Grace Theological Journal 11.2 (1990) 171-85.
Copyright © 1990 by Grace Theological
Seminary; cited with permission.
PROVERBIAL STRINGS:
COHESION IN PROVERBS 10
TED
HILDEBRANDT
While most commentators take Proverbs
10-22 as a haphazard
collection of proverbial sentences, this paper
seeks to show that the
sentences are cohesively ordered. The “proverbial string" is proposed
as one such larger compositional unit. Four strings were discovered in
Proverbs
10 (10:1-5, 6-11, 12-21, 22-30) with the sentences bonded by
catchwords, rhetorical devices, themes, sound
echoes, and shared syn-
tactic constructions.
The sentences of Proverbs 10-22 are an artistically
woven tapestry with the position of each thread
contributing to the
beauty of the whole.
*
* *
INTRODUCTION
FOR
the vast majority of interpreters Prov 10:1-22:16 is
a disorderly
collage of independent proverbs. J. Thompson complains: "As for
our canonical proverbs in particular, they fail to
reach us, it would
seem, for. . . they are jumbled together willy-nilly
into collections."1
Some, having discovered common themes
or catchwords, allow
for small proverbial clusters, but quickly go on to
minimize the signifi-
cance of such canonical collectional processes.
So C. Rylaarsdam
comments, "Even when two or more successive
proverbs deal more or
less with the same subject (for example 10:4-5) the
connection seems
incidental rather than organic."2
1J. Thompson, The Form and Function of Proverbs (The
Hague: Mouton, 1974) 15.
R. N. Gordon, "Motivation in
Proverbs," Biblical Theology
25.3 (1975) 49.
W. O. E.
Oesterly, The Book of Proverbs
(London: Westminster Commentaries, 1929) 125, 73,
77).
Keil and Delitzsch, Proverbs (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973) 208; R. N. Whybray,
The Intellectual
Tradition
(NY: Walter de Gruyter, 1974) 67; R. K. Hamson, Introduc-
tion ot the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969) 1017; J. Paterson, The
Wisdom of
plete freedom to abandon the
present canonical order totally restructuring the text (W.
McKane, Proverbs:
A New Approach (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1970) 413-15. Even
G.
von Rad expresses his annoyance at the "lack of
order" (Wisdom in Israel [
Abingdon, 1972] 113).
2C. Rylaarsdam,
The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon,
The Layman's
Bible Commentary, ed. B. N. Kelly (Richmond:
John Knox, 1964) 48.
172
GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
On the other side, P. Skehan,
followed by S. Brown, suggests that
the whole of Prov
10:1-22:16 is numerically composed of precisely 375
sentences (Solomon's name = 375) with mechanical
25 verse sub-
units.3 The chimerical 25 verse sub-units, however, do not
stand up to
close analysis.
A methodology is needed that will expose
and appreciate the
principles utilized in constructing the proverbial
collections.4 Literary
shaping on the level of the collection suggests
that there may also be
interpretive significance on that
level. The focus here will be in demon-
strating that Proverbs 10 is
bound into four cohesive "proverbial
strings."
Some initial speculations will be made as to their significance.
COHESIONAL FEATURES IN
PROVERBS 10
The cohesiveness of the proverbial
sentences can be seen by utiliz-
ing a linguistic
methodology that includes phonology, syntax, seman-
tics, and rhetorical levels of analysis.5 G. Bostrom may be
consulted
3P. Skehan,
Studies in Israelite Poetry and Wisdom,
CBQMS I (
The Catholic Biblical Association of
Parallelism
in the Composition and Formation of Canonical Books" (paper presented at
SBL
Meetings in
4Studies which have moved in
this direction are: G. E. Bryce, "Another Wisdom
'Book'
in Proverbs," JBL 91 (1972)
145-57, and a dissertation by R. Van Leeuwen,
"Context
and Meaning in Proverbs 25-27," SBLDS 96 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988).
For
Proverbs II, O. Ploger, "Zur
Auslegung der Sentenzensammlungen des Proverbia-
buches," Probleme biblischer Theologie, ed. H. W. Wolff (Munich: C. Kaiser, 1971)
402-16.
R. N. Whybray, "Yahweh-sayings and their
Contexts in Proverbs 10, 1-22,16,"
La Sagesse
de l'Ancien Testament, ed. M. Gilbert (Gembloux: Leuven University,
1979)
153-65.
H. J. Hermisson, Studien zur israelitischen
Spruchweisheit, WMANT 28
(Neukirchen-Vluyn:
Neukirchener, 1968) 171-83. In
Sumerian proverbial collections B.
