Bible Dictionary: Proverb

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Easton's Bible Dictionary

A trite maxim; a similitude; a parable. The Hebrew word thus rendered (mashal) has a wide signification. It comes from a root meaning "to be like," "parable." Rendered "proverb" in Isaiah 14:4; Habakkuk 2:6; "dark saying" in Psalm 49:4, Numbers 12:8. Ahab's defiant words in answer to the insolent demands of Benhadad, "Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off," is a well known instance of a proverbial saying (1 Kings 20:11).

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) A sentence which briefly and forcibly expresses some practical truth; a maxim; an adage.

2. (n.) A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable.

3. (n.) A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference.

4. (n.) A drama exemplifying a proverb.

5. (v. t.) To name in, or as, a proverb.

6. (v. t.) To provide with a proverb.

7. (v. i.) To write or utter proverbs.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

PROVERB

prov'-erb (mashal, chidhah; parabole (Luke 4:23), paroimia (John 16:25, 29)):

I. FOLK MEANING AND USE

1. The Primitive Sense

2. The Communal Origin

3. Animus of Proverbs

II. LITERARY DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROVERB

1. Discovery of Literary Value

2. The Differentiation

III. AS UNIT OF A STRAIN OF LITERATURE

1. From Detachment to Continuity

2. The Conception of Wisdom

3. In Later Times

By this term mainly, but sometimes by the term "parable" (e.g. Numbers 23:7, 18; Numbers 24:3, 15 Job 27:1; Job 29:1), is translated the Hebrew word (mashal), which designates the formal unit or vehicle of didactic discourse. The mashal was an enunciation of truth, self-evident and self-illustrative, in some pointed or concentrated form adapted to arrest attention, awaken responsive thought, and remain fixed in memory. Its scope was broader than that of our word "proverb," taking in subject matter as well as form. The mashal broadened indeed in the course of its history, until it became the characteristic idiom of Hebrew philosophy, as distinguished from the dialectic method of the Greeks. The Hebrew mind was not inductive but intuitive; it saw and asserted; and the word mashal is the generic term for the form in which its assertion was embodied.

I. Folk Meaning and Use.

1. The Primitive Sense:

The mashal, nearly in our sense of proverb, traces back to the heart and life of the common folk; it is a native form reflecting in a peculiarly intimate way the distinctive genius of the Hebrew people. As to the primitive sense of the word, it is usually traced to a root meaning "likeness," or "comparison," as if the first sense of it were of the principle of analogy underlying it; but this derivation is a guess. The word is just as likely to be connected with the verb mashal, "to rule" or "master"; so by a natural secondary meaning to denote that statement which gives the decisive or final verdict, says the master word. The idea of how the thing is said, or by what phrasing, would be a later differentiation, coming in with literary refinement.

2. The Communal Origin:

The earliest cited proverb (1 Samuel 10:12, repeated with varied occasion, 1 Samuel 19:24) seems to have risen spontaneously from the people's observation. That Saul, the son of Kish, whose very different temperament everybody knew, should be susceptible to the wild ecstasy of strolling prophets was an astonishing thing, as it were a discovery in psychology; "Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets?" A few years later David, explaining his clemency in sparing the life of the king who has become his deadly foe, quotes from a folk fund of proverbs: 1 Samuel 24:13, "As saith the proverb of the ancients, Out of the wicked cometh forth wickedness; but my hand shall not be upon thee." The prophet Ezekiel quotes a proverb which evidently embodies a popular belief: "The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth"; which he corrects to, "The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision" (Ezekiel 12:22, 23). Both Ezekiel and Jeremiah (Ezekiel 18:2 Jeremiah 31:29) quote the same current proverb, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge," in order to announce that the time has come for its discontinuance. These last two examples are very instructive. They show how the body of the people put the inwardness of their history into proverb form, as it were a portable lesson for the times; they show also how the prophets availed themselves of these floating sayings to point their own message. Ezekiel seems indeed to recognize the facility with which a situation may bring forth a proverb: Ezekiel 16:44, "Every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee (literally every one that mashals shall mashal against thee), saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter."

