Proverbs Capitolo 1

Commentario del capitolo

Stato della lingua EN KO JA ZH-S ZH-T

EN 繁體中文 Confronto bilingue

Leggi il passaggio 33 versetti allineati all'originale 362 riferimenti incrociati 2 opere visive 3 titoli di sezione

서론

Proverbs 1 Introduction

Apri passaggio

繁體中文

箴言緒論

本書開卷的話（箴言 1:1）向我們提供了箴言書現行的希伯來文標題，譯者採用了其中的頭一個詞，「箴言」遂成為七十士譯本、武加大譯本與英王欽定本中本書通用的標題。曾有一段時期，猶太人與基督徒都把「智慧書」，或稱「至美的智慧」這一尊稱加於本書，表明本書作為希伯來人極其重視之智慧的代表，位居整類以智慧文學（Sapiential）之名著稱的書卷——無論正典抑或次經——之首。

「箴言」的希伯來文（משׁל mâshâl）比希臘文 παροιμία paroimia 與拉丁文 "proverbium" 具有更明確的含義。其詞根意義在於比較，即把此物與彼物並置，留意相異事物中的相似之處；它與希臘文 παραβολή parabolē 相應，更甚於 παροιμία paroimia。至於這詞也用於長短不一、形式犀利精練的道德警句——即使其中未必含有比喻——這一點在全書中顯而易見。

箴言在多數民族心智成長的較早階段頗為常見。單一個驚人或諧趣的事實成為一切同類事實的典型（如撒母耳記上 10:12）；純粹歸納的結果、其他事例可歸於其下的通則（如撒母耳記上 24:13）；或一條法則，或有比喻、或無比喻，以此解釋人生歷程或民族歷史中事件的演進（耶利米書 31:29；以西結書 18:2）：這些構成了各民族歷史——大抵在其較早階段——所見的箴言。它們的產生幾乎或全然沒有記載。無人知曉其作者。它們憑內在的真實、或看似真實的性質而為人接受。其後，通常在晚得多的時期，人們才將它們收集成編。

然而，箴言書並不是這樣的彙集。就其包含先前流傳於口的熟語而言，其中有一個由明確教導目的所引導的選擇過程——排除一切局部性的、個人性的、或純粹諧趣的內容，收納符合教師倫理宗旨的言語。正如其他民族的歷史一樣，希伯來人中間（參列王紀上 4:31）也在文化的某個階段興起了一批人，對他們而言，箴言是最自然的表達方式，他們把對自然現象或人生現象的一切觀察與思考都凝縮於其中。而箴言書所繫於其名下的智者——大衛的兒子所羅門——正是其中的翹楚。

列王紀上 4:32 確切的數字使人推斷：在該書寫成之時，已有一部歸於所羅門名下的言語集成，其篇幅遠長於現今的書卷，另有一批幾乎或完全失傳的歌謠。那個集成的範圍可能涵蓋遠比現今書卷更廣的主題（如樹木、生物等）；而現今的書卷從頭到尾以倫理為宗旨，內容大部分僅罕有地涉及動物與植物的世界，也沒有任何取寓言形式的內容。

然而本書的結構表明，它既是從多個來源編纂而成，也不僅是對一人言語的選輯；而且這一編纂以現今的形式成書，是在所羅門時代之後約三個世紀。書中相當大的一段由希西家年間首次整理寫下的箴言組成（箴言 25:1）。亞古珥（箴言 30:1）與利慕伊勒（箴言 31:1）被指為最後兩章的作者。因此，本書在構成上與詩篇相似：它是以色列智者言語的選集，以其中最卓越者之名命名，正如詩篇是大衛以及可拉後裔與其他作者之詩歌的選集一樣。

至於本書在多大程度上傳達所羅門本人的教訓、哪些部分可歸於他、哪些可歸於較晚的作者，眾說紛紜。然而，若干分界標誌自現眼前，將全書劃分為若干段落，每段各自構成完整的整體。

(a) 箴言 1:1-6 是全書的標題與序言，說明其內容與宗旨。雖然箴言 1:1 提供了本書原有的標題，其餘各節卻有充分理由相信是最後的編者——全書在其手中成形——所加。

(b) 箴言 1:7 有如格言，立定全書立基的原則。這一節也可歸於同一位編者。

(c) 箴言 1:8-9:18 是教師對學生的一段長篇勸勉，各小段以「我兒」或「眾子啊」的稱呼開始。在箴言 8 章，語調轉為更高昂。智慧親自發言，而且不是對個別尋求者，而是對世人整體發言（箴言 8:4）。把智慧擬人化為活的能力，強調其偉大與華美，並以之與「外女」——「陌生女子」，即妓女或淫婦——相對照；後者的魅力對正進入試煉時期的靈魂最為危險：這些都是這一部分的特色。

一些註釋者把這整段歸於所羅門之後的作者，其理由至少是極不確定的。支持作者同一的論據也並非缺乏。

(d) 箴言 10:1-22:16。標題表明這段落有獨立的來源。連續的訓導被一系列孤立的格言取代——簡短、精練、對仗，是希伯來箴言的真正典型，幾乎從不超出單節的範圍，處理人生尋常的事實，並從審慎的角度加以觀察。這是全書的核心，代表那使所羅門聞名於世的智慧。它包含約四百句這樣的格言，可視為列王紀上 4:32 所述更大數量言語的一個選輯，或許是在王自己的指示下編成，並以箴言 1-9 章較具講道性質的教訓作為序言。雖然沒有系統的排列，但此處彼處有兩節或更多連續的經文處理同一主題，多少透露了選輯形成的過程，彷彿曾有某種類似摘記簿的東西，其中雖無系統編排，卻在不同標題或關鍵詞之下有一定程度的歸類。

某些措辭也是這一段落的特色。至於教訓的實質，重點在於：耶和華（「主」）是一切美善的最高賜予者，是人類的審判者與統治者，全知並掌管萬事；而王——在所羅門時代自然而有的理想偉大中被思想，後期則不復如此——被視為耶和華的對應者與代表，是地上的護理者（箴言 16:10-15；箴言 19:6、箴言 19:12；箴言 20:8、箴言 20:26、箴言 20:28；箴言 21:1）。

(e) 箴言 22:17-24:22：這段落包含較連續的教訓，是教師對其「兒子」的個人呼籲（箴言 23:15、箴言 23:19、箴言 23:26；箴言 24:13、箴言 24:21），同樣警告不潔之罪（箴言 23:27-28），同樣宣告教師所懷的宗旨（箴言 22:17-21），與箴言 1-9 章所見相同。一個自然的假設是：同一位作者在完成構成全書中心的選輯之後，為其寫了序言與跋語，而這一部分連同短短的（f）段，便是本書在希西家年間接受最後增補之前流通的形式。

(f) 箴言 24:23-34：帶有新標題的段落。「以下也是智慧人的箴言」，即出自他們之口，成全了標題（箴言 1:6）所作的應許：無論編者在何處發現，「智慧人的言語」都將收錄其中。這段落雖短，卻在懶惰人田地的比喻（箴言 24:30-34）中呈現全書其他部分所無的若干特色。先前僅簡略述及的話（箴言 6:9），如今以圖畫般的生動重現。先前只是一般性的格言，如今作為經驗的教訓變得更銳利、更切身。

