Wealth and Poverty

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The Discourse o f Wealth and Poverty in the Book o f Proverbs
By
Timothy J. Sandoval
Doctor of Philosophy
Graduate Division of Religion
f /" " " I /
Carol A. Newsom
Advisor
Martin J.%uss
Committee Member
Steign J.^<
Committee Member
Accepted:
Dean o f the Graduate School
The Discourse of Wealth and Poverty
in the Book of Proverbs
By
Timothy J. Sandoval
M. Div. Princeton Theological Seminary, 1993
A.B. University of California, Davis, 1990
Adviser: Carol A. Newsom
An Abstract of
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate
School o f Emory University in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
2004
Scholars studying the book of Proverbs almost universally describe the books discourse
of wealth and poverty as inconsistent or ambiguous. This dissertation argues that
although the book is complex, its discourse of wealth and poverty is more coherent than
is usually thought, and is actually comprised of three distinct, but related sub-discourses
of wealth and poverty: a wisdoms virtues discourse, which seeks to value virtue and vice
by means of wealth and poverty language in order to persuade the hearer or reader to
choose wisdoms virtuous path; a discourse of social justice, which seeks to construct a
concrete economic ethic for the hearer or reader and which underscores especially the
importance of fair economic practices and the virtue of kindness to the poor, and; a
discourse of social observation, which observes various social realities regarding wealth
and poverty, but implicitly critiques such realities. The moral impulses and patterns of
language use established by a core of proverbs belonging to the wisdoms virtues
discourse and the discourse of social observation constitute what Paul Ricoeur might call
the architecture of Proverbs discourse of wealth and poverty, and what I call the texts
moral and literary Gestalt. This Gestalt provides the hermeneutical lens for recognizing
which remaining wealth and poverty proverbs belong to the books discourse of social
justice and which to the wisdoms virtues discourse. It also permits one both to recognize
the discourse of social observation as a distinct set of proverbs and to recognize the
nature of the observations these sayings offer. The key to discerning the three sub
discourses of wealth and poverty in Proverbs is recognizing the texts figurative
interpretive possibilities. Several features of the book point to these possibilities: its
programmatic prologue in Prov 1:1-7, which invites the hearer or reader of the book to
discern the texts tropes and figures; the literary form of much of the book, which
consists o f short, folk-like proverbs that evoke the communicative strategies and
metaphorical uses o f folk proverbs; and various features internal to the various proverbs
themselves, which demand the sayings be read in a non-literal sense.
The Discourse of Wealth and Poverty
in the Book of Proverbs
By
Timothy J. Sandoval
M. Div. Princeton Theological Seminary, 1993
A.B. University of California, Davis, 1990
Adviser: Carol A. Newsom
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate

School o f Emory University in partial fulfillment
o f the requirements for the degree of
2004
UMI Number: 3123360
Copyright 2004 by
Sandoval, Timothy J.
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1
Why This Text? ............................................................... 4
Proverbs and Metaphorical Language ................... 6
Paul Ricoeur and Metaphor ........................... 6
Folk Proverbs and M etaphor...................................... 12
Metaphoricity and the Gestalt o f Proverbs ............. 15
Extra-Contextual Signs of Metaphoricity ....... 18
Contextual Signs of Metaphoricity ......................... 20
The Analysis of Discourse .................................................. 22
Procedures ............................................................... 25
The Textual ................................. 26
The Extra Textual ................................. .... 26
Conclusions .................................................. ........................ 30
CHAPTER I ........................................................................................ 32
THE DISCOURSE OF WEALTH AND POVERTY IN PROVERBS
Proverbs, Wealth, and Poverty ........ .. ................. .. 32
The Ambiguity of Wealth and Poverty in Proverbs . . 34
The Scribes of Proverbs ..................................... 44
The Date o f Proverbs................. ................................. 46
Conclusions ........ ...................... .. 48
The Instruction o f Proverbs 1-9 and 10-29 (31) ....... 48
The Prologues Virtues ...................................... 50
The Prologue as Hermeneutical Cue ............. 56
The Two Ways as Hermeneutical Orientation ... 63
Wealth as Motivational Symbol ............. 65
The Act-Consequence Nexus ........ .. ............... 70
Conclusion and Thesis .......... .................. 76
CHAPTER H ....................... ..................................... 81
THE DISCOURSE OF WEALTH AND POVERTY IN

PROVERBS 1-9
Wealth as Motivational Symbol in Proverbs 1 (1:10-19) . . . 81
Wealth as Motivational Symbol in Proverbs 2-9....... ............... 87
Proverbs 2:4-5............ .................................................... 87
Proverbs 3:14-16............................... .............. .. 90
Proverbs 4:5-9............ .................................................... 95
Proverbs 8:10-11 103
Proverbs 8:18-21 . 106
Direct Instruction in Proverbs 1-9 117
Proverbs 3:9-10 118
Proverbs 3:27-28 121
Proverbs 6:1-5 123
Conclusions ...................................................... ....................... 130
CHAPTER I II .................. 132
THE WISDOMS VIRTUES DISCOURSE AND THE DISCOURSE

OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IN PROVERBS 10-29 (31)
The Wisdoms Virtues Discourse in Proverbs 10-29 (31) .. 135
Characteristics ........................................ 135
Figurative Wealth and Poverty Sayings ........ 137
Further Figurative Sayings ................. 144
The Comparative Valuing .................... 149
The Value o f Diligence ........................................ 156
Conclusions ................................................ 163
The Discourse o f Social Justice in Proverbs 10-29 ( 3 1 ) ......... 165
Characteristics ................. 165
Justice in Economic Practices ............................ 167
Kindness to the P o o r ......................................... 169
Social Justice and the King .................... 173
Conclusions ...................................................... 179
CHAPTER IV ...................................................... 181
THE GESTALT OF PROVERBS AND THE DISCOURSE OF

SOCLAL OBSERVATION IN PROVERBS 10-29 (31)
The Wisdoms Virtues Discourse Revisited ................. 182
Righteousness and (Wicked) Wealth . ............... 183
Wealth, Poverty, and the Tropes of the Wise .. . . . . . . 195
Other Discourses of Desire .......... 205
The Discourse o f Social Justice Revisited ............................ 211
Care for the Poor ............ 212
The Divine Concern for the Poor .......... 214
Royalty and Justice for the Poor ........................... 215
The Discourse o f Social Observation in Proverbs 10-29 (21) 218
Characteristics .................................................... 218
Excessive Wealth, Lack, and the Rich ................. 220
The Critique of Wealths Social Ties .......... 227
Ironic Wealth and Poverty Sayings ............................. 232
The Woman o f W orth .......... 236
CONCLUSION ........................................... 241
The Social-Historical Setting ............ 248
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................... 253
1
INTRODUCTION
Wealth and poverty and rich and poor are terms that belong not only to the
realm of economic discourse but to ethics as well. They involve a recognition of the
unequal distribution of material goods in a society and so at the very least highlight issues
of distributive justice, which is concerned with understanding why there are material
inequalities in a particular society, how those inequalities are justified, ought to be
justified, ought to be mitigated, or not. Yet matters of distribution are also intimately
linked to the way a particular society structures its social relationships and corresponding
social responsibilities-that is, how it answers the question of the appropriate ordering of
human relationships. Discourses that have much to say about wealth and poverty reflect
not only how problems surrounding the distribution of material goods are negotiated, but
are part of the broader cultures creation of value, meaning, and significance its entire
moral universe. The practice of unfolding and explicating various discourses of wealth
and poverty allows one to glimpse how such discourses are related to this wider context.
Although the discourse of wealth and poverty is not the only kind of moral
discourse in the Hebrew Bible, it is one that exercised a particularly important role on the
moral imagination of Israelite and Judean (Yehud) society. Such economic rhetoric is
taken up in different ways in every division of the Hebrew Scriptures.1 Ancient Israels
1 Note for instance the number of studies on the poor in the Psalms, which include P. van den
Berghe, Ani und anaw dans les Psaumes, in Le Psaulier (ed. R. De Langhe; Louvain: Orientalia et
Biblica Loveneinsia IV, 1962), 273-95; Harris Birkeland, A niund m a w in den Psalmen (SNVAO 4;
Oslo, 1932); Alfred Rahlfs, A n iu n d anawin den Psalmen (Gottingen: Dieterich, 1892); P. A. Munch,
Einige Bemerkungen zu den 'anawim und den resaim in den Psalmen, Le Monde Oriental 30 (1936):
13-26; Susan Gillingham, The Poor in the Psalms, ExpTim 100 (1988): 15-19. Often this literature is
concerned with whether it is warranted to postulate at some point in ancient Israels or Judahs (Yehuds)
history the existence of a party o f the pious poor. See J. David Pleins, The Social Visions o f the Hebrew
Bible: A Theological Introduction (Louisville: WJK, 2001), 419-424.
2
wisdom literature is no exception.2 The canonicalincluding deutero-canonical
wisdom books o f Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, and Wisdom of Solomon, as well as
certain extra-canonical works that exhibit a number of wisdom features such as the
Epistle o f Enoch and several Qumran texts, often thematize issues of wealth and poverty
in important ways. It is, however, impossible in a single study to consider fully how the
language of poverty and riches functions in all of these books. Instead this project will
The prophetic concern with the poor and dispossessed is also a widely recognized and discussed
theme, especially for those concerned with issues of liberation and social justice. A glance at the indices of
Gustavo Gutierrezs A Theology o f Liberation (New York: Orbis, 1973) and the volume edited by Norman
K. Gottwald and Richard A. Horsley, The Bible and Liberation (rev.; New York: Orbis, 1993) is revealing.
Gutierrez makes over 80 references to the prophets (vs. 11 citations of wisdom texts). The Gottwald and
Horsley volume reveals the same situation. One should note, however, that some liberationist thinkers have
turned their attention to the biblical wisdom literature. See, for instance, Gustavo Gutierrez, On Job: God
Talk and the Suffering o f the Innocent (New York: Orbis, 1987); Diane Bergant, Israels Wisdom
Literature: A Liberation-Critical Reading (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997); Anthony R. Ceresko, Introduction
to Old Testament Wisdom: A Spirituality for Liberation (New York: Orbis, 1999); Elsa Tamez, When the
Horizons Close: Rereading Ecclesiastes (New York: Orbis, 2000).
The rights of the poor in the pentateuchal legal codes have been examined by, among others,
Norbert Lohfink, Poverty in the Laws of the Ancient Near East and of the Bible, TS 52 (1991): 34-50,
and Milton Schwantes, Das Recht der Armen (BET 4; Frankfurt: Lang, 1977)though neither limit their
study to the five books o f Moses. On the question of social justice in the larger ancient Near Eastern
context see Moshe Weinfeld, Social Justice in Ancient Israel and in the Ancient Near East (Jerusalem:
Magnes, 1995). A number o f older studies concerned with the question of (at least) the poor in the Bible
include W. W. G. Baudissin, Die alttestamentliche Religion und die Armen, Preussische Jahrbucher 149
(1912): 193-231; Hans Bruppacher, Die Beurteilung der Armut im Alten Testament (Zurich: Verlag
Seldwyla, 1924); Antonin Causse, Les Pauvres de Israel (Strasbourg: Libraire Istra, 1922); and A.
Kuschke, Arm und Reich im Alten Testament mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung der nachexilischen Zeit,
TAW 51 (1939): 31-57, whose work is noted by many. See further, Norbert Lohfink, Gottes Reich und die
Wirtschaft in der Bibel, IKathZ 15 (1986): 153-76 and Option fo r the Poor (Berkeley: Bibal, 1987).
2 Only relatively recently, however, has intensive and extensive work having to do with matters of
wealth and poverty in specifically wisdom texts begun. See, for instance, Harold C. Washington, Wealth
and Poverty in the Instruction ofAmenemope and the Hebrew Proverbs (SBLDS 142; Atlanta: Scholars
Press, 1996); Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, Wealth and Poverty: System and Contradiction in Proverbs,
Hebrew Studies 33 (1992): 25-36; Roger N. Whybray, Wealth and Poverty in the Book o f Proverbs
(Sheffield: JSOT, 1990); J. David Pleins, Poverty in the Social World of the Wise, JSOT31 (1987): 61-
78; G. H. Wittenberg, The Lexical Context of the Terminology for poor in the Book of Proverbs,
Scriptura 2 (1986): 40-85; Bmce V. Malchow, Social Justice in the Wisdom Literature, BTB 12 (1982):
120-124. See too F. Charles Fensham, Widow, Orphan, and the Poor in Ancient Near Eastern Legal and
Wisdom Literature, JNES 2 1 (1962): 129-139.
3 The book o f Job takes up the topics of wealth and poverty/rich and poor primarily as subsidiary
arguments in the context o f an exploration of issues that have been framed in other termsnamely the
possibility of disinterested piety (cf. 1:9) and the adequacy o f the moral framework shared by Job and his
friends. See Carol A. Newsom, The Book of Job: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections, NIB
4:317-637, pp. 320-25; esp. 627-32 and The Book o f Job: A Contest o f M oral Imaginations (New York:
3
detail and describe how the discourse of wealth and poverty is constructed and functions,
not in every exemplar of ancient Israelite and Jewish wisdom literature, but specifically
in the instructional book o f Proverbs.4
This project is essentially an exercise in biblical ethics a kind of sub
discipline of biblical studies that has as one of its goals a full description of the moral
contours of biblical and cognate texts.5 However, in taking up this task the work will also
Oxford University Press, 2003). The economic rhetoric of Ecclesiastes is largely peculiar to this biblical
book, though much o f its language is known from the epigraphic material o f the Levant from the Persian
period on. On the largely commercial terminology of Ecclesiastes and the book generally, see C. L. Seow,
Ecclesiastes: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB 18c; New York: Doubleday,
1997), esp. 21-35. Cf. Mitchell Dahood, The Phoenician Background of Qoheleth, Biblica 41 (1966):
264-282. See too Michael V. Fox, A Time to Tear Down and a Time to Build Up: A Rereading of
Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), esp. 51-70, 97-107, 109-119. On the topic of wealth and
poverty in Sirach, see Benjamin G. Wright III, The Discourse of Riches and Poverty in Sirach, SBL
Seminar Papers, 1998 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998), 559-578. Wright has revised this paper with Claudia
V. Camp. See, Who Has Been Tested by Gold and Found Perfect? Ben Siras Discourse of Riches and
Poverty, Henoch 23 (2001): 153-74. Cf. Oda Wischmeyer, Die Kultur des Buches Jesus Sirach (Berlin:
W. de Gruyter, 1994), esp. 51-69. On wealth and poverty in 1 Enoch see George W. E. Nickelsburg,
Revisiting the Rich and the Poor in 1 Enoch 92-105 and the Gospel o f Luke, SBL Seminar Papers, 1998
(Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998), 579-605. On the question o f wealth and poverty in Qumran documents see
Catherine M. Murphy, Wealth in the D ead Sea Scrolls and in the Qumran Community (STDJ 40; Leiden:
Brill, 2002). The most significant wisdom text from Qumran, 4QInstruction, makes important use of
especially poverty rhetoric. For a critical presentation of this text (with a commentary) see John Strugnell,
Daniel J. Harrington, and Torlief Elgvin, in consultation with Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Sapiential Texts, Part 2:
Cave 4. XXIV (DJD XXXIV; Oxford: Clarendon, 1999). On wealth and poverty in 4QInstruction see
Matthew J. Goff, The Worldly and Heavenly Wisdom o f 4QInstruction (PhD dissertation; University of
Chicago, 2002), 145-95; Murphy, Wealth in the Dead Sea Scrolls, 163-209.
4 Though some would limit the designation instruction to Proverbs 1-9, these introductory
chapters dictate how the rest o f the book is read (see below) so that it is appropriate to consider the entire
book to be instructional wisdom literature. Miriam Lichtheim similarly notes that although in Egyptian
wisdom literature the term instruction is technically limited to those works that are addressed from a
father to a son, a number of other texts that do not strictly meet this criteria are well considered
instructional. See Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book o f Readings (vol. 1; Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1973), 134. On the instruction genre and its appropriateness as a description of Proverbs
1-9 (but not the sentence material of later chapters), see William McKane, Proverbs: A New Approach
(Philadelphia: Westminster, 1970), 1-10.
5 A more complete effort at biblical ethics would subsequently take up the question of what role
the biblical witness might or ought to play in contemporary moral reflection. This study, however, is
concerned primarily with the task of describing the moral world of a classical text. Two standard Christian
handbooks or introductions to biblical ethics in English are Bruce C. Birch and Larry L. Rasmussen, Bible
and Ethics in the Christian Life (exp. and rev; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1989) and William C. Spohn, What
are They Saying About Scripture and Ethics (rev.; New York: Paulist, 1995). See further Charles E. Curran
and Richard A. McCormick, eds., The Use o f Scripture in Moral Theology (Readings in Moral Theology 4;
New York: Paulist, 1984); Thomas W. Ogletree, The Use o f the Bible in Christian Ethics (Philadelphia:
4
shed light on the question of the social setting from which the text under consideration
emerged. Hence this study of the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs will also
contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the larger moral and social
landscapes of ancient Israel and Judah as these are refracted through the particular
wisdom book o f Proverbs.
Why This Text?
The book of the Proverbs is an ideal text in which to consider the discourse of
wealth and poverty for it draws on wealth and poverty language more than any other
book in the Hebrew Bible.6 Forms derived from the root 0 -1 -1/0-"1-1 (e.g., poor
person, poverty) appear no fewer than twenty-three times (twenty times in chs. 10-29;
ten times paralleled to a form derived from the root see below). Similarly the
term ^*7 (poor, oppressed one) occurs fifteen times in Proverbs (all in chs. 10-29)
while the lexeme 110170 (lack, poverty) is attested eight times (seven times in chs.
10-29). Less frequent is II? (poor, afflicted one), which appears six to eight times
(three times in chs. 10-29) depending on how one tallies the Ketiv-Qere
Likewise (poor one) is attested only four times (one time in chs. 10-29; three
Fortress, 1983). Each of these rightly makes the distinction between the ethics of the Bible and the use of
the Bible in ethics, and is primarily concerned with the latter. A number of other studies more concerned
with the former aspect o f biblical ethics include Waldemar Janzen, Old Testament Ethics: A
Paradigmatic Approach (Louisville: WJK, 1994). Mary E. Mills considers the ethics ofbibhcal narratives
in Biblical Morality: M oral Perspectives in Old Testament Narratives (Aldershot, England: Ashgate,
2001). John Bartons Understanding Old Testament Ethics: Approaches and Explorations (Louisville:
WJK, 2003) is concerned with the range of issues in biblical ethics. On the wisdom literature and Proverbs
in particular, see Holger Delkurt, Ethische Einsichten in der Altestamentlichen Spruchweisheit (BTS 21;
Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1993).
6 Washington, Wealth and Poverty, 1.
5
times in chs. 30-31). By contrast, the term T 0 U (rich person) appears nine times (all
in chs. 10-29) while (riches) also is attested nine times (six times in chs. 10-29).
Verbal forms o f the root appear on at least five more occasions (all in chs. 10-
29). The common term ]1H (wealth), too, is attested some eighteen times throughout
Proverbs (twelve times in chs. 10-29).
Of course the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs is not limited to the
terms just noted. These simply are the primary lexemes the text employs and provide the
organizational starting point of this study. An examination of other motifs and
terminology, which might properly be understood as forming and informing the larger
discourse of wealth and poverty, will necessarily be included as wellnotably the
rhetorics of desire and laziness, terms denoting precious metals, as well as the economic
terminology of weights and measures, borrowing, lending, surety, money, and exchange.7
The discourse o f wealth and poverty in Proverbs is also important to consider
because this book is the template against which other biblical and early Jewish wisdom
texts are read and judged.8 Careful study of the economic rhetoric of Proverbs will
provide a fuller framework against which the wealth and poverty language of these other
wisdom works, which emerge from different social, economic, and political contexts,
might be compared.
7 Cf. Whybray, Wealth and Poverty, 11-15 who offers an extensive listing of Hebrew terms that
might be said to belong to the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs.
8 As Dianne Bergant states: The book of Proverbs is the basic source of the study of biblical
wisdom. See Israels Wisdom Literature, 78.
Finally, a consideration of the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs is
appropriate because the precise nature of the books treatment of this topic is something
that has continually eluded interpreters. However, before considering this issue more
fully in chapter one, two further matters need to be considered. The first is the nature of
metaphor, for metaphoric and figurative language, as I will show, plays an important role
in the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs. The second is the notion of
discourse, for what a discourse is and what it might mean to analyze a discourse is not
necessarily self-evident.
Proverbs and Metaphorical Language
One of the most important characteristics of the discourse of wealth and poverty
in Proverbs is its figurative or metaphoric quality. Without understanding something of
the nature o f this figurative language it is impossible to understand fully the books talk
about wealth and poverty.
Proverbs constructs for its readers a symbolic moral world. In this process of
construction it is possible to discern aspects of the texts discourse of wealth and poverty
that point to the appropriateness and necessity of considering the books figurative
imagination. Features internal to various proverbial sayings along with the books
programmatic prologue and the form of its short sentence sayings all point to the texts
figurative quality.
Paul Ricoeur and Metaphor
Paul Ricoeur, as part of a larger intellectual project in which he seeks to preserve
the truth value of literature and religious languagei.e., all forms of poetic discourse
7
which are non-descriptive or do not attempt to refer immediately to the world of
objectshas offered a powerful account of metaphor. Ricoeurs work is suggestive for
studying the discourse o f wealth and poverty in Proverbs, not only because it offers a
helpful model of how metaphors themselves work, but because of two further notions.
The first is his suggestion that a literary text opens up a view of a possible world that
eclipses the tangible, objective worlda view that can be said to correspond to the
patterns of value and meaning that might be discerned in a particular discourse. The
second notion (which will be treated at the end of this chapter) has to do with his efforts
to indicate how a text, which may not initially appear metaphorical, might reveal certain
aspects of metaphoricity.
Ricoeur believes that when considering metaphor it is best to speak of
metaphorical utterances rather than the metaphorical use of a word. For Ricoeur,
metaphor takes place on the level of the sentence, not the level of the word; it has to do
primarily with the semantics of the sentence rather than the semantics of a word. A
metaphor, for Ricoeur, is bom out of the tension between all the terms in a
metaphorical utterance.9 However, the tension in a metaphorical utterance is really not
something that occurs between two terms in the utterance, but rather between two
opposed interpretations o f the utterance.10It involves the difficulty or absurdity that
arises when one attempts to interpret a metaphorical utterance literally. As Ricoeur
9 Paul Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus o f Meaning (Fort Worth: Texas
Christian University Press, 1976), 49-50. Cf. Paul Ricoeur, Biblical Hermeneutics, in Paul Ricoeur on
Biblical Hermeneutics (Semeia 4; ed. John Dominic Crossan; Missoula, MT: Society of Biblical Literature,
1975), 77. Most of what follows is based on these two works. However, Ricoeurs discussions in
Interpretation Theory and Biblical Hermeneutics are essentially distillations of aspects of his major
work, The Rule o f Metaphor: Multi-disciplinary Studies o f the Creation o f Meaning (Toronto: University of
Toronto Press, 1977); French original 1975. A brief and convenient introduction to Ricoeurs thought is
Karl Simms Paul Ricoeur (RCT; London: Routledge, 2003).
10 Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory, 50; cf. Biblical Hermeneutics, 77.
explains, the metaphorical interpretation presupposes a literal interpretation which self-
destructs in a significant contradiction.11
This contradiction, however, is resolved by means of what Ricoeur calls
resemblance-the previously unnoticed kinship between two concepts that the
metaphor awakens.12For Ricoeur, what is at stake in a metaphorical statement is making
a kinship appear where ordinary vision perceives no mutual appropriateness at all.13
Resemblance renders close that which was distant and the best metaphors institute a
resemblance rather than merely register one.14 Put otherwise, resemblance involves a
kind of cognitive and affective mapping between two different conceptual domains,
which Ricoeur, in borrowing from LA. Richards, calls the tenor and vehicle of the
metaphor. In the idiom of the cognitive metaphor theory of George Lakoff and Mark
Turner, this is a mapping between a source domain and a target domain.15 For
instance, the important metaphoric claim in Proverbs that WISDOM IS A WOMAN,
which is not explicitly stated but implied through the personification of wisdom, involves
the tension created in attempting to understand such a claim literally and subsequently the
hermeneutical need for mapping aspects of a conception of woman (the source domain)
onto wisdom (the target domain).16
11 Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory, 50; cf. Biblical Hermeneutics, 77-78.
13 Ricoeur, Biblical Hermeneutics, 78-79.
14 Ricoeur, Biblical Hermeneutics, 79.
15 George Lakoff and Mark Turner, M ore Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989); cf. George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live
By (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990).
16 The practice of placing in capital letters all the terms of a particular metaphor that is being
Hence Ricoeur can speak of metaphorical utterances as signifying both what is
and what is not. The metaphoric utterance both is and is not its literal interpretation.17
The literal is is overturned by the absurdity and surmounted by a metaphorical is
equivalent to is like.18Ricoeur recognizes, however, that with the metaphorical
utterance there are really not two significations, one literal and the other symbolic, but
rather a single movement which transfers the interpreter from one level to another.19
The primary (literal) signification of an utterance is the means to the secondary
(metaphorical) signification. The secondary signification comes by means of, or
through, the literal one.20 Ricoeur can even state that there is no other way to do justice
to the notion of metaphorical truth than to include the critical incision of the (literal) is
not within the ontological vehemence of the (metaphorical) is.21
This suggests the metaphoric process is essentially a creation of meaning.22 For
Ricoeur, a metaphor is not a mere ornament of discourse, as he argues certain post-
Aristotelian representatives of classical rhetoric conceived it, but says something new
about reality.23 This creation of meaning, however, has to do not simply with what a
statement says literally, but with what Ricoeur calls its reference, the sort of world
analyzed is adopted from Lakoff and Johnson, Metaphors We Live By and Lakoff and Johnson, Cool
Reason.
19 Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory, 55.
21 Ricoeur, The Rule o f Metaphor, 255.
23 Ricoeur, Biblical Hermeneutics, 76, 80; cf. Interpretation Theory, 46-48.
10
which the work opens up in front o f the text.24A metaphorical statement is able to
construct a new vision o f reality, one which is resisted by ordinary vision tied to the
ordinary use of words. Distinguishing between first and second orders of reference,
Ricoeur suggests metaphoric language, like poetic (i.e., non-descriptive) language in
general, weakens the first order reference of ordinary language (tied to literal
interpretation) so that the second order reference (tied to metaphorical interpretation)
might be revealed.25 As a species of poetic language, metaphor has the power not to
show us a world already there, as does descriptive or didactic language, but to eclipse
the objective, manipulable world and redescribe what is in a certain way.26
Metaphorical utterances thus have what Ricoeur calls a denotative function. However, it
is not the case that with the denotative aspects of a metaphorical utterance the brute facts
of reality are somehow altered. Rather poetic, metaphorical language changes ones view
of, or relationship to, reality.27
As I indicated earlier, Ricoeurs interest in metaphor is part o f his larger project
concerned with preserving the truth value of poetic utterances. In later writings Ricoeur
moves away from describing this truth with the language of reference and questions the
power of poetic language to transform life by means of a kind of short-circuit operating
between the seeing-as, characteristic of the metaphorical utterance and being-as, as its
24 Ricoeur, Biblical Hermeneutics, 82; italics original. Cf. Interpretation Theory, 56-57.
25 Ricoeur, Biblical Hermeneutics, 84; cf. Interpretation Theory, 56-57.
26 Ricoeur, Biblical Hermeneutics, 87; italics original. C f Interpretation Theory, 60.
27 Cf Kirsten Nielsen, There is Hope For a Tree: The Tree as Metaphor in Isaiah (JSOTSup 65;
Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989), 55-56.
11
ontological correlate.28 Rather he seems to become convinced of a need for what might
be called, in the idiom o f Hans-Georg Gadamer, a fusion between the horizon o f the text
and the horizon o f the interpreter.29He becomes convinced that the passage from
configuration to refiguration required the confrontation between two worlds, the Active
world of the text and the real world of the reader.30 Although this aspect of his thought is
more fully articulated in later studies, Ricoeur gestures toward the need for a kind of
fusion of horizons in earlier works (such as those informing this discussion).31 What is
nonetheless clear early on and important for our purposes here, however, is Ricoeurs
insistence on a texts ability to construct for a reader a symbolic world.
Ricoeurs considerations of metaphor, finally, are also important for studying
wealth and poverty in Proverbs because this sort of economic language is often deployed
in relation to wisdom and virtue in such a way that the books wealth and poverty
utterances are often regarded as only, or primarily, literal language. As I just suggested,
however, Ricoeur reminds us that a text may not only describe reality in a literal, or
empirically verifiable and descriptive fashion, but it may actively create a (symbolic-
textual) world. Yet more than this, Ricoeur reminds us that in analyzing certain
utterances it is not a matter of choosing between metaphorical or literal meanings, but is
28 Paul Ricoeur, Time and Narrative, vol. 3 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), 159; cf.
Biblical Hermeneutics, 95-96.
29 See Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method (2nd rev. edition; New York: Continuum, 1994),
esp. 306-7; German original 1960. Cf. Joel C. Weinsheimer, Gadamer's Hermeneutics: A Reading o f Truth
and Method (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985), esp. 183-84.
30 Ricoeur, Time and Narrative, 159.
31 Cf. Biblical Hermeneutics, 95-96. Already in 1971 in From Existentialism to the Philosophy
of Language, Criterion 10, 3 (Spring 1971), which is re-printed as an appendix to the University of
Toronto Press edition of The Rule o f Metaphor, Ricoeur alludes to Gadamers fusion of horizons (p. 319).
See too Interpretation Theory, 93.
12
rather a matter of recognizing the possibility of both, of recognizing that metaphorical
meaning is reached through the literal. To neglect attending to one or the other levels of
meaning in a text, where metaphorical language is deployed, is to under read. However,
the difficulty with certain kinds of metaphorical utterances, including proverbial sayings,
which are not always unambiguously marked by an absurdity when interpreted literally,
is knowing when a metaphorical interpretation is warranted. Ricoeur treats this question
as well, as I will suggest below. Yet it is a question that in relation to Proverbs can be
addressed in a number of ways.
Folk Proverbs and Metaphor
One of the clearest signs in Proverbs that intimates at least aspects of the books
discourse might legitimately be viewed in figurative terms is the texts significant use of
short, sentence sayings that formally resemble folk proverbsthe usually anonymous,
brief, pithy, oral statements that are thought to represent the collective wisdom of a
particular social formation. Paremiologists, who are concerned with the study of the folk
proverbs of different cultures and peoples, recognize the use of metaphoric language to
be a staple of proverbial speech. Wolfgang Mieder, for instance, writes that there is
hardly any need for us to quote examples of proverbs containing metaphors.32 Yet he
continues his discussion by quoting several proverbs that employ metaphoric language,
such as personification, in: Clean brooms sweep clean and The pitcher goes to the
well until it breaks at last. But he also mentions: All that glitters is not gold and
Dont look a gift horse in the mouth. These last two examples, however, make perfect
sense when understood as literal utterances (Mieders book actually includes a sketch of a
32 Wolfgang Mieder, Proverbs are Never Out o f Season (New York: Oxford University Press,
1993), 9.
13
man looking into the mouth of a horse, presumably an equine present). What Mieder
seems to mean by his claim regarding metaphors and folk proverbs is not only that folk
sayings employ metaphors, but that folk sayings are regularly intended and understood
metaphorically. There exists a commonplace recognition that even though a proverbial
utterance may make perfect sense when taken literally, it should not be so understood
because proverbs by their nature (i.e., their regular usage) are concerned to say
something metaphorically about human beings, the world, or the ways and concerns of
human beings in the world. More specifically, they are used to say something generally
about human beings and their existence in relation to quite particular contexts of human
life.
Paremiologists like Mieder are keen to underscore the important role context and
proverb performance plays in understanding what a proverb means metaphorically.
Archie Taylor, perhaps the most celebrated modem student of proverbs, for instance,
writes that proverbs are not easily recognized as proverbial unless we have heard them
applied to particular situations.33 Similarly Ruth Finnegan states that knowledge of the
situations in which proverbs are cited may also be an essential part of understanding their
implications. She cites an African Fante elder approvingly: There is no proverb without
the situation.34Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett likewise avers that a proverbs meaning
and truth are conditioned by the context.35
33 Archie Taylor, The Wisdom of Many and the Wit of One, in The Wisdom o f Many: Essays on
the Proverb (ed. Wolfgang Mieder and Alan Dundes; New York: Garland, 1981), 6. This essay is a reprint
of the Swathmore College Bulletin, 54 (1962): 4-7.
34 Ruth Finnegan, Proverbs in Africa, in The Wisdom o f Many, 19, 27; cf. 15, 23-24, 32. This
essay is a reprint of Finnegans Oral Literature in Africa (Oxford: Clarendon, 1970), 389-418.
35 Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Toward a Theory of Proverb Meaning, in The Wisdom of
Paremiologists like those just cited, however, are often more adept at indicating
that any particular folk proverb might mean different things when uttered in different
particular contexts than they are at explaining how and why proverbs are metaphorical.36
By contrast, Peter Seitel, in his article, Proverbs: A Social Use of Metaphor, not only
underscores the importance of the context of proverbial performance for understanding
folk proverbs, but seeks to offer an adequate model of how proverbs function
metaphorically. He attempts to take into consideration the relationship between: 1) the
speaker and hearer(s) of a proverb (e.g., questions of age, sex, status, etc.); 2) the
substantive terms of the proverb situation (i.e., the relationship between terms in the
proverb itself); and 3) the particular social situation to which the proverb is applied.37
(An example Seitel offers is, If one finger brought oil, it soiled the others, spoken by a
father to a son to encourage the son to choose companions wisely). Seitel both recognizes
the possibility of metaphorical aspects within proverbial statements (i.e., what Ricoeur
might call the absurdity or difficulty that a simple, literal interpretation creates), but also
insists that the relationship expressed by the proverbs imagery needs to be mapped onto
the human sphere. Seitel is concerned that one tend to the metaphorical relationship
between the imagined situation presented in the proverb and the social situation to which
it refers.38 Other paremiologists make similar, though usually less explicit, suggestions
Many, 115; cf. 119. This essay is a reprint of Proverbium 22 (1973): 821-827.
36 Each of the scholars cited above likewise recognizes that broader forms of cultural knowledge
(e.g., founding myths, etc.) might be vital for properly understanding forms of proverbial speech in any
particular society.
37 Peter Seitel, Proverbs: A Social Use of Metaphor, in The Wisdom o f Many, 126-128. This
essay is a reprint o f Genre 2 (1969): 143-161. Cf. Robert M. Hamish, Communicating With Proverbs,
Communication & Cognition 26 (1993): 265-290.
38 Seitel, Social Use of Metaphor, 126; italics added.
regarding a proverbs ability to speak to human existence and concerns.39
These notions of a proverbs metaphorical relationship to a specific social
situation are similar to what Lakoff and Turner have to say about the metaphorical nature
of proverbs. For Lakoff and Turner, proverbs concern people, though they often look
superficially as if they concern other things. Through the workings of a conglomeration
of conceptual processes, proverbs offer us ways of comprehending the complex faculties
of human beings in terms o f these other things.40They allow us to comprehend general
human character traits in terms of well-understood non-human attributes.41 Hence for
Lakoff and Turner, the implicit target domain of proverbs is regularly human life and
behavior, even though this is not necessarily mentioned by the proverb itself.42 This
connection between the images internal to a proverb and human life is essentially what
Seitel is getting at when he speaks of the social situation to which it [a proverb] refers.
Metaphoricity and the Gestalt o f Proverbs
As was intimated above, however, the problem with certain metaphorical
statements, including a good deal of material in the book of Proverbs, is that a literal
interpretation does not produce an immediate or unambiguous absurdity. In such
instances the question becomes how one knows a particular utterance is to be understood
not only literally, but also metaphorically; in Ricoeurs terms, how one knows to
39 See Taylor, The Wisdom of Many, 5; Finnegan, Proverbs in Africa, 17.
40 Lakoff and Turner, Cool Reason, 166. Lakoff and Turner refer to the conglomeration of
processes that enable proper understanding o f folk proverbs as the Great Chain Metaphor. See especially
Cool Reason, 170-180.
41 Lakoff and Turner continue: And conversely it allows us to comprehend less well-understood
aspects o f the nature of animals and objects in terms of better-understood human characteristics. Lakoff
and Turner, Cool Reason, 111.
42 Lakoff and Turner, Cool Reason, 174.
16
understand an utterance in terms of the metaphorical is not and not merely the literal
is; or in Lakoff s and Turners terms, how one knows a proverb is speaking not only of
what it literally says, but o f broader concerns of human life.
Paremiologists like Seitel and others cited above, as well as Lakoff and Turner,
seem to assume that with folk proverbs one simply knows.43 As I suggested, however,
these writers each recognize the importance of context in this almost intuitive knowing.
Hence Lakoff and Turner recognize that a proverb might, in fact, in certain instances be
understood literally, as when the words big thunder, little rain are uttered by a person
experiencing slight precipitation after having heard the loud crackling of an electrical
storm; they recognize too that this proverbbig thunder, little rainmight not be used
specifically to speak o f human character, say ineffectual bragging, but to say something
perhaps even of a vociferous dog, which is all bark and no bite. Lakoff and Turner,
however, also acknowledge that a proverb in a collection, i.e., divorced from a
performance context, can nonetheless be understoodi.e., recognized as meaningful
because readers and hearers know proverbs normally function metaphorically to speak to
the context o f human life and the questions and concerns o f human existence.44
Seitel and Lakoff and Turner are thus concerned primarily with the particular
context of the proverb performance, while also underscoring the broader context of
human life generally as central to understanding proverbs.45 Although Ricoeur is
concerned with a variety of types of literary speech, and not specifically the oral folk
43 Though again, through their notion of the Great Chain Metaphor, Lakoff and Turner attempt
to describe how one knows. See Cool Reason, 170-180.
44 See Lakoff and Turner, Cool Reason, 173-176.
45 Lakoff and Turner, at least, would likely recognize the influence a literary context might
exercise on proverb meaning as well.
17
proverb, his understanding of certain kinds of figurative utterances appears analogous to
Lakoff s and Turners. In speaking of the narratives of the parables of Jesus, for instance,
he notes that the clues they provide for a metaphorical understanding are too implicit
and elusive to be noticed beside the interference of the most important clues given by the
[larger literary] context.46
This is significant, for at this point Ricoeur is moving more fully into the realm of
hermeneutics and is concerned with the production of meaning at the level of discourse,
here understood as the structure of a work as a whole. This structureor what Ricoeur
calls a texts architecture and what I call a texts Gestaltprovides a kind of
interpretive context for the various utterances that make up the whole. It is significant for
interpretation o f the various components of a discourse and the discourse as a whole.47 As
Ricoeur puts it, however, this Gestalt cannot be derived from that of the single
sentences, because the text as such has a kind of plurivocity, which is other than the
polysemy of individual words, and other than the ambiguity of individual sentences.
Discerning this Gestalt, however, is a kind of guess so that the reconstruction of the
texts architecture ... takes the form of a circular process. As Ricoeur puts it, the
presupposition o f a certain kind of whole is implied in the recognition of the parts. And
reciprocally, it is in construing the details that we construe the whole.48 The moral and
literary Gestalt o f Proverbs, I will show, is an important aspect of the book that prompts a
reader to understand a number of its wealth and poverty utterances not merely in terms of
the literal is, but in terms of the metaphorical is not.
18
Extra-Contextual Signs o f Metaphoricity
Despite his emphasis on the role of literary context, or the larger discourse, in
recognizing metaphorical utterances, Ricoeur also offers some thoughts regarding how
one might, apart from an explicit prompt from this context, discern signs of
metaphoricity in a text. Although in his essay on biblical hermeneutics Ricoeur is
concerned in particular with the narratives of the Gospel parables, some of his musings
are suggestive for the discovery of such extra-contextual signs of metaphoricity in
Proverbs.49
In his discussion of the parables of Jesus, Ricoeur first notes the work of John
Dominic Crossan. Crossan, according to Ricoeur, suggests that it is the normalcy of the
parables that evokes metaphorical interpretation of them. The parable is a case of
understatement which means the most by saying the least; it should be interpreted
metaphorically because it pretends to be plain and trivial.50 The characteristic of
normalcy might likewise be said to be a sign of metaphoricity in the sentence sayings of
Proverbs, which are also often described as plain and trivial. However, Ricoeur
indicates that even if Crossan is correct, the metaphorical understanding of New
Testament parables is also largely a result of their literary contexts, which often provide
the reader with an explicit literary cue: let those who have ears hear!51 As I will show
below in Chapter I, the prologue of Proverbs likewise contains such a cue for its readers.
Pace Crossan, Ricoeur himself suggests that rather than its normalcy, it is the
extravagance of the parable, its mixing of the ordinary with the extra-ordinary, which
51 Ricoeur, Biblical Hermeneutics, 98, 100.
19
serves as a sign of its metaphoricity. In Proverbs perhaps one might consider the claims
of what is commonly called the act-consequence nexus, with its assertion that the wise
and righteous will prosper and the wicked perish, as an extravagance that signals the
metaphorical aspects or possibilities in this book.52
However, Ricoeurs extension of the notion of tension in metaphorical utterances
offers a related and more profitable approach to understanding how the extravagant
claims of an act-consequence notion hint at metaphoricity in Proverbs. Ricoeur speaks
not only of the tension between terms in a metaphor, or the tension in interpretation that
arises when one attempts to understand a metaphorical utterance literally. He also speaks
of a tension at the level of reality itself between description and redescription.53 This
kind of tension is to be found in discourses (such as the Gospel parables) where there is
little or no tension between terms in an utterance (i.e., between the tenor and vehicle) and
little tension between literal and metaphorical interpretations of statements. The tension
rather is between the world the text projects and normal perceptions o f the world of
objects. Put otherwise, the tension obtains between the scene and everyday life and
reality; or between the insight displayed by the fiction and our ordinary way of looking
at things.54 This tension, analogous to the tension that arises when one attempts to
understand a metaphor literally, forces one to understand the world o f the text as
precisely that, a world the text figures and not some literal, empirically verifiable
description of the world of objects.55
52 On the act-consequence notion in Proverbs, see below.
54 Ricoeur, Biblical Hermeneutics, 94-95; cf. Time and Narrative, 159.
20
Contextual Signs o f Metaphoricity
Any o f these potential signs of metaphoricity, or more likely a combination of
them, might be regarded as the non-contextual clues in Proverbs that indicate one should
read this book with an eye to its more figurative interpretive possibilities. Nevertheless,
in Proverbs extra-contextual signs of metaphoricity combine with at least two clues from
the literary context to elicit the readers attention to the texts metaphorical qualities.
First, as I intimated above and will argue below in Chapter I, the books prologue (1:2-7)
acts as a kind o f hermeneutical guide for the reader and provides a strong, initial literary
cue for recognizing the metaphorical aspects of at least chapters 1-9. It is, in a sense,
functionally equivalent to the parables let those who have ears, hear.56 A second
literary cue concerns the short, folk-like sayings that regularly function metaphorically to
say something about human life and which comprise considerably more than half of the
book. Although the sentence sayings in the book of Proverbs (see especially 10:1-22:16
and 25-29) are, in the form we now have them, the product of a scribal elite and so
ultimately of a different order than the folk proverbs studied by paremiologists (see
Chapter I below), they are nevertheless related to and resemble such proverbs. These
formal similarities ought to attune a reader to the metaphorical interpretive possibilities of
Proverbs plain and trivial discourse.
55 At this point Ricoeur again appears to be moving toward conceptual formulations that will
become clearer in his later work, namely the necessity o f a fusion of horizons that I mentioned above, that
confrontation between two worlds, the fictive world of the text and the real world of the reader. For the
later Ricoeur it is in, or by means of, this fusion or confrontation that the world of the text is able to
transform or refigure the world of the reader.
56 Subsequently, the prologue, which originally may have served as an introduction for chapters 1-
9 alone, along with the remainder of chapters 1-9, provide a literary context for reading the rest of the book
with an eye to its figurative nuances.
21
Together these two aspects of Proverbs discourse its programmatic prologue
and its folk-like sentence sayingscombine with extra-contextual clues from the text, as
well as features internal to various proverbs, to lead to what, in Ricoeurs terms, can be
called my guess about Proverbs: namely that one ought not to neglect the books
figurative or metaphorical aspects and that attending to these aspects will produce a
fuller, more robust, and more coherent interpretation of Proverbs talk of wealth and
poverty than has been offered previously.
Of course, as Ricoeur also insists, it is necessary to move from guessing to
explaining through an investigation of the specific object of guessing.57As I intimated
above, the movement from guessing to explaining constitutes an interpretive or
hermeneutic circle. However this circle, Ricoeur insists, need not be a vicious one.
Certainly the architecture or Gestalt of a text might be viewed from many sides or angles
so that it is always possible to relate the same sentence in different ways to this or that
other sentence considered as the cornerstone of the text.58 Yet although there are always
multiple ways to construe a text, for Ricoeur it is not true that all interpretations are
equal. Any text will present a limited field of possible constructions.59Ricoeur grounds
this position, that there are better and worse readings, through the logic of subjective
probability.60 Whereas a logic of empirical verification seeks to demonstrate that a
conclusion is true, a logic of probability intends to show that an interpretation is more
58 Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory, 77-78.
22
probable in light of what we know.61 For this project, some consideration not only of
metaphor, but o f the study of discourse can help to flesh out concretely certain
procedures that I will employ in seeking to articulate a reading of Proverbs discourse of
wealth and poverty that is more probable than many.
The Analysis of Discourse
A traditional or general meaning of discourse might be said to be the ordered
exposition in writing or speech of a particular subject.62 Much of what follows will be an
analysis of the discourse of wealth and poverty/rich and poor in Proverbs understood in
this traditional sensei.e., an analysis of the manner in which the wisdom text constructs
and orders its talk about wealth and poverty.
However, definitions of discourse, as a category of critical analysis, range
widely and the term has taken on specialized senses in different disciplines and for
different authors.63 For Ricoeur, in the discussion above, discourse had primarily to do
with the structure or architecture of a text as a whole, though Ricoeurs broader
considerations of discourse are more complex.64Notions of discourse associated with the
62 Roger Fowler, Discourse, in A Dictionary o f Modem Critical Terms (ed. Roger Fowler;
revised and expanded; London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987), 62. Cf. Paul A. Bove, Discourse, in
Critical Terms fo r Literary Study (ed. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin; Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1990), 50-65.
63 For linguists, often a concern with discourse or discourse analysis signals: a) a concern with
linguistic analysis above the level of the sentence; and b) a concern with the study of language in use. See,
for example, Gillian Brown and George Yule, Discourse Analysis (CTL; Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1983); cf. Sara Mills, Discourse (The New Critical Idiom; New York: Routledge, 1997),
9. For a sampling o f the range of definitions for discourse see Adam Jaworski and Nikolas Coupland,
eds., The Discourse Reader (London: Routledge: 1999), 1-3; Mills, Discourse, 2-6.
64 See, for instance, Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory, esp. 1-23.
23
French philosopher Michel Foucault, who underscores the rules and possibilities of
discourse, as well as the relationship of discourse to power, are perhaps the most
celebrated recent considerations of the topic.65 However, the approach of critics like
Roger Fowler and Norman Fairclough, whose textual analyses seek to combine the
considerable theoretical insights of thinkers like Foucault with the practices and
procedures of linguistics, most closely approximates my own. Hence, this project will
examine Proverbs wealth and poverty talk not primarily under the rubric of a
Foucaultian notion of discourse, but in a slightly different, and for some perhaps
somewhat more mundane, mannerwith discourse, as Fowler has suggested, spoken
with an Anglo-American rather than French accent.66 This Anglo-American brand of
discourse is one that is broadly concerned with the whole complex process of people
interacting with one another in live situations and within the structure of social forces
i.e., with the entire elaborate system of linguistic interaction between people uttering
and comprehending texts.
65 For Foucault, discourses (or discursive structures), as Roger Fowler explains, consist in a
certain regularity of statements which then define an object. .. and supply a set o f concepts which can be
used to analyse the object, to delimit what can and cannot be said about it, and to demarcate who can say
it. See Fowler, Discourse, 64; cf. Mills, Discourse, 17. Foucault develops and applies his notion of
discourse in a number of publications. Particularly important are: The Archaeology o f Knowledge (London:
Tavistock, 1972), esp. 21-131 and his 1970 lecture, Lordre du discourse (Paris: Gallimard, 1971), which
is translated as The Discourse o f Language and placed as an appendix in the Tavistock publication of The
Archaeology o f Knowledge just cited. Significant as well are: The Order o f Things: An Archaeology o f the
Human Sciences (New York: Random House, 1970); Discipline and Punish: The Birth o f the Prison
(Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1979); The History o f Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction (Harmondsworth:
Penguin, 1981).
66 Fowler, Discourse, 64.
67 Fowler, Linguistic Criticism, 70, 86. Cf. Terry Eagleton, Ideology: An Introduction (London:
Verso, 1991), 196, who, in speaking approvingly of this brand of discourse analysis, comments: While
sometimes solemnly labouring the obvious, wheeling up the big guns of linguistic analysis to dispatch the
inconsiderable gnat of a dirty joke, this brand of investigation has opened up a new dimension in a theory
of ideology traditionally concerned with consciousness rather than linguistic performance, ideas rather
than social interaction.
24
An important presupposition of the kind of discourse analysis and procedures
adopted for this project is the notion that the realm of language is a realm of social
/TO
interaction, and even struggle, between contending ideological positions. In Mikhail
Bakhtins terms, language is dialogic. Bakhtins notion underscores the fact that
utteranceswords, and complexes of wordsdo not appear fresh or value free in a text,
but carry traces of a previous life of use in particular social environments and remain
charged with nuances from those contexts even when deployed in new contexts. Each
word in a text tastes of the context and contexts in which it has lived its socially
charged life.69 Utterances that make up a particular discourse always come preloaded
and already inscribed with the experiences (or traces of their usage) in various social and
ncs
historical contexts.
Because a word or an utterance always has a history of use in a variety of concrete
social contexts and is unable to loose itself entirely from those contexts, a multiplicity of
social interests should be understood to have contributed to the construction of any

