Structure The Book of Proverbs is organized into four major divisions, with three minor sections, known as appendices, near the conclusion. Proverbs' first third is a prolonged lecture delivered by the personified voice of "wisdom." This section of the book is the most conversational, narrative, and thematic. It consists of early sayings that are attributed to various individuals such as King Solomon or the Pharaohs. The second third of the book contains general rules for living called "maxims". These are brief sentences that are usually but not always related to each other thematically. The last third of the book consists of stories about real people who lived in ancient Israel called "parables". These narratives tend to be short (usually only one sentence) but extremely vivid. Structure Within these four divisions are three minor sections: Appendices. The Book of Proverbs includes several short texts, often called "appendixes", that are labeled as such because they were at one time attached separately to the main body of the book. These appendices include: Wisdom appended to Proverbs (which is also called the "Preacher's Sermon" or the "Teacher's Prologue"); A Collection of Proverbial Phrases; and Songs of Love and Life. Although they do not contain any actual prose, these texts still play an important role in understanding the overall structure of the Book of Proverbs.