Proverbs 10:32 provides a rather standard example of verb
gapping.
There is a clear syntactic match between the lines of this
verse. The normal, two-unit noun phrase subject and
single, nominal object provide a very classic example of
proverbial patterns. The isomorphic character of the
subjects and objects also demonstrates the syntactic ties
between the lines. The verb in the first line is gapped
in the second resulting in the expected proverbial pattern
of shortening the second line (134/133). This verse
illustrates many of the tendencies which this study has
sought to highlight. The gapping techniques may be
formulated as A + B + C ---> A + [B (gapped)] + C where
any permutation of the units will be valid gapping as
well.
Having given a selective treatment of grammatical
constructions which tend toward a decrease in the number
of syntactic units in the line, a brief discussion of
expansion techniques provides a natural balance. As these
techniques are more intuitively obvious, examples will
merely be referred to--rather than giving the total
tagmemic formula for each, as was done in the section on
collapsing transformations.
The addition of a prepositional phrase in one line
of the bi-colon is rather common in Proverbs 10-15. It
may be the specification of a time element, as in Proverbs
10:30a, where it expands the first line to three units--
having no object because of the Niphal passive verb. The
addition of לְעוֹלָם (forever) obtains the 133/133
conspectus, rather than allowing the first line to have
the very rare two elements. The prepositional phrase may
specify the scope of the verb's operation, as in Proverbs
10:2b (cf. 11:7) where מִמָּוֶת (from death) expands the line
to three units. Notice in these cases that the
prepositional phrase finds no matching phrase in their
corresponding line. Thus, they have an additive rather
than a paralleling character. This type of expansion may
be formulated as A + B ---> A + B + PP, or as a
collapsing technique A + B + PP ---> A + B.
Similar to this is the addition of an adverb
modifying the verb which is present only in one line.
While in Proverbs 10:9a בֶטָה (securely) may have been a
result of phonetic processes, it also expands the first
colon, resulting in a 244/233 line pattern, which fits the
reduction of syntactic units in the second line (A + B +
Adv ---> A + B).
An emphatic pronoun may be added, usually in the
first line, thereby increasing the number of units without
varying the semantic units significantly (10:22a, 24a;
11:25b, 28a; A + B + PPron ---> A + B). The conjuncting
of nounal elements allows for an increase other than a N
---> NP process. The simple subject צַדִּיק (righteous) is
expanded in the second line, not by the reversal of the NP
collapsing techniques developed above, but by the
conjuncting of two semantically "synonymous" words in the
subject of the second line ( רָשָע וְחוֹעֶא, 11:31 [wicked and
sinner]. Notice also the gapping in this verse which
causes the count to be 133/122 (N ---> NP[N1 conj N1']).
It should be noted that any of the above
collapsing techniques may be reversed and utilized as
expansion techniques, thus providing numerous options for
syntactic variation.
In conclusion, what is being suggested here is
that grammatical transformational processes may account
for many of the surface and deep structure syntactic
variations between the lines. Sometimes these differences
do not significantly alter the deep structure (cf. 10:1);
but other times they add new elements (10:30). This
study has not sought to be exhaustive; rather it is
suggestive of how transformational grammar ideas may be
applied to Hebrew poetry. Transformational grammar may
provide help in reconciling bi-cola whose surface syntax
varies, but whose deep structures match. The compiling of
such techniques of variation should help the reader to
move away from the boredom of a repetitive parallelism
approach to a retrieval of the tremendous variety captured
in the creativity of the poetic moment. The following
formulae, then, are presented as a beginning of the
scientific formulation of such grammatical expressions of
creativity.
The following transformational formulae have been
generated from an examination of Proverbs 10 and 11
specifying some of this variety.
Nominal transformations:
NP ---> N
1) NP = Hd:N:It + Mod:N:Pos[Qual] --- N:X[Qual] (10:2)
NP = Hd:N:It + Mod:N:Qual --- N:X[Qual] (10:18)
where the Hd:N:It is a body part
NP = Hd:N:It + Mod:N:Qual --- N:X[Qual] (10:11)
where the Hd:N:It is a metaphorical element
NP = Hd:N:It + Mod:N:Qual --- N:X[Qual] (11:16)
where the Hd:N:It is an opaque noun (man, woman,
etc.)