71
particular discourse. This means that although a specific voice or interest may dominate
68 This point is underscored by V. N. Voloshinov, who is sometimes called the father of discourse
analysis. See his Marxism and the Philosophy o f Language (6th edition; Cambridge, Mass: Harvard
University Press, 1996); Russian original 1929. Cf. Eagleton, Ideology, 193-196. For a brief summary of
the relationship of Voloshinov and his writings to Mikhail Bakhtin and the Bakhtin School, see Gary
Saul Morson and Caryl Emerson, Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation o f a Poetics (Stanford: Stanford University
Press, 1990), 101-119.
69 M. M. Bakhtin, Discourse in the Novel, in The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M. M.

Bakhtin (ed. Michael Holquist; trans. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist; University of Texas Press
Slavic Series 1; Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981), 293. Cf. Barbara Green, Mikhail Bakhtin and
Biblical Scholarship: An Introduction (SBLSS 38; Atlanta: SBL, 2000), 47.
70 Green, Bakhtin, 62.
71 See M. M. Bakhtin, Problems o f Dostoevsky's Poetics (ed. and trans. by Caryl Emerson; Theory
and History o f Literature 8; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984), 202. See further Green,
Bakhtin, 47.
25
any particular discourse in a text, meanings previously imputed by various social interests
remain with an utterance. At the same time, however, other, new social interests struggle
to control, define, color, or inscribe it with a different ideological accent, to infuse it with
new or different socially significant symbolic associations. Utterances are thus not
unitary, but as Green explains, have struggles for meaning raging underneath their
'70
ostensibly unified verbal skin. The symbolic coloring of an utterance in this
Bakhtinian line of thinking, however, also dialectically doubles back and serves to
(re)construct the social world and agents from which it emerged. It is this work on the
j ' l
world that makes a claim to, or control of, the symbolic realm so important. Wherever
terms representing categories crucial to the structure of social life, such as rich and
poor and wealth and poverty, are much discussed, it is likely that there the effort of
various social interests to control the symbolic shadings of such language is great. As I
shall demonstrate, the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs is itself a site where
powerful social voices, which compete with that of the texts instructing voice, are
exposed and thwarted.
Procedures
Understanding discourse in this Anglo-American and Bakhtinian manner means
that analysis should attend to at least two types of concerns. These two concerns might be
called the textual and extra-textual elements of an utterance. On the one hand, to describe
the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs as fully as possible, one needs to attend
72 Green, Bakhtin, 47.
73 Cf. Carol A. Newsom, Knowing as Doing: The Social Symbolics of Knowledge at Qumran,
Semeia 59 (1992): 139-153, esp. 141. She writes in a similar vein: The way in which texts act in and on
the world is distinct from an act of direct force because a text exists in the realm o f the symbolic. As
Jameson notes, the world is not simply a linguistic construct. The world, though, is not available to us in
itself but only as we are able to textualize it, to bring it into the realm of the symbolic. Insofar as a text
takes the world into itself as its subtext, the world can be acted upon in the symbolic work of the text.
26
to linguistic and grammatical matters. On the other hand, one also needs to discern the
elements of discourse that are beyond or above the written text.
The Textual. An examination of the lexical, syntactic, grammatical and formal
patterns of a text can reveal, in part, how different textual categories and figures are
symbolically constituted. In Ricoeurs terms, it can reveal the world in front o f the text.
It can assist in discerning how a text constructs patterns of value regarding social
relationships, identity, and valuesits entire socially symbolic structure of meaning.
In regard to lexical matters, for instance, tracing out patterns of value and usage
associated with the various terms for wealth and poverty/rich and poor can prove a useful
guide to a texts structure of meaning, for as the study of linguistics has taught, words are
always embedded within a web of other words and social contexts and it is only in
relation to this web that any particular lexical item can be defined. 74 Likewise, the
status of particular character types (e.g., the rich and the poor) as grammatical subject or
object, as well as the relationships of these types to various kinds of verbal forms (e.g.,
passive or active), also can provide clues as to how a particular discourse creates its
symbolic world. The same is true of a consideration of patterns of nominalization,
personification, and especially metaphorical and literal usages of terms.
The Extra-Textual. The level of linguistic structure, however, is not the only level
at which the symbolic work of a text can be traced. In any communicative act, extra-
linguistic (or extra-textual) factors are also operative and they need to be inferred from
context if a successful communication act is to occur.
74 The insight that etymological analysis is not a sufficient means to meaning has been mediated to
biblical studies most prominently by James Barr. See The Semantics o f Biblical Language (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1961). For a self-consciously linguistic approach to the problem of wealth and poverty in
Proverbs, see Wittenberg, Lexical Context.
Any utterance is composed of what is actually articulated and what is tacitly
assumed (by both the addressee and the one who addresses).75 Understanding an
utterance thus entails that one actively grasp the context of communication in which it
comes forth. It requires that one comprehend what is happening in the communicative
act, including making a presumption regarding the aim or end of the utterance.76 In the
study of oral communication this means attending to a variety of matters that are not
accessible in written works. The work of Austin and Searle on speech acts has been of
considerable significance in this regard. Words command and petition. They praise, pray,
curse, and nameto mention just a few of the obvious functions of language. In dealing
with biblical texts, however, we of course do not have to do with primary speech or
conversation. Nonetheless a key insight from the study of speech actsi.e., that language
does something, that an utterance carries a rhetorical forceis fundamental to the
brand o f discourse analysis that generates the kinds of questions to be put to the various
77
proverbs and admonitions analyzed in the following pages.
Comprehending any utterance, oral or written is thus a matter of understanding
what it does, o f grasping, in the idiom developed by Austin and Searle, its illocutionary
force. However, the function of any particular utterance is not always straightforward or
obvious. An utterance that looks like a question can, for instance, under certain
circumstances function as an imperative, as when in a cold room one person asks
75 Cf. Green, Bakhtin, 53.
76 Cf. Green, Bakhtin, 53.
77 See, for example, I. L. Austin, How to do Things with Words (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1962); John R. Searle, Speech Acts: An Essay in the Philosophy o f Language (London: Cambridge
University Press, 1969). Cf. Fowler, Discourse, 62-63; Brown and Yule, Discourse Analysis, 231-233;
Jaworski and Coupland, The Discourse Reader, 14-19.
28
another, can you shut the window? Likewise, what might appear as a simple
observation of a particular situation can function in diverse ways depending when and
where it is uttered, and by whom. In Israels wisdom literature, for instance,
commentators often recognize the didactic or admonitory function of certain proverbial
sentence sayings that otherwise appear to make straightforward observations of social
realities. Recognizing the possibility in the book of Proverbs that indicative statements
and observations might rhetorically be doing much more than they initially appear to
be doing is an important interpretive supposition for my discernment of the nature of the
texts discourse of wealth and poverty. More broadly speaking, as I shall indicate in
Chapter I below, the postulated social context of a particular wisdom utterance (e.g., in
the royal court or agricultural village) also often plays a crucial role in how one identifies
the way it is functioning.
To understand a text like Proverbs it is thus not sufficient to recognize an
utterance (or any complex o f words) as forming a grammatically correct statement.78 Nor
is it enough simply to know to what particular words refer in a positivistic sense wherein
the meaningful use o f language consists in the utterance o f statements about the world
which can be either confirmed or disconfirmed the (usually unacknowledged)
philosophy of language or lens by which many in the past have both read Proverbs and
7Q
assumed the book was composed. Rather, to understand the wealth and poverty
language in Proverbs one must attend not only to the texts linguistic structures but also
78 Cf. Fowler, Discourse, 62.
79 Fowler, Discourse, 63. Cf. Eagleton, Ideology, 193-94.
29
ask certain pragmatic questions, questions such as:80what exactly is this particular
piece of language doing, or at least, what is it trying to do? What is it highlighting or
foregrounding? What is it obscuring and why? Why does the text employ this linguistic
realization instead of another? And, what is its relationship to the work as whole, to the
texts architecture or Gestalt?81
One can, moreover, look for clues to an extra-textual context by interrogating the
text itself. As Green reminds in explaining Bakhtins notion of dialogic utterances, even
as they bring to their new context a residue of their past adventures . . . , utterances in
on
literature must be examined within the context of the work m which they appear.
Ricoeur would certainly concur. Often, attending to this most immediate, literary context
is the key to discerning what kind of extra-textual context is most appropriately imagined
for comprehending the rhetorical acts of Proverbs.
When studying the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs, if these types of
procedures and questions are pursued and considered together, one can grasp something
of the matrix o f symbolic associations and patterns of value that the text generates
80 Pragmatics is, generally, any analytic approach in linguistics that involves contextual
considerations. See Brown and Yule, Discourse Analysis, 26.
81 As an example o f how such a line of linguistic and pragmatic questioning can work and what it
might reveal, Fowler offers for consideration the use of nominalization and personification in the statement:
The stock market had a good day today. He then presents an alternative realization: Today a number
of stock brokers and speculators made a lot of money (Fowler, Discourse, 63-64). The two phrases
report, or one might say, observe the same situation. The first realization, however, obscures who
immediately profits. The second does not. At an extra linguistic level one might imagine the evening news
as a likely context for the first formulation, as its rhetorical force seems to be that of a simple reporting of
facts. The second, however, is a much stronger statement that could conceivably be understood as a critique
of a particular economic system and the persons and values associated with it. It would perhaps be more at
home at a meeting o f young socialists.
82 Green, Bakhtin, 53. Among scholars of Israels wisdom literature, especially Proverbs, the
emphasis on discovering a concrete social context for the various wisdom forms (an extra-textual factor)
coupled with a historicist bias (which gives priority to discerning the provenance of the wisdom utterances)
has often led to the neglect of the primary (literary) context o f the particular wisdom book itself (see
Chapter I below).
30
regarding such matters as social status, value, and identity. This in turn may illumine how
the language of the text reflects and reinforces (or undermines and resists) patterns of
social organization and value in the social environment out of which the discourse
emerged. It thus provides a way to glimpse the texts moral vision, its creation of value
and meaning vis-a-vis the particular social context in which it was produced.
Attending to the kinds of procedures and questions described above can thus
produce a fuller and richer reading of Proverbs discourse of wealth and poverty than has
been offered previously. A reading that attends to such matters can also corroborate
evidence for one or another hypothesis regarding the social context of the book
formulated by other means of inquiry (e.g., historical, archaeological). It will not,
however, be able to locate precisely, as some might hope, the status in real sociological
terms o f the rich and the poor in the socio-historical contexts from which the ancient
text comes to us. The poems and sayings o f Proverbs are both too diverse in origin and
the books economic imagery too general to support highly specific claims regarding the
social location of these textual figures.83
Conclusions
The fundamental structuring categories of rich and poor/wealth and poverty are
categories o f moral and not just economic discourse. Beyond denoting the unequal
distribution of goods, this language takes on a good deal of social symbolic value and
carries out a good deal of social symbolic work. Discourses of wealth and poverty
function to order, justify, and sometimes challenge social arrangements of distribution
80 For an attempt to describe somewhat more precisely the poor and poverty in real sociological
terms see, for example, J. David Pleins, Poor, Poverty, ABD 5:402-414.
31
and economic practices. Yet they also can reveal much about how values, status, power,
and identity more generally are distributed and maintained in a particular social context.
In certain contemporary ethical-theological discourse(s), for example, the rich can be
associated with rapaciousness, oppression, and selfishness; or with industriousness,
frugality, whiteness, entrepreneurship, divine favor, and libertyto name just a few of
the symbolic possibilities. The poor, on the other hand, can be associated with laziness,
victimage, and dark skin; or simplicity, dignity, piety, andlike the richdivine favor.
How these terms are filled out within the larger symbolic universe of any society can
make a good deal of difference when the primary ethical questions surrounding
distribution of material wealth and other social goods are addressed. This would have
been as true of ancient Israelite and Judean society as it is today.
This study of the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs will thus consider
the symbolic world the book constructs for its hearers or readers and will do so while
taking seriously the texts figurative and rhetorical imagination. As an exercise in biblical
ethics, the work will also offer a view of Proverbs moral vision as this concerns matters
of wealth and poverty. In all this, however, the project will also insist that although the
discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs is complex, it is not as incoherent as is
usually thought.
32
CHAPTER I
THE DISCOURSE OF WEALTH AND POVERTY IN PROVERBS
As I indicated at the outset of this study, the book of Proverbs draws on the
language of wealth and poverty more than any other book in the Hebrew Scriptures. Yet
the dominant scholarly consensus remains, in the words of Harold C. Washington, that
this wisdom instruction, gives no coherent view of the rich and the poor.1 Proverbs, it
appears, is a book that presents no consistent attitude or worldview when it comes to the
poor and poverty and the rich and wealth.2 Washington, however, has himself formulated
the critical issue more appropriately than many when he notes that the book in fact
presents a complicated world of moral discourse.3 It is within the context of this larger
moral discourse that the books use of the language of wealth and poverty/rich and poor
must be understood. Though the discourse o f wealth and poverty in Proverbs is complex
and no doubt contains certain ambiguities, it is less equivocal than generally thought.
Proverbs, Wealth, and Poverty
At the beginning of the history of the modem critical study o f Proverbs, most
understood this anthology of wisdom sayings and poems to be the work of moralizing
Jewish scribes o f the later post-exilic period. Whybray, in his survey of the modem study
of the book, in fact, speaks of a virtual consensus in this regard by about 1900.4 C. H.
1Harold C. Washington, Wealth and Poverty in the Instruction ofAmenemope and the Hebrew
Proverbs (SBLDS 142; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1996), 1.
33
Toys 1899 commentary, which dates the earliest portions of the book to ca. 300 B.C.E.
and speaks of schools of moralists and a period of high moral culture, is
representative of the trend.5
For much of the 20th century, however, the book o f Proverbsand what the book
has to say about wealth and povertywas believed to reflect a class ethic of the wealthy
and powerful Israelite and Judean elite.6 As the body of ancient Near Eastern comparative
material became increasingly available, this perspective was reinforced by the notion
that, on analogy with Egypt and Mesopotamia, Israels wisdom literature found its home
in or near the royal court, or schools associated with the court, early on in the period of
monarchy.7 An influential scholar like Gerhard von Rad in 1944, for instance, could write
that the court of Solomon was a centre of international wisdom-lore, as the Egyptian
courts had been in an earlier age.8
Though few today would suggest the collections in Proverbs stem from a
historical Solomon, assertions that Israelite wisdom (including Proverbs) finds its
4 Roger N. Whybray, The Book o f Proverbs: A Survey o f M odem Study (H B I1; Leiden: Brill,
1995), 1. Cf. Gerhard von Rad, Wisdom in Israel (London: SCM, 1972), 8-9; German original 1970.
5 C. H. Toy, Proverbs: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book o f Proverbs, (rprt.,
Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988), xi, xxvi, and esp. xix-xxxi; 1899 original. Cf. Whybray, Survey, 1-5.
6 Roger N. Whybray similarly notes: There has been a virtual consensus that Proverbs is the work
solely of the upper class. See Wealth and Poverty in the Book o f Proverbs (JSOTSup 99; Sheffield: JSOT
Press, 1990), 45 n. 1.
7 E. A. W. Budges publications regarding the Instruction o f Amenemope in 1923-1924 and Adolf

Ermans Eine agyptische Quelle der Spruch Salomos, SPA W (1924): 86-93 were the watershed events
as far as the study of Proverbs was concerned. For an overview, see Whybray, Survey, 18-22. Cf.
Washington, Wealth and Poverty, 7-9.
8 Gerhard von Rad, The Beginnings of Historical Writing in Ancient Israel, in The Problem o f
the Hexateuch and other Essays (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966); rprt. o f Der Anfang der
Geschichtsschreibung im alten Israel, 1944. Von Rad speaks of school wisdom in the early monarchy in
Wisdom in Israel, 11-12 as well. However he also recognizes the complexity o f the matter (see Wisdom in
Israel, 15-23). Cf. Brian W. Kovacs, Is there a Class-Ethic in Proverbs?, in Essays in Old Testament
Ethics (ed. James L. Crenshaw and John T. Willis; New York: KTAV, 1974). Kovacs suggestion that
Proverbs is the work of an intelligentsia is closer to my view (see below).
34
provenance among the political and/or economic elite remain common. Michael V. Fox,
for instance, writes that for the ancient Israelite and Judean scribes who produced
Proverbs, the court was the decisive locus of creativity.9 However, an important
minority of scholars adopts an alternative approach. For these writers, at least the
sentence material in Proverbs is best understood as originally and essentially the product
of the agricultural, tribal, folk culture of Israel and Judah (Yehud) and should be
IA
interpreted against this background.
The Ambiguity o f Wealth and Poverty in Proverbs
Whether they locate the book and its traditions in the court or in folk culture,
scholars nearly unanimously characterize the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs
(or the sages/books worldview or attitude toward wealth and poverty) as
inconsistent or ambiguous.11 On the one hand, much o f the wealth and poverty material
9 Michael V. Fox, The Social Location of the Book of Proverbs, in Texts, Temples, and
Traditions: A Tribute to Menahem Haran (ed. Michael V. Fox et al.; Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns,
1996), 227-239, esp. 236. Cf. J. David Pleins, Poverty in the Social World of the Wise, JSOT 37 (1987):
61-78. It is also sometimes postulated that scribes in ancient Israel would have been associated with a
temple complex. Though the interests of palace and temple should not be collapsed, the two institutions
would also have mutually undergirded one another.
10 See, for example, Claus Westermann, Weisheit im Sprichwort, in Schalom. Studien zu Glaube
und Geschichte Israels (ed. K.-H. Bernhardt: Stuttgart: Calwer, 1971): 73-85, reprinted in Forschung am
Alten Testament. Gesammelte Studien II (TBAT 55; Munich: Kaiser, 1974): 149-161. See further,
Westermann, Roots o f Wisdom: The Oldest Proverbs o f Israel and Other Peoples (Louisville: WJK, 1995);
German original, 1990; Whybray, Wealth and Poverty, Friedemann W. Golka, The Leopard's Spots:
Biblical and African Wisdom in Proverbs (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993), 36, 68. Washington {Wealth and
Poverty) makes similar claims about some of the sentence material. See also Fox (Social Location, 228),
who schematizes the history o f research on the social context of Proverbs in a manner similar to the way I
do here. Foxs rubrics, however, are farm vs. school. Cf. von Rad {Wisdom in Israel, 17), who alludes to
a third possible social context for the development of wisdom literaturethat of middle class, rural land
owners.
11 See, for example, Washington, Wealth and Poverty, 3; Gerhard von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, 125-
126; Roland E. Murphy, Proverbs (WBC 22; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 261; Pleins, Social
World, 72; Bruce V. Malchow, Social Justice in the Wisdom Literature, BTB 12 (1982): 120-124, esp.
121; Raymond Van Leeuwen, Wealth and Poverty: System and Contradiction in Proverbs, Hebrew
Studies 33 (1992): 25-36. See further Milton Schwantes, Das Recht der Armen (BET 4; Frankfurt am Main:
Peter Lang, 1977), 260; Diane Bergant, Israels Wisdom Literature: A Liberation-Critical Reading
35
in the book appears to adopt a critical attitude toward the poor and poverty, and a positive
attitude toward wealth. Proverbs frequent use of a cause and effect rhetoric, also seems
to suggest the sages adopted a view of reality characterized by an underlying act-
consequence connection (Tun-Ergehen Zusammenhang) where the wise and
righteous/foolish and wicked receive their just dessertswhat I, in relation to the
discourse of wealth and poverty, call a wisdom prosperity axiom. On the other hand,
other material in the book seems to call such a retributive axiom into question, or at least
creates a tension in this regard, by commending compassion toward the poor and offering
criticism of the rich.
Essentially all commentators address some o f this apparent ambiguity in the
books wealth and poverty talk by separating out chapters 1-9 (as well as the so-called
Amenemope material [22:1724:22] and the other minor collections in the book such as
what is found in chs. 30-31), claiming this material emerged from a different social
milieu than the formally distinct sentence proverbs of the rest of the book.12 When
considered in isolation the discourse of wealth and poverty in the instructional material
of chapters 1-9 (and to an extent 22:1724:22) does in fact seem to yield a higher degree
of coherence than when it is read with the sentence material. Yet the diversity or
ambiguity in the discourse of wealth and poverty I described above is also apparent
within the collections of sentence sayings that make up chapters 10:122:16 and
chapters 25-29. This situation, however, is not so easily described or accounted for. If it
is addressed at all, it is usually explained in one of two primary, but related ways.
(Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997), 100. Claus Westermann also notes the variety of points of view in Proverbs
regarding wealth and poverty (Roots, 21). In his summary on page 73 of Wealth and Poverty, Whybray
likewise alludes to a diversity of viewpoints in the book. This list could be easily expanded.
12 See, for instance, Whybray, Wealth and Poverty, 9.
36
On the one hand, it is sometimes suggested that those who produced Proverbs,
including ultimately the central sentence collections of the book, held conflicting, or
more persuasively, complex viewpoints based on their observations of complex reality.13
Though the book adopts the act-consequence connection (or wisdom prosperity
axiom) whereby the poor are understood to be destitute because of laziness or other
moral failings, and the rich wealthy because of uncommon industry or moral rectitude,
the sages recognized, in Van Leeuwens words, exceptions to the general rules of life.
Although the basic teaching of the book is that right living produces wealth and well
being, the wise also realized some were poor for no fault o f their own and recognized
the rich could be unscrupulous.14 The poor, for instance, might be poor as the result of
oppression: The field of the poor may yield much food, but it is swept away through
injustice (Prov 13:23; cf. 22:16).15 Or, poverty may even be the result of the will of God:
Rich and poor have this in common, the Lord is maker of them all (Prov 22:2; cf.
29:13).16 For scholars like J. David Pleins, moreover, the sentiment of proverbs like 22:2
13 See, for instance, Westermann, who in a chapter entitled Proverbs of Observation and
Experience insists that a good number of statements about the rich and poor in Proverbs (e.g., 14:4, 20;
22:2, 7; 15:15; 13:7-8; 18:23; 28:11; 19:6-7; etc.) have sprung out of observations" (Roots, 21-22; italics
added). Westermann, however, is most concerned with uncovering the origins of the sentence material and
admits that those sayings are transformed in collections. Others, e.g., Pleins in Social World, 62-63,
though recognizing folk material may be present in the book, emphasize the role and biases of upper class
scribes in the construction o f the book.
14 Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, Proverbs: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections, NIB 5:25.
See further Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Old Testament Promise of Material Blessings and the Contemporary
Believer, TrinJ 9 (1998): 151-170; Malchow, Social Justice, 121; Van Leeuwen, System and
Contradiction, 29; cf. von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, 125-26.
15 This is one possible rendering and interpretation of 1DSOD 8*73 ilSDD EF1 D T O I T D * 7 3 $ "
3 1. Unless otherwise noted all translations of biblical texts are my own. The translation here of Prov 13:23
and 22:2 follow the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).
16 Cf. Kaiser (The Old Testament Promise, 166), who suggests some proverbs promote the view
that it is only because of the providential will of God that. . . people are poor (Prov 20:12; 22:2; 29:13).
Of course like 13:23, Prov 22:2 (iTirn 0*73 HfflSD EHI Pt?U) also need not be interpreted only in
37
and 29:13 that, both poverty and wealth are thought of as given by God or fate, is best
understood as the ideological product of an urban economic and political elite.17
On the other hand, some scholars explain the perceived ambiguity in the discourse
of wealth and poverty in Proverbs, and the sentence material in particular, in a somewhat
different manner. The books wealth and poverty talk is understood either: a) in terms of
a historical development within what is again understood to be a relatively unified,
upper class wisdom tradition; or b) via an assertion that the various sayings emerged
from very different socio-historical settings. The historical development explanation is
perhaps most clearly articulated by James L. Crenshaw. In this view, the self-serving
notions of the wisdom prosperity axiom is characteristic of early wisdom writers and is
said to be reinterpreted or softened by the wisdom formulations of later sages once it
became clear that the harsher, older act-consequence sayings no longer adequately
18
described reality. The view that different proverbial material originated in different
social contexts holds that the harsher wealth and poverty sayings in Proverbs emerged
from a rural, agricultural and tribal, folk milieu, but are softened or modified by material
deriving from a quite different scribal context (perhaps, but not necessarily, at some
this manner.
17 Pleins, Social World, 69; cf. Bergant, Israels Wisdom Literature, 101, who seems to evaluate
at least some o f Proverbs similarly. After speaking of the pressures o f the privileged she writes: There is
a definite class bias behind much of this teaching. Norman K. Gottwalds suggestion that Proverbs
discourse of wealth and poverty reveals a class contradiction in a Marxist sense is a similar attempt at
explaining the books perceived ambiguities. He, however, is unfortunately unable to develop the
suggestion in the context of his introductory textbook. See Norman K. Gottwald, The Hebrew Bible: A
Socio-Literary Introduction (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985), 571-575. Though Pleins does to some extent
distinguish the sages of the wisdom literature from the ruling political and economic elite, he indicates that
the former supported and reproduced the ideological biases of the latter. He writes: It is to be expected,
then, that the values and practices advocated in the wisdom tradition are in accord with the political and
economic leanings of the ruling classes. See Social World, 61-63. My view is somewhat different (see
below).
18 See especially, James L. Crenshaw, Poverty and Punishment in the Book ofProverbs, QR 9
(1989): 30-43.
38
remove chronologically). The harsher material is then explained as morally appropriate
expressions for the social context that produced it. Washingtons work is most notable in
this regard. He suggests, for example, that the difficult sayings objectively describe the
lot of the poor without passing moral judgment and state a plain truth that labor is
necessary. He contends that in a relatively non-stratified village society such sayings
are not as open to abuse as they would be in urban society where they could be
misused to blame victims o f oppression and exploitation. The Hebrew sages, however,
tempered the folk wisdom that they passed on with an equally august traditionwhich
Washington associates with scribes in post-exilic Judea enjoining care for the poor.19
Whybray offers a variation on the perspective articulated by Washington. He too
understands the largely instructional collections in the book (e.g., chs. 1-9) to reflect a
different social perspective and context than the sentence sayings. Unlike Washington,
however, he finds in the sentence material itself little ambiguity when it comes to the
discourse of wealth and poverty and does not offer a theory of distinct social origins for
different proverbs in the proverbial collections. Rather this materialwhich he insists
reflects the precarious world of the small farmeris both morally appropriate to the
agrarian social context that produced it and largely coherent when it comes to matters of
wealth and poverty. However, Whybrays position requires some special pleading. The
variations, and divergent views in the proverbial material regarding wealth and
poverty, which he recognizes in the otherwise remarkably consistent sentence
literature, are accounted for by changes of mood or circumstances. Absolute logic and
consistency, he avers, are hardly to be expected here.20
19 Washington, Wealth and Poverty, 183-85.
Both of these two main approaches to understanding wealth and poverty in
Proverbs, together with their particular variations, share certain features. In each instance
the interpreter reads the texts language o f wealth and poverty and its cause and effect
rhetoric in almost exclusively literal terms and discovers a wisdom prosperity axiom to
be at work in many of the sayings. Subsequently, because not every wealth and poverty
saying suggests such an axiom, an ambiguity in the discourse of wealth and poverty is
discerned. This is followed by an attempt to explain that ambiguity by discovering the
provenance of the material. Either Proverbs, including its discourse of wealth and
poverty, is the work of a unified social group (e.g., upper class scribes associated with the
royal court) who simply held contradictory opinions about the rich and poor (or different
opinions at different times); or the book preserves sayings from one social context (e.g.,
the folk sayings of a small village, preliterate, tribal, agricultural society), which were
modified or added to by scribes situated in, and responding to, a different socio-historical
setting.
These attempts to explain a perceived ambiguity in the discourse of wealth and
poverty in Proverbs by appeals to provenance are not unreasonable and have yielded
some interesting and valuable results. Nevertheless such an approach is not without its
shortcomings.
First, the appeal to an evolution in viewpoint in the work of upper class courtly
sages is not wholly persuasive. If such scribes were responsible for the book from
beginning until end, it is curious that Proverbs discourse of wealth and poverty would in
the first place appear so thoroughly ambiguous. Would we not expect a more unified
perspective from such a cadre of elite, upper class bureaucrats? Similarly, if some of the
20 Whybray, Wealth and Poverty, 11-74, esp. 62-63; italics original.
material in Proverbs represents a subsequent modification or softening by scribes of
viewpoints that emerged from other periods or contexts, one wonders both why the
earlier scribes were so obtuse and why the later scribes preserved the earlier impulses.
Why did subsequent scribes not suppress more completely any understanding that
contradicted their own?21 Even if one accepts the not implausible notion that a
multiplicity of material was preserved because the sages knew a multiplicity of
experiences would demand different kinds of wise responses, the question of consistency
(or inconsistency) in the moral principles and values underlying the material needs to be
addressed. There is a difference between preserving a variety of particular responses to
complex and changing phenomena (e.g., issues of wealth and poverty) and those
responses preserving incompatible moral underpinnings. That Proverbs might preserve a
variety of particular responses to issues of wealth and poverty is not problematic, even
expected; but this diversity would not necessarily lead to an evaluation of the discourse of
wealth and poverty as ambiguous. That Proverbs preserves responses with
incompatible moral underpinnings, however, if it is indeed the case and is in fact what
produces an ambiguity in the sages discourse, needs to be more adequately explained.
The appeal to historical development or multiple social contexts in discussions of the
book is not sufficient to explain the level of diversity or ambiguity that is claimed to be
present in Proverbs discourse of wealth and poverty. A reconsideration of the books
wealth and poverty language as well as its notion of an act-consequence nexus (or
wisdom prosperity axiom) undertaken in light of the texts broader figurative imagination
21 The questions in this section are, of course, to a large extent rhetorical. As I will suggest below
it is likely that any socially recognizable scribal group in ancient Israel was probably more diverse than is
often imagined. A more persuasive form of the argument that ancient scribes held diverse or contradictory
views as regards wealth and poverty (or any topic) would fully articulate this.
41
and rhetorical features and functions, is part o f what is required to gain some clarity in
regard to these issues.
A shortcoming of the second position articulated above, that the text ought to be
read against the context of a tribal, village culture, concerns the tradition processes that
contributed to the development of the book. If a scribal group made use of traditional
material in the formation of the collections of sentence sayings in Proverbs (as is likely;
see below), there is unfortunately no way to be certain this proverbial material was
preserved intact by those responsible for collecting it. There is therefore no way to be
certain that the small agricultural village is the best context against which to read this
material. The traditional utterances of tribal elders easily could have been modified by the
sages who produced Proverbs; and if they were modified, there is no reliable way to
extract the traditional notions, motifs, etc., from the contribution of the scribe. There are
no adequate criteria by which one can determine what in a particular proverb is of folk
origin so that the saying, as presented in the text of Proverbs, can without reasonable
doubt be said to be the product of an agricultural, tribal setting.22 The fact that the
proverbial material of contemporary, pre-literate, tribal cultures collected by modem
anthropologists contains motifs and images similar to what is found in the Hebrew
Proverbs does not warrant the claim that the two distinct literatures (historically,
culturally, geographically) necessarily emerged from analogous social settings. It is also
the case that, regardless of the context of its origin, once a particular sentence saying is
22 Von Rads view is similar. He writes: The idea which used to be widespread, namely that its
[the Solomonic book o f Proverbs] sentences are to be traced back to popular proverbs, can no longer be
maintained. See Wisdom in Israel, 26.
42
grafted into the text of Proverbs its new primary context is the literary context of the book
itself.
Fox, too, has called into question the adequacy of comparing the material in
Proverbs with the proverbial sayings of contemporary pre-literate, tribal cultures and has
leveled some important critiques against the assumptions of those who make such
comparisons. He suggests, for example, that the comparative proverb material, rather
than emerging from the world of a rural folk population, itself may be the product of
courtiers. He asserts as well (in regard to the traditional proverbial material gathered by
Golka) that, the communities from which the parallels are taken were not preliterate
certainly not in the 20th century, when most of the sayings were recorded.23 For Fox,
even the impulse to locate the sentence material of Proverbs in a folk setting is
problematic, for it is not based on any real sociological data, or even .. . casual personal
observation. Rather the tendency, which he associates with Golka, Westermann and
Whybray, reflects a romanticism that allows [one] to extract a communitarian ideal from
proverbs {some proverbs) and then to spin a reality out of the ideal and identify that with
life in a small, egalitarian village.24
Moreover, if the comparative data from contemporary pre-literate peoples that is
often drawn upon in these discussions is accurate, the book o f Proverbs, it appears,
actually contains very little material that furnishes strong parallels to that data.25 Rather
23 Fox also contends that it is only a strained argument that can insist that the so-called royal
proverbs of the book of Proverbs be assigned to simple folk, rather than royal scribes. See Social
Location, 233-234. Cf. Golka, The L eopards Spots; Whybray, Wealth and Poverty, 45-58.
24 Fox, Social Location, 233-34 (italics original).
25 As Fox writes in Social Location, 233-37, those African proverbs marshaled by Golka for
instance, bear little resemblance to Israelite Proverbs. I would say the same for those African proverbs
43
the books programmatic and persistent deployment of moral and intellectual rubrics to
structure its discourse (e.g., wicked/righteous, wisdom/folly, etc.), suggests a conscious,
formal, didactic intent to the majority of the books sayings and the collections as a
whole. This tendency is something that is absent from the comparative material compiled
by anthropologists and folklorists who are concerned to categorize their data and analyze
it within a conceptual framework developed within academic disciplines that emphasize
proverb performance and usage.26By contrast, people in an ancient context whose
compositional agendas and anthological strategies are not immediately or entirely clear to
us, collected the materials in the book of Proverbs.27 Although the comparative proverbial
material gathered by folklorists is important data, the insights it provides for
understanding Proverbs are primarily heuristic. Its explanatory value is limited to
elucidating the background (or perhaps better, the lineage) of particular proverbial
sayings and images and, as was suggested in the Introduction, to evoking the
metaphorical nature of the books moral discourse. For those concerned with
understanding the Hebrew book of Proverbsincluding its discourse of wealth and
povertythe collections as we have them in MT must be the locus of primary attention.
cited by Washington in Wealth and Poverty, esp. 180-85. The Mossi proverbs gathered by Nare likewise
appear to have only a superficial similarity with Proverbs. Nare, however, is primarily concerned to
compare the Mossi material with Proverbs 25-29. These chapters admittedly bear a somewhat closer
resemblance to the proverbs of pre-literate, tribal cultures than others in the book ofProverbs. See Laurent
Nare, Proverbes salomoniens etproverbes mossi: etude comparative a partir d un nouvelle analyse de Pr.
25-29 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1986).
26 A convenient introduction to some of the issues in the broader study of proverbs, or

