loving his own soul,” the inspired counsel and discipline therein, if followed, will add “length of days and years of life” and “will prove to be life to your soul.” (Prov. 3:2; 19:8; 3:13-18, 21-26) “Jehovah will not cause the soul of the righteous one to go hungry.” (10:3) “He that is keeping the commandment is keeping his soul,” Solomon admonishes.—19:16.

RELATIONS WITH OTHERS

Proverbs describes the true servant of God as one who uses his tongue for good (Prov. 10:20, 21, 31, 32), not speaking falsely nor even hurting others by thoughtless words. (12:6, 8, 17-19; 18:6-8, 21) If provoked, he turns away the rage of his opponent by a mild answer. (15:1; 25:15) He does not enjoy disputes or quarrels, and exercises self-control against outbursts of anger, knowing that he might commit irreparable foolishness. (14:17, 29; 15:18; compare Colossians 3:8.) In fact, he will avoid companionship with those letting anger control them and who display fits of rage, for he knows that they would bring him into a snare.—Prov. 22:24, 25; compare 13:20; 14:7; 1 Corinthians 15:33.

Render good, not evil

The inspired Proverbs urge one to take the initiative to do good toward others. Not only is he to act with good toward those ‘dwelling in security’ with him, who have rendered no bad to him (Prov. 3:27-30), but he is also urged to return good for bad. (25:21, 22) He is to watch his heart closely, that he does not have inner rejoicing at calamity that comes to one he despises, or who hates him.—17:5; 24:17, 18.

Gossip and slander

Much is said in the book of Proverbs about the trouble, grief and damage brought by gossiping, and the gravity of the guilt resting on the talebearer. The ‘choice morsel’ of a slanderer is “swallowed greedily” by its hearer and is not taken lightly but makes a lasting impression, going down “into the innermost parts of the belly.” Therefore it causes trouble and the speaker cannot ‘wash his hands’ of guilt. Though such one may appear very gracious and may disguise his true heart condition, God will see to it that the hate and badness that is actually within him is “uncovered in the congregation.” He will fall into the pit he has dug for someone else.—Prov. 26:22-28.

Family relationships

Marital fidelity is strictly counseled in the Proverbs. One should find delight in ‘the wife of his youth’ and not be seeking satisfaction elsewhere. (Prov. 5:15-23) Adultery will bring ruin and death to its practicers. (5:3-14; 6:23-35) A good wife is a “crown” and a blessing to her husband. But if a wife acts shamefully, she is “as rottenness in [her husband’s] bones.” (12:4) And it is a misery to a man even to live with a wife that is contentious. (25:24; 19:13; 21:19; 27:15, 16) Outwardly pretty and charming though she may be, she is like “a gold nose ring in the snout of a pig.” (11:22; 31:30) A foolish woman actually tears down her own house. (14:1) The fine value of the good wife—her industriousness, trustworthiness and management of the household in faithfulness and submission to her husband—is fully described in Proverbs chapter 31.

Parents are shown to be fully responsible for their children, and discipline is emphasized as essential. (Prov. 19:18; 22:6, 15; 23:13, 14; 29:15, 17) The father’s responsibility is highlighted, but the child must respect both father and mother if he wants life from Jehovah.—19:26; 20:20; 23:22; 30:17.

Animal care

Even concern for domestic animals is considered in the Proverbs. “The righteous one is caring for the soul of his domestic animal.” (12:10) “You ought to know positively the appearance of your flock.”—27:23.

Government stability and fidelity

The proverbs express principles of good government. Men of high station, such as kings, should search matters through (25:2), manifest loving-kindness and trueness (20:28) and deal justly with their subjects (29:4; 31:9), including the lowly ones. (29:14) Their counselors cannot be wicked men if the rulership is to be firmly established by righteousness. (25:4, 5) A leader must be a man of discernment and a hater of unjust profit.—28:16.

Whereas ‘righteousness exalts a nation’ (14:34), transgression results in unstable government. (28:2) Revolution also brings great instability, and is counseled against at Proverbs 24:21, 22: “My son, fear Jehovah and the king. With those who are for a change, do not intermeddle. For their disaster will arise so suddenly, that who is aware of the extinction of those who are for a change?”

USEFUL FOR COUNSEL

Since the proverbs cover a wide range of human endeavor, they can provide a basis for giving much practical counsel and admonition, as was done by the writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures. “The heart of the righteous one meditates so as to answer.” (15:28) However, it is not wise to counsel ridiculers. “He that is correcting the ridiculer is taking to himself dishonor, and he that is giving a reproof to someone wicked—a defect in him. Do not reprove a ridiculer, that he may not hate you. Give a reproof to a wise person and he will love you.” (9:7, 8; 15:12; compare Matthew 7:6.) Not all persons are ridiculers and hence those in a position to counsel others should do so, as is highlighted by the words: “The very lips of the righteous one keep pasturing many.”—Prov. 10:21.