Common structure: N1 + N2 ---> N2'
where N1 = Item and N2 = Qual
N:
Item
Body part N: N:
Metaphorical + [Quality] ---> [Quality]
element
Generic
(transparent)
2) N:Item + N: Quality --- N:Item (10:20)
3) NP1[N1 + N1'] + N2 --->N1' + N2' (10:27)
4) NP= Hd:N:It + Mod:N:Pos ---> Hd:N:It + Mod:PS:Pos (10:15)
Verb Transformations:
1) S + V ---> V(Suffixed)
2) S + V ---> [0(S)] + Existence predication + Psc
3) S + V(trans) + O ---> S + V(Intrans)
4) S + V(active) + O ---> S + V(passive)
5) SVO ---> SPsc
10:1 S + V + O ---> S + Psc[NV + NO]
6) A + B ---> C
7) A + B + C ---> A + (B gapped) + C [any permutation]
Expansion Techniques:
1) A + B ---> A' + B' + PP (10:30)
2) A + B ---> A'+ B' + Adv (10:9)
3) A + B ---> A' + B' + PPron (10:22)
4) N ---> NP[N1conjN1'] (11:31)
Thus the sages were master craftsmen of the poetic art
form, not boring their students by gross repetition and
sameness, but exploiting the infinite potential of
language to reflect the harmoniously diverse beauty which
the creator Himself had fabulously displayed in the verbal
crafting of His uni-verse.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
OVERVIEW
The results of this study are more methodological
than concrete answers to specific problems. The
dissertation has attempted to reflect a theory of language
and poetic literature which, by the objectification of
data, provides a basis for the contextual and literary
appreciation of the proverbial sentences as poetry.
Traditional exegetical attempts at understanding Hebrew
poetics almost always degenerate into simplistic
observations of the types of semantic parallelism. It
myopically ignores the infinite fecundity of the poetic
expressions through the use of reductionistic techniques
which obscure rather than elucidate the poetic meaning of
the text. The questions that are asked are in terms of
the message of the poetry rather than the manner in which
it communicates as poetry. The traditional method looks
at poetry as a collection of parallel word-meanings which
are lexically encysted rather than as a literary, artistic
expression which creatively activates all levels and forms
of meaning--whether rhetorical, phonetic, syntactic, or
semantic--into an aesthetically infatuating message which
scintillates not only the rationalistic mind that is
merely concerned about the propositions of divine truth,
but also, the emotions, in a manner not totally different
from the dynamic found in Beethoven's ninth symphony.
While this study examined only one aspect of Hebrew poetry
(syntactical parallelism), it is hoped that the
realization of the meticulous care and creative genius of
the sages, as they syntactically crafted their thoughts
into artistic poetic expression, will stimulate
linguistically satisfying studies of Hebrew poetry which
concentrate on the other aspects of linguistic expression
(phonetics, semantics, and stylistics). As the lone
analysis of each individual musical note of Handel's
Messiah is a ludicrous means of appreciating the message
of his music, so, too, the analysis of individual lexical
units (words) alone is a farcical way of understanding
poetry. How poetry is to be understood is perhaps the
most significant question raised by this dissertation.
The answer was sought in two directions: (1) the
pragmatic context of the proverbial poetry (the literary,
canonical, philosophical, historical, institutional
settings); and (2) the syntactic analysis of the text
itself.
The Comparative Literary Setting
The study began by providing an overview of the
literary setting of the proverbial poetry. It was shown
that proverbial expression was and is an international
phenomenon (1 Kgs 4:30f. [MT 5:10f.]; Obad 8; Ezek 28:2).
Wisdom texts were cited from as early as third millennium
Ebla and Sumer down to Ptolemaic Egypt. Even samples from
modern Swahili, Yemenite and English demonstrate that a
common proverb does not necessarily mean a common literary
origin. While the ethos of the Sumerian proverbs was
somewhat distant to the concerns in first millennium
Israelite proverbs, the use of antithetical parallelism
and the promulgation of many of these Sumerian proverbs
into Akkadian and even into Ugaritic evinced the uncanny
ability of proverbs to cross cultural and time barriers
mutatis mutandis. Thus, though one may not demand that a
common proverb proves a common origin, one also may not
unilaterally reject a common source as a possiblity for
the historical origin of a proverb. The Akkadian Counsels
of Wisdom and other early texts were used to show the
folly of McKane's suggestion that wisdom evolved from
empirical secular sayings to embellished sacred sentences
reflecting the Yahwehizing tendenz of later scribes. The
sebayit (instructions) in Egypt with their Mahnspruch
(admonitions) and Aussage (sayings) have provided close
parallels, in terms of both structure and ethos, to the
biblical proverbs. Amenemope provides examples of
proverbs which are close parallels to those found in
Proverbs. While literary dependence in either direction
may not be ruled out, a common culture and literary milieu
may be behind many of the similarities. Such parallels
demonstrate the inspired sages' participation in the
literary structures and ethos found through two millennia
in Sumer, Mesopotamia, Egypt as well as in premonarchical
and monarchical Palestine.
