The Book of Proverbs is traditionally viewed as mainly authored by King Solomon, though it contains material from other writers and some anonymous sections.

• Solomon as the principal author: The opening of Proverbs names Solomon, David’s son, as the speaker and compiler for the majority of the book. Several sections explicitly attribute proverbs to him (for example, Proverbs 1:1; 10:1; 25:1), and 1 Kings 4:32 notes Solomon’s extensive collection of proverbs. This supports the view that Solomon authored or gathered most of the sayings (Proverbs 1–9 and much of the rest).

• Other contributors and anonymous portions: Not all of Proverbs is credited to Solomon. There are sections titled “the words of the wise” (e.g., Proverbs 22:17–24:34) that appear to be anonymous or compiled from various sages, and specific chapters are attributed to other figures such as Agur (Proverbs 30) and Lemuel (Proverbs 31). Some scholars also discuss possible editorial work by later scribes who compiled these sayings, possibly drawing on Mesopotamian and Egyptian wisdom traditions for parallels.

• Scholarly nuances: While the traditional and most widely accepted view is Solomon as the primary author, the book’s structure clearly indicates multiple sources and compilers, with Solomon identified as the main contributor in the opening sections and as the compiler/editor for much of the material. This layered authorship is common in biblical wisdom literature and is consistent with the textual clues and historical context.

If you’d like, I can tailor a concise summary or provide a verse-by-verse breakdown of which sections are attributed to Solomon, Agur, Lemuel, or are anonymous.