circumcision. Later, another Jew, Eliezer of
in the OT), the spirit of exclusiveness prevailed; the doubtful elements were separated (Ezr 4 3); mixed marriages were prohibited by the chiefs, and were afterward disapproved of by the people (Ezr
9, 10; Neh 13 23 ff). Direct proselytism did not begin till about a century later.
The preaching of the gospel was preceded and' prepared for by the dispersion of the Jews, and a
world-wide propagandism of Judaism.
2. ProseIn the 5th cent. BC the Jews had a lytizing temple of their own at Syene. Alexander the Great settled 8,000 Jews in the Thebais, and Jews formed a third of the population of Alexandria. Large numbers were brought from Pal by Ptolemy I (320 BC), and they gradually spread from Egypt along the whole Mediterranean coast of Africa. After the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes (170 BC) they scattered themselves in every direction, and, in the words of the Sibylline Oracles (c 160 BC), "crowded with their numbers every ocean and country." There was hardly a seaport or a commercial center in Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece, or the Islands of the jEgean, in which Jewish communities were not to be found. Jos {Ant, XIV, vii, 2) quotes Strabo as saying: "It is hard to find a place in the habitable earth that hath not admitted this tribe of men, and is not pos.sessed by them." Thus, in
Galilee, told the young princes that it was not enough to read the Law, but that they must keep it
too, with the result that both were circumcised. From this it is evident that Jewish teachers of the gentile converts varied in the strictness of their teaching.
The word "proselyte" occurs 4 t in the NT; once in Mt (23 15), where Our Lord refers to the proselytizing zeal of the Pharisees, and
3. Proseto the pernicious influence which they lytes in exerted on their converts; and 3 t in the NT Acts. Proselytes were present at Pentecost (Acts 2 10) ; Nicolas, one of the deacons appointed by the primitive church at Jerus, was a proselyte (6 5) ; and after Paul had spoken in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia, many devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas (13 43). It is to be noted in this last case that the proselytes are called sehomenoi, a word generally reserved for another class. Certain people are spoken of in Acts as phobomnenoi ton thedn, "fearing God" (10 2.22.35; 13 16.26), and as sebdmenoi ton thedn, "reverencing God," or simply sebomenoi (13 50; 16 14; 17 4.17; 18 7). These seem (as against Bertholet and EB) to have been sympathizers with Judaism, who attended the worship of the synagogue, but were not circumcised. It was among this class that the gospel made its first converts among the Gentiles. Those who were fully proselytes were probably as fanatical opponents of Christianity as were the Jews.
.spite of the hatred and contempt which Judaism everywhere excited, its lofty, austere and spiritual religious aspirations and conceptions became known to the pagan world and exercised a profound attraction upon many souls that were deeply dissatisfied with contemporary religions. Judaism was at that period filled with missionary zeal and aspired to world-mastery. Many books on Judaism (e.g. the Sibylline Oracles) were written anonymously by Jews in order to influence pagan readers. The synagogue, which had become the center of Jewish worship, now opened its doors widely to the pagan world (cf Acts 15 21), and many of the sermons dehvered there were directly aimed at the
2469 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Proselyte Proverb
Literature.—See articles on "Proselyte" and "Ger" In EB, HDB. Jew Enc, and RE; Slevogt, De proselytis Judaeorum, 16.51; A. Bertholet. Die Stellung der Israeliten und der .fuden zu den Fremden, 189G; Schiiror. HJP, \r' Huidekoper, Judaism al Rome, 1887; Harnack, Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums, 1906, ET; Allen, "On the Meaning of proselutos in the Septuagint," Expos, 1894; A. B. Davidson, "They That Fear the Lord," Expos T, III (1892), 491 £f.
From the old strict Pharisaic-Palestinian point of view, circumcision, with the addition of baptism
and the offering of sacrifice, was in4. Ger dispensable (so to Paul every circumin the cised person was a Jew; cf Gal 6 3); Talmud and thus their converts had to submit to the whole burden of the Mosaic and traditional Law. The rabbinic distinction between ger toshabh, "a settler," and ger qedhek, "a proselyte of righteousness," is, according to Schiirer, only theoretical, and arose at a later date {Bahha' M's^'a' 6 6.9.12; Makkolh 2 3; N'gha'im 3 1, etal.). While the ger gedhek (or ger ka-b'rllk, "proselyte of the covenant") was considered as being in every respect a "perfect Israelite," the ger toshabh (or ger sha'ar, "proselyte of the gate"; cf Ex 20 10) only professed his faith in the God of Israel, and bound himself to the observance of the 7 Noachic precepts, abstinence from blasphemy, idolatry, homicide, fornication, robbery, eating the flesh of an animal that had died a natural death, and disobedience to (Jewish) authority {Sanh. 56a; cf Acts 15 20.29; 21 25). He was considered more of a Gentile than a Jew.
