A.M. 3004. B.C. 1000.
Here properly begins the book of Proverbs, as the title of this chapter tells us; what hath been delivered hitherto being rather a preface, or introduction, to the work; to awaken attention, and, from sundry arguments, to recommend the wise instructions, which now follow, to every one's practice; and to caution those who would receive benefit by these instructions, against such things as might hinder their edification in the school of wisdom. Her lessons, in this first part of the book, (which reaches to Proverbs 22:17,) are delivered in short sentences; every verse being a lesson by itself, and commonly having no connection with that which goes before and follows after: or, if there be any, it is not so clear as to be easily made out. And these lessons are, for the most part, delivered either by way of antithesis, that is, comparing opposites one with another; the wise, for instance, and the foolish; the diligent and the sluggish; the rich and the poor; and, in general, virtue and vice, assigning to each their proper rewards or punishments: or, they are mere parables, that is, similitudes, in which one thing is compared to another that resembles it. And as he intended to instruct all sorts of men in their several kinds of life, these lessons are very various, and do not merely give information about the manners of mankind, but about the events also, which are wont to accompany or follow such manners. Some of these proverbs are directions for single persons, others for the management of household affairs, and others for the government of kingdoms. In short, some of them are divine precepts, and others advices in civil matters, showing us how we ought to conduct ourselves in the several passages of human life: to the observance of which he excites the reader, sometimes by promises, and sometimes by threatenings.