Proverbial poetry: its settings and syntax
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encompasses all others (Prov 16:2; 21:30) and provides a basis for trust (Prov 16:3).4 Kaufman suggests that the sovereignty of the demesne of God is what separates ____________________ Biblical Wisdom Literature," p. 117.
Proverbs," Tyndale Bulletin 7-8 (July 1961):5. Kovacs has a helpful chart of the Yahweh materials in Proverbs 15-22, in "Sociological-Structural Constraints," p. 535. 3Ludwig H. Kohler, Old Testament Theology, trans. A. S. Todd (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1957), p. 30.
derived from cosmic realm.1 The whole discussion of the limits of wisdom, as developed by von Rad, is essential for understanding the interfacing of God with the wisdom materials.2 Proverbs is replete with hints and clear statements demonstrating that the wise man was conscious of the boundaries of each demesne (Prov 16:1, 2; 19:14, 21; 20:24; 21:30-31). Khanjian shows that the boundaries of wisdom were also felt at Ugarit.3 Others have developed the same theme in Egyptian instruction texts.4 The Family and Wisdom Having surveyed work done on the setting of ____________________ pp. 411-12. Cf. also Stephen L. Haymond, "The Sovereignty of God in Proverbs" (Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1978).
University of Chicago Press, 1960), pp. 21-22; and Ernst Wurthwein, "Egyptian Wisdom and the Old Testament," SAIW, p. 122.
2von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, pp. 99, 107. Also cf. Zimmerli, "The Place and Limit of Wisdom in the Framework of the Old Testament Theology," p. 326; J. A. Loader, "Relativity in Near Eastern Wisdom," in Studies in Wisdom Literature, ed. W. C. van Wyk, OTWSA 15 & 16 (1972-73), pp. 49-58; Rylaarsdam, Revelation in Jewish Wisdom Literature, p. 74; Crenshaw, "Prolegomenon," p. 24; and Murphy,
p. 14. An excellent summary is given in Humphreys, "The Motif of the Wise Courtier in the Old Testament," p. 158.
and Humphreys, "The Motif of the Wise Courtier in the Old Testament," p. 44.
and court, and having demonstrated that the cult and Yahwehism are quite at home in a wisdom context, there will now be an examination of the final component of the matrix from which wisdom originated that is, the family structure. This is perhaps the most encompassing setting and the one most easily documented from the texts themselves. It was necessary to address the other two matrices (scribes/scribal school and the court/king) in order to provide a proper appreciation of how the family setting fits into and complements the other matrices. Again, the procedure will be to survey the materials from Egypt and Mesopotamia and then, finally, to examine Israelite family ties to wisdom. The Family and Egyptian Wisdom
"The instruction of X . . . for his son Y" suggests a familial source. Waltke properly points out the introductions of Ptah-hotep and Ka-gem-ni, which show the aged masters gathering their children around them to receive the mature instruction of a wise father.1 So also ____________________
Literature," BSac 136 (1979):230. In agreement also is Henri Frankfort, Ancient Egyptian Religion, 2nd ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961), p. 60. For texts, vid. Pritchard, ANET, p. 412; and Lichtheim, Ancient
father is sending off to school.1 The family environment does not leave off with just the titles and calls to attention, but may be seen in the ethos of the texts themselves. In Ptah-hotep, for example, is found advice about taking a wife. Strong domestic ties may be seen in the following instruction from Ptah-hotep: Thy lord also shall say: 'this is the son of that one,' and they that hear it (shall say): 'Praised be he to whom he was born.'2
that she may produce a son for thee. Beget [him] for thyself while thou art (still) young. Teach him to be a man.
woman from abroad," for she is destructive to the family unit.3 'Onchsheshonqy narrates the plight of a father, who, realizing that he will spend the rest of his life in prison, requests a roll of papyrus so that he may ____________________
Literature," p. 232; Pritchard, ANET, p. 432; Erman, The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 68; or Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 1:185. 2Erman, The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 65; also vid. p. 61. 3Pritchard, ANET, p. 420; Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:136; and Heaton, Solomon's New Men, p. 158.