Paul Levertofp PROSEUCHE, pr6-su'k5, PROSEUCHA, pr6su'ka (Trpo(r«Dx<i, proseucht): "A place in the open air where the Jews were wont to pray, outside of those cities where they had no synagogue," Acts 16 13.16 [Thayer, Lexicon of the NT). See Philippi.
PROSTITUTION, pros-ti-tu'shun. See Crimes; Harlot; Punishments.
PROSTRATION, pros-tra'shun. See Attitudes.
PROTEVANGELIUM, pro-te-van-jel'i-um, OF JAMES. See Apocryphal Gospels, III, 1, (a).
PROVE, proov OP^, bahan, nOJ , na^ah; Soki-
liajw, dokimdzo, ireipdjo), peirdzo): Means (1) to test or try; (2) to establish, demonstrate; (3) to find by experience. It is for the most part in the first (original) sense that the word is found in Scripture. In the OT it is most frequently the tr of na^ah, primarily "to lift," hence to weigh (Gen 42 15.16, etc). God is said to "prove" His people,
Three things were required for the admission of a proselyte, circumcision, baptism, and the offering of sacrifice {B"r. 47b; Y'bham. 456, 46a, 486, 76a; 'Abhoth B7a, et al.). In the case of women only baptism and the offering of sacrifice were required; for that reason there were more women converts than men. Jos (BJ, II, xx, 2) tells how most of the women of Damascus were addicted to the Jewish religion. Doubt has been expressed as to the necessity of proselytes being baptized, since there is no mention of it by Paul or Philo or Jos, but it is probable that a Gentile, who was unclean, would not be admitted to the temple without being cleansed.
i.e. to test or try them for their good (Gen 22 1; Ex 15 25; Dt 8 16, etc). The Psalmist prays that God may prove him (Ps 26 2). The word is frequently rendered "tempt." See Tempt. The word bahan, primarily "to try by heat," has a similar meaning (Ps 17 3, the heart, like metal, purified from dross; cf Job 23 10; Ps 7 9; Mai 3 2, etc). In the NT the word most frequently rendered "prove" (sometimes "try") is dokimazo (Lk 14 19; Rom 12 2; 2 Cor 8 8.22; 13 5; Eph 5 10; 1 Thess 5 21). Peirazo, "to tempt," "to prove," used in both a good and a bad sense, frequently tr'' "tempt" (q.v.), is rendered "prove" in Jn 6 6, "This he said to prove him." Both Gr words occur frequently in Apoc (Wisd and Ecclus). RV has "prove" for "tempt" (Gen 22 1); for "make" (Job 24 25; Gal. 2 18); for "manifest" (Eccl 3 18); for "examine" (1 Cor 11 28); for "try" (1 Cor 3 13; 1 Jn 4 1), etc. W. L. Walker PROVENDER, prov'en-der ([1] Sisp^ , mispff, from obs. V i'SD
The proselyte was received in the following manner. He was fu'st asked his reason for wishing to embrace Judaism. He was told that Israel was in a state of affliction; if he replied that he was aware of the fact and felt himself unworthy to share these afflictions, he was admitted. Then he received instruction in some of the "light" and "heavy" commandments, the rules concerning gleaning and tithes, and the penalties attached to the breach of the commandments. If he was willing to submit to all this, he was circumcised, and after his recovery he was immersed without delay. At this latter ceremony two "disciples of the wise" stood by to
tell him more of the "light" and "heavy" commandments. When he came up after the immersion, those assembled addressed him saying: "Unto whom hast thou given thyself? Blessed art thou, thou hast given thyself to God; the world was created for the sake of Israel, and only Israelites are called the children of God. The afflictions, of which we spoke, we mentioned only to make thy reward the greater." After his baptism he was considered to be a new man, "a little child newly born" (Y'bham. 22a, 47a, 486, 976) ; a new name was given him; either he was named "Abraham the son of Abraham," or the Scriptures were opened at hazard, and the first name that was read was given to him. Thenceforth he had to put behind him
, ^aphd', "to feed," fodder
for cattle in general [Gen 24 25.32; 42 27; Jgs
19 19.21]; [2] biba, 6"^?;, from V bba , balal, "to mix": "Loweth the ox over his fodder?" [Job 6
5]; y^^ '^^?) b'lilhamlQ: "The young asses that
till the ground shall eat savory [Heb "salted"] provender" [Isa 30 24]; this is fodder mixed with salt or aromatic herbs): The ordinary provender in Pal, besides fresh pasturage, is tibn, i.e. straw broken on the threshing floor, kursenneh (Vetch, Vicia ervilia), given esp. to camels and milch cows; bran, for fattening and esp. in cold weather; and, occasionally, hay made from the dried mixed grass and herbs which spring up luxuriously after the rains. The Circassian colonists E. of the Jordan are teaching their neighbors the value of this food, so long neglected. E. W. G. Masterman
all his past; even his marriage ties and those of kinship no longer held good (cf Y'bham. 22a; Sanh. 686). Although he was thus juridically considered a new man, and one whose praises were sung in the Talmudical literature, he was yet on the whole looked down on as inferior to a born Jew [Kidd. 4 7; Sh'bhu'oth 10 9, et al.). Rabbi Chelbo'said: "Proselytes are as injurious to Israel as a scab" {Y'bham. 476; Kidd. 706; cf Phil 3 5). See also Strangeb.
