Proverbs 22:17-21 introduces what most agree is the book's third major section. (The debates on division get interesting after that.) As Bruce Waltke observes in his NICOT commentary, the section is composed of two quatrains around a center line. The three sentences employ what he calls a main clause (MC) and subordinate clause (SC) pattern which is "stitched together" thusly (vol. 2, p. 221):
MC:SC//SC:MC//MC:SC
Neatly observed. However, those subordinate clauses give the motivations to heed the exhortations of the main clauses, which can also be patterned as a chiasm:
A: exhortation + motive (22:17-18)
B: motive + exhortation (22:19)
A': exhortation + motive (22:20-21)
This suggests the central motive, trust in the Lord, is the most important one. Theologically, something of a given, but here also literarily.
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