1 Kings 4:32

1Ki 4:32 And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.

Ver. 32. And he spake three thousand proverbs.] Which others, likely, took from his mouth, and made books of them; such as contained cunctam saeculi doctrinam, as Jerome saith of Tertullian’s works, who was, saith Lactantins, a general scholar. Of these proverbs of Solomon, not the one half are come to hand, as being no part of holy writ.

And his songs were a thousand and five.] Whereof is extant only that Song of Songs, that singular song. {see Son 1:1} This and the rest of his works extant in the Church, show his divine learning: as his other lectures {1Ki 4:33} his human.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 4:32-33. He spake three thousand proverbs — That is, short, deep, and useful sentences, whereof a great part are contained in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Songs — Whereof the most divine and chief are in the Canticles. And he spake of trees — That is, of all plants, of their nature and qualities. From the cedar-tree unto the hyssop — From the greatest to the least. That springeth out of the wall — Dr. Waterland renders the original here, Hyssop that runneth out to the wall: the wall of Jerusalem may be meant, which was encompassed with mountains that produced abundance of hyssop. He spake also of beasts and of fowl, &c. — This shows the vastness of his knowledge, which comprehended the history of animals as well as of plants, whose nature and qualities he also understood. All these discourses of Solomon are lost, without any impeachment of the perfection of the Holy Scriptures; which were not written to teach men philosophy or physic, but only to make them wise unto salvation.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4:32-34 proverbs . . . songs: Solomon wrote much of the book of Proverbs and composed Pss 72 and 127. His knowledge of plants and animals reflected his careful observation of nature (see Prov 6:6-8). Solomon’s wisdom and literary prowess (see Matt 12:42) are reflected in the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. No wonder many, including kings (1 Kgs 10:1-9), sought the wisdom of Solomon.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Which for the most part are thought to have perished in the captivity of Babylon.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

he spake three thousand proverbs--embodying his moral sentiments and sage observations on human life and character.

songs . . . a thousand and five-- Psalm 72, 127, 132, and the Song of Songs are his.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 32. He spake three thousand proverbs] The book of Proverbs, attributed to Solomon, contain only about nine hundred or nine hundred and twenty-three distinct proverbs; and if we grant with some that the first nine chapters are not the work of Solomon, then all that can be attributed to him is only about six hundred and fifty.

Of all his one thousand and five songs or poems we have only one, the book of Canticles, remaining, unless we include Ps 127:1-5, Except the Lord build the house, &c., which in the title is said to be by or for him, though it appears more properly to be a psalm of direction, left him by his father David, relative to the building of the temple.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(32) Proverbs.—The word “proverb” (mashal), from a root signifying “comparison,” has the various meanings of (a) parable or allegory, (b) proverb in the modern sense, (c) riddle or enigmatical poem, (d) 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, 25-29), composed or collected by him; falling, however, far short of the number given in this verse. The earlier portion (see especially 1Ki_1:20-33; 1Ki_1:2; 1Ki_1:8) partakes more of the character of the first and fourth classes; and in Ecc_12:3-6, and perhaps Pro_30:15-16; Pro_30:24-31, we have specimens of the third. If the “three thousand” of the text be intended to be taken literally, it is obvious that only a small part of Solomon’s proverbs has been preserved. His declension into idolatry might induce care in selection. by such prophetic compilers as “the men of Hezekiah” (Proverbs 25).

His songs.—We have still ascribed to Solomon the “Song of Songs” and two Psalms (72 and 127); but nothing else is, even by tradition, preserved to us. This passage is singularly interesting as showing that the Old Testament Canon is not a collection of chance fragments of a scanty literature, but that out of a literature, which at this time, at any rate, was large and copious, deliberate selections by prophetic authority were made. (The “men of Hezekiah,” named in Pro_25:1, are by Jewish tradition Isaiah and his companions.) In the case of Solomon some special caution would be natural, and much of his poetry may have been purely secular. The “Psalter of Solomon” (including eighteen psalms) is a Greek apocryphal book, of the time of the Maccabees or later.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32. three thousand proverbs] Of which some are contained in the book of Proverbs to which his name is given, but these are not all his, nor would all that are attributed to him there approach the number in the text. The proverb (משׁל) of the Hebrews was, as we see from those preserved, more of the character of a parable, or wise comparison, than what we commonly call by that name.

