scholar. In all cases, it was the design to explain the meaning of the text, rather than to furnish reading which might be edifying independently of it. The Notes were placed at the end of the book for the satisfaction. of those who, like the author, do not like to have their attention disturbed by notes when no difficulty is felt. Few persons are likely to derive benefit from comments, who will not take the trouble to look for them at the end of the volume. CAMBRIDGE, February 23, 1846. INTRODUCTION. THAT part of Hebrew literature which has come down to us under the name of the Proverbs of Solomon contains something more than the title indicates. It is not wholly composed of short, sententious maxims and enigmatical propositions, such as commonly receive the name of proverbs, but in part of several didactic discourses of considerable length, containing exhortations to prudence and virtue, warnings against vice and folly, and eulogies upon true wisdom. The first nine chapters belong to the latter species of composition. These discourses, as well as the proper proverbs, are expressed in the peculiar form and language of Hebrew poetry, and without doubt belong to the most flourishing period of Hebrew literature. On the nature and history of this kind of composition the following just remarks have been made by Holden, in his Preliminary Dissertation to the Proverbs. "Short and pithy sentences have been employed from the most remote antiquity as the vehicle of ethical instruction, and particularly adapted to the simplicity of the early ages. When writings were but few, and the reasonings of systematic philosophy almost unknown, just observations on life and manners, and useful moral precepts, delivered in concise language, and often in verse, would form a body of the most valuable practical wisdom, which, by its influence on the conduct, must have contributed largely to the peace and well-being of society. An acute remark, a moral adage, an admonition conveyed in a brief and compact sentence, would arrest the attention and operate upon the hearts of a rude people with a force of which there is no example in periods of greater cultivation. Yet, in every age, they are well fitted to impress the minds of the young and the uninformed; and, as they are the most valuable guides in the affairs of life, when we are called upon, not to deliberate, but to act, not to unfold a circuitous argument, but to transact business, all must find it highly advantageous to retain in their memories the maxims of proverbial wisdom. a "This method of instruction appears to be peculiarly suited to the genius and disposition of the Asiatics, among whom it has prevailed from the earliest ages. The Gymnosophists of India delivered their philosophy in brief enigmatical sentences; practice adopted and carried to a great extent by the ancient Egyptians. The mode of conveying instruction by compendious maxims obtained among the Hebrews, from the first dawn of their literature, to its final extinction in the East through the power of the Mohammedan arms; and it was familiar to the inhabitants of Syria and Palestine, as we learn from the testimony of St. Jerome. The eloquence of Arabia was mostly exhibited in detached and unconnected sentences, which, like so many loose gems, attracted attention by the fulness of the periods, the elegance of the phraseology, and the acuteness of proverbial sayings. Nor do the Asiatics || at present differ in this respect from * Diog. Laert. Proœm., p. 4. Genev. 1615. † Jablonski, Pantheon Ægypt. Proleg., c. 3. Brucker, Lib. 1, c. 8. "Familiare est Syris, et maxime Palæstinis, ad omnem sermonem suum parabolas jungere." Hieron. Comment. Matt. xviii. 23. § "Orationes autem eorum minime in partes suas juxta rhetorica apud Græcos et Latinos præcepta distributæ, nec methodice concinnatæ; adeo ut sententiarum in iis frequentium gemmæ vere dispersæ, minimeque inter se colligatæ videantur, totusque sermo arena sine calce recte dici posse videatur. In sententiarum tamen rotunditate, phrasium elegantia, ac proverbiorum acumine, invenies quod animum feriat." Pococke, Specimen Historia Arabum, p. 167, ed. White, Oxon. 1806. See Sale's Prelim. Discourse to the Koran, § 1, p. 35, Lond. 1812. || Hottingeri, Hist. Orient., Lib. II., cap. 5. Erpenii Prov. Arab. Cent. duæ, Leida, 1614. Schultens, Antholog. Senten. Arab., Lug. Bat., 1772. "Veteres Arabum sententiæ sunt innumeræ; et per |