Who wrote Proverbs:

Little controversy surrounds the authorship of Proverbs. Tradition and scholars agree Solomon, the son of King David and heir to his throne, is the author of the vast majority of Proverbs. Exceptions can be found only with a few chapters.

Chapter 30 is known to have been written by Agur. Chapter 31 is known to have been written by King Lemuel. Aside from chapters 30-31 only Proverbs 22:17 – 23:14 are not believed to have originated with Solomon. While it is believed Solomon wrote the proverb, it is remarkably similar to an Egyptian proverb; suggesting Solomon probably collected this proverb in Egypt and included it within the book of Proverbs.

While the proverbs are those of Solomon, they were not all gathered into a single text until King Hezekiah had his men include additional proverbs to what was already written (Proverbs 25:1).

In total, Solomon is believed to have “spoken” 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs (1 Kings 4:29-34):

God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breath of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom as greater that the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man, including Ethan and Ezrahite-wiser than Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol. And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.