[Sidenote: Pr. 3:11-12] My son, reject not the instruction of Jehovah, And do not grow weary of his reproof, For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth, Even as a father the son in whom he delights. [Sidenote: Pr. 3:5-6] Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, And depend not upon your own understanding. In all your ways know him well, And he will make plain your path. I. Structure and Authorship of the Book of Proverbs. The book of Proverbs is in reality a collection of originally independent groups of proverbs. In its present form it consists of nine general divisions: (1) The preface defining the aims of the book, 1:1-6. (2) A general introduction describing the characteristics and value of the wisdom teaching, 1:7-9:18. (3) A large collection designated as the Proverbs of Solomon, 10:1-22:16. The fact that ten proverbs are repeated in practically the same words indicates that it, like the book of Proverbs as a whole, is made up of smaller collections. In chapters 10-15 the prevailing type of the poetic parallelism is antithetic or contrasting, while in the remainder of the book the synonymous or repeating parallelism prevails. (4) A supplemental collection, 22:17-24:22. This is introduced by the suggestive superscription, "Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise." (5) A shorter appendix, 24:23-34, with the superscription, "These also are from the wise." (6) The second large collection of proverbs, 25-29. This bears the superscription, "These also are the proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed." It contains several proverbs found in the first large collection, and evidently represents later gleanings from the same field. (7) The words of Agur, 30. Of Agur nothing is known beyond his name, which may be simply typical. The latter part of the chapter contains a collection of numerical enigmas which may or may not have been associated at first with the opening section. (8) The words of King Lemuel, 31:1-9. (9) A description of the ideal Hebrew housewife, 31:10-31. The contents of these collections as well as their superscriptions clearly indicate that these proverbs represent the work of many different wise men, living at different periods and writing from different points of view. Few, if any, can be confidently attributed to Solomon. Even the proverbs in the large collection, 10:1-22:16, which are definitely designated as the Proverbs of Solomon, emphasize monogamy and denounce rulers who oppress their subjects. Many of the proverbs in these larger Solomonic collections give practical advice regarding the bearing of a subject in the presence of the king, and few of them fit in the mouth of the splendor-loving monarch, who by his foreign marriages and grinding taxation exerted a baleful influence upon the political and religious life of Israel. The great majority of the proverbs reflect the noble ethical teachings of the prophets. Clearly the