Scroggie, W Graham Know Your Bible, 1:137-42 COMMENTARIES Delitzsch, F Proverbs of Solomon, vols 1, Harris, R Laird “Proverbs.” In The Wycliffe Bible Commentary Ironside, H A Notes on the Book of Proverbs Jones, W., and Walls, Andrew “The Proverbs.” In The New Bible Commentary Kidner, Derek The Proverbs Zoeckler, Otto “Proverbs.” In Lange’s Commentary on the Holy Scriptures Wilbur M Smith, The Incomparable Book, pp 36-37 Ibid Some hold that these two names may be poetic references to Solomon himself 4 John Phillips, Exploring the Scriptures, p 108 The historical background of chapters 1-29, though sparse, corresponds very closely to the conditions of Solomon’s reign See G T Manley, The New Bible Handbook, p 199 Read 29:18; 15:8; and 21:3, 27 for references to the Law and sacrifices of Israel This assumes that Agur, Lemuel, and “the wise men,” noted earlier, lived no later than Hezekiah G Campbell Morgan, Notes on the Psalms, p Norman L Geisler, Christ: The Theme of the Bible, p 96 Gleason L Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p 452 10 Derek Kidner, The Proverbs, p 28 11 There is strong evidence that heathen writers even borrowed from the canonical Proverbs for their own purposes See W Jones and Andrew Walls, “The Proverbs,” in The New Bible Commentary, p 516 12 D A Hubbard describes Solomon as the “Master Sage,” the “Iron Ruler,” the “Enterprising Merchant,” and the “Peaceful Emperor” (The New Bible Dictionary, pp 12024) 13 See W Graham Scroggie, Know Your Bible, 1:140-41 14 Modern paraphrases are the interpretations of the authors writing the paraphrases They are not intended to be a word-for-word translation of the Bible text One of the main purposes of a paraphrase is to clarify an ambiguous word or phrase of the Bible text 15 Otto Zoeckler, “Proverbs,” in Lange’s Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, p 18 Ecclesiastes: Vanity Under the Sun, But Hope Is in God Ecclesiastes is a book that investigates life and tells what kind of life is worth living It is the quest of a soul who sees only vanity all about him until his eyes are opened to the hope o ered by God The book has been described as a confession of failure and pessimism when God is excluded Ecclesiastes is a perplexing book to many, partly because its perspectives and purposes are not understood The background and survey studies that follow will help to throw light on these important concerns I PREPARATION FOR STUDY The dictionary de nes philosophy as the ... Geisler, Christ: The Theme of the Bible, p 96 Gleason L Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p 452 10 Derek Kidner, The Proverbs, p 28 11 There is strong evidence that heathen writers... paraphrases are the interpretations of the authors writing the paraphrases They are not intended to be a word-for-word translation of the Bible text One of the main purposes of a paraphrase is to clarify... from the canonical Proverbs for their own purposes See W Jones and Andrew Walls, ? ?The Proverbs,” in The New Bible Commentary, p 516 12 D A Hubbard describes Solomon as the “Master Sage,” the “Iron