Alster, Studies
in Sumerian Proverbs (Copenhagen: Akademish Fo.rlag, 1974) 14; J. M.
Lindenberger, The Aramaic Proverbs of Ahiqar (
1983) 21. In modern international collections M. Kuusi gives seven methods by which
international proverbial collections
are ordered ("Towards an International Type-System
of Proverbs," Proverbium 19 [1972] 698-71). James Crenshaw's
classic study "Prole-
gomena" in Studies in Ancient Israelite Wisdom (NY:
KTAV, 1976) 14. Crenshaw has a
list of seven structuring principles which he has
observed: "a common letter (Pr. 11:9-
12b; 20:7-9; 24-26); the same introductory word
(Pr. 15:13-14, 16-17); the same idea (Pr.
16);
the use of an acrostic (Pr. 31:10-31); paradoxical unity (Pr. 26:4-5); and
numbers
(Pr. 30:24-28). Thematic units
characterize later proverbs (Pr. 1-9) and Sirach. . .
." Cf.
also R. E. Murphy's excellent synthesis: Wisdom Literature: Job, Proverbs, Ruth,
Canticles, Ecclesiastes,
and Esther
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981) 68. T. A. Hilde-
brandt, "Proverbial
Pairs: Compositional Units in Proverbs 10-29," JBL 107.2 (June 11
1988) 207-24.
5Cf. Steven Perry
("Structural patterns m Proverbs 10:1-22:16: A study m biblical
Hebrew stylistics," Ph.D. diss.,
very aware of cohesion and his excellent isolation
of the various forms of the sayings has
proven very helpful ("Single-line proverbs: A
study of the sayings collected in Proverbs
10-22:16 and 25-29," Ph.D. diss.,
Hildebrandt: Proverbial Strings 173
concerning letter/sound repetitions6 and
Murphy for catchwords and
thematic links.7 The following chart seeks to expose the
relationships
found in Prov 10:1-5.
STRING #1: Prov 10:1-5
Prov 10:1
lexically links itself with 10:5 via double repetition of a
"'son'
+ Character quality" (10:1, wise/foolish; 10:5, prudent/disgrace-
ful) enveloping the
string. While 10:1 is held apart from
the theme of
wealth which is maintained in 10:2-5. Prov 10:1 seems to
provide a
hinge which links back to themes developed in
Proverbs 1-9 ("wise
foolish son") while providing a title for
the sentence proverbs which
will dominate Prov
10:1-22:16.
Prov 10:2-3
forms a proverbial pair centered around the common
theme of the relationship of the wicked/righteous to
wealth/poverty.
The
rare initial xlo + Hiphil
imperfect verb, syntactically binds the two
verses together.
Lexemically, 10:2 and 3 form a chiasm
triggered by the
catch-roots
"righteousness"/"righteous" and "wicked":
10:2 Wickedness wealth-no value I (A)
Righteousness delivers from death (B)
10:3
Righteous--no hunger (Yahweh supplies) (B)
Wicked's desire is frustrated
(A)
These
catch-roots are varied morphologically in gender ("righteous-
ness,"
fem./"righteous," masc.) and
number ("wicked," sing./pl.).
A second pair, Pro v 10:4-5, continues
the theme of wealth/
poverty focusing on its relationship to
diligence/laziness. Again, there
is a pair bonding chiasm which is semantically
triggered.
10:4 Lax
hands-poor (A)
Diligent
hands-wealth (B)
10:5 Working son-prudent (B)
Sleeping son-shameful (A)
The
Qal active participle hW,fo in 10:4a may through assonance ring in
rgexo which begins
10:5a. Thematically the cohesion is
clear although
catch-words are absent. This lack of lexical linkage within the pair
encourages the reader to discover the enveloping of
the doubled noun
phrase ["son" + Character] structure between
10:5a/b and 10:la/b,
thus defining the limits of this string.
6G. Bostrom,
Paronomasi I Den Aldre Hebreiska Maschallitteraturen
(
Gleerup, 1928)
l18ff.
R. Margalit's guidelines will help check the process
of determining
whether sound links are significant
("Introduction to Ugaritic Prosody," UF 7 (1975)
210-13).
E.g., the positioning of letters should be more valued if in the initial or
final
positions.
7R. E. Murphy, Wisdom Literature, 68.
174
GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Translation
emphasizing features of cohesion:8
1.
A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish
son grief to his mother.