3. Animus of Proverbs:

One element of the proverb, which a wide-awake people like the Hebrews would soon discover, was its adaptability for personal portrayal or satire, like a home thrust. Hence, the popular use of the name mashal came to connote its animus, generally of sarcasm or scorn. The taunting verse raised against Heshbon, Numbers 21:27-30, is attributed to them "that speak in proverbs" (meshalim); and Isaiah's taunt in his burden of Babylon (Isaiah 14:4-20) is composed in the proverb measure: "Thou shalt take up this parable (mashal, the King James Version "proverb") against the king of Babylon." Answering to this prevailing animus of proverbs was a corresponding susceptibility to their sting and rankle; they were the kind of utterance that most surely found the national and individual self-consciousness. To be a proverb-to be in everybody's mouth as a subject of laughter, or as a synonym for some awful atrocity-was about the most dreadful thing that could befall them. To be "a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse" (Jeremiah 24:9) was all one. That this should be the nation's fate was held as a threat over them by lawgiver and prophet (Deuteronomy 28:37 1 Kings 9:7); and in adversities of experience, both individual and collective, the thing that was most keenly felt was to have become a byword (mashal) (Psalm 44:14; Psalm 69:11).

II. Literary Development of the Proverb.

1. Discovery of Literary Value:

The rank of proverb was by no means attributed to every popular saying, however the people might set store by it. If its application was merely local (e.g. 2 Samuel 20:18 Genesis 22:14) or temporary (note how Jeremiah and Ezekiel announce popular sayings as obsolete), it remained in its place and time. About the proverb, on the other hand, there was the sense of a value universal and permanent, fitting it for literary immortality. Nor was the proverb itself a run-wild thing, at the shaping of the crowd; from the beginning it was in the hands of "those who speak in meshalim," whose business it was to put it into skillful wording. The popular proverb, however, and the literary proverb were and continued two different things. There came a time, in the literary development of Israel, when the value of the mashal as a vehicle of instruction came to be recognized; from which time a systematic cultivation of this type of discourse began. That time, as seems most probable, was the reign of King Solomon, when in a special degree the people awoke to the life and industry and intercourse and wealth of the world around them. The king himself was `large hearted' (1 Kings 4:29), versatile, with literary tastes; "spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five"; and his whole generation, both in Israel and surrounding nations, was engaged in a vigorous movement of thought and "wisdom" (see the whole passage, 1 Kings 4:29-34). For the unit and vehicle of this new thought the old native form of the mashal or proverb was chosen; it became the recognized medium of popular education and counsel, especially of the young; and the mashal itself was molded to the classic form, condensed, pointed, aphoristic, which we see best exemplified in the Book of Proverbs 10-22:16-probably the earliest collection of this kind of literature. In this body of proverbs we see also that instead of retaining the unbalanced single assertion of the popular proverb, as it appears in 1 Samuel 10:12; 1 Samuel 24:13, these composers of literary proverbs borrowed the poetic parallelism, or couplet, which in two lines sets two statements over against each other by antithesis or repetition, and cultivated this to its most condensed and epigrammatic construction. Thus the mashal took to itself a literary self-consciousness and became a work of art.

