Instruction and Imagery in Proverbs 1-9

by Weeks, Stuart

• ISBN13: 9780199291540
• ISBN10: 0199291543
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-05-10
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

A detailed examination of Proverbs 1-9, an early Jewish poetic work. Stuart Weeks incorporates studies of literature from ancient Egypt and from the Dead Sea scrolls, but his focus is on the background and use of certain key images in the text. Proverbs 1-9 belongs to an important class of biblical literature (wisdom literature), and is less well known as a whole than the related books of Job and Ecclesiastes, partly because it has been viewed until recently as a dull and muddled school-book. However, parts of it have been profoundly influential on the development of both Judaism and Christianity, and occupy a key role in modern feminist theology. Weeks demonstrates that those parts belong to a much broader and more intricate set of ideas than older scholarship allowed.

Author Biography

Stuart Weeks is Senior Lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew, Durham University.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Instruction in the Ancient Near East

Proverbs 1-9 as an Instruction

Theme and Imagery in Proverbs 1-9

Wisdom and the Character of Instruction

The Foreign Woman and the Path Imagery

The Significance of Proverbs 1-9

Annotated Translation

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