<P> The first section (chapters 1--9) consists of an initial invitation to young men to take up the course of wisdom, ten "instructions", and five poems on personified Woman Wisdom . Proverbs 10: 1--22: 16, with 375 sayings, consists of two parts, the first contrasting the wise man and the fool (or the righteous and the wicked), the second addressing wise and foolish speech . Chapters 25--29, attributed to editorial activity of "the men of Hezekiah," contrasts the just and the wicked and broaches the topic of rich and poor . Chapter 30: 1--4, the "sayings of Agur", introduces creation, divine power, and human ignorance . </P> <P> It is impossible to offer precise dates for the sayings in Proverbs, a "collection of collections" relating to a pattern of life which lasted for more than a millennium . The phrase conventionally used for the title is taken from chapter 1: 1, mishley shelomoh, Proverbs of Solomon (the phrase is repeated at 10: 1 and 25: 1), is likely more concerned with labeling the material than ascribing authorship . </P> <P> The book is an anthology made up of six discrete units . The first, chapters 1--9, was probably the last to be composed, in the Persian or Hellenistic periods . This section has parallels to prior cuneiform writings . The second, chapters 10--22: 16, carries the superscription "the proverbs of Solomon", which may have encouraged its inclusion in the Hebrew canon . The third unit is headed "bend your ear and hear the words of the wise": a large part of it is a recasting of a second - millennium BCE Egyptian work, the Instruction of Amenemope, and may have reached the Hebrew author (s) through an Aramaic translation . Chapter 24: 23 begins a new section and source with the declaration, "these too are from the wise ." The next section at chapter 25: 1 has a superscription to the effect that the following proverbs were transcribed "by the men of Hezekiah", indicating at face value that they were collected in the reign of Hezekiah in the late 8th century BCE . Chapters 30 and 31 (the "words of Agur," the "words of Lemuel," and the description of the ideal woman) are a set of appendices, quite different in style and emphasis from the previous chapters . </P> <P> The "wisdom" genre was widespread throughout the ancient Near East, and reading Proverbs alongside the examples recovered from Egypt and Mesopotamia reveals the common ground shared by international wisdom . The wisdom literature of Israel may have been developed in the family, the royal court, and houses of learning and instruction; nevertheless, the overwhelming impression is of instruction within the family in small villages . </P>

How many chapters are in the book of proverbs