paremiology, is Wolfgang Mieder and Alan Dundes, eds., The Wisdom o f Many: Essays on the Proverb
(New York: Garland, 1981). See further Wolfgang Mieder, Proverbs are Never Out o f Season: Popular
Wisdom in the Modern Age (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993); cf. the section Folk Proverbs and
Metaphor above in the Introduction.
27 Further, as all would admit, those responsible for the book certainly did not preserve the entire
stock of proverbs in ancient Israel, as isolated sayings elsewhere in the Bible attest. For these sayings, see
Carole R. Fontaine, Traditional Sayings in the Old Testament: A Contextual Study (Sheffield: Almond,
1982). As Fox puts it: The redactors of Proverbs were not paremiolgists. They were close to authors or
collage artists and they preserved proverbs that served their purpose. See Social Location, 237.
44
The Scribes o f Proverbs
The material that makes up the book of Proverbs, including the sentence material,
is thus best regarded as the product of a scribal elite. It is difficult to imagine the
production (and consumption) of such didactic collections of proverbs, and certainly an
anthology o f such collections (a book), in anything other than an elite intellectual
environment. The fact that Proverbs is best regarded as the product of elite scribes,
however, does not inevitably demand that the bookincluding all its talk about wealth
and povertybe understood as reflecting, reproducing, and undergirding the values and
perspectives o f the rich and/or politically powerful. Like jazz bom out of the encounter
of African traditions and rhythms with New World realities, languages, and
instruments, what we have in Proverbs (and especially the sentence material) is a kind of
literature that is something quite different from the traditional tribal, folk sources and
courtly influences that spawned it. Although appropriate as instruction for youths and
likely in part composed for all who were able to read, including probably some members
of the political and economic elite, the book was written and compiled by (and primarily
for) the literati.29
28 As Philip R. Davies notes, even in modem western societies with literacy rates approaching
90% of the population, less than 1% write books. See Scribes and Schools: The Canonization o f the
Hebrew Scriptures (LAI; Louisville: WJK, 1998), 82.
29 It is possible that scribes in ancient Israel might have been responsible for educating members of
the royal household and political elites. However Proverbsunlike several Egyptian instructions that are
specifically addressed to future royal or high-ranking political functionariesnowhere unequivocally
alludes to such a function; cf. the fiction of the kings Merikare and Amenemhet I and the vizier Ptahhotep
in instructing their sons and successors; cf. further von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, 83-84. Likewise, it is
impossible to deny that at some point in Israelite and Judean history wealthy students (or their families)
might have hired a wisdom sage to offer instruction in some kind of school setting. See, for example, the
view of Leo G. Perdue in Proverbs (Interpretation; Louisville: John Knox, 2000), 69. It is sometimes
thought, for instance, that Sirach 51:23s allusion to a house o f instruction might suggest such a situation.
See James L. Crenshaw, Sirach: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections, NIB 5:867.
45
The prerequisite for the emergence of a scribal class is simply a sufficiently
complex economy and state apparatus for which record keeping and writing are
necessary. It is thus reasonable to suppose that scribes in ancient Israel and Judah were
initially a socially recognizable group of people employed by political rulers in order to
record economic transactions and conduct diplomacy. It is important to remember,
however, that such sages were not themselves rulers, but acted in the service of these
political and economic elites. This is especially true where and when scribes functioned
not merely or exclusively as high administrative officials (e.g., as the 131D of some
biblical texts; 2 Sam 8:16-18; 20:23-25; 1 Kgs 4:1-6; 2 Chron 24:11-12; 2 Kgs 18:18,
37), but where the duties o f such a professional caste were more stratified and entailed
more bureaucratic, mundane types of activitye.g., recording information in annals,
writing up contracts, etc.30 Although no biblical description of scribal training exists, Fox
rightly notes that the royal service would include clerks and officials of high and low
degree,31
It would thus be hardly surprising, as Philip R. Davies writes, that such an
intellectual elite should develop its own culture, distinct from the rural culture of the
peasants and importantly, distinct from the ruling class that it served. Its stories, its
values, and its skills will have differed from those living in the villages, but also from
those more fundamentally tied to central institutions such as the royal court, for the
30 See Michael Fishbane, B iblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985), 25.
31 Fox, Social Location, 236 (italics added). Fishbane likewise writes: It may be assumed . . .
that the skills taught in their various guild centres and schools (cf. 1 Chron 2:55) enabled these scribes to
serve a variety of administrative and state functions. See Biblical Interpretation, 25. Cf. Christine Schams,
Jewish Scribes in the Second-Temple Period (JSOTSup 291; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998),
36-71.
intellectual elites economic interests and intellectual horizons were different.32
Certainly the scribes who produced the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs
absorbed the culture o f the regime that they served, as well as that of the rural
populationprobably drawing especially on the raw proverbial material of the latter.
However, the gift o f writing will have provided this scribal class (diverse in its own
ranks due to the variety o f functions and roles its members carried out) with a social
identity distinct from both the political and economic elite and the rural folk. The
character of this scribal caste would have been shaped, too, by the diversity of its
particular members participation in, and access to, other cultural and social formations
e.g., powerful or impotent families and clans, the cult, prophetic groups, etc.34 The fusion
of all these elements would have shaped a unique scribal ethos or culture, and it is this
ethos and social context that is reflected in complex ways in the pages of Proverbs.
Though traces of the history (or genealogy) of this scribal synthesis are evident in the
different kinds of material Proverbs preserves (e.g., instruction vs. sentence sayings), to
understand the book and its discourse of wealth and poverty fully, the new work of
scribesthe finished book of Proverbsmust be distinguished from the sources that
spawned it.
The Date o f Proverbs
The book o f Proverbs is notoriously difficult to date, and direct evidence for a
pre-exilic scribal elite that would have been capable of producing the text (e.g., in schools
32 Davies, Scribes, 18.
33 Davies, Scribes, 19.
34 Von Rad also alludes to a rich diversity within scribal ranks and at points speaks of Proverbs
middle class ethic. See Wisdom in Israel, 18, 21, 82, 84.
47
or other institutions) is lacking. However, David W. Jamieson-Drake in his
anthropological-archaeological study has suggested that it is not until some point in the
8th century BCE at the earliest that Israels and Judahs economy and royal bureaucracy
was sufficiently complex to support and require a small, moderately sophisticated scribal
apparatus (which remained focused on Jerusalem). It is thus not impossible that the
collection and redaction-composition of some proverbial material began in this period, as
Prov 25:1 may imply with its allusion to the labors ofHezekiahs men. Yet the process
certainly continued into the Persian era and it is likely the different collections in
nn
Proverbs took a shape close to their final form in this period. The Hebrew version of the
book was drawn together as a whole in the late Persian period at the earliest, though some
scholars would put this consolidation in the Hellenistic period.38
35 David W. Jamieson-Drake, Scribes and Schools in Monarchic Judah: A Socio-Archeological

Approach (Sheffield: Almond, 1991), esp. 137-138, 147-149. Cf. Davies, Scribes, 77.
36 The mention of Hezekiah is routinely taken as historical. See von Rad Wisdom in Israel, 15,
who notes that the superscription of 25:1 is hardly ever doubted now. However, except for the
archaeological data there is no good reason to accept such an ascription as any more historical than the
hooks allusions to Solomon. Nonetheless the note o f 25:1 and the archaeological data warrant the modest
inference that the redactional-compositional process of the book of Proverbs began in the pre-exilic period.
37 There is a good deal of evidence that the kind economic activity Proverbs assumes was
prevalent during the Persian period. On the economic activity of the Persian period, see C. L. Seow,
Ecclesiastes: A N ew Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB 18c; New York: Doubleday,
1997), 21-36. Christine Roy Yoder has marshaled the same kind of evidence vis-a-vis the instructional
material of Proverbs 1-9 (and 31:10-31). See her Wisdom as a Woman o f Substance: A Socio-Economic
Reading o f Proverbs 1-9 and 31:10-31 (BZAW 304; Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 2001), 39-72.
38 Washington, Wealth and Poverty, 111-133 reviews the evidence and favors a Persian period
date; similarly Yoder, Woman o f Substance, 15-18. Michael V. Fox, Proverbs 1-9: A New Translation with
Introduction and Commentary (AB 18a; New York: Doubleday, 2000), 6 writes: A Persian or early
Hellenistic dating is likely for the latest strata of the book. Claudia V. Camp, Whats So Strange about
the Strange Woman? in The Bible and the Politics o f Exegesis (ed. David Jobling et al.; Cleveland:
Pilgrim, 1991), 17-31 suggests a somewhat later date is appropriate; similarly Toy dates the book to the
Hellenistic period, Proverbs, xix-xxxi. At least in its Greek form, the shape of the book of Proverbs as a
whole (and to a lesser extent the individual collections and sayings) continued to be negotiated by different
communities into the Hellenistic period, as the order and content of the collections in LXX attests.
48
Conclusions
The version of scribal work on Proverbs offered here carries considerable
explanatory value when considering the texts discourse o f wealth andpoverty. It
accounts, on the one hand, for some of the complexity of this discourse, to which the
quotation from Washington at the beginning of this chapter alludes. On the other hand, it
can also account for the coherency (vs. ambiguity) that can be discerned in the book as a
whole and its wealth and poverty talk in particular. The texts complexity is primarily
due, as I intimated in the Introduction, to the fact that the material in the various sections
of the book carries traces of a life and usage in at least two social formations, the court
and the rural village, which ought to be distinguished from the scribal culture that finally
produced the book. However, this complexity, is also in part a result of the fact that the
collections emerged in different periods in the history of ancient Israel and Judah
(Yehud). The books coherency in outlook is due largely to the fact that each collection in
Proverbs, whether emerging and finalized in pre-exilic or post-exilic times, is the work of
an educated, elite, scribal caste and embodies their perspectives and ethos.
The Instruction of Proverbs 1-9 and 10-29 (31)
Because the sayings that comprise the various collections that make up Proverbs,
as well as the collections themselves, likely emerged in different historical periods and no
doubt underwent different histories of transmission, one o f the first questions that must be
asked in studying the books discourse of wealth and poverty is whether one should
examine chapters 1-9 and the formally distinct collections of chapters 10-29 (31)
independently; or, whether there is warrant for considering the book as a whole.
49
It has been typical for scholars to examine the major sections of the book
separately. The sentence sayings in chapters 10:122:16 together with chapters 25-29
have been the focus o f much attention. Though it is not necessarily explicitly stated, the
tendency to examine the major sections of the text independently seems due primarily to
the formal similarities the later chapters share with one another over and against the
wisdom poems o f chapters 1-9. The generic and stylistic differences between
collections in the book hence serve as warrant for examining the major sections of the
text separately. A further implicit motivation in such procedures, as I intimated earlier,
appears to be a belief that the sentence material originated in a particular socio-historical
setting (e.g., a rural, tribal culture) distinct from the environment that produced the poems
of chapters 1-9. A corollary assumption seems to be that a focus on provenance is the
best way of explaining differences in the books discourse of wealth and poverty.
Although there are obvious disparities between the material in Proverbs 1-9 and
that which is found in the remainder of the book, this study will consider the discourse of
wealth and poverty as it emerges throughout the entire book of Proverbs. This, however,
will not mean neglecting the generic and stylistic differences between major sections of
the text, but rather understanding their significance in the context of the books overall
structure and instructional purpose. The canonical shape of the text encourages reading
the book in this kind o f undivided manner. The evidence for a certain amount of editorial
unity to Proverbs, as well as literary integrity to its different collections, that scholars
39 For example, the studies of Van Leeuwen (System and Contradiction) and Pleins (Social
World) are almost exclusively concerned with the material found in chapters 10-29. The studies of
Westermann (Roots), Holger Delkurt and Jutta Hausmann, though not exclusively concerned with wealth
and poverty in Proverbs, limit their studies, including treatment of this topic, to the sentence material of the
later chapters of the book as well. See Holger Delkurt, Ethische Einsichten in der Alttestamentlichen
Spruchweisheit (BTS 21; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1993) and Jutta Hausmann, Studien zum
Menschenbild der alteren Weisheit (Tubingen: I. C. B. Mohr, 1995).
50
increasingly recognize also suggests some merit to this approach.40 However, it is not
simply a commitment to a particular canonical or literary methodology, which insists on
examining the final form of the text, that lies behind my choice to consider the
discourse of wealth and poverty in the book o f Proverbs as a whole. Rather, as I will
show, it is a recognition that the wealth and poverty talk in Proverbs 1-9 functions in
ways similar to the wealth and poverty language of subsequent chapters.
The Prologue s Virtues
Although there is unanimous agreement that Proverbs is concerned with offering
the reader some kind of instruction, there can be legitimate disagreement as to exactly
what the books educational or instructional task is and how the various collections carry
out this task rhetorically. It is often maintained, for instance, that Proverbs (especially the
sentence material) primarily offers a kind of practical wisdom or instruction based on
experience and observation of the world (social and natural) designed to help the hearer
succeed or prosper in a variety of spheres of life, including the economic 41 Such a
40 As Bergant writes in Israel's Wisdom Literature, 78, there appears to be in the book a definite
structural framework that bespeaks editorial intentionality. Cf. R. B. Y. Scott, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes
(AB 18; Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, 1965), 22. Note further Van Leeuwens structuralist and semantic
study of chapters 25-27 in which he discerns several proverb poems. See Raymond C. Van Leeuwen,
Context and M eaning in Proverbs 25-27 (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988). See further Rnut Martin Heim,
Like Grapes o f Gold Set in Silver: An Interpretation o f Proverbial Clusters in Proverbs 10:1-22:16
(BZAW; Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 2001); Claudia V. Camp, Wisdom and the Feminine in the Book o f
Proverbs (Sheffield: Almond, 1985). For an overview o f the modem discussion surrounding the structure
of the book, see Whybray, Survey, 34-61 and Roger N. Whybray, Proverbs (NCBC; Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 1994), 15-17. Whybrays own statement regarding the structure of the text is The Composition
o f the Book o f Proverbs (JSOTSup 168; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994).
41 See, for example, Whybray, Proverbs, 4; Perdue, Proverbs, 5-6; Richard J. Clifford,
Introduction to Wisdom Literature, NIB 5:9,11; Toy, Proverbs, xiv; Arndt Meinhold, Die Spriiche (2
vols.; ZBK; Zurich: Theologische Verlag, 1991), 1:38-39; Otto Ploger, Spriiche Salomos (Proverbia)
(Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1984), xxxiv; Scott, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, 23; von Rad, Wisdom in
Israel, 4-5, 85; Roland E. Murphy, The Tree o f Life (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 7-11, 17; Yoder,
Woman o f Substance, 103-04; Bergant, Israels Wisdom Literature, 86. Foxs evaluation that the book sets
forth guidelines for securing a life of well-being, decency, and dignity is somewhat more nuanced.
51
formulation is not so much wrong, but like the proverbial notion of an act-consequence
nexus, it is in need of nuance (see below). It is best to regard the material in the book of
Proverbs to be doing significantly more than offering the hearer a guide to worldly or
material success.
A consideration of the books prologue, which is widely regarded as articulating
the purpose not only of chapters 1-9 but Proverbs as a whole, makes clear the instruction
intends to do more than offer a simple guide to prosperity.42 The text of Proverbs 1:2-7
reads:
T7T2 nD K p a n 1? "iDiDi n a a n w i b (2
a n e ra i m o m p in baton hdid nnpb (3

hdtdi n m r o b n o i s crK n sb nnb (4
m p 1 m b a n n prxn n p b pTn nan (5
r r r m an n m m r b a i b m p a n b (6
in lo r n naan nm m n 1 n$T (7
2) For knowing wise instruction, for understanding words of insight;
3) For gaining instruction in wise dealing: righteousness, justice, and equity.43
4) For giving to the simple cunning; to the youth, knowledge of shrewdness.44
However, in a vein similar to many others, he also writes: To be sure, wisdom will also bring exterior
rewardslife, health, wealth, favor, and well being. See his Proverbs 1-9, 3, 75.
42 See Van Leeuwen Proverbs, NIB 5:32, who writes: These verses [the prologue] state the
pedigree, essence, and purpose of the book called Proverbs. Similarly Murphy states: These verses [the
prologue] are clearly composed as a kind of preface to the book. See Proverbs, 3. In The Tree o f Life, 16
Murphy notes that the hermeneutical key to the entire work is found in chapter ones prologue. Whybray
believes that an original form of the prologue (e.g., w . 1-4, 6) introduced only chs. 1-9 but that in its
current form the lines introduce the entire book. See Proverbs, 31. Cf. William McKane, Proverbs: A New
Approach (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1970), 262; Clifford, Proverbs (OTL: Louisville: WJK, 1999), 32.
43 The rendering of v. 4 follows the NRSV.
52
5) Let the wise person hear and gain learning and let the understanding person acquire
skill,45
6) To understand a trope and figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.46
7) Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The prologue makes clear that Proverbs intends to present to its addressee a
complex view of wisdom. Although ancient writers and audiences may not have made
such distinctions, according to the texts opening lines, the books vision of wisdom is
one where intellectual virtues (wise instruction and words of insight; v. 2), practical
virtues (cunning and knowledge of shrewdness; v. 4), and especially the social virtues
of pH , EDStDQ, and DHKTQ (righteousness, justice, equity; v. 3), which stand at the
pinnacle of the opening poem, are highly valued.47
The structure o f the prologue can be outlined as follows:
I. The Purpose of Proverbs (w. 2-4)
A. To instill intellectual virtues Q. 2)
-for ( b) knowing wise instruction,
-for ( 5) understanding words of insight
44 The translation o f both 1 D 1 D 1 H O D F ! (v. 2) and H D T Q 1 D i n (v. 4) as hendiadys (wise

instruction and knowledge o f shrewdness respectively) follows Fox. See Proverbs 1-9, 58-67.
45 That the prefixed verbal forms here are jussive is clear from weyosep, the imperfect would be
weyosep.
46 On the rendering o f bEB as trope and the proverbial hapax HIT *7D (cf. Hab 2:6) as figure,
see Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 54-56, 63-64, and below.
47 Cf. especially William P. Brown, Character in Crisis: A Fresh Approach to the Wisdom
Literature o f the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 23-30 who likewise recognizes that the
social virtues, which he calls moral, communal virtues, stand at the pinnacle of the prologue. Brown,
however, understands the structure of the opening poem in manner somewhat different than Ii.e., he
understands w . 5-6 as sketching part o f the books purpose. For my view, see below.
B. To instill social virtues (v. 3)
-for (b) gaining instruction in wise dealing:
-righteousness, justice, and equity.
C. To instill practical virtues (v. 4)
-for ( b) giving to ( b ) the simple cunning,
-to ( b) the youth, knowledge of shrewdness48
II. The Invitation
A. The call (in the jussive) to assume the position of the, wise person (v. 5)
B. The tasks o f the one who assumes this position (v. 6)
III. The Motto
A. Fear of the Lord
The relationship in Proverbs of these sets of virtues to each other as well as to a broader
notion o f wisdom and a vision of the good and flourishing human life is complex. What
seems clear, however, is that wisdom in Proverbs is best conceived as a comprehensive
virtue, a kind of meta-virtue, which includes all other virtues in itself.
By closely associating the intellectual, practical, and social realms and
subsequently inviting the hearer to take up the task of attaining to these virtues and
values, to choose the way of wisdom (w . 5-6), the structure of the prologue suggests
much. It reveals that Proverbs is concerned to shape the whole character of the hearer for
48 Although the second word of the first half of v. 4 also begins formally with lamed, one of the
important points of the outline is to illustrate that each half-verse of lines 2-4, with the exception of 3b,
begins with lam ed (see below).
54
the whole of life.49 The book is concerned to create a particular kind of person who can
be characterized by the virtues it valueswhat it would call a wise person. The text
intends to function not just normatively by providing the hearer specific commands, but
formatively, shaping the addressees character through its promotion of particular
virtues.50 In this regard the infinitive absolute in 1:3, the verse that structurally
marks the pinnacle o f the prologues articulation of the books purpose, is appropriately
rendered by the NRSV as wise dealing and not something like success (Clifford;
NJPS).51 The latter rendering, though possible, appears to reflect an interpretive point of
view that regards the book largely as a guide to worldly and material success; the former
translation underscores a perspective that understands Proverbs more fully as didactic,
moral literature.
Certainly the sages recognized a degree of material prosperity (along with the
acquisition of other goods such as the satisfaction of erotic desires or the attainment of
social status) to be an important aspect of human flourishing. Yet absent here in the
important initial formulation of Proverbs vision of the end of wisdom, or what one might
call the good human life, is any mention of the role of material riches. Nor is there any
indication that one o f the purposes of the way of wisdom is the attainment of material
prosperity. The book, if the prologue can serve as a guide, is most concerned to promote
a life of virtue, characterized by the virtues it highlights. As I will argue, for Proverbs, the
49 See, too, Browns description of the ethos of the instruction in Character in Crisis, 30-36. Cf.
Clifford, Proverbs, 20. Whybray begins to point to the kind of understanding I am suggesting, but still
privileges the practical advantages of wisdom too strongly. For him, even though intrinsically good,
morality and religion are presented as essential features of the pursuit of wisdom because they lead to
prosperity. (italics added). See Proverbs, 4.
50 Cf. Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 75, 92-93.
51 Clifford, Proverbs, 33. NJPS = The New Jewish Publication Society translation of Tanakh.
55
acquisition o f material wealth and other goods is never to be equated or confused with the
attainment o f the good life itself, namely the realization of wisdoms virtues. The sages,
however, recognize that the great mistake of many is to believe that the attainment of
wealth (or another lesser good) is, in fact, the key to human flourishing. A consequence
of these sorts o f false beliefs is that humans will begin to overvalue lesser goods, a
situation that produces passionate desire for them. Hence a large part of the books task is
essentially to structure (or re-structure) its hearers desires by undermining one set of
beliefs and putting new beliefs in their place.52
Although material riches (and other lesser goods) may well be aspects of a good
and flourishing life, for Proverbs these do not in themselves constitute or produce that
life. Rather, the virtues that belong to wisdoms way, as articulated most clearly in the
prologue, are what lead to genuine human flourishing. It is this that the hearer of
Proverbs needs to believe, and if he does, he will recognize the value of wisdoms
virtuous way and desire this as passionately as one might desire wealth or some other
lesser good.
Proverbs own discourse, however, must compete precisely against the message
of other discourses, or perhaps better stated, a kind of broad, implicit, but real social
script, which perennially overvalues lesser goods such as material riches, sexual
satisfaction, and the attainment of social status.53Hence one of the primary rhetorical
52 Proverbs thus belongs to that strand o f moral thinking that recognizes the passions and desires to
be intimately linked with beliefs. On this type of thinking in ancient Greek, particularly Hellenistic,
philosophy, see Martha C. Nussbaum, The Therapy o f Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994).
53 The language of social script here is deployed to suggest that Proverbs wealth and poverty
language may be responding to a more general anxiety concerning economic matters and value rather than
a genuinely articulated discourse, such as might be revealed through a study of, for example, the Tobiad
strategies Proverbs deploys (though certainly not the only one) is to value the way of
wisdom via images of precisely these generally over-valued and over-desired lesser
goods, especially wealth. Yet as its prologue anticipates, Proverbs permits little, if any,
trade off between the life o f virtue or the way of wisdom and other goods when reckoning
the value of each. As I will show, in contrast to wisdoms virtues, the lesser goods for
Proverbs, because they must to some extent remain external to a person, are considered
undependable, unstable, fleeting and therefore ultimately not valuable or desirable. They
cannot bring the security and well-being that humans seek in striving after them. Only the
virtues of wisdoms waywhich are internal to a persons character and so reliable and
enduring, and hence valuable and desirablecan do this. Moreover, as I will suggest,
Proverbs insists via its act-consequence rhetoric that virtue belongs to the genuine
structure of the cosmos. By deploying images of the lesser goods in order to value the life
of virtue Proverbs not only encourages a hearer to choose wisdom but also undermines
and thwarts that broad social script that places too much worth on lesser goods.
The Prologue as Hermeneutical Cue
Proverbs 1:2-6 (7) is regularly regarded as articulating the purpose of the book
through a string of infinitive constructs in w . 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, and 6a, which are dependent
on v. 1 but which, curiously, are interrupted by the finite verbs of v. 5.54 Though some
(e.g., Toy, Ploger, and Whybray) believe v. 5 is an interpolation, Fox (and others) are
right to see the line as a logical continuation of the grand promises of the Prologue. As
many have noted, moreover, v. 5 can be read to suggest that the book is designed to
narratives of the Hellenistic period.
54 See Murphy, Proverbs, 3-4; Clifford, Proverbs, 35; McKane, Proverbs, 263; Fox, Proverbs 1-9,
58.
57
instruct not only the young and the simple, but also to advance the education o f those
already learned.55
I differ from most others, however, in understanding lines 2-4 and 5-6 to be
functioning more fully and intentionally as an introductory unit. Verses 2-4 of Proverbs
prologue alone sketch the educational purpose of the book, as the outline above
indicates. Verses 5-6 subsequently exhort the hearer to engage this purpose, to choose the
way of wisdom. These lines do not only suggest that the prologue envisions two potential
groups o f readers, the wise and foolish youth; they serve as an invitation to any hearer
or reader who would be wise or understanding to continue reading, to strive to
comprehend the books tropes and figures and to learn how to interpret the enigmatic
words o f the wise. Verse 7 with its emphasis on the fear of YHWH can be regarded as the
books motto.56
This understanding of the prologues structure dispenses with any need to explain
via literary-historical arguments why v. 5 disrupts the prologues supposed chain of
infinitive constructs, each beginning with lamed, and makes sense of this verses
deployment o f jussive verbal forms.57 Each stich of w . 2-4 (with the exception of the
55 Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 62.
56 Such a designation is customary. See, for example, Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 67; Van Leeuwen,
Proverbs, NIB 5:33; Murphy, Proverbs, 4; Toy, Proverbs, 10. Though not properly part of the prologue,
v. 7s location at the beginning of the book sets the texts moral instruction within a religious framework
and underscores the importance of the virtue of fear of the Lord for Proverbs. Its status is on a par with
the various virtues articulated in the prologue proper. The fear of the Lord in Proverbs connotes, at least,
a kind of reverence that permits and drives one to engage seriously the demands and ethical norms the book
presents as grounded in, and in accord with, the deitys will. For other views on this concept, see, for
example, Clifford, Proverbs, 45-36 and esp. Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 69-71.
57 For such a literary historical endeavor see Whybray, Proverbs, 31. These efforts appear in any
case misguided. The passages first two infinitive constructions with lamed introduce half verses (w . 2a
and 2b). The third, by contrast, introduces all of line three (v. 3a). That is, unlike verse two where both
halves of the verse begin with an infinitive with lamed, the second stich of verse three (v. 3b) begins with
neither a lamed nor an infinitive. The prologues fourth infinitive construction with lamed, in verse four,
58
second stich of v. 3) does begin with a lamed (though not necessarily in an infinitive
construction), and these lines, with their infinitives, do articulate the purpose of the book.
However, it is the formal, aesthetic observation that each half-verse in lines 2-4 begins
with a lamed that is most significant.58 The absence of the lamed in the second stich of v.
3 is anomalous and marks or highlights the social virtues spoken of in this stich as
particularly important to wisdoms project. The use of jussives in v. 5, instead of some
other verb forms, such as the imperfect, expresses the volitional aspect of the prologue
its command or invitation to the hearer to continue reading and to embark upon the task
of attaining wisdom.
As I intimated already, the prologue, moreover, is not necessarily imagining only,
or simply, two distinct audiences, the foolish youth and the wise sage returning for a
refresher course.59 On the one hand, w . 5-6 encourage any anticipated reader rhetorically
to begin occupying the subject position of the wise (DDFT) and understanding (]*])
person he in fact will become if he stays the course and strives to understand Proverbs
wisdom. On the other hand, certainly the language of simple youth in v. 4 suggests the
book does have in mind boys, perhaps in a classroom setting, as one potential audience.
As Claudia V. Camp has noted, however, the poetic nature of much of Proverbs
again introduces a half verse (v. 4a), but the lamed that introduces the second stich o f this verse (v. 4b) is
not part of an infinitive construction. The infinitive of v. 6 again begins an entire line. Even if one considers
v. 5 secondary and intrusive, this is hardly a tightly structured infinitive based introduction.
58 Cf. n. 56.
59 Yoder, in Woman o f Substance, 3, similarly writes: The instructional goals of Proverbs 1-9
and, arguably, the entire book are broadly defined at the outset (1:2-7): to teach the inexperienced (CNnE;
1:4) how to live wisely (1:2-4, 6), to further educate the mature sage (1:5-6), and to remind everyone that
knowledge begins with the fear o f the Lord. Cf. Perdue, Proverbs, 69; Clifford, Proverbs, 35; Van
Leeuwen, Proverbs, NIB 5:32.
suggests a context rather less constrained than that of the classroom.60 Indeed in
subsequent pages, Proverbs imagines as its addressee a male who is potentially physically
able to rob and murder (e.g., 1:10-19); who understands the value of material wealth
(e.g., 3:14-15); who might go surety for a neighbor (e.g., 6:1-5); who possesses strong
sexual appetites and is of marriageable age (e.g., 6:24-35). Although one might argue that
such teaching could be addressed to young boys in anticipation of their coming of age, it
seems most appropriate to older malesthose who have at least reached adolescence.
The language o f lX}3 (youth) in v. 4 is also somewhat ambiguous. In the Hebrew Bible
(HB) it can occasionally clearly refer to quite young people. However, as Fabry points
out, the upper age boundary varies: 20 (e.g., Ex. 30:14), 25 (Nu 8:24), 30 (Nu 4:3, 23; I
Chron 23:3).61 The Midrash on Prov 1:4 likewise states that one is a na car until age 25
(R. Meir), 30 (R. Akiba), or 20 (R. Ishmael), because from the age of 20 one is held
accountable for ones sins.62 The simple youth of Proverbs prologue hence are
probably best considered young men and the texts rhetoric as designed to communicate
to such an audience.
But even if this is the case, the prologues language of simple youth (D ^H S,
"1153), like the rhetoric o f the wise, understanding person, encourages the reader or hearer
to assume a particular subject position: one who is in need of instruction. The prologues
rhetoric thus simultaneously urges any who read the book to assume the position both of
a young seeker and o f a wise and understanding person (a CDFl and ]*D3) and to begin
60 Claudia V. Camp, Wisdom and the Feminine, 58.
61 H. Fabry, T D O T 9:480.
62 H. Fabry, TDOT 9:480.
60
eagerly to discern the tropes (*?), figures (HIP bft), riddles (TTTri; sg. m T I ) and
other sayings of the sages, i.e., precisely those things of which the book itself is
comprised.
These three terms in the prologue, HIT and H T n (sg. n iT I ), are
especially significant. Although translated in various ways, commentators (e.g.,
Whybray, Toy, Fox) nearly always consider them to connote cryptic or opaque and
obscure utterances.63 However, this insight rarely carries interpretive weight and is often
dismissed. Murphy, for instance, writes: The riddle . . . and the puzzle [i.e., and
HTn], if these are correctly translated, are hardly in evidence in the collections.64 Fox,
too, states that although in Proverbs one must seek wisdom, this means to assimilate the
values o f the teachings and to be wise, not to work hard to get at their message. Basically
the fathers words of wisdom need only be heard and obeyed, not probed and
interpreted.65 Hence, though Fox appears to recognize that the rhetoric of the prologue
63 Whybray, in Proverbs, 34, notes HIT may refer to a saying needing interpretation; he
likewise states that *700 may in the prologue refer to an obscure saying. Toy calls 7115"' *7D a figurative
saying, one that looks toward another sense. He notes too that H T n signifies some sort o f deflected
discourse. Among the range of meanings he cites for btDD is an enigmatical saying. See Proverbs, 4, 8.
Fox, as indicated in n. 46 above, recognizes in the range of meanings o f *7KID, trope, which as such may
be a symbol or enigma. For him HIT is best rendered as epigram, though following Toy he also
recognizes the term may point to a figurative saying or trope. Though PITf! can be a riddle, he
suggests it is most fundamentally, an enigmatic, difficult saying that requires skilled interpretation. See
Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 54, 63-65.
64 Murphy, Proverbs, 5. Fox and others similarly point out that there is likely no example of a true
riddle (THT!) in Proverbs. See Proverbs 1-9, 65-67. It is thus perhaps best to understand the mention of
riddles as Van Leeuwen doesi.e., as a reference to any puzzling, thought-provoking utterance and to the
mental effort required to use proverbs rightly. See Proverbs, NIB 5:33. However, I would emend Van
Leeuwens comment and capitalize the word proverbs, since the prologue, as he himself notes, is
articulating the purpose of the entire book, which includes both proverbs or sentence sayings and longer
wisdom poems, etc. Despite his understanding that the terms in v. 6 point to certain cryptic utterances, Toy,
in Proverbs, 6, nonetheless confidently writes that the line does not in the least refer to esoteric teaching.
61
pushes the reader toward a reinterpretation of the book as a literary text, his own
interpretation of does not seem fully to follow through with this insight.
Although it may be that the particular literary forms o f the riddle or puzzle are not
easily discerned in Proverbs, in my view commentators too quickly dismiss the import of
the presence of such rhetoric at the books outset. The difficult terms in the prologue,
which connote opaque speech, serve an important purpose that ought not to be ignored.66
They function as a kind o f hermeneutical cue and point to the books figurative
qualities.67 The wise and seeking reader of Proverbs that the prologue imagines knows
how to look beneath the surface of the book to interpret the meanings to which the texts
tropes and figures point. This general orientation is manifest in the way the discourse of
wealth and poverty works as well.
This conclusion is not all that surprising. Each of the interpreters cited above is
right to point to the fact that the key terms of 1:6 connote some sort of opaque speech.
Although the usage o f *712)0 in HB suggests a range of meanings for the term (by-word,
saying, proverb), that the term can connote a sort o f figurative speech is clear from
its usage in Ezek 17:2 and 24:3. In both of these passages, Ezekiels cryptic oracle is
introduced as a *712)0. In Ezek 17:2 the term is paralleled with HITI, a word that in the
Samson tale in Judges (see esp. Judg 14:12-19) likewise plainly alludes to enigmatic
speech.68 The term HIT *70 is a hapax in Proverbs and otherwise appears in HB only at
66 Cf. Sirach 39:2-3, which likewise describes the sage as one who penetrates the subtleties of
parables and who seeks out the hidden meanings of proverbs and is at home with the obscurities of
parables (NRSV).
67 Cf n. 42 above.
62
Hab 2:6 in conjunction with ^ 0 2 and rRTI. Habakkuk 2:6 is difficult, but the
association o f HIT with two other terms connoting cryptic speech suggests it carries
similar nuances. The fact that the hiphil of the root j'" b can be used to express mocking
or ridiculing speech, and the participle p bft can mean something like interpreter,
underscores the likelihood that HIT refers as well to some sort o f deflected discourse
that requires interpretation.
Although not alluding to the prologue specifically, others also acknowledge
figurative aspects of the book of Proverbs. Von Rad, for instance, notes that proverbial
statements always have a characteristic openness, something that points beyond
themselves, an element which leaves room for all kinds of associations and, indeed, in
certain circumstances, even permits of a figurative interpretation.69 Cross-culturally there
is also evidence that proverbial speech sometimes is cryptic speech. Ruth Finnegan, for
instance, mentions several African cultures where different forms of proverbial utterance
have esoteric functions.70Further, as I intimated in the Introduction, the proverbial speech
of folk proverbs is generally understood by paremiologists as metaphorical speech. As
Paul Ricoeur has suggested, moreover, metaphorical language actually works like the
active resolution of an enigma, an activity which in part appears to be what the prologue
68 In HB riddles can be associated with sexuality, the case of Samson being the most celebrated.
Given the significant rhetoric of sexuality that Proverbs employs (e.g., especially in regard to the
strange/foreign woman and Woman Wisdom in chs. 1-9), the mention of riddles in the prologue, despite the
relative absence of this literary form in the text, is perhaps not as anomalous as it may initially appear. The
reader in a sense needs to figure out the riddle o f the womenwhat each represents, etc. as well as any
other provocative rhetoric Proverbs makes use of. On the enigmatic nature of metaphorical speech
generally, see the words of Ricoeur cited below.
69 Von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, 31.
70 Ruth Finnegan, Proverbs in Africa, in The Wisdom o f Many: Essays on the Proverb (ed.
Wolfgang Mieder and Alan Dundes; New York: Garland, 1981), 30. This essay is a reprint of Finnegans
Oral Literature in Africa (Oxford: Clarendon, 1970), 389-418.
63
is asking the reader of Proverbs to undertake.71
Since not all who stumble across the pages of Proverbs will be able to act like a
COn and 1123, however, the prologue thus reveals what might be called a slyly subtle
esoteric bias to the books wisdom instructiona bias which becomes more evident as
one recognizes the manner in which Proverbs divides the world into insiders and
outsiders, the wise and foolish, the righteous and the wicked. In sum, the prologue
indicates that the book often requiresas a trope or a figure doesa reading beneath the
surface or literal meaning. It is an important hermeneutical cue directing the readers
interpretive strategies.
The Two Ways as Hermeneutical Orientation
I suggested above that the book of Proverbs is concerned primarily to construct
for its addressee a particular moral self or identity characterized by the broad virtues
articulated in the prologue, virtues which ought to permit a hearer to enjoy a good and
flourishing life. I also just suggested that the prologues invitation to attend to the books
figurative and metaphorical qualities is an important hermeneutical cue for any reader of
the text who would seek to discern the books moral message. A further important way
the book carries out its task of character formation is by dividing the world up into two
ways: the way of the wisdom, understanding, and righteousness that leads to life, and
the way of folly and wickedness that leads to death. The authoritative voice of the
patriarch or teacher (subsequently identified with the voice of Wisdom and grounded in
the divine; cf. 1:20; 3:19) adopts this strategy early on in chapters 1-9 in an attempt to
win the addressees allegiance to the path of wisdom.
71 Paul Ricoeur, Biblical Hermeneutics, in Paul Ricoeur on Biblical Hermeneutics (Semeia 4;