See the book “All Scripture Is Inspired of God and Beneficial,” pp. 106-111.

PROVINCE

This designation originally indicated the sphere of authority of a Roman administrator. When Rome expanded its conquests beyond the Italian peninsula, the territory or geographical limits of the rule of a governor came to be called a province.

In 27 B.C.E. the first Roman emperor, Augustus, arranged the twenty-two then-existing provinces into two categories. The ten more peaceful ones that did not require the constant presence of Roman legions became senatorial provinces. The chief Roman official of this type of province was the proconsul. (Acts 18:12; see PROCONSUL.) The remaining provinces were constituted imperial provinces, being directly responsible to the emperor and administered by a governor and, in larger ones, a military commander called a legate. Imperial provinces were often near the frontier or for some other reason required legions to be stationed in them; by closely controlling these provinces the emperor kept the army under his authority. After 27 B.C.E. new provinces formed from conquered territories became imperial provinces. A province might be subdivided into smaller administrative sections or districts.

The status of a province could shift between senatorial and imperial. (See CYPRUS.) Also, the boundaries of a province were sometimes adjusted. As a result, a particular city or area might be in a certain province at one time and later in an adjacent one, or even in a newly formed province. For examples of this, see CAPPADOCIA; CILICIA; PAMPHYLIA; PISIDIA.

With the banishment of Archelaus (Matt. 2:22), the son of Herod the Great, Judea came under the rule of Roman governors. The governor of the province was to some degree responsible to the legate of the larger province of Syria.

When Paul was delivered to Felix at Caesarea, the governor “inquired from what province he [Paul] was, and ascertained that he was from Cilicia.” (Acts 23:34) Tarsus, Paul’s birthplace, was in the Roman province of Cilicia.—Acts 22:3.

The governor of an imperial province was appointed by the emperor for no set period of office, unlike the proconsul of a senatorial province, who normally served for only one year. Felix was replaced as governor of the imperial province of Judea by Festus.—Acts 25:1.

PRUNING SHEARS

See FARMING IMPLEMENTS.

PSALMS, BOOK OF

A book seemingly consisting of five collections of sacred songs ([1] Pss. 1-41; [2] 42-72, [3] 73-89; [4] 90-106; [5] 107-150), each collection ending with a blessing pronounced on Jehovah. According to their place in the book, the individual psalms were evidently known by number from ancient times. For example, what is now called the “second psalm” was also designated as such in the first century C.E.—Acts 13:33.

STYLE

The poetry of the book of Psalms consists of parallel thoughts or expressions. (See HEBREW, II [Hebrew Poetry].) Distinctive are the acrostic or alphabetic psalms. (Pss. 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119 and 145) In these psalms the initial verse or verses of the first stanza begin with the Hebrew letter ʼaʹleph, the next verse(s) with behth, and so on through all or nearly all of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This arrangement may have served as a memory aid. For the terminology found in the book of Psalms, see ALAMOTH; ASCENTS; GITTITH; HIGGAION; MAHALATH, II; MASKIL; MIKTAM; MUTH-LABBEN; NEHILOTH; SELAH; SHEMINITH.

SUPERSCRIPTIONS

The headings or superscriptions found at the beginning of many psalms identify the writer, furnish background material, provide musical instructions or indicate the use or purpose of the psalm. (See the superscriptions of Psalms 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 30, 38, 60, 92, 102.) At times the superscriptions provide the needed information for locating other scriptures that illuminate a particular psalm. (Compare Psalm 51 with 2 Samuel 11:2-15; 12:1-14.) Since other poetic parts of the Bible are often introduced similarly (Ex. 15:1; Deut. 31:30; 33:1; Judg. 5:1; compare 2 Samuel 22:1 with the superscription of Psalm 18), this suggests that the superscriptions originated either with the writers or the collectors of the psalms. Lending support to this is the fact that as far back as the writing of the Dead Sea Psalms Scroll (dated between 30 and 50 C.E.) the superscriptions were part of the main text.

WRITERS

Of the one hundred and fifty psalms, seventy-three are attributed to David, eleven to the sons of Korah (one of these [Ps. 88] also mentioning Heman), twelve to Asaph (evidently denoting the house of Asaph; see ASAPH No. 1), one to Moses, one to Solomon, and one to Ethan the Ezrahite. Additionally, Psalm 72 is “regarding Solomon.” From Acts 4:25 and Hebrews 4:7 it is evident that Psalms 2 and 95 were written by David. Psalms 10, 43, 71 and 91 appear to be continuations of Psalms 9, 42, 70 and 90 respectively. Therefore, Psalms 10 and 71 may be attributed to David, Psalm 43 to the sons of Korah, and Psalm 91 to Moses. This leaves over forty psalms without a specific composer named or indicated.

