Review in: The Journal of Religion
Gevonden
op: http://www.academicroom.com/bookreview/proverbs-commentary
RICHARD J. CLIFFORD, Proverbs:
A Commentary (The Old Testament Library), Westminster John Knox Press,
1999. xvi+286 pp. $39.95 (cloth).
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In the
preface to this latest commentary on Proverbs, the author begins with the interesting
and disarming comment that the specific instructions of the biblical book are
actually somewhat lacking in content and that the composition as a whole is
often considered banal. Clifford's aim is to demonstrate why such a text, even if
short on data or drama, is still valuable and worthy of appreciation. Proverbs
weaves for its reader not so much a series of facts as an overarching perspective
on the world and does so not through an exciting plot but through an engaging
rhetoric. These two elements, the book's perspective and rhetoric, are what Clifford
chooses to develop as his points of focus, and he does so with great success.
The book
opens with an introduction that discusses standard matters for a commentary. A
thorough analysis of ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature highlights what
Proverbs shares with the wisdom genre, as well as its own distinctive
characteristics. Shared principles are that wisdom implies practical rather than
theoretical knowledge, that wisdom is given to humanity by the god(s) through
intermediary beings, and finally that it is distilled through human institutions
and authorities (pp. 8-9). These three points are important throughout the
commentary and are instructive for the modern reader, whose tendency will be to
approach Proverbs with different cultural assumptions about wisdom. Clifford
goes on to discuss ideas specific to Proverbs, of which there are five: the world
is "self-righting"; wisdom signifies notjust intelligence butjustice
and piety; choices depend on a "psychology of human freedom"; all
lives are confronted with "the two ways"; and related to the two ways
is the notion that people encounter many things and events in the form of
"paired types" (pp. 19-23).
Of many
items of interest from Clifford's discussion, three in particular come to mind.
First, he highlights the fact that in Proverbs the individual achieves wisdom
only through extensive hard work and discipline, to the point of experiencing
real distress. One must be willing "to bear pain and contradiction if need
be" (p. 33), and divine favor does not guarantee ease since it may entail
suffering (p. 53; also p. 129). These remarks show that Proverbs does not take
quite as simplistic and rosy a view of the world as might seem to be the case
in comparison with the more dramatic Job or somber Ecclesiastes.
Second, the
repeated pairing in chapters 1-9 of lady wisdom and the foolish woman does not
mean that impediments to wisdom are represented only by malicious women; in
fact, deceptive and malignant men are just as actively trying to woo young
people into the wrong choices, using the same kind of language (p. 39). Bad
company can be found anywhere.
Third,
Clifford suggests that personified Wisdom, rather than being a hypostasis of
Yahweh or a goddess in her own right, is at least partly related to the ummanu,
the culture bringers in Mesopotamian mythology who were semidivine mediators
between humanity and the gods (pp. 23-28, 43). This explains the meaning of
'am& in 8:30, a difficult and widely debated verse. In this speech by
Wisdom, she is using a loanword from ummanu, (improperly vocalized by the Masoretes)
to identify herself as an intermediary heavenly sage (pp. 100-101). A Mesopotamian
background is also brought to bear on 26: 16, which the commentary explains as
a reference to the seven apkallu, pre-Flood sages who bestowed learning on
humanity (p. 233). While the evidence is not conclusive, these suggestions are
thought-provoking, especially in light of the author's earlier reminder that
ancient thinkers commonly assumed wisdom was mediated to humanity from the
god(s). Because the broader mythological background is no longer familiar,
modern readers may be struggling to understand the nuances of a personification,
especially in chapter 8, which in the ancient context was more straightforward.
Throughout
the commentary the reader cannot fail to notice Clifford's own obvious
appreciation for Proverbs. He delights in the poetry, constantly pointing to
lines written with assonance, word play, and syllabic reversals (e.g., 13:20, p.
139; 19:28, p. 179), and he has a good eye for the shades of gray and complexity
in the difficult search for wisdom. On the whole, his project effectively
unfolds the rich cultural framework and the subtleties of a book that is
sometimes regarded as mundane, when in fact its attempt to articulate a method
for achieving a workable human community. ???.
SHANNON BURKES,
Florida State University.
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