ed. John Dominic Crossan; Missoula, MT: Society of Biblical Literature, 1975), 79.
64
The moral metaphor of the way, which is prominent in chapters 1-9, continues on
79
into chapters 10-31 and is one of the important images that unite the book. Together
with the prologues cue to read wisely, this two ways rhetoric serves the reader as an
important hermeneutical guide.73 Whatever values, virtues, or conduct the book
positively values and recommends carry the rhetorical force that these belong to the way
of wisdom and righteousness. They also bear with them the promise of life (a strong
symbol of what endures) as well as the authority of the teacher or parent. The opposite is
true as well. Whatever the text disavows carries the rhetorical force that it belongs to the
way of folly and wickedness and is a rejection of the parent or teacher. More
threateningly this path leads to death (a strong symbol of fleetingness).
The sentence sayings of Prov 10:122:16 and 25-29, however, do not always
directly instruct the hearer regarding the way of wisdom and folly as explicitly as the
rhetoric of chapters 1-9 does. They are generally anonymous proverbs that often take the
form of indicative statements and sometimes appear as simple observations of the world.
Yet, as I intimated in the Introduction, the form of a sentence and its intent may not be
the same. As I will show, in the context o f the book of Proverbs, observations may
implicitly critique social arrangements or carry the force of an admonition. As I also
72 Note the distribution of three important terms for way or path in Proverbs: p i , HDTID,
n ift. In chapters 1-9: 1:15 (two), 19; 2:8 (two), 12, 13 (two), 15, 19, 20 (two), 25; 3:6 (two), 17 (three),
23, 31; 4:11, 14 (two), 18, 19, 26; 5:6, 8, 21; 6:6, 23; 7:8, 19, 25 (two), 27; 8:2 (two), 13, 20 (two), 22, 32;
9:6,15 (two). In chapters 10-31: 10:9, 17; 11:5, 20,29; 12:15,26, 28 (three); 13:6, 15; 14:2, 8, 12 (two),
14; 15: 9, 10, 19, 24; 16:2, 7, 9, 17, 25 (two), 29, 31; 17:23; 19:3, 16; 20:24; 21:2, 8, 16,29; 22:5, 6; 23:19,
26; 26:13; 28:6, 10, 18; 29:27; 30:19 (four), 20.
73 See Van Leeuwen, Proverbs, NIB 5:24, who states similarly that chapters 1-9, together with
chapters 30-31 form an interpretive frame through which to view the small wisdom utterances they
enclose. Fox, too, speaks of chapters 1-9 as an introduction to the rest of the book. See Proverbs 1-9,
325. Carole R. Fontaine states that these chapters act as a theological and literary pi ologue to the proverb
collections that follow. See her Proverbs in the Women's Bible Commentary (ed. Carol A. Newsom and
Sharon H. Ringe; expanded edition; Louisville: WJK, 1998), 154.
65
suggested earlier, evidence o f literary integrity to the book that scholars are increasingly
recognizing suggests as well that the sayings of the second half o f the book ought to be
read in light of chapters 1-9. Hence, like the books initial instruction in chapters 1-9, the
later material of chapters 10-29 (31) is also to be related to the formation of virtue.
The text of Proverbs thus expects a certain literary competence and
sophistication from its readers or hearers.74 It expects them to recognize the rhetorical
force of its various utterances and to perceive which virtues and vices are being
highlighted when, and whether they belong to follys path or wisdoms way. Although
not all will be able to do so, the text also expects at least some of its readers or hearers, in
the language of the prologue, to begin to discern the tropes, figures, and enigmatic words
it employs. It expects certain readers to be able to recognize its figurative dimensions and
thereby distinguish the moral vision that its discourse, including its discourse of wealth
and poverty, is constructing.
Wealth as Motivational Symbol
In Proverbs, as I will demonstrate, wealth imagery is a potent symbol of the
desirable. It is often associated specifically with wisdom and other virtues and represents,
in Ricoeurs terms, both what it literally says and also symbolically or metaphorically all
that the text imagines its hearer might find to be desirable. Given this persistent and
intimate linkage of wisdom terms with terms for wealth, it is clear that for Proverbs
material wealth, as a good and desirable thing, must be properly ordered under the rubric,
or within the framework, of wisdom. The close and regular association of the two sorts of
terminology (wisdom and wealth) intimates as well that the symbol of wealth in Proverbs
741 borrow the phrase literary competence from Jonathan Culler. See his Structuralist Poetics:
Structuralism, Linguistics and the Study o f Literature (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1975), 113-130.
66
also plays the most important role of any o f the texts tropes in the books effort to
persuade the hearer of Wisdoms value. It serves, in other words, as the texts most
important rhetorical motivation.
Wealth imagery in proverbs is hence what Kenneth Burke might call a god
term. For Burke, a god term represents the ultimate in a series of dialectical movements
and the pinnacle in a hierarchy of terms.75 However, as Burke explains, god terms do not
merely stand for something other than themselves. Yet neither do they represent only
what they literally say. They are rather representative both of themselves and the family
or class substance with which they are identified. This type of symbol thus works in a
manner similar to metaphor; and for Ricoeur, the two, metaphor and symbol, are indeed
77
closely related. For Burke, whose writing is somewhat esoteric and opaque to the
uninitiated, it is the conclusion of a dialectic, like that achieved in god terms, that
produces an ultimate rhetorical motive. It is the peculiarly human penchant, or need, to
realize or resolve a dialectic movement in the pinnacle of a hierarchy that provides the
most fundamental basis of persuasion.
However, Burke also speaks of the factor of advantage as a likewise important,
if penultimately significant, form of rhetorical motivation.78 This aspect of Burkes
thought (rather than the resolution of dialectic) is more helpful in understanding how
75 Kenneth Burke, A Rhetoric o f Motives (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1969), 276;
first printing 1950, Prentice-Hall.
76 Burke, Rhetoric, 277.
77 Paul Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus o f Meaning (Fort Worth: Texas
Christian University Press, 1976), 45-69.
78 Burke himself {Rhetoric, 276) does not wish this aspect of rhetorical motivation neglected, even
as he warns of the fallacy of overly materialistic interpretations which would slight dialectic as a factor.
67
wealth imagery functions as a potent symbol of the desirable in Proverbs, especially since
the high rhetorical status of wealth is ultimately eclipsed or superceded by the image of
wisdom, the books truest god term.
For Burke, the ultimate form of persuasion is composed of three elements
(speaker, speech, and spoken-to). However, this form of persuasion might only be
maintained insofar as the plea in the act of persuasion remains unanswered. That is,
a persuasion that succeeds dies. As Burke explains, to go on eternally an act of
persuasion could not be directed merely towards attainable advantages. If the
advantages offered in a particular act of persuasion are obtainable, the act of persuasion
can be maintained only by what Burke calls interference a not-getting of sorts, some
intervention that perpetuates the act of persuasion by re-introducing or reinstating the
aspect of unattainability.79
The image of wealth, however, comes with a built-in mechanism of interference.
To the extent that wealth, say in the form of money, is attainable, its usefulness as a
rhetorical motivation has a clear limit. Yet there is a widely shared sense that although
one may acquire property or currency, the more abstract notion of wealth or riches is
something one can never be assured of having attained, or of having attained enough of.
There is a sense that a full attainment of wealth is impossible. The same is true of social
status or honor, another important symbol of the desirable in Proverbs. However, because
one can never be assured o f having attained wealth (or honor) exhaustively, it must
always be pursued. Consequently wealth (along with honor), is an ideal trope to be used
in conjunction with wisdom. The texts association of wealth with wisdom perpetually
68
motivates the quest for wisdom. It intimates that for Proverbs wisdom, like wealth, is
something that needs to be continually sought. Proverbs 30:15-16 suggests the sages in
fact understood something of the unattainable nature of wealth. The NJPS renders the
lines thus:
The leech has two daughters, Give! and Give!
Three things are insatiable;
Four never say, Enough!:
Sheol, a barren womb,
Earth that cannot get enough water,
And fire which never says, Enough!80
The leech, Sheol, a barren womb, parched earth, and fire are depicted as things with
appetites that can never be fully satisfied or appeased. That which they desire they can
never get enough of. This is significant, for the Hebrew term that is translated by NJPS
as enough is the common term for wealth, ]1I1. This is the only instance in Proverbs
where commentators insist on rendering the term in an adverbial sense, e.g., as something
like sufficiency.81 This is no doubt a legitimate translation. However, the important
point for this study is that Proverbs speaks o f the strong and perpetually unfilled desires
o f Sheol for humans, a barren woman for children, parched land for water, and fire for
fuel, as the wealth these things seek, but can never claim to have achieved.
80 The Hebrew text is problematic and the syntax difficult. For a discussion, see Murphy,
Proverbs , 233-235.
81 Whybray, in Proverbs, 415, for instance, writes: The universal view that here (both in v. 15
and v. 19) it [pH] has the meaning of sufficiency is based mainly on the context.
However, for Proverbs it is only wisdom that can bring humans real benefit. By
contrast, wealth and honor (or rather the quest for these), belong to what Burke calls the
frenzied human cult o f advantage, the quest of many things that cannot bring real
advantage, yet are obtainable.82 Sexual fulfillment, another important symbol of the
desirable in Proverbs, likewise might be said to belong to this cult of advantage, at least
as far as Proverbs is concerned. As a rhetorical motivation, however, sex works
somewhat differently than wealth and honor; it possesses a slightly different instrument
of interference. Wealth and social status, though in a sense attainable, are ultimately not
so; and hence both are ideal rhetorical motivations. Each comes with a built-in
mechanism o f interference that preserves its effectiveness as a motivation: namely, the
sense that one never really attains it or possesses enough o f it; the sense that ones desire
for it is never sated. Sexual desires, however, can be sated. They can be satisfied in a way
that the desire for wealth and honor cannot. However, this desire occurs repeatedly and so
must repeatedly be sated. Hence, like wealth and honor, it is an ideal image through
which to motivate, perpetually, the quest for wisdom.
In Proverbs these three images, wealth, honor and sexual fulfillment, each
associated with the quest for wisdom, serve as important rhetorical motivations. The three
are closely related, each interacting with one another and functioning in analogous ways
throughout the text. Each image represents, moreover, both what it literally points to and
symbolically all that is desirable. Hence for the sages, it is not only a quest for a certain
degree of material prosperity which, as a necessary component of a good life, must be
83 Hence the often close association, not only in Proverbs and HB but in other literature as well, o f
food imagery with sexual themes and implications (e.g., Prov 5:15-20; 9:1-6, 13-18). Like sexual desire,
hunger can be sated, but it inevitably reappears and must be sated again and again.
70
ordered under the rubric of wisdom, but social status and sexual fulfillment as well. As I
suggested above, for the ancient sages, the desire for these lesser goods must be
subordinated to the desire for wisdoms virtues; and the books task is largely to redirect
the hearers desires for these lesser goods toward a desire for wisdom. However of the
threeriches, honor and sexual fulfillment images of material wealth (and lack) are
most prominent in the book. It is these images of riches, which represent all that a reader
or hearer of the book might find desirable, that the discussions in the following chapters
will highlight.
The Act-Consequence Nexus
Along with images of material riches, the book of Proverbs contains a good deal
of retributive rhetoric, and the Act-Consequence nexus (or Tun-Ergehen Zusammenhang)
is usually presented as characteristic of the sages thought. This mode of thinking is what
I call, in relation to the discourse of wealth and poverty, a wisdom prosperity axiom. The
notion, as it is usually understood, is that the wise and righteous are inevitably rewarded
for their deeds and the wicked and foolish punished. Because the wisdom Proverbs offers
often appears as observations of the natural and social worlds and draws on images well-
known from those realms, the book is also often characterized as the sages empirically
constructed and empirically verifiable view o f the world. Subsequently the books cause
and effect rhetoric, its wisdom prosperity language, is generally interpreted in a literal
fashion as the sages empirical description of how the world works.
In a famous article entitled, Gibt es ein Vergeltungsdogma im Alten Testament?
Klaus Koch suggested that in Proverbs (and elsewhere in HB) good and evil
consequences automatically followed good and wicked behavior as a result of these
actions rather than as the direct judgment of the deity.84 Although Kochs views have
been challenged, scholars take the Tun-Ergehen connection in Proverbs very seriously.85
Whether or not a mechanistic universe or the deity is thought ultimately responsible for
the retributive process, it is an empirically verifiable act-consequence schema that is
thought to be characteristic of the sages thought. Matthew J. G offs formulation of the
matter in his dissertation on the Qumran wisdom text 4QInstruction, for example, is
characteristic and testifies as to how widespread and commonplace this understanding
remains. For Goff, the traditional wisdom of Proverbs teaches that knowledge can be
acquired through an empirical understanding of reality that fosters clear understanding of
how consequences result from actions.86
However, as almost all recognize in some form or another, such an act-
consequence viewpoint corresponds rather poorly to the world as it is experienced by
many. Hence, how the ancient sages negotiated this contradiction between the world
espoused in the text they produced and the empirically verifiable world needs to be
explained. Some scholars, such as Van Leeuwen, indicate that although the sages
believed that this was truly how the world works, they nonetheless recognized exceptions
to the general Tun-Ergehen rule. Others, such as Pleins, view the sages act-consequence
thinking as the blatantly self-serving ideology of an upper class elite.
84 Klaus Koch, Gibt es ein Vergeltungsdogma im Alten Testament? Zeitschrift fu r Theologie

und Kirche 52 (1955): 1-42.
85 It seems likely to me that in Proverbs, or anywhere in HB, ancient Israelite and Judean writers
and readers would consider YHWH to be the driving force behind any formulation of retribution, even if
this is not explicitly stated. Von Rads view is similar; see Wisdom in Israel, 92. Koch gestures in this
direction, but is most concerned to demonstrate that in HB certain kinds of consequences follow certain
kinds of acts inevitably.
86 Matthew J. Goff, The Worldly and Heavenly Wisdom o f 4Qlnstruction (University of Chicago
PhD Dissertation, 2002), 47. Cf. von Rads comments regarding experiential knowledge and Proverbs in
Wisdom in Israel, 1-8.
72
Neither o f these typical approaches is entirely wrong. However, they are neither
fully satisfactory precisely because they appear to understand the act-consequence
rhetoric o f Proverbs, which often employs wealth and poverty language, in an overly
literalistic fashion as that which is presumably empirically verifiable, and assume the
ancient sages did so as well. The tension between the world the text of Proverbs presents
and the world o f human experience remains. One should, however, recall Ricoeurs
suggestion that this sort of tension may function as a sign of a texts metaphoricity, a cue
that one ought not try too hard to understand such rhetoric literally.
It is, for instance, possible to explain Proverbs act-consequence rhetoric largely
in terms of didactic ends and pedagogical strategies, as Bergant sometimes does.87 Such
an understanding may be largely correct (Proverbs is moral instruction), and for those
who recognize the books didactic intent it might also minimize the tension between the
act-consequence world of the text and the real world experiences of certain readers. In
her study of Job, however, Carol A. Newsom offers a richer account of how one might
oo
understand the retributive rhetoric of Israelite and Judean wisdom literature. Although
an act-consequence rhetoric may appear as literal observations or descriptions of reality,
for Newsom such rhetoric, which she discusses in relationship to the speeches of Jobs
friends, is not the kind o f language one ought to understand literally. She observes that
most recognize such a view is too easily contradicted to pass as true if taken as
empirically verifiable on a consistent basis. Rather Newsom intimates that this sort of
rhetoric is not so much describing everyday reality as it is making certain claims about
87 Bergant, Isra e ls Wisdom Literature, 78-107.
88 Carol A. Newsom, The Book ofJob: A Contest o f M oral Imaginations (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2003), 115-125.
73
the deep structures of reality, despite the fact that this fundamental essence of the cosmos
may not always be empirically verifiable. As Newsom suggests, the persuasiveness of the
rhetoric of moral retribution in the fate of the wicked poems in Job is not based on
reasoned argument and empirical observationprecisely the kinds of procedures that are
typically considered the hallmark of wisdom thinking. It depends instead on the rhetoric
of tropes and images, which do not try give evidence so much as to make evident.
I wish to claim that the Tun-Ergehen rhetoric of Proverbs also represents such an
effort at making evident the nature of the world.89 And the world that the sages act-
consequence language strives to make evident is one in which the very structure of reality
favors virtue and opposes vice: hence the books assured claims about the prosperity of
the wise and righteous and the demise of the foolish and wicked. To act righteously and
wisely is to align oneself with the structures of creation; to act foolishly and wickedly is
to oppose the organization of reality. This unveiling of the true structure of the cosmos is
in essence the fundamental point of Prov 8:22-31, which claims that Wisdom was with
God at creation. Regardless o f the precise nature of Wisdoms relationship to the deity,
creation, and humanity in this passage (all of which are the topic of much scholarly
discussion), the text fundamentally is concerned to express Wisdoms intimate and
intricate relationship to the created order (and the deity).
The truth of the sages act-consequence rhetoric thus has to do primarily with
how one perceives the world. The retributive rhetoric of Proverbs constructs a kind of
wisdom mythos, a pattern of values and beliefs that symbolically express the
characteristics attitudes of the ancient sages. In this mythos, adherence to wisdom and
89 Newsom, The Book o f Job, 118-119.
74
virtue lead to well-being or human flourishing. Yet the believability of the wisdom
mythos does not depend on exceptionless empirical verifiability of the claims about
wisdom and prosperity inherent to Proverbs act-consequence rhetoric. Rather, the
mythos will tolerate a certain level of mixed experience of conformity and non
conformity to its claims.
As Newsom writes, one cannot convince another of the truth of the perceptions
generated through the wisdom literatures act-consequence rhetoric by means of
argument, for the issue is fundamentally one of perception itself.90 The wisdom mythos
shapes the way people see things. As an ideological construct, the mythos produces
subjects who in fact experience reality in accordance with the ideological description
presented by the mythos. Although a good deal of non-conforming examples might be
readily noticed by those not shaped by the wisdom mythos, for those operating under the
constraints o f the mythos such non-conformities may not prove problematic. Rather such
instances will tend to be screened out as not diagnostically significant, though of course
there is a ultimately a limit to the amount of anomaly any such mythos might tolerate.
Drawing on the work o f Alsdair MacIntyre, Newsom calls the perception of the
cosmos or the kind of narrative about the world, which the wisdom mythos tells through
its act-consequence schema, an iconic story. The truth o f an iconic story, moreover, its
perceived fit with reality or lack of it, has to be assessed in relation to the particular social
formation in which the story is embedded and in which it functions.91 Newsom explains
further:
90 Newsom, The Book o f Job, 121.
75
Iconic narratives encode fundamental commitments, social roles, and profiles of virtue
that constitute the community. These narratives make meaningfuland therefore
possiblecertain forms of action. That is, only within the contours of such narratives do
certain kinds of action acquire meaning and so become the things one does or refrains
from doing. These narratives ring true because they define the horizon of meaningful
action within an already given social and moral world.92
The already given social and moral world, the particular social formation, which
the iconic narrative of the wisdom prosperity rhetoric in Proverbs is related to, is that of
the ancient Israelite and Judean scribal culture. The act-consequence iconic narrative has
to do with the foundational commitments of the literati that produced Proverbs. It is not
a naive or simply literal account of the nature of the world they inhabited.93 Although the
actual experiences of any particular wise individual perishing, or wicked person
prospering, might contradict the act-consequence iconic narrative, these exceptions have
no explanatory value for the sages. In Newsoms words, although such things may
happen, they are perceived as anomalies. However, the story of the wicked
overtaken by calamity, like the story of the restoration of the good person, rings true
because it is consonant with the foundational values of the society or social formation
that tells and hears the story in the case of Proverbs the scribes of ancient Israel and
Judah (Yehud).94 Because these scribes believe so fundamentally in the value of
93 Cf. Newsom, The Book o f Job, 123. Von Rad appears to gesture toward a similar understanding
when he writes, what the sentences teach already surpasses any objective material knowledge in so far as
it is dealing with perceptions which have been acquired n connection with a truth for which one has already
decided. It is, in other words, a truth to which one has already committed oneself; one could even call it a
truth which has to do with character rather than with the intellect. See Wisdom in Israel, 64.
94 Newsom, The Book o f Job, 124; italics added.
76
righteousness and the virtues of wisdoms way to produce a good and flourishing human
life, the claims o f an act-consequence rhetoric about the nature of reality itself can be
perceived as true, despite some empirical evidence to the contrary. Scholars like Van
Leeuwen are thus in a sense correct in insisting that the sages held strong beliefs about
the Tun-Ergehen Zusammenhang and recognized exceptions to the act-consequence rule.
However, they do not fully express the complexity of that recognition.
Conclusions and Thesis
The language of wealth and poverty in Proverbs appears in significant contexts in
each of the two major divisions of the bookchapters 1-9 and 10-29 (31). In each
section, moreover, the text employs this wealth and poverty rhetoric in analogous ways.
Hence the discourse of wealth and poverty in the different sections of Proverbs ought to
be considered together.
Scholars also often detect in Proverbs rhetoric a kind of wisdom prosperity
axiom where literal material wealth is construed not only as a good, but also as a kind of
automatic reward for obedience to instruction and the attainment of wisdom, while
poverty is reckoned the inevitable result of disobedience and ignorance. Subsequently, a
certain inconsistency or ambiguity is said to arise not only from the fact that a number
o f sayings seem to relativize the act-consequence view, but that many verses also
encourage particular benevolent conduct on behalf of the poor and criticize the rich.
This ambiguity, however, is not adequately explained away by various appeals to
the provenance o f the books wealth and poverty sayings. I contend, rather, that it arises
in part from three related matters: an overly literalistic reading of the books wealth and
poverty language; a misperception (and again overly literalistic understanding) of
Proverbs act-consequence mode of thinking; and the belief that Proverbs is best
understood as a simple guide to success, often primarily conceived in terms of material
prosperity. If either the notion that Proverbs reflects some sort of wisdom prosperity
axiom or the contention that the book provides a key to a prosperous life is going to have
significant explanatory value, both the notion of a Tun-Ergehen nexus and the nature of
the books wealth imagery need to be revisited and reformulated. This re-evaluation,
moreover, ought to take place in light of two matters towards which the prologue points:
the books avowed end or purpose as moral instruction that highlights the role of virtue in
constituting a good and flourishing life; and a fuller understanding of the texts figurative
and rhetorical imagination.
As I will show, beginning already in chapter one, the dominant, instructing voice
in Proverbs deploys a rhetoric of wealth and poverty and in so doing positions itself at the
outset of its discourse to exercise a good deal of control over the symbolic usages and
associations of a cluster of terms for wealth and poverty/rich and poor that appear
throughout the rest of chapters 1-9 and the books subsequent collections. The instructing
voice exercises its control over the discourse of wealth and poverty primarily in two
ways. First, it simply offers direct, concrete instruction regarding a broad range of
economic matters e.g., how one should conduct business or manage ones material
resources or what perspectives and actions ought to be embraced or avoided in regard to
wealth and poverty and the rich and poor. This economic ethic is representative of, and
belongs to, the way of wisdom. But the book also employs the language of wealth and
poverty as motivational symbols in meshalim that should be understood more figuratively.
78
The rhetoric of wealth in these instances serves to underscore the desirability o f the way
of wisdom generally and the values or virtues associated with that way, while the rhetoric
of poverty depicts the undesirability of the way of folly.95 These sorts of sayings are not
directly related to matters of literal wealth and poverty, but depend upon an implicit
understanding o f the value of wealth.
The language of wealth and poverty is employed in these two main ways
throughout the book of Proverbs, though other strategies are taken up as well. In chapters
1-9 the rhetoric o f wealth is predominant and is most often employed as a p o sitiv e
motivational symbol, though the teaching voice does offer particular economic
instruction as well. In chapters 10-29 (31), alongside the rhetoric of wealth, the text takes
up the language of poverty much more fully. As in chapters 1-9 these sections also
employ the rhetoric of wealth and poverty as motivational symbols. Wealth language
remains a positive motivational symbol while the rhetoric of poverty functions as a
negative symbol. These later chapters also offer more direct, practical instruction
regarding poverty and wealth.
As I will argue in the following chapters, the book of Proverbs also employs
identifiably different rhetorics depending on the purpose or focus of its instruction and
the discourse o f wealth and poverty/rich and poor in the book is actually made up of at
least three recognizable sub-discourses. The first of these sub-discourses I call a
wisdoms virtues discourse, since it is not so much concerned with instructing the hearer
specifically on matters of wealth and poverty/rich and poor as with persuading the hearer
to choose the way of wisdom and to acquire the virtues associated with that way. The
95 Perhaps more than any other commentator, Bergant underscores the motivational aspects of
Proverbs rhetoric. See Israels Wisdom Literature, 78-105.
second, because it is concerned with encouraging right practices in the market place and
promoting kindness to specifically the poor, I call a discourse o f social justice. This
discourse is reminiscent o f a larger Biblical and ancient Near Eastern discourse of social
maintenance and Proverbs seems largely to have adopted it for its own instructional end
without much alteration. The third sub-discourse likewise possesses unique rhetorical
features and is quite critical of the social effects resulting from excessive wealth or
excessive lack. Because in this discourse (unlike the previous two) the sages appear
primarily to be offering certain kinds of observations of the social world, I call it a
discourse of social observation.
Because the characteristics of the wisdoms virtues discourse and the discourse of
social justice emerge first in chapters 1-9, in the following discussion the wealth and
poverty passages in this section of Proverbs will be treated first, in Chapter II, as a
discrete unit. Following this discussion, the wisdoms virtues discourse and the discourse
of social justice, as they begin to emerge in chapters 10-29 (31), will be explicated in
Chapter III. As is to be expected with closely related discourses, however, it will become
clear that at points the preferred discourse features of one sub-discourse overlap and
intersect with another and, in fact, stand in a mutually interpreting dialogue with one
another. Hence I will suggest in Chapter IV that the wisdoms virtues and social justice
discourses discussed in Chapter III reveal a kind of literary and moral Gestalt to Proverbs
through which a number of other wealth and poverty sayings in Proverbs might be
understood as also belonging to the wisdoms virtues discourse or the discourse of social
justice. This same Gestalt, I will argue, also provides the lens for recognizing and
understanding the third sub-discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs: the discourse of
social observation.
By attending to the books rhetorical and figurative imagination, the following
chapters will thus reveal that Proverbs wealth and poverty rhetoric is a vital component
of the books moral vision and its effort to construct a particular moral identity for the
hearer or reader; its attempt to form a wise person. The study, however, will also
demonstrate that the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs, though complex and
certainly not seamless, is less ambiguous and more coherent than is usually thought.
81
CHAPTER II
THE DISCOURSE OF WEALTH AND POVERTY IN PR O ^R B S 1-9
Wealth as Motivational Symbol in P ro verb s 1 (1:10-19)
The rhetoric of wealth and poverty in the book of Proverbs is first taken up in
1:10-19, soon after the prologue comes to a close. In these lines one can detect both the
birth of the figurative use o f wealth and poverty language as motivational symbols and
how the dominant voice in the text (here the instructing voice of the father or teacher)
begins to claim this powerful rhetoric for itself and its own use.1 The passage, which is
full of language that belongs to the metaphorical complex of walking and the way (e.g.,
v. 10, 11,15, 16), introduces and discredits an opposing discourse, the voice of sinners,
depicted as violent robbers, who attempt to lure the hearer onto their illicit path with the
'y
promise of wealth. The text reads:
norT M (ii m a o n -p n sr-D K n (io
ran ,p3l? to sh d n i b m i v c iim m b
t q H iT O e r a 1Dm m m bnw m (12
bbn m m s u m np*' p r r b n (is
v b n b rrrr i n m u iDDira V a n -\biM (14
nmrao pbn udq nm -pm m (15
1The passages in chs. 1-9 that employ a wealth and poverty rhetoric to construct a concrete
economic ethic for the hearer will be treated below.
2 An alternative, but not entirely dissimilar analysis of competing discourses in Prov 1-9, is Carol
A. Newsom, Woman and the Discourse of Patriarchal Wisdom: A Study of Proverbs 1-9, in Gender and
Difference in Ancient Israel (ed. Peggy L. Day; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1989), 142-160.
82
nncn t o nton t (16

* p t o - *22 T i n nenrrmTD o m T (17
n e to ib t i m r o t o o m (is
np, v ^ 2 rarn K m2 x m t o mmt* p (19