An objection to the family as the setting for these texts may be raised by the fact that these were all famous school texts and were used in a school setting, not specifically in the home. This, indeed, must be accounted for; yet, one should not miss how often the alleged original authorial setting was the home. One must grant that wisdom's functional setting was the school, but, in one sense, the school itself was an extension of the home. Others may see the term "son" as a technical term used of students; however, one aptly points out that even the employment of the familial term "son" has implications in the direction of the home.2 Finally, Humphreys observes that sons often followed their fathers professionally, even in the office of the Vizier.3 Thus, some of the Egyptian materials are clearly set in a family milieu, as far as seminal origin, and in the school, as far as use. The Family and Mesopotamian Wisdom The Mesopotamian literature is not as clear as its ____________________ 1Gemser, "The Instructions of 'Onchsheshonqy," SAIW, pp. 107, 119-20. Cf. also "The Instruction of Amen-em-het," in Erman, The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 72; or in Pritchard, ANET, p. 419. 2Joel T. Williamson, "The Form of Proverbs 1-9" (Th.M. thesis, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1977), p. 33. 3Humphreys, "The Motif of the Wise Courtier in the Old Testament," p. 14. Egyptian counterpart due to the nature of the texts themselves. As early as "The Instructions of Suruppak," Suruppak was recorded as giving instructions to his son. He, too, declared himself to be an old man who was collecting instructions to which his son was expected to give heed. The repeated calls for the son to pay attention are common to instructional collections throughout the ancient Near East.1 Gordon notices the family ethos of many of the Sumerian proverbs. He points out that the mother appears more frequently than the father and that the terms are not used as technical terms in the contexts which he cites.2 Numerous tablets have been found in domestic residences in Nippur, Ur, and Kish, which may indicate a guild or a family setting.3 The guilds were often confined to certain families, although adoption was quite prevalent.4 The Babylonian "Counsels of Wisdom" are addressed to a "son" and the ethos that flavors the counsels is frequently family-related and fatherly in tone.5 Rainey observes that, in numerous cases at Ugarit, the sons followed their fathers in the ____________________
35, 39.
2Gordon, Sumerian Proverbs, pp. 301, 316. 3Sjoberg, "The Old Babylonian Eduba," pp. 176-77. 4Khanjian, "Wisdom in Ugarit," p. 123; cf. 1 Chr 26, 27 and Scott, The Way of Wisdom, p. 45. 5Lambert, BWL, p. 103. scribal trade.1 So "son" need not be viewed merely as a technical term. At Ugarit, the usual wisdom address, "my son," is found (RS 22.439:II:6). The counsel of Shubeawilum comes from a father to a son who is departing on a business trip (RS 22.439:II:5). The reflections on father, elder brother, and mother (RS 22.439:II:32) intimate a family ethos. That the counsels were copied in a school setting, however, is not to be ignored.2 The Family and Proverbial Folklore Studies An interesting supplement to proverbial studies in the ancient Near East may be seen in the recent folklore studies on modern proverbial collections. The familial element is still present in the proverbial mode of expression of many cultures today. Dundes summarizes how the proverbial form is employed. A parent may well use a proverb to direct a child's action or thought, but by using a proverb, the parental imperative is externalized and removed somewhat from the individual parent. . . . It is a proverb from the cultural past whose voice speaks truth in traditional terms.3 ____________________
p. 35. For an unbelievably thorough and useful annotated bibliography of modern paroemiological research vid. Wolfgang Mieder, International Proverb Scholarship: An Annotated Bibliography, in Garland Folklore Bibliographies, vol. 3 (New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1982).
familial ethos. If a man beats his child with his right hand, he should draw him to himself with his left.1 Likewise many Swahili proverbs are used in the setting of a parental warning, even though their nomenclature and imagery would probably never have placed it in a family setting because of the lack of the explicit use of familial terminology. This should provide a caution about restricting the family ethos exclusively to those proverbs which refer to mothers, fathers or sons. Eastman cites the following Swahili proverbs from a known familial setting.