PROVERB, prov'erb (b;rip, viashal, r\yn
hldhah; irapapoX^i, parabole [Lk 4 23], irapoiiiia, paroimia [Jii 16 25.29]):
I. Folk Meaning and Use 1. The Primitive Sense 2. The Communal Origin 3. Animus of Proverbs
Proverb Proverbs, Book of THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2470
II. Literary Development of the Proverb 1. Discovery of Literary Value 2. The Differentiation III. Aa Unit of a Strain of Literature
One element of the proverb, which a wide-awake people like the Hebrews would soon discover, was
its adaptability for personal portrayal
1. From Detachment to Continuity 2. The Conception of AVisdom 3. In Later Time By this term mainly, but sometimes by the term "parable" (e.g. Nu 23 7.18; 24 3.15; Job 27 1; 29 1), is tr"! the Heb word mashal (blBlp), which designates the formal unit or vehicle of didactic discourse. The mashal was an enunciation of truth, self-evident and self-illustrative, in some pointed or concentrated form adapted to arrest attention, awaken responsive thought, and remain fixed in memory. Its scope was broader than that of our word "proverb," taking in subject-matter as well as form. The mashal broadened indeed in the course of its history, until it became the characteristic idiom of Heb philosophy, as distinguished from the dialectic method of the Greeks. The Heb mind was not inductive but intuitive; it saw and asserted; and the word mashal is the generic term for the form in which its assertion was embodied.
3. Animus or satire, like a home thrust. Hence
of Proverbs the popular use of the name mashal came to connote its animus, generally
of sarcasm or scorn. The taunting verse raised against Heshbon, Nu 21 27-30, is attributed to them "that speak in proverbs" (m'shalim); and Isaiah's taunt in his burden of Babylon (Isa 14 4-20) is composed in the proverb measure: "Thou shalt take up this parable [mashal, AV "proverb"] against the king of Babylon." Answering to this prevaiUng animus of proverbs was a corresponding susceptibility to their sting and rankle; they were the kind of utterance that most surely found the national and individual self-consciousness. To be a proverb—to be in everybody's mouth as a subject of laughter, or as a synonym for some awful atrocity —was about the most dreadful thing that could befall them. To be "a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse" (Jer 24 9) was all one. That this should be the nation's fate was held as a threat over them by lawgiver and prophet (Dt 28 37;
/. Folk Meaning and Use.—The vidshal, nearly in our sense of proverb, traces back to the heart and
1 K 9 7) ; and in adversities of experience, both individual and collective, the thing that was most keenly felt was to have become a byword (mashal)
life of the common foU^; it is a native
1. The form reflecting in a peculiarly intimate Primitive way the distinctive genius of the Heb Sense people. As to the primitive sense of the word, it is usually traced to a root meaning "likeness," or "comparison," as if the
//. Literary Development of the Proverb.—The rank of proverb was by no means attributed to every popular saying, however the
(Ps 44 14; 69 11).
1. Dispeople might set store by it. If its covery of application was merely local (e.g. 2 S Literary 20 18; Gen 22 14) or temporary (note Value how Jeremiah and Ezekiel announce popular sayings as obsolete), it remained in its place and time. About the proverb, on the other hand, there was the sense of a value universal and permanent, fitting it for Uterary immortality. Nor was the proverb itself a runwild thing, at the shaping of the crowd; from the beginning it was in the hands of "those who speak in m''shdlim," whose business it was to put it into skilful wording. The popular proverb, however, and the literary proverb were and continued two different things. There came a time, in the literary development of Israel, when the value of the mashal as a vehicle of instruction came to be recognized; from which time a systematic cultivation of this type of discourse began. That time, as seems most probable, was the reign of King Solomon, when in a special degree the people awoke to the life and industry and intercourse and wealth of the world around them. The king himself was 'large hearted' (1 K 4 29), versatile, with literary tastes; "spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five"; and his whole generation, both in Israel and surrounding nations, was engaged in a vigorous movement of thought and "wisdom" (see the whole passage, 1 K 4 2934). For the unit and vehicle of this new thought the old native form of the mashal or proverb was chosen; it became the recognized medium of popular education and coimsel, esp. of the young; and the mashal itself was molded to the classic form, condensed, pointed, aphoristic, which we see best exemplified in the Book of Prov 10—22 16 probably the earliest collection of this kind of literature. In this body of proverbs we see also that instead of retaining the unbalanced single assertion of the popular proverb, as it appears in
first sense of it were of the principle of analogy underlying it; but this derivation is a guess. The word is just as likely to be connected with the vb. mashal, "to rule" or "master"; so by a natural secondary meaning to denote that statement which gives the decisive or final verdict, says the master word. The idea of how the thing is said, or by what phrasing, would be a later differentiation, coming in with literary refinement.
