Sources: Ernest Lucas, Exploring the Old Testament, vol. 3Ian Provan, Old Testament Foundations lectures, Regent College James Limburg, “Proverbs” in EnterTheBible.orgBruce Waltke, Introduction to Wisdom Literature lectures, Regent College

A reflection on life crystalized in a brief, memorable sentence.

Lucas, 95.

Actions speak louder than words.

Better safe than sorry.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Don't cry over spilled milk.

Don't judge a book by its cover.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Haste makes waste.

He who hesitates is lost.

Proverbs 26:4-5

4 Answer not a fool according to his folly,

lest you be like him yourself.

5 Answer a fool according to his folly,

lest he be wise in his own eyes.

The book of Proverbs is a collection of essays, poems, and sayings expressing the wisdom of ancient Israel.

James Limburg, “Proverbs” in EnterTheBible.org

“Proverbs are, properly speaking, not universal rules;

rather, they are situationally oriented, open-ended sayings, designed to exercise one’s mental and moral faculties and

thereby enable the moral agent [person] to size up ethically demanding situations to act appropriately.”

~David Brown 13-14

James Limburg, “Proverbs” in EnterTheBible.org

Proverbs do not deal with the big questions, like the meaning of life or the problem of evil.

In day to day living, there are many smaller questions: How should I handle my financial affairs?

How should I relate to friends and colleagues?

What about falling in love?

What can I do to maintain a healthy marriage?

How can I responsibly help the poor?

These are the sorts of issues in Proverbs.

James Limburg, “Proverbs” in EnterTheBible.org

Compare major themes: Psalms focuses on the praise of

God in heaven.

The chief concern of Proverbs is the pursuit of a happy and good life on earth.

James Limburg, “Proverbs” in EnterTheBible.org

2 To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight,

3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in righteousness, justice, and equity;

4 to give prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth—

5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance,

6 to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their griddles.

7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The book came into being through a long process.

Some of these sayings originated with Solomon or with those in his court (1 Ki 4:29-34; Prov 1:1; 10:1; 25:1).

The final edition was likely produced during the exile in Babylon (about 587-539 B.C.E.)

Much originated in folk wisdom of the sort found in all cultures at all times.

Jeremiah 18:18 refers to the priest, the wise, and the prophet as leaders in Israel; the book of Proverbs is the product of the work of "the wise."

James Limburg, “Proverbs” in EnterTheBible.org

These collections seem to have been used in some sort of school. Several hints point to this : When young David arrived at the court of Saul, |

he was described as already educated, “skillful in playing, a man of valor, a warrior, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence; and the LORD is with him” (1 Samuel 16:18).

The various rhetorical forms also point to the use of these proverbs in teaching situations.

James Limburg, “Proverbs” in EnterTheBible.org

The Woman Who Fears the Lord, Prov 31:10-31

Wisdom is personified as a woman in Proverbs 1, 8, and 9

(and also in Job 28 and later in Sirach 24 and Wisdom of Solomon 7:7-9:18).

Wisdom is a feminine noun in Hebrew (hokmah), as it is in Greek (sophia), but the personification of wisdom in the OT is more than merely a grammatical issue.

Woman Wisdom becomes a significant personal agent through which God works, especially in creation itself.

In some ways, it is like the personified Word or Logos in John 1.

James Limburg, “Proverbs” in EnterTheBible.org

The proverbs should be taken individually.

Like a box of chocolates

Some read a chapter a day, but may be too much!

James Limburg, “Proverbs” in EnterTheBible.org

In Class Proverbs Exercise

1 2 3 4 5 6Poverty Work Interpersonal

Relations

Interpersonal

Relations

Speech Speech

Instructions: In your groups,

1. Read all the references.

2. Summarize the teaching on the topic.

3. Make notes of circumstances that are specific to that culture.

4. Choose one verse that exemplifies something of the literary form and/or style of these proverbs.

Report: Have one person from the group share the findings to the whole class.

1. Read all the references.

2. Summarize the teaching on the topic.

3. Make notes of circumstances that are specific to that culture.

4. Choose one verse that exemplifies something of the literary form and/or style of these proverbs.

Report: Have one person from the group share the findings to the whole class.