Wealth & Righteousness Pair
2. No value are treasures acquired by wickedness,
but righteousness delivers from
death.
3. No hunger will the
Lord allow for the righteous,
but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
Wealth & Diligence Pair
4. Lazy hands make a man poor,
but diligent hands bring wealth.
5. He who gathers crops in Summer
is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in the harvest is a disgraceful son.
In summary, Prov
10:1-5 is composed of two pairs centering on
the theme of the relationship of the various
character qualities (wicked/
righteous [10:2-3]; lazy/diligent [10:4-5]) to
wealth/poverty. A sense
of closure is triggered by the enveloping doubly
repeated "son" +
Character
noun phrase (l0:la/b, 5a/b).
8The translations are
adapted from the NIV modifying it to highlight cohesive
features present in the Hebrew text.
HILDEBRANDT: PROVERBIAL
STRINGS 175
Translation
emphasizing features of cohesion:
STRING
#2
10:6-11
Translation
emphasizing features of cohesion:
10:6 Blessings are for
the head of the righteous,
but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
10:7 The
memory of the righteous is for blessing,
but the name
of the wicked will rot.
10:8 The wise
in heart accept (Qal) commands,
but a chattering fool comes to ruin (Niph).
10:9 The man
of integrity walks (Qal) securely,
but he who
takes crooked paths will be found out (Niph).
Concluding Pair
and a chattering fool comes to ruin.
but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.
STRING #2: Prov 10:6-11
The whole-stich
repetition of 10:6b in 10:11b provides a clear
structural envelop opening and closing this string.
The first pair (10:6-
7)
features the blessedness of the righteous. The shared
lexical units [l,
"blessing," and "righteous"] in the first stichs and the repetition of
"wicked" in both second stichs
tightly draw the two sayings together.
Notice
also the morphologically fixed character of "righteous" (masc.,
sing.) and
"wicked" (masc., pl.), although the number of "blessing" is
176
GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
varied. Both
10:6a and 7a have a shared surface grammar (Subject +
Prep.
Phrase).9
Thus 10:6-7 is a clear proverbial pair.
Prov 10:8
breaks with the preceding pair being tied to 10:9. While
there are no catchwords or strong semantic parallels,
there may be
some phonetic linkage as Bostrom
has observed.10 Perhaps the
clearest
nexus between 10:8 and 9 is syntactic. In 10:8a and 9a, the verbs are
both Qal Imperfect 3ms
followed by rare final Niphal imperfect verbs
(10:8b,
9b). Prov
10:8b may be linked via whole stich repetition to
10:l0b
which is featured by the weakening of the semantic connection
between 10:8 and 10:9.
The lack of antithesis in
parallelism by accepting the LXX reading "He
who reproves to the
face reconciles." It is suggested that the
Hebrew text of 10:8b has
slipped down into 10:10b improperly.11 String features such as the
shared use of a Body part + Character quality in
10:10a/b and
b; the rare final Niphals
in 10:8b, 9b, l0b; and the whole stich repeti-
tion in 10:10b and 11b
suggest that the MT reading of 10:10b is suited
to the three pair string (10:6-11). Snell has recently noted that the LXX
has a tendency to drop repeated proverbial units.12 Prov 10:10a and
10:11a
are clearly sound-linked in their opening words (rOqm;; Creqo). The
sound link is assonantally
reinforced by the pathah/hireq of the second
words Nyifa/ Myy.iHa.
Thematically both proverbs tell of the results of the
use/misuse of body parts.
The whole stich
repetitions draw the two preceding pairs together
into the closing pair (
string.
9Prov 10:6 and 7 have an
interesting surface/deep structure transformation:
10:6a:
Subject:N:Benefit [tOkrAB;] + PP [Prep (l) + NP:Experiencer
(qyDica
wxro)]
10:7a:
Subject:NP:Agent [qydica rk,ze]
+ PP [Prep (l) + N:Benefit (hkArAb;)]
Note
in both 6a and 7a there is a Benefit but in 6a the Benefit:N is the subject
["blessings"] and the Experiencer:NP
["head of the righteous"] is imbedded in the Prep
Phrase. In 7a the Agent:NP is the subject ["memory of the righteous
"] and the Benefit:N
["blessing"] is imbedded in the Prep Phrase. Thus, the
deep structure role "Benefit" is
shared but its location is reversed in the surface
grammar (Subject + Prep Phrase).
Kenneth
Pike, Grammatical Analysis (Dallas:
Summer Institute of Linguistics, 1982)
33-63;
397-409.