The earhest cited proverb (1 S 10 12, repeated with varied occasion, 1 S 19 24) seems to have risen spontaneously from the people's
2. The observation. That Saul the son of Communal Kish, whose very different temperaOrigin ment everybody knew, should be susceptible to the wild ecstasy of strolling prophets was an astonishing thing, as it were a di.scovery in psychology; "Therefore it became a proverb. Is Saul also among the prophets?" A few years later David, explaining his clemency in sparing the life of the king who has become his deadly foe, quotes from a folk fund of proverbs:
1 S 24 13, "As saith the proverb of the ancients. Out of the wicked cometh forth wickedness; but my hand shall not be upon thee." The prophet Ezekiel quotes a proverb which evidently embodies a popular belief: "The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth"; which he corrects to, "The days are at hand, and the fulfilment of every vision"
(Ezk 12 22.23). Both Ezekiel and Jeremiah (Ezk 18 2; Jer 31 29) quote the same current proverb, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge," in order to announce that the time has come for its discontinuance. These last two examples are very instructive. They show how the body of the people put the inwardness of their history into proverb form, as it were a portable lesson for the times; they show also how the prophets availed themselves of these floating sayings to point their own message. Ezekiel seems indeed to recognize the facihty with which a situation may bring forth a proverb: Ezk 16 44, "Every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee [lit. every one that mashah shall mashal against thee], saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter."
1 S 10 12; 24 13, these composers of literary proverbs borrowed the poetic parallelism, or couplet, which in two lines sets two statements over against each other by antithesis or repetition, and cultivated this to its most condensed and epigrammatic construction. Thus the mashal took
2471 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Proverb Proverbs, Book of
thus from a fund of maxims and analogies, became the Heb equivalent for philosophy. With the further history of it this article is not concerned, except to note that the mashal or proverb form held
to itself a literary self-consciousness and became a work of art.
Up to the time of this literary development a proverb was recognized simply as a proverb, with
itself free to expand into a continuous and extended discourse, or to hold itself in to the couplet form. As to illustrative quality, too, its scope was liberal enough to include a fully developed parable; see for instance Ezk 17 1-10, where the prophet is bidden to "put forth a riddle, and speak a parable
little sense of its various phases, except 2. The Difthat there was a strong popular tendferentiation ency to identify it with satire, and with less thought of the elements of its life and power. With the refinement of form, however, came a recognition of its inwardness. Under the generic term mashal, certain elements were differentiated; not, however, as we are wont to distinguish—parable, fable, apologue, allegory—these remained undifferentiated. The most fundamental distinction of classes, perhaps, is given in Prov 1 6: "To understand a proverb, and a figure, the words of the wise, and their dark sayings." Here it seems the word "proverb" {mashal) and "words of the wise," paired off with each other, are the generic terms; the other two, the differentiating terrns, name respectively the two fundamental directions of the mashal, toward the clear and toward the enigmatic. Both are essential elements. The word tr'' "figure" (nS'^ba, m^Ztfa/j) is rather "interpretation," and seems to refer to the illuminative element of the mashal, and this was mainly analogy. Natural objects, phases of experience, contrasts were drawn into the mashal to furnish analogies for fife; Solomon's use of plants and animals in his discourses (1 K 4 .33) was not by way of natural history, but as analogies to illustrate his m'shalim. The word tr*" "dark sayings" (tliT^n
[lit. mashal a mashal] unto the house of Israel."
The existence of so considerable a body of proverbs is a testimony to the Heb genius for senten-
tious and weighty expression, a virtue
3. In Later of speech which was held in special Time esteem. From the uses of practical wisdom the mashal form was borrowed by the later scribes and doctors of the law; we see it for instance in loose and artificial use in such books as Pirke 'Ahholh, which gives the impression that the utterance so grandly represented in the Solomonic proverbs had become decadent. It
is in another direction rather that the virtues of the mashal reach their culmination. In the phrasal felicity and illustrative lucidity of Our Lord's discourses, and not less in His parables, employed that the multitude "may see and yet not see" (Mk 4
12), we have the values of the ancient mashal in their perfection, in a literary form so true to its object that we do not think of its artistry at all. See also Games, I, 6. John Franklin Genung
PROVERBS, prov'erbz, BOOK OF:
hidhoth) is the word elsewhere tr'' "riddle" (Samson's riddle, for instance, was a hidhah, Jgs 14 13.14), and refers to that quality of the proverb which, by challenging the hearer's acumen, gives it zest; it is due to an association of things so indirectly related that one must supply intermediate thoughts to resolve them. All of this of course goes to justify the proverb as a capital vehicle for instruction and counsel; it has the elements that appeal to attention, responsive thought, and memory, while on the other hand its basis of analogy makes it illuminative.
