Contradiction in the Book of Proverbs: The Deep Waters of Counsel

Description

Despite the welcome revival of scholarly interest in Biblical Wisdom, the Book of Proverbs remains neglected. It continues to be seen as a disorganised repository of traditional banalities, while Job and Qohelet are viewed as more exciting texts, in revolt against Proverbs' conventional wisdom. Contradiction in the Book of Proverbs argues that this misleading consensus owes more to scholarly presuppositions than to the content of Proverbs; it sees Proverbs as a challenging work, one that aims to provoke a critical appropriation of wisdom and in which diverse sources have been skilfully brought together by a creative final editor to form a complex unity. Many divergences from the Hebrew in the Greek witness to the translator's discomfort with his spikey, provocative original. Peter Hatton challenges many existing scholarly assumptions and calls for a re-evaluation of the role and significance of Proverbs in relation to the other biblical wisdom books and the whole canon. Contradiction in the Book of Proverbs: The Deep Waters of Counsel Table of Contents Acknowledgements Permissions Abbreviations 1 Proverbs, an Undervalued Text Summary of introduction Introductory background An undervalued text Versified banality or bomplex poetry? Paradoxes and wit in Proverbs Paradox and incongruity in Proverbs Proverbs – a unified text, pervaded by contradictions ‘The words of the wise are goads’ – towards a methodology of reading Proverbs Reading Proverbs as a dialogue – Bakhtin Conclusion – ‘teaching for responsibility’ 2 How Proverbs was Marginalized Summary of chapter A supreme, but undervalued, example Scholarly neglect of biblical wisdom The popularity of Proverbs Wisdom and Critical Scholarship Proverbs does not share fully in the revival of interest in wisdom ‘Retribution’ as the key teaching of Proverbs Pejorative accounts of Proverbs The difficulty of reading Proverbs More sympathetic scholarly accounts of Proverbs Conclusion 3 Unity and Diversity in Proverbs Summary of Chapter A proverb in a collection is dead? Creative collages and collaboration An arbitrary collection? Elements of organization within sections of Proverbs? Proverbial clusters Skehan – Wisdom’s House Unity through repetition Resumptive repetition Repetition in Proverbs 29 Proverbs 29.1 Proverbs 29.2 Proverbs 29.3 Proverbs 29.27 Repetition of verses in Proverbs 6 in Proverbs 24 and 30 Antithetical Repetition in Proverbs 31 The Ishet-hayil, the Reintegration of Wisdom? Conclusions 4 Provocative Contradiction: The Acts–Consequence ‘Construct’ Summary of chapter Proverbs 10.1–9 – Divine and human agency in tension Proverbs 10.15 – disturbing ripples Proverbs 10.22 – Explicit tension between human and divine agency Proverbs 11 – Koch’s proof texts as control Proverbs 11.16 – can bad acts have good consequences? Wisdom and wisdom Ripples around Proverbs 11.16 11.16 disturbs the Greek translator Proverbs 12 and 13 – Pretence and Pretensions Conclusions 5 Provocative Contradiction: The Powerful in Qohelet and Proverbs Summary of chapter Kingship – an important and sensitive theme Subversive wisdom? Jeremiah, Qohelet and Proverbs Proverbs 6.6–8 – opening the framework Proverbs 30.24–31 – Closing the framework The anger of the King – a dialogue in Proverbs Conclusion 6 Provocative Contradiction: Gifts and Bribes in Proverbs Summary of chapter Do differing attitudes to bribery point to a ‘Yahwistic’ reinterpretation of an older secular wisdom? Proverbs 6.32–5 and 21.14 – a dialogical framework Proverbs 15.27 – practical advice or ‘high-toned’ condemnation? Proverbs 17.8 and 17.23 – enthusiasm and doubt about bribery Proverbs 18.16 – can a gift be judiciously employed? Conclusion 7 The Deep Waters of Counsel Summary and introduction The limits of wisdom? Speech and silence – a self-critique in Proverbs But why have such contradiction not been noticed before? Awareness of Proverbs’ contradictions in the interpretative traditions Apparent similarities with deconstructive readings Towards a Sitz im Leben of Proverbs Some other lines of enquiry Conclusion: ‘Dialogues about ultimate question’ – Proverbs, Qohelet and Job Appendix; Recent Articles Dealing with Wisdom Literature in JSOT, VT and ZAW Proverbs, Job, Qohelet and general wisdom in recent issues of JSOT Proverbs, Job, Qohelet and general wisdom in recent issues of VT Proverbs, Job, Qohelet and general wisdom in recent issues of ZAW Bibliography Index of Authors Index of References Index of Selected Subjects