10Bostrom notices the
suspicious b-F sequence in FBel.Ayi
(10:8b) and
HFaB, (10:9a). A
similar sound repetition is also found in MtoBa (10:9a) (Bostrom, 122).
11If the LXX reading is taken
the whole stich repetition pattern would disappear.
The
LXX reading is accepted by McKane, Proverbs, 418; R. Scott, Proverbs-Ecclesiastes
(Anchor
Bible: Doubleday, 1965) 81; C. Toy, A
Critical and Exegetical Commentary on
the Book of Proverbs in ICC (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1904) 204;
cf. R. B. Y. Scott, R.
Alden,
K. Aitken, and D. Kidner
followed the JB,
NASB, NIV and KJV.
l2Wm. Snell, "Twice Told
Proverbs" (Eisenbrauns, forthcoming).
Hildebrandt: Proverbial Strings 177
Prov
clear link
between Prov 10:12 and
monality in sound between MyfiwAr; ypi and MyfiwAP; -- the latter being a
collapsed form
of the former.13 Prov
next
section (10:18f.). Thus Prov
the
previous string (10:6-11), functions mainly as an opener to
21 even as
10:1 was for 10:1-5.
STRING #3
Proverbs 10:12-21
13Bostrom, Paronomasi,
122. Van Leeuwen in correspondence has also suggested
that 10:
II, 12 be considered a pair with a thematic chiasm: A: + B:- B:- A: +. This may
indicate that
the two strings are chained together.
178
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Translation
emphasizing features of cohesion:
Love covers
all wrongs.
Speech Pair
but a rod is for the back
of him who lacks judgment
but
the mouth of a fool invites ruin
Wealth Pair
but
poverty is the ruin of the poor.
but
the income of the wicked brings them punishment.
Hinge
but
whoever ignores correction leads others astray.
Speech Pair
and
whoever spreads slander is a fool.
but he who holds his lips
is wise.
Wealth & Speech Concluding Pair
but
the heart of the wicked is of little value.
but fools die for lack
of judgment.
STRING
#3: Prov 10:12-21
The repetition of "hatred" and
also the root hsK in
suggests a bond with the
repetition of "wrong" in Prov 10:12 and
furthered by "lacks judgment" in Prov
Notice
that the NIV translates vytApAW; "his tongue"
in
the translation in the direction of divergence,
rather than translating it
Hildebrandt:
Proverbial Strings 179
consistently "lips" (cf.
also MyfiwAP; / fwaPA ["wrong" /
"sin" NIV] in
19
and hs.,kay;
/ hs.,kaT; ["overwhelms"/ "covers" NIV]
in 10:11, 12). Thus ,
the cohesive collectional
features are further obfuscated by translation.
Prov
repetition of the MkH root. In the 10:13-14 pair, as in 10:2-3, there is
a
similar semantic shift of an abstract quality
("righteousness" [10:2]/
"wisdom"
[
("righteous"[10:3]/"wise
men"[
ties the subject of 10:13a to the subject of
10:14a. Both first stichs
disclose the activity of the wise followed by
forecasts of the destructive
results of the fool's actions. The speech topic ("lips"/"mouth"
+ Char-
acter Quality
["discerning"/"fool"] envelops the pair head to tail
(10:13a,
14b).14 The
catchword "ruin" and a possible play on
"hiding" or "treasuring."
Perhaps
a concatenous chaining relationship may best explain
the
sequencing here.15
Prov
the theme of wealth. Bostrom correctly
observes the sound echo in the
repetition of
rq in 10:14b (hbAroq;) and 10:15a (tyar;qi).16 The disparate
themes of speech in
into two distinct pairs.
Prov 10:15-16 is
a good example of a non-catchword proverbial
pair.
Lexically, not a single word is repeated in this pair. This diver-
gence is heightened by the
presence of high frequency words "righ-
teous"/"wicked"
and many economic terms which could easily have
led to repetition.17
Syntactically, all four stichs of
In
v 15 the "Possessors" are characterized by their economic status
("rich"/"poor"), while in v 16 the
"Possessors" are characterized by
their moral character ("righteous" /
"wicked ").
Thematically,
sayings a positive evaluation of wealth is
followed by a negative. V 15
comments on the inherent benefits of wealth and
on the plight of the
poor. Lest
one value economic matters too highly, v 16 is juxtaposed
to bring wealth back into the realm of morality.
14Syntactically
both proverbs begin with a three constituent transitive clause fol-
lowed
by a verbless clause (2 constituents, 4 units). O'Connor, Hebrew Verse Structure
(Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1980) 122, 138.
