Albert Barnes Commentary Proverbs 22:17

"Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, And apply thy heart unto my knowledge." — Proverbs 22:17 (ASV)

This is the beginning of a new and entirely distinct section, opening in the style of Proverbs 3:1 and 3:21; Proverbs 4:1; and Proverbs 7:1; with a general exhortation (Proverbs 22:17–21) and passing on to special precepts.

The phrase “words of the wise” may be a title for the section: compare Proverbs 24:23.

The general characteristics of this section appear to be:

1. A less close attention to the laws of parallelism, and
2. A tendency to longer and more complicated sentences. Compare the Introduction to Proverbs.