I. The Book's Account of Itself 1. Title and Headings 2. Authorship or Literary Species ? II. The Successive Compil.\tions 1. The Introductory Section 2. The Classic Nucleus 3. A Body of Solicited Counsel 4. Some Left-over Precepts
.5. The Hezekian Collection 6. Words of Agur 7. Words of King Lemuel 8. An Acrostic Eulogy of Woman III. Movement toward a Philosophy
1. Liberation of the mdshfil
2. Emergence of Basal Principles
///. As Unit of a Strain of Literature.—Until
.3. The Conception of Wisdom IV. Considerations of Age and Literary Kinship
it reached its classic perfection of phrasing, say during the time from Solomon to
1. Under the Kings 2. The Concentrative Point
3. Its Stage in Progressive Wisdom The Scripture book which in both the Heb and the Gr arrangements of the OT Canon immediately succeeds the Pss. In the Heb Canon it stands second in the final or supplementary division called k'thubhim (LXX na/)oi/x(ai, Paroimiai), "writings"; placed there probably because it would be most natural to begin this section with standard collections nearest at hand, which of course would be psalms and proverbs. This book is an anthology
1. From Hezekiah, the formal development of Detachment the proverb was concentrative; the
to Consingle utterance disposed of its whole
tinuity subject, as in a capsule. But the development of the mashal form from the
antithetic to the synonymous couplet gave rise to a proverb in which the explanatory member did not fully close the case; the subject craved further
elucidation, and so a group of several counlets was sometimes necessary to present a case (cf g. about the sluggard, Prov 26 1.3-16). From this group
of sayings or lessons of the sages on life, character, conduct; and as such embodies the distinctively educative strain of Heb literature.
of proverbs the transition was easy to a continuous
passage, in which the snappy parallelism of the proverb yields to the flow of poetry; see e.g. Prov 27 23-27. • This is due evidently to a more pene-
/. 77ie Book's Account of Itself.—At the beginning, intended apparently to cover the whole work,
trative and analytic mode of thinking, which can no longer satisfy its statement of truth in a single
stands the title: "The proverbs of
1. Title and Solomon the son of David, king of Headings Israel." It seemed good to the com-
illustration or maxim.
As the store of detached utterances on various
pilers, however, to repeat, or perhaps retain an older heading, "The proverbs of Solomon" at ch 10, as if in some special sense the col-
phases of practical life accumulated and the task
of collecting them was undertaken, it
2. The was seen that they had a common Conception suffusion and bearing, that in fact they
lection there beginning deserved it; and at ch 25
still another heading occurs: "These also are prov-
erbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king
of Wisdom constituted a distinctive strain of lit-
of Judah copied out." All these ascribe the prov-
erature. The field of this literature was broad, and recognized (see Prov 1 1-5) as promotive of many intellectual virtues; but the
erbs to Solomon; but the heading (30 1), "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the oracle," and
the heading (31 1), "The words of king Lemuel;
inclusive name under which it was gathered was Wisdom (n72Dn, hokhmah). Wisdom, deduced
the oracle which his mother taught him," indicate
Proverbs, Book of THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2472
—is hortatory; it is addressed to "my son" (1 8 and often) or "my sons" (4 1; 5 7; 7 24; 8 32),
that authorship other than that of Solomon is represented; while the mention of "the words of the wise" (1 6; 22 17), as also the definite heading, "These also are sayings of the wise" (24 23), ascriBe parts of the book to the sages in general. The book is confessedly a series of compilations made at different times ; confessedly, also, to a considerable extent at least, the work of a number, perhaps a whole guild, of writers.
in the tone of a father or a sage, bringing stores of wisdom and experience to the young. The fu-st
six verses are prefatory, giving the purpose and use
of the whole book. Then ver 7 lays down as the
initial point, or spiritual bedrock of Wisdom, the
fear of Jeh, a principle repeated toward the end
of this mtroductory section (9 10), and evidently regarded as very vital to the whole Wisdom system; cf Job 28 2,S; Ps 111 10; Sir 1 14. The
It is hazardous to argue either for or against a specific authorship; nor is it my intention to do so. The question naturally arises, however,
effect of this prefatory and theme-propoundmg matter is to launch the collection of proverbs much
2. Authorin what sense this book, with its comship or posite structure so outspoken, can lay Literary claim to being the work of Solomon. Species? Does the title refer to actual personal authorship, or does it name a species and type of literature of which Solomon was the originator and inspirer—as if it meant to say "the Solomonic proverbs"? We may work toward the answer of this question by noting some literary
after the manner of modern literary works, and the
rest of the section bears this out fairly well. The most striking feature of the section, besides its general homiletic tone, is its personification of Wisdom. She is represented as calling to the sons
of men and commending to them her ways (1 20-33; 8 1-21.32-36); she condescends, for right and
purity's sake, to enter into rivalry with the "strange woman," the temptress, not in secret, but in open and fearless dealing (7 6—8 9; 9 1-6.13-18); and,
facts.
