PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. 



PBOVIM IA 



818 



____ f ' adage," and the Greek pantmia (wafwi.ula). Of the many 

 dannitiun* which hare been given of a proverb, the belt appears to be 

 the following by Synesius, a Christian writer of the early part of the 

 5th century, who quote* from a work of Aristotle, now lo*t : " A 

 prorerb U a remnant of the ancient philosophy preeerved amidst very 

 many destruction* on account of it* brevity and fitness for use." To 

 collect and explain such portion* of wisdom ha* engaged the attention 

 of some of the most learned men. Aristotle, Thvophrutua, Chrynippua, 

 and others, according to Laertiua, made collection* of proverbs. With 

 the works of Plutarch U printed (' Opera Moralia,' vol. v.) a collection 

 uf 181 proverbs, with explanations; and, though this collection has 

 not been uniformly acknowledged a* Plutarch's, there is good reason 

 to believe it to be his genuine work. Zcnobiu* or Zenodotus, a 

 Sophist who lived at the beginning of the 2nd century, made an 

 epitome of the proverbs of two older writer*, Tamcus and Didyinus, 

 in number 552. Piogenianus lived about the same time as Zenobius, 

 and made a collection of proverbs, amounting to 775. These two col- 

 'lections, together with 1400 proverbs out of Suidas, and an appendix 

 'of 853 from the Vatican Library, and a selection of proverbs in metre, 

 were well edited by Andrew Schott, 4to, Antwerp, 1612. The adages 

 of Erasmus, in number 4151, are too well known to require any de- 

 ncription. They are presented in their most useful form in the 

 Kpitome of them published by the Elzivirs, 12mo, Anist., 1663. 

 M.niy modern writers have published collections of proverbs from 

 various languages. The name of our own countryman, John Ray, is 

 familiar to all the lovers of natural history. In 1672 he published his 

 collection of proverbs, which has been often reprinted. Modern 

 languages contain a great number of proverbs, and it is remarkable 

 how many can be traced to an ancient origin, and how many are the 

 common property of nations civilised and barbarous, so as to seem 

 ialmost universal Again, the proverbs peculiar to a nation or country 

 .never fail to mark distinctly the character and condition of the people. 

 There is a valuable collection of English proverbs, with lengthened 

 'explanations, by Ray, by Oswald Dykes, and by U. G. Bohn, which 

 also contains a selection of foreign proverbs. 



PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, one of the canonical books of the Old 



Testament. The Hebrew 7tPtp, translated proverb, denotes a simili- 

 tude, and is rendered in the Septuagint by rapoi/tfa, but oftener by 



This book has always been ascribed to Solomon, though he was not 

 the author of all its contents. The thirtieth chapter is entitled " The 

 words of Agur the son of Jakeh," and the thirty-first chapter, " The 

 words of King Lemuel ; " and it is not improbable that many of the 

 proverbs in the preceding part of the book were in current use long 

 before the time of Solomon. The portion from the tenth chapter to 

 the end of the twenty-fourth, comprises what may more strictly be 

 called the ' Proverbs of Solomon.' The first nine chapters form a kind 

 of introduction, and the remaining chapters after the twenty-fourth 

 may be regarded as an appendix to the whole. 



The Book of Proverbs is classed by Bishop Lowth among the didactic 

 poems of the Hebrews ('De Sacra Poesi Hebr.,' Pra'l. xxiv.) The 

 attentive reader of the original will discover the utmost exactness in 

 the choice and arrangement of words, and will be able with ease to 

 carry out the principles laid down by Lowth relating to the structure 

 of Hebrew metre. 



The Proverbs of Solomon are all pre-eminently adapted to teach the 

 lessons of prudence, morality, and religion. They are a precious 

 treasury, from which men may be supplied with the best rules for the 

 conduct of life. (Patrick On the Procerbt of Solomon ; Home's Intro- 

 duction.) 



PROVIDENCE is the superintending care with which God watches 

 over his whole creation, and especially over the human race. It has 

 been generally held, as a direct consequence of the existence of a God 

 who has created all things, that he must also uphold by his constant 

 care everything which he has created. This doctrine however has been 

 denied by the ancient Epicureans and the modern Theists, who, while 

 admitting that God created the universe, and impressed upon it the 

 laws by which it U governed, have contended, that having done this, 

 he has left those laws to work out then- own results without his further 

 interference. The arguments for a superintending providence are 

 derived from the order of the material universe, which we find to be 

 governed by ever-active principles, of which no other explanation can 

 I given than that they are the results of the power of God in con- 

 tinued exercise ; from the events which are recorded in history, and 

 1 1 are daily occurring, such as the punishment of guilty nations 

 .-mil individuals, the exaltation of the virtuous, the adaptation of great 

 inrn to the exigencies of their times, not to mention other circumstances 

 in the history of individuals, which might be considered cf a more 

 doubtful character; and lastly, from the unequivocal statements of 

 Scripture. The whole sacred narrative is evidently intended to show 

 ijod's providence wrought for the accomplishment of his own 

 designs. Moreover, individuals ore mentioned, such as Pharaoh, Nebu- 

 c hadnesnr, and Cyrus, whom God raised up expressly in order to use 

 them as instrument* to effect certain objects. Two books of the Old 

 Testament, those of Job and Esther (we might perhaps add those of 

 Kuth, Jonah, and even others), appear to have been written for the 

 very purpose of confirming our faith iti the providence of God; and 



numerous passage* might be quoted which teach the care of God over 

 the whole universe (Col. L 17 j Heb. i. 3 ; lU-v. iv. 11), over all men, 

 whether good or wicked (Job xxv. 8; Matt. v. 45; Acts xvi 

 James i 17), and especially over his own people (Matt v. 25-34, &c.). 