(g) 箴言 25-29:27。這一段落的標題預設了一個先前選集的存在，即人所共知、公認為真實且具權威的「所羅門的箴言」。它表明另有未收入該選集的箴言，或口傳、或筆錄，同時流通。它向我們展示了那個時代收集、整理、編輯前代著作之活動的一個顯著實例。它明白陳述：前面的選集與後面的選集，當時都經仔細查考而被認定出自所羅門本人。附有這標題的各章與箴言 10-22:16——所有批評者都視為全書最古老的部分——大致相似。同樣著重王職的理想卓越（比較箴言 25:2-7 與箴言 16:10-15），同樣在特定字詞與意念之下半成組地歸類，如箴言 29:2、箴言 29:7、箴言 29:16 中的「義人」。箴言的平均長度約略相同，多數有同樣的一般性對句平行。直喻的使用更為自由。在一處經文（箴言 27:23-27），作為特例，出現了性質上似乎偏於經濟而非倫理的教訓，其用意或許是維護以色列人較古老的農耕生活，以對照日漸以通商求富、從而陷入腓尼基人的奢侈與放縱的傾向。

(h) 箴言 30-31 章：這兩章呈現更大的難題，也開啟更廣的推測空間。譯作「預言」一詞（箴言 30:1；箴言 31:1；משׂא maśśâ'）在別處幾乎無一例外地譯作「重擔」，或取其字面意義，或指先知所發的莊嚴言論或神諭（參以賽亞書 13-23 章的標題）。若在此處接受這含義，就表明這兩章與此前構成全書的勸勉性講論或警句彙集之間有顯著差異。

這「預言」是對兩個門徒——以鐵（參尼希米記 11:7）與烏甲——說的。有人認為這兩個名字是兩個理想的名字，前者意為「神與我同在」，後者意為「我是有能力的」，二者都是同一理想人物的名字，是神聖智慧的代表，回應箴言 30:4-5 中無知與盲目的認罪。也有人把這些字視為根本不是名字，而是亞古珥自己開場話的一部分，是那突然開始的奇異怨言或認罪（箴言 30:2）的引言。

這一段落的主要特色教導性較弱、謎語性較濃，彷彿特別對應箴言 1:6 的「謎語」。各樣現象按四個一組編排，顯示獸類世界與人類世界事實的奇異交織；在這一點上，無論寫於何時、出自何人，它都如先前各段一樣清楚顯示約伯記的影響。這一段落或許是出自一位原屬於某地之人的作品片段——許多批評者正是把約伯記的背景追溯於該地；他是歸信了那信仰的人，耶和華之名在箴言 30:9 的出現足證作者已接受了這信仰。希西家治世的顯著之處，在於與這些鄰邦的往來重開（歷代志下 32:23），在於接納歸信者進入錫安的公民之中（詩篇 87:1-7），也在於熱心收集一切帶有崇高屬天智慧印記的著述並增補於正典。

(i) 箴言 31:1-9。多數猶太註釋者與部分教父註釋者推測，利慕伊勒就是所羅門的名字，他母親的責備之言，是在他治世初期的應許開始淪為感官放縱與無度之時說出的。另有人提出，利慕伊勒只是一個理想的名字，意即「屬於神的人」，是那位過著獻給耶和華之事奉生活的真君王。利慕伊勒究竟是誰、「預言」的緣起為何，我們只能承認自己的無知。它或許與箴言 30 章同屬一個時期，增補入書的時間不早於希西家時代。

(j) 箴言 31:10-31。書的最後一部分或許比其他任何部分都更清楚地自成完整的整體。自始至終只有一個主題：描繪一位完美的妻子。這段落以字母為結構。這形式之被採用，可能如字母詩篇一樣，部分為幫助記憶，部分是出於文學史上某類階段——通常較晚——所常有的那種樂趣：選取一種提出難度、需要巧思克服的結構。其中沒有任何歷史暗指，故無法確定其確切年代。

箴言書的倫理教訓立基於可應用於人生多變處境的原則之上。

本書屬於這樣一個時期：人們已受教，比先前更清楚地看出道德誡命與禮儀誡命相對的重要性——在摩西律法中，二者看似同樣出於神的權威而頒布。撒母耳的話（撒母耳記上 15:22）、亞薩的話（詩篇 50:13-14）、大衛的話（詩篇 51:16-17），已深印於百姓大眾的心中，也印在一位像箴言書作者那樣、在撒母耳死後居先知行列之首的教師（拿單）直接影響下長大之人的心中。這樣產生的區分道德義務與成文義務的傾向，會因與其他閃族——如以東、示巴——的接觸而得助長；這些民族在倫理基本原理上與以色列站在同一立足點，卻不像以色列那樣經過預表性或象徵性條例的操練。倘若約伯記已為以色列的智慧尋求者所知，其思想的宏偉以及其中全然未提及律法這一事實，會強化一個信念：可以有一種教導，引向真智慧與聖潔的生活，卻不包含對禮儀或祭禮誡命的直接提及。這些誡命會保存在家庭生活的傳統、父母的榜樣、祭司與利未人的教訓之中；而一位像箴言書作者的教師，可以致力於獨立於這些之外去立定敬虔生活的根基，並完整地展示那生命。

這解釋了箴言書為何全然不提那些敬虔的以色列人歷代必定重視、而後期發展的法利賽主義加以過分強調的義務。

正是這一消極的特點，使本書能為以色列的教育、也為全人類的教育，成就否則便不能如此妥善成就的工作。猶太人要受教承認一個他與外邦人共同立足的根基（馬可福音 12:33）。希臘人當以色列的聖書以他自己的語言呈現於前時，能在箴言這樣的書卷中找到他所能明白並共鳴的東西——關於生命及其義務、罪惡及其刑罰的教導，與他在本國文學中所見並無二致。兩約之間的時期，沒有「公開的異象」，說預言的恩賜暫被收回，而我們稱為次經的集子中最突出的兩卷——事實上僅有的兩卷具有鮮明教導性質的書，即所羅門智慧書與便西拉智訓——以箴言為範本，並在相當程度上重現其訓誨；這件事實本身就標誌著本書在那段時期對人心所施展的吸引力。

然而，箴言書的教訓在本質上與構成以色列信仰基礎的教訓相同。其道德並非僅是廣泛觀察善惡行為後果的產物，而是本質上宗教性的。神的名以（יהוה Yahweh）的形式不斷出現——這是以色列特有的產業，其使用頻率甚至超過神（אלהים 'Elohiym）一名——這件事本身便足以證明，那名字所象徵的真理並未被放棄。對耶和華的敬畏（箴言 1:7）立於其教訓的最前端，作為智慧的開端。由此表明的心境——那種敬畏與崇敬，植根於人在永恆者與無限者面前自覺渺小軟弱的意識——既是本書教訓所命令的順服義務之律的生命動機，也是其冠冕（箴言 2:5）。

若外在昌盛、「長壽」與「富貴」（箴言 3:16；箴言 10:27）歸與那些遵守他誡命的人，人們同樣受教：他也藉「管教」與「責備」教育、操練他們（箴言 3:11-12）。理性與言語的一切能力、追求聖潔的一切努力，都被視為他的恩賜（箴言 16:1、箴言 16:9）；人們也受教在生活一切外在福分中、在構成家庭幸福的親屬關係中承認他的厚賜（箴言 19:14）。當人受命尋求智慧時，他被引導視智慧為穿戴著位格生命的，與永恆者有最親密的團契、與他不可分割地合而為一（箴言 8:22、箴言 8:30）。而既然本書諄諄教誨的智慧如此遠超屬世審慎的層面，其賞賜也同樣超過外在的興盛。「公義能救人脫離死亡」（箴言 11:4），意即把生命不可避免的終局化為安樂之死（euthanasia）。與惡人形成對比——「他一死，他的指望必滅沒」（箴言 11:7）之於惡人乃是真實——義人則記載為「臨死，有所投靠」（箴言 14:32）。