10) My son, if sinners entice you, do not go.3
11) If they say, Come with us, let us set an ambush to shed blood,
let us lie in wait for the innocent (without cause!);
12) Like Sheol, let us swallow them alive,
whole, like those who go down to the Pit.
13) We shall obtain every precious treasure;
we shall fill our homes with loot.
14) Throw in your lot with us; we shall all have a common purse.
15) My son, do not set out with them; keep your feet from their path.
16) For their feet run to evil; they hurry to shed blood.
3 The rendering of the passage largely follows NJPS. In this line, as many note, the MTs tobe '
might be corrected to to 3beh a form derived from H -3 -8 (be willing) as is the case in multiple MSS
(according to Fichtners BHS annotations). See Michael V. Fox, Proverbs 1-9: A New Translation with
Introduction and Commentary (AB 18a; New York: Doubleday, 2000), 85. It is, however, simpler to re
point the consonants as tabo the 2nd m. sg. qal jussive of 8 -1 -3 , as in a minority o f MSS (sometimes
plene, tabo'; again, so Fichtners BHS notes). This preserves the consonantal text and requires no complex
explanation regarding apocopation, elision, or Aramaisms. It also fits well in the metaphorical complex of
walking and the way prominent in the passage. Probably MTs Y"l08',''D8 83D 78 evolved from an
original T"IQ8'T38 DU 83H *78 through haplography (i.e., with the idiom 3 813, have dealings with;
cf. Jos 23:7, 12; Gen 49:6; and the similar phrase with H8 in Ps 26:4; Prov 22:24). If the sop pas ug at the
end of v. 10 belongs after 1138'I-D8 in v. 11 as the stanzas in L suggest, the proposed original wording
also reveals a smoother poetic progression: i.e., after the introductory 1]3 the line would chiastically begin
and end with 0 8 + the impf.; and by one popular means of reckoning Hebrew poetic meter, namely
syllable counting, the proposed original wording (excluding the introductory 1]3 ) reveals eight syllables in
each half of the line. See Wilfred G. E. Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to its Techniques (2nd
ed. reprt. with corrections; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1995), esp. 87-113. The existence of meter
in Hebrew poetry, however, has been questioned by among others, James L. Kugel, The Idea o f Biblical
Poetry: Parallelism and Its History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981), esp. 301.
83
17) In the eyes of every winged creature the outspread net means nothing.4
18) So they lie in ambush for their own blood; they lie in wait for their own lives.
19) Such are the paths of all who pursue unjust gain; it takes the life of its possessors.5
By allowing the sinners to be the first to deploy a rhetoric of riches the
instructing voice at the outset o f the book intimates the ambivalent status of material
wealth in Proverbs as a good, but not an ultimate good. On the one hand, verse ten
reveals that what the robbers have to say, the son will find appealing. Their words will be
enticing to the simple youth (TIHS; v. IQ).6 And what the sinners promise is all kinds of
precious wealth Op" pH ^D) enough to fill their houses (v. 13). However, the father
insists that the result of the robbers marauding and murdering is not the wealth they
promise, but ironically the very fate they inflict on others (v. 18; cf. v .ll). Using the
same language they used (cf. w . 16, 18), the father asserts that the sinners way is a way
of death and what they pursue is not Ip" pH *?, but what he renames unjust gain
(21D; v. 19).7
4 The line is a crux. Cf. G. R. Driver, Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs, Biblica 32
(1951): 173-197, esp. 173-74. For various ways the verse has been and might be rendered, see Fox,
Proverbs 1-9, 88-89.
5 NJPSs rendering o f n i f l l S as fate is ambiguous. It may highlight the proposed emendation

of the term to m i t R (end, outcome)as in, e.g., Fichtners BHS notes; C. H. Toy, Proverbs: A Critical
and Exegetical Commentary on the Book o f Proverbs, (rprt., Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988), 18; 1899
original. But cf. Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 90. Given the prevalence of the moral metaphor o f walking and the
way in this chapter, MTs n i n i S ought to be preserved and the rendering paths to be preferred, even
if the term is understood to include a sense of the end of ones path or conduct.
6 The piel verb and the substantive(s) simple fT B , DTE/EPNnS; e.g., in 1:4, 22, and
frequently) are derived from the same Ill-weak root. The sinners alluring words are paralleled by those the
instructing voice deploys later in the passage, as well as those the strange/foreign woman speaks in Prov 7.
See the following and cf. Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 93-94; Richard J. Clifford, Proverbs: A Commentary (OTL;
Louisville: WJK, 1999), 38.
84
The enticement with riches, which the sinners hold out, implies a recognition on
the fathers part that wealth is something the hearer will find desirable. It is this wealth
o
that the text assumes the son will find attractive, not the robbers violent undertakings.
That part of the appeal of the sinners speech (for example, the promise of a common
purse) is an invitation to comradeship (Fox) or to a successful community with
egalitarian and utopian claims (Van Leeuwen) is perhaps implicit, but in the sinners
speech itself the emphasis is on the wealth to be gained (w . 13a, b; 14a).9 However, the
robbers words imply that they have a skewed understanding of the role and nature (i.e.,
the value) o f desirable material goods. They overvalue wealth and pursue it by violence
and injustice. The instructing voice, by contrast, insists that wealth, though clearly
something that entices, is not so valuable as to justify its acquisition by any or unjust
means.
The imagery of violence and death associated with the sinners in the passage is
also significant in regard to the texts claims about the value of wealth. It indicates that
the sinners confusion regarding the role of riches in human flourishing actually sets them
on a path that moves them directly against the grain of the set of social virtues the
prologue values most: justice, righteousness, and equity. Instead of enhancing social ties
7 On the root P-H-D in HB, see P. J. Harland SID : Bribe, Extortion or Profit? VT 50 (2000):
310-22.
8 Pace Roger N. Whybray, Proverbs (NCBC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 39. Fox, is closer
to the mark when he suggests the text is primarily concerned with instructing the son to shun violence
and that evil is self-destructive. As he also notes, however, it is the sinners speech, not their crime that is
attractive. See Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 9 3 .1 would add only that the end of which the sinners speak is the
acquisition of wealth.
9 Newsom, for instance, argues that the son is being asked to align himself with the discourse and
ideology o f his peers over and against the hierarchical authority of the father, an authority which
generational and social differences afford him. See Woman and the Discourse, 142-160, esp. 145. Cf.
Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 93; Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, Proverbs: Introduction, Commentary, and
Reflections, NIB 5:37.
85
as these virtues do, the robbers confusion regarding wealth ends up destroying such
bonds and breeding brutality, as the rhetoric describing their actions setting an
ambush, shedding blood, lying in wait, swallowing up, and bootymakes
clear.10 Instead of leading to a flourishing life, the sinners passionate pursuit of wealth
leads to ignoble death, for themselves and others, as the images of Sheol and the Pit in v.
12 indicate.
The wealth the sinners promise, moreover, represents the appeal of their manner
of life and not simply literal riches. Several features of the text point to its symbolic
nature. First, although at this point in the book it is not yet well established, the passage
invokes the metaphorical complex of the way.11 This suggests that the story of sinners
who entice the son is designed to say something about the moral life and the choice the
hearer faces between the pattern of life offered by the robbers, on the one hand, and that
offered by the instructing voice, on the other hand.
Second, the passage deploys several other types of figurative language. In v. 11,
for instance, the robbers stated purpose is full of irony. In their pursuit of wealth, they
choose their victims randomly or without cause. In the end, however, their endeavors
were without cause in another sense, since they are clearly not able to enjoy the wealth
they gain. The sinners also offer the hyperbolic claim in v. 13 that they will obtain every
precious treasure and fill their homes with booty. Moreover, in at least two instances,
10 That the father has the sinners themselves describe their pursuit of wealth in language that
carries clear connotations of violence and marshal overtones (e.g., booty; bbtD) is a not so subtle
negative judgment on the robbers. However, in 31:11, the Woman o f Worth, who at least in part
represents Wisdom, is also said not to lack bbO. This is a description of the locus of genuine worth at the
end of the book (see Chapter IV below) that counters the robbers claim at its outset..
11 Fox also underscores the importance of the moral metaphor o f the way in the passage and
recognizes in the criminals words a claim in competition with that o f the father and wisdom. See below
and Proverbs 1-9, 85, 89-90, 94.
86
this, the books initial didactic tale, makes use of clearly metaphoric language. The
robbers boast that, like the mythological Sheol, they will swallow their victims living and
whole (v. 12) while the father claims that it is unjust wealth that will rob the sinners of
life (v. 19). Finally, the enigmatic and textually problematic folk-like proverb o f v. 17,
which appears to be introduced to support the fathers reckoning of matters, intimates that
the entire incident, like folk proverbs in general, is designed to say something broadly
about human life and the ways of humans in the world.
The agents and goals of the initial brief narrative in Proverbs thus ought to be read
not merely as literal descriptions of real robbers seeking gain, but in a more allusive sense
as well; they are tropes or figures. The sinners are not simply a youth gang, but a figure
for all of the things that, for Proverbs, constitute the wrong way and lead to death. They
are the persuasive voices of all the discourses, or that diffuse social script alluded to in
Chapter I, that compete with the fathers words. Correspondingly, wealth ought not to
be viewed only as literal riches, but as a symbol for all that is alluring .and desirable in
this social script. The wise and discerning person, who is seeking to understand Proverbs
moral instruction, will hear both levelsthe story and the meaning for which it is a trope.
By insisting that the sinners path actually leads not to wealth but to death, the
father also undermines and discredits the larger social script to which the sinners words
belong. What they say, including what they say about wealth, is simply unreliable. If
what the robbers say is untrue, it then behooves the son to heed the fathers words. What
the father says, including what he says about wealth, is what becomes important.12
12 Of course, the fathers voice, which introduced the sinners discourse, has controlled their words
from the beginning; cf. Newsom, Woman and the Discourse, 144. Yet despite this underlying control, the
sinners competing discourse, with its promise of wealth, remains enticing. Hence, far from being
87
Wealth as Motivational Symbol in Proverbs 2-9 .
The instructing voices deployment of the rhetoric of wealth as a motivational
symbol, which begins in chapter one, can be traced throughout the rest of chapters 2-9. In
2:4-5; 3:14-16; 4:5-7; 8:10-11; and 8:18-21 the instructing voice, be it the father or
personified Wisdom, continues to broaden and strengthen its hold on such language,
creating symbolic associations of its own choosing and simultaneously undermining

1^
competing claims regarding riches and wealth. In each of these instances this voice,
which in chapter one ostensibly allows the sinners to attempt to persuade the son of the
desirability of their way by means of the rhetoric of wealth, itself employs an expanded
vocabulary of wealth as a positive motivational symbol designed to encourage the son to
pursue the way of wisdom.
Proverbs 2:4-5
In 2:1 the instructing voice begins a long conditional sentence directly addressing
a young man (IQ).14 The contrast between the sinners discourse and the fathers words
is stark. The father employs an expanded vocabulary of wealth and promises the hearer
redundant (as especially older commentators sometimes claimed), the repetition o f my son f^D) in vv.
10 and 15 serves to reestablish and reiterate the patriarchs position of authority vis-a-vis the hearer. Toy, in
Proverbs, 16-17, for example, notes that the of v. 15 might be justified, but is not translated in LXX
and is unnecessary at the beginning of the apodosis, and is rhythmically undesirable, it is better to omit it.
See the similar comment of W. 0 . E. Oesterley, The Book o f Proverbs with Introduction and Notes
(London: Methuen & Co., 1929), 9. Cf. Fichtners notations in the BHS apparatus.
13 These passages do not represent all of the subsequent passages in chs. 1-9 that deploy wealth
and poverty rhetoric, but only those that use such rhetoric as motivational symbols. As noted above, other
texts will be treated below in the section regarding direct instruction. Although the fathers and Woman
Wisdoms voice are distinguished, most obviously in terms of gender, they represent a single, patriarchal
cultural voice.
14 On the nature of this conditional sentence see Toy, Proverbs, 31-32; Roland E. Murphy,
Proverbs (WBC 22; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 14; Clifford, Proverbs, 46; Arndt Meinhold, Die
Spruche (2 vol.; ZBK; Zurich: Theologischer Verlag Zurich, 1991), 1:79.
88
something quite different than do the robbers. The instruction in 2:1-3 claims: if you
(m. sg.) will take my words and treasure up my commandments C \m |3H n *,mnD;
v. 1); and attend to wisdom, discernment, and understanding (w . 2-3); and, in 2:4-5:
mrann dîddddi ôzn pnrr

mm nm mrr nT pn m
If you seek it as you do silver and search for it as for treasures, then you will understand
the fear of the Lord and attain knowledge of God.
In the sinners speech material wealth is the goal o f the actions in which they
invite the hearer to participate and the kinds of actions presented as necessary to achieve
the goal of attaining wealth were things like setting an ambush and concealing oneself
(j -5-H). In the fathers speech, however, wealth imagery plays a slightly different role, a
role which serves to underscore for the hearer the value of wisdom.
Notice first that in 2:1 the father deploys the same verb (] -S-H ) that the sinners
did in 1:11, although with a slightly different nuance. For the father, the sense of
concealing gives way to the sense of storing up; and by making my
commandments the object of | -S-H , the fathers speech likens instruction to some
material thing that is particularly valuable.15 The comparison of wisdom with that which
is valuable is further underlined by the advice in v. 4. The son is to seek insight (TI^'Dn)
15 For ] -3-15 with the sense of treasuring up valuable items, see Prov 13:22, which speaks of
storing up ^Tl (wealth), and Song 7:14 where agricultural products (mandrakes, choice fruits) are
stored up. More generally, in Ps 31:20 Gods good things ("plO) are stored up. As in Prov 2:1, ina
number of passages in HB the use of ) -3-15 reflects an extension o f meaning, from storing up physical
objects to storing up intangible goods such as a divine word (JHIQ^; Ps 119:11), skill (iTETiri; Prov
2:7), and knowledge (TliH; Prov 10:14). In Prov 7:1 the father likewise exhorts the son to treasure up
mUO (my commandments).
89
and understanding (T im ), which are the antecedents in v. 3 of the 3rd f. sg. verbal
suffixes in v. 4. These terms in Proverbs are essentially synonymous with the meta-virtue
of wisdom, and the fathers use of simile to move the hearer rhetorically to acquire them
reveals explicitly the lines metaphorical qualities.16 The son should seek after such
virtues as for silver (^jOZD) and as for treasures (DIDEDQD). Notice as well that the
object or goal o f the fathers advice in 2:4-5 is not wealth as it was in the sinners speech,
but the attainment o f wisdoms virtues, namely fear of the Lord and knowledge of
God, as the result clause of line five makes clear. These phrases hearken back to the
books motto in 1:7 and the important proverbial virtue mentioned there: the fear of the
Lord.
Hence in 2:4-5 the instructing voice in essence draws on that broad social script
that overvalues wealth in order, in a Bakhtinian sense, to color the hearers orientation
to virtue. Wisdom, not riches, is what should be most valued. The language of wealth in
Proverbs has quickly become an important textual symbol of the desirable.
One further feature of Prov 2:4-5, or more specifically a feature of the larger
passage of which 2:4-5 is a part, ought to be highlighted. I suggested above in Chapter I
that fear of the Lord (see 1:7) was a virtue on a par with the other virtues mentioned in
the prologue proper. After 2:5 alludes to this quality of character, the passage continues
by alluding precisely to other virtues articulated by the prologue. In 2:6 the text
underscores the intellectual virtues of wisdom, knowledge and understanding (cf. 1:2),
claiming that these are from the Lord:
16 Gerhard von Rad, Wisdom in Israel (London: SCM, 1972), 53 likewise recognizes terms like
wisdom, understanding, and insight are essentially synonymous in Proverbs.
90
n ra m n m vm n an n jr r m rr^D
For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Verse 7 subsequently has the deity, who must be the subject of the verbs in the line,
essentially serve as a moral paradigm for the hearer by stating that YHWH himself
treasures up (] -S-H ) the practical virtue of resourcefulness (mOTH).17 As the line
continues, YHWH is described as a shield for those who walk blamelessly in order, so
verse 8 explains, to guard the paths o f justice (EDSIDD miHK Verse nine,
which is a further result clause in chapter twos long conditional sentence, subsequently
offers a further and explicit allusion to the social virtues highlighted by the prologue. As
with v. 5, v. 9 notes, via the Hebrew term Tft (then), the goals of the fathers instruction
about treasuring up commandments and wisdom and underscores for the hearer the value
of the social virtues by calling these good.
h e td i d s o t i p i n p n n m
Then you will understand justice and righteousness and equity, every good course.
Proverbs 3:14-16
After a series of imperatives in 3:1-12 charge the son to tend to instruction (see
below), v. 13 declares the one who finds wisdom and understanding to be happy
(TIDDn CHH HEJK). Subsequently, in 3:14-16 the instructing voice again takes up
the rhetoric of wealth as a positive motivational symbol and expands its control of this
language by expanding its symbolic associations. Specifically, the text introduces three
new terms (trade value, gold, rubies); and what was implicit in 2:4 is made
17 The first word of v. 7 is a Ketiv-Qere 'jSH1). The Qere is to be preferred.
91
explicit. Wisdom, now personified as a woman, is said to be better than silver and other
treasures. The text reads:
nnK inn p i n m ôd ifidd m n o d id b (14
r n ~ w ^ "pHsrrbm o b s d k b n ip 1 (is
uddi n b iK D m f f t d b O B 1 p K (16
14) Her value in trade is better than silver, her yield greater than gold.18
15) She is more precious than rubies, all of your goods cannot equal her.19
16) In her right hand is length of days, in her left, riches and honor.20
Wisdoms worth in this passage is first expressed in commercial terms. The text claims
that her [Wisdoms] value in trade is greater than the commercial and financial gains
that silver can offer (*]! IFIDD FHFID DID).21 Likewise that which Wisdom produces,
18 The rendering of the passage follows NIPS.
19 The rendering ofD T D S (the Qere, which is to be preferred to the Ketiv On,3B; cf. 8:11) as
rubies is not certain. Alternatives include corals and pearls. See Toy, Proverbs, 68; Fox, Proverbs 1-
9, 157.
20 Among others, Fox, in Proverbs 1-9, 157, has suggested riches and honor may be an instance
of hendiadys, meaning something like honorable wealth. However, each term is better considered
individually as emblematic of what the hearer would consider desirablei.e., here material wealth and
social status. As Clifford writes, ancient Mediterranean societies put great value on honor and reputation
and on the avoidance of public shame. See Proverbs, 54. On this topic see further J.G. Peristiany, ed.,
Honour and Shame: The Values o f Mediterranean Society (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966);
see especially the article by Julian Pitt-Rivers, Honour and Social Status in the same volume. Cf. Victor
H. Matthews and Don C. Beniamin, eds. Honor and Shame in the World o f the Bible (Semeia 68; Atlanta:
SBL, 1994).
21 From the root I-FI -D are derived several economic terms. The qal act. part, in HB, for instance,
is often best rendered merchant (e.g., Gen 23:16; 37:28; 1 Kings 10:28, etc.) while in later Hebrew texts
]inO is a traveling merchant. Both terms are probably extensions of the roots base meaning to pass
throughi.e., merchants would have to pass through various regions to do business. See Marcus
Jastrow, Dictionary o f the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Yerushalmi and Midrashich Literature (New York:
Judaica Press, 1996), 972; one volume reprint of the two volume 1971 original. Here in Prov 3:14 sahar
(value in trade) reverberates with these kinds of economic connotations (cf. Is 23:3, 18; Prov 3:14;
31:18).
92
expressed via the agricultural image o f the yield (TIKlUr)), surpasses the value of gold
and rubies. None o f the sons goods (|*Sn), the text says, can equal her.
Some commentators contend that the association of Wisdom with wealth in these
verses (and elsewhere in Prov 1-9) implies that Wisdom promises the hearer literal
material advantages.22 The instructing voice, however, does not reflect neatly a wisdom
prosperity axiom as this is regularly understood, but is concerned with persuading the
hearer o f the incomparable value of Wisdom. By means of the comparative (tob-min)
construction, w . 14-15 function to underscore the advantage wisdom holds over wealth.
The verses do not say that wisdom brings riches, but, in expanding the analogy of 2:4,
O'X
that wisdom is better than riches. The father adopts the language of material wealth and
economic comparison (inD) to convince the son to choose Wisdoms way. Indeed not
only does she hold the enticements of riches and other valuable items, as v. 16 reveals,
she herself is more valuable than these inducements. Even if measured against valuable
silver, gold, and rubies, Wisdom must be said to be most valuable.
22 I.e., the verse might be said to reveal a wisdom prosperity axiom. For example, although Toy
recognizes that in this passage the excellence of wisdom is figurative, he nonetheless adds: Here we
have an explicit statement of the material rewards that attend her [Wisdom]. . . . The riches and honor, here
mentioned in addition to long life, are to be taken literally. The conception o f wisdom found here includes
qualities that usually secure both wealth and the esteem of men. The qualities Toy has in mind are
prudence and sagacity, but it is not entirely clear how or why he thinks these normally lead to riches
and honor. See Proverbs, 68-69. Whybray, in Proverbs, 66, likewise avers: It is material advantages that
the author has in mind. In other words, it is more advantageous to put the acquisition of wisdom first as an
immediate goal rather than silver or gold, because in the end it will bring even greater and more durable
material rewards (bold-type in original). Christine Roy Yoder in Wisdom as a Woman o f Substance: A
Socio-Economic Reading o f Proverbs 1-9 and 31:10-31 (BZAW 304; Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 2001), 97
writes similarly: The son should strive to acquire her [Wisdom] because, in the end she will bring him
even more wealth, property, and good fortune (3:16-17). Cf. Clifford, Proverbs, 54.
23 Meinhold similarly recognizes that for this passage precious metals . .. despite their great
material worth do not in the slightest come close to the worth of wisdom {Edelmetallen .. . trotz ihres
hohen materiellen Wertes nicht im entferntesten an den Wert der Weisheit heranreichen). However, he
nonetheless continues by stating that this does not exclude the fact that, wisdom for her part helps one
acquire wealth (Weisheit ihrerseits zu Reichtum verhilft). See Die Spruche, 1:80-81. Similarly, Fox,
Proverbs 1-9, 156; Leo G. Perdue Proverbs (Interpretation; Louisville: WJK, 2000), 101-104.
93
The final stich of verse 15 (all of your goods [j*Sn] cannot equal her) likewise
intimates that Wisdoms wealth here ought to be reckoned less as something she literally
can pass on to humans and more as a symbol o f her worth. Although can carry the
meaning goods, and the economic terminology in the passage, suggests that such a
rendering is appropriate here, in BH the word more generally means desire, delight,
pleasure.24 Wisdom thus can be said to be not only better than wealth, but also better
than anything the son might desire.25 The multivalency of j*2n, which points toward
both material goods and the broader notion of desire, anticipates, and is a reflex of,
the texts use o f other images to speak of wisdoms desirability (e.g., honor in 3:16). It
also colors the other wealth imagery in the line. All of it functions together as a symbol of
what is alluring in order to communicate to the son Wisdoms desirability and to
persuade him to pursue her as he might any desirable good, whether wealth or, as the
passages personification of Wisdom as a woman also hints, sexual satisfaction.26
The rhetoric o f 3:16, however, does in fact seem to suggest that Wisdom will
bring the son real material rewards, since this line states that she is not merely like or
better than riches, but that, along with length of days and honor, she actually
possesses wealth. It would not be unreasonable to assume, then, that the one who finds
Wisdom would subsequently find these other things as well.
24 In later texts composed in classical Hebrew |*Sn can also come to mean something like
business activities. This, for instance, is in my view sometimes the case in the Qumran wisdom text
4QInstruction. The translation above, which renders the term goods, is adopted from NJPS.
25 Cf. Van Leeuwen, Proverbs, NIB 5:53; Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 156-157.
26 Though the erotic dimensions of Woman Wisdom are not in this instance highlighted as they are
elsewhere (e.g., 4:5-8; see below).
94
However, two observations speak against the view that the text ought to be
regarded primarily as literally promising the one who finds wisdom material wealth.
First, the passage again reveals a certain tension regarding the value of wealth. On the
one hand, verses 14-15 have just emphasized Wisdoms value over material goodsa
fact that calls into question the ultimate worth of riches. Verse 16, on the other hand,
claims that Wisdom possesses wealth. As in chapter one this tension invites the reader to
consider precisely in what manner this mashal is employing the rhetoric of material
riches (and other desirable images).
Second, Wisdom in 3:16 is personified.27 Personification is a literary device by
which an abstract notion or inanimate object is said to possess personal qualities or
characteristics.28 With the very introduction of this figure we are thus already in the realm
of the figurative. Hence, although any good and flourishing life that wisdom will produce
must include a degree of real material prosperity, in this line it is best to say that
27 The image of personified Wisdom has been much discussed. It may find its background in
Egyptian mythology surrounding Isis or Ma "at. In Egyptian iconography the goddess Ma at is, on at least
one occasion, represented holding what many scholars, following Kayatz, identify as the symbols of life
and wealth; see especially Christa Kayatz, Studien zu Proverbien 1-9 (WMANT 22; Neukirchen-Vluyn:
Neukirchener, 1966), 102-117. The Hebrew text perhaps is drawing on this mythic imagery, but see Foxs
critique in World Order and Ma'at: A Crooked Parallel, JANES 23 (1995): 37-48 and in Proverbs 1-9,
157. Yoder reviews a number of scholarly positions regarding Woman Wisdom in Woman o f Substance, 4-
13 and argues that real, though somewhat exceptional, women of the Persian period Levant are best
regarded as forming the background to the woman of substance in Prov 31:10-31 and that Woman Wisdom
is depicted as just such a woman. Cf. Claudia V. Camps more extensive survey of the scholarly landscape
in Wisdom and the Feminine in the Book o f Proverbs (Sheffield: Almond, 1985), 21-68. Other studies
concerned with the figure of Woman Wisdom include Silvia Schroer, D ie Weisheit hat Ihr Haus Gebaut:
Studien zur Gestalt Sophia in den Biblischen Schriften (Mainz: Griinewald, 1996) and Bernhard Lang,
Wisdom and the Book o f Proverbs: An Israelite Goddess Redefined (New York: Pilgrim, 1986). On the title
page, the subtitle o f the latter book, however, is given as A Hebrew Goddess Redefined. The work is a
revision o f Langs 1975 Tubingen dissertation, which appeared as, Frau Weisheit: Deutung einer
biblischen Gestalt.
28 The Oxford English Dictionary states that personification is the attribution of personal form,
nature, or characteristics; the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person: esp. as a rhetorical figure
or species of metaphor. Oxford English Dictionary (prep, by J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner; 2nd ed.;
Oxford: Clarendon, 1989), 11:604. Yoder, in Woman o f Substance, 1, who cites this same definition, notes
a number of instances of personification in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Zion in Jer 4:31; Lam 1-2, 4; etc.).
95
personified Wisdom is depicted as holding riches primarily because the text recognizes
its addressee would find such wealth valuable and desirable. The rhetoric of honor and
long life in the line function similarly.
Hence in 3:14-16 Proverbs deploys images from several easily recognized spheres
of human life i.e., the economic (riches), social (honor), and even physical (long life)
realms. These familiar images of what humans often find valuable and desirable provide
a conceptual bridge by which the hearer can come to comprehend the value that wisdom
possesses in the moral sphere. As a symbol, the wealth imagery in the passage points not
merely to literal wealth, but also beyond itself, to all that is desirable.
By valuing Wisdom in terms of the lesser goods of wealth, status, and long life,
the text in 3:14-16 also makes it difficult for the hearer to confuse these goods, mere
components of a flourishing life, with the good life itself. Earlier the father acknowledged
the sinners competing discourse in order to discredit it. Here the instructing voice
attempts to screen out the message of the same broad social script that the sinners words
representa script which promotes beliefs and ideologies other than those of the father
(i.e., beliefs, perhaps, which suggest the accumulation of riches, honor, etc. is the best
means to human flourishing). The text again wants to be certain that the voice of the
father is the one to which the son attends.
P roverbs 4:5-9
At the beginning of chapter four the instructing voice addresses an audience cast
in the plural. Having recalled the guidance he received from his own father (w. 3-4), the
father or teacher in 4:5-9 switches to a m. sg. form of address and deploys the rhetoric of
wealth. The passage reads:
96
,s n aQ a r r ^ i rnorbK n rn mp naan nip (5
"pum rant* p ro m natan-^ (6
n m rap pr3p"baai naan mp naan it can (7
nDpann piaan p aan m nboba (8
paan nasn m a a p i n 1? -\m ib ]nn (9
5) Buy Wisdom, buy understanding; do not forget and do not turn from the words of my
mouth.
6) Do not abandon her and she will guard you. Love her and she will protect you.
7) The beginning of wisdom is buy Wisdom! and with all your possessions buy
understanding!29
8) Cherish her and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you cling to her.30
9) She will set on your head a graceful garland, a beautiful crown she will bestow on you.
The passage is complex and rich with two further distinct discourses o f desire
erotic, marriage language and the language of social statusinteracting with the rhetoric
of wealth.31 The fact that the lines, especially v. 9, depict Wisdom engaging in acts that
29 The line is not present in the Greek. Although the syntax is difficult, the verse is understandable.
For a discussion see Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 175.
30 is a hapax and is translated in a variety of ways: hug her (NJPS); prize her highly
(NRSV). Fox notes that the words root-meaning is apparently be/make high. Hence he suggests
translating the term as exalt, cherish. See Proverbs 1-9, 175; cf. 171. Cherish is perhaps the best
rendering. It preserves the notion of elevation, albeit social elevation, which the following two terms
underscore: fDDTim and [DDn. It also gestures toward the erotic element that the final term in the
verse, nDpDfin, suggests.
31 In verses five and seven the text deploys what at least initially appears to be an economic
rhetoric. Verse five exhorts the hearer to acquire or buy (H3p) Wisdom and understanding. Verse
seven, in a play on the root H-3-p, similarly commands one to acquire (H3p) Wisdom and understanding
with all o f ones acquisitions C]r3p). Verses six, eight, and nine, by contrast, make use of erotic,
marriage imagery, as many have noted. See especially Meinhold, Die Spruche, 1:91-93; Yoder, Woman of
97
normally would be the provenance of humans indicates that she is again personified, and
that the reader is once more in the realm of the figurative. Moreover, although it is
perhaps possible to purchase knowledge, it is impossible to buy wisdom, as especially w .
5 and 7 command. Even if the figure of Wisdom here is based on real Persian period
women as Yoder has argued, Wisdom herself is not a real woman that one might acquire
or marry. The literal interpretation of the lines thus produces, in Ricoeurs idiom, an
absurdity that forces the reader to search for an alternative, metaphorical understanding.
Despite the commands to buy wisdom, the instructing voice in Prov 4:5-9,
which exhorts the son to recognize the womans attractive features anc embrace her to
himself, is attempting to persuade the son of Wisdoms desirability primarily in terms of
erotic imagery. Such a rhetorical move is not surprising since elsewhere in Prov 1-9 the
text deploys a good deal of erotic language to speak of, especially, the desirability o f the
strange or foreign woman (e.g., 6:24-35) and Woman Folly (9:13-18). The text, however,
speaks of the desirability of these women via a rhetoric of illicit sexualitye.g., adultery
(ch. 6), and figuratively, stolen water and bread eaten in secret (ch. 9). Like the
robbers riches in Prov 1, together these women represent all that is alluring on the wrong
Substance, 95-96; Clifford, Proverbs, 61-62; Murphy Proverbs, 27; Perdue, Proverbs, 114. However, Fox,
in Proverbs 1-9, 173-174, claims: Nothing in the present passage alludes to marriage. He and others (e.g.,
McKane) consider the image of Wisdom here in 4:5-9 to be one of a patroness. See Fox, Proverbs 1-9,
178; William McKane, Proverbs: A New Approach (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1970), 306; cf. Whybray,
Proverbs, 78. Verse six, however, also admonishes the hearer not to abandon (rOTUrrbK) Wisdom, but
to love her (rQHK). The root D-T-D, which normally means to abandon, can also carry the sense of
divorce, as in Prov 2:17 where the adulterous woman abandons or divorces her husband, the companion
of her youth. Cf. Isa 54:7 and see Yoders similar comments in Woman o f Substance, 95-96. The Hebrew
(to love; v. 6) largely carries the same range of meanings as the English loveincluding its
erotic possibilities. The first word of v. 8, *70*70, is a hapax. Its meaning is disputed, but the parallel verb
pun (to embrace, hug) is deployed in Song 2:6 and 8:3 in what are plainly erotic contexts. For a
discussion of the term see Toy, Proverbs, 88-89; Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 175. Verse eight also takes up the
rhetoric of social status where it is claimed a heightened passion for Wisdom results in an increase of ones
honor. Returning to the erotic, verse nine speaks of garlands and crowns, terms which elsewhere in HB
appear in the contexts of weddings (e.g., Song 3:11). Cf. Whybray, Proverbs, 78; Clifford, Proverbs, 61-
62.
98
way.32 By contrast, the desirability of the woman in 4:5-9 i.e., Woman Wisdomis
presented in terms of what the instructing voice deems legitimate erotic terms associated
with marriage imagery (as probably is the woman of chapter 31:10-31). Just as in
chapter one the instructing voice values wisdoms way by employing a positive economic
rhetoric, which is distinguished from the invitation to thievery that the sinners employ,
here too in contrast to the illicit descriptions of the strange woman and Woman Folly, the
father chooses to emphasize Wisdoms desirability to the son by means of a related, but
distinct and legitimate, rhetoric of desire. Woman Wisdom is to be acquired as one would
a good wife, as Yoder has pointed out. She is not to be divorced (v. 6) and is an
appropriate object of the hearers desire, as the imperatives love (v. 6), cherish, and
cling (v. 8) indicate. For her part Wisdom will play the part of a good bride offering the
son a (marriage) garland and crown (v. 9); and the one who pursues Wisdom passionately
as a lover/bride, she will reward with honor (v. 8).
However, again, this erotic imagery points to the texts metaphorical qualities
since Wisdom is not a real woman. The instructing voice of Proverbs knows that the
attainment of honor and erotic fulfillment, like wealth, are things the imagined hearer will
32 As many have noted, where the image of one of the women is invoked the other is
simultaneously evoked. Murphy, for instance, writes: Folly resembles the Woman Stranger and her
machinations and chap. 9 suggests a symbolic identification of Woman Stranger with Woman Folly.
See Proverbs, 282. Cf. Perdue, Proverbs, 89; Whybray, Proverbs, 54-56. On the figure of the strange
woman, see further, Claudia V. Camp, Whats So Strange about the Strange Woman? in The Bible and
the Politics o f Exegesis (ed. David Jobling et al.; Cleveland: Pilgrim, 1991); Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 252-262;
Christl Maier, Die Fremde Frau in Proverbien 1-9: Eine exegetische und sozialgeschichtliche Studie
(OBO 144; Freiburg: Universitatsverlag; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1995); Joseph Blenkinsopp,
The Social Context of the Outsider Woman in Proverbs 1-9, Bib 72 (1991): 457-73; Harold C.
Washington, The Strange Woman (rVOD/TnT HW ) of Proverbs 1-9 and Post Exilic Judaean Society,
in Second Temple Studies 2. Temple Community in the Persian Period (ed. Tamara C. Eskenazi and Kent
H. Richards; JSOTSup 175; Sheffield: JSOT, 1994), 217-242.
33 Yoders thesis in Woman o f Substance that Woman Wisdom is presented as a Persian period
woman of substance, presupposes a similar notion.
99
likely crave, and for this reason deploys the rhetoric o f sex and social status to
demonstrate the desirability of the way of wisdom.34 Whereas the patriarchal imagination
envisions shame and death for the one who chooses the illegitimate path of adultery (cf.
6:23-35) or the adulterous way of folly (cf. 9:13-18), the claim that union with this
woman brings honor and exaltation belongs, by contrast, to the patriarchal imagination
regarding marriage (cf. 31:23).
With the use of terms derived from H-D-p in w . 5 and 7, the erotic, marriage
language of the passage and its rhetoric of social status intermingles as well with an
economic discourse. The economic resonances of HDp are especially evident in 4:7. The
words HTH HDp ITDp*7101, however, are somewhat ambiguous. The phrase might
mean acquire understanding along with all your possessionswhere wisdom (i.e.,
understanding) is understood to be as valuable as any other possessions one might
acquire. That is, whatever you get, be sure to get wisdom too! However, the verb HDp
is often deployed in economic contexts where it carries the meaning to buy.35 On a
number of occasions in HB, the root appears as well with the preposition bet functioning
as the bet preti or bet of exchange. This is the case in Gen 47:19, 2 Sam 24:24, Is
43:24, Amos 8:6, and 1 Chr 21:24, for example. Given the rather frequent use of
economic language in Proverbs, it is likely that the bet of *71DU is functioning in this
economic sense here as well and the lines best rendered, in exchange for all your
34 Recall that, as with wealth imagery, the rhetoric of sex and honor are ideal rhetorical
motivations. Each possesses what Burke would call a built-in mechanism of deference that allows it
perpetually to motivate. See Chapter I above.
35 The same consonants carry other connotations that are significant for the study of Proverbs (e.g.,
create, bear a child; see esp. Gen 4:1 and cf. Prov 8:22 and Wisdoms relationship to the deity
described there). In these instances, however, the term is sometimes reckoned as a distinct root, II, related
to the third weak root attested in other West Semitic languages such as Ugaritic.
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possessions buy understanding; or, with all your possessions, buy understanding.36
The imperatives of verse five (TIDp) should thus be rendered as buy as well.
' Hence, whereas Prov 3:14-16 uses the economic language of economic exchange
CinD) to suggest that Wisdoms value exceeds that of material wealth, the teacher in 4:5-
9 insists one should not only seek Wisdom as one might seek wealth, but also that one
should spare no expense to acquire this valuable commodity. Together with the fact that
wisdom is not something that can ordinarily be purchased, this ironic and hyperbolic
exhortation points to the figurative nature of the passage. In the symbolism of the
instruction all your possessions is a further trope for all those things (e.g., wealth,
status, sex) besides wisdom, which might be the focus of the hearers desire and his
overly zealous pursuits.
Notice, too, that the fathers economic rhetoric in 4:5-9 once more stands in shapr
contrast with that of the sinners in 1:13. The robbers in chapter one make the attainment
of wealth the end o f life. They consider riches to constitute an ultimate good to be
acquired at any cost, including that of injustice and violence. The father, by contrast,
exhorts the hearer to acquire (TTDp) wisdom and discernment in exchange for all your
possessions ("P^p He casts riches only as a means to a flourishing life. The
36 Verse seven, however, remains difficult. It is not present in LXX and some commentators, such
as Clifford, believe it should be omitted. Nevertheless, his rendering of the line (The beginning of
wisdom; acquire wisdom; / at the cost of all your other acquisitions, acquire insight) suggests he too
understands the bet of bkwl as the betpreti. See Proverbs, 60. Whybray similarly renders the phrase in
question in a manner consonant with my analysis: at the price (even) of all your possessions. See
Proverbs, 77. Like Clifford, Toy also believes v. 7 should probably be omitted. However, one of the
translations of the verse that he offers is in line with what I am suggesting. He writes: the Heb. reads: . ..,
or buy wisdom, and, with all that thou hast gotten, buy, etc., that is, buy wisdom at the price o f all thy
property. See Toy, Proverbs, 88, italics original. Van der Weiden, by contrast, understands the bet as the
beth-comparativum: plu s que toutce que tupossedes. Cf. W. A. van der Weiden, Le Livre des Proverbes:
Notes Philologiques (BEO 23; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1970), 45.
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implicit logic of the passage is that by giving up something of value (ones possessions)
one will acquire something that is, or will prove to be, of greater worth (wisdom).
Although the sinners wealth in chapter one is ostensibly precious and ultimately
something that requires ones life, it is initially presented to the hearer as easily
attainable. Acquiring wisdom, by contrast, is, according to the instructing voice, costly
business. It requires that one give up all of the possessions one might normally desire.
If, however, it is clear that H-3-p belongs primarily to the realm of economic
discourse in 4:5-9, it can also be said to belong to the realm of erotic, marriage discourse,
which I already suggested plays and important role in the passage. Although a variety of
usages are attested, in at least one instance in HB the root HDp is used in the context of
acquiring a wife. In Ruth 4:10 (cf. 4:8 and the more obscure 4:5) Boaz says: Ruth the
Moabite, the wife o f Mahlon, I will acquire as my wife (HE^b ^ TP Dp). The precise
meaning of Boazs words in relation to his acquisition of Elimelechs and Naomis field
and to Ruth herself is obscure, as is the ritual subsequently enacted by Boaz and his
countrymen. However, unlike the levir (cf. Deut 25), a kinsman redeemer (^ 1 2 ) in
ancient Israel, which is what Boaz is said to be in Ruth, would only be obliged to
purchase or acquire land that was in danger of being sold, or rescue kin from debt
slavery. He would not be obligated to generate offspring for a deceased kinsman through
marriage of the kinsmans widow. Hence it appears in Ruth 4 that Boaz is announcing
that will take Ruth as a bride, regardless of whether the closer redeemer in the story is to
acquire Elimelechs and Naomis field.37
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Elsewhere in Proverbs the son is also instructed to call Wisdom his sister (TTIK;
7:4), a term that in the Song of Songs (4:9, 10,12; 5:1) is paralleled with bride (H *7D)
and spoken by a man to his beloved.38 This broader context, along with the fact that in
Mishnaic Hebrew (MH) the root H-3-p can be used of acquiring a wife as well,
intimates that in Prov 4:5 and 4:7 might carry traces of its uses in the kinds of
marriage contexts alluded to in Ruth.
The instructing voice in 4:5-9 thus makes use of distinct rhetorics of desire drawn
from the economic, erotic, and social spheres in order to emphasize wisdoms appeal.
Although these different sorts of rhetoric merge in the passage so that one might say, as
Yoder has argued, the son in v. 4 is being exhorted to acquire Wisdom as he might
acquire or purchase a wife who would socially and economically profit him, the virtue of
wisdom is not something for which one could literally exchange ones possessions. She,
moreover, is not herself a real woman who can be purchased as a bride. The language of
the verse thus must be regarded as figurative. The verses highlight the value and
desirability of wisdom.
37 Such an understanding of the scene makes sense of the consonantal Hebrew text o f Ruth 4 and
explains why the nearer redeemer relents in his intention to redeem Elimelechs field upon hearing of
Boazs intention to marry/acquire Ruth. If Boaz and Ruth produce a child, that child might be in the
position to claim ownership of the land through a reckoning of lineage through Ruths first husband
(presumably Chilion; cf. Ruth 1:5), the son of Elimelech and Naomi. See Tod Linafelt, Ruth (Berit Olam;
Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press), 63-76. Linafelts commentary is published as a single volume with
Timothy K. Beals commentary on Esther.
38 Yoder, Woman o f Substance, 95. Yoder also notes that, some of the women addressed as sister
(nrt) in letters from Elephantine were probably wives and that in Egyptian, husband and wife were
often designated as brother (sn ) and sister (snt). The designation of Wisdom as a sister likewise
evokes Abrams/Abrahams insistence that his wife Sarai/Sarah be represented as his sister in Genesis
12:13 and 20:2 (cf. Isaacs representation of Rebekah in Gen 26:7 as well).
39 Jastrow, Dictionary, 1391. See as well Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 174, who writes: To be sure the verb
qanah acquire is used of taking a wife in MH. He adds, however, that it is not so used in the Bible.
Fox, at this point in his commentary, does not address Ruth 4:5 or 4:10.
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Proverbs 8:10-11
It is not until 8:10-11 that Proverbs again employs the rhetoric of wealth as a
positive motivational symbol. In this passage, after personified Wisdom proclaims she
offers shrewdness, instruction, noble things, truth, and knowledge, she uses the language
of wealth in a direct appeal to a young man. Her claim that she is better than rubies and
that no goods can equal wisdom reads:
ir m f n n o n im s p ir a l n o im n p
n r r w xb H s rr'm d tiis d noun
Take my instruction rather than silver, knowledge rather than choice gold.
For wisdom is better than rubies; no goods can equal it. (Prov 8:10-11)
The vocabulary in these lines is reminiscent of 2:4 and 3:14-15, but here personified
Wisdom herself rather than the father addresses the hearer with the rhetoric of wealth.40
She also uses the imperative as did the teaching voice in chapter four. Taken together
these features contribute to a forcefulness of language most evident in the first stich of
verse ten. It literally reads: Take my instruction and not silver!41 This kind of
formulation leaves nearly nothing to inference. Though the second half of verse ten and
verse eleven employ the language of comparison as earlier passages do, in the first half of
verse ten Wisdom does not state that she is as valuable, or even more valuable, than
wealth; nor is the youth admonished to use material possessions to acquire her. Rather
40 Verse 11 slips back into the third person, which might imply that Wisdoms direct address has
ended, at least temporarily. But it is simpler to understand personified Wisdom to be speaking of the value
of the comprehensive (or meta) virtue of wisdom so that verse 11 remains a part of her direct speech.
41 For the syntax see Gesenius Hebrew Grammar edited by A. E. Cowley and E. Kautzsch ( GKC)
paragraph 152g.
104
she states clearly and simply that the hearer, the one who would be wise, should not
acquire silver, but only her instruction and knowledge.
This is strong rhetoric; and Proverbs 8:10-11 is another instance where any
suggestion that an act-consequence notion is at work in Proverbs needs revision and
clarification. A position like Whybrays, for instance, is untenable. He suggests the text
in 8:10 can insist on the value of wisdom over riches because ultimately wisdom will
provide the son with practical skills that will allow him not only to make money but to
keep it and increase it.42 However, as we have seen, the rhetorical force of 8:10a states
not merely that wisdom is more valuable than riches, but that the son should not bother to
accumulate wealth at all. The text at this juncture (as was the case in the prologue)
employs no cause and effect rhetoric and says nothing about any ultimate attainment of
wealth as a goal of wisdom.
McKane is closer to the mark when he writes:
The intention w.lOf. is not to speak disparagingly of the value of coral, silver, gold and
delights or pleasures. On the contrary, in order that the comparison should have point, the
great value of these other commodities has to be assumed. These are indeed great prizes
and they are in no way incompatible with wisdom or righteousness or knowledge (cf. v.
18), provided they exist within a framework of values in which the priority of wisdom,
with its derivatives, discipline and knowledge, is assumed. Otherwise wealth may be
vulgarity and a man may have it without kabodwithout gravitasin which case it will
detract from, rather than add to, his status. The man of weight in the community has a
42 Whybray, Proverbs, 104. Yoder describes the rhetoric of chs. 1-9 as a whole in a similar
fashion, though it is unclear precisely how she understands it to be functioning. She writes: The sage
assures the young men that if they seek her [Wisdom] diligently, they will find her and reap socio
economic rewards. In this act-consequence worldview those who call Wisdom their sister are guaranteed
to get ahead while conversely, the foolish live in poverty, the just fruits of their laziness and immorality. If
the son chooses wisely, he will live richly. See Yoder, Woman o f Substance, 103-104; cf. 97.
105
material prosperity which befits his status, but the man who has gold and silver is not
necessarily a man of weight.43
McKane is correct in that the passage is not so much relativizing the value of material
wealth as it is simply insisting that wisdom is remarkably valuable; and far from
deprecating the value o f riches, the instructing voice is exploiting the image of riches in
order to demonstrate Wisdoms worth. As in 3:15, the multivalent in 8:11 likewise
points to the more abstract notion of desire. None o f the sons desires (in whatever
form erotic, economic, social status) are as desirable as wisdom. This, however, once
more suggests that any understanding of the wealth rhetoric as primarily literal language
must give way to a symbolic understanding, something that McKanes analysis does not
make clear.
McKane is also close to the mark in suggesting that riches are not incompatible
with wisdom . . . provided they exist with a framework of values in which the priority of
wisdom . .. is assumed. However, he introduces the notion of honor and social status
here in a manner that is somewhat curious and misleading. There is, in fact, no explicit
mention o f honor (TD D ) in the passage and McKane seems to imply a parity or
equality between wisdom and high social status. Although honor or high social status,
along with wealth and erotic fulfillment, is an aspect o f human flourishing, and in the
sages wisdom mythos ought to be what the wise person receives, it too is merely an
aspect of Proverbs vision of the good life. Like wealth, it too is a lesser good that needs
to be properly ordered under wisdom. Though absent in this passage, when the rhetoric of
honor is present in Proverbs it functions, as has been noted, in a way analogous to wealth
43 McKane, Proverbs, 346.
106
imagery (cf. 3:14-16; 4:5-9). It demonstrates the desirability of the virtuous life of
wisdom; and its deployment in this manner functions in part precisely to prevent the
hearer from mistaking the attainment of this lesser good with what it considers the true
key to human flourishingthe virtues of wisdoms way.
Finally it is important to recognize that in 8:10-11 matters concerning wisdom are
framed for the hearer as a choice. The instructing voice recognizes that its addressee will
encounter other voices or competing discoursesi.e., the general and diffuse social script
already spoken ofthat will tell him to choose wealth and that the acquisition of riches
(or other lesser goods such as honor), and not wisdoms virtues, is the key to human
flourishing. In this sense the great prizes (McKane) of w . 10-11 are incompatible
with wisdom for, as has been suggested, the inordinate pursuit of lesser goods,
especially if it leads to the kinds of deeds in which the sinners in chapter one engage, will
undermine the realization o f the flourishing life characterized by the social equity and
harmony that Proverbs envisions.
Proverbs 8:18-21
A few verses later in 8:18 personified Wisdom again employs the rhetoric of
riches. After claiming in vv. 12-16 that she possesses a litany o f virtues (knowledge,
foresight, counsel, resourcefulness, courage, and the ability to rule justly), Wisdom turns
finally to the language of wealth in addressing a young man. Inv. 17 she promises to be
found by those who love and seek her, with vv. 18-19 adding:
npim pnr ]in tik m m nra