Outside of the prophets only three of the OT books are provided in the original text with titles: and these three are all associated with Solomon—two of them, Prov and the Song of Songs, directly; the third, Eccl, by an assumed name, which, however, personates Solomon. This would seem to indicate in the composition of these books an unusual degree of literary finish and self-consciousness, a sense on the part of writers or compilers that literature as an art has its claims upon them. The subject-matter of the books, too, bears this out; they are, relatively speaking, the secular books of the Bible and do not assume Divine origin, as do law and prophecy. For the original impulse to such literary culture the history directs us to tlie reign of King Solomon; see 1 K 4 29-34, where is portrayed, on the part of king and court, an intense intellectual activity for its own sake, the like of which occurs nowhere else in Scripture, The forms then esp. impressed upon the literature were the mashal
in a supremely poetic passage (8 22-31), she describes her relation from the beginning with God and with the sons of men. It represents the value that the Heb mind came to set upon the human endowment
of Wisdom. The Heb philosopher thought not in terms of logic and dialectics, but in sjinbol and personality; and to this high rank, almost like that of a goddess, his imagination has exalted the intel-
lectual and spiritual powers of man. See Wisdom.
The section 10 1 22 16, with the repeated heading "The proverbs of Solomon," seems to have been the original nucleus of the whole
2. The collection. AH the proverbs in this, Classic the longest section of the book, are Nucleus molded strictly to the couplet form (the one triplet, 19 7, being only an apparent exception, due probably to the loss of a
(proverb) and the song, in both of which the versatile young king was proficient; cf 1 K 4 32. For the cultivation of the vidshdl these men of letters availed themselves of a favorite native form, the popular proverb; but they gave to it a literary mold and finisli which would thenceforth distinguish it as the .Solomonic mashal
(see Proverb). This then was the literary form in which from the time of Solomon onward the sages of the nation put their counsels of life, character, conduct; it became as distinctively the mold for this didactic strain of literature as was the heroic couplet for a similar strain in the age of Dryden and Pope.
line), each proverb a parallelism in condensed phrasing, in which the second line gives either some contrast to or some amplification of the first. This was doubtless the classic art norm of the Solomonic mashal.
It is reasonable therefore to understand this title of the Book of Prov as designating rather a literary species than a personal authorship; it names this anthology of Wisdom in its classically determined phrasing, and for age and authorship leaves a field spacious enough to cover the centuries of its currency. Perhaps also the proverb of this tjqje was by the term "of Solomon" differentiated from mdshdls of other types, as for instance those of Balaam and Job and Koheleth.
The section seems to contain the product of that period of proverb-culttu-e during which the sense of the model was a little rigid and severe, not venturing yet to limber up the form. Signs of a greater freedom, however, begin to appear, and possibly two strata of compilation are represented. In chs 10-15 the prevailing couplet is antithetic, which embodies the most selfclosed circuit of the thought. Out of 184 proverbs only 19 do not contain some form of contrast, and 10 of these are in cti 15. In 16—22 16, on the other hand, the prevailing form is the so-called synonymous or amplified couplet, which leaves the thought-circuit more open to illustrative additions. Out of 191 proverbs only 18 are antithetic, and these contain contrasts of a more subtle and hidden suggestion. As to subject-matter, the whole section is miscellaneous; in the first half, however, where the antithesis prevails, are the great elemental distinctions of life, wisdom and folly, righteousness and wickedness, industry and laziness, wise speech and reticence, and the like; while in the second half there is a decided tendency to go farther afield for subtler and less obvious distinctions. In this way they seem to reflect a growing and reflning literary development, the gradual shaping and accumulation of materials for a philosophy of life; as yet, however, not articulated or reduced to unity of principle.
//. The Successive Compilations.— That the Book of Prov is composed of several collections made at different times is a fact that lies 1. The Inon the surface; as many as eight of troductory these are clearly marked, and perhaps Section subdivisions might be made. The book was not originally conceived as the development of a theme, or even as a unity; whatever unity it has was an afterthought. That
it did come to stand, however, for one homogeneous body of truth, and to receive a name and a degree of articulation as such, will be maintained in a later section (see III, below). Meanwhile, we will take the sections in order and note some of the salient characteristics of each. The introductory section, chs 1-9, has the marks of having been added later than most of the rest; and is introductory in the sense of concentrating the thought to the concept of Wisdom, and of recommending the spiritual attitude in which it is to be received. Its style—and in this it is distinguished from the rest of the book
In the short section 22 17—24 22, the proverb literature seems for the first time to have become as
it were self-conscious—to regard itself
3. A Body as a strain of wise counsel to be reckof Solicited oned with for its educative value. Counsel The section is introduced by a preface (22 17-21), in which these "words of the wise" are recommended to some person or delegation, "that thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee" (22 21). The
2473 THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA Proverbs, Book of
counsels seem intended for persons in responsible position, perhaps attached to the court (cf 23 1-3), who, as they are to deal officially with men and affairs, need the prudence, purity, and temperance which will fit them for their duties. As to form, the detached couplet appears only occasionally; the favorite form is the quatrain; but proverbs of a greater number of lines are freely used, and one, the counsel on wine drinking (23 29-35), runs to 17 lines. In tone and specific counsel the section has many resemblances to the introductory section (chs 1-9), and provokes the conjecture that this latter section, as the introduction to a compiled body of Wisdom, was composed not long after it. The little appendix (24 23-34) is headed, "These also are sayings of the wise." They refer to wise intercourse and ordered industry. 4. Some The little poem on the sluggard (24 Left-over 30-34), with its refrain (vs 33.34), is Precepts noteworthy as being apparently one stanza of a poem which is completed with the same refrain in the introductory section (6 6-11). The stanzas are of the same length and structure; and it would seem the latter named was either discovered later or composed as a supplement to the one in this section.
