suggests that these are pre-exilic in origin. After a brief survey of a number of linguistic features Clifford14 concludes that, apart from the fact that the absence of Graecisms suggests a pre-Hellenistic date, ‘In sum, the book cannot be dated with certainty from its language.’ Most scholars think that Prov. 1–9 and 31:10–31 look as if they have been composed as an introduction and conclusion to the book, and so are the latest parts of it. However, views on the dating of Prov. 1–9 differ widely.