22:17–24:22 This section is a collection of wisdom sayings mainly in the form of instructions (Introduction: Characteristics and Themes). There is evidence that the first part (22:17–23:11) has drawn upon the Egyptian wisdom of Amenemope (cf. 4:1–27 note). If so, these insights have been consciously appropriated as admonitions that assist one in meeting covenant obligations to “trust . . . in the Lord” (22:19). The author of Proverbs, like the historians of the Bible, was not prevented in principle from using existing materials in the course of writing what God inspired.