Proverbs

by

Timothy J. Sandoval

Introduction

Up to 2000, it was common to hear of the relative neglect of the study of Proverbs and Wisdom literature in biblical studies. Those days are over. Since about 1970, in fact, study of the Israelite Wisdom tradition, and the Book of Proverbs in particular, a leading exemplar of that tradition, has exploded. There is no longer any shortage of introductory texts, commentaries, and specialized monographs on Proverbs. The watershed moment is usually traced back to the publication of Gerhard von Rad’s Weisheit in Israel (1970). Von Rad lent his considerable weight as a “senior statesman” of biblical criticism to the study of Proverbs and the Wisdom literature, producing a masterful and provocative monograph, to which scholars still, almost in obligatory fashion, often situate their work. The same year, William McKane published his important and much-discussed commentary. Yet even before 1970, there were significant signs of life in Proverbs and Wisdom studies. In 1965 both McKane and R. N. Whybray each published significant works, and 1968 saw the appearance of Hans-Jürgen Hermisson’s important monograph and Michael Fox’s study of the religion of Proverbs. The relative lack of attention to Proverbs in the mid-20th century is usually attributed to the fact that its status as a species of ancient Near Eastern “international” Wisdom literature, which did not much concern itself with leading Hebrew Bible/Old Testament themes such as the Exodus and Covenant, was well established soon after Budge’s publication of the Egyptian Instruction of Amenemope in 1923. As a result, Proverbs and Wisdom studies often took a backseat to the study of other biblical books and themes, especially those whose leading religious ideas were of much significance to the many scholars concerned with biblical theology. By 1963, however, Brevard Childs had famously announced, perhaps prematurely, the demise of the biblical theology movement, and the stage was set for a new era in Proverbs studies with the appearance of von Rad’s seminal text.

General Overviews

Apart from the commentaries noted here whose introductory chapters provide general overviews of Proverbs, other general treatments of Proverbs often appear as chapters in “Introductions” to biblical Wisdom literature designed for scholars, college and seminary students, and ministerial professionals. These include Bergant 1997, Fontaine 1998, Murphy 1990, and Perdue 2008). However, some monographs written for scholarly specialists also attempt to sketch more precisely the teaching and/or ethics of Proverbs, such as Brown 1996 and Rad 1972. Several of these contributions tend to focus on the short-sentence proverbs in Prov. 10–29 (e.g., Delkurt 1993, Hausmann 1995), which are regularly thought to be older than the poems of Prov. 1–9.

• Bergant, Dianne. Israel’s Wisdom Literature: A Liberation-Critical Reading. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997.

  E-mail Citation »

  Written from a liberationist perspective and offering one of the best, most literarily sensitive treatments of Proverbs that one encounters in the available “introductions” to Wisdom literature.

• Brown, William P. Character in Crisis: A Fresh Approach to the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996.

  E-mail Citation »

  Along with Bergant, Brown’s chapter on Proverbs in this “introduction” to Wisdom literature is finely honed, emphasizing especially Proverbs as moral instruction.

• Delkurt, Holger. Ethische Einsichten in der alttestamentlichen Spruchweisheit. Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany: Neukirchener Verlag, 1993.

  E-mail Citation »

  A thorough attempt to sketch the ethics of the sentence sayings in Proverbs. Highlights important themes in these proverbs and regularly associates various sayings in interesting and helpful ways.

• Fontaine, Carole R. “Proverbs.” In Women’s Bible Commentary. Exp. ed. Edited by Carol A. Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1998.

  E-mail Citation »

  A brief and useful introduction that highlights a feminist interpretation of the book.

• Hausmann, Jutta. Studien zum Menschenbild der älteren Weisheit. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr, 1995.

  E-mail Citation »

  Helpfully highlights and discusses important themes in the sayings of Prov. 10–29 that, taken together, provide a glimpse into the sages’ view of humans.

• Murphy, Roland E. The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature. New York: Doubleday, 1990.

  E-mail Citation »

  Presents a thorough introduction to Proverbs that is sensitive to major trends in the scholarly study of the book.

• Perdue, Leo G. The Sword and the Stylus: An Introduction to Wisdom in the Age of Empires. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008.

  E-mail Citation »

  Includes a full introduction to Proverbs that gives significant attention to important issues, such as the book’s rhetoric and the social location of the scribes who produced Proverbs. Importantly, .

• Rad, Gerhard von. Wisdom in Israel. London: SCM, 1972.

  E-mail Citation »

  Translation of Weisheit in Israel (Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany: Neukirchener Verlag, 1970). The German original is regularly regarded as the key publication that marked the beginning of a renewed scholarly interest in biblical Wisdom literature. Emphasizes Proverbs and the Wisdom literature’s theological and ethical value.