Dr. Esa Autero
1.1 Introduction to Proverbs
 What are some ways that Proverbs are used in churches?
 What are some peculiarities of Prov (cf. other OT books)?
 Little on history or theology of covenant, exodus, worship
 Focus on practical wisdom based on the “fear of the LORD”
 What does “proverb” mean?
 the ideas of comparison, code of behavior, discovery of
hidden truth etc.
 Proverbs is a collection of sayings based on observations and
reflection – with the intent to guide in the right behavior
1.2 Historical and Critical Issues in Proverbs
 Authorship, date, composition
 Preface (1:1-7) + 8 collections of sayings
 Five of the collections have a preface w/ an author
 Solomon as an author (1:1; 10:1; 25:1 [10:1-22:16; 25:1-29:27])
 Solomon – the “father” of Israelite wisdom (1 Kgs 4:29-34)
 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs
 Other authors in Proverbs
 “the wise” (22:17; 24:23), Agur (30:1), Lemuel of Massa (31:1)
 sons of Ishmael from Arabia (Gen 25:14; 1Chr1:30);
universality of wisdom (cf. Job)
 Anonymous sections (1:8-9:18; 31:10-31)
 “men of Hezekiah” – copied some proverbs (25:1)
 Some critical scholars - the legend of Solomon
 Solomon connected to Prov due to his legendary wisdom
 Popular opinion attributes whole of Prov. to Solomon (1:1)
 Some attribute the sayings of “the wise” to Solomon (1:8-9:18)
 Jewish tradition – men of Hezekiah (Baba, Bathra 15a)
 Dating Proverbs
 Solomonic sections (10:1-22:16) 10th century BC
 Prov 25-29 also old (c. 10th or 9th century BC)
 Hezekiah’s men c. 700 BC as redactors
 Was this the final editing or only Solomon’s proverbs?
 What about “the sayings of the wise” etc.?
 Prov 30-31 exilic time
 Final redaction during the Exile or just before
1.3 Background, purpose, literary structure
 Some Background
 ANE wisdom and Israelite wisdom – see earlier class
 Leaders in the ancient Israel
 King, priest, prophet, the sage (cf. Jer 18:18)
 Three basic institutions of wisdom
 Family/clan, royal court, scribal schools
 Family – instruction of wise living
 Royal court & scribal school: creation & preservation of wisdom
 Purpose of Proverbs
 Life according to “fear of the LORD”
 Practical ‘covenant living’
 Life of integrity, blessing, honor, and success (1:33; 2:7; 3:2, 8)
 Literary structure of Proverbs
 Preamble (1:1-7)
 Purpose of the book – impart wisdom, “fear of the LORD”
 Way of the wisdom (1:8-9:18)
 Teacher addresses his ‘sons’
 Invitations and instructions of Lady wisdom & lady folly
 Long wisdom discourses & practical instruction
 Sayings of Solomon (10:1-22:16; 25:1-29:27)
 Short lines and antithetical parallelism – invites reflection
 E.g. contrast b/w wise and fool; righteous and wicked (15:28)
 How wisdom shapes the practical decisions of the wise
 Sayings of the wise (22:17-24:34)
 Similar topics to Solomon’s section
 Sensitivity toward the poor (22:22-23)
 Transitory nature of riches (23:4-5)
 Avoiding wayward woman (23:26-28)
 Ridicule of the lazy (24:30-34)
 Also some longer discourses
 Connection to the Instruction of Amenemopet (Egypt)
“Do not move an ancient boundary stone set up by your ancestors”
(Prov 22:28)
“Do not carry off the landmark at the boundaries of arable land nor
disturb the position of the measuring cord” (ch 6 Amenemopet)
 More examples in ANET, 424-446
 International character of wisdom
 Sayings of Agur (30), Lemuel (31:1-9) & wise woman (31:10-31)
 Skeptical section and disparate sayings (Agur)
 Oracle by king’s mother: women, wine, justice (Lemuel)
 Acrostic poem about wise woman (31)
1.4 Themes in Proverbs
 The fear of the LORD
 Fear of the LORD connected to wisdom & knowledge
 Fear of the LORD & inscrutability of wisdom
 Retribution principle
 Blessing for wisdom and misfortune for folly
 Two assumptions of wise living and blessing
 Relationship w/ YHWH firmly established pattern of life
 Consistent practical conduct in what is right, just, and fair
 Importance of character development and social harmony