in m sp a o mmm Tam pnno n s ma
Riches and honor belong to me, enduring wealth and success.
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My fruit is better than gold, fine gold, and my produce is better than choice silver.44
In this final, explicit, mention of wealth in chapters 1-9 the instructing voice continues, as
Bakhtin might suggest, to color wealth and poverty rhetoric with its own hues. The text
introduces in verse 19, for instance, the term IS, which is paralleled with 'pTT, a word
which itself up to this point has only been employed twice (3:14; 8:10). The passage is
also reminiscent o f 3:14-16 where Wisdom likewise is said to be better than precious
metals (cf. 8:10-11) and to hold riches and honor. As in that chapter, it is sometimes
thought that Wisdom here (v. 18 in particular) is literally promising the hearer literal
material rewards.45 The not unreasonable assumption is that if Wisdom possesses wealth,
then the one who finds wisdom will naturally attain wealth too. However, the tension
noted earlier between the claim that wisdom is better than wealth, but also possesses
wealth (8:10-11, 18 vs. 8:19) once more emerges in these meshalim. As in chapters three
and four, the personification of Wisdom also suggests the text ought to be regarded as
operating in a metaphorical manner. The point is not merely that the one who possess the
intellectual, practical, and social virtues that comprise the comprehensive (or meta) virtue
44 The translation follows NJPS.
45 For instance, Garrett recognizes that not all of Wisdoms benefits are material in nature, but
nonetheless writes that Wisdoms claim to bestow wealth should be taken in a literal rather than a
metaphorical sense; through wise behavior one can attain material prosperity. See Duane A. Garrett,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song o f Songs (NAC 14; Nashville: Broadman Press, 1993), 108. Others likewise
seem to assume that Wisdoms gifts, including wealth, should be understood in a straightforward literal
manner. Cf. Toy, Proverbs, 169-170; Clifford, Proverbs 95; Perdue, Proverbs, 142; Murphy, Proverbs, 51.
McKane, too, believes wisdom will bestow literal wealth, but distinguishes this from vulgar opulence. He
insists that Wisdom offers both wealth and property, but again that this is not meretricious or speculative
wealth. Rather it is located in a framework of values and is an ingredient of a way of life which bestows
gravitas and social wholeness. See McKane, Proverbs 350. This is close to my position, but see my
comments on 8:10 above. Whybray offers a less sophisticated account. He writes: The wealth offered by
Wisdom is not to be understood in a figurative sense but is quite literally material wealth which, because it
is gained through Wisdom rather than directly as an end in itself, is more worthwhile than gold and silver
obtained in the usual way without regard to her. See Proverbs, 126. See also Yoder, Woman o f Substance,
97, 103-104; Otto Pldger, Spriiche Salomos (Proverbia) (Neukrichen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1984), 90.
108
of wisdom will necessarily attain to wealth; nor even that the wise person will strive after
wealth only in legitimate and righteous ways.46 Rather the verse describes the
accoutrements that adorn Wisdom, in order to demonstrate the desirability of the virtue
for which she is a personification. As in 3:14-16, not only does she possess desirable
things, an enticement in themselves, she is again said to be more valuable than these
enticements. By explicitly taking up the rhetoric of valuable material wealth and
associating it with Wisdom, the instructing voice first and foremost is employing wealth
language as a textual symbol of the positive, desirable, and valuable in order to convince
its addressee of the value o f the virtuous life 47 One should not deny that the rhetoric
includes a general promise of good things (including material well-being). However, to
make the acquisition of actual riches the point of the teaching is to overstate that element
and distort the nature of the rhetoric.
The most significant aspect of 8:18, however, is the particularly forceful way the
line ties together much of what comes before. The Hebrew, recall, reads:
n p iH i p n u p n tik lUDvim
The first two words hereriches and honorare identical to the last two words of 3:16
and the thrust of the rhetoric in both texts is to a large extent the same (see above). The
second half of 8:18, however, is more intriguing.
46 See, for instance, Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 278. Even if the latter is the case, it is not necessarily the
whole point.
47 Yoder in Woman o f Substance, 103, too, recognizes that wealth or money is one of the
primary means by which the sage motivates the young men to choose Wisdom, but apparently accepts
that this motivation is to be understood as a literal promise, i.e., resulting in real material rewards for the
one who chooses wisdom. I.e., she suggests that money.. . becomes an objective means to evaluate
human worth (italics added). However, it is not that economic success is the mark of superior moral
character whereas poverty signifies moral deficiency, but rather simply that material wealth is the means
by which the text values the ways of wisdom and folly. Wealth and poverty language does not evaluate
human worth but the worth or relative desirability of virtue and vice.
109
Recall that in chapter one, the abstract and general term was on the lips of the
sinners, who were promising the son all precious wealth (Ip11 ]1H The
instructing voice, however, discredited this claim, and since that point has responded to
the sinners offer by itself employing the rhetoric of all kinds of wealth in order to
persuade the son to choose the right way, even while largely avoiding the wealth
language the sinners employ. Instead of speaking of ]1H (wealth) the instructing voice
of chapters 1-9 makes use of more concrete images of gold, silver, coral, etc.48
In fact one can trace a progression in Proverbs use of the rhetoric of wealth thus
far. After the sinners are done speaking, the instructing voice in chapter two admonishes
the son to seek wisdom as he would silver and treasures. In chapter three the father is
clear that Wisdom, who holds riches (3:16), possesses a value that is greater than that
of gold, rubies, as well as various kinds of goods or desires (something only implicit
in chapter two). In chapter four the father, in appealing to the authority ofhis father, next
employs the imperative (vs. the indicative in the preceding) to admonish the son to use
whatever material possessions he has in order to acquire Wisdom-so much more
valuable is she than wealth. In 8:10-11, it is personified Wisdom h e r s e lf w ho admonishes
the son in the imperative. She cries: Take my teaching and not silver!reiterating how
much better she is than gold, corals, or any good or desirable thing. Now in 8:18, the text
takes up the sinners own terminology (]1H), but utters it with what in a Bakhtinian sense
might be called a unique accent. Wisdom possesses something slightly, but significantly,
48 Besides the sinners use o f the term in 1:13 and Wisdoms words here in 8:18, ]1H only appears
in the direct instruction of 3:9 (see below) and in 6:31 where the adulterer, it is claimed, will loose all the
wealth ofhis house. Besides 8:18, the general and abstract IK?P (riches) likewise appears in chs. 1-9 only
in 3:16.
110
different than the wealth the sinners promise. She holds not precious wealth (Ip"' ]1H),
but lasting wealth (pHI? ]in).
The hapax pHI? ( cateq) is a difficult and obscure word. The root p-fl-U ,
however, is attested 20 times in the Masoretic Text (MT), including three times in
Aramaic, and its basic sense seems to be something like move forward.49 Yet forms of
the root are translated variously in different contexts throughout the Bible. In Proverbs
another form of the root appears only in 25:1, which introduces the collection of sayings
that Hezekiahs men IpTlOT (copied, transmitted). In Job 21:7, however, the root is
deployed in connection with wealth language. In this verse the protagonist asks:
b'n n n r m ip n r r r r m o
Why do the wicked live on, prosper and grow wealthy?50
Job is lamenting the fact that in contrast to his own situation, it often appears that the
unjust, and all that is theirs (cf. Job 21:8-13), flourish over the yearsi.e., that they and
their wealth endure. Although various translations have been proposed for the
adjective cateq in Prov 8:18, it should be understood in the context of the kinds of issues
with which Job is wrestling and is best rendered something like enduring.51 As does
Job in Job 21:7, the instructing voice in Prov 8:18 is at least in part making a claim about
who and what perseveres. Job perceives matters one way: the wicked and their wealth
endure. Proverbs, however, insists that it is Wisdom who holds wealth that endures.
49 H. Schmoldt, pHD, TDOT 11:456-58.
51 Toy uniquely translates ip'1 jlH as lordly wealth in Proverbs, 168-69. But this is not a good
rendering; cf. the discussion in Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 277-278.
I ll
From at least Ptahhotep, ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature (especially the
Egyptian instructions) has often been concerned with communicating to its audience the
unpredictable nature of wealth.52 The wisdom tradition also demonstrates a concern that
its audiences distinguish, or be able to discern, what is valuable (including material
wealth) in terms of what is enduring or long lasting and not easily lost. What exactly
the various wisdom books have in mind by deploying such rhetorics of course requires
close consideration of each text. In Proverbs, however, Wisdoms riches, the valuable and
desirable thing she possesses, are the virtues of wisdoms way. And for this book, it is
this symbolic wealth that endures in contrast to the wealth of the sinners, which they
clearly do not live to enjoy (1:18-19).
Proverbs knows that material riches (and other lesser goods) are important and
desirable aspects of a flourishing life. But Proverbs also recognizes that these by their
nature must remain external to the one who possesses them. They are thus subject to
changes in a persons fortune and inherently unreliable and ephemeral (something Job
knows all too well). As a component of a persons character, however, wisdoms virtues
52 Consider, for example, maxim 30 in Ptahhotep, which resonates with Qohelets sense that
enjoyment of lifes goods is a gift of God. It reads: If you are great after having been humble, have gained
wealth after having been poor in the past, in a town which you know, knowing your former condition, do
not put your trust in wealth which came to you as a gift of god; so that you will not fall behind one like you,
to whom the same happened. The Instruction of Any says more concisely: As to him who was rich last
year; He is a vagabond this year. Similarly Ankhsheshonq 18:17 reminds its hearer that, Wealth comes to
an end, and in 26:7-8 (in a manner similar to Prov 11:24) that, There is he who saves and does not profit.
All are in the hand o f the fate and the god. The examples could be multiplied. The translations are all from
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book o f Readings (3 vols.; Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1973).
53 Cf. maxims 5, 6, and 19 in Ptahhotep, which resonate with a perspective found in Proverbs. For
example, maxim 5 reads in part: Baseness may seize riches, yet crime never lands its wares; In the end it
is justice that lasts. Maxim 6: If a man says: T shall be rich . . . I shall rob someone, he will end being
given to a stranger. Peoples schemes do not prevail, Gods command is what prevails. After the warning,
Guard against the vice of greed, maxim 19 states: That man endures whose rule is rightness. All
translations are from Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature.
112
by contrast are internal to the one who possesses them and so not subject to changes in
circumstance and fortune. Thus they are enduring and so imminently more reliable,
valuable, and desirable than any external good. In the idiom of the wisdom mythos I
spoke of in Chapter I, they are part of the genuine structure of the cosmos. Wisdoms
wealth is hence true or real wealth. It is wealth that is genuinely valuable and the
key to human flourishing. It is enduring and leads to life.
However, Wisdom possesses not simply enduring wealth, but lasting wealth and
righteousness" {H p lU l pHX? ]"!("[). The NIPS translation renders H p lH in 8:18 as
success and the NRSV as prosperity. Likewise Clifford translates rich rewards;
Yoder adopts the rendering prosperity without comment.54 As with decisions to render
in 1:3 along the lines o f success (see Chapter I) such translations o filp lH
appear based on a notion that the point of Proverbs is to serve as a guide to successful
living, including especially the attainment of material prosperity. The close proximity of
the rhetoric of material wealth to HplH in 8:18 may also lead translators to seek out
parallel economic meanings for this term, especially if one understands the HDD in the
verse as pointing to material wealth (or the entire phrase T D D ! HDD as hendiadys).55
These sorts of interpretations and renderings of 8:18 are not impossible.
Moreover, up to this point I have been highlighting the figurative use of economic
language as a means of ascribing worth to wisdom and its virtues so that it might seem
54 Clifford, Proverbs, 91. Yoder, Woman o f Substance, 98-99. Similarly, Oesterley writes: in the
present context it [HplH] has the sense of prosperity. See Proverbs, 60. Cf. Toy, Proverbs, 168-170.
55 As suggested above, however, it is better not to treat the phrase as an instance of hendiadys. For
T m with the meaning wealth, see M. Weinfeld, TDD, TD O T 7:22-38, esp. 25-26.
appropriate to regard the rhetoric of righteousness in 8:18 to be functioning in an
expanded sense as well. However, nowhere else in Proverbs does H plU carry the sense
of prosperity. Although texts such as Joel 2:23 are sometimes marshaled as evidence
for such a usage elsewhere in HB, the meaning of the word in such passages is
ambiguous.56 As I just noted Prov 8:18-21 also marks the pinnacle of a progression in the
discourse of wealth and poverty in the first major section of the bookchapters 1-9.
These observations, together with the fact that verse 8:18 deploys language that hearkens
back to key phrases in earlier chaptersi.e., the prologues underscoring of justice and
righteousness and equity (DHETQl DS031 p TH) and the robbers claim to be seeking
all precious wealth Op'1 |U1 suggests that one should strive to discern how the
passage fits more precisely within this larger discourse.
As I just intimated, righteousness, is one of the key notions the text uses to
express the virtue o f social justice, which the prologue indicates is of primary importance
to Proverbs. To be precise, in 1:3 the term employed was p*7H rather than np"TK. Yet
the two words are cognate forms and each evokes ancient Near Eastern notions of social
justice.57 This is especially so when they are deployed in close connection with other
social justice terms, as in the prologue where EDS5DD and '"Wft follow plH
56 See Oesterley, Proverbs, 60 and Toy, Proverbs, 169-170 who offers a fuller explanation and
further potential parallels. See, too, the discussion in Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 278; Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 90;
and below. In later Hebrew, of course, np"T!H can carry an economic connotation and mean something like
almsgiving; see Jastrow, Dictionary, 1263-64. However, this reflects a development from its usual
meaning of righteousness in biblical Hebrew.
57 For a discussion of ancient Near Eastern terminology and ideas of social justice see Moshe
Weinfeld, Social Justice in Ancient Israel and in the Ancient Near East (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1995).
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immediately. Such is also the case here in chapter eight, for verse 20 has personified
Wisdom declare:
r e m m rm : -pro n p iirm iQ
I walk on a way of righteousness, in the midst of a path of justice.
The rhetoric o f the second half of v. 18 thus is not so much valuing the virtues of
wisdom (as previous wealth language in chapters 1-9 has done) as 1) explaining why
what she possesses is so much more valuable than literal wealth. It not only belongs to
the structure of the cosmos as the wisdom mythos suggests, it is enduring, long lasting,
not subject to changes in circumstance and fortune. The stich, however, also 2) reminds
the reader of what Proverbs understands one of the most important virtues of wisdoms
way to be-social justice and harmony. Thus one ought to say the waw in v. 18s HplHl
functions as an epexegetical or explanatory waw and the term (HplH) should be
translated in its usual way, and as it is universally rendered in verse 20, i.e., as
righteousness.58
58 For the epexegetical waw see GKC, paragraph 154a n. 1. With this emphasis on justice Proverbs
also resonates with other ancient Near Eastern wisdom instructions like Ptahhotep. See again the sayings
from Ptahhotep cited in n. 53 aboveespecially maxims 5 and 19. Many commentators likewise indicate
that n p lH in 8:18 ought to be translated in its usual way. See, for example, McKane, Proverbs, 350;
Perdue, Proverbs, 142. These, however, either do not discuss the term in much detail or do not understand
the meaning of HplH in quite the manner I do; and none relate it to the virtues articulated in the prologue.
McKane, for instance, notes only (though correctly) that to translate m p iJ as success or prosperity is
to over-simplify the relation of rightness to wealth. Perdue suggests that righteousness in 8:18 should
be understood as the just order that pervades the cosmos, regulates and sustains human society, and
enables its kings and governors to rule wisely. Again though there is certainly an aspect of this in the
social justice connotations I am arguing for, this heavily cosmic slant obscures the concrete particulars of
the biblical vision of social justice and seems a more appropriate description o f (Woman) Wisdom than the
nature o f the righteousness she is said to possess. See further Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 278, who writes that
there is no need to ascribe a special sense to H plH in 8:18. He, however, suggests the term here refers
to wealth gained righteously and honestly (see below). Cf. Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 90.
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Finally, as with the rhetoric of 3:16 and 8:18, some commentators will understand
Wisdoms concluding words in this section of Proverbs, namely 8:21, as a
straightforward promise of literal material rewards for the one who attains wisdom
though often with the caveat that the wise person will gain wealth by honest means and
that material prosperity is subordinated to Wisdoms morality.59 After speaking of her
fruit and produce in v. 19 and the nature o f her way in v. 20, Wisdom states in v. 21:
k 'pdk orrm sK i cr ^rnnb

I will bequeath to those who love me wealth; I will fill their treasuries.60
Wisdom here promises to the ones who love her and will fill the storehouses
of the same. The word ET (regularly the particle of existence, there is) in this instance
is usually rendered something like inheritance or wealth. This is perhaps
appropriate.61 If so, by this point in Proverbs 1-9, a wise and discerning reader knows
how to hear and understand this wealth trope, occurring as it does in a clearly symbolic
context where personified wisdom acts. The term ET here not only points to wisdoms
promise to deliver material security, it is a symbol that points to the value and desirability
of virtue and all the well-being that comes from attaining it. Personified Wisdom is
primarily promising to bequeath to the one who finds her an ultimate good and the
59 See Van Leeuwen, Proverbs, NIB 5:92; Garrett, Proverbs, 108. Cf. Meinhold, Die Spruche,
1:143; Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 278.
60 The translation follows NRSVs rendering o f KT.
61 Such a rendering, however, is by no means certain. In classical Hebrew E71 is thought to function
as a substantive meaning possessions, or something similar, only here and in Sirach 42:3 (less likely in
Prov 13:23 and 20:15). In the Ben Sira passage, however, the marginal reading of MS B, IEH, suggests
that EH may be an error; or at least it may not be the best reading. Jastrow, Dictionary, 598, also lists
wealth as one of the appropriate renderings of the term in rabbinic literature, but being and substance
as well, which, I will suggest, are better translations o f the term in 18:21. Cf. Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 278.
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particle is probably bettered rendered something like being, existence or lifean
understanding which also accords well with the books larger rhetorical strategy of the
two ways.62Having made the turn from the concrete language o f precious metals and
treasures to general and abstract wealth terminology by employing ]in in 8 :18, the
instructing voice continues on this course by substantivizing the particle of existence in v.
21 .
Similarly, when Wisdom in 8:21 promises to fill her lovers storehouses, it is
necessary to ask with what she is promising to fill them. Perhaps it is some kind of
material good, the inheritance or wealth mentioned earlier in the passage, for instance.
The nature of the metaphor in the immediate context, however, suggests that what is most
likely to be set in these storehouses is Wisdoms harvest of v. 19i.e., her fruit and
her produce. Yoder argues that the emphasis in the immediate context on wealth and
riches (esp. 8:18, 21) suggests that the fruit and yield of which she speaks are her
monetary earnings. This may be tme to the extent that Wisdom is metaphorically
presented as a potential, profitable bride. However, it is again important to remember that
Wisdom is not a real Persian period woman of worth. If the text is not literally promising
the hearer baskets of figs and olives or bams full of grains (i.e., real fruit and produce), it
is also not only or primarily promising monetary earnings.63 The agricultural images in
18:21 rather are symbols that point not merely to themselves but to value or desirability
of Wisdom and her virtuesi.e., that which the instructing voice has been highlighting
from the beginning of its instruction (from the prologue on). As with 4:5-8, and other
62 See the previous note and esp. Jastrow, Dictionary, 598.
63 Yoder, Woman o f Substance, 99.
117
i
passages throughout chapters 1-9, the text in 8:21 employs images from familiar realms
to express something about the intangible and less familiar sphere of moral life. In this
case, the economic rhetoric of agricultural bounty combines with traces of a discourse of
erotic desire (note the language of love in v. 19) to express the desirability of the
virtuous life o f wisdom. It is, of course, not inevitable that every reader will regard the
meshalim o f 8:18-21, or others in Proverbs, in the figurative manner for which I have
been arguing. However, for the one who takes seriously the prologues invitation to
pursue Proverbs wisdom through a consideration of the books tropes and figures, the
text points in this direction, inviting the reader or hearer not to neglect the texts literal
meaning, but to move beyond it.
Direct Instruction in Proverbs 1-9
I suggested above that Proverbs employs the rhetoric of wealth and poverty
primarily in two ways: as a symbol to value virtue and in direct instruction concerning
economic matters. Chapters 1-9 are most concerned to present the value and desirability
of wisdoms way. They do not offer as much direct economic instruction or observation
as subsequent chapters. Nonetheless, the instructing voice in these initial chapters
occasionally employs the rhetoric of wealth and poverty to begin constructing a concrete
economic ethic for its addressee. Personified Wisdom and the father instruct the son how
he should act in a variety of circumstances where matters of wealth and poverty/rich and
poor (and other economic issues) are at stake. Although such direct wealth and poverty
instruction is distinct from the symbolic and motivational use of such language, it
emerges from the same moral horizon; namely, a concern that wisdoms vision of a good
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and flourishing life, with its emphasis on virtue, and especially the virtue of social justice
and harmony, find expression.
Proverbs 3:9-10
In chapter three, via a series of imperatives in verses 1, 3, 5, and 7, which are
coupled with a motivational clause of some sort, the father exhorts the hearer to tend to
instruction and his commandments, to hold fast to truth and faithfulness, to trust in the
Lord, not to be wise in ones own eyes, and to fear the Lord. The instructing voice then in
3:9-10 admonishes the son:
prarrta rrtanDi "pino mrrTm nnD

