Proverbs (Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries) - Softcover

Yoder, Christine Roy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1426700016 ISBN 13: 9781426700019

Verlag: Abingdon Press, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

Proverbs shape our moral imagination. The Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries provide compact, critical commentaries on the books of the Old Testament for the use of theological students and pastors. The commentaries are also useful for upper-level college or university students and for those responsible for teaching in congregational settings. In addition to providing basic information and insights into the Old Testament writings, these commentaries exemplify the tasks and procedures of careful interpretation, to assist students of the Old Testament in coming to an informed and critical engagement with the biblical texts themselves. The book of Proverbs invites us into an ancient and ongoing conversation about what is good and wise and true in life. Yoder explores the book through literary, exegetical, and theological-ethical analysis, paying particular attention to how Proverbs shapes the moral imagination of its readers. She highlights the poetics of each proverb, considers similarities and differences between the book’s sections, and ponders how the content, pedagogies, and arrangement of Proverbs contribute to its aim to form “fearers of the Lord.”

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Associate Professor of Old Testament Language, Literature, and Exegesis, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries - Proverbs

By Patrick D. Miller

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2009 The United Methodist Publishing House
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4267-0001-9

Chapter One

Commentary Proverbs 1–9: "The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel"

Proverbs 1:1-7: The Prologue

Literary Analysis

The book of Proverbs opens with a title or superscription (1:1, see Introduction to this book) and a prologue (1:2-7). The superscription provides the name, ancestry, and position of the teacher—"Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel"—as a means to commend the book to possible readers. Such titles are found in other ancient Near Eastern wisdom texts. For example, the Egyptian Instruction of Ptahhotep begins: "Instruction of the Mayor of the city, the Vizier Ptahhotep" (AEL 1:62). Similarly, the first line of the Instruction of Anii reads: "Beginning of the educational instruction made by the scribe Anii of the palace of Queen Nefertari" (AEL 2:136).

The prologue (1:2-7) promotes the book of Proverbs as instruction for a lifetime, as a primer for the young and an advanced textbook for the more experienced. It unfolds in a series of phrases that introduce the goals of the book (1:2-6). Each phrase, with the exception of verse 5, begins with an infinitive (e.g., "for learning," 1:2; "to teach," 1:4), a syntactical construction that connects the phrase back to the title (1:1). The result is an extended description, an advertisement replete with wisdom terminology, of what may be gained from studying "the proverbs of Solomon." The prologue culminates in what many interpreters call the "motto" of the book: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning [or epitome] of knowledge" (1:7; cf. 9:10).

Exegetical Analysis

The Title (1:1)

The superscription (1:1) identifies the content of chapters 1–9, and by extension of the book as a whole, as "proverbs" and ascribes this content to "Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel." A "proverb" is a statement of an apparent truth that is based on experience and that endures in the life of a community over time. The word is used of a wide range of utterances (e.g., one-line sayings, riddles, admonitions, maxims, extended poems). This particular collection of proverbs is attributed to Solomon, the second and last king of the united monarchy (ca. 966–926 BCE). Endowed with wisdom by God (1 Kgs 3:3-15), Solomon is the quintessential sage of Israel and purported author of three thousand proverbs and one thousand and five songs (1 Kgs 4:32; cf. 1 Kgs 3–11). Collections of Israelite wisdom are conventionally associated with him (cf. 10:1; 25:1; Wisdom of Solomon; and Eccl 1:1, 12 [implied]), in much the same way that the psalms are to David and the laws to Moses. The superscription of Proverbs thereby commends the book on two grounds: first, by the widespread use of its content by the community (proverbs) and, second, by the name, title, and ancestry of the one in whose name the book is issued (Solomon). Both lend authority to what follows.