這些原則之應用於實際與社會生活，預設了這樣一種社會狀態：鄉村生活的純樸正讓位於屬於城市的財富與奢侈的驟然發展。年輕人被再三懇切警告的危險是：揮霍、負債、醉酒、導致公開違法的不潔，以及剽掠者的生活。其他隨各種氣質而生的過失，也各自先後被置於譴責之下。

本書特有的實際智慧既然訴諸那些在兩種意見之間搖擺、偏向較壞一端的人，其重點便不在罪而在愚妄，不在其永恆的後果而在其今生的後果。人先被勸導出於次要的、審慎的動機而行動，躲避放縱的後果——貧窮、悲慘、羞辱——從而學會節制的習慣，這習慣使他們能領受更高的思想，順服神的律法，並在那順服本身之中尋得他們極大的賞賜。箴言書的作者（或諸作者）看出，這些邪惡的救治之道在於教育。個人與民族同樣需要管教與約束。個人可在家庭的訓練中、在勸誡與警告、必要時也在懲戒之中找到它——不受約束的意志由此被遏制、被引導；民族則在由智慧公義之王所掌控的嚴明、不屈、不可賄賂的正義執行中找到它（箴言 16:10、箴言 16:12-14；箴言 20:8、箴言 20:26、箴言 20:28）。因此，不僅臣民，君王也同受勸戒（箴言 28:16；箴言 29:12；箴言 31:4）：君王被勸告不可過分倚靠自己無人輔佐的判斷，而要使自己周圍有智慧審慎的謀士（箴言 24:6），並把一切訴諸那作為神之恩賜的智慧（箴言 8:15）。

一種倫理手冊若不給女人像給男人一樣指派其在社會秩序中的正確位置，便不完全。從婦人的愚昧（箴言 11:22）與墮落（箴言 2:16-19；箴言 5:3-14；箴言 7:6-27）生出最壞的惡；在她的卓越裡則有男人生命的冠冕與榮耀（箴言 11:16；箴言 12:4）。沒有一幅理想幸福的圖畫，比得上因真實聯合的澄澈光輝而如此完全的家庭（箴言 5:15-20）。「賢慧的妻」被視為神最好的恩賜之一（箴言 19:14），在唯一真實的根基上「建立家室」（箴言 14:1）。她對兒女的影響不小於父親，甚至可能更大（箴言 1:8；箴言 6:20）。兒女所有的良善歸功於她慈愛的勸導。他們的罪與愚妄是她的沉重與羞辱（箴言 10:1；箴言 17:25）。他們有責任向她獻上真實而充滿愛的順服（箴言 1:8；箴言 6:20）。關於這主題的教訓在箴言 31 章達於頂點，其內容為：

(1) 關於君王職分及其特有試煉的預言或神諭之言，出自一位自己身為君王之母的口；

(2) 一位完美妻子的畫像——智慧、勤勞、寬厚、胸襟寬廣，是那尋求生命真福的年輕人當時常注視的理想。

箴言書的七十士譯本（希臘文譯本）呈現若干值得注意之點。七十士譯本整體所真實具有的那一點——它彷彿在分隔猶太人與希臘人的鴻溝上架起了橋樑——在這一部分尤為切實。從事那翻譯時，猶太人必須熟悉希臘倫理著作的術語，並留意本書充分論及的各樣道德與理智屬性的精確對應詞。閱讀它時，希臘人會發現自己——遠過於閱讀律法、詩篇或先知書——站在他與猶太人可以相遇的共同根基上。希臘文譯本中俯拾皆是的那些字——σοφία sophia、φρόνησις phronēsis、σύνεσις sunesis、δικαιοσύνη dikaiosunē——正是在亞歷山大每一間講堂中迴響的字。既然本書按其傳統的作者身分，是那容許與別國接觸、熟悉其思想言語方式之廣闊心胸的初熟果子，這譯本也就趨於凸顯猶太教中這樣一面：它呈現於人前的，不是預言的、預表的、禮儀的體系，而是全然或主要以純粹倫理構成的一神論體系。

因此，本書幾乎是舊約諸書中唯一一卷，成為主前兩個世紀間希臘化作者的範本。所羅門智慧書、便西拉智訓或西拉的兒子（Sirach）的智慧書（參其序言），可能還有其他同類已佚的書，都在其標題上、更在其整體結構與格調上，承認所羅門的箴言（尤其是箴言 8 章）在其中留下了印記。

斐羅描述「道」（Logos）的語言，是那把智慧擬人化的希臘文詞語的反映。在約翰的教訓中，就基督教神學最高的各方面而言，可以追溯到箴言中所描繪那擬人化之智慧（Sophia）的生動肖像的影響。

按事情的本質，無論就斐羅的思想而言，或更就約翰更高的教訓而言，神聖智慧之被擬人化，既以陽性而非陰性的字取得優勢為宜。一個以 σοφία sophia 為主導字眼的體系，或許會使那「永恆的女性」的吸引力較早發展——馬利亞崇拜即是其後來的滋長；或者會變成一種如拉比解釋箴言 8 章那樣的體系，其中智慧被視為與摩西所傳的律法同一，卻又先於世界而存在。

一個幾乎同樣顯著的例子，見於希臘文譯本的教訓在路加福音 11:49 所施的影響。若我們的主是論到自己為 ἡ σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ hē sophia tou Theou——那差遣眾先知與使徒到世上、又徒然差遣他們的「神的智慧」——那麼我們便有一個直接的跡象，表明他有意引導門徒把自己與那位格的智慧視為同一，就是箴言 8 章論到它時說了那麼偉大的事、又在箴言 1:20-33 發出類似怨言的那位。然而，若把「神的智慧」看為某已佚書卷的標題，則推論是：箴言書的教訓不僅深印於亞歷山大的猶太人心中，也同樣深印於巴勒斯坦的猶太人心中，以致在那裡也產生了一種「智慧文學」，其中智慧以差遣眾使徒與先知者的身分出現，而教會正是要建造在這些使徒與先知的根基上。再者，若我們想到：我們主對自己工作的表述，一方面由以賽亞的彌賽亞用語所規定，另一方面受箴言 8 章、9 章教訓的影響，那麼箴言 9:5 的邀請，可能是約翰福音 6 章與最後晚餐那更深比喻的源頭；智慧所建造的「房屋」，連同其 στῦλοι ἑπτὰ stuloi hepta（箴言 9:1），可能是「教會是神的家」（提摩太前書 3:15）、教會「建造」在磐石上（馬太福音 16:18）——使徒乃作為那房屋的 στύλοι stuloi（加拉太書 2:9；提摩太前書 3:15）——這一思想的出發點；而她所陳設的筵席（箴言 9:2-3）可能是婚宴比喻的起源。