Where there is a will there is a way.2 Thus folklore studies corroborate that proverbial statements often function in and are generated from familial settings. One of the tremendous aids gleaned from modern folklore studies by biblical paroemiological students has been the stressing of the need to examine how the proverb actually functions in its context and in ____________________
39.
2The connection with Proverbs 26:27 and with the modern American proverb should be noted. Obviously borrowing is very unlikely; rather such observations are common to all men everywhere (Carol M. Eastman, "The Proverb in Modern Written Swahili Literature: An Aid to Proverb Elicitation," in African Folklore, ed. R. M. Dorson [New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1972], pp. 202-3).
The Family and Israelite Wisdom Recently, biblical scholarship has returned to a position which asserts that the proverbs reach back to the pre-school days, to the clan/family.1 Audet and Couturier, for example, have noted that one should not ignore the home as one component of the background for the wisdom materials.2 First, in the historical books, the family was the basic social institution for the training of children. This is reflected in the fact that a son often followed in the trade or office of the father (1 Kgs 4:1-6). In addition, covenant recital and education was specifically designated as one of the objectives of the ____________________ 1Khanjian, "Wisdom in Ugarit," p. 2. 2J. P. Audet, "Origines comparees de la double tradition de la loi et de la sagesse dans la proche-orient ancien," International Congress of Orientalists (25th) vol. 1 (Moscow, 1960), pp. 325-27; and G. Couturier, "Sagesse Babylonienne et Sagesse Israelite," Sciences
followed their lead: Roland E. Murphy, "Assumptions and Problems in Old Testament Wisdom Research," CBQ 29 (1967):102; also his Wisdom Literature, p. 7; Odilo M. Lucas, "Wisdom Literature in the Old Testament,"
dissertation is particularly helpful as it focuses on each member of the family and his role in the wisdom materials (Social Ideas in the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament, pp. 29-101).
explicitly posit a familial setting origin. The aged Tobit (4:5-21), for example, in a typical instructional form, calls his son in for some fatherly advice.2 Third, the family in Proverbs has been examined by several scholars. Concerning Proverbs 6:20-23 Crenshaw properly comments that "the familial setting is virtually assured" by the fact that a son is given instruction in which reference is made to his mother.3 The warnings against forces destructive to family life, such as the temptress and marital unfaithfulness, are an integral part of the text of Proverbs and are described in blushing detail in numerous larger sections (Prov 5, 6, 7), as well as in the proverbial sentence literature (Prov 22:14; 23:27, 28).4 ____________________
Testament," p. 30. 2Murphy, Wisdom Literature, p. 7. 3James L. Crenshaw, "Impossible Questions, Sayings, and Tasks," Semeia 17-19 (1980):24; and Waltke, "The Book of Proverbs and Ancient Wisdom Literature," p. 232. Waltke well notes the Old Testament's placing of religious training on the father (Gen 18:19; Exod 12:24; Deut 4:9-11) and the mother (Prov 1:9; 4:3; 6:20; 31:1, 26) thereby demonstrating the domestic situation of Proverbs. Cf. also R. N. Whybray, Wisdom in Proverbs: The Concept of Wisdom in Proverbs 1-9, vol. 45, in Studies in Biblical Theology, ed. C. F. Moule (Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, Inc., 1965), p. 42.
Gaspar (Social Ideas in the Wisdom Literature, pp. 68-79) develops the strange woman motif also in Ecclesiasticus, which parallels the ideas of Proverbs. Nel and Kovacs trace the proverbial family ethos through explicit references to the family members (Prov 13:1; 15:20; 17:25; 19:13, 18; 21:9, 19; 23:12-25; 27:11; 29:15).1 The "Father" in Wisdom The use of "father" terminology in a school setting may indicate that the original setting of instruction was in the home. As early as "The Instructions of Suruppak" there is a connection of instructional literature with a "father/son" relationship.