The Prologue (1:2-7)

Like a blurb on a dust jacket, the prologue (1:2-7) announces the aim of the book—in this case, to impart wisdom, to shape persons and communities of moral character. The handful of terse lines nearly burst with vocabulary the sages consider essential to that endeavor: discipline, prudence, justice, and so on. The terms are, on the one hand, familiar and self-explanatory. On the other, they name concepts that are complex and deeply contested in the world. What is justice? What does equity look like? What constitutes knowledge? And who decides? Such questions are at the heart of the sages' work, and the thirty-one chapters of Proverbs reflect manifold attempts to address them, to speak about what is good for people amid the complexities and contingencies of the everyday.

That Proverbs begins with a "vocabulary list" of wisdom terms and so closely attends to speech throughout is arguably no mistake. To teach persons how to be moral, faithful beings is, after all, to teach a language—a language that envisions the world and guides people's practices so that such a world might be realized. Proverbs orients and opines, describes and prescribes, corrects and nurtures so that its readers might regard and enact the world in particular ways. And, as we expect from teachers of any language, Proverbs requires its students to pay close attention. Note that the prologue calls the wise to hear (1:5); the father repeatedly urges the youth to listen (1:8; 4:1; 5:7; 7:24; cf. "incline your ear" in 4:20; 5:1, 13); and personified wisdom promises safety and prosperity to those who hear her (1:33; 8:6, 32-34). Similarly, the youth is told to keep his father's instructions as the "apple of [his] eye" (7:2), never letting them out of his sight (3:21; 4:21). Such repeated summons are reminders that language is neither simple nor ever finally mastered. Even the wise must listen again and again.

The sages signal at the beginning that this book will demand much from readers. The phrase "wisdom and instruction" that frames the prologue (1:2, 7) is more appropriately translated "wisdom and discipline." The latter term is mûsar, which nearly always refers to correction made by one with authority, such as YHWH (3:11; cf. Job 5:17; Deut 11:2), personified wisdom (8:10, 33), teachers (5:13), and parents (1:8; 4:1; 13:1; 15:5). In Proverbs, mûsar is associated with rebuke (13:1) and reproof (e.g., 5:12; 6:23; 10:17), and with physical punishment (13:24; 22:15; 23:13-14). Elsewhere in the Old Testament, mûsar refers similarly to verbal warnings and reprimands (e.g., Ps 50:17; Jer 7:28; 17:23) and to physical chastisement (Isa 53:5; Jer 2:30; 5:3). The term thus connotes authoritative discipline, whether verbal or physical. It evokes the image of a stern teacher poised with a ruler to rap a student's knuckles or, as in the case of the Egyptian hieroglyph for "teachings," an instructor holding a rod above his head. The sages are clear: this book requires obedience to authority figures and their correction.

Throughout Proverbs, discipline is a celebrated virtue. Discipline is how one navigates through life successfully (6:23; 10:17). By discipline, a teacher demonstrates devotion to a student (3:11-12; 13:24). By loving discipline, a student embraces knowledge (12:1; cf. 19:27; 23:12), acquires insight (4:1), and becomes wise (8:33). The sages therefore urge that one acquire discipline and never sell it (23:23), value it more than silver (8:10), and keep hold of it always (4:13). Only a fool would despise discipline (15:5; cf. 5:23; 12:1) because hatred of discipline is a form of self-hatred (15:32) that results in public disgrace and, ultimately, death (5:14, 23).

Proverbs 1:3a specifies that the book teaches mûsar haskel (NRSV: "instruction in wise dealing"), discipline that imparts "insight" or "cleverness" (cf. Job 34:35; Dan 1:17). This "discipline of insight" is about "righteousness, justice, and equity" (1:3b; cf. 2:9), terms that together refer comprehensively to ethical, honest, and neighborly conduct in personal and communal relationships. The terms occur fairly often in Proverbs—righteousness (9x), justice (20x), and equity (5x)—and all three are associated with personified wisdom (8:6, 8, 15-16, 20). The lessons of...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Abingdon Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1426700016
• ISBN 13: 9781426700019
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 350
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: preigu; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; 49078; Deutschland