Proverbial poetry: its settings and syntax
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(Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and even Ugaritic).1 Wisdom's setting in the scribal school, royal court and family will be surveyed, as will be its nexus with the cult. However, not only its Sitz im Leben is important, but one must also be aware of the literary milieu. The subsequent chapter will provide a classification of the various genres and literary forms employed by the wise men. A form critical approach should not straight-jacket the material by demanding a one-to-one correspondence between a particular form and a specific historical setting, as has been implied in some Psalmic studies. Rather, the various forms and settings should be viewed as hermeneutically fructiferous and indicative of the great care taken by those who created, recorded and/or arranged these sentences. The procedure will be to move from the broader questions of setting in life and setting in literature to a detailed syntactic analysis of the sentence literature of Proverbs 10-15. Then, via linguistic method, an attempt will be made to draw poetic features together on the syntactic level. This study will investigate how the ____________________
Context of the Wisdom Admonitions," Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 6 (1978):36-37. sentences employ Hebrew poetic forms and language to produce such trans-contextual, time and culture transcending proverbs. Having atomized and analyzed the text, the cohesiveness of the sentences will be an object of inquiry. As much as is possible, the ordering features of the proverbial sentences, will be exposed which may provide contextual indicators for understanding their theological tendenz, and architectonic principles, which may expose canonical intent. Another area of contextualization should be mentioned, regarding the excellent studies which are being done in modern proverbial folklore. Archer Taylor has shown the beauty of returning to the proverbial moment, which originally generated the proverb, in a kind of proverbial etymology. That is, the original setting does not determine how it is presently used, nor does it inhibit the potential meaning of the proverb; but, it certainly does heighten one's appreciation for and interest in the proverb. He notes, for example, that "like a bull in a china shop" actually reflects a situation when a bull did invade a china shop in London, in 1773.1 Others have ____________________ 1Archer Taylor's work on proverbial materials is well known in paroemiological circles, though it is almost unheard of in biblical proverbial studies. Vid. his The
"Problems in the Study of Proverbs," Journal of American Folklore 47 (1934):1-21; and "The Study of Proverbs," Proverbium 1 (1965):3-11. It is in "Method in the History and Interpretation of a Proverb: 'A Place for Everything examined living proverbial materials by isolating how they actually are employed in a culture. Unfortunately, this luxury is often outside of the purview of biblical proverbial study.1 Numerous studies have scrutinized the function of proverbs in modern cultures. "How is this proverb used?" has been a profitable question in determining the meaning of a proverb. Kirshenblatt- Gimblett demonstrates the importance of cultural use in determining proverbial meaning when she shows the different interpretations of the proverb "A rolling stone gathers no moss." In Scotland, where moss is undesirable, it means: "Keep abreast of modern ideas or you will soon become antiquated and useless." On the contrary, in England, where stately, draped moss is a symbol of stability, it means: "If things are continually in a state of flux, desirable features will not have time to develop." Thus, the bond between culture and proverbial imagery is crucial in constructing a hermeneutic of the proverb, which, if possible, should reflect the proverb's original setting and ____________________ and Everything in its Place,'" (Proverbium 10 [1968]:236) that the bull/china shop illustration is discussed. 1Excellent examples of this type of analysis may be seen by Alan Dundes and Ojo Arewa, "Proverbs and the Ethnography of Speaking Folklore," in Analytic Essays in
Hague: Mouton, 1975), pp. 35-49; and Carol Eastman, "The Proverbs in Modern Written Swahili Literature: An Aid to Proverb Elicitation," in African Folkore, ed. Richard M. Parson (Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1972), pp. 193-210. its subsequent usages.1 Seitel's method of analyzing the existential situation of a proverb--via a scientific mapping of the proverb situation onto a context situation (A:B::C:D where "X says to Y that A is to B as C is to D)--has been employed in biblical studies with tremendously rich results by Carol Fontaine. She brilliantly analyzes Gideon's proverbial riposte to the offended Ephraimites in Judges 8:2:--the gleanings of Ephraim = A, the vintage of Abiezer = B::execution of chiefs = C, Gideon's rout of Midianites = D, where A and C are greater than B and D.2 Such studies create a sense of despair and caution in that the use and function of biblical proverbs are now often beyond the horizon of the biblical enthusiast, except for an occasional use of the proverb in an historical setting (Judg 8:2, 18-21; 1 Sam 16:7; 24:13[14 MT]; 1 Kgs ____________________
