Proverbial poetry: its settings and syntax
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So 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. There is no logical continuity of thought."3 ____________________ Theology 25 (1975):49. Paterson (The Wisdom of Israel, p. 63) and Craigie ("Biblical Wisdom in the Modern World: I. Proverbs," Crux 15 [December 1979]:7) make similar comments in terms of the alienation of Proverbs to modern man because of its lack of topical/logical order. This writer will maintain that the ordering of Proverbs, when properly understood, will, on the contrary, be very palatable to modern man. Furthermore, modern man's expanding tolerance for farrago (e.g., television commercials) should allow him to appreciate better these proverbs than his predecessors. The rebirth of wisdom studies reflects modern man's concern for the ordering of his universe. Thompson, to the contrary, makes the following unfortunate statement: "As for our canonical proverbs in particular, they fail to reach us, it would seem, for still a third reason: they are jumbled together willy-nilly into collections" (The Form and Function of Proverbs, p. 15). 1von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, p. 113. 2McKane, Proverbs, pp. 10, 413; cf. Chisholm, "Literary Genres and Structures in Proverbs," p. 26. 3Rylaarsdam, The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon, The Layman's Bible Commentary, ed. B. N. Kelly (Richmond VA: John Knox Press, 1964), p. 48. G. Fohrer, Thus, many emphasize the atomistic character of the sentences. Each sentence is indeed a self-contained unit. However, one should not ignore collectional features which may give an indication of editorial tendenz, suggesting purposes for the collection as well as possibly giving some hints at ancient instructional patterns. This chapter will ask if there are any collectional (Sammlung) architectonic principles and, if so, what significance they have?
these proverbial sentences will commence first from a theoretical basis. It will be argued, on the basis of linguistic cohesional principles, thematic considerations, psychological phenomena, and comparative proverbial architectonic practices, that collectional principles should be expected. Second, the study will ____________________ Introduction to the Old Testament, trans. D. E. Green (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1965), p. 320; Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture, pp. 79, 555 (Childs says, "There is no significant ordering of the individual proverbs into larger groups," p. 555); Otto Eissfeldt, The Old Testament: An Introduction (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1965), p. 473. Kovacs, ("Sociological-Structural Constraints," pp. 289-90) rejects collectional ideas proposed by Skladny (Die altesten
that there is no principle of arrangement. Although he is well aware of proverbial connections, he does not view these as significant (Old Testament Wisdom, p. 73). Cf. also Ranston, The Old Testament Wisdom Books and Their
turn to an examination of the collectional principles observed by various scholars.1 Third, the text of Proverbs 10 will be read in light of these suggested principles. This will enhance another level of appreciation by focusing on collocational patterns and collectional principles. Finally, some explanations will be proffered which present a possible rationale for such ordering procedures. Four theoretical bases provide a pou sto for the suspicion that a "helter-skelter" ordering of sentences is rather unlikely. First, principles of literary cohesion suggest that good literature must be bound together ____________________ 1This writer has independently observed all of the following collectional principles through an extended exposure to the Hebrew text itself. This research took place largely in 1981. Two very interesting works have subsequently appeared which have corroborated that linguistic research, though they are not in as much detail: Roland E. Murphy, Wisdom Literature: Job, Proverbs, Ruth,
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1981) and Stephen Brown, "Structured Parallelism in the Composition and Formation of Canonical Books: A Rhetorical Critical Analysis of Proverbs 10:1-22:16" (paper presented at the Thirty-Fourth Annual National Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, 1982). Brown largely explicates Skehan's macro-structure proposal. The linguistic features observed by this writer went beyond either of these works, as will be demonstrated. To this writer's great joy and dismay a little-known work in Swedish from 1928 was discovered which provided the most comprehensive and exhilarating scrutiny of collectional features anywhere. Thus, there will be a synthesis of the devices which this writer had "discovered" with the superb work of Gustav Bostrom, Paronomasi I Den