his songs] No doubt some of these were preserved, though not included in the Canon of Scripture, and their character is perhaps impressed upon the Song, which is called of Solomon, that has come down to us. The LXX. makes the number of the songs to be 5000; Josephus agrees with the Hebrew text. We need not suppose that these songs were of a sacred character. Psalms 72, 127 are (if we be consistent in translating the preposition) ascribed to Solomon in their titles, but the titles are of small authority, and in the latter case the LXX. omits the ascription to Solomon. Ewald thinks the second Psalm may be one of Solomon’s composition. Dean Perowne, thinking it probable that Solomon made a collection of his father’s poetry for the service of the Temple, attributes the first Psalm to him. The sententious and somewhat proverbial character of the language gives support to this opinion.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Proverbs - In the collection which forms the “Book of Proverbs,” only a small portion has been preserved, less certainly than one thousand out of the three. Ecclesiastes, if it is Solomon’s, would add between one hundred and two hundred more proverbs. But the great bulk of Solomon’s proverbs has perished.

Songs - Of these, Canticles is probably one (marginal reference): Ps. 72; Psa 127:1-5 may also be of the number. Probably the bulk of Solomon’s songs were of a secular character, and consequently were not introduced into the canon of Scripture.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Three thousand parables. These works are all lost, excepting some part of the parables extant in the book of Proverbs; and his chief poem called the Canticle of Canticles. (Challoner) --- The title of Psalm cxxvi., attributes it to Solomon. But its authority is not sufficiently established. The book of Proverbs contains at present only 658, (Cornelius a Lapide) or 800 parables. (Clarius) --- Josephus exaggerates, when he reads 3000 volumes of parables. --- Five. Septuagint read, "5000 odes," which is adopted by many interpreters. Josephus (Calmet) and the Chaldean agree with the Hebrew. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Proverbs, i.e. short, and deep, and useful sentences, whereof a great and the best part are contained in the Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Of his songs the chief and most divine are in the Canticles.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

32. He spake three thousand proverbs — He seems to have first established among the Hebrews this species of gnomic didactic poetry. Of these three thousand proverbs a very valuable though a comparatively small portion remains in the Book of Proverbs, and, perhaps, also in Ecclesiastes. The remark that he spake these proverbs may imply that they were not all written or actually recorded, and so, from being preserved only by oral tradition, they either became gradually lost, or their authorship became uncertain.

His songs were a thousand and five — Being the son of the greatest of human lyrists, the sweet psalmist of Israel, he naturally inherited the gift of poetry and song. Of these thousand and five songs there now remain but the seventy-second and one hundred and twenty-seventh Psalms and the Canticles, though the authorship of the latter is a controverted question. But though most of the Proverbs and Songs of Solomon are lost to us, their silent influences, flowing through unseen channels, may have greatly affected both the ancient and modern literature of the East, and may still be studied in the apocryphal books of Ecclesiasticus and the Wisdom of Solomon.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. Of the former, less than one-third are preserved in the Book of Proverbs; (see Pro_1:1 Pro_25:1) the rest are lost to us. The Book of Ecclesiastes, even if the composition of Solomon, can hardly be described as proverbs. Of his songs all have perished, except the Song of Solomon, and possibly Ps 72 Ps 127. (see the titles), and, according to some, 128.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Proverbs - That is, short, and deep, and useful sentences, whereof a great part are contained in the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Songs - Whereof the chief and most divine are in the Canticles.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

cedar ... hyssop

These words form a merism that includes all plants. AT: "cedar tree ... hyssop bush" or "the greatest of trees ... least important of bushes" (See: Translate Unknowns and Merism)

translationWords

proverb

cedar

Lebanon

send

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.