{"id":40237,"date":"2017-12-11T06:00:53","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T14:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.olivetree.com\/?p=40237"},"modified":"2023-08-16T13:42:45","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T20:42:45","slug":"reading-proverbs-in-the-context","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/reading-proverbs-in-the-context\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading Proverbs In the Context of the OT & NT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article on reading Proverbs is originally from the Zondervan Academic<\/a> blog.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading Proverbs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of my seminary professors used to cheekily refer to common Christian devotional practices as our \u201cdaily bread crumb\u201d. Meaning: we often take a verse or even part of a verse and spin out a comforting crumb of exhortation. We do this at the expense of the whole loaf of biblical bread\u2014whether the surrounding pericope or greater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps with\u00a0no other\u00a0place in Scripture do we do this than with\u00a0Proverbs. Ryan O\u2019Dowd offers an important reminder in his commentary on\u00a0Proverbs (Story of God Bible Commentary<\/a>)<\/i>\u00a0when studying this book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

such casual study of individual proverbs can be shortsighted, both because it is apt to overlook the endless depth of each saying and also because the sayings take on a whole new life in the larger collection of thirty-one chapters\u2026.To get wisdom one must wrangle seriously with all of these proverbial sayings as a collection. (17)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Further still, to fully appreciate this collection of wisdom, we need to set it into its proper context by understanding the entire breadbasket. As it were, the wisdom in the Old and New Testament. Below we\u2019ve briefly engaged the five contexts O\u2019Dowd outlines in his sturdy introduction to fully appreciate the wisdom Scripture offers us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom and Creation<\/strong> in Reading Proverbs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, the Old Testament expresses a role of wisdom in God\u2019s creation of the world. \u201c\u2018Wisdom\u2019 here is not merely an inert adjective. Rather it speaks to the pattern by which God creates three realms in days 1\u20133 and then fills them with their appropriate form of life in days 4\u20136\u201d (39). Psalm 104:24<\/a> expresses this relationship:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow many are your works, O Yahweh! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full<\/i> of your creatures\u201d (Author translation)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The wisdom-creation dynamic isn\u2019t limited to the original creation, but also informs earthly project, like building the tabernacle. \u201cThe craftspeople are specifically skilled with \u2018wisdom\u2019\u201d (40) in order that the glory of Yahweh might fill it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom and Law<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries scholars struggled to relate wisdom literature to Israel\u2019s covenants and redemptive history. Franz Delitzsch was an exception. He argued Proverbs and Deuteronomy echo one another, and many recent scholars have followed suit, O\u2019Doud included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I argue throughout this commentary that wisdom provides insight into the created and moral order of God\u2019s world, so it makes perfect sense for it to give way to just laws. If Israel had actually obeyed the law, it would have been clear to the nations that this way of ordering society surpassed their own stories and law codes. Indeed, Deuteronomy has a uniquely humanitarian character to it. (41)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom in Crisis<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Then there is the relationship between Proverbs and the similar wisdom works of Job and Ecclesiastes. \u201cThe crises in these latter books do not react to the worldview in Proverbs so much as narrow and enhance the more idealistic message of Proverbs.\u2026Job and Ecclesiastes react more strongly to the challenges of life in a fallen world\u201d (40).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Proverbs’ strong correlative view of character and consequences is sharpened in Job, drawing us to argue with God in prayer. Where Ecclesiastes is often styled as a reaction to Proverbs\u2019s optimism, in the end it still brings its despair around to Proverbs same foundation of wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Dowd concludes, \u201cwhereas Proverbs looks back at the goodness of creation with a hope that is never fully articulated or justified, Job and Ecclesiastes look forward with desperate hope for relief from the heavenly realms\u201d (43).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom and Prophets<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom within the prophetic literature carries an interesting dynamic, for they are both critical and expectant of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the one hand, \u201cmany of the prophets are critical of a class known as \u2018the wise\u2019\u201d (43), and criticize Israel for breaking their covenant with Yahweh. On the other, \u201cThe prophets also look forward to the coming of a wise messiah,\u201d the One who would \u201cbring together the wisdom, hope, and justice of the law and the wisdom literature\u201d (43-44).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom and the New Testament<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Finally, O\u2019Dowd observes, \u201cWe are also prone to overlook wisdom in the New Testament because Christian theology tends to focus more on Jesus\u2019 kingship<\/i> than his kingdom<\/i>\u201d (44). And yet wisdom shows itself in four distinct ways in the New Testament:<\/p>\n\n\n\n