this most excellent work has never been translated so that more scholars could interact with its thesis. properly in order for it to communicate as literature. "Cohesion" has been defined as "the lexical and grammatical means which the poet draws from standard language to unify the poem."1 This definition may be broadened to include all literary features which provide a piece with its unity. Such features should include the semantic, syntactic, phonologic, pragmatic (situational), and rhetorical aspects of language. The writer selects out of an equivalent paradigmatic class, features which when ordered syntagmatically will bind the poem, collection, or essay together. An examination of cohesion monitors the choices made which repeat, presuppose, correspond, or supplement one another. Cohesion, through a network of relations provides the text with its unity.2 Various units may be used to make these connections: conjunctions (showing sequence, subordination, coordination, contrast, etc.); pronominal linking between a noun and pronoun; repetitional features (lexical, syntactical, phonological or situational); "synonymous" or co-referential words; or deictic pointers (e.g., this, ____________________ 1Geoffrey Leech, "'This Bread I Break'--Language and Interpretation," in Linguistics and Literary Style, ed. D. C. Freeman (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1970), p. 119. Cf. also in the same collection of articles M. A. K. Halliday, "Descriptive Linguistics in Literary Studies," pp. 57-72. 2Leech, "'This Bread I Break'--Language and Interpretation," p. 120. that, there, etc.).1 Logical or thematic relationships also provide cohesion. Sentence clusters may be contrastive, temporally successive or contemporaneous, be logically related (premise, argument, conclusion), have a general to more specific connection, or have many other types of relationships which bind the piece together.2 If Proverbs 10-15 does not manifest such sententially cohesive principles it would indeed be a curious piece of literature. The second theoretical feature which suggests that some sort of collectional order is involved is the notion of theme. All literature manifests theme of one sort or another since a selection is made in terms of which items get included and which are deleted. Certain aspects are made prominent by various foregrounding techniques while others are unostentatiously assimilated into the backdrop. The techniques employed to gain prominence may vary from a dramatic increase in volume (in speech), to a different print style (in journals), to a simple repetition.3 Thus, ____________________ 1Chapman, Linguistics and Literature, p. 105. 2Vid. K. Pike (Grammatical Analysis, pp. 238-39) for many other types of relationships. Fillmore also develops "coherence principles" in "The Future of Semantics," in The Scope of American Linguistics, ed. R. Austerlitz (Lisse: The Peter De Ridder Press, 1975), p. 152.
3Linda K. Jones, Theme in English Expository Discourse, pp. 2-4. all literature develops elements of prominence which reflects the very nature of man's perception of his world. This also points to the probability of some sort of order. Along with the idea of theme, which makes certain items more prominent than others, is the universal psychological phenomenon which demands a hierarchy of relationships. Psychological experiments have shown that human beings can mentally hold seven units without reference to some higher form of organization.1 Inherent to man's mind is the quest for order. Indeed, without it the mind cannot function. It seems, therefore, rather peculiar for texts which were probably developed for pedagogical purposes that there would be a violation of this psychological universal which would render its didactic intent inoperative. Even the onomastic lists are structured. Theoretically this suggests that it would be psychologically and pedagogically absurd to think that there would be no structure in a proverbial collection so closely linked to a school setting. Finally, architectonic structural studies indicate that one should not dismiss the idea of some ordering principles. Examples of architectonic structures have been the result of recent study under the rubrics of rhetorical criticism, semiotics, and structuralism. It ____________________ 1Jones, Theme in English Expository Discourse, p. 13.
will be argued that one should expect ordering principles in Proverbs 10 in that: (1) macro-structures are ubiquitous in the canonical text; (2) the parallel ancient Near Eastern wisdom materials also exhibit patterning procedures; (3) there are clear examples in the text of Proverbs, outside of Proverbs 10-15 which demonstrate cohesive unity above the single proverb level; and (4) attempts to structure the whole book of Proverbs show that such structuring was within the rhetorical ability of the ancient sages. Recent studies employing the techniques of semiotics, structuralism and rhetorical criticism have been extremely profitable in regaining a sense of textual unity. This should be contrasted with the more atomistic and text-reconstructive techniques of earlier critical scholars who emaciated the texts on the basis of prescriptive evolutionary schemes. Presently many are seeing large scale discourse patterning throughout the canonical materials. Larger units have been discovered in Genesis.1 Shea has structured the Song of Solomon.2 Alden has demonstrated the unity of a host of Psalms via various ____________________ 1J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis (Amsterdam: Van Gorcum/Assen, 1975); cf. also Dale S. DeWitt ("The Generations of Genesis," EvQ 48 [December 1976]:196-211) who structures the whole book around the repeated "toledoth" cycles.