照樣，保羅所強調的也可由此得解釋：基督耶穌 ἐγενήθη ἡμῖν σοφία ἀπὸ θεοῦ egenēthē hēmin sophia apo Theou——「成了從神而來給我們的智慧」（哥林多前書 1:30），他是 θεοῦ σοφία Theou sophia——「神的智慧」（哥林多前書 1:24），在他裡面藏著「一切智慧知識的寶藏」（歌羅西書 2:3）。本書對教父神學的影響，顯於整個亞流派爭論中箴言 8:22 所佔的顯要地位（見該節註釋）；而這書希臘文譯本較遠的後續發展，可見於巴西里得與華倫提努的諾斯底體系中的阿卡莫特或 Σοφία Sophia，見於君士坦丁獻給「神聖智慧」的教堂，見於查士丁尼興建那座至今仍以聖索菲亞清真寺之名吸引基督世界讚歎的聖殿時保留了這一名稱，末了，也可見於 Sophia 這個人名之普及——它是同類名字中唯一流行起來的一個，而其他如 Irene、Agape、Pistis、Dikaiosyne 等，則幾乎或完全湮沒無聞。

新約直接使用箴言書的方式有若干特色。引自本書的經文不多，引入時不用 γέγραπται、ἡ γραφὴ λέγει gegraptai, hē graphē legei 一類的話，也不與所羅門之名相連，而是作為通行熟悉的諺語，彷彿本書曾普遍用於教育、其格言深銘於記憶之中。幾乎所有情況下引文均出自七十士譯本，有時甚至在它與希伯來文大有出入之處。由於上述情況常使這些引文或暗指不易引起英文讀者的注意，至少把其中若干較顯著的例子以並排列出，將是值得的。

然而，新約作者熟悉本書希臘文譯本一事，也以別的方式顯明。除了他們使用同樣的倫理術語（σοφία sophia、σύνεσις sunesis、φρόνησις phronēsis、ἐπίγνωσις θεοῦ epignōsis Theou、αἴσθησις aisthēsis）之外，其影響還可追溯於他們對一個字的選用——這字在基督教世界的詞彙中佔有顯要地位。在箴言中，φόβος θεοῦ phobos Theou 作為 ἀρχή σοφίας archē sophias——一切美德的根基——受到預言性的強調：這詞出現了十三次，還不算詩篇 19:9、詩篇 34:11、詩篇 111:10 的平行經文。或許可以預期它在新約的教訓中同樣顯著。然而在那裡它僅罕見（使徒行傳 9:31；哥林多後書 5:11；哥林多後書 7:1；以弗所書 5:21）。不難看出為何舊的措辭被覺得不再充分。

Κύριος Kurios 在人心中既與主耶穌等同，而以愛報答他的愛成為唯一的催迫動機，那麼一個聽來等於「敬畏基督」的措辭，便似乎生硬刺耳。所幸箴言書的七十士譯本也提供了所需的同義詞。在箴言 1:7 有一個與另一個譯法並列的替代譯法，即 εὐσέβεια eusebeia；εὐσέβεια εἰς θεὸν ἀρχὴ αἰσθήσεως eusebeia eis Theon archē aisthēseōs。這詞也見於箴言 13:11 以及以賽亞書 11:2，那裡它同樣與替代譯法 πνεῦμα φόβου θεοῦ pneuma phobou Theou 並列。名詞、尤其形容詞 εὐσεβής eusebēs 在次經書卷中出現更頻，便西拉智訓尤然。這樣，正當這需要開始被感覺之時，這詞在新約最後幾封書信中獲得顯要地位的道路已預備好了。它在保羅的教牧書信中出現十次，在彼得後書中四次；使徒行傳 3:12（英王欽定本在此譯作 "holiness"）是唯一另外的一處。這樣，敬虔、崇敬、虔敬的性情便在基督教術語中取代了較古的「敬畏主」。

大體而言，箴言中較顯著的倫理或哲學術語之希臘對應詞的選擇，極為恰當。本書主導字（חכמה chokmâh，或更常見的複數 חכמות chokmôth，智慧）的歷史，與譯它的 σοφία sophia 的歷史幾乎精確平行。在舊約較早的書卷（出埃及記 28:3；出埃及記 35:10、出埃及記 35:31、出埃及記 35:35；出埃及記 36:1），它或其同源形容詞用於那些擁有裝飾會幕所需技巧或技藝之人的智慧。申命記 4:6、申命記 34:9 則可見較高用法的痕跡。至於在列王紀上用以指所羅門的智慧，以及在約伯記與詩篇全書中、如在箴言中一樣使用時，較高的意義便專屬地居於優勢。同樣，亞里斯多德描述希臘文 σοφός sophos 逐步升高的過程：它起初用於菲狄亞斯與波利克列特斯一類的雕刻家，σοφία sophia 由此被認知為 ἀρετὴ τέχνης aretē technēs——技藝的卓越，繼而等同於一切事上最高的精確，最終被視為 οὐδεμίας γενέσεως oudemias geneseōs——全然與藝術創作的觀念分離。再者，以 φρόνησις phronēsis 對譯那表示區分、辨別、辨識能力的希伯來詞也是恰當的，若 φρόνησις phronēsis 的主要職分是 τὰ καθ ̓ ἕκαστα γνωρίζειν ta kath' hekasta gnōrizein——認識個別事物——的話，就更是如此。對相當的希伯來詞，一般選用 αἴσθησις aisthēsis 而非 ἐπιστήμη epistēmē，表明他們承認箴言所論知識在本質上是實踐性的——在人生每一細節中察知當行的正事與當說的正言。

末了，可在此指出這希臘文譯本的若干顯著特色。

(a) 不少地方它在現存希伯來文之外另有增添；增添有時帶有替代譯法的性質，有時由全新的內容組成。

(b) 有時插入或變動帶有註解性注腳的性質，把原文中看似可疑或易生誤解之處加以緩和或說明。

希臘文譯本結尾數章的排列也呈現顯著特點：箴言 30 章全部與箴言 31:1-9 被插入箴言 24:22 之後、作為同一章的一部分，而描繪才德婦人的字母詩則以相當於箴言 29 章的位置結束全書。這一次序調動最可能的解釋是：它源於譯者所據抄本中某種偶然的錯簡。

Originale inglese

Introduction to Proverbs

The opening words of the book Proverbs 1:1 give us its current Hebrew title, of which the first word has been adopted by translators, and "Proverbs" has become the common heading of the book in the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and the King James Version. At one time a title of honor, the Book of Wisdom, or the "all-excellent wisdom," was applied by both Jews and Christians to this book, indicating that the book took its place, as the representative of the Wisdom of which the Hebrews thought so much, at the head of the whole class of books, canonical or apocryphal, which were known as Sapiential.

The Hebrew word for "proverb" (משׁל mâshâl) has a much more definite significance than the Greek παροιμία paroimia, and the Latin "proverbium." Its root-meaning is that of comparison, the putting of this and that together, noting likeness in things unlike; it corresponds to the Greek παραβολή parabolē rather than παροιμία paroimia. That it was applied also to moral apophthegms of varying length, pointed and pithy in their form, even though there might be no similitude, is evident enough throughout the book.