where used for mystic or Divine utterance. This seems to mark a stage in the self-consciousness of Wisdom when it was felt that its utterances could be ranked by the side of prophecy as a revelation of truth (cf what Wisdom says of herself, 8 14), and could claim the authoritative term "oracle." For the rest, apart from the humble reverence with which they are imbued, these words of Agur do not rise to a high level of spiritual thinking; they tend rather to the riddling element, or "dark sayings" (cf 1 6). The form of his proverbs is peculiar, verging indeed on the artificial; he deals mostly in the so-called numerical proverb ("three things .... yea, four"), a style of utterance paralleled elsewhere only in 6 16-19, but something of a favorite in the later cryptic sayings of the scribes, as may be seen in Pirke 'Abhoih.
31 1-9 (possibly the whole chapter should be included) is headed, "The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught 7. Words him." Here occurs again the mysof King terious word "oracle," which would Lemuel seem to be open to the same interpretation as the one given in the previous paragraph, though some would make this otherwise unknown monarch a king of Massa, and refer to the name of one of the descendants of Ishmael
The long section (chs 25-29) is headed, "These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out." 5. The The collection claims to be only a Hezekian compilation; but if, as already sugCoUection gested, we understand the term "proverbs of Solomon" as equivalent to "Solomonic proverbs," referring rather to species than personal authorship, the compilation may have been made not merely from antiquity, but from the archives of the Wisdom guilds. If so, we have a clue to the state of the Wisdom literature in Hezekiah's time. The collection as a whole, unlike sees. 3 and 4, returns predominantly to the classic form of the couplet, but with a less degree of compression and epigram. There is a tendency to group numbers of proverbs on like subjects; note for instance the group on the king (25 2-7). The most striking feature of the collection is the prevalence of simile and analogy, and in general the strong figurative coloring, esp. in chs 25-27; it reads like a new species of proverb when we note that in all the earlier Solomonic sections there are only two clearly defined similes (10 26; 11 22). In chs 25-27 are several proverbs of three, four, or five lines, and at the end (27 23-27) a charming
(Gen 25 14), presumably a tribal designation. The Heb sages from the beginning were in rivalry and fellowship with the sages of other nations (cf
1 K 4 30.31); and in the Book of Job, the supreme reach of Wisdom utterance, all of the sages. Job included, are from countries outside of Pal. King Lemuel, if an actual personage, was not a Jew; and probably Agur was not. The words of Lemuel are a mother's plea to her royal son for chastity, temperance and justice, the kingly virtues. The form
is the simple Heb parallelism, not detached couplets, but continuous.
The Book of Prov ends in a manner eminently worthy of its high standard of sanity and wisdom.
Without any heading (it may possibly
8. An belong to the "oracle" that the mother Acrostic of Lemuel taught her son) the last 22 Eulogy of verses (31 10-31) constitute a single Woman poem in praise of a worthy woman, extolling esp. her household virtues. In form these verses begin in the original with the successive 22 letters of the Heb alphabet; a favorite form of Heb verse, as may be seen (in the original) in several of the pss, notably Ps 119, and in chs 1-4 of the Book of Lam.
///. Movement toward a Philosophy.—It has been much the fashion with modern critics to deny to the Hebrews a truly philosophic mind; this they say was rather the distinctive gift of the Greeks; while for their solution of the problem of life the Hebrews depended on direct revelation from above, which precluded that quasi-abeyance of concepts, that weighing of cosmic and human elements, involved in the commonly received notion of philosophy. This criticism takes account of only one side of the Heb mind. It is true they believed their life to be in direct contact with the will and word of Jeh, revealed to them in terms which could not be questioned; but in the findings and deliverance of their own intellectual powers, too, they had a reliance and confidence which merits the name of an authen-
little poem of ten lines on husbandry. Chs 28, 29 are entirely of couplets, and the antithetic proverb reappears in a considerable number. As to subjects matter, the thought of this section makes a rather greater demand on the reader's culture and thinking powers, the analogies being less obvious, more subtle. It is decidedly the reflection of a more literary age than that of sec. 2.