Song of Songs," ZAW 92 (1980):378-96. chiastic devices which often serve to unite the whole poem.1 Others have worked with the various levels of Jonah.2 Numerous other biblical texts have also benefitted from these approaches. A good representation of this type of work is presented in the journal Semeia. Such studies have demonstrated the presence of discourse and paragraph cohesion throughout the text of the Old Testament. It would again seem rather peculiar if such features were not present in Proverbs 10-15 on the principle of literary uniformitarianism. The ancient Near Eastern proverb collections and instructional texts suggest that ordering principles should be expected. While Alster notes that some of the Sumerian collections appear to be unordered, he, as well as others, has observed the presence of catch words which ____________________ 1Robert L. Alden, "Chiastic Psalms: A Study in the Mechanics of Semitic Poetry in Psalms 1-50," JETS 17 (Winter 1974):11-28; "Chiastic Psalms (II): A Study in the Mechanics of Semitic Poetry in Psalms 51-100," JETS 19 (Summer 1976):191-200; and "Chiastic Psalms (III): A Study in the Mechanics of Semitic Poetry in Psalms 101-150," JETS 21 (September 1978):199-210.
Song of Jonah," Traditions in Transformation, ed. Baruch Halpern and J. D. Levenson (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1981), pp. 213-46. Cf. also Jonathan Magonet, Form and Meaning: Studies on Literary Techniques in the Book of Jonah, (Sheffield: The Almond Press, 1983), pp. 23, 57; and B. S. Childs, "The Canonical Shape of the Book of Jonah," Biblical and Near Eastern Studies, ed. G. A. Tuttle (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1978), p. 125. often link proverb to proverb.1 Frequently these catch words are in the initial position, although Gordon points out that they may occur elsewhere in the proverb as well.2 The importance of the initial position is corroborated by the fact that sometimes it is solely the initial sign which provides the cohesive point between the proverbs.3 Both Alster and Kramer point out certain Sumerian texts which are arranged on the basis of theme or logical connections.4 While both of these Sumerologists acknowledge the presence of proverbial collections in which there seems to be a haphazard ordering, Alster has verified that the actual ordering of the proverbs "is not incidental, for they often represent sequences which recur in large collections of proverbs."5 Alster has ____________________ 1Alster, Studies in Sumerian Proverbs, p. 14. Cf. also Kramer, "Sumerian Literature, A General Survey," ed. G. E. Wright (New York: Doubleday Co., Inc., 1961), pp. 256-58; Khanjian, "Wisdom in Ugarit," p. 44; Gordon, Sumerian Proverbs, pp. 28-30, 154, 157-60; and Waltke, "The Book of Proverbs and Ancient Wisdom Literature," p. 226. 2Gordon, Sumerian Proverbs, p. 154. Cf. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature, p. 223. 3Alster, Studies in Sumerian Proverbs, p. 26; cf. Kramer, "Sumerian Literature, A General Survey," p. 258. 4Alster, Studies in Sumerian Proverbs, p. 14; and Kramer, "Sumerian Wisdom Literature: A Preliminary Survey," p. 29.
Lambert notes that at Nippur some of the Old Babylonian proverbial texts contain proverbs "not in the same order." (Babylonian Wisdom Literature, p. 223). He later adds, "What is more significant is that whole groups of proverbs
the presence of supra-sentential patterning. He uses mutually dependent proverbs to contradict the normal statements made about the independent and atomistic character of proverbial units. He makes the following statement in reference to Sumerian proverbs: no element in any Sumerian poem can be interpreted with certainty if deprived of relational context. This is due to the multi-level nature of the poetic expressions. . . . Here it is hardly necessary to stress that the Sumerian proverb collections should not be read as single unrelated sayings, but, on the contrary, the manner in which the individual sayings are grouped together is a highly important matter with regard to all aspects of the interpretation.1
collectional procedures will be able to be discovered.2 To summarize, several principles of organization have been observed: (1) repeated initial signs; (2) repeated catch words, often in the initial position, but found elsewhere in the proverb as well; (3) thematic or logical connections; and (4) proverbial pairs, some of which may appear paradoxical (cf. Prov 26:4, 5). While the proverbial collectional techniques of the Egyptian materials have not been discussed at length ____________________ in the same sequence are carried over from the unilinguals to the late bilinguals" (p. 223).