My son, let me give you instructions, may you take my instructions, Ziusudra, let me speak a word to you, may you pay attention to it!2
where a boy refers to his father as opposed to his "school-father" from whom he received his caning. The teacher ("school-father") clearly connects his authority with the boy's parents when he states: "Young man, you ____________________ 1Nel, The Structure and Ethos, p. 79; and Kovacs, "Sociological-Structural Constraints," pp. 366, 378-79, 391, 565. Cf. also Gladson, "Retributive Paradoxes in Proverbs 10-29," p. 209. 2Alster, The Instructions of Suruppak, p. 35. Crenshaw notes the call to attention which is so common in biblical proverbial sections (Old Testament Wisdom, p. 228). Cf. Samuel N. Kramer (History Begins at Sumer, p. 13) for another fatherly admonition to a wayward son because of his reticence to produce at school under the "school-father." Also vid. p. 68 for a farmer's instructions to his son on cultivating tips. "know" a father, I am second to him . . . ."1 Not only in the Sumerian school was there a "school-father," as Kramer has pointed out, but paternal titles were also used in the Old Babylonian schools for the headmaster, who was called the "father of the tablet-house."2 Ahiqar, the wise sage, was called the "father of all Assyria" and from Karatepe comes an inscription of Azitawadda in which the technical use of the term father is displayed.
righteousness and my wisdom and the kindness of my heart.3
included the endearing term "father" (2 Aqht vi 49; Krt i 37). The Egyptian instructional texts also purport to have been directed from a father, often a pharaoh or vizier, to his son (vid. Merikare, Amen-em-het, or Ptah-hotep). The grievous Demotic tale of the priest 'Onchsheshonqy fits this model as well.4 In the Amarna ____________________
Terminology," p. 124. 3Bezalel Porten, "The Structure and Theme of the Solomon Narrative (1 Kings 3-11)," HUCA 38 (1967):115; and Murphy, Introduction to the Wisdom Literature, p. 13.
Gemser, "The Instructions of 'Onchsheshonqy and Biblical letters pharaoh himself is called a father.1 The domestic setting is often denigrated by those who opt for taking the appellations "father" and "son" as technical terms in a school setting. Surely the technical use of "father" is well known. The term is used of God both in the Old Testament (Jer 3:4; Ps 68:6) and in the ancient Near East.2 Priests were also addressed as "father" (Judg 18:19) and Joseph, Pharaoh's counselor, is given the title of "father" (Gen 45:8).3 De Boer has compiled data, particularly from Mishnaic sources, displaying the frequent use of the term "father" as a technical term by the rabbis. The intertestamental material (1 Macc 2:65; 11:33) and Josephus (Ant. XII, iii 4) are also compatible with this usage.4 Furthermore, even the guild structures utilized "father" terminology (1 Chr 4:14; Neh 3:8, 31).5 ____________________ Wisdom Literature," p. 107; Philip Nel, "The Concept 'Father' in the Wisdom Literature of the Ancient Near East," Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 5 (1977):107; and Bryce, A Legacy of Wisdom, p. 171.
Kingship," p. 46. 2For an excellent survey, see Philip Nel, "The Concept 'Father' in the Wisdom Literature," p. 62. 3De Boer, "The Counsellor," pp. 57-58; cf. also 2 Kgs 2:12 and 13:14. 4De Boer, "Counsellor," pp. 62-63. 5Halvorsen ("Scribes and Scribal Schools," pp. 144-48) gives an excellent overview of this subject, along While recent discussions tend to emphasize the technical meaning of "father" and ignore the familial use of the term, Nel has best summarized how the word should be understood. It is evident that the concept father has a wide range of meanings within the wisdom-literature, and that one cannot keep to the 'basic meaning' of father. Only the context, in which the item 'father' occurs as a semantic member, determines the meaning of father and not the word itself.1 The "Mother" and "Wife" in Wisdom
found in wisdom settings. Gordon, in his excellent analysis of Sumerian proverbs, notes the frequent presence of a mother and the rather infrequent reference to a father.2 "The Instruction of Khety," arguing for the superiority of the scribal art, states that nothing surpasses writing--not even the affection of a mother. This shows the non-technical use of the term "mother" in ____________________ Yüklə 6,58 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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