proverb Summary and Overview
Bible Dictionaries at a Glance
proverb in Easton's Bible Dictionary
a trite maxim; a similitude; a parable. The Hebrew word thus rendered (mashal) has a wide signification. It comes from a root meaning "to be like," "parable." Rendered "proverb" in Isa. 14:4; Hab. 2:6; "dark saying" in Ps. 49:4, Num. 12:8. Ahab's defiant words in answer to the insolent demands of Benhadad, "Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off," is a well known instance of a proverbial saying (1 Kings 20:11).
proverb in Schaff's Bible Dictionary
PROVERB are sayings embodying some rule of conduct or some observation from life in a striking and catching form. In modern times collections of such proverbs have been made in almost every country, and these collections have attracted much attention, because they generally give very striking pictures of the character of a nation, its wisdom and its follies, its passions and its humors.