 Proverbs not absolute promises but patterns of life observed
by the Israelite sages (cf. Job and Eccl 9:11-12; Ps 73)
 Human speech – use and abuse of the tongue
 “Seven sins” – abuse of the tongue
 Life and death in the tongue (18:21)
 Healing or wounding (12:18; 15:4)
 Shape attitude, perceptions (18:8; 29:5)
 Forms beliefs and convictions (10:11, 21; 11:9; 15:2-7; 16:27-28)
 Futility of words w/o actions “mere talk” (14:23; 24:12)
 Wisdom, character, and words (10:14; 12:17; 14:5; 15:1, 23; 16:13)
 Human sexuality – monogamous marriage & folly of license
 Wisdom as antidote to sexual sin (2:16)
 Love and sexuality within marriage (5:15-23; 18:33)
 Need to guard eyes and mouth (5:1-6; 7:21-23)
 Jealousy and consequences of adultery (6:20-35)
 Wealth and poverty
 Wealth, honor, and blessing as result of wise living (22:4)
 Moderation better than wealth (30:7-9)
 Poverty and laziness connected
 ‘slack hand’, ‘sleep’, ‘mere talk’; ‘love of pleasure’ (10:4; 14:23; 20:13; 21:17)
 Neglect of instruction (13:18)
 Importance of caring for the poor
 Poor are generally shunned and hated (14:20; 19:7)
 Poor are victims of oppression (13:23)
 ‘lending to poor…lending to God’ (14:21; 19:17; 21:13; 22:9; 28:27; 31:20)
 Warnings against oppressing the poor (22:16; 29:7; 29:14)
 God – the defender of the poor (22:22-3; 17:5)
 Setting of Prov – perspective of the royal court (cf. Jer 18:18)
 Perspective of people in charge of their destiny & social stability
 Laziness, folly, and drunkenness as causes of dishonor and poverty
 Less reflection on the socio-political causes of poverty
2.1 Introduction to Ecclesiastes
 What are some peculiar features in Ecclesiastes?
 Absence of covenant, history, redemption, worship etc.
 What are some characteristics of Ecclesiastes?
 How many sermons have you heard on Ecclesiastes?
 How does Eccl. fit into the canon?
2.2 Historical and Critical Issues
 Author, composition, date
 Ecclesiastes is anonymous
 Traditional author – Solomon based on…
 Qohelet (=assembler, teacher, preacher) equated w/ Solomon
 Qohelet “son of David”, “king in Jerusalem” (1:1)
 Solomon’s life stages in 1 Kgs harmonized w/ Eccl.
 Some sections fit Solomon’s life (e.g. wealth, wisdom, women)
 Some problems w/ Solomon’s authorship
 “Son of David” – could be any of David’s sons or later descendants
 Awkward sayings if by Solomon (1:16; 2:9; see also 8:2-8)
 1 Kings account does not harmonize well – e.g. Solomon is never
said to ‘recover ’ from his apostasy (compare w/ Eccl 12:8-14)
 The prologue and epilogue frame by a ‘third party’ (1:1-2; 12:8-14)
 Qohelet is not the author (even if Qohelet is idenfied as Solomon)
 Who wrote Ecclesiastes then?
 Qohelet’s experiences were narrated by unnamed sage
 Possible date of the book
 10th century BC – if by Solomon [unlikely]
 8th or 7th century BC
 3rd or 4th century BC
2.3 Background, purpose, literary structure
 Ecclesiastes and ANE wisdom
 Dialogue of Pessimism – master & slave (Mesopotamia)
 Harper’s Song – enjoy life b/c its uncertain (Egypt)
 Qohelet and ANE – insufficiency of received wisdom
 Purpose
 God-centered life despite life’s unpredictability
 Death is awaiting all “under the sun”
 No predictable pattern that is observable (7:14)
 Anything good comes from God – enjoy it
 Literary structure
 Prologue and introduction (1:1-11)
 Main themes of the book introduced
 Long monologue by Qohelet (1:12-12:8)
 Life’s frustrations – problems and solutions
 Wisdom, pleasure and wealth, unfairness, reverence toward God
 Epilogue (12:9-14)
 Fear God and keep commandments as the duty of human
beings
2.4 Themes in Ecclesiastes
 Retribution principle (3:16-22; 8:10-14; 7:15-17; 9:1-6)
 Retribution accepted in principle but…
 Unable to predict or explain current situation or specifics
 “God will judge the righteous and the wicked…time for every
matter…”
 Anticipation of fuller revelation of justice - resurrection
 Is Ecclesiastes a single or “two-level” narrative?