Proverbs are characteristic of a comparatively early stage in the mental growth of most nations. A single startling or humorous fact serving as the type of all similar facts (e. g., 1 Samuel 10:12); the mere result of an induction to which other instances may be referred (e. g., 1 Samuel 24:13); a law, with or without a similitude, or explaining in this manner the course of events in the lives of men or in the history of their nation Jeremiah 31:29; Ezekiel 18:2 : these things furnish proverbs found in the history of all nations, generally in its earlier stages. There is little or no record of their birth. No one knows their author. They find acceptance with people from their inherent truth or semblance of truth. Afterward, commonly at a much later period, people make collections of them.

The Book of Proverbs, however, is not such a collection. So far as it includes what had previously been current in familiar sayings, there was a process of selection, guided by a distinct didactic aim - excluding all that were local, personal, or simply humorous, and receiving those which fell in with the ethical purpose of the teacher. As in the history of other nations, so among the Hebrews (compare 1 Kings 4:31), there rose up, at a certain stage of culture, those to whom the proverb was the most natural mode of utterance, who embodied in it all that they had observed or thought out as to the phenomena of nature or of human life. So pre-eminently was the sage to whose authorship the Book of Proverbs is assigned - Solomon, the son of David.

The definite precision of 1 Kings 4:32 leads to the inference that there was at the time when that book was written a known collection of sayings ascribed to Solomon far longer than the present book, and of songs which are almost, or altogether, lost to us. The scope of that collection may probably have included a far wider range of subjects (such as trees, creatures, etc.), than the present book, which is from first to last ethical in its scope, deals but sparingly, through the larger portion of its contents, with the world of animals and plants, and has nothing that takes the form of fable.

The structure of the book shows, however, that it is a compilation from different sources as well as a selection from the sayings of one man only; and a compilation which, in its present form, was made some three centuries after the time of Solomon. One considerable section of the book consists of proverbs that were first arranged and written out under Hezekiah Proverbs 25:1. Agur Proverbs 30:1 and Lemuel Proverbs 31:1 are named as the authors of the last two chapters. The book is, therefore, analogous in its composition to the Psalms; it is an anthology from the sayings of the sages of Israel, taking its name from him who was the chiefest of them, just as the Book of Psalms is an anthology from the hymns not only of David, but also of the sons of Korah and others.

The question as to how far the book gives us the teaching of Solomon himself, what portions of it may be assigned to him, and what may be attributed to some later writers, has been answered very differently. However, certain landmarks present themselves, dividing the book into sections, each of which is a complete whole.

(a) Proverbs 1:1-6 is the title and introduction to the book, describing its contents and aim. There seems good reason for believing that, though Proverbs 1:1 gave the original title of the book, the other verses were added by the last compiler, in whose hands it took its present shape.

(b) Proverbs 1:7 is something of a motto, laying down the principle which is the basis of the whole book. This may be assigned to the same compiler.

(c) Proverbs 1:8-9:18; one long exhortation, addressed by the teacher to his scholar, and each sub-section opening with the words, "my son" or "my children." In Proverbs 8 there is a change to a higher strain. Wisdom herself speaks, and not to the individual seeker, but to the sons of men at large Proverbs 8:4. This personification of Wisdom as a living power, and the stress laid upon her greatness and beauty, contrasted with the "strange woman," the "foreigner," i. e., the harlot or adulteress, whose fascination is most perilous to the soul entering on its time of trial, are the characteristic features of this portion.

The whole of this section has been ascribed by some commentators to a later author than Solomon, on the grounds which are, to say the least, very uncertain.

Arguments, in favor of the identity of authorship, are not lacking.

(d) Proverbs 10:1-22:16. The title indicates that the section had an independent origin. The continuous teaching is replaced by a series of isolated maxims, short, pithy, antithetic, the true type of the Hebrew proverbs, hardly ever carried beyond the limits of a single verse, dealing with the common facts of life, and viewing them from the point of prudence. This is the kernel of the whole book, representing the wisdom which made Solomon famous among men. Containing about 400 of these maxims, it may be thought of as probably a selection from the larger number referred to in 1 Kings 4:32, made possibly under the direction of the king himself, and prefaced by the more homiletic teachings of Proverbs 1-9. Though there is no systematic order, here and there two or more verses in succession deal with the same topic in a way which throws some light on the process by which the selection had been made, as though there had been something like a commonplace book, in which, though there was no systematic arrangement, there was a certain degree of grouping under different heads or catch-words.

Certain phrases too are characteristic of this section. As regards the substance of the teaching; stress is laid on the thought that Yahweh, the "Lord," is the supreme Giver of all good, the Judge and Ruler of mankind, all-knowing, and ordering all things; that the king, thought of in the ideal greatness which was natural in the time of Solomon, and hardly so at a later period, was as the counterpart and representative of Yahweh, an earthly Providence Proverbs 16:10-15; Proverbs 19:6, Proverbs 19:12; Proverbs 20:8, Proverbs 20:26, Proverbs 20:28; Proverbs 21:1.

(e) Proverbs 22:17-24:22: a section containing the more continuous teaching, the personal address, of the teacher to his "son" Proverbs 23:15, Proverbs 23:19, Proverbs 23:26; Proverbs 24:13, Proverbs 24:21, the same warnings against sins of impurity Proverbs 23:27-28, the same declaration of the end which the teacher has in view Proverbs 22:17-21, as are met with in Proverbs 1-9. It may seem a natural hypothesis that the same writer, having made the selection which forms the central portion of the book, wrote both prologue and epilogue to it, and that this, with the short section (f), was the form in which the book was current until it received its last additions in the reign of Hezekiah.

(f) Proverbs 24:23-34 : a section with a new title. "These things also belong to the wise," i. e., are spoken by them, fulfill the promise of the title Proverbs 1:6 that it would include the "words of the wise," wherever the compiler found them. Short as the section is, it presents in the parable of the field of the slothful Proverbs 24:30-34 some characteristic features not to be found in the other portions of the book. What had been spoken before barely and briefly Proverbs 6:9 is now reproduced with pictorial vividness. What was before a general maxim, becomes sharper and more pointed as a lesson of experience.

(g) Proverbs 25-29:27. The superscription of this section presupposes the existence of a previous collection, known as the Proverbs of Solomon, and recognized as at once authentic and authoritative. It shows that there were also current, orally, or in writing, other proverbs not included in that collection. It brings before us a marked instance of the activity of that period in collecting, arranging, and editing the writings of an earlier age. It is a distinct statement, that both the collection that precedes, and that which follows, were at that time, after careful inquiry, recognized to be by Solomon himself. The chapters to which it is prefixed present a general resemblance to the portion Proverbs 10-22:16 which all critics have regarded as the oldest portion of the book. There is the same stress laid on the ideal excellence of the kingly office (compare Proverbs 25:2-7 with Proverbs 16:10-15), the same half-grouping under special words and thoughts. , of the "righteous" in Proverbs 29:2, Proverbs 29:7,Proverbs 29:16. The average length of the proverbs is about the same, in most there is the same general parallelism of the clauses. There is a freer use of direct similitudes. In one passage Proverbs 27:23-27 there is, as an exceptional case, instruction which seems to be economic rather than ethical in its character, designed, it may be, to upheld the older agricultural life of the Israelites as contrasted with the growing tendency to seek wealth by commerce, and so fall into the luxury and profligacy of the Phoenicians.