The individual psalms were written over a period of about one thousand years, from the time of Moses until after the return from Babylonian exile. (Ps. 90 [superscription]; 126:1, 2; 137:1, 8) Since David composed many of them and organized the Levite musicians into twenty-four service groups, it is reasonable to conclude that he started a collection of these songs to be used at the sanctuary. (2 Sam. 23:1; 1 Chron. 25:1-31; 2 Chron. 29:25-30) Thereafter other collections must have been made, as may be inferred from the repetition found in the book. (Compare Psalms 14 with 53; 40:13-17 with 70; 57:7-11 with 108:1-5.) Numerous scholars believe that Ezra was responsible for arranging the book of Psalms into final form.

COMPILED AT AN EARLY DATE

There is evidence that the contents of the book of Psalms were fixed at an early date. The order and content of the book in the Greek Septuagint Version basically agree with the Hebrew text. Reasonably, therefore, the book of Psalms must have been complete in the third century B.C.E., when work on this Greek translation began. A fragment of the Hebrew text dating from the latter part of the first century C.E. and containing Psalm 150:1-6 is immediately followed by a blank column. This appears to indicate that this ancient Hebrew manuscript ended the book of Psalms there and thus likewise corresponded to the Masoretic text.

ACCURATE PRESERVATION OF TEXT

The Dead Sea Psalms Scroll provides evidence of the accurate preservation of the Hebrew text. Although about nine hundred years older than the generally accepted Masoretic text, the contents of this scroll (forty-one canonical psalms in whole or in part) basically correspond to the text on which most translations are based. Noted Professor J. A. Sanders: “Most of [the variants] are orthographic and important only to those scholars who are interested in clues to the pronunciation of Hebrew in antiquity, and such matters. . . . Some variants commend themselves immediately as improvements of the text, especially those that offer a clearer Hebrew text but make little or no difference in translation or interpretation.”—The Dead Sea Psalms Scroll, p. 15.

INSPIRED OF GOD

That the book of Psalms is part of God’s inspired Word there can be no question. It is in complete harmony with the rest of the Scriptures. Comparable thoughts are often found elsewhere in the Bible. (Compare Psalm 1 with Jeremiah 17:5-8; Psalm 49:12 with Ecclesiastes 3:19 and 2 Peter 2:12; Psalm 49:17 with Luke 12:20, 21.) Also, many are the quotations from the psalms found in the Christian Greek Scriptures.—Ps. 5:9 [Rom. 3:13]; 8:6 [1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:22]; 10:7 [Rom. 3:14]; 14:1-3; 53:1-3 [Rom. 3:10-12]; 19:4 [Rom. 10:18]; 24:1 [1 Cor. 10:26]; 32:1, 2 [Rom. 4:7, 8]; 36:1 [Rom. 3:18]; 44:22 [Rom. 8:36]; 50:14 [Matt. 5:33]; 51:4 [Rom. 3:4]; 56:4, 11; 118:6 [Heb. 13:6]; 62:12 [Rom. 2:6]; 69:22, 23 [Rom. 11:9, 10]; 78:24 [John 6:31]; 94:11 [1 Cor. 3:20]; 95:7-11 [Heb. 3:7-11, 15; 4:3-7]; 102:25-27 [Heb. 1:10-12]; 104:4 [Heb. 1:7]; 112:9 [2 Cor. 9:9]; 116:10 [2 Cor. 4:13]; 144:3 [Heb. 2:6] and others.

With reference to himself David wrote: “The spirit of Jehovah it was that spoke by me, and his word was upon my tongue.” (2 Sam. 23:2) Such inspiration is confirmed by the apostle Peter (Acts 1:15, 16), the writer of the letter to the Hebrews (3:7, 8; 4:7) and other first-century Christians. (Acts 4:23-25) Most outstanding is the testimony of the Son of God. (Luke 20:41-44) After his resurrection, he said to his disciples: “These are my words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all the things written in the law of Moses and in the Prophets and Psalms [the first book of the Hagiographa or Holy Writings and hence designating this entire section] about me must be fulfilled.”—Luke 24:44.

Messiah’s experiences and activities foretold

An examination of the Christian Greek Scriptures reveals that much was foretold in the Psalms concerning the activities and experiences of the Messiah, as the following examples will demonstrate.

When presenting himself for baptism, Jesus signified that he had come to do his Father’s “will” in connection with the sacrifice of his own “prepared” body and with reference to the doing away of animal sacrifices offered according to the Law, as written at Psalm 40:6-8. (Heb. 10:5-10) Jehovah accepted Jesus’