The providence of God ha* been divided by theologians into immt- 

 diatt, or that which he exert* without the intervention of second 

 cause*, and mediate, where ordinary mean* are employed ; into ordinary, 

 which relate* to occurrences in the common course of natm 

 extraordinary, whore that course is departed from, as in the case of 

 miracles; into common, uf which the whole world is the object, ami 

 tptcial, which regards the church ; and into unirmnt, which describes 

 the care of God for his whole creation, and particular, which is exer- 

 cised for the benefit of individuals. 



PROVITn'CIA may be defined generally to be a conquered country, 

 beyond the limit* of Italy, which was subject to the Roman state. In 

 contemplating the history of Rome, the most instructive part of it, 

 next to a study of the internal organisation of the state, is the system 

 of provincial government by which the language and laws of Rome 

 were established on a foreign soil. The effects of this system are per- 

 manently embodied in the political system of every European state. 

 In order to exhibit a complete view of Roman provincial government 

 it would be necessary to write the history of Rome, but the following 

 outline may be useful. 



The geographical sense of the word Provincia was not the original 

 meaning; originally the term expressed the Imperium, which was 

 granted to a consul or praetor beyond the limits of the city. The 

 precise meaning of the word is not certain, and the common etymology 

 is perhaps doubtful ; its primary sense however certainly was a power 

 as above explained. In the time of Cicero provincia had undoubtedly 

 obtained the meaning given at the head of this article ; and in the 

 latter port of the Republic, the Roman state consisted of two distinctly 

 organised parts, Italy and the Provinces. This distinction, though 

 with considerable modifications, continued under the Empire. 



With the extension of the Roman conquests beyond Italy .commenced 

 the system of provincial governments. The oldest provinces were 

 Sicily (B.C. 243) and Sardinia (B.C. 237). Upon the conquest of a 

 country, the commander of the army either gave the conquered country 

 a general organisation, subject to the approval of the senate ; or the 

 country was organised according to the instructions of the senate, by 

 the commander and a body of commissioners chosen from the senate, 

 and appointed by it. This original organisation often made very im- 

 portant changes in the existing political forms, but still the conquered 

 people retained their national existence, and were not in all senses 

 incorporated into the Roman state. Originally pr.otors were appointed 

 to govern the provinces [1'B.ETon] ; but subsequently the praetors 

 received a province after the expiration of their year of office at Home, 

 and were then called proprsetores ; and towards the close of the 

 Republic the consuls in like manner received provinces, which \\vro 

 hence called consularcs, and they were styled proconsules. The 

 division of the provinces was made by lot, and sometimes by agreement 

 among the persons entitled to hold them. By a law of C. Gracchus 

 (Sempronia lex), the provinces of the consuls were annually determined 

 before the election of the consuls, for the purpose of preventing all 

 disputes. 



By a senatus consultum of the year 55 B.C., it was enacted that 

 praetors and proconsuls should not have the government of a province 

 till five years after the expiration of their proctorship or consulship. 

 The term for which a province was originally held was one year ; but 

 the time was often enlarged. The authority of the governor of a 

 province commenced as soon as he left Rome. His function-i in tin- 

 province were both military and civil ; he possessed the Iraperium, but 

 ho was not called a magistratus. In the later Roman writers the 

 common name for governor is prases (Gains, i. 6), and sometimes the 

 term proconsul seems to be used generally for the governor of a 

 province. The governor was assisted in the discharge of his dut : 

 a qurcstor, who looked after the revenue ; and by Icgnti, who assisted 

 in the administration, and were generally appointed by the senate, but 

 sometimes by the governor with the permission of the senate. He hail 

 also a numerous train of friends and companions, sometimes called 

 contubernales ; and also a regular body of clerks, interpreters, and 

 other servants, who formed a pnctorian cohort, a name which was also 

 given, and with more propriety, to the soldiers who formed the 

 governor's body-guard. On a new governor arriving in his province, 

 the former governor was required to leave within thirty days. 



The province was treated as a conquered country, though the towns 

 retained somewhat of their municipal freedom, but the constitution 

 of many of them at least was refashioned upon the model of I. 

 though in this respect there were probably considerable van 

 Under the emperors the political organisation of the whole empire 

 became more uniform. The towns hod the management of their 

 revenue, and the right of coining ; but only towns of the highest class 

 could coin silver. They had a senate like those in the Italian towns, 

 but no magistrates with corresponding powers. The religion of the 

 people was not interfered with. 



In some cases part of the land of conquered foreign countries was 

 seized by the Roman state, and let by the censors ; or the foi 

 land was restored, subject to the payment of a rent. All provincial 

 land differed in some essential particulars from Italian land : it could 