(h) Proverbs 30-31: These two chapters present problems of greater difficulty, and open a wider field for conjecture. The word translated "prophecy" (Proverbs 30:1; Proverbs 31:1; משׂא maśśâ' ) is elsewhere, with scarcely an exception, rendered "burden," either in its literal sense, or, as denoting a solemn speech or oracle, uttered by a prophet (compare the titles of Isaiah 13-23.) If this meaning be received here, it indicates a marked difference between these chapters and the hortative addresses, or the collections of apophthegms of which, up to this time, the book had been composed.

The "prophecy" is addressed to two disciples, Ithiel (compare Nehemiah 11:7) and Ucal. Some take these names to be two ideal names, the first meaning "God is with me," and the second "I am strong," both names of the same ideal person, the representative of a divine wisdom, meeting Proverbs 30:4-5 the confession of ignorance and blindness. By others the words are treated as not being names at all, but part of the opening words of Agur himself, the introduction to the strange complaint, or confession, which opens so abruptly Proverbs 30:2.

The leading features of the section are less didactic, more enigmatic in character, as though it corresponded specifically to the "dark sayings" of Proverbs 1:6. The phenomena are grouped into quaternions, and show a strange intermingling of facts belonging to the brute and to the human world; in this, whensoever and by whomsoever written, showing the influence of the Book of Job as clearly as the earlier sections did. Probably, the section is a fragment of a work written by one belonging originally to the country to which many critics have been led to refer the Book of Job itself, a proselyte to the faith which the occurrence of the name Yahweh Proverbs 30:9 proves that the writer had received. The reign of Hezekiah was conspicuous for the re-opening of contact with these neighboring nations 2 Chronicles 32:23, for the admission of converts from them among the citizens of Zion Psalm 87:1-7, and for the zeal shown in collecting and adding to the canon whatever bore upon it the stamp of a lofty and heavenly wisdom.

(i) Proverbs 31:1-9. Most Jewish and some Patristic commentators have conjectured that Lemuel is a name for Solomon, and that the words of his mother's reproof were spoken when the first promise of his reign was beginning to pass into sensuality and excess. Others have suggested that Lemuel is simply an ideal name, he who is "for God," the true king who leads a life consecrated to the service of Yahweh. We must be content to confess our ignorance as to who Lemuel was, and what was the occasion of the "prophecy." It probably belongs to the same period as Proverbs 30 and was added to the book not earlier than the time of Hezekiah.

(j) Proverbs 31:10-31. The last portion of the book forms, more distinctly, perhaps, than any other, a complete whole in itself. From beginning to end, there is but one subject, the delineation of a perfect wife. The section is alphabetic in its structure. The form may have been adopted, as in the case of the alphabetic Psalms, partly as a help to memory, partly from the delight which, in certain stages, generally comparatively late in the history of literature, is felt in choosing a structure which presents difficulties and requires ingenuity to overcome them. The absence of any historical allusions makes it impossible to fix any precise date for it.

The ethical teaching of the Book of Proverbs rests upon principles which have their application to the varying circumstances of life.

The book belongs to a period when people had been taught to see more clearly than before the relative importance of the moral and the ceremonial precepts which seemed, in the Law of Moses, to stand on the same level as enjoined by divine authority. The language of Samuel 1 Samuel 15:22, of Asaph Psalm 50:13-14, of David Psalm 51:16-17, had impressed itself on the minds of the people at large, and on one who, like the writer of the Book of Proverbs, had grown up under the immediate influence of the teacher (Nathan) who, after the death of Samuel, stood at the head of the prophetic order. The tendency to discriminate between moral and positive obligations thus originated, would be fostered by contact with other Semitic nations, such as Edom and Sheba, standing on the same footing as regards the fundamental principles of ethics, but not led, as Israel had been, through the discipline of typical or symbolic ordinances. If the Book of Job was already known to the Israelite seekers after wisdom, the grandeur of its thoughts and the absence in it of any reference to the Law as such, would strengthen the conviction that instruction might be given, leading to a life of true wisdom and holiness and yet not including any direct reference to ceremonial or ritual precepts. These would be preserved in the traditions of household life, the example of parents, the teaching of priests and Levites; while a teacher such as the writer of the Book of Proverbs could aim at laying the foundation of a godly life independently of them, and exhibit that life in its completeness.

This accounts for the absence from the Proverbs of all mention of obligations on which devout Israelites at all times must have laid stress, and to which Pharisaism in its later developments gave an exaggerated prominence.

It was this negative characteristic which fitted the book to do a work which could not otherwise have been done so well, both for the education of Israel, and for that of mankind at large. The Jew was to be taught to recognize a common ground upon which he and they alike stood Mark 12:33. The Greek, when the sacred books of Israel were brought before him in his own language, could find in such a book as Proverbs, that which he could understand and sympathize with - teaching as to life and its duties, vices and their penalties, not unlike that which he found in his own literature. It was significant of the attractive power which this book exercised on the minds of men during the period between the Old and New Testaments, when there was no "open vision," and the gift of prophecy was for a time withdrawn, that the two most prominent books in the collection which we know as the Apocrypha, the only two, indeed, that have a marked didactic character, the Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus, were based upon its model, and to a large extent reproduced its precepts.

The teaching of the Book of Proverbs was, however, in its essence, identical with that which formed the basis of the faith of Israel. Its morality was not merely the result of a wide observation of the consequences of good and evil conduct, but was essentially religious. The constant occurrence of the divine name in the form (יהוה Yahweh), which was the characteristic inheritance of Israel, and which is more frequently used than that of God (אלהים 'Elohiym), is in itself a sufficient proof that there was no surrender of the truth of which that name was the symbol. The reverence of Yahweh Proverbs 1:7 stood in the very front of its teaching as the beginning of wisdom. The temper thus indicated, that of awe and reverence, rooted in the consciousness of man's littleness and weakness in the presence of the Eternal and the Infinite, was at once the motive and the crown Proverbs 2:5 of the life of obedience to the laws of duty which the teaching of the book enjoins.

If outward prosperity, "length of days," and "riches and honor" Proverbs 3:16; Proverbs 10:27, attach to those who keep His commandments, men are taught also that He educates and trains them by "chastening" and "correction" Proverbs 3:11-12. All powers of intellect and speech, all efforts after holiness, are thought of as His gifts Proverbs 16:1, Proverbs 16:9, even as people are taught to recognize His bounty in all the outward blessings of their lives, and in the family relationships which make up the happiness of home Proverbs 19:14. When people are told to seek wisdom, they are led on to think of it as clothed with a personal life, in closest fellowship with the Eternal, inseparably one with Him Proverbs 8:22, Proverbs 8:30. And, since the wisdom which the book inculcates is thus raised far above the level of earthly prudence, so also the reward is more than outward prosperity. "Righteousness delivereth from death" Proverbs 11:4, turns, i. e., the inevitable end of life into a euthanasia. In contrast with the wicked, of whom it is true that "when he dieth his expectation shall perish" Proverbs 11:7, it is written of the righteous that he "hath hope in his death" Proverbs 14:32.

The application of these principles to practical and social life presupposes a state of society in which the simplicity of village life is giving way to the sudden development of the wealth and luxury which belong to cities. The dangers against which the young are warned with oft-repeated earnestness are those of extravagance, indebtedness, drunkenness, impurity leading to open lawlessness, and the life of the freebooter. Other faults incident to different temperaments are each, in their turn, held up to reprobation.

