Covenant Language (3): Wisdom Proverbs

Imagine…

How do we enter Proverbs? ► We need to think in terms of the process of developing a moral lifestyle: education. ► The word “proverb” is from a Latin term which means “for a verb.” In other words, these are “words” which take the place of “more words,” or concise distillations of wisdom compacted into a few phrases. ► The worldview of Genesis and Exodus is assumed, though never explicitly stated. ► We must understand the power of Hebrew poetry, especially antithetic parallelism, to summarize key moral concepts. ► We must pay attention to the careful development of the collection in its final form.

Proverbs Overview ►P►P►P►Prologue: the purpose of Proverbs (1:1-7) ►L►L►L►Lectures on Wisdom & Folly (1:8-9:18) ►C►C►C►Collections of Proverbs: (10:1-31:9) ““““The Proverbs of Solomon” (10:1-22:16) ““““Sayings of the Wise” (22:17-24:22) ““““More Sayings of the Wise” (24:23-34) ““““More Proverbs of Solomon” (25:1-29:27) ““““The Sayings of Agur” (30:1-23) ““““The Sayings of King Lemuel” (31:1-9) ►E►E►E►Epilogue: “The Wife of Noble Character” (31:10-31)

Prologue Proverbs 1:1-7 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: For learning about wisdom and instruction, for understanding words of insight, for gaining instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity; to teach shrewdness to the simple, knowledge and prudence to the young— let the wise also hear and gain in learning, and the discerning acquire skill, to understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Lectures on Wisdom & Folly 1:8-9:18 ► Both “Wisdom” & “Folly” are feminine nouns in the Hebrew language. ► Thus the use of the literary device, “My son, listen to my words,” is intentional. All readers/hearers are the “son” (masculine) who is courted by two women (feminine “Wisdom” & “Folly”). At the end of these lectures all must choose which woman to be with. Wisdom brings stability and well-being; Folly offers quick experiences and tragic ends. ► The “lectures” are carefully planned & written:

Lectures on Wisdom & Folly ► Enticement to Perverse Ways (1:8-19) ► Wisdom’s Call (1:20-33)  Benefits of Wisdom (2:1-22) [22 poetic lines]  Benefits & Specific Instructions (3:1-20) [20]  Benefits & Specific Instructions (3:21-35) [15]  Benefits of Wisdom (4:1-27) [27]  Warning against Adultery (5:1-23) [23]  Warning against Perverse Ways (6:1-19) [20]  Warning against Adultery (6:20-35) [16]  Warning against Adultery (7:1-27) [27] ► Wisdom’s Call (8:1-36) ► Wisdom’s Invitation & Folly’s Enticement (9:1-18) [42] [43] [84] [86]

The Proverbs of Solomon 10:1-22:16 ►3►3►3►375 parallelism couplets expressing summary points of wisdom ►T►T►T►There are no numerals in the Hebrew language. Numbers are indicated by use of the letters of the alphabet which represent certain values. The letters in Solomon’s name have numerical values that add up to 375. ►T►T►T►The first 180 proverbs in this collection are virtually all “antithetic;” the last 195 are somewhat more varied in parallelistic form. ►T►T►T►These may have been created for banquet entertainment or recorded as official statements of Solomon in the context of his executive legislation. ►T►T►T►They might also have been published for training the young among the royal families in preparation for government duties.

Sayings of the Wise 22:17-24:22 & 24:23-34 ► After a brief introduction (22:17-21) there are 30 “wise sayings” about social relationships. ► An Egyptian collection called “The Wisdom of Amenemopet,” dated at about 1000 B.C. (about the time of Solomon), is nearly parallel in structure & content. It also has 30 brief “wise sayings,” of which 10 are virtually identical to 10 of these “sayings.” Scholars differ as to which came first, but there seems to be some interaction between the sources behind both collections. ► The fragment of 5 “More Sayings of the Wise” (24:23-34) seem related to the preceding collection, but little else is known about these.

More Proverbs of Solomon 25:1-29:27 ► The title to this collection (25:1) indicates that “the men of Hezekiah” gathered and published these. This would be a little more than two hundred years after Solomon, during a time of reform and strong religious resurgence in Judah. ► Though similar to the first collection of Solomon- proverbs, there is more diversity of subject matter and literary form among these. ► Most are still antithetic parallelism single-couplets, but there are more multiple-line proverbs among them.

Sayings of Agur & King Lemuel 30:1-23 & 31:1-9 ► We don’t know who these people were. ► Some speculate they were from the Ishmaelite tribe of Massa (Genesis 25:14) and entered Israelite culture through traders from Edom. ► The form of these sayings is strikingly different from others in the Proverbs collection, particularly the use of numbers for identifying extremes or adding emphasis. ► The “Agur” reflections are on general life situations, while the brief “King Lemuel” notes focus more specifically on the necessary character of good rulers.

Epilogue: “Wife of Noble Character” 31:10-31 ► An acrostic poem:  The beginning letter of each successive couplet follows the 22-letters of the Hebrew alphabet in sequence. This technique communicates completeness of an idea (everything from A-Z). ► What is the purpose?  Describe the ideal woman/wife?  Identify the appropriate tasks of a homemaker? ► Think back to the opening “lectures:”  There we were asked to choose a “wife”  If we chose “Wisdom,” chapters described the furnishings and lifestyle in our marriage home  This concluding poem summarizes the good life created by Wisdom

One more note on “Wisdom” ► In its personification of Wisdom, Proverbs 8 includes a section that makes “Wisdom” the creative partner of Yahweh (22-31). ► Correlating this to the Prologue of John (1:1-18) where “The Word” is the creative agent of God, some Christian theologians have interpreted the “Wisdom” of Proverbs 8 as a pre-incarnate manifestation of the second person of the Trinity.