2. The Differentiation:

Up to the time of this literary development a proverb was recognized simply as a proverb, with little sense of its various phases, except that there was a strong popular tendency to identify it with satire, and with less thought of the elements of its life and power. With the refinement of form, however, came a recognition of its inwardness. Under the generic term mashal, certain elements were differentiated; not, however, as we are wont to distinguish-parable, fable, apologue, allegory-these remained undifferentiated. The most fundamental distinction of classes, perhaps, is given in Proverbs 1:6: "To understand a proverb, and a figure, the words of the wise, and their dark sayings." Here it seems the word "proverb" (mashal) and "words of the wise," paired off with each other, are the generic terms; the other two, the differentiating terms, name respectively the two fundamental directions of the mashal, toward the clear and toward the enigmatic. Both are essential elements. The word translated "figure" (melitsah) is rather "interpretation," and seems to refer to the illuminative element of the mashal, and this was mainly analogy. Natural objects, phases of experience, contrasts were drawn into the mashal to furnish analogies for life; Solomon's use of plants and animals in his discourses (1 Kings 4:33) was not by way of natural history, but as analogies to illustrate his meshalim. The word translated "dark sayings" (chidhoth) is the word elsewhere translated "riddle" (Samson's riddle, for instance, was a chidhah, Judges 14:13, 14), and refers to that quality of the proverb which, by challenging the hearer's acumen, gives it zest; it is due to an association of things so indirectly related that one must supply intermediate thoughts to resolve them. All of this of course. goes to justify the proverb as a capital vehicle for instruction and counsel; it has the elements that appeal to attention, responsive thought, and memory, while on the other hand its basis of analogy makes it illuminative.

III. As Unit of a Strain of Literature.

1. From Detachment to Continuity:

Until it reached its classic perfection of phrasing, say during the time from Solomon to Hezekiah, the formal development of the proverb was concentrative; the single utterance disposed of its whole subject, as in a capsule. But the development of the mashal form from the antithetic to the synonymous couplet gave rise to a proverb in which the explanatory member did not fully close the case; the subject craved further elucidation, and so a group of several couplets was sometimes necessary to present a case (compare e.g. about the sluggard, Proverbs 26:13-16). From this group of proverbs the transition was easy to a continuous passage, in which the snappy parallelism of the proverb yields to the flow of poetry; see e.g. Proverbs 27:23-27. This is due evidently to a more penetrative and analytic mode of thinking, which can no longer satisfy its statement of truth in a single illustration or maxim.

2. The Conception of Wisdom:

As the store of detached utterances on various phases of practical life accumulated and the task of collecting them was undertaken, it was seen that they had a common suffusion and bearing, that in fact they constituted a distinctive strain of literature. The field of this literature was broad, and recognized (see Proverbs 1:1-5) as promotive of many intellectual virtues; but the inclusive name under which it was gathered was Wisdom (chokhmah). Wisdom, deduced thus from a fund of maxims and analogies, became the Hebrew equivalent for philosophy. With the further history of it this article is not concerned, except to note that the mashal or proverb form held itself free to expand into a continuous and extended discourse, or to hold itself in to the couplet form. As to illustrative quality, too, its scope was liberal enough to include a fully developed parable; see for instance Ezekiel 17:1-10, where the prophet is bidden to "put forth a riddle, and speak a parable (literally, mashal a mashal) unto the house of Israel."

3. In Later Time:

The existence of so considerable a body of proverbs is a testimony to the Hebrew genius for sententious and weighty expression, a virtue of speech which was held in special esteem. From the uses of practical wisdom the mashal form was borrowed by the later scribes and doctors of the law; we see it for instance in loose and artificial use in such books as Pirqe 'Abhoth, which gives the impression that the utterance so grandly represented in the Solomonic proverbs had become decadent. It is in another direction rather that the virtues of the mashal reach their culmination. In the phrasal felicity and illustrative lucidity of our Lord's discourses, and not less in His parables, employed that the multitude "may see and yet not see" (Mark 4:12), we have the values of the ancient mashal in their perfection, in a literary form so true to its object that we do not think of its artistry at all.

See also GAMES, I, 6.

John Franklin Genung

Greek

3942. paroimia -- a byword, a parable, an allegory
... an allegory. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: paroimia Phonetic Spelling:
(par-oy-mee'-ah) Short Definition: an allegory, proverb Definition: a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3942.htm - 6k

3850. parabole -- to expose oneself to danger
... par-ab-ol-ay') Short Definition: a parable, comparison Definition: (a) a comparison,
(b) a parable, often of those uttered by our Lord, (c) a proverb, an adage ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3850.htm - 7k

3954. parresia -- freedom of speech, confidence
... 3954 (from 3956 , "all" and , "a proverb or statement quoted with ," ) --
properly, (), leaving a witness that something (). Word ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3954.htm - 7k

