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Journey of a Passage

Proverbs 1:1

"The proverbs of Solomon": a title over many collections

The book opens "The proverbs (mishle) of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel." All the library's witnesses agree on the wording. The question is what the title claims: the book itself names other sources (the wise, 22:17 and 24:23; the men of Hezekiah, 25:1; Agur, 30:1; Lemuel's mother, 31:1).

Stable text: no manuscript differences in meaning

The family tree

Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.

✓ contains this verse · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives

  • Same line, through lost copies
  • Translation
Hebrew
  1. The proverb as first composedCollections from the monarchy to the Persian period (debated)
  2. Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)AD 1008Descends, through lost copies, from The proverb as first composed
Greek
  1. Greek Proverbs (library: Giguet's French)Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872Translated from the Old Greek Proverbs
Latin
  1. Latin Vulgate (Clementine)Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592Translated from the Hebrew text Jerome used
English
  1. King James Bible1611Translated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

Every witness, in order

  1. Collections from the monarchy to the Persian period (debated)

    The proverb as first composed

    – No copy survives

    No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of Proverbs are two small Qumran fragments (4Q102, 4Q103, 1st century BC – 1st century AD, reported).

  2. Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592

    Latin Vulgate (Clementine)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Hebrew text Jerome used

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).

    Parabolæ Salomonis, filii David, regis Israël,

    Latin position: Proverbs 1:1. Jerome translated Proverbs from Hebrew (c. AD 398), so the Vulgate is an indirect witness to a Hebrew text, with Jerome's interpretation.

  3. AD 1008

    Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)

    ✓ Contains this passageDescends, through lost copies, from The proverb as first composed

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.

    מִ֭שְׁלֵי שְׁלֹמֹ֣ה בֶן־דָּוִ֑ד מֶ֝֗לֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

    The proverbs (mishle) of Solomon son of David, king of Israel

    Hebrew position: Proverbs 1:1.

  4. 1611

    King James Bible

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from printed Masoretic Hebrew

    How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).

    The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

  5. Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872

    Greek Proverbs (library: Giguet's French)

    ✓ Contains this passageTranslated from the Old Greek Proverbs

    How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.

    Proverbes de Salomon, fils de David, qui régna en Israël,

    Greek (digital file) position: Proverbs 1:1. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). No Göttingen critical edition of Greek Proverbs is published yet; a C check needs Rahlfs–Hanhart and specialist studies.

What changed, and why

The text is stable: Hebrew, Greek, Latin and English agree. What differs is interpretation. Mashal is wider than English "proverb": comparison, saying, taunt-song, parable or extended poem. The Greek translated it paroimiai, the Latin parabolae (whence French paraboles and English "parable").

Readings of the title: (1) Solomon is the author of the book; (2) Solomon is the patron and model of the collection, as David of the Psalms and Moses of the Torah; (3) Solomon's sayings form the core (10:1–22:16; 25–29), and the title covers the whole book by extension. The internal headings show that the book is a collection of collections, compiled in stages up to at least Hezekiah's reign (25:1). That a saying was attributed to Solomon is documented; that he composed it is a judgment of faith or historical inference. See the authorship investigation.

What the evidence shows

  • Independently documentedAll library witnesses agree on the wording of 1:1.
  • Independently documentedProverbs contains collections attributed to people other than Solomon.
  • Matter of faithSolomon composed the whole book. Traditional; the book's own headings name others.

Sources

    Related lessons

    • Proverbs 1: The Beginning of Knowledge →Proverbs opens with a title ("The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel"), a statement of purpose (vv. 2–6), and its motto: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (v. 7). A father then warns his son against a gang that promises easy wealth through violence (vv. 8–19). Finally Wisdom herself, pictured as a woman, shouts at the city gates and warns those who ignore her (vv. 20–33). Three voices in one chapter: the editor, the parent, and Wisdom.