A detailed examination of Proverbs 1-9, an early Jewish poetic work and an example of Wisdom literature. Stuart Weeks shows that certain parts of it, profoundly influential on the development of both Judaism and Christianity, belong to a much broader and more intricate set of ideas than older scholarship allowed.
A detailed examination of Proverbs 1-9, an early Jewish poetic work. Stuart Weeks incorporates studies of literature from ancient Egypt and from the Dead Sea scrolls, but his focus is on the background and use of certain key images in the text. Proverbs 1-9 belongs to an important class of biblical literature (wisdom literature), and is less well known as a whole than the related books of Job and Ecclesiastes, partly because it has been viewed until recently as a dull and muddled school-book. However, parts of it have been profoundly influential on the development of both Judaism and Christianity, and occupy a key role in modern feminist theology. Weeks demonstrates that those parts belong to a much broader and more intricate set of ideas than older scholarship allowed.
The True Identity of the People of the Way demonstrates that Luke alludes to the book of Proverbs when Luke, in Acts 9 and following, calls the Church “the Way.” Consequently, this study shows that Luke identifies the people of the Way as followers of the one and true God depicted in Proverbs. Within Acts, Luke’s claim was likely shocking to the Jewish people, which relates directly to the function of “the Way.” This fresh perspective on “the way” metaphor in Acts provides a more natural and fitting referent than previous proposals and finds its function as a polemic between Jesus’ followers and others. This research identified allusions and motifs in literature to determine that Luke uses “the way” metaphor to describe Christ’s followers. The study first shows the need for research concerning Luke’s motive or referent for calling the Church “the Way.” Second, the study examines the probability of Proverbs’ influence on Luke. Third, the study provides an in-depth analysis of “the way” metaphor in Acts, concluding that Proverbs is the referent of “the Way” when referring to the Church.
In this NSBT volume, Daniel J. Estes synthesizes the teachings of the first nine chapters of Proverbs into a systematic statement of the theory of education and personal formation that lies behind the text. Working from the Hebrew text and building upon an extensive analysis of exegetical works, Estes organizes his study of Proverbs 1–9 into seven categories typical of pedagogical discussion.
How can an ancient text, written far from a contemporary Christian in time and space, be taken up as life-transforming Scripture today? This book seeks to address that question in a study of Proverbs 8, a passage that was central to the Christological debates of the fourth century, but for many contemporary Christians seems remote and irrelevant. In the course of the study, the instincts and insights of pre-modern Christians and modern critical methods are taken up to understand the passage. Additionally, the text is placed in conversation with contemporary philosophical reflection on the nature of reading and meaning. In this latter endeavor, Charles Taylor, Paul Ricoeur, Nicholas Lash, and George Lindbeck are all drawn into engagement with the passage. Emerging from this conversation is a sense of Wisdom in the world, beckoning the Christian into a particular mode of being-in-the-world.
This study is on the figure אשה זדה and נכד׳ה, also commonly called the ‘Strange Woman’ in Proverbs 1-9. It is an attempt to understand the meaning which defines her, and the origin and development of her motif. The first part argues against defining her as a sexual predator, but as an ethnic foreigner according to the lexical studies of זד and נכד. It traces her origin within the Hebrew scripture, the legal documents and especially to the DtrH's portrayal of foreign women/wives. Hence, it distinguishes the two motifs: the motif of the adulteress and the motif of the foreign woman; the latter, which symbolizes the temptation to apostasy. The study will then go on to explain how the writer of Proverbs 1-9 employs this motif of the foreign woman in his poetic composition. The second part tracks the development of this motif through the subsequent Jewish Wisdom literature and observes how it changes and loses the ‘foreignness’ of her original motif in Eccl. 7:26; 4Q184; LXX Proverbs; Hebrew Ben Sira; Greek Ben Sira; and finally disappears in Wisdom of Solomon. It proffers to understand this gradual transformation against a background of social and religious change.
Themelios is an international, evangelical, peer-reviewed theological journal that expounds and defends the historic Christian faith. Themelios is published three times a year online at The Gospel Coalition (http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/) and in print by Wipf and Stock. Its primary audience is theological students and pastors, though scholars read it as well. Themelios began in 1975 and was operated by RTSF/UCCF in the UK, and it became a digital journal operated by The Gospel Coalition in 2008. The editorial team draws participants from across the globe as editors, essayists, and reviewers. General Editor: D. A. Carson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Managing Editor: Brian Tabb, Bethlehem College and Seminary Consulting Editor: Michael J. Ovey, Oak Hill Theological College Administrator: Andrew David Naselli, Bethlehem College and Seminary Book Review Editors: Jerry Hwang, Singapore Bible College; Alan Thompson, Sydney Missionary & Bible College; Nathan A. Finn, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Hans Madueme, Covenant College; Dane Ortlund, Crossway; Jason Sexton, Golden Gate Baptist Seminary Editorial Board: Gerald Bray, Beeson Divinity School Lee Gatiss, Wales Evangelical School of Theology Paul Helseth, University of Northwestern, St. Paul Paul House, Beeson Divinity School Ken Magnuson, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Jonathan Pennington, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary James Robson, Wycliffe Hall Mark D. Thompson, Moore Theological College Paul Williamson, Moore Theological College Stephen Witmer, Pepperell Christian Fellowship Robert Yarbrough, Covenant Seminary
Proverbs 1-9 has long been called a 'prologue' and 'introduction' to the book of Proverbs, a label that this book clarifies by answering the question: how does Proverbs 1-9 function with respect to the interpretation of Proverbs 10-31? Arthur Keefer argues that, in the detail and holistic context of Proverbs, Proverbs 1-9 functions didactically by supplying interpretive frameworks in literary, rhetorical and theological contexts for representative portions of Proverbs 10-31. Keefer suggests that Proverbs 1-9 functions didactically by teaching interpretive skills, and allows interpretation of Proverbs 10-31 by instilling the competence required to explicate this material. As a result, Proverbs 1-9 provides a didactic introduction for the remainder of the book, particularly with respect to its character types, educational goals, and theology. This volume demonstrates the function of Proverbs 1-9 for Proverbs 10-31 in some of the most prominent interpretive contexts of the book, and in doing so advances current key interpretive debates within Proverbs scholarship.
In view of the various proposals concerning the nature and function of the book of Proverbs, the present study focuses on the social dimensions of the document within its distinct, literary context. That is, the study examines the nature and function of the sapiential material within its new performance context, viz., the discursive context, the Sitz im Buch. In the main, the investigation explores the discourse setting of the book of Proverbs as well as the formal and thematic features of the individual collections. More specifically, the study highlights the fundamental features of the.
Andrew Errington brings the book of Proverbs into discussion with two significant accounts of the nature and foundation of practical reason in Christian ethics: those of Thomas Aquinas and Oliver O'Donovan. Aiming to move towards a framework for understanding Christian moral reasoning, this book develops a significant critique of aspects of Aquinas's thought and provides a major engagement with O'Donovan's moral theology. Errington argues that the way the Book of Proverbs conceives of wisdom presents an important challenge to the Western theological and philosophical tradition. Instead of a perfection of theoretical knowledge, wisdom in Proverbs is a practical knowledge of how to act well, grounded in the reality of the world God has made. Discussing the complexities of practical reason, moral reasoning in Aquinas, world order and deliberation in the work of O'Donovan, and the place of created order in Christian Ethics, this volume is invaluable for scholars and general readers in reconfiguring moral theology.