“Deed-consequence link” “The more or less mechanical association between

and action and its outcome” (Lucas, 112)

Sin brings curses and obedience brings blessings

“Deed-consequence link” “The more or less mechanical association between

and action and its outcome” (Lucas, 112)

Narrow Understanding It is true! Faithfulness to God brings blessings,

but not mechanistically—like magic. God is FREE and cannot be manipulated.

BUT it is not the ONLY truth. The understanding is too narrow.

One can’t read Job and apply the “deed-consequence” understanding to ALL situations.

Creator GodCreation

Creation Ethic

Redeemer GodSalvation History

Torah Ethic

Torah Ethic Life based on Torah (God’s instruction)

10 CommandmentsExodus 20:1-17

3 law codes Covenant Code

Exodus 20:22-23:33

Holiness CodeLeviticus 17-26

Deuteronomic CodeDeuteronomy 12:1-26:15

Creation Ethic Creator God of all

(Job 31:13-15; equity for Job and servant, because God created both)

Communal (contrast to individual)

Life & delight in human beings (contrasted with death)

Order(contrast to chaos; Creator over Leviathan)

What is the difference between wisdom and intellect?

(being smart and being wise?)

Why do intellectual people do unwise things?

“Scientific misconduct” in the United States

John Darsee (cardiology), data fabrication as well as errors/discrepancies on 16 of 18 full-length research articles, and an unknown number of over 100 additional abstracts and book chapters[85]

Dipak Das found guilty of 145 counts of fabrication or falsification of data at the University of Connecticut Health Center.[86]

Terry Elton was found guilty of misconduct by both Ohio State University and the Office of Research Integrity.

Marc Hauser (evolutionary psychology).[87]

Doctoral student Roxana Gonzalez (social psychology) engaged in scientific misconduct in research supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Institutes of Health(NIH).[88][89][90] The United States Office of Research Integrity found that data falsification altered five published articles first-authored by Jennifer Lerner. As a result, articles were retracted from the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Biological Psychiatry, and the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Industrial Bio-Test Laboratories fabricated research data to the extent that upon FDA analysis of 867 studies, 618 (71%) were deemed invalid, including many of which were used to gain regulatory approval for widely-used household and industrial products.[91][92]

H.M. Krishna Murthy, while at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, had nine papers on protein structures retracted because his experimental findings appear to be false or fabricated.[93]

Victor Ninov[94] (nuclear physics)

Leo A. Paquette[95][96] (chemistry)

Eric Poehlman, a researcher on aging at the University of Vermont, was prosecuted for grant fraud in 2005 after falsifying data in as many as 17 grant applications in a period of over eight years. He was the first academic in the United States to be jailed for falsifying data in a grant application.[97]

Anil Potti (cancer researcher), formerly at Duke University, is the subject of a scientific misconduct investigation alleging that he falsified results of cancer genomics data. To date, ten of his publications have been retracted.[98]

Scott Reuben (medical management of pain)[99]

Karen M. Ruggiero (social psychology), fabricated data on at least five experiments while at Harvard University on research regarding gender and discrimination in studies supported by NIH[100][101][102]

Eric J. Smart, nutrition researcher, associate professor and vice-chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and the Barnstable-Brown Chair in Diabetes Research at the University of Kentucky, was censured in November 2012 by the US government’s Office of Research Integrity for a career of scientific misconduct that lasted over 10 years.[103] According to the allegations in the report, published in the Federal Register, he falsified data in at least 10 papers and many grant applications.[104]

Luk Van Parijs (biology) multiple retractions and criminal conviction for grant fraud[105]

Weishui Weiser (immunology), falsifying data in biomedical research supported by two Public Health Service (PHS) grants.[106][107]

Why do wise people do unwise things?

Wisdom and Torah don’t empower us to live by them.

We mess up.

Three uses of the law

1. Civil use (curb):helps society live civilly

2. Evangelical use (mirror): helps us see our sin and drives us to the gospel

3. Instructional use (guide):to instruct or guide, by the power of the Holy Spirit, for one who has been reconciled with Christ.(Galatians 5-6)