3850b. parabole -- a placing beside, a comparison
... Word Origin from paraballo Definition a placing beside, a comparison NASB Word Usage
parable (31), parables (16), proverb (1), symbol (1), type (1). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3850b.htm - 5k

Strong's Hebrew

4912. mashal -- a proverb, parable
... 4911b, 4912. mashal. 4913 . a proverb, parable. Transliteration: mashal
Phonetic Spelling: (maw-shawl') Short Definition: proverb. ...
/hebrew/4912.htm - 6k

4911b. mashal -- to use a proverb, speak in parables or sentences ...
... 4911a, 4911b. mashal. 4912 . to use a proverb, speak in parables or sentences
of poetry. Transliteration: mashal Short Definition: speak. ...
/hebrew/4911b.htm - 6k

4911. mashal -- to represent, be like
... Short Definition: like. become like, compare, use as a proverb, speak in proverbs,
utter Denominative from mashal; to liken, ie (transitively ...
/hebrew/4911.htm - 5k

2420. chidah -- a riddle, an enigmatic, perplexing saying or ...
... riddles (1). dark saying sentence, speech, hard question, proverb, riddle.
From chuwd; a puzzle, hence, a trick, conundrum, sententious ...
/hebrew/2420.htm - 6k

4928. mishmaath -- an obedient band, body of subjects
... of superiority in mental action; properly, a pithy maxim, usually of metaphorical
nature; hence, a simile (as a adae, compare, use (as a) proverb, speak (in ...
/hebrew/4928.htm - 6k

Library

The "Sayings" of Pythagoras.
... [664] Horace quotes this proverb (2 Serm., iii. ... The proverb is also said to
mean: Avoid what may seem agreeable, but really is injurious. ...
/.../the refutation of all heresies/chapter xxii the sayings of pythagoras.htm

A String of Pearls
... We in England are familiar with the combination on police charge-sheets, 'drunk
and disorderly.' So does the old proverb-maker seem to have been. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/a string of pearls.htm

John Chapter xvi. 29-33.
... For, says the evangelist, "His disciples say unto Him: Lo, now speakest
Thou plainly, and utterest no proverb. Now we are sure that ...
/.../augustine/homilies on the gospel of john/tractate ciii john chapter xvi.htm

Essay i. Fortuna Plerumque Est Veluti Galaxia Quarundam Obscurarum ...
... "Does Fortune favour fools? Or how do you explain the origin of the proverb, which,
differently worded, is to be found in all the languages of Europe?". ...
/.../confessions of an inquiring spirit etc/essay i fortuna plerumque est.htm

The Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs
... The proverb was the most characteristic literary form in which the sages treasured
and imparted their teachings. ... [Sidenote: Expansion of the proverb]. ...
/.../the origin and permanent value of the old testament/x the hebrew sages and.htm

Letter clxxxvi. To Antipater, the Governor.
... Formerly I used to dislike it, both on account of the proverb, [2607] and
because it reminded me of the poverty that went with it. ...
/.../basil/basil letters and select works/letter clxxxvi to antipater the.htm

Letter xxvii. To Marcella.
... "They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head," [714]
and I am become "a proverb to them." [715 ... [709] Ono lura was a Greek proverb. ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/letter xxvii to marcella.htm

The Many-Sided Contrast of Wisdom and Folly
... The first proverb deals with wisdom or goodness in its inner source; namely,
a docile disposition. The two next deal with its consequences. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/the many-sided contrast of wisdom.htm

Its Results Dependent Upon the Spirit of the Hearers.
... kernel. Some have supposed that these words (v.25) were merely a proverb
of common life, of which Christ made a higher application. ...
/.../section 66 its results dependent.htm

A Bundle of Proverbs
... The 'if' in verse 31 weakens the strong assertion of the proverb. ... The proverb presents
in the sharpest relief a principle which is true of all our activity. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture g/a bundle of proverbs.htm