 Pessimistic Qohelet is corrected by the ‘frames’? (cf. Job)
 God-centered worldview evident in the entire book?
3.1 Introduction to Song of Songs
 What does the title means?
 Comparison to other OT books – similar/different?
 Absence of covenant, redemption, worship etc.
 What role does Song play in the Bible?
 Any sermons on Song?
3.2 Historical and Critical Issues
 Author, date, composition
 Traditional authorship suggestions
 Solomon (1:1, 5; 3:7, 9, 11; 8:11-12) – late 10th century BC
 Literary skills, ‘love’ of women, flora & fauna (1Kgs4:33; 11:1-13)
 Hezekiah (cf. Prov 25:1; 2 Chr 32:27-29) – c. 700BC
 Some issues w/ Solomon’s authorship
 Hb. le Solomon – “by”, “about”, “of”, “for/to”
 Solomon as author, main figure or dedicated to Solomon?
 Monogamous love in Song but what about Solomon? (cf. 1kgs11:1-11)
 Solomon in Song pictured ‘from distance’ (3:6-11; 8:10-12)
 Additional feature – Song as 2 or 3 character story/drama?
 Solomon and the Shulamite – from wickedness to monogamy
 Solomon-Shulamite-shepherd – Solomon as villain
 Song as a collection of love poems (not drama)
 Solomon may have written parts
 Anonymous author completed and edited
 Dating difficult: from Solomon’s time to Persian period
 Background, purpose, structure
 Difficult to pinpoint historical situation
 Portrays the time during Solomon
 Song and ANE love poems
“My beloved is sweet as honey, she is as fragrant to the nose as
wine” (Old Babylonian love poem)
 Similar imagery and topics – love b/w man and woman
 Purpose of Song & interpretative paradigms
 Dramatic approach – ancient Hebrew play
 Analogous w/ Greek drama
 Two or three character drama
 No precedents in ANE or Hebrew literature
 Typological approach – historical aspect subordinated
 Literal account secondary: God-Israel --- Christ-church
 Cultic approach – adaptation of ANE fertility cult liturgy
 Associations to fertility cult changed or forgotten
 Wedding cycle poems approach per Arabian parallels
 Honorary poems of bride and groom in a wedding ceremony
 Didactic approach – instructional value
 Moral education on sexual purity, faithfulness, simplicity
 Allegorical approach – oldest and most popular
 Similar interpretation to typological
 Song does not affirm or deny this as the correct method
 Literal approach – love poetry b/w man and a woman
 Sensual and passionate account of love and sexual intimacy
 Purpose of Song depends on the interpretative option
 Literal the most accurate
 Purpose as the celebration and instruction on human love,
sexuality, and intimacy
 Three-character story – instructional aspect more intense:
Solomon’s polygamous relations vs. pure and simple
monogamous relationship w/ Shulamite and the shepherd
3.3 Themes in Song of Songs
 Sensual love within the confines of marriage
 Celebration of physical love b/w man & woman
 Lovemaking: sight (7:1); smell (4:13-14); taste (5:1); hearing
(5:2); touch (7:8)
 Sexual intimacy (6:2-3; 7:10-13; 8:1-3)
 Erotic imagery: well/garden of aromatic spices (vagina; 4:1215); promiscuous women – “door” (8:9-10)
 Faithfulness and chastity
 Love as strong as death (8:6-7)
 Virtue of chastity in the young lovers (4:12; 6:3; 7:10-13; 8:10)
 Integrity, loyalty, commitment (4:12-16; 7:11-14; 8:10-12)
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