i m s 1 -p u p tDTrm m e jd d k
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits o f all your produce.
And your bams w ill be filled with grain, your vats will burst with new wine.64
In 3:9 the father employs the term ]1H as do the sinners in chapter one. But as is the case
in that chapter, the father distinguishes his discourse of wealth from that of the robbers.
Whereas the sinners were attempting to lure the son onto their path by the promise of
lp 1 ) i n , here the father instructs the son specifically as to what he should do with his
]in. The deployment of the imperative, moreover, reinforces the patriarchs claim to
authority over the hearer. Although the instructing voice can take up this same wealth
vocabulary (J1H) in more figurative terms (cf. 8:18 above), there is little about this verse
64 Grain is saba '(abundance, satiety). Older interpreters (e.g., Toy, Proverbs, 62; Oesterley,
Proverbs, 21; cf. Fichtners notes in the BHS apparatus) noting the LXX rendering (TrAeapovfj? oi'rou)
suggest emending (to seber). However, the Phoenician Karatepe inscription (A III 7-9) provides a Semitic
parallel for the usage (ETim PDC). See Herbert Donner and Wolfgang Rollig, Kanaanische und
Aramaische Inschriften (3 vols. Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz, 1962), 1:69 (text # 26). See further Mitchell
Dahood, Proverbs and Northwest Semitic Philology (SPIB 113; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1963),
9. Cf. McKane, Proverbs, 294; Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 151-52.
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to suggest that the rhetoric of wealth (and produce) is being used figuratively as a
positive motivational symbol. What the father has to say about wealth is once more what
matters, not any other discourse or social script; and in this instance he insists the son
fulfill his cultic duties, as the language of the second verse half intimates.65
In 3:10, although the father does not employ explicit wealth and poverty
vocabulary, the lines agricultural imagery nevertheless creates a vision of prosperity so
that this verse, too, should be said to belong to the discourse of wealth and poverty. The
point of verse ten is to motivate the hearer to obey what is said in verse nine. Taken
together the two lines suggest a cause and effect relationship between honoring YHWH
with ones wealth and material blessing; hence the lines are a good example of Proverbs
wisdom prosperity, or act-consequence, frame of reference.
Interpreters generally recognize this rhetoric of promise and usually understand
such language in simple literal fashion as a straightforward assurance of material
prosperity.66 However, as I suggested in Chapter I, expressions of the act-consequence
65 The phrase [nK*Qn b'D ETW1Q1 resonates with the cultic language associated with the
presentation o f the first fruits and most commentators understand the verse as one of the few allusions in
the book to the Israelite cult. Cf. particularly Deut 26:2, but Exod 23:19 and Num 28:26 are also sometimes
adduced as parallels. However, since the imperatives of earlier verses urge the son to take some action
regarding some intangible (e.g., v. 1 instruction and commands; v. 3 faithfulness and truth; v. 4
favor; v. 5 YHWH himself), one is tempted to render 3:9 with Cohen as: Honor the Lord more than your
wealth and more than your choicest income. See Haim Cohen, Two Misunderstood Verses in the Book of
Proverbs, Shnaton 11 (1997):139-152. (Cohens article is in Hebrew, but an English summary is provided
on pp. XVI-XVII). Such a sentiment would not be out of place in Proverbs 1-9. The weight o f scholarly
opinion, however, is against Cohen. See, for example, McKane, Proverbs, 293; Murphy, Proverbs, 21;
Clifford, Proverbs, 52; Whybray, Proverbs, 63. Toy, however, is skeptical that 3:9 alludes to the cult. See
Proverbs, 62. For a further, brief critique of Cohens suggestion, see Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 151. Other
possible cultic allusions in the book include: 14:9; 15:8; 20:25; 21:3, 8, 27 and perhaps 20:9 and 30:12. On
the question of wisdoms relationship to the cult more generally see, for example, Leo G. Perdue, Wisdom
and Cult: A Critical Analysis o f the Views o f Cult in the Wisdom Literature o f Israel and the Ancient Near
East (Nashville, 1975).
66 Without hinting that the gifts of 3:10 ought to be considered in anything other than a literal
manner, Toy, for instance, writes that, the reward for honoring Yahweh is here physical. See Proverbs,
63. Similarly, Whybray notes: This is the most blatant expression in the Old Testament of the principle of
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nexus are not the kind of talk one ought to understand in simple literal fashion. The
wisdom mythos predisposes the sages to see an act-consequence mechanism at work in
the world and to screen out non-conforming examples. Such rhetoric thus should not be
thought to be presenting a vision of the world that is verifiable in some empirical fashion.
It rather has to do with a certain perception of the nature of creation and a subsequent
effort at ordering ones life so that it is in sync with the generative forces of the cosmos.
In regard to 3:10 in particular, notice that the language of blessing, with its
images of overflowing bams and bursting vats, is paradisiacal or utopian. The texts
rhetoric is one o f extravagance. It is this extravagance that signals v. 10s formulation of
the act-consequence nexus is an idealized one. Although 3:9 offers direct instruction
regarding wealth and so can be said to be constructing a kind of concrete economic ethic
for the hearer, 3:10 motivates this concrete instruction in a manner analogous to the way
the text so often elsewhere motivates the quest for wisdom. Proverbs 3:10, that is,
certainly constructs for the reader a general promise of well being, which surely includes
a degree of material prosperity. However, to focus too fully on the images of material
prosperity is to overstate that element of the promise and to distort the thrust of the
rhetoric. Those who strive to understand the sages tropes and figures will recognize
that these agricultural symbols represent not merely a promise of material well being, but
reveal as well that the fathers demand in v. 9, as an aspect of the way of wisdom, is not
taxing but pleasant and appealingi.e., desirable.67
do ut desthe offering of gifts to God solely in order to elicit material rewards from him. See Proverbs,
63. Van Leeuwen speaks o f a practical payoff and a natural outcome and natural symmetry
between that which one gives to God and the blessings . . . which ensue. See Proverbs, NIB 5:49. Fox
too states that, God will reward gifts to him (v 9) by enhancing the givers own prosperity. See Proverbs
1 - 9 , 151.
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Proverbs 3:27-28
After the first twelve verses of chapter three implore the addressee to hold to the
fathers teaching and w . 13-26 extol the benefits of wisdom, v. 27 begins a series of
negative commands (w . 27-31) that offer direct instruction regarding how the wise
person will (or will not) live. The entire sub-section of w . 27-31, which is followed by a
number of motivations in w . 32-35, might best be read together. However, only verses
27-28 reveal a concern with economic matters, albeit implicitly; an explicit wealth and
poverty rhetoric is absent. With a proverb that is likely concerned with an economic
issue, the absence of wealth and poverty rhetoric that elsewhere in the book is so often
deployed figuratively is a first indication that these lines are of a different order than
many of the passages discussed above. The lines read:
mmb j t ^ nrm
-\m m ]m nnoi men fb y i n 1?
Do not withhold good from the one who deserves it when you have the power to do it [for
him].68
Do not say to your fellow, Come back again, Ill give it to you tomorrow, when you
have it with you.
61 So too the medical image of 3:8 motivates the instruction of 3:7. Few would argue that in these
verses the sages words suggest they believed that fearing YHWH and turning from evil would
produce a literal potion for the bones (mOHU1? IpB). Clifford, for instance, intimates that w . 7-8
promise health, renewed physical energy. See Proverbs, 52. Similarly, Garrett writes that, health
naturally proceeds from the peaceful and well-ordered life that is submitted to God. See Proverbs, 81.
Clearly for these writers potion for the bones is a trope for health. Though accepting the figurative nature
of the image, the lines act-consequence rhetoric, however, is still often understood in a overly literalist
manner. Health, a powerful symbol o f well being, is less an automatic reward for the wise than a further
image deployed to speak of the well being wisdom offers.
68 The phrase from the one who deserves it renders V which properly speaking is a plural
form. The translation understands p p with the Qere as the sg. *]T. For the idiom T b s b , see Gen
31:29; Deut 28:32; Mic 2:1; and cf. Oesterley, Proverbs, 26; Murphy, Proverbs, 20.
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There is some uncertainty as to whether the father is offering instruction regarding
almsgiving or borrowing, or presenting a general call to benevolence. If the concern is
almsgiving, the son is to give what he is able and not attempt to remove himself from the
obligation that the instructing voice places upon him to be kind to one in need. If,
however, the phrase (word) one who deserves it (V bVH; lit. its owner) does not
mean one who deserves it because that person is in want, but one who deserves it
because that person is a creditor, the father is admonishing the son to pay back debts in a
timely and proper manner.
It is best to consider the lines to be concerned with giving to one who is
impoverished. Injunctions to show kindness to the poor are common in Proverbs, as a
consideration of the discourse of social justice will make clear (see Chapter III). The
LXX likewise understands an economic context of almsgiving, speaking in 3:27 of one
who is poor (evSev). This view was adopted by subsequent Jewish interpreters as
well.69 Moreover, although elsewhere in Proverbs (particularly the sentence sayings of
chs. 10-29) HID carries broader connotations of well being, verse 27s suggestion that
the hearer might actually have in his possession that which he ought to give indicates as
well that this term, and the lines generally, have to do with some kind of real transfer of
material wealth.
69 On the interpretation of the line in subsequent Jewish tradition see Clifford, Proverbs, 58. Fox
names Rashi, Ramaq, Radaq, and many others in this regard. See Proverbs 1-9,165. Alonso Schockel and
Vilchez appear to adopt a view similar to the traditional one, citing Deut 15:9. See L. Alonso Schockel and
J. Vilchez, Proverbios (Nueva Biblia Espanola Sapienciales I.; Madrid: Ediciones Cristiandad, 1984), 189.
See too Perdue, Proverbs, 108. Fox, however, argues that the passage does not have to do with charity or
kindness but with a general obligation to assist others. See Proverbs, 1-9, 164-65. Similarly, McKane
understands the injunction broadly as a general call to benevolence and helpfulness. See Proverbs, 299; cf.
Toy, Proverbs, 77-78.
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The patriarchal voice in 3:27-28 thus is not employing economic rhetoric to a
larger didactic end, but is offering the hearer concrete instruction regarding the way in
which he should handle his wealth in relation to a needy person in particular. The lines
presuppose that the son may be disinclined to act in the prescribed manner. This is likely
due to the fact that the text recognizes its hearer is susceptible to a wrong understanding
regarding the role of wealth in human well being. He is likely not only to overvalue it and
pursue it passionately, but to hold on to it at all costs, even the cost of the well being of
another.
Proverbs 6:1-5
The father begins chapter six by presenting three potential roles he hopes the
hearer will reject, but knows him susceptible to playing: the person involved in surety
matters (w . 1-5); the lazy person (w . 6-11); and the deceptive scoundrel (12-15).70 In the
description of the first of these roles (w . 1-5), the instructing voice employs an explicit
economic rhetoric. The father imagines a situation where the son is (already) mixed up in
a troubling affair: My son, if you have provided surety to your neighbor (v. 1). The
father proceeds to instruct his pupil how such a state of affairs should be handled: So do
this, my child (v. 3). He likens a person found in such a situation to an animal ensnared
and taken by a hunter or fowler (w . 2, 5). The one who goes surety is similarly trapped
by his words and, the text claims, his very life is endangered. Hence the addressee in 6:3
is commanded to grovel and badger his neighbor in order to free himself. The
passage reads in its entirety:
p a s nr*? n u p n p in * ? n m i r n N 'n (i
70 The essential features of 6:6-11 are taken up in the nearly identical 24:30-34, treated in Chapter
III.
124
-p sr n E K n rrabD ntDpi: (2
rrnn D ^rem 'n m m nw nw (3
" p m n n m osn n n ^
hdidhi yri?1? ]nrr ^ (4
5D1|T TO *113201 TD 0 2 0 ^ H ( 5
1) My son, if you provide surety to your neighbor, if you clap hands for a stranger;
2) If you have ensnared yourself by the words of your mouth, if you are captured by the
words of your mouth;
3) Do this, then, my son and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of
your neighbor. Go grovel and badger your neighbor.
4) Do not give sleep to your eyes nor slumber to your eyelids.
5) Escape like a gazelle from a hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.71
The Hebrew of verse one is somewhat ambiguous. Particularly problematic is the
rendering of the verb UDI?, which can mean to provide surety, act as guarantor or seek
surety. Although the neighbor (IH) in the verse might be the borrower, this is not likely.
As Fox notes, verse three warns of falling into the power o f your neighbor and that a
guarantor does not become dependent on the borrowers good will but on the creditors.
It thus makes the best sense to identify the neighbor as the lender and the stranger
(IT) as the borrower and so the addressee as guarantor.72 Hence, in the translation
above, the hearer is imagined as providing surety to his neighbor and for a stranger.
71 Reading THQ (from a hunter) instead of MTs T O (from a hand). The translation follows
Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 210.
Advice regarding surety is not uncommon in biblical and ancient Near Eastern
-7T
wisdom literature. The practice of surety is designed to protect a lender from incurring
financial loss by permitting a third party to act as a guarantor to a loan arrangement.74
One might stand surety out of compassion or obligation, as Sirach 29:14 implies. Or, one
might stand surety for profit. As Fox suggests, the likely motive for vouching for a
stranger would be to receive a fee for the service a practice to which Sirach 29:19
7C
alludes. In either case there is the sense in the wisdom literature that standing surety is
risky business. Wisdom writers may also express some discomfort with a profit motive
when it comes to standing surety. This sort of view, in any case, would be consistent with
Proverbs sense that wealth ought not to be overvalued and passionately pursued. Though
not speaking of surety specifically, the Egyptian Ankhsheshonq 16:12, likewise offers
some economic instruction that focuses on a profit motive:
Do not borrow money at interest in order to live well on it.76
However, the economic riskiness of standing surety seems to be a more important
reason for the sages discouragement of the practice. In a few lines subsequent to the one
just cited (21-22), Ankhsheshonq explicitly recognizes the risky nature, not of surety, but
of lending, including lending that might be motivated in part by compassion:
Do not lend money at interest without obtaining a security.
73 In Proverbs itself see 11:15; 17:18; 20:16; 22:26-27; 27:13. See further Sir 8:13; 29:14-20.
Several passages from Egyptian instructions resonate with Prov 6 as well (see below).
74 Alternatively, a lender might be protected by receiving from the borrower a deposit of some
valuable item or the borrowers pledge of property or children. See Fox, Proverbs 1-9, 215.
76 The translation o f this and the following lines from Ankhsheshonq and Any are from Lichtheim,
Ancient Egyptian Literature.
Do not be too trusting lest you become poor.
Ankhsheshonqs sentiment seems consistent with Prov 22:26-27 where the riskiness of
standing surety is highlighted:
m m n rrznxn nnn"^
jn n n o p a r o r p nob -j'rptrDK
Do not be one of those who give their hand, who stand surety for debts, lest your bed be
taken from under you when you have no money to pay. 77
Beyond this common evaluation of the dangers of surety, wisdom voices also
seem to understand financial dealings to be particularly risky when they involve strangers
or foreigners; and the sages are especially concerned with this state of affairs. The final
lines of Any 5, for instance, say:
Let your hand preserve what is in your house; Wealth accrues to him who guards
it; Let your hand not scatter it to strangers, lest it turn to loss for you. If wealth is
placed where it bears interest, it comes back to you redoubled; Make a storehouse
for your own wealth, your people will find it on your way . . . . Protect what is
yours and you find it. Keep an eye on what you own, lest you end as a beggar. He
who is slack amounts to nothing. Honored is the man whos active.
Any 6 continues:
Do not rely on anothers goods; Guard what you acquire yourself; Do not depend on
anothers wealth, lest he become master in your house.
Ankhsheshonq 9 similarly instructs:
Do not dwell in a house in which you get no income. Do not entrust your wealth
77 The translation follows NJPS. The verses similarities with Egyptian instruction are intriguing
as the line comes from the so-called Amenemope section o f Proverbs.
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to a house of profit. Do not put your wealth into a house only. Do not put your wealth in a
town to which you must send.
Neither Ankhsheshonq nor Any is talking about surety in particular, but broader
economic activities. In any case, Any does not appear to censure a profit motive. There
is, however, a sense that securing ones wealth is hard work, not the project o f slackers; it
is also a task that doesnt work well when strangers or outsiders are involved. Both of
these themes resonate with Prov 6, which after speaking of surety on behalf o f the IT,
continues with instruction to the lazy person (w . 6-11). Proverbs 6:1-5 and at least 11:15,
the nearly identical 20:16, and 27:13 are also explicitly concerned with economic
dealings with outsiders and specifically with standing surety on behalf of the "IT and/or
the D/TP "03, the stranger or foreigner.
The other verse concerning surety in the book not yet mentioned is 17:18:
irun nmu m u *p upin n^-ion m s

A person lacking sense claps the hand to stand surety to his neighbor.
The line speaks of standing surety inU l in the presence of his neighbor.
Although the translation of these two words is simple, exactly what they mean is not so
clear. However, as with the preposition in 6 :ls JUlb 11271?, the of 17:18 likely
indicates that the neighbor is again the creditor, not the borrower. Although skeptical of
this possibility, McKane is correct when he writes in regard to 17:18 that the neighbor
may be the one to whom the guarantor will be liable, should a third party for whom he
has assumed financial responsibility be in default of his obligations.78 Although the
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stranger or outsider is not explicitly mentioned in this line, given the concern in the other
surety proverbs with such a situation, it is likely 17:18 shares this concern and the third
party is a stranger.
One of the themes that lends some unity to chapters five and six in Proverbs is a
general concern with what brings on ruin. This concern is essentially a particularizing of
the general act-consequence principle that wisdom brings good things and folly bad.
However, chapter five and the first verses of chapter six are also concerned with the
stranger who ensnares (cf. 5:22 and 6:2 and the shared language of capture; D 1?) and
who brings destruction. In chapter five it is the HlTwith whom one is tempted to commit
adultery. She is, on the literal level, most likely the wife of another man. But she is also a
7Q
symbol of the way of folly. In the first five verses of chapter six, the text is concerned
with the stranger ITfor whom one is tempted to stand surety.
As I suggested (following Fox), it makes the most sense to assume that Prov 6:1 is
concerned with remunerative suretystanding surety for profit, to gain valuable wealth.
If so, the two sections in Prov 5-6, the one concerned with the strange woman and the
other concerned with the strange borrower, share a logical, symbolic structure: that which
is strange/foreign appears desirable (sexually or economically), but ultimately is not so
and ends in destruction.
It seems the problem with standing surety for strangers in 6:1-5 is thus not so
much the profit motive, or profit not by ones own labor (though there may be some dis
ease with this), but rather the fact that it is especially risky. This is likely due to the fact
that strangers are prone to disappear more readily than neighbors. Standing surety for a
79 As I suggested above in the discussion of Prov 4:5-9.
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IT creates a situation where one is at the mercy not only of the creditor/neighbor, but of
the more ephemeral stranger/borrower as well. It places the guarantor in a particularly
precarious social position.
This understanding of Prov 6 also helps to explain Sirachs relative openness to
surety practices. Proverbs is most often, as in 6:1-5, concerned with surety on behalf of a
stranger. Sirach, however, is regularly concerned with standing surety not for strangers,
but for a neighbor (Sirach 29:14). This is still risky business but, he seems to imply,
somewhat laudable (cf. 29:14, 20). Sirach, it appears, sees some potential social benefit
from standing surety for a neighborperhaps an increase, or maintenance, of social
cohesion. However, he is skeptical where surety practices are socially detrimental (cf.
29:15-16, 19). When Ben Sira is critical of surety measures he is critical of a) the debtor
who does not sufficiently respect the guarantors economic risks (29:15-16); and b) the
one who strives to profit unduly from surety practices (Sirach 29:19).
Both Sirach and Proverbs thus likely recognize that the profit motive is a
significant reason why someone might choose to stand surety for another. Moreover, both
can be somewhat critical of this, either implicitly (Proverbs) or more explicitly (Sirach).
Nevertheless, for Sirach, the risks associated with standing surety for a neighbor are
tolerable because of the potential social benefit. For Proverbs, however, where the
borrower is not envisioned as a neighbor, the risk is too high. There is not the possibility
for the same kind of communal benefit Sirach imagines.
Finally, to return to the larger context of Prov 5-6: The instruction in 6:1-5
regarding standing surety for a stranger/outsider is, on one level, good, old fashion
ancient Near Eastern wisdom advice. The texts disapproval is motivated by the risky
130
character of the practice. Yet because the strange woman in chapter five is both literally
the wife of another man and a symbol for the way of Folly, this conventional advice
about surety in 6:1-5 is also woven into the larger symbolic system of Proverbs, with the
verbal and thematic links of the stranger or foreigner and the danger associated with
these constituting the key links. For Proverbs, to stand surety for a stranger, quite simply,
and symbolically, is to travel the path of Folly.
Conclusions
Already in chapter one the figurative aspects of Proverbs wealth and poverty
language is discemable. The sinners deploy the rhetoric of riches in an effort to lure the
hearer to their way. The wealth they offer, however, functions largely as a symbol of all
that is desirable on the path o f folly. In the following chapters the instructing voice
similarly employs the rhetoric o f wealth to convince the addressee of the desirability of
wisdoms path and to motivate him to choose that path. Although the instructing voice
largely avoids the abstract language of wealth that the sinners employed in Prov 1, one
can trace a progression in the fathers and Wisdoms use of wealth and poverty language.
Their discourse culminates in Wisdoms claim in 8:18 that she possesses not Ip1 ]1H, as
the robbers did, but pHD jlH, precious or enduring wealth symbolic wealthwhich
is defined as the kind of virtue that the prologue highlights in 1:3, justice (HplH).
The teaching voice in the books first collection, however, also uses the language
of wealth and poverty in non-figurative ways to construct for the hearer a concrete
economic ethic. In both types o f instances, and throughout Proverbs more generally, the
sages can employ a cause and effect rhetoric. This cause and effect language, however,
is not one that ought to be understood in simple literalistic fashion. Rather the texts act-
consequence rhetoric projects a symbolic sapiential narrative in which the wise and
righteous are rewarded while the wicked and foolish come to naught. The truth of such a
view is not based solely, or even primarily, on empirical evidence, in the sense that any
objective observer would be able to confirm or disconfirm the claim. Rather it emerges
from, and depends upon, a particular perception of the cosmos, a wisdom mythos. It is
through this perception that the virtues and values that Proverbs promotes, largely
through its discourse o f wealth and poverty, make sense and become meaningful. It is
through the ideological lens of this wisdom mythos that the sages view the world and
hence are predisposed to evaluate a variety of experience as consonant with the mythos
that claims the cosmos favors a life of virtue.
Finally, though I have not yet made the designation explicit, the material in the
books initial chapters that makes use of wealth language as a motivational symbol
belongs to Proverbs wisdoms virtues discourse and that which offers direct instruction
to the hearer belongs to the discourse of social justice. The nature and contours of these
sub-discourses o f wealth and poverty, along with the discourse of social observation,
however, become especially evident in chapters 10-29 (31).
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CHAPTER HI
THE WISDOMS VIRTUES DISCOURSE AND THE DISCOURSE OF SOCIAL
JUSTICE IN PROVERBS 10-29 (31)
The material that makes up Proverbs 10-29 (31) is formally distinct from what is
found in chapters 1-9. Unlike the instructional poems of the books initial chapters, which
have a father/teacher or personified Wisdom instructing a son or pupil directly, chapters
10-29 (31) are primarily collections of short, anonymous sentence sayings.1Yet despite
the shift in predominant forms, the instruction of 10- 29 (31) shares the same underlying
organizing assumption as chapters 1-9the rhetorical strategy of the two ways. On the
one hand wisdom and its functional synonyms (understanding, insight, etc.) together
with the wise and righteous persons continue to serve as the texts primary positive
rubrics. On the other hand, the fool and the wicked person along with folly and
wickedness continue to function as the compositions primary negative rubrics. Like
the material in chapters 1-9, what the various meshalim of later chapters recommend can
be characterized as belonging to the way o f wisdom and righteousness, and what they
disavow to the way of folly and wickedness. Although the text is often explicit in naming
what belongs to each path (as especially in chs. 10-15, through antithetical parallelism),
elsewhere this distinction is more implicit and the text continues to expect the hearer to
possess a certain literary competence and to discern what belongs to each way. As a
1 Though, o f course, Prov 22:1724:22, the so-called Amenemope section of the book, along
with ch. 30 (a disparate collection of the sayings o f Agur and other sayings) and ch. 31 (the instruction of
Lemuels mother and the poem to the woman of worth) should be distinguished from the larger sentence
collections o f 10:1 22:16, the Further Sayings o f the Wise in 24:23-34, and chs. 25-29. Occasionally in
the non-sentence collections different textual voices are credited with the teachings in a superscription (e.g.,
Agur in 30:1; Lemuels mother in 31:1).
133
collection, the purpose of the material in chapters 10-29 (31), as with that of the first nine
chapters, is to teach a person about the right way of virtue.
The wealth and poverty sayings in the later chapters of Proverbs underscore the
continuity between chapters 1-9 and 10-29 (31). The vocabulary of wealth and poverty in
the sentence sayings, for instance, is quite similar to that of chapters 1-9. However,
whereas the early chapters have comparatively little to say about poverty and the poor,
the later chapters take up such language much more fully. The text employs poverty
rhetoric both as a negative trope to impel the addressee to pursue virtue and shun vice,
and in order to construct for the hearer a specific economic ethic. As with the other
material in the later chapters, the hearer or reader of the wealth and poverty sayings of
chapters 10-29 (31) also often must discern precisely what virtue the text wants to
inculcate in its addressee (or what vice it hopes will be avoided).
In the final form of the book, the first collection in Proverbs (chs. 1-9) serves as a
hermeneutic framework for the proverbs in subsequent collections, encouraging the
hearer or reader to view the later instruction as consonant with what the more
personalized instructing voice of chapters 1-9 offers.2Furthermore, even if in its Ur-form
Proverbs 1:2-6 (7) was intended only as an introduction to some f/r-form of chapters 1-9,
the purpose (i.e., to learn intellectual, practical, and social virtues) and the invitation (i.e.,
2 Cf. Raymond C. Van Leeuwen (Proverbs: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections, NIB
5:24), who states that chapters 1-9, together with chapters 30-31, form an interpretive frame through
which to view the small wisdom utterances they enclose. Fox, too, speaks of chapters 1-9 as an
introduction to the rest of the book. See Michael V. Fox, Proverbs 1-9: A New Translation with
Introduction and Commentary (AB 18a; New York: Doubleday, 2000), 25. Carole R. Fontaine states
similarly that chs. 1-9 act as a theological and literary prologue to the proverb collections that follow. See
her Proverbs in the Womens Bible Commentary (ed. Carol A. Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe; expanded
edition; Louisville: WJK, 1998), 154.
134
to understand the texts tropes and figures) that this prologue articulates are appropriate
for the subsequent sections o f the book as well.
To understand fully how the wealth and poverty sayings in the sentence
collections are functioning it is thus necessary to inquire about the didactic end of each
proverb, to ask what place the saying holds in the texts larger moral discourse, and to
consider how wealth and poverty language functions to help any particular saying reach
that end. In this regard it is important to remember not only the prologues invitation to
read wisely, but to recall as well that the form of the sentence proverbs is reminiscent of
folk proverbs and hence evokes the communicative and metaphorical strategies common
to folk proverbs. Recognizing the figurative aspects of the wealth and poverty proverbs of
chapters 10-29 (31) is vital if one is to avoid a misleadingly literalistic interpretation of
the books wealth and poverty sayings as well as an overly simplistic understanding of its
act-consequence rhetoric.
Finally, in the second half of Proverbs it is also possible, more than in the initial
collection, to distinguish when the book employs wealth and poverty language in distinct
wayse.g., as a motivational symbol or as direct and concrete economic instmction. In
the latter chapters one is especially able to discern the books three closely related, but
distinct (sub)-discourses o f wealth and poverty, which I call a wisdoms virtues
discourse, a discourse o f social justice, and a discourse of social observation. This
chapter is concerned with the wisdoms virtues discourse and the discourse of social
justice. The following chapter will first consider the books Gestaltits moral vision and
the rhetorical and figurative patterns of language usethat both the poems of chapters 1-
9 and the sayings considered in this chapter establish. Subsequently, other proverbs in
135
chapters 10-29 (31) will be analyzed in light of this Gestalt and shown to belong either to
the wisdoms virtues or the social justice discourse, or to the books third sub-discourse
of wealth and poverty, the discourse of social observation.
The Wisdoms Virtues Discourse in Proverbs 10-29 (31)
Characteristics
The wisdoms virtues discourse is by far the largest of Proverbs three sub
discourses of wealth and poverty. The sayings that belong to it can be distinguished by
several characteristic linguistic and rhetorical features.
First, although proverbs comprising the wisdoms virtues discourse can use a
broad range of terms and images, this discourse prefers a particular abstract, or better,
impersonal vocabulary for wealth and poverty derived from particular roots (e.g.,
tD-1-"!, l-D-fl). Occasionally the wisdoms virtues discourse employs a
comparative construction. In such instances the personal language of rich and poor
(i.e., rich or poor person), expressed by means of the substantivized adjective or
participle, is used. In these comparative constructions the poor (usually a form derived
from -H) are also always grammatical subjects. They are, along with the rich, doers
or actors. By contrast, in most other instances in Proverbs where this sort of personal
language is employed (e.g., in the discourse of social justice), the poor are always
objects, grammatically speaking.
As in chapters 1-9, the meshalim in the later chapters of Proverbs that belong to
the wisdoms virtues discourse also generally function figuratively. Features internal to
the individual proverbs regularly signal a sayings metaphorical qualities. As I suggested
136
above, however, the books prologue also directs the hearer or reader to attend to the
books tropes wisely. The form of these short sayings is also reminiscent of folk proverbs
that both regularly employ metaphor, and are regularly employed metaphorically to say
something about human life.
Recognizing the figurative aspects of the wisdoms virtues discourse is important,
for sayings belonging to this sub-discourse are not usually concerned to say something
about wealth and poverty. Rather, they promote a larger didactic end. They employ the
rhetoric of wealth and poverty primarily as tropes to mark the relative value of virtue and
vice and are designed to encourage the hearer or reader to adopt the way of wisdom and
to reject folly. As with much of the wealth and poverty language in chapters 1-9, the
wealth and poverty rhetoric in chapters 10-29 (31) represents that which the hearer or
reader will find desirable and valuable; or in the case of poverty images that which is
undesirable. Material wealth in these later chapters remains a good and valuable thing.
But as in chapters 1-9, in the moral vision of the wisdoms virtues discourse, riches
belong to a set of lesser goods, the attainment of which should never be confused with the
acquisition of a more fundamental good, wisdom and its virtues.
As is also the case in earlier chapters, the wisdoms virtues discourse in the
second half of Proverbs attempts to persuade the hearer of the desirability of wisdom and
its virtues over and against an implicit social script (a kind of competing discourse),
which contends wealth and other lesser goods are, in fact, ultimate goods. Subsequently
the text employs images o f precisely those lesser goods that the hearer values but may
tend to overvalue. If in chapters 1-9, however, Proverbs uses the rhetoric of wealth and
poverty as motivational symbols to get the hearer to recognize generally the value of
137
wisdoms way over that o f follys, in chapters 10-29 (31) it also uses such rhetoric as
motivational symbols to persuade him to accept the particular values (i.e., the virtues) of
that way and to shun all that belongs to follys path. The virtues promoted by the
wisdoms virtues discourse in chapters 10-29 (31), moreover, are consonant with those
broad virtues and values the prologue stresses, especially that of social equity and
harmony.
Figurative Wealth and Poverty Sayings
Several sayings in Proverbs 10-29 (31) employ a wisdom vocabulary and an
economic rhetoric that is very similar to certain meshalim of chapters 1-9. Like the
proverbs of the initial chapters, these sayings likewise reveal that the text employs wealth
and poverty language in figurative ways. Consider, for instance, the following proverbs:
spDO HDD n m niDpi f in n o m trn D nDDrrrup
Buy wisdom! So much better is it than gold. The acquisition of understanding is
preferable to silver. (Prov 16:16)3
ptm bi nmn mDpb r orrT n tto nrnD1?

What good is money in the hand of a fool to purchase wisdom, when he has no mind?
(Prov 17.T6)4
3 The MTs qendh is peculiar. The vowels are appropriate to a m. sg. imperative or infinitive
construct of the strong root. However, the expected form of the IH-heh infinitive would be qenot, as at the
beginning of the second stich. Rather than emend the consonantal text it is better to re-point the first word
as the m. sg. imperative o f a Ill-weak root, qeneh. The interrogative HQ (what) may be a dittography of
the final two letters of the previous word HODf! (wisdom); cf. Arndt Meinhold, Die Spruche (2 vol.;
ZBK; Zurich: Theologischer Verlag, 1991), 2:272. However, there is no reason to delete it; cf. Roland E.
Murphy, Proverbs (WBC; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 118. As Otto Ploger suggests, the saying may
be the end product of what were originally two riddles: What is better than gold? Wisdom! What is more
precious than silver? Understanding! (Was ist besser als Gold? Weisheit! Was ist kostbarer als Silber?
Einsicht!). See Spruche Salomos (Proverbia) (Neukrichen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1984), 193; cf.
Murphy, Proverbs, 122.
138
n rm noiai nnzn -Drr'wi mp nm
Buy truth; and do not sell wisdom or instruction or understanding. (Prov 23:23)5
Like several of the meshalim in chapters 1-9, the sayings just cited deploy a
metaphor of commercial transaction and a rhetoric of relative value.6 It is unlikely that
these proverbs mean to suggest that in ancient Israel or Judah (Yehud) one might go out
and hire a wisdom teacher.7 Indeed, in filling out the metaphorical complexWISDOM
IS A COMMODITY23:23 warns the hearer against selling wisdom as well! Rather it
is precisely the difficulty, or in Ricoeurs idiom, the absurdity, that arises when these
proverbs are regarded literally that suggests a metaphorical quality to them. As I
intimated in Chapter II in regard to Prov 4:7, although one might conceivably purchase
knowledge or some form of instruction, it is impossible to buy wisdom. The verses
employ economic language primarily as a means of describing the worth and desirability
of wisdoms virtuous way. Wisdom is like a precious good that one should seek to
acquire, not peddle away.
Interpreters, however, generally overlook the metaphor that it is at work in the
proverbs and often appear merely to reiterate the literal sense of the lir. es. Murphy, for
3 The verse is not in the Greek and seems out of place in the larger passages concern with parents.
This state of affairs has given rise to a number of theories regarding the passages composition and
development. On these matters see Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 275; Murphy, Proverbs, 176; Richard J.
Clifford, Proverbs: A Commentary, (OTL; Louisville: WJK, 1999), 213.
6 Proverbs 16:16s hearkening back to chapters 1-9 is particularly appropriate since it stands just
before 16:17, the middle point of the book according to the masoretic tradition. See Meinhold, Die
Spruche, 2:272; Murphy, Proverbs, 122.
7 Toy likewise writes: It is doubtful that fees were taken by Jewish teachers. See C. H. Toy,
Proverbs: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book o f Proverbs, (rprt., Edinburgh: T&T Clark,
1988), 346. Cf. Meinhold, Die Spruche, 2:291; Murphy, Proverbs, 130; Roger N. Whybray, Proverbs,
(NCBC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 259.
139
instance, writes in regard to 17:16 that, the fool is dumb enough to think that the
acquisition of wisdom is merely a matter of a monetary transaction.8 Similarly Ploger
states that whoever thinks, one can get anything with money is a fool.9 Clifford and
Meinhold offer similar comments.10
It is not, however, simply the case that the fool is a dullard who wrongly thinks he
can go out and buy wisdom like a pomegranate in the market place. Rather, the wise and
discerning hearer of 16:16 and 23:23, as well as 17:16, will follow the logic of the
metaphor of commercial exchange and understand the proverbs to mean not only that
wisdom is remarkably valuable, but that one ought to acquire that which is more valuable
(wisdom) by means of that which is less valuable (wealth). The fool in 17:16, by contrast,
does not know how to deploy what is less valuable (money) in order to trade up and
acquire that which is more valuable (wisdom); hence, in the logic of the metaphor,
whatever assets he may possess, whether economic or moral, are wasted. Because they
are not integrated into a framework of values controlled by the meta-virtue of wisdom,
they are only of minimal worth.
A number of other proverbs in the wisdoms virtues discourse can likewise only
be understood figuratively and their wealth and poverty rhetoric understood as positively
marking, i.e., valuing, wisdom and its virtues. This is so in 10:20; 20:15; and 25:11-12.
These read:
DOTS D 'O T I 3*7 p"HH ] 1 ^ 3n33 ^ 0 3
8 Murphy, Proverbs, 130.
9 Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 204; (Fur Geld ist alles zu haben). Ploger also believes the image
works best if one imagines a school situation. At least this is implicit when he writes that, the verse can be
understood outside of a school situation as well (Der Vers lilsst sich auch ausserhalb einer Schul sitation
verstehen).
10 Clifford, Proverbs, 166; Meinhold, Die Spruche, 2:291.
140
The tongue of the righteous person is choice silver, but the mind of the wicked is like
something of little worth.11
n r -H n s ta i p t b t h ! nm et
There is gold, and abundance of costly stones, but lips of knowledge are a precious
vessel.12
n a i r ^ r m th *pD r rrrrc m d h t m a n
h im ]T- ^ osn rrsiD n n x ^ m nm did

Golden apples in silver showpieces is a phrase well turned; a ring of gold, a golden
ornament, is a wise persons reproof in a receptive ear.13
These indicative statements are from three different collections of the second half
o f the book. They also make clear that the later chapters of Proverbs are able to use
wealth and poverty imagery as tropes in sayings that must be understood figuratively.
Each proverb is concerned with some notion of right speech (the tongue of the
righteous person in 10:20; lips of knowledge in 20:15; a well turned phrase and
reproof in 25:11-12). In each, however, a literal understanding of the line produces an
11 Though the expression M O D often means something like almost, Whybray (who refers to
GKC paragraph 118x) suggests that it is probably an emphatic form of me 'at, Tittle. See his Proverbs,
168; cf. W. A. van der Weiden, Le Livre de Proverbes: Notes philologiques, (BEO 23; Rome: Biblical
Institute Press, 1970), 94. The proverb contrasts the tongue, the organ of speech, with the heart or
mind of a person, which is the source of that which is spoken.
12 According to Whybray, in Proverbs, 295, the term ET here is sometimes reckoned as a noun
(property, possessions), as it often is in 8:21 (see Chapter II above). There is little to commend this view
since the usual meaning of the particle there is creates no difficulties. Whybray is correct in rejecting it.
Costly stones sometimes rendered jewelstranslates DTDS; cf. NJPS; Clifford, Proverbs, 184. The
term may refer more specifically to coral. See Whybray, Proverbs, 295; cf. Toy, Proverbs, 389.
13 The translation follows NJPS. Although the sense of the line is clear, the precise meaning of
several words in the verse is doubtful. See Whybray, Proverbs, 363. In particular, apples o f (T n sn ),
showpieces (m DtDD), a well turned phrase (I1DSN-I7b 121 !), and ornament f bil) have been
the subject of some discussion. See Whybray, Proverbs, 364; Clifford, Proverbs, 224; Murphy, Proverbs,
189,192.
141
absurdity, one that is so obvious that most readers likely unconsciously move to
understanding the lines in a metaphorical sense.
The rhetorical strategy o f the lines is to value virtue i.e., what the text considers
to be of worth in the moral realmby images of material goods whose worth in the
economic realm is clear, namely precious metals, coral (or jewels), and ornaments. Put
otherwise, the logic of the lines is to pair a moral positive with an economic positive
(10:20a; 20:15; 25:1-12) and a moral negative with an economic negative (10:20b), In
10:20, by associating the tongue of a righteous person with the image of precious
silver, the text creates a positive valuation for this right speech. The second half of the
verse, which compares a heart or mind of wickedness with that which is worthless,
produces the opposite rhetorical effect. Importantly, however, the absurdity produced by
10:20as copulathe tongue o f the righteous person is choice silverimmediately
gives way, as Ricoeur would suggest, to the metaphorical is like. The simile of the
second half of the verse (note the preposition kap in 3P(3D) unambiguously signals the
metaphoricity of that stich. Clearly that which, on the one hand, is associated both with
the p 'H H (a person who embodies one of the books primary virtues, righteousness)
and with that which is of great material worth (choice silver) is valued and advocated
by the verse. On the other hand, that which is linked with what is of no economic value
and with wickedness (one of the books meta-vices) is disavowed.14
In 20:15 the images of gold, jewels, as well as Ip'1 1bD (precious vessels)
which hearkens back to the robbers quest for Ip1 ]1H (precious wealth) in chapter
14 Toy, in Proverbs, 212, makes a similar observation.
142
onework in the same way as the rhetoric of choice silver in 10:20. They lead to an
absurdity when the line is interpreted literally and positively mark a certain kind of
speech that the text views as virtuous. The golden apples, silver showpieces, and
golden rings and ornaments in 25:11-12, associated with a well-turned phrase and a
reproach, function similarly.15
The sayings just cited make simple use of images from the economic realm to
value a virtueright speechwhich belongs to the way of wisdom.16 However, what
particular aspects o f right speech each saying is alluding to is not necessarily obvious
on first glance. Proverbs 10:20 and 20:15 suggest that ones words reveal ones character
or relationship to wisdoms way, i.e., to righteousness or knowledge, respectively.
Proverbs 10:20 may also be concerned with the honest speech that good character
produces, as two o f the terms it uses, p HU (righteous person) and DED (wicked
persons), are perhaps borrowed from the legal realm where a premium is placed on truth
telling.17As Bakhtin would suggest, the words taste of their life in that social realm (see
15 The allusion to a Dill DTD (ring of gold) in the first half o f 25:11, moreover, recalls 11:22
where the patriarchal book of Proverbs is not so much concerned that its male hearers attend to right
speech, but the good sense of their women, for DUD m D I n S 1 "Tin DHT DTD (a gold
ring in the snout o f a pig is a beautiful woman bereft of sense; following NJPS).
16 Nearly all commentators recognize this process of valuation. In relation to 10:20, Meinhold is
representative and perhaps the most thorough in his description. See Meinhold, Die Spruche, 1:178. But
Whybray too writes: In any case the sense of the line is that the speech of the righteous is of great value.
See Proverbs, 168. Cf. Plogers evaluation that, This proverb . . . wishes to highlight the worth and
significance of the righteous, who are recognizable through their speech (Dieser Spruch . . mochte den
Wert und die Bedeutung des Gerechten hervorheben, die an seinem Reden erkennbar sind). See Spruche
Salomos, 128. On the valuation at 20:15, cf. Murphy, Proverbs, 152; Meinhold, Die Spruche, 2:338;
Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 235. For the syntax of the line see especially Toy, Proverbs, 388-89. On 25:11-
12, see Murphy, Proverbs, 192; Meinhold, Die Spruche, 2:424-25; Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 300-01; Toy,
Proverbs, 462-62; Clifford, Proverbs, 224.
17 In commenting on 10:20 Murphy, in Proverbs, 75, likewise alludes to the trustworthy nature of
the righteous persons words. Commentators, however, usually speak only generally o f righteous speech
or rechte Reden; and, in relation to lines such as 20:15 and 25:11-12, o f wise words, etc. Meinhold, in
Introduction). Proverbs 20:15s allusion to lips of knowledge may likewise be
underscoring the worth o f the same kind of integrity in speech to which Prov 10:20
points. Indeed Prov 29:7, which more clearly alludes to a legal context than 10:20, claims
that the righteous person knows the rights of the poor, and presumably will not subvert
those rights in any way, including through less than truthful speech.18 The right speech
that is the concern of 25:11-12, however, seems to have more to do with the speech of the
wise in an instructional context, where reproof offered in an effective manner would be
highly valued. Yet even the right speech of this verse carries traces of a life of use in
broader legal and moral contexts and need not be confined to the world of formal
instruction, as the appearance of 1TD1D in Amos 5:10; Job 9:33; 32:12; and 40:2
suggests.
The virtues of right speech that each o f the sayings under consideration value via
economic rhetoric can thus be seen as virtues vital to the achievement of what the
prologue identifies as an essential feature of the books purposethe realization of social
justice and harmony. For justice, righteousness, and equity (cf. 1:3) to characterize a
community or society, integrity and honesty in speech and conduct (precisely the concern
o f 10:20 and indirectly 20:15 and 25:11-12), are indispensable.19
D ie Spruche, 2:338, in relation to 20:15, for instance, speaks of verstandiger Rede i.e., sensible,
judicious, speech.
18 Proverbs 29:7 belongs properly to the discourse of social justice and will be considered more
folly below.
19 Other sayings in Proverbs concerned with truthful speech and testimony include: 12:17, 22(7);
14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, 28; 21:28; 24:26,28; 25:9, 18. Cf. 17:15; 18:5; 24:24; 28:21.
144
Further Figurative Sayings
A variety of other sayings in Proverbs motivate adherence to wisdoms way by
deploying wealth and poverty language in a manner that must primarily be regarded as
figurative. Consider first 21:20:
DTK TCCT! DDF! miD |Q 01 IDm Um

Precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of a wise person; but a fool of a person
swallows it up.20
The claim of 21:20, that treasure and oil, both valuable economic commodities,
are to be found in the wise persons house, is sometimes regarded as reflecting a wisdom
prosperity axiom.21 However, the line does not employ a plain cause and effect rhetoric
that would more clearly suggest an underlying act-consequence nexus to be at work. The
proverb can be easily understood otherwise. Ploger and Clifford, for example, regard the
saying as a reflection on the different manner wise and foolish people handle wealth. The
wise do not squander their wealth and so their houseliterally speakingwill be full
of valuables.22
20 Some commentators find the mention of oil in this verse strange. It is not present in the Greek,
though the LXX itself does not reflect the MT of the verse in a straightforward manner; cf. Whybray,
Proverbs, 313. See further Meinhold, Die Spruche, 2:356; Toy, Proverbs, 406; Murphy, Proverbs, 161.
21 See, for instance, Murphy, Proverbs, 161, who writes: The teaching o f the sages provides for
prosperity as the lot of the wise person. Similarly Meinhold, in Die Spruche, 2:356, avers: That the wise
person, because ofhis good life and the virtues he exhibits also will acquire material profit, is evident from
a number of proverbs (Dass der Weise a u f Grund seines guten Lebens und der dabei gezeigten Tugenden
auch zu materiellen Gewinn gelangen wiirde, geht aus manchen Spruchen hervor). Elsewhere Meinholds
evaluation of similar proverbs is more nuanced (see below). In regard to this verse (21:20) he, like others
(see the immediately following) is also open to the notion that the proverb is most concerned with the
frittering away of ones wealth.
22 Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 248; Clifford, Proverbs, 192; cf. Jutta Hausmann, Studien zum
Menschenbild der alteren Weisheit (Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1995), 20 who sees 21:20 also as a proverb
that relativizes wealth (cf. p. 338).
145
Either of these lines of interpretation of 21:20the act-consequence line or the
squandering lineis possible. Neither, however, exhausts the texts meaning. Although
the books prologue and the sayings form encourages a reader of Proverbs to seek out
the metaphorical dimension o f the mashal, at least one further feature internal to the
proverb itself points to its figurative aspects.
The issue in 21:20 is not merely that the fool runs through (NJPS) or
squanders his wealth, but that he swallows up (V *23) good things. As Whybray
notes, the pie! of probably nowhere in HB carries the sense of squander.23It is,
however, a term with a well established pattern of metaphorical usage. The robbers in
Prov 1:12, recall, swallow up the innocent; and this same line alludes as well to the
common mythological and metaphorical trope of Sheol swallowing up living beings.24
Elsewhere in HB the term appears in various contexts where destruction is thematized.25
As a verb of consumption I)1?!}, moreover, invites elaboration in terms of food and other
consumables. In 21:20, this is metaphorically developed by means of the images of
consumable oil and -treasure. The wise person stores up these goods inside his house for
preservation. The fool metaphorically brings them into his body in a way that exhausts
them.
The particular virtue 21:20 is concerned with promoting is thus prudence, the
careful husbandry of all things good and valuable. The line is a good example of the
23 Whybray, Proverbs, 189.
24 Cf. Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 248; Clifford, Proverbs, 192; Meinhold, Die Spruche, 2:356; Toy,
Proverbs, 406; Van Leeuwen, Proverbs, NIB 5:194.
25 See, for instance, Ps 124:3; Is 28:4; Hos 8:7.
146
books common use of a particular rhetorical strategy, namely, a kind of synecdoche,
where apart stands for the whole or a specific or particular stands for a general: here
stewardship o f treasure and oil for the virtue of prudence. The vice the line means to
censure is a greed characterized by a carelessness that has an edge of destructive and
insatiable desire to it. The mashal may also offer a kind of oblique analogy: just as riches
are said to be found inside the wise persons abode, so the valuable wisdom that the wise
person possesses belongs to his interior character.
To the extent that the verb SbZI is a dead metaphor with the sense of to
consume voraciously, Prov 21:20 works on a literal level and can be said to carry an
implicit promise o f well being for the wise person. But it is also a trope for much more. It
more broadly values the wise persons way of life and censures the path of the fool who
squanders all kinds of goods, both material and moral. The underlying problem with
which the verse is dealing, as the nuances of the verb intimate, is that the foolish
person overvalues lesser material goods to the point that he pursues them frenetically. In
contrast to that perennial and broad social script alluded to above, which suggests
material wealth or some other lesser good is the key human flourishing and so should be
pursued passionately, this text hints that it is a persons interior qualities, his wise
character, which is truly valuable.
Proverbs 24:3-4 uses language and imagery that is similar to 21:20. It reads:
p-orr n m rm rrrs tot rm rn

-p , Dn n n m m
By wisdom a house is built; and by understanding it is established; a id by knowledge
[its] rooms are filled [with] all precious wealth and pleasantries.
147
Whybray believes the imagery o f a good number of sentence sayings in Prov 10-29
indicates that they are the product of the lives and experiences o f small fanners in ancient
Israel and thus are best read against this background in essentially literal fashion. Hence,
though recognizing the language reverberates somewhat more broadly, he writes in
regard to 24:3-4 that:
The statements in these verses are in the first place to be understood literally. It is
a general principle of the teaching of the book that wisdom will confer material
prosperity on those who follow her (see, for example, 8:18, 21; 21:21), or that
such prosperity will be given to the righteous (see especially 15:6) or to those who
fear and honor Yahweh (so 3:9-10; 22:4).
He continues: So what is stated here is that the followers o f wisdom will so prosper
materially that they will be able to build their house and furnish it with every luxury.
Whybrays understanding of 24:3-4 is not uncommon.27 However, it is not fully
adequate for understanding the wealth and poverty imagery o f these lines. Notice first
that the picture of 24:3-4 of a house full of all precious treasures (Ip1 ]liT ^D)is
reminiscent of the words o f the robbers in chapter one, where the text invites a figurative
understanding. That the following lines, 24:5-6, speak of the wise persons intellectual
abilities in terms of martial images, i.e., figuratively, likewise hints that a figurative
understanding o f w . 3-4 is warranted.28 It may also be that the language of 24:3-4 is to
26 Whybray, Proverbs, 343-344; emphasis original.
27 See Clifford, Proverbs, 214, who alludes to 3:13-20 and writes o f 24:3-4 that: Such lines
assured those courting wisdom that they would have wealth. Ploger rightly opts for a more figurative
understanding of the verses suggesting that it is wisdom that fills life with what is of lasting worth, but he
also leaves open another position: doch dilrfte das reale Verstandnis prim ar sein" (but on the contrary it
may be that the literal understanding is primary; Spruche Salomos, 279). Cf. Helmer Ringgren and
Walther Zimmerli, Spruche/Prediger (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1962), 98.
148
evoke an image of personified Wisdom building a house as she does in 9:1, something
that likewise moves the reader into the realm of the figurative, if not the mythological.29
Or, perhaps one is to understand 24:3-4 to be claiming that a household, a family unit,
is only built up through the virtues the lines highlight. If so, this picture o f furnishing a
house(hold) demands that the wealth language of v. 4 be understood in figurative terms,
perhaps even allegorically, symbolizing, for example the members of the household.
The imagery of 24:3-4 is, of course, allusive and none of the possible
understandings just sketched is necessarily exclusive of the others. The lines are
multivalent and permit a variety of readings, including a more literal one. However, in
light not only of features internal to the line such as perhaps the personification of
Wisdombut also: a) the prologues invitation to discern the tropes and figures of the
books moral instruction; b) the form of the saying, which evokes the metaphorical
functions of folk proverbs; and c) the pattern of usage of wealth and poverty language
both in the similar 21:20 and elsewhere in Proverbs wisdoms virtues discourse, a literal
reading could not exhaust the lines meaning.
In any case, the wise and discerning reader of Prov 24:3-4 will recognize the text
to be doing more than promising material goods. By associating Wisdoms or the wise
persons house with images of material wealth, the text can be said to be primarily
expressing the conviction that wisdoms way is overflowing with value in order to
28 Cf. Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 279. Proverbs 24:5-6 reads in the NJPS translation: A wise man
is strength; a knowledgeable man exerts power; for by stratagems you wage war, and victory comes with
much planning.
29 Or the language may evoke an image of YHWH creating the cosmos by wisdom as in 3:19-20.
In these lines the same three terms that 24:3-4 uses (wisdom, understanding, and knowledge) likewise
appear. See too the description of wisdom at 8:30; cf. further Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 279. Hausmann
rejects the possibility that 24:3-4 alludes to Wisdoms house building. See Menschenbild, 284; cf.
Meinhold, Die Spruche, 2:401.
149
persuade the hearer to pursue that way.30Although motivating its claims through a
promise of material goods, the promise of riches is not only a literal promise. It also
symbolically undergirds the larger claim of the wisdom mythos that virtue is that which is
most valuable.
The Comparative Valuing
The association o f wealth images with wisdom and virtue in a construction that
intimates wealth to be a reward of wisdom is one of the prominent ways the sentence
material in Proverbs speaks of the value of wisdoms virtues over and against the way of
folly. Indeed a number of other wealth and poverty sayings in Proverbs that employ an
explicit act-consequence rhetoric will be considered in Chapter IV. However, a different
set of sentence sayings in Proverbs need to be considered next, for they make no use of a
cause and effect rhetoric that might immediately imply they reflect, or are the product of,
a wisdom prosperity view o f the cosmos. They simply ascribe worth to virtue and vice by
-51
means of wealth and poverty language in a comparative construction. Of course, all of
the texts considered thus far have been employing a conceptual comparison, at least
implicitly. In fact, one could argue that all claims to value deploy comparative modes of
thinkingi.e., they involve judgments of some sort of what is of more worth than
something else in regard to a specific purpose or end.32 For the moral instruction of
30 Cf. Murphy, Proverbs, 180, who also recognizes the sayings concern with motivation.
31 Comparative constructions in chs. 10-29 (31) that do not properly belong to the wisdoms
virtues sub-discourse of wealth and poverty are: 16:32; 17:12; 21:9, 19; 27:5. The comparatives of 16:8;
21:3 and 27:10 belong to the sub-discourses of social justice and social observation respectively. These
proverbs will be treated below.
32 See C. David Grant, God the Center o f Value: Value Theory in the Theology ofH. Richard
Niebuhr (Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1984), esp. 25-69.
150
Proverbs, the nature of this judgment has to do with the ability of wisdom, versus other
goods, including wealth, to bring about a good and flourishing life.
The wealth and poverty proverbs that employ the comparative are thus important
for two reasons. They are important first because such sayings make explicit the
relational aspect of the value of wisdom to which I just alluded. The comparative sayings
are also important because they unambiguously speak of the value wisdoms way holds
over material wealth. Because of the absence of an act-consequence rhetoric, it is largely
due to this kind of proverb that ambiguity arises in the discourse of wealth and poverty
for those readers who understand the sages words elsewhere in the book to reflect a
wisdom prosperity axiom in the overly literalistic manner I described above. For many,
as Murphy suggests in regard to 15:16 but alluding to 16:8 (both treated below), such
comparative wealth and poverty sayings are thought to modify conventional wisdom by
pointing up a paradox, namely, that fear o f the Lord-and here one could substitute
wisdom, righteousness or any virtue the book promotesis no guarantee of prosperity
and riches, even if these are the benefits promised to the wise.33 Similarly, Hausmann,
who speaks of the relative value of wealth in proverbs like 15:16; 16:8; and 28:6
(likewise discussed below) concludes that these sayings demonstrate in part that the Tun-
Ergehen-Zusammenhang is not something that is to be found at work everywhere in
Proverbs. For her, no group of sayings is so conflicting (zwiespaltig) or reveals such an
ambivalence in perspective as the wealth and poverty sayings.34 Likewise Clifford, who
33 Murphy, Proverbs, 113 (cf. 121); italics added.
34 Hausmann, Menschenbild, 335-338; 342-44. For an account of how various scholars (e.g.,
Whybray, Washington, Crenshaw) attempt to resolve this tension by an appeal to the provenance of
different proverbs, see Chapter I above.
151
generally regards the use o f antithetical pairs in Proverbs as an effort to describe
behavior and its consequences, believes (following Hausmann) that the rich and poor
sayings are an exception in this regard.35 Similarly Plogers comment in connection with
28:6 that uprightness is surely no infallible prescription to gain wealth reveals that for
him elsewhere the rhetoric of Proverbs in fact more or less straightforwardly points to
such a moral rule.36
Though not necessarily wrong, the common understanding of the comparative
wealth and poverty sayings as somehow modifying or relativizing the value of
wealth needs nuance. Such a view is bound up with an overly literalistic understanding of
the wisdom prosperity axiom. However, as I suggested above, the act-consequence nexus
has less to do with empirical verifiability and more to do with a particular perception of
the world; it is an integral piece of a wisdom mythos that makes sense within, and of, a
particular social formation and set of values. In other words, it is not designed to offer
reliable predictions of the success (e.g., enrichment) or failure (e.g., impoverishment) of
particular individual lives.
With this understanding of the act-consequence nexus in mind, it becomes clear
that the wealth and poverty images in the comparative sayings function in a manner
analogous to the other sayings in the wisdoms virtues discourse: they ascribe worth to
virtue and vice in a straightforward and fairly simple way. Because of the explicit use of
a comparative construction, these sayings offer a clear judgment about what Proverbs
deems most valuable for attaining a good lifewisdom. For these comparative wealth
35 Clifford, Proverbs, 22; cf. Hausmann (Menschenbild, 342).
36 Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 333-34; (Redlichkeit 1st sicker kein unfehlbares Rezept, um zu
Reichtum zu gelangen).
152
and poverty sayings to work rhetorically, however, the full value and desirability of
material wealth needs to be in view. Certain of these proverbs intimate as well that when
the desirable lesser good of wealth is overvalued it produces effects which run counter to
what the book envisions as key to the good life.
Consider first Proverbs 15:16 and 16:8.
i n nDinni m m r r v n t r r z i 0 1 :0 -0 1 0
Better a little with the fear of the Lord, than abundant treasure with confusion.
Dsra m a m n m n npm n 0 1 :0 -0 1 0
Better a little with righteousness than abundant produce without justice.
Each saying employs economic language to speak of the worth of both righteousness and
fear of the Lord. The texts claim that even if one possessed these proverbial virtues and
nothing much of economic value, such a condition is of more worth than (lit. more
good than) if one possessed an abundance of what is of clear economic value without
the virtues. There is here no promise of reward, material or otherwise, but simply an
ascription of worth. The logical structure of the verses insists that an economic negative
(little) plus a moral positive (fear of the Lord/righteousness) is of more worth than an
economic positive (abundant treasure/produce) and a moral negative
(confusion/injustice).
The logic o f 19:1 and 28:6 is similar:
^ 0 0 a im r n s 0 q ^ D 10m p b in e m i s
Better a poor person walking in his uprightness than a person of perverse lips who is a
fool.37
153
T tD u K im c r m iDm j'n n c t i - j i b
Better a poor person walking in his uprightness than a person of perverse ways who is
rich.38
The two verses are nearly identical. The language of the first half of 19:1 is the same as
what is found in the first half of 28:6. The second stich of 19:1 likewise begins with the
same term with which the second half of 28:6 begins, crookedness (pDft; rendered
above as perverse). The lines also both end with a colophon introduced with the
pronoun K171. The antithesis of the poor person of whom the colophon of 19:1 speaks,
however, is not the rich person as it is in 28:6, but the fool. Besides this shift, the
difference between the two sayings lies in the fact that 19:1 points not so much to the
general way of folly, but to a particular vice that belongs to that wayimproper speech.
Whereas 28:6 contrasts the poor (economic negative) but upright (moral positive) person
with the rich (economic positive) person whose ways are crooked (moral negative),
19:1 contrasts the poor (economic negative), but upright (moral positive) person with the
fool (moral negative) whose lips are crooked (a further moral negative).
Several other comparative proverbs ought to be considered as well. These are:
irrnkwi Dins n m ntzrmnKi pT nma mo

37 T h i s v e r s e a n d 1 9 : 2 a r e n o t f o u n d i n L X X ; c f . M u r p h y , Proverbs, 141.
38 S o m e m a n u s c r i p t s e r a s e t h e d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n 1 9 : 1 a n d 2 8 : 6 a n d i t i s t e m p t i n g t o c a ll 1 9 : 1 a
c o r r u p t io n o f t h e p r o v e r b a t t e s t e d i n 2 8 : 6 . F o r i n s t a n c e , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e BHS a p p a r a t u s p rep ared b y
F i c h t n e r , s o m e M S S h a v e 1 9 : 1 r e a d , i n s t e a d o f V D S D ( h i s [ t w o ] l i p s ) , V D m (h is w a y s ; th o u g h
p o s s i b l y , i f o n l y t h e c o n s o n a n t s a r e r e a d , h i s t w o w a y s ) . T h i s i s s i m i l a r t o 2 8 : 6 s H (d u a l; t w o
w a y s ) . I n a n y c a s e , 2 8 : 6 s u n - s u f f i x e d d u a l f o r m , t h o u g h p e r h a p s a n a l l u s i o n t o t h e b o o k s t w o - w a y s
d o c t r in e ( s o t o o W h y b r a y , Proverbs, 3 9 0 - 9 1 ) , s e e m s o d d a n d m a y b e b e t t e r r e a d w i t h t h e S y r ia c a n d
T a r g u m ( a n d t h e s i m i l a r 1 0 : 9 ) a s V D T 1 ( h i s w a y s ; l e s s l i k e l y , h i s t w o w a y s ) . M o r e o v e r th e S y r i a c o f
1 9 :1 r e a d s t h e f i n a l w o r d o f t h i s l i n e a s 'tjr3 ( i . e . , im p ly in g a c o r r e c tio n to , o r a Vorlage r e a d in g o f, T D D as
in 2 8 : 6 ) . P r o v e r b s 1 9 : 1 , h o w e v e r , s h o u l d n o t b e e m e n d e d . T h e t e r m b D D i s lectio dificilor a n d th e r e is
n o th in g to e x p la in a d e q u a t e ly w h y th is r e a d in g m ig h t h a v e e m e r g e d t o r e p la c e a n o r ig in a l TDD. C f.
H au sm an n , Menschenbild, 89; W hyb ray, Proverbs, 2 7 5 -7 6 .
154
Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened ox where there is hate.
(Prov 15:17)39
w rm Vyn pbrra nrsxrm m-r'pse? did

Better to be humble and among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. (Prov
16:19)40
rp fT Q i xbtt ftdd nirmîzn m~in ns ms

Better a dry crust with peace than a house full of feasting with strife. (Prov 17:1)4!
did ]n nniDi *]ddb an n w a no ~itod
Repute is preferable to great wealth, grace is better than silver and gold. (Prov 22: l)42
Again without offering a promise of reward, each proverb deploys an image o f material
prosperity or lack to speak of the worth of different virtues and vices.43 Similar to other
comparative sayings, the logic of the lines insists that an economic negative plus a moral
positive is o f more worth than an economic positive with a moral negative. The text
claims the virtues of love, humility, peace, etc., even if accompanied by meager material
39 T h e t r a n s l a t i o n f o l l o w s N J P S .
40 T h e f i r s t v e r s e h a l f e n d s w i t h a K e t i v - Q e r e ( K e t i v [ p o o r ] ; Q e r e T 3U [ l o w l y ] ) . The
K e t i v i s t o b e p r e f e r r e d . F o l l o w i n g t h e l o g i c o f 1 5 : 1 7 a n d 1 7 : 1 , t h e f ir s t s t i c h o u g h t t o i n c l u d e a v ir t u e
f o l l o w e d b y a n i m a g e w h i c h f u n c t i o n s t o v a l u e t h a t v i r t u e . I n 1 6 : 9 , t h e v ir t u e o f h u m i l i t y i s a l r e a d y
a r t i c u l a t e d b y t h e p h r a s e I T I T b S K l ( h u m b l e ) . W h a t i s e x p e c t e d i s a n i m a g e w h o s e v a l u e o r w o r t h is
e a s ily recognizable a n d p o o r f i t s t h i s s i t u a t i o n b e s t a n d c o r r e s p o n d s t o t h e b r o a d l y e c o n o m i c i m a g e o f
d i v i d i n g s p o i l s i n t h e s e c o n d v e r s e h a l f . T h e G r e e k ( T a r m v c b a E c o s ' ) a p p e a r s t o f o l l o w t h e Q e r e . C f.
M urphy, Proverbs, 118.
43 Again, th e s a y in g s c it e d h e r e are s o m e t im e s s a id to b e m o d if y in g a w is d o m p r o s p e r it y a x io m ,
e v e n i f n o t d is p a r a g in g w e a lth . I n r e g a r d to 1 5 :1 7 , s e e M u r p h y , Proverbs, 1 1 3 , w h o s p e a k s o f b o t h th is
v e r s e a n d th e p r e c e d in g v . 16 a s p r o v e r b s w h ic h m o d if y c o n v e n tio n a l w is d o m ; s e e , t o o , T o y , Proverbs,
3 1 0 . In r e g a r d to 1 6 :1 9 s e e a g a in M u r p h y , Proverbs, 1 2 2 , w h o w r it e s : I t i s n o t a c c o r d i n g t o t h e
e x p e c t a t i o n s o f t h e s a g e s , w h o c o n s i s t e n t l y r a te p r o s p e r i t y a s a b l e s s i n g t h a t c o m e s t o t h e w i s e . F o r
M u r p h y , i n t h is s a y i n g , t h e u s u a l s c a l e o f v a l u e s i s t u r n e d u p s i d e d o w n . C f . f u r t h e r C l i f f o r d , Proverbs,
160.
155
conditions, are more desirable and valuable than what is of clear material worth where
certain vices (hate, pride, strife) are prominent. Moreover, the virtues which are being
positively valued (love, humility, peace) are precisely the sort that would promote the
social equity and harmony Proverbs so highly values while the vices (hate, pride, strife)
are those which would hinder the establishment and maintenance of this social justice.44
Yet also important in several of these comparative sayings (e.g., 15:17; 16:19;
17:1) is the nature of the images with which the various undesirable vices are associated.
They are certainly images o f prosperity and material thriving. Yet they are specifically
images that emerge from the world of an economic elite. This is particularly clear in
15:17 and 17:1 where the fattened ox and the sacrifices mentioned in the two lines
point to the consumption o f meat, which in the ancient world was, except for special
occasions, largely the prerogative of the wealthy. The suggestion in 17:1 that a house
might be full of feasting or sacrifice may also intimate that sayings like this are, in fact,
depicting the practices of an economic elite.45 The lines may thus contain an implicit
critique of a certain kind o f rich person.
Proverbs 16:19, however, is somewhat more complex. The term for spoils
bb -and the image of sharing it, hearkens back to the robbers discourse in chapter
one (1:13). The terminology conjures images of wealth, if not unjustly acquired, taken
44 A l t h o u g h m b e ( p e a c e ) i n 1 7 :1 d o e s n o t c a r r y t h e s a m e b r e a d t h o f p o s i t i v e c o n n o t a t io n s a s
i b c , t h e i m a g e s o f w e l l b e i n g a n d t h e p a r a l l e l i s m o f t h e t e r m w i t h 0 1 b tD i n P s 1 2 2 : 7 i n d i c a t e s th a t i t c a n
c o n n o t e a k i n d o f s o c i a l w e l l b e i n g t h a t i s m o r e t h a n t h e t r a n q u il o r q u i t e l i f e t o w h i c h T o y a llu d e s in
Proverbs, 335.
45 F o r a s im i l a r v i e w , s e e T o y s r e m a r k s i n r e g a r d t o 1 5 : 1 7 i n Proverbs, 3 1 0 , th a t fatted ox s t a n d s
f o r lu x u r y i n g e n e r a l ( i t a l i c s o r i g i n a l ) . O n 1 7 :1 s e e V a n L e e u w e n s c o m m e n t i n P r o v e r b s , NIB 5 : 1 6 6 ,
th a t: O n l y t h e w e a l t h y c o u l d a f f o r d a b u n d a n t ( a h o u s e f u l l , s e e 1 : 1 3 ) s a c r i f i c e s o f m e a t .
156
violently at the expense of others.46However, those who divide booty here are not called
sinners, but the proud. Although the language primarily points to the arrogance of those
who divide spoils, it also is evocative of a discourse of social status. The proud in this
verse may perhaps be those who seek not only to enrich themselves materially (probably
by violent means), but those who believe that in so doing they insure for themselves a
certain social prominence. What might be perceived by some (e.g., those who abide by
that broad social script already alluded to) as the attainment of two good ends, wealth and
the enhancement of social status, is problematic for Proverbs. For 16:19, it is better to
tread humbly wisdoms way among the poor (i.e., the D'n !],D of the K) than proudly to
play the divider of spoils.
The Value o f Diligence
One o f the most common virtues that chapters 10-29 (31) speaks of is diligence.
A number o f sayings underscore the worth of this virtue and disparage its corresponding
vice lazinessby means of a wealth and poverty (or related) rhetoric. Consider the
following proverbs:
I'mn tr im n t i rra T ^ p ra n
A slack hand makes a poor person, but the hand of the diligent enriches. (Prov 1Q:4)47
46 T h e r h e t o r i c o f d i v i d i n g s p o i l s i s m o s t at h o m e in a military c o n t e x t and here carries t r a c e s of

its u s a g e in th a t s p h e r e , a s B a k h tin would s u g g e s t ( s e e I n tr o d u c tio n a b o v e ). P lo g e r , in Spruche Salomos,
1 9 4 , in t im a te s , p r o b a b ly c o r r e c tly , th a t h e r e th e s e n s e is o f w e a lt h g a in e d u n ju s tly . W h y b r a y , i n Proverbs,
2 4 7 , s u g g e s t s t h e w o r d s t o d iv id e s p o ils , th o u g h o r i g in a lly p r o b a b ly a m ilit a r y p h r a s e , h a v e c o m e to
m e a n s im p ly , t o b e w e a lt h y . I f W h y b r a y is c o r r e c t, th is m a y b e a n in s ta n c e w h e r e P r o v e r b s im p lic it ly
c r itiq u e s a c e r t a in k in d o f z e a lo u s q u e s t fo r g a in as p r o b l e m a t i c . C l i f f o r d b e l i e v e s t h a t t h e i s s u e a t s t a k e in
th e v e r s e is v a in l y t h in k in g th a t v ic t o r y h a s b e e n g a in e d b y o n e s o w n p r o w e s s . S e e Proverbs, 160.
Cliffords u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f b o t h 1 5 : 1 7 a n d 1 7 :1 i s l i k e w i s e s o m e w h a t d i f f e r e n t t h a n m i n e . H e b e l i e v e s t h a t
b o t h are in e s s e n c e c o m m e n t s r e g a r d in g w h a t m a k e s a tr u e o r g e n u in e fe a s t. S e e Proverbs, 153, 164.
47 T h e t r a n s l a t i o n u n d e r s t a n d s M T s 'os eh a s th e f. s g . p a r tic ip le os ah. C liffo r d , c it in g a n o r a l

c o m m u n ic a t io n w it h C h o o n - L e o n g S e o w , n o te s th a t th e s e c o n d s tic h fo r c e s a r e -r e a d in g o f th e first s o th a t
t h e p o o r p e r s o n (EJK 1) t u r n s o u t t o b e t h e o b j e c t r a t h e r t h a n t h e s u b j e c t o f t h e v e r b . A s l a c k h a n d m a k e s
157
n ^ io n nrpn ^ i q i n'rjnizr incm 12V
The one who works his land will be sated with bread, but the one who pursues vanities
has no sense. (Prov 12:11)48
mDnQLr]K DTOErn n -imo rprr n u ir ta
In all toil is profit, but mere talk makes only for lack. (Prov 14:23)
nLnnttf -p rr nps Kmrr|B nnn^

Do not love sleep lest you be impoverished; open your eyes, have plenty of bread. (Prov
20:13)
... n 'r n o n d in m r a b n i r c r a m e r b i ;
m 1? d ' t pnn raa m aun ran niD0 ran

pa -p o n a i fe r n p b n n n ^ m
By the field of a lazy person I passed, by the vineyard of one who lacks sense .. .
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down
And your poverty will come marching, and your lack like a man with a shield. (Prov
24:30, 33-34)49
E r - n m z r c r p n * f n a i a n ' r i o c r m m s i r a
s o m e th in g a pauper! This i s c o r r e c t, e s p e c i a l l y i f o n e w e r e r e a d in g a n u n - p o in t e d t e x t. A p o in t e d te x t,
h o w e v e r , r e q u ir e s a r e - p o in t in g o f H O T to th e f. s g . F i c h t n e r s BHS n o t e s s u g g e s t e m e n d in g ras ( p o o r
p e r s o n ) t o r e is ( p o v e r t y ) a s w e l l . Murphy, in Proverbs, 71, r e - p o i n t s b o th W 7 a n d H E W t h o u g h th e

former i s n o t n e c e ssa r y ; c f. W h y b ra y , Proverbs, 1 5 8 . T h e v a r io u s r e a d i n g s i n t h e v e r s i o n s t e s t i f y t o t h e
d if f ic u lt ie s in u n d e r s ta n d in g th e v e r s e . S e e T o y , Proverbs, 200.
48 E x c e p t f o r t h e f i n a l t w o w o r d s t h e s a y i n g i s i d e n t i c a l t o 2 8 : 1 9 .
49 T h e p a s s a g e h a s a c l o s e p a r a l l e l i n 6 : 1 0 - 1 1 ; c f . M u r p h y , Proverbs, 1 8 6 . A lt h o u g h n o t a ffe c tin g

t h e s e n s e , i n e x p l i c a b l y l a c k h e r e i s c a s t i n t h e p l u r a l ( [H D n Q ' l ) . A c c o r d i n g t o F i c h t n e r s BHS n o t e s th e
m a n u s c r ip t s a n d v e r s io n s m o s t ly r e a d th e s in g u la r . F o r o th e r p e c u lia r itie s o f th e la r g e r p a s s a g e (vv. BO-

3 4 ) e .g ., th e th r e e (v s . t w o ) s tic h s o f v . 31 s e e W hyb ray, Proverbs, 356 and 9 6 -9 8 .
158
The one who works his land will be sated with bread, but the one who purses vanities will
be sated with poverty. (Prov 28:19)50
Each of these lazy/diligent sayings might be said to be based on the sages
observation of the social world.51 In fact, the poem in chapter 24 itself claims as much
(24:32).52 In contrast to the comparative sayings, each proverb also employs a cause and
effect rhetoric and reflects a wisdom prosperity axiom. Such sayings are often considered
some of the most troubling words in the entirety of Proverbs, for in speaking of the
consequences of sloth they, in Washingtons words, blame the poor for their poverty.53
The ethical implications o f such sentiments, however, are generally recognized and
commentators are quick to note that the verses, along with the judgment they appear to
espouse, are not the only word Proverbs has to speak about wealth and poverty.54 Indeed
elsewhere the book can encourage kindness to the poor and even suggest that the
impoverished possess the traits of the wise.
50 E x c e p t f o r t h e f i n a l t w o w o r d s t h e s a y i n g i s i d e n t i c a l t o 1 2 : 1 1 .
Wisdom in Israel ( L o n d o n : S C M , 1 9 7 2 ) , 1 2 5 ; G e r m a n
51 S e e , f o r i n s t a n c e , G e r h a r d v o n R a d ,
o r ig in a l 1 9 7 0 . C f . C l a u s W e s t e r m a n n , Roots o f Wisdom: The Oldest Proverbs o f Israel and Other Peoples
( L o u i s v i l l e : W J K , 1 9 9 5 ) , 1 9 ; G e r m a n o r i g i n a l , 1 9 9 0 . P r o v e r b s 1 3 :1 1 m i g h t a l s o b e a d d e d t o t h is s e t . It
s p e a k s o f w e a l t h h a s t i l y g o t t e n a s d w i n d l i n g ( c f . 2 8 : 2 0 , 2 2 ) , w h i l e u n d e r s c o r i n g t h e w o r t h o f t h e d il ig e n t
p e r s o n w h o g a th e r s lit tle b y lit t le ( T bV).
52 I o b s e r v e d ( H T r iK l) a n d t o o k i t t o h e a r t; I s a w it ( r P N I ) a n d l e a r n e d a l e s s o n . (NJPS)
53 H a r o l d C . W a s h i n g t o n , Wealth and Poverty in the Instruction o f Amenemope and the Hebrew

Proverbs ( S B L D S 1 4 2 ; A tla n ta : S c h o la r s P r e s s , 1 9 9 6 ), 2 .
54 S e e , f o r e x a m p l e , M e i n h o l d , Die Spruche 1 : 1 6 8 , w h o i n c o m m e n t i n g o n 1 0 : 4 r e m in d s u s th a t
t h e s a g e s n e v e r s a y t h e p o o r a r e a l w a y s t h e l a z y ( b u t c o m p a r e 1 3 : 8 ) a n d t h e r i c h p e r s o n i s a l w a y s th e
in d u s t r io u s w o r k e r . R a t h e r t h e w i s e k n o w f u l l w e l l t h a t t h e r e e x i s t s a l s o o t h e r , f o r e x a m p l e s o c i a l l y
D ie Weisen kehren die Aussage aber
c a u s e d , [fo r m s o f ] p o v e r t y . T h e f u ll s e n t e n c e in th e o r ig in a l r ea d s:
nicht um, dass sie sagen wiirden, der Arme sei immer auch der Faule (vgl. aber zu 13, 8) und der Reiche
der bienenfleissige Arbeiter, wohl wissend, dass es auch andere, z. B. gesellschaftlich bedingte Armut
gibt.
159
Precisely this sort of situation contributes to the general evaluation that Proverbs
wealth and poverty talk is ambiguous. Of course, the communicative context that one
imagines for the different sayings affects how one understands them. Some scholars
explain the force of the lazy/diligent proverbs for contemporary readers by underscoring
the fact that such sayings emerged from a particular historical milieu. They postulate that
such lazy/diligent sayings are most likely the ideological product of an upper class (or at
least middle class) milieu, with the scholars themselves rejecting such a view of the
complex sociological phenomenon of poverty.55 Others locate such sayings in the world
of subsistence agriculture where it is claimed laziness was a serious matter and in fact
resulted in poverty.56
Each o f these positions is defensible. Yet such readings understand the act-
consequence rhetoric of the lines too literally. A quite different understanding emerges
when one considers the sayings in the broader context of the books production in a
scribal milieu and in relation to the texts pattern of usage and concerns that have already
been described, especially its concern with valuing and motivating virtue.
If it is correct, as I argued above, that the context for the production o f the book of
Proverbs is among a scribal elite, then one must ask what kind of speech act the sayings
55 See I . David Pleins, Poverty in t h e Social World of the Wise, JSOT 37 ( 1 9 8 7 ) : 61-78, esp. 61;
Bruce V. M a l c h o w , Social Justice in the Wisdom Literature, BTB 12 (1982): 120-124, esp. 121. Both
represent the tendency of locating Israelite wisdom literature in a royal or upper class setting, a view based
primarily on analogies with other ancient Near Eastern wisdom material that seems to find its provenance
in or near the royal court. For an o f t cited version o f this view of the setting of Proverbs, see H. -J.
Hermisson, Studien zur israelitischen Spruchweisheit (WMANT 28, Neukirchen-Vlyun: Neukirchener,
1968). Cf. von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, 11-12; Michael V. Fox, The Social Location o f the Book of
Proverbs, in Texts, Temples, and Traditions: A Tribute to Menahem Haran (ed. Michael V. Fox et al.;
Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 1996), 227-239, esp. 236.
56 See Washington, Wealth and Poverty, 184-85; cf. Westermann, Roots, 18-20; Roger N.
Whybray, Wealth and Poverty in the Book o f Proverbs (JSOTSup 99; Sheffield: JSOT, 1990), 30-31; and
Friedemann W. Golka, The Leopards Spots: Biblical and African Wisdom in Proverbs (Edinburgh: T&T
Clark, 1993).
160
constitute within this context. Furthermore, if the book of Proverbs is a text primarily
concerned with moral instruction, as the prologue suggests and the sayings considered
thus far intimate, then the lazy/diligent sayings are likely not in the first place concerned
with offering quasi-sociological observations about how social groups (or classes)
come to be constituted. They are not designed to answer the question of why the poor are
poor or the rich are rich, or to suggest, in some literal or empirical sense, that the reward
and punishment for diligence and laziness is, respectively, wealth or poverty.
The logic of the linesthe pairing of a moral negative with an economic
negativeis analogous to the logic of many sayings belonging to the wisdoms virtues
discourse that have already been considered. Much of the wealth and poverty vocabulary
in the linesterms such as TlOnO (12:27; 24:34), and especially forms derived from
and iZTH (10:4; 24:34)is likewise typical of sayings belonging to the wisdoms
virtues discourse. By contