Prov. 25 begins with a statement telling us that the scribes of King Hezekiah (late eighth century B.C.) collected and present some proverbs of Solomon, and as Robert Alter notes, the word ‘too’. here (‘These too are proverbs of Solomon’) means there was a previous collection, and Alter suggests it is in Prov. 10.
25.2-3– “God’s honor is to hide a matter/ the king’s honor to probe a matter….but the heart of kings is beyond probing”.
25.11– “Golden apples in a silver carving/a word spoken in its own right way.” This saying reminds that how one shares wisdom or a truth matters for it to be understood and received.
Apparently Solomon enjoyed posing brain teasers or riddles. For instance “Like the chill of snow on a harvest day [but as Alter says, that never happens in late May or late October], a faithful messenger to his senders, he revives his master’s spirits.’ (25.13). Is the point that the sender is surprised when the messenger does the right thing? Is refresh co-ordinated with a surprise snowfall that breaks the heat wave and is refreshing?
A bit less enigmatic is the following one in vs. 14 “Clouds and wind and yet there is no rain/ a man who boasts of a deceptive gift” The point is similar to the Texas maxim– that man is all hat and no cattle. The gift is empty like a cloud without rain, and should never have been boasted of.
Vs. 25 is clearer and more effective– “Cool water to a dry throat/ good news from a distant land”.
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