Proverb Meaning," Proverbium 22 (1973):821-27. 2Carol Fontaine, "The Use of the Traditional Saying in the Old Testament" (Ph.D. dissertation, Duke University, 1979), p. 156. This dissertation has been published as
Seitel, "Proverbs: A Social Use of Metaphor," in Folklore Genres, ed. Dan Ben-Amos (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976), pp. 125-44. Nigel Barley also comments in a similar vein in his brilliant semantico-logical proverbial model (Nigel Barley, "A Structural Approach to the Proverb and the Maxim," Proverbium 20 [1972]:737-50). An interesting study yet to be done is the examination of the use of proverbs in Ecclesiastes, utilizing the model provided by the proverbial folklorists. 20:11, all of which are discussed by Fontaine). The parameters of this study, with regard to the utilization of context, will be put in terms of suggested, generalized situations in life. Then there will be a form analysis of the sentence literature through a comparison with other wisdom forms which the sages employed in conveying their observations concerning life. Such a discussion should not be viewed as a digression from a linguistic analysis of the proverbial, poetic patterns. Rather, it provides the needed broad synthetic and diachronic tapestry into which a detailed and rather atomistic, synchronic, linguistic analysis should be placed. Introduction to the Sitz im Leben The meaning of any group of symbols is dependent on the context from which they originate and in which they function. Form critical studies have been helpful in reinstating the value of the historical setting, which had been destroyed by nineteenth century "literary critics." This is not to say that there are no problems with a Sitz im Leben approach or with the chimerical data upon which it must sometimes draw its conclusions.1 Knight defines the Sitz im Leben as "the environment from which any literary entity might derive its meaning and in which it ____________________
Leben" in Form Criticism," SBLASP (1974):107. might be designated to fulfill some purpose."1 Hence, there are two aspects to Sitz im Leben: a "milieu d'origine" and a "milieu usager." Numerous other scholars have concurred.2 Thus, if one would know not only what the proverb says, but also what it means, he must wrestle with its setting in terms of authorship (the sociological milieu into which the author desires to express himself) and into what settings it later came to be used. The query may be raised as to how the Sitz im Leben is determined. While the following is by no means a denigration of the value of form criticism, which has been so helpful in the study of the psalmic material, several problems do arise in attempting to use a single saddle for two different types of literature. Form and content are usually utilized to provide the basis for determining the Sitz im Leben. Proverbs, however, provides several problems in this regard. Fontaine correctly objects to the coupling of proverbial content with original life setting. This approach results in a hazardous fragmentation of proverbs since the topics discussed ____________________ 1Ibid. 2Peter C. Craigie, "Biblical Wisdom in the Modern World: 1. Proverbs," Crux 15.4 (1979):7; Bryce, A Legacy of Wisdom, p. 151; and Marzal, Gleanings from the Wisdom of Mari, p. 11; Kovacs, "Sociological-Structural Constraints," p. 5.
are very diverse--from the farm to the palace, from the home to international affairs, from outward deportment to inner thought patterns, from cultic to non-cultic materials, in addition to judicial, school and home instructions for both parents and children.1 Fontaine points out the need not so much to search for an elusive Sitz im Leben as to examine how the proverbs actually function in a given culture.2 Though the study of form should not be divorced from situation, the isomorphic bonding of form and setting is being assailed both from within the form critical school3 and from those studying the wisdom corpus.4 The very nature of proverbial material evades such neat ____________________ 1Fontaine, "Traditional Sayings in the Old Testament," pp. 22-23, 303; Perdue, Wisdom and Cult, p. 140; Roland E. Murphy, "Form Criticism and Wisdom Literature," CBQ 31 (1969):482; and Crenshaw, "Wisdom," p. 236.