Sumerian Literature," p. 209. in the literature, Gemser notes that the Papyrus Insinger and Amen-em-opet manifest definite compositional techniques. His work on 'Onchsheshonqy has led him to the conclusion that there is no discernible arrangement. It is interesting to note that the earlier Egyptian texts manifest much more topical coherence than does the late text of 'Onchsheshonqy. With this qualification, Gemser proceeds to discuss some ordering techniques even in 'Onchsheshonqy. He discerns that "Several times sayings beginning with the same initial words or expression are coupled together, without further connection as far as concerns the material contents."1 He also observes that proverbs with catch words and even common structures ("better . . . than" type proverbs), have been grouped together. Also found in 'Onchsheshonqy are some thematic links.2 It is no mere coincidence that these same cohesive techniques were employed both in Egypt and Sumer. Kitchen, in a structural analysis of the macro-structure forms of the wisdom texts from Egypt and Mesopotamia, examines the "main text" sections which are equivalent to Proverbs 10-24. He notes that there are ____________________ 1Gemser, "The Instructions of 'Onchsheshonqy and Biblical Wisdom Literature," p. 113. Cf. also Kitchen, "Proverbs and Wisdom Books of the Ancient Near East: The Factual History of a Literary Form," p. 92. 2Gemser, "The Instructions of 'Onchsheshonqy and Biblical Wisdom Literature," p. 114. three types: (1) undifferentiated texts which move freely from one subject to another without any special order (Hardjedef, Shube-awilim and Proverbs 10-24); (2) two/ three sectioned texts which are often organized on thematic principles (Merikare, Kheti son of Duauf, Lemuel [he also recognizes that Ani provides a counter example]); and (3) multi-segmented texts which have both unordered (Suruppak) and, in the later period, thematically ordered patterns (Amenemope, Insinger).1 Kuusi, working toward the collection and classification of modern proverbs, has surveyed 182 international proverb collections from the Far East, Africa, Arabia, all areas of Europe, as well as ancient collections. He has classified them as to how they were organized and hopes to provide suggested guidelines for the development of a standardized, international type-system for proverbial classification. He has observed the following methods of proverbial collection and organization: (1) alphabetical (several types of alphabetical collections have been observed: [a] first word; [b] first nuclear word; [c] main word; [d] an important word; and [e] thematic headword outside the proverb itself); (2) chronological; (3) ethnic or ____________________ 1Kitchen, "Proverbs and Wisdom Books of the Ancient Near East: The Factual History of a Literary Form," pp. 86-87.
structure; (7) thematic; and (8) unsystematic (on which he offers no comments).1 Thus, while both ancient Near Eastern patterns and international collectional procedures allow for unordered collections, yet ordered collections are more the norm. The question remains, Is it possible to detect principles which may explain how these "unordered" proverbs were put together? Principles need to be found which will both explain the appearance of disunity and yet prompt the discovery of any possible schemes which the sages may have employed.
collection of proverbs is rather unlikely on the bases of principles of literary cohesion, thematic consideration, psychological universals, and structurally (although the presence of "unordered" collections in the ancient Near East and modern collections cautions against any dogmatism), another line of oblique argumentation may be gained from the canonical shape of the book of Proverbs itself. The macro-structure of the book is easily arrived at. The various titles provide convenient and satisfactory textual markers. Kitchen contributes the most ____________________ 1Matti Kuusi, "Towards an International Type-System of Proverbs," Proverbium 19 (1972):698-71. comprehensive and impressive analysis of the canonical shape of proverbs. After analyzing the form of various Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts from all periods, he divides Proverbs into four compositions: (1) Proverbs Yüklə 6,58 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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