"This book is the English edition of the first volume of my commentary on Proverbs, published in the Biblische Kommentar series in 2018"--Page xi Foreword by Sidnie White Crawford and Harold W. Attridge; preface by Bernd U. Schipper. Includes bibliographical references (pages 515-541) and indexes.
Contents:
Authors. Endpapers -- Foreword -- Preface -- Reference Codes : -- 3. Abbreviations, 2. Short Titles 3. Using the Commentary; Practical Notes -- General Information : 1. Introduction : 1.1 History of Research, 1.2 The Approach of This Commentary -- 2. The Book of Proverbs as "Advanced Wisdom" : 2.1 The Book and Its Parts, 2.2 The Superscriptions in the Book of Proverbs and Their Inner Logic, 2.3 The Seven Parts of the Book of Proverbs and Their Sequence, 2.4 Summary -- 3. The Book of Proverbs and Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom : 3.1 What is Wisdom? Educative and Cosmotheistic Knowledge, 3.2 Concepts of Knowledge and Scribal Schools, 3.3 Egyptian Wisdom Literature, 3.4 Mesopotamian Wisdom Literature, 3.5 Summary: The Scribal Sage and Educative Wisdom -- 4. "Wisdom" in the Book of Proverbs : 4.1 Wisdom and Folly, 4.2 Indicative and Imperative Instruction, 4.3 The Sapiential Proverb and Its Poetics, 4.4 From Practical Knowledge to Discursive Wisdom, 4.5 "Wisdom and Torah," 4.6 Summary: The Book of Proverbs and the Scribal Sage -- 5 Textual History -- The Composition of Proverbs 1-9 : 1. History of Research -- 2. The Composition of Proverbs 1-9 : 2.1 The Corpus of the Eight Instructions (Prov 3:1-7:27*) : 2.1.1 The Structure and Inner Coherence of the Instructions in Proverbs 3-7, 2.1.2 The Thematic Arrangement of the Eight Instructions -- 2.2 Proverbs 2, the Eight Instructions, and the Wisdom Poem in Proverbs 8 : 2.2.1 Wisdom and Torah in Proverbs 3; 6; and 7, 2.2.2 Proverbs 2 as the Hermeneutical Key to Proverbs 3-8* -- 2.3 Proverbs 1 and the Outer Frame of Proverbs 1-9 : 2.3.1 Penultimate Redaction: Prov 1:8-19, 20-33; 3:13-20; and 9:1-6, 13-18, -- 2.3.2 Final Redaction: Proverbs 1:1-7; 6:1-19; 9:7-12 and the Outer Frame of the Book of Proverbs -- 3. Result: The Redaction History of Proverbs 1-9 -- Commentary : 1:1-7 The Gateway to the Book of Proverbs: Wisdom for Beginners and the Advanced -- 1:8-19 The False Path: Evildoers and Their Deceptive Speech -- 1:20-33 Personified Wisdom as the Only Vaild Form of Instruction -- 2:1-22 The "Table of Contents" to the Instructions -- 3.1-12 Yhwh-Wisdom: A Theological Foundation -- 3.13-20 On Personified Wisdom and Yhwh, the Creator -- 3:21-35 Yhwh-Wisdom as Imperative Instruction -- 4:1-9 Wisdom as Educative Knowledge: An Instruction for Multiple Generations -- 4:10-19 The Two Ways: The Path of the Righteous and the Wicked -- 4:20-27 A Sapiential Teaching on the Body -- 5:1-23 The "Strange Woman" and the Wrong Way -- 6.1-19 A Sapiential Interlude on Different Types of People -- 6:20-35 The "Strange Woman" and Torah Wisdom -- 7:1-27 The "Strange Woman": A Case Study -- 8:1-36 Personified Wisdom between God and Humankind -- 9:1-18 Lady Wisdom or Dame Folly? A Decision between Life and Death -- Introduction to Proverbs 10-22 : The Composition of Proverbs 10:1-22:16 : 1. History of Research -- 2. Twice-Told Proverbs and the Composition of Proverbs 10:1-22:16 : 2.1 Twice-Told Proverbs (table), 2.2 The Twice-Told Proverbs, 2.3 From Individual Proverb to Masterful Composition, 2.4 "Discursive Wisdom" and the Three Levels of Sapiential Thought, -- 3. Result -- Commentary : 10:1-32 An Introduction to "Discursive Wisdom" -- 11:1-31 The Individual and the Social Dimensions of Sapiential Knowledge -- 12:1-28 The Sapiential Dichotomy: The Righteous and the Wicked -- 13:1-25 A Sapiential Instruction in the Garb of Proverbial Wisdom -- The Limits of Human Understanding: A Critical Perspective -- 15:1-33 From Experiential Wisdom to Divine Wisdom -- Bibliography : 1. Commentaries, 2. Books, Monographs, and Articles -- Indexes : 1. Sources, 2. Subjects, 3. Authors.
Summary:
The book of Proverbs is more than the sum of its parts. Even if some individual proverbs and collections could be older, the overall composition stems from the late Persian or early Hellenistic period. In its present form, the book of Proverbs introduces the scribal student to the foundations of sapiential knowledge and its critical reflection. By discussing different worldviews and contrasting concepts on the relationship between God, the world, and humanity, the book of Proverbs paves the way to both the critical wisdom of Job and Ecclesiastes and the masterful combination of Wisdom and Torah in Sirach. Scholarly research has long situated the book of Proverbs within ancient Near Eastern literature but declared it to be something "alien" within the Hebrew Bible. In contrast to such a position, the present commentary interprets the book of Proverbs against the background of both ancient Near Eastern literature and the literature of the Hebrew Bible. One aim of the commentary is to discuss new ancient Near Eastern parallels to the book of Proverbs, with a special focus on Egyptian wisdom literature, including Demotic texts from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE. An equally important aim of this commentary is a detailed exegesis of Proverbs 1-15 as well as an analysis of the overarching strategy of the book of Proverbs as a whole. Taking the prologue of the book in Prov 1:1-7 as a hermeneutical key, the book of Proverbs turns out to be a masterful composition addressing both the beginner and the advanced sage. With its allusions to other biblical texts, including the book of Deuteronomy, the Psalms and the Prophets, the book of Proverbs can be connected to forms of scribal exegesis in Second Temple literature. By using the same scribal techniques as other literati of his time, the scribal sage responsible for some parts of the book as well as its final compilation seeks to provide deeper insight into the complex world of scribal knowledge and sapiential thought. - Dove
Series:
Hermeneia--a critical and historical commentary on the Bible
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