Testament," pp. 25, 79, 126, 312. 3Knight, "The Understanding of 'Sitz im Leben' in Form Criticism," p. 114; and David Greenwood, "Rhetorical Criticism and Formgeschichte: Some Methodological Considerations," JBL 89 (1970):418-19. 4Nel, The Structure and Ethos, pp. 4, 79, 82; Murphy, "Form Criticism and Wisdom," p. 481; Glendon E. Bryce, "The Structural Analysis of Didactic Texts," in
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1978), p. 109; Crenshaw, "Wisdom," p. 236; Murphy, "Form Criticism and Wisdom Literature," p. 481; and Proulx, "Ugaritic Verse Structure and the Poetic Syntax of Proverbs," p. 22. categorizations. Barley well notes the uncanny ability of proverbial forms to interpenetrate disparate cultures.1 Others perceive the timeless character of the proverb as severing any direct ties to a single, temporal setting.2 Bryce, rather significantly, adds a concluding observational directive:
reconstructive enterprise, some scholars are beginning to look with greater interest upon the first task, that of interpreting the Bible in its final form.3 After much discussion, many are opting for a broad Sitz im Leben which will accommodate the diversified forms.4 Murphy is undoubtedly correct in describing the general situation as didactic.5 Cases have been made ____________________ 1Nigel Barley, "A Structural Approach to the Proverb and the Maxim," Proverbium 20 (1972):740, 746. 2Nel, The Structure and Ethos, p. 6; Murphy, "The Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament," p. 140; and Williams, Those who Ponder Proverbs, p. 40.
Texts," p. 107. 4Morgan, Wisdom in the Old Testament Traditions, p. 16; Fontaine, "Traditional Sayings in the Old Testament," p. 42; Samuel Terrien, review of Wisdom in
Y. Scott, "The Study of the Wisdom Literature," Int 24 (1970):29; and Khanjian, "Wisdom in Ugarit," p. 2.
p. 9; and also Gladson, "Retributive Paradoxes in Proverbs 10-29," p. 147. for accepting an original setting of the family/clan1 or the court.2 Others proffer a strong scribal influence for Proverbs3 and Brown even proposes a commercial setting.4 Kovacs and Nel are perhaps more helpful when Nel, for example, describes the types of ethos reflected in wisdom--family, school, official (court), priestly, prophetic, and individual.5 Kovacs speaks of the demesnes or domains which wisdom addresses--Yahweh, king, aristocrat, wise, righteous, ignorant, foolish, and wicked.6 This paper will provide support for three areas of origin and use--the family, the royal court/king, and the schools/scribes.7 ____________________ 1Erhard Gerstenberger, Wesen und Herkunft des 'Apodiktischen Rechts', pp. 110ff.; and von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, p. 17. 2Perdue, Wisdom and Cult, p. 327 cites Richter's view from Recht und Ethos. 3B. W. Kovacs, "Is There a Class-Ethic in Proverbs?" pp. 171-90. Kovacs sees the importance of three types of wisdom: folk, royal and scribal ("Sociological-Structural Constraints," p. 108). 4John P. Brown, "Proverb-book, Gold-economy, Alphabet," pp. 173, 191. 5Nel, The Structure and Ethos, pp. 79-81. 6Kovacs, "Sociological-Structural Constraints," p. 518.
7Perdue, Wisdom and Cult, p. 266; Crenshaw, "Wisdom," p. 227; Roland E. Murphy, "The Interpretation of Old Testament Wisdom Literature," Int 23 (1969):293, and also his Introduction to the Wisdom Literature, p. 12. The Importance of Scribes Scribes One facet of the Sitz im Leben which has recently flowered in light of the prolific discoveries of ancient Near Eastern materials is the role of the scribe in the ancient world. It is impossible to overestimate modern indebtedness to this group of ancient writers/officials, for they provide the scholar with eyes to peer into cultures which have been dead for over three thousand years.1 Not only were the scribes of immense literary importance, but they were also the oil which lubricated the cogs of the ancient governmental and temple machinery. Oppenheim is not wrong when he states that "the Mesopotamian scribe is likely to emerge as a central figure in the workings of his civilization."2 The complex writing systems both in Egypt and Mesopotamia lent themselves to a sharp bifurcation between the literate and ____________________
the scribe in the ancient world and also in Israel in "Scribes and Scribal Schools in the Ancient Near East: A Historical Survey" (Th.M. thesis, Grace Theological Seminary, 1981).