With the practical wisdom which is characteristic of the book, appealing, as it does, to those that are halting between two opinions, and inclining to the worse, stress is laid not chiefly on the sin but on the folly of the vice, not on its eternal, but its temporal consequences. People are urged to act first from secondary, prudential motives, to shun the poverty, wretchedness, ignominy, which are the consequences of self-indulgence, that so they may learn the habits of self-restraint which will make them capable of higher thoughts, and obedient to the divine law, as finding in that obedience itself their exceeding great reward. The remedies for these evils the writer or writers of the Book of Proverbs saw were to be found in education. Individuals and nations alike needed discipline and restraint. Individuals would find this in the training of home, in the counsels, warnings, and, if necessary, the chastisements also, by which the unruly will is checked and guided; nations, in the stern, inflexible, incorruptible administration of justice controlled by a wise and righteous king Proverbs 16:10, Proverbs 16:12-14; Proverbs 20:8, Proverbs 20:26, Proverbs 20:28. Hence, kings are counseled no less than subjects Proverbs 28:16; Proverbs 29:12; Proverbs 31:4 : the king is advised not to rely too much on his own unaided judgment, but to surround himself with wise and prudent counselors Proverbs 24:6, and to refer all to that wisdom, which is the gift of God Proverbs 8:15.

No ethical manual would be complete, unless it assigned to woman, as well as man, her right position in the social order. From her folly Proverbs 11:22 and degradation Proverbs 2:16-19; Proverbs 5:3-14; Proverbs 7:6-27 spring the worst evils; in her excellence is the crown and glory of a man's life Proverbs 11:16; Proverbs 12:4. No picture of ideal happiness is brighter than that of a home which is thus made perfect with the clear brightness of true union Proverbs 5:15-20. The "prudent wife" is thought of as one of God's best gifts Proverbs 19:14, "building her house" Proverbs 14:1 on the only true foundation. Her influence on her children is as great as that of their father, if not greater Proverbs 1:8; Proverbs 6:20. They owe what they have of goodness to her loving persuasion. Their sins and follies are a heaviness and reproach to her Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 17:25. They are bound to render to her a true and loving obedience Proverbs 1:8; Proverbs 6:20. The teaching on this subject culminates in Proverbs 31, consisting as it does:

(1) of prophecy or oracular speech as to the office of a king and the special temptations incident to it, which comes from one who was herself the mother of a king, and

(2) of the picture of a perfect wife, wise, active, liberal, large-hearted, the ideal which the young man, seeking for the true blessedness of life, was to keep in view.

The Septuagint, or Greek Version of the Book of Proverbs, presents several points of interest. What was true of the Septuagint translation as a whole, that it seemed to bridge over the chasm that had divided the Jew from the Greek, holds good in a special degree of this part of it. In making that translation, the Jew would have to familiarize himself with the terminology of Greek ethical writers, and to note the precise equivalents for the attributes, moral and intellectual, of which the book treats so fully. In reading it, the Greek would find himself, far more than he would in reading law or psalm or prophet, on common ground on which he and the Jew could meet. The very words with which the Greek version of the book abounds, such as σοφία sophia, φρόνησις phronēsis, σύνεσις sunesis, δικαιοσύνη dikaiosunē, were those which were echoing in every lecture-room in Alexandria. Since the book itself, according to its traditional authorship, was the first-fruits of that largeness of heart which admitted contact with other nations and familiarity with their modes of thought and speech, so the translation tended to give prominence to that side of Judaism in which it presented itself to people, not as prophetic, typical, ceremonial, but wholly or chiefly as a monotheistic system of pure ethics.

Hence, this book, almost alone of the books of the Old Testament, served as a model for the Hellenistic writers of the two centuries b.c. The Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Sirach or the son of Sirach (compare the prologue), probably also other lost books of the same kind, confessed in their very titles, yet more in their whole structure and tone, that the Proverbs of Solomon (especially Proverbs 8) had left their stamp upon them.

Philo's language, descriptive of the Logos, is a reflection of the Greek words in which Wisdom is personified. in the teaching of John, may be traced, in the highest aspects of Christian theology, the influence of the vivid portraiture of the personified Sophia of the Proverbs.

It lay in the nature of the case, both as to the thoughts of Philo, and yet more as to the higher teaching of John, that, so far as the Divine Wisdom was personified, the masculine, not the feminine, word should gain the ascendancy. A system in which σοφία sophia had been the dominant word might have led to an earlier development of that attractive power of the "ever-feminine," of which Mariolatry was a later growth; or might have become one in which, as in the rabbinic exegesis of Proverbs 8, Wisdom was identified with the Law given by Moses, and yet existing before the world was.

An instance, hardly less striking, of the influence exercised by the teaching of the Greek Version is seen in Luke 11:49. If our Lord was speaking of Himself as ἡ σοφία τοῦ θεοῦ hē sophia tou Theou that sent its prophets and Apostles into the world and sent them in vain, then we have a direct indication that He sought to lead His disciples to identify Him with the personal Wisdom of whom such great things are said in Proverbs 8, and who utters a like complaint Proverbs 1:20-33. If, however, the Wisdom of God be taken as the title of some lost book, the inference is that the teaching of the Book of Proverbs had impressed itself so deeply on the minds of the Jews of Palestine no less than on those of Alexandria as to give rise there also to a "Sapiential" literature in which Wisdom appeared as the sender of those Apostles and prophets, on whom, as its foundation, the Church was to be built. If, further, we take in the thought that our Lord's representations of His work, as they were determined, on one side, by the Messianic language of Isaiah, were influenced, on another, by the teaching of Proverbs 8; 9; the invitation in Proverbs 9:5 may be the source from whence flowed the deeper parable of John 6 and of the Last Supper; the "house" which Wisdom built, with its στῦλοι ἑπτὰ stuloi hepta Proverbs 9:1, the starting-point of the thought that the Church is the "house of God" 1 Timothy 3:15, "built" upon the rock Matthew 16:18 of the Apostles as the στύλοι stuloi of that house Galatians 2:9; 1 Timothy 3:15; and the feast which she prepared Proverbs 9:2-3 the origin of the parable of the Wedding Feast.

Thus, also, may be explained the stress which Paul lays on the fact that Christ Jesus ἐγενήθη ἡμῖν σοφία ἀπὸ θεοῦ egenēthē hēmin sophia apo Theou 1 Corinthians 1:30, that He is θεοῦ σοφία Theou sophia 1 Corinthians 1:24, that in Him are hid "all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" Colossians 2:3. Its influence on Patristic theology is shown by the prominence given to Proverbs 8:22 (see the note) throughout the Arian controversy; and more remote after-growths of the Greek version of this book, may be noted in the Achamoth, or Σοφία Sophia, of the Gnostic systems of Basilides and Valentinus, in the church dedicated by Constantine to the Divine Wisdom, in the retention of that name by Justinian when he built the temple which, as the Mosque of Santa Sophia, still attracts the admiration of Christendom, and lastly, in the commonness of the personal name Sophia, the only one of its class that has become popular, while others, such as Irene, Agape, Pistis, Dikaiosyne, have fallen almost or altogether into oblivion.

The direct use of the Book of Proverbs in the New Testament presents some special features. Quotations from it are not very numerous, and are brought in, not with such words as γέγραπται, ἡ γραφὴ λέγει gegraptai, hē graphē legei, or as coupled with the name of Solomon, but as current and familiar sayings, as if the book had been used generally in education and its maxims impressed upon the memory. In almost all cases the quotations are from the Septuagint Version, in some instances even where it differs widely from the Hebrew. It will be worth while, as the circumstances just mentioned often hinder the quotations or allusive references from attracting the attention of the English reader, to refer to some, at least, of the more striking examples in parallel columns.