The Conceptual Setting of Wisdom
The second chapter addresses the theological/
philosophical framework of the wisdom literature. The
past neglect of wisdom literature by Old Testament
theologians is presently being turned around, as wisdom is
being viewed as a type of last horizon of biblical
theology. Tendencies have been to infuse a Mitte found
elsewhere in the canon onto wisdom with some rather
superficial and procrustean explanations as to how wisdom
is to be fitted into the theology of the rest of the
canon. The motifs of creation theology and the principles
of cosmic order (ma'at) have been helpful indigenous
starting points for understanding wisdom's world view.
Wisdom portrays God as creator and the individual (rather
than the community) as responsible for harmonizing his
behavior with the principles God has infused into the
creation itself. Wisdom was described as individually
cosmodynamic whereas the cult is more communally oriented
and cosmostatic. Thus, wisdom reflects a coordination
between the principles of creation and life's experiences.
The Creator guarantees that the universe is comprehensible
and that the moral and social orders reflect His
trademark, which is etched into the creation itself. The
individual is found in community. The community is
understood more in terms of a common creation than a
common redemption (or covenant).
Several have suggested that ma'at or the created
order is the major motif of wisdom. This order was
ordained and upheld by God and the king. The wise man
observed the various orders--whether societal, familial,
personal, or institutional--and brought his behavior into
line with the expectations and constraints of those
demesnes. The wise man considered carefully the
individual with whom he was dealing--God, the king, the
rich, the wise, or the poor and foolish--and adjusted his
behavior accordingly (Prov 23:1). The principles of moral
order are often reflected in the contrast between the
righteous and the wicked, which is a ubiquitous theme in
the wisdom literature.
References to salvation history are strangely
absent in Proverbs. Not one motive clause is made on the
basis of divine redemptive acts. Wisdom views history
synchronically rather than diachronically. It does not
formulate its statements in terms of the past
extraordinary acts of God. Wisdom focuses more on the
common, ever present paradigms of nature and society and
how an individual is to act in light of those universally
observable patterns. While some have used these endemic
features to suggest that a secular presupposition is at
the base of wisdom expressions, such suggestions were
rejected both on the basis of ancient Near Eastern
parallels and on the theistic content of the oldest
canonical wisdom sections (Prov 10:3). Arguments were
presented which exposed the errors of McKane's three-fold
evolutionary scheme, by which he suggests that the
proverbs were originally secular but that later scribes
added Yahwehistic elements and motivations to make the
sayings more theologically palatable. The secular
character of Proverbs may stem from its empirical (Prov
6:6), pragmatic (Prov 17:8), and rational (Prov 30:18f.)
approaches to reality, although it is clear that such
reflections are grounded in the fear of Yahweh as its
fundamental pou sto.
The Canonical Setting of Wisdom
The third chapter dealt briefly with the canonical
setting of wisdom. Wisdom, originally viewed as somewhat
anomalous in the Old Testament, now is being discovered
everywhere. Several criteria have been suggested as
indicative of the presence of wisdom: (1) vocabulary
(words such as: kesil, 'arum, nabon, bina, hokmah, et
al.); (2) endemic motifs of wisdom (universalistic
outlook, practical rather than abstract, empirically
oriented, indifference to the cult, et al.); (3) forms
(numerical sayings, acrostics, admonitions, et al.); and
(4) explicit mentioning of wise men. These criteria were
then applied to various texts which recently have been
alleged to reflect wisdom influence, such as Genesis 1-3,
the Joseph narrative, certain statements common to the law
and Proverbs, the succession narrative, wisdom Psalms, and
various prophets which seem to reflect the outlook of
wisdom (esp. Isa, Mic, Amos, Hab, et al). Finally, this
chapter briefly treated the esa/dabar conflict between the
sages and the prophets. Crenshaw correctly concluded that
the level of authority is no different between the "Thus
saith the LORD" of the prophets or the "Listen, my sons,
to a father's instruction" of the sages. Prophetic
indictments against the sages (Jer 8:8; 18:18) do not
reflect an institutional tension any more than prophetic
denunciations of the misuses of the false prophets reflect
a disapproval of the prophetic institution. The
allegation that wisdom is prolific throughout the Old
Testament is better explained as being the result of a
common perception and heritage shared by all men. Hence,
when vocabulary and ideas characteristic to wisdom are
found elsewhere they reflect not a common institutional
origin, but a common perception of the shared universe.
This does not negate, however, the possibility of the
influence of wisdom elsewhere in the canon, since Moses,
many of the psalmists, and the prophets would have been
trained in the schools which would have been prominent
sources of such features.