Thesaurus

Proverb (24 Occurrences)
... It comes from a root meaning "to be like," "parable." Rendered "proverb" in Isaiah
14:4; Habakkuk 2:6; "dark saying" in Psalm 49:4, Numbers 12:8. Ahab's ...
/p/proverb.htm - 29k

Dark (234 Occurrences)
... DARK SAYINGS. (Proverbs 1:6 Psalm 78:2; singular, Psalm 49:4, 5; chidhoth, singular
chidhah, elsewhere rendered "riddle," "proverb"): In the heading to the ...
/d/dark.htm - 44k

Byword (14 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Hebrew millah (Job 30:9), a word or speech, and hence
object of talk; Hebrew mashal (Psalm 44:14), a proverb or parable. ...
/b/byword.htm - 12k

Sayings (134 Occurrences)
... DARK SAYINGS. (Proverbs 1:6 Psalm 78:2; singular, Psalm 49:4, 5; chidhoth, singular
chidhah, elsewhere rendered "riddle," "proverb"): In the heading to the ...
/s/sayings.htm - 41k

Quote (4 Occurrences)
... Luke 4:23 "Doubtless," said He, "you will quote to me the proverb, 'Physician, cure
yourself: all that we hear that you have done at Capernaum, do here also in ...
/q/quote.htm - 8k

Ridicule (14 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 28:37 You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among
all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away. (See NIV). ...
/r/ridicule.htm - 10k

By-word (6 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Hebrew millah (Job 30:9), a word or speech, and hence
object of talk; Hebrew mashal (Psalm 44:14), a proverb or parable. ...
/b/by-word.htm - 8k

Object (76 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 28:37 You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among
all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away. (See NIV). ...
/o/object.htm - 31k

Taunt (38 Occurrences)
... Taunt (38 Occurrences). Deuteronomy 28:37 You shall become an astonishment, a proverb,
and a byword, among all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away. ...
/t/taunt.htm - 18k

Games (2 Occurrences)
... The Old Testament supplies the following 10 examples of the popular proverb: (1)
"Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh" (Genesis 10:9); (2) "As the man is ...
/g/games.htm - 40k

Bible Concordance

Proverb (24 Occurrences)

Luke 4:23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
(KJV WEY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

John 16:29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.
(KJV WBS)

2 Peter 2:22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, "The dog turns to his own vomit again," and "the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire."
(WEB KJV WEY ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Deuteronomy 28:37 You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 Samuel 10:12 One of the same place answered, "Who is their father?" Therefore it became a proverb, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 Samuel 24:13 As the proverb of the ancients says,'Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness;' but my hand shall not be on you.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

1 Kings 9:7 then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV)

2 Chronicles 7:20 then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have made holy for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Job 17:6 And he hath made me a proverb of the peoples; and I am become one to be spit on in the face.
(DBY YLT)

Psalms 49:4 I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will open my riddle on the harp.
(WEB NAS RSV NIV)

Psalms 69:11 I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
(KJV DBY WBS)

Proverbs 1:6 to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 26:7 The legs of the lame hang loose; so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
(DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Proverbs 26:9 As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
(DBY NAS RSV NIV)

Isaiah 14:4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
(KJV DBY WBS)

Jeremiah 24:9 I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS)

Ezekiel 12:22 Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision fails?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 12:23 Tell them therefore, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but tell them, The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 14:8 and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS)

Ezekiel 16:44 Behold, everyone who uses proverbs shall use this proverb against you, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.
(Root in WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 18:2 What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Ezekiel 18:3 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS NAS RSV NIV)

Micah 2:4 In that day shall they take up a proverb concerning you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We are utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! He hath distributed our fields to the rebellious.
(DBY)

Habakkuk 2:6 Won't all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say,'Woe to him who increases that which is not his, and who enriches himself by extortion! How long?'
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS)

Subtopics

Proverb

Related Terms

Dark (234 Occurrences)

Byword (14 Occurrences)

Sayings (134 Occurrences)

Quote (4 Occurrences)

Ridicule (14 Occurrences)

By-word (6 Occurrences)

Object (76 Occurrences)

Taunt (38 Occurrences)

Games (2 Occurrences)