Ch 30 is taken up with "the words of Agur the son of Jakeh," a person otherwise unknown, who
disclaims expert knowledge of Wisdom
6. Words lore (30 3), and avows an agnostic of Agur attitude toward theological speculations, yet shows a tender reverence before the name and unplumbed mystery of Jeh (vs 6.9.32). His words amount to a plea against a too adventurous, not to say presumptuous, spirit
tic philosophy. But theirs was a philosophy not of speculative world-making, but of conduct and the practical management of life; and it was intuitive and analogical, not the result of dialectical reason-
in the supposed findings of human Wisdom, and as such supply a useful makeweight to the mounting pride of the scholar. Yet over this peculiar plea
ing. Hence its name wisdom, the solution itself, rather than philosophy, the love of wisdom, the search tor solution. This Book of Prov, beginning with detached maxims on the elements of conduct, reveals in many suggestive ways the gradual emer-
is placed the word "Massa" (SlBBn, ha-massa'), "burden" or "oracle," the term used for prophetic disclosures; and the word for "said" ("the man said," "l^jn DN3 , n''um ha-gebher) is the word else-
Proverbs, Book of THE INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BIBLE ENCYCLOPAEDIA 2474
much esteemed among Orientals, to determine the
gence of a philosophy, a comprehensive wisdom, as
merits of cases brought before him for judgment
it were, in the making; it is thus the pioneer book of that Heb Wisdom which we see developed to maturer things in the books of Job and Eccl. Some of its salient stages may here be traced.
(1 K 3 16-2S), and to answer puzzling
3. The questions (1 K 10 l.e.7). Itwasfrom Conception such estimate of men's intellectual
of Wisdom powers, from the recognition of mental
We may first note it, or the literary preparation for it, in ttie opening up of ttie mdshdl, or proverb unit, toward
alertnes.s, sagacity, grasp, in their application to the practical issues of life (cf Prov
added elements of illustration, explana-
1. Liberation, amplitude, a development that betinn nf thff ^ins to appear, in the oldest section (the uuu ui LUC classic nucleus, sec. 2) at about ch 16. The mashal primitive antithetic mdshdl contrasted two aspects of truth in such a way as to leave the case closed; there was nothing for it but to go on to a new subject. This had the good effect of setting over against each other the great elemental antagonisms of life: righteousness and wickedness, obedience and lawlessness, teachableness and perversity, industry and laziness, prudence and presumption, reticence and prating, etc, and so far forth it was a masterly analysis of the essentials of individual and social conduct. As soon, however, as the synonymous and illustrative mashdl prevails, we are conscious of a limbering up and greater penetrativeness of the range of thought; it is open to subtler distinctions and remoter discoveries, and the analogies tend to employ the less direct relationships of cause and effect. This is increased as we go on, esp. by the greater call upon the imagination in the figurative tissue of the Hezekian section, and by the decidedly greater tendency to the riddling and paradox element. The mdshdl increases in length and amplitude, both by the grouping of similar sub.iects and by the enlargement from the couplet to the quatrain and the developed poem. All this, while not yet a self-conscious philosophy, is a step on the way thereto.
1 1-5), that the conception of Wisdom in its
larger sense arose. As, however, the cultivation
of such sagacity of utterance passed beyond the pastime of a royal court (cf 1 K 4 29-34) into the hands of city elders and sages, it attained to greatly enhanced value; note how the influence of such a sage is idealized (Job 29 7-25). The sages had a
definite calling and mission of their onm, more, potent perhaps than belonged to priests and prophets; the frequent reference to the young and the "simple" or immature in the Book of Prov would indicate that they were virtually the schoolmasters and educators of the nation. As such, working as they did in a fellowship and collaboration with each other, the subject-matter with which they dealt would not remain as casual and miscellaneous maxims, but work toward a center and system of doctrine which could claim the distinction of an articulated philosophy of life, and all the more since it was so
identified with the great Heb ideal of righteousness and truth. We have already noted how this sense
of the dignity and value of their calling manifested
One solid presupposition of the sages, like an axiom, was never called in question: namely, that righteousness and wisdom are identical,
itself in the body of precepts sent in response to solicitation (3 above), with its appendix (4 above) (Prov 22 17—24 34). It was not long after this stage of Wisdom-culture, I think, that a very significant new word pame into their vocabulary, the vfordtushiyah (H^lpin, a puzzle to the translators, variously rendered "sound wisdom," "effectual working," and called by the lexicographers "a technical term of the Wisdom literature," BDB,
2. Emerthat wickedness of any sort is folly. gence of This imparts at once a kind of proBasal phetic coloring to the Wisdom precepts, Principles well represented by the opening proverb in the original section (after the prefatory one about the wise son), "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing; but righteousness delivereth from death" (Prov 10 2). Thus from the outset is furnished an uncompromising background on which the fascinating allurements of vice, the crooked ways of injustice and dishonesty, the sober habits of goodness and right dealing, show for what they are and what they tend to. The sages thus put themselves, too, in entire harmony with what is taught by priests and prophets; there