They were written in pithy and popular language, full of proverbs and colloquialisms. Plato is said to have introduced them into Athens and to have made use of them in his dialogues; according to Suidas, they were Plato's constant companions, and he even slept with them under his pillow.
In Proverbs there is a notable absence of this point of view.
He wrote on grammar (Sepher ha-galui and Sepher Zikkaron), commentaries on Proverbs and the Song of Solomon, an apologetic work, Sepher ha-berith, and a translation of Balhya's Ilobhoth ha-lebhabhoth.
A small nucleus of the proverbs may be Solomon's; but the great majority represent no doubt the generalizations of a long succession of " wise men."
Proceeding upon such lines as these, the Jews wove together their Midrashic homilies or sermons where, though we may find much that seems commonplace, there are illuminating parables and proverbs, metaphors and similes, the whole affording admirable examples of the contemporary thought and culture, both of the writers and - what is often overlooked - the level of their hearers or readers.