Mesopotamia," Assyriological Studies 16 (1965):253; also Oppenheim, "The Position of the Intellectual in Mesopotamian Society," Daedalus 104.2 (1975):38; and R. J. Williams, "Scribal Training in Ancient Egypt," JAOS 92 (1972):214. illiterate.1 The script itself favored the development of a scribal guild. Hammurabi's call for all to read his code, Landsberger suggests, was a dream.2 While some have alleged that a democratization of reading accompanied the development of the alphabet, this in no way necessitates the antiquating of the need for scribes.3 Rainey observes that everything was put in writing and the court scribes had the responsibility of seeing that the material recorded was put into proper "form." The association of scribalism with guilds suggests that closed groups would tend to cloister and segregate ____________________ 1Thompson (The Form and Function, p. 44) and Kovacs ("The Sociological-Structural Constraints," p. 73) both point to the difficulty of scripts as an impetus for scribal groups. 2Benno Landsberger, "Scribal Concepts of Education," in City Invincible: A Symposium on Urbanization and Cultural Development in the Ancient Near East, ed. C. Kraeling and R. M. Adams (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960), p. 98. Landsberger quotes from a text mentioning a person who could not write his name: "I am of Sumerian descent, the son of so and so. You are the son of a dirty rowdy, you cannot even write your name." This also shows the elitism among those who could write (p. 96).
188) suggests such a democratization took place, in spite of the "scribal monopoly." W. L. Humphreys ("The Motif of the Wise Courtier in the Old Testament," p. 117) points out the scribal duties of knowing the forms of various governmental letters and documents and A. F. Rainey ("The Scribe at Ugarit," Israel Academy of Science and Humanities
Sumerian, Akkadian, Hurrian and Hittite at Ugarit. Such correspondence would demand scribal training. themselves into distinct locations. Mendelsohn notes that Jabez was a scribal city (I Chr 2:55).1 When one thinks of scribes, writing immediately comes to mind and, unfortunately, his other duties are often ignored. The importance of these men is not only to be seen in their accurate transmission of texts,2 but also in their holding of key influential positions, both in governmental and temple realms. Thus, their influence was much broader than merely their ability to write.3 Scribes in Egypt The importance of the scribe in Egypt may be seen in his relationship to the king, who, in Egypt, was considered to be a god. Horemheb, Pharaoh of Egypt, had ____________________ 1I. Mendelsohn, "Guilds in Ancient Palestine," BASOR 80 (1940):18. Cf. his "Guilds in Babylonia and Assyria," JAOS 60 (1940):68-72. George Mendenhall comments on the closedness of this type of society ("The Shady Side of Wisdom: The Date and Purpose of Genesis 3," p. 322). Gadd also notes the presence of adopted "sons" and women within this group (C. J. Gadd, Teachers and Students in the Oldest Schools [London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1956], pp. 23-24). 2Waltke, "The Book of Proverbs and Ancient Wisdom Literature," BSac 136 (1979):227. Crenshaw notes that they were "to embody the traditions they preserved" (Old
for only viewing the scribes as learned writers and ignoring their political clout (McKane, Prophets and Wise
himself represented in a statue as a scribe.1 Imhotep, a famous Egyptian scribe, was considered so influential that he was deified by later generations.2 Second in command in Egypt, directly under the Pharaoh and with great influence upon the Pharaoh, was the vizier. It was this statesman who decided difficult court cases, made sure that the law was upheld, and oversaw the ploughlands and economy of Egypt. The pharaoh correctly said to Rekhmire' that the vizier was "the mainstay of the entire land." It is also interesting that it is assumed that the vizier could read the room "full of all past judgments." The scribe under him is called the "Scribe of Justice." The vizier himself was also considered to be a scribe.3 The influence of the scribe upon the court may be seen in the El Amarna letters, in which Abdi-Hepa of ____________________ fallacy, as he always seems to come back to the writing capacity of the scribe ("Sofer und Mazkir," ZAW 58 [1940]:20-23. 1IDB, s.v. "Education, Old Testament," by J. Kaster, 2:28; and Adolf Erman, The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians, p. xxvii. Indeed, writing itself was considered to be a gift of the gods. 2Thompson, The Form and Function, p. 111. R. J. Williams points out that Snofru, a fourth dynasty ruler, himself wrote on papyrus and are record that even some tombs were written on by the Pharaoh himself ("Scribal Training in Ancient Egypt," JAOS 92 [1972]:215).
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