Guide to Proverbs

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The Book of Proverbs (once known as the Proverbs of Solomon) is one of the books in the Bible. It takes the form of a collection of diverse advice, frequently organised as short sentences or paragraphs, many of which begin with the appellation "my son". In general, the Proverbs are concerned with wisdom and learning, and are based around the idea that the fear of God is the foundation of the search for knowledge.

The Proverbs provide absolute guidelines for morality which are the direct commands of the Supreme Being. Fundies take great comfort knowing that no matter how ambiguous modern life gets, they can always turn to the Book of Proverbs to obtain such crystal clear guidance as the following:

'Prov.26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Prov.26:5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

[edit] Authorship

The exact authorship of the book is ambiguous, and widely disputed. The majority of the book is presumed to be roughly the work of King Solomon, the son of David, based on the presence of his name in the first chapter:-

1. The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
2. To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
3. To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;
4. To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.^[1]

However, the final chapters of the book, there are references to two other authors, named Agur and Lamuel, who are apparently attributed with writing sections of Proverbs themselves, although this connection is far from clear^[2]^[3]. In some versions of Proverbs, these references have been removed by scholars who believed that they were simply veiled references to Solomon himself. It is possible that Solomon is only mentioned in the Proverbs in order to pay respect to him.