15Shalom
Paul, "Amos 1:3-2:3: A Concatenous Literary Pattern,"
JBL 90 (1971)
402-3. Suggested by R.
Van Leeuwen in correspondence (Nov. 7, 1988).
16Bostrom, Paronomasi,
123-24.
17Hildebrandt, "Proverbial Pairs," 214-15.
180
GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
A significant catchword occurs in
Clearly
one of the syntactic structures which welds
prepositional phrase featuring l + Noun of
life/destruction. When
coincidence.
Is this pair, then, really a triad?
Thematically 10:15-16
and 17 are distinct. V 17 moves away from economics and employs
traditional instruction vocabulary regarding the
benefits of heeding
discipline and the liabilities of forsaking
correction. The lone instruc-
tional proverb in
theme of speech in 10:18-21. As Prov
catchword, so Prov 10:16
is linked to
"to life." Prov
Prov
proverb exhibits what Akhmanova
has called a phones theme: "a recur-
rent combination of sound which is similar to the
morpheme in the
sense that a certain content or meaning is more or
less clearly asso-
ciated with it."19 Phonetically,
sibilants predominate, being repeated
six times through various letters (s, W, w, f) thrice in initial
positions.
So
sibilant sound is used to reinforce the message-allowing the au-
dience to hear the hissing of
the slanderer spreading his secrets.
In the
10:18a Hidden hatred (A)
10:18b Spread
Slander (B)
10:19a Many
words (B)
10:19b Few words (A)
This
is a complementary pair: one who holds
his tongue is wise (
except if it is for the purpose of deceptively
covering hatred (cf. Prov
26:4-5). There may be a
twofold sound link within the pair: (1) bd in
word initial positions; and (2) trailing ly, in final position. sK which
heads
A final proverb pair (
inherent value of righteous speech is made
concrete by the observation
that righteous lips feed many. The repetition and position of "righ-
teous" + "Mouth
part" and "heart" link the two proverbs into a pair.
Bostrom notes the sound echo in rHAb;ni (10:20a) and rsaHE (10:21b).20 As
18R.
Murphy, Wisdom Literature, 64fr.
1901ga
Akhmanova, Linguostylistics:
Theory and Method (
1976) 23, 123, 125.
E.g., "sl"-words: slither, slip, slimy,
slide, slosh, sluggish, etc.).
20Bostrom, Paronomasi, 125.
Hildebrandt:
Proverbial Strings 181
the final pair 10:10-11 concluded the second string
by drawing strands
of the previous pairs together (10:6-11) so, too, Prov 10:20-21 weaves
together the two imbricating
themes of this third string (speech [10:13-
14;
10:18-19] and wealth [10:15-16] into a single concluding pair
(10:20-21). The thematic shift
between 10:21 and the Yahweh proverb
in
chart below.
STRING #4
182
GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Translation
emphasizing features of cohesion:
and he adds
no trouble to it.
so is wisdom to a man of understanding .
what the righteous desire will be granted.
but the righteous stand firm forever.
so
is a sluggard to those who send him.
but the years of the
wicked are cut short.
but the hopes of the
wicked come to nothing.
Transient/Security
Theme bound Pair
but it is the ruin of those
who do evil.
but the wicked will not
remain in the land.
STRING
#4: Prov 10:22-30
This fourth nine-verse string features an
oscillating theme of
transience and security (
lack of lexical or phonetic links with the preceding
verses call for a
break between
ing." The topically significant word "brings
wealth" is also found in
10:4
and the wealth theme in 10:2-5 and 10:15-16. The initial xlo +
Hiphil verb (10:22b) is reminiscent of 10:2-3. Thus
opener linking back to previous strings (10:1-5;
The rare presence and medial first stich location of the feminine
pronoun xyhi strongly points 10:22a
down to 10:24a. Notice too the
isomorphic syntactic structure of 10:22a and 24a (Subject:NP ["blessing
of YHWH"/"dread of the wicked"] +
Pronoun [3fs] + Verb ["brings
wealth"/"overtakes"]). Prov
because of its unique use of the divine name and
non-antithetical
parallelism.
Prov
triad" phenomena (
Hildebrandt: Proverbial Strings 183
20:16-17
and 20, 29-30 and 27). The bond with
the L
+ Noun
which immediately follows the opening prepositional
phrase. Prov
phrases.
Once again the NIV violates these cohesive elements in trans-
lating 10:23.