The familiarity of the New Testament writers with the Greek version of the book is, however, shown in other ways. Over and above their use of the same ethical terminology (σοφία sophia, σύνεσις sunesis, φρόνησις phronēsis, ἐπίγνωσις θεοῦ epignōsis Theou, αἴσθησις aisthēsis), its influence is to be traced in their choice of a word which occupies a prominent position in the vocabulary of Christendom. In Proverbs, prophetic stress is laid upon the φόβος θεοῦ phobos Theou as the ἀρχή σοφίας archē sophias, the groundwork of all virtues: the word occurs thirteen times, to say nothing of the parallel passages in Psalm 19:9; Psalm 34:11; Psalm 111:10. It might have been expected that it would be found not less prominent in the teaching of the New Testament. There, however, it is found but seldom Acts 9:31; 2 Corinthians 5:11; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 5:21. It is not difficult to see why the old phrase was felt to be no longer adequate.

In proportion as Κύριος Kurios came to be identified in men's minds with the Lord Jesus, and love in return for His love the one constraining motive, would there seem something harsh and jarring in a phrase which would come to them as equivalent to "the fear of Christ." Happily, the Septuagint version of the Book of Proverbs supplied also the synonym that was needed. In Proverbs 1:7 there is an alternative rendering, standing in juxtaposition to the other, namely, εὐσέβεια eusebeia; εὐσέβεια εἰς θεὸν ἀρχὴ αἰσθήσεως eusebeia eis Theon archē aisthēseōs. The word occurs also in Proverbs 13:11, and in Isaiah 11:2, where also it stands together with an alternative rendering πνεῦμα φόβου θεοῦ pneuma phobou Theou. The substantive, and yet more the adjective εὐσεβής eusebēs, occurs with greater frequency in the Apocryphal books, especially in Ecclesiasticus. The way was thus prepared for the prominence which the word gains, just as the necessity was beginning to be felt, in the latest Epistles of the New Testament. It occurs ten times in the Pastoral Epistles of Paul, and four times in Second Peter; Acts 3:12 (where the King James Version gives "holiness"), being the only other passage. The temper of devoutness, reverence, godliness, had thus taken the place in Christian terminology of the older "fear of the Lord."

For the most part, the choice of the Greek equivalents for the more prominent ethical or philosophical terms of the Proverbs is singularly felicitous. The history of the dominant word of the book (חכמה chokmâh), or more commonly in the plural, חכמות chokmôth, wisdom) is indeed almost an exact parallel to that of the σοφία sophia by which it was rendered. As used in the earlier books of the Old Testament Exodus 28:3; Exodus 35:10, Exodus 35:31, Exodus 35:35; Exodus 36:1 it, or its cognate adjective, is applied to the wisdom of those who had the skill or art which was required for the ornamentation of the tabernacle. We have traces of a higher application in Deuteronomy 4:6; Deuteronomy 34:9. As used of the wisdom of Solomon in 1 Kings, and throughout Job and the Psalms, as in the Proverbs, the higher prevails exclusively. So, in like manner, Aristotle describes the gradual elevation of the Greek σοφός sophos, how it was first applied to sculptors like Pheidias and Polycleitos, how σοφία sophia thus came to be known as ἀρετὴ τέχνης aretē technēs, then became equivalent to the highest accuracy in all things, and finally was thought of as οὐδεμίας γενέσεως oudemias geneseōs, separated altogether from the idea of art-production. So too, the use of φρόνησις phronēsis for a Hebrew word indicating the power which divides, discerns, distinguishes, is appropriate if the chief office of φρόνησις phronēsis be τὰ καθ ̓ ἕκαστα γνωρίζειν ta kath' hekasta gnōrizein. The general choice of αἴσθησις aisthēsis rather than ἐπιστήμη epistēmē for the rendering of the equivalent Hebrew word showed that they recognized the essentially practical character of the knowledge of which the Proverbs spoke, as perceiving the right thing to be done, and the right word to be said, in each detail of life.

Lastly, may be noted here some salient features of this Greek Version.

(a) In not a few places it adds to the existing Hebrew; the addition sometimes having the character of an alternative rendering, sometimes consisting of entirely new matter.

(b) Sometimes the insertions or variations have the character of an exegetical gloss, toning down or making more explicit what might seem doubtful or misleading in the original.

The arrangement of the closing chapters in the Greek Version also presents striking peculiarities, the whole of Proverbs 30 and Proverbs 31:1-9 being inserted after Proverbs 24:22, as part of the same chapter, and the acrostic description of the true wife ending the book as Proverbs 29. The most probable explanation of the transposition is that it originated in some accidental dislocation in the manuscript from which the translation was made.

Proverbs 1:1

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(1) the "simple," literally the "open," the open-hearted, the minds ready to receive impressions for good or evil Proverbs 1:22; and

(2) the "young," who need both knowledge and discipline.

To these the teacher offers the "subtilty," which may turn to evil Exodus 21:14 and become as the wisdom of the serpent Genesis 3:1, but which also takes its place, as that wisdom does, among the highest moral gifts Matthew 10:16; the "knowledge" of good and evil; and the "discretion," or discernment, which sets a man on his guard, and keeps him from being duped by false advisers. The Septuagint renderings, πανουργία panourgia for "subtilty," αἴσθησις aisthēsis for "knowledge," ἔννοια ennoia for "discretion," are interesting as showing the endeavor to find exact parallels for the Hebrew in the terminology of Greek ethics.

Proverbs 1:5

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然而他寫作，不是僅為年輕人。「聰明人」也可以聽得「智謀」——直譯是得著在人生危險的海上正確「掌舵」的能力。值得留意的是，這「掌舵之術」一詞幾乎是箴言書獨有的用語（比較箴言 11:14；箴言 12:5；箴言 24:6 的「謀略」）。

Originale inglese

But it is not for the young only that he writes. The "man of understanding" may gain "wise counsels," literally, the power to "steer" his course rightly on the dangerous seas of life. This "steersmanship," it may be noted, is a word almost unique to Proverbs (compare "counsel" in Proverbs 11:14; Proverbs 12:5; Proverbs 24:6).

Proverbs 1:6

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本書還有更進一步的宗旨：這些箴言要養成一種心思的習慣。所懷的目標，乃是藉著它們獲得進入其他箴言更深意義的能力。比較馬太福音 13 章。

譯作「解釋」破壞了兩半句的平行，也未能表達希伯來文的原意。在哈巴谷書 2:6，這詞譯作「譏誚的歌」。在此，譯作「謎語」或「難解之言」更能達意。

Originale inglese

無故——更宜譯作「徒然」；大多數現代註釋家將這詞與「無辜的人」連用，並按 Job 1:9 加以解釋。作惡的人譏誚他們的受害者「徒然」公義——他們從中一無所得，這於他們毫無益處。

Originale inglese

(1) 「愚昧人」，按字面是「敞開的人」，即致命地向惡敞開；

(2) 「褻慢人」，譏誚一切善事；

(3) 最後是「愚頑人」，即剛硬、頑固、悖逆，恨惡那自己已經拒絕的知識。

Originale inglese

Compare the Psalm 1:1 note.