Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Kings 4:32

"And he spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five." — 1 Kings 4:32 (ASV)

Proverbs. The word “proverb” (mashal), from a root signifying “comparison,” has various meanings, including:

• parable or allegory
• proverb in the modern sense
• riddle or enigmatical poem
• figurative and antithetical poetry, like the “parable” of Balaam

The Book of Proverbs belongs mainly, but not exclusively, to the second class. Its main part consists of two series of “Proverbs of Solomon” (Proverbs 10-24; Proverbs 10:25–29), composed or collected by him, though falling far short of the number mentioned in this verse.

The earlier portion (see especially 1 Kings 1:20–33; 1 Kings 1:2; 1 Kings 1:8) partakes more of the character of the first and fourth classes. In Ecclesiastes 12:3-6, and perhaps Proverbs 30:15-16 and Proverbs 30:24-31, we have specimens of the third. If the “three thousand” of the text is intended to be taken literally, it is obvious that only a small part of Solomon’s proverbs has been preserved. His decline into idolatry may have led to careful selection by such prophetic compilers as “the men of Hezekiah” (Proverbs 25:1).

His songs. We still have ascribed to Solomon the “Song of Songs” and two Psalms (Psalms 72 and 127); however, nothing else, even by tradition, is preserved to us.

This passage is singularly interesting as it shows that the Old Testament Canon is not a collection of chance fragments from a scanty literature. Instead, out of a literature that, at this time at any rate, was large and copious, deliberate selections were made by prophetic authority. (The “men of Hezekiah,” mentioned in Proverbs 25:1, are, according to Jewish tradition, Isaiah and his companions.)

In Solomon’s case, some special caution would have been natural, as much of his poetry may have been purely secular. The “Psalter of Solomon” (which includes eighteen psalms) is a Greek apocryphal book dating from the time of the Maccabees or later.