The Historical Settings of Wisdom
Chapter four introduces the multiplex matrices
from which wisdom literature arose. Modern folklore
studies have demonstrated the hermeneutical value of both
the historical origin (milieu d'origine) and cultural
settings in which the proverb was used (milieu usager).
No one-to-one correspondence was proposed between form and
setting; rather, three broad cultural phenomena
(scribes/scribal schools, king/court, and family) were
involved in the genesis and promulgation of wisdom forms.
The scribes and scribal schools correspond well
with the didactic character of much of the wisdom
literature. The importance of viewing the scribes as the
grease which lubricated the gears of ancient civilization
was developed. So important was the scribe in Egypt that
even the Pharaoh had himself portrayed as a scribe.
Egyptian scribes were sometimes deified. They were not
mere copyists, but prominent government officials. The
vizier, for example, was second only to Pharaoh himself.
A whole genre in Egypt was given to the topic of praising
the scribal art and satirizing the other trades. The same
phenomena which caused the rise of the scribes in Egypt
were also at work in Mesopotamia (difficulty of the
writing script, governmental needs, and temple economy).
Some scribes in Mesopotamia had duties as magicians in
addition to their administrative posts. This connection
of wise men and magicians is frequently reflected in the
Old Testament (Gen 41:8). While the alphabet in Israel
allowed for the democratization of learning, foreign
contacts and a growing governmental bureaucracy
necessitated scribal skills. In the post-exilic period,
the scribes were engaged not only as copyists and
transmitters of tradition but also as its interpreters.
The fact that only the rich and politically powerful could
obtain an education is seen by many in the class-ethic
allegedly present in the book of Proverbs. Numerous
proverbs are addressed to young men apparently on their
way up the political ladder; hence, some proffer an urban
aristocracy as the original recipients of proverbial
instruction (Prov 17:26; 19:10). Themes fitting royal
courtiers would also support this contention (relation to
superiors [Prov 23:1], judicial proverbs [Prov 11:1],
currying the king's favor [Prov 14:35; 16:13], importance
of counsellors [Prov 11:18], and faithful messenger [Prov
10:26]). The universal presence of scribes in the ancient
world called for the existence of scribal schools where
scribes could be properly trained in court etiquette and
protocol. Schools were found as early as the tenth
dynasty in Egypt and 2500 B.C. in Mesopotamia. In both
cultures the teacher was addressed by the familial term
"father." In Mesopotamia, he had a disciplinarian
assistant called the "big brother" (no Orwellian overtones
intended). The existence of schools in Israel is
suggested from analogy and from various school texts which
indicate the early presence of such an institution even in
pre-Israelite Canaan. Several proverbs are also cited in
support of this theory (e.g., Prov 10:13), although the
first explicit mention of a school is found much later in
Ben Sirach (51:23). Thus, the scribes and scribal schools
provide one factor in the matrix of the origin and use of
proverbs.
Another source of wisdom literature was the king.
Proverbs repeatedly makes this connection (Prov 1:1; 10:1;
25:1) as does the historical material (1 Kgs 4:32). In
Egypt the king was closely identified with sia (wisdom),
which he received from the gods. The Pharaoh was often
said to have written instructions soliciting support for
the king. In Mesopotamia, though the king was not
identified as a god (as he was in Egypt), he was viewed as
being endued by the gods with the gift of wisdom.
Israelite literature also reflects the identification of
wisdom with the foreign kings (Ezek 28:1-2) and many
proverbs call its hearers to reflect on their relationship
to the demesne of the king (Prov 16, 25). Even the
Messiah king is said to have the gift of wisdom (Isa 9:6;
11:2) as, of course, was Solomon through the divine vision
at Gibeon (1 Kgs 3).
The final matrix from which wisdom arose was the
family. While it was demonstrated that the terms "father"
and "son" are often technical terms for official positions
(teacher, student), yet the parental pathos and historical
introductions both in Egypt ('Onchsheshonqy) and
Mesopotamia (Suruppak) explicitly connect the instructions
to a familial setting. Recent folklore studies also
provide examples of proverbial expressions within a
familial setting. Israel also used the terms "father"
(Gen 45:8), "son" ("sons of the prophets") and even mother
(2 Sam 20:19; cf. Judg 5:7) as technical terms, but the
familial setting of instruction must not be denied (Deut
6:6-7; Prov 6:20-23; Tob 4:5-21). This chapter finished
with a discussion of the evolution from a single line folk
saying to a double lined literary proverb. Such a
unilateral literary evolution was shown to be unsupported,
although text expansions and contractions were noted in
Dostları ilə paylaş: |