Prov
sequence. Prov
linked downward in a "separated triad"
scheme (
repetition of the "wicked" and
"righteous" in
these two proverbs so
With v 25 a clear proverb pair begins (
by the initial K and simile rhetorical
device, but also by the first stich-
medial wow-which is rare in these proverbs. The initial K link should
also be tied back to the detached
Skehan and Brown err
here as they call for a major division
between
Another
indicator that a division should not come between
the following proverbs is the close thematic link
with Prov 10:29-30
concerning the transience of the wicked and the
permanence of those
having integrity.
The shared "forever" (
what follows. Further, thematic connections may also be seen
in com-
paring
Note
the detached pair (
sluggard motif (
Prov 10:27-28
is a loose pair. Bostrom
highlights the nw
sequence
as a sound link between
obviously echoes the initial verse of this string
(
presence of the divine name and in the use of
shared verb "adds."
Prov 10:27-28
are connected in three ways: (1) the repetition of
the catchword "wicked" in the initial Subject:Noun Phrases of the
second stichs; (2) the qt phonetic sequence in
the second stich; and (3)
syntactically 10:27b and 28b are
isomorphic (Subject: NP + Verb:
intransitive). Thematically, the desires/ dreads of
contrasting groups
("wicked"/"righteous") ties back to
firmation of Skehan's
sectional division at
share phonetic, lexical and syntactic features, they
are thematically
diverse.
21Brown,
"Structured Parallelism," 9.
P. Skehan, "A Single Editor," 25.
22Bostrom, Paronomasi, 125.
184
GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
The lack of thematic linking is made up
for in the next proverbial
pair (
of those having "integrity" [NIV:righteous]/"evil." This theme is con-
solidated from
the preceding pair (
10:14-15
pair.
How
does the section which began in
with a proverb pair (
transience/security which has oscillated
throughout this string (
27,
29-30).
Because of the lack of connection to the
preceding string (
30),
and the catchword ties downward with 11:1 (OnOcr;),
best constructed as beginning a new string.
CONCLUSION ON COHESION: PROVERBIAL STRINGS
It has been demonstrated that Prov 10:1-30 is composed of four
proverbial strings (10:1-5; 10:6-11;
string (10:1-5) is divided into an opening,
hinge proverb (10:1), two
pairs on the topic of wealth (10:2-3, 4-5). The second string is com-
posed of three pairs (10:6-7, 8-9, 10-11) that are
structured by envelop-
ing, whole-stich repetitions (10:6b/11b; 10:8b/10b) with the final
pair
(
(
about proper speech (
(
which marks the middle of the string. The next pair (
to the theme of speech and the section concludes
with a pair drawing
together the imbricating
wealth and speech motifs (
fourth string (
a separated triad (
highlight the themes of transience and security.
This paper has sought to explore the
potentials of collectional
analysis of the proverbial sentences which has
led to the discovery of
four proverbial strings in Proverbs 10. In order to appreciate the
significance of each individual gem,
the entire necklace must be viewed.
As
a necklace is more than a string of stones, so, too, the proverbial
sentences need to be examined on the level of the
collection as well as
the sentential level. The discovery of cohesive "proverbial
strings" in
Proverbs
10 heightens our appreciation for the artistry of the canonical
collectors.
Perhaps the collector(s), by the quick shifts of topic, is presenting
Hildebrandt: Proverbial Strings 185
the student with a picture of empirical reality.23
This study suggests
that rather than being distant to modern culture,
this collection of
proverbs is actually quite at home with the
diversities of modern
society, characterized by seeming fragmented
commercials and instan-
taneous video switches of
projected reality. Proverbs calls those
seek-
ting order, meaning and wholeness to its sayings
leading those listening
through the isolation, fragmentation and
confusion of empirical reality
to the crafted integration and wholeness of the
fear of Yahweh.24
23J. Williams, For Those Who Ponder Proverbs
(Sheffield: Almond, 1981) 70, 82.
He writes, "aphoristic
thought does not proceed systematically, but empirically. It
directs
itself to the fragments of experience as they occur, so that the mind is compelled
to
make its own connections among phenomena."
24Wolgan
Mieder and Barbara Mieder,
"Tradition and Innovation: Proverbs in
Advertising," in The
Wisdom of Many: Essays on the Proverbs (NY: Garland, 1981)
309-22. This is an excellent article on the
modern use of proverbs.
This
material is cited with gracious permission from:
Grace
Theological Seminary
www.grace.edu
Please
report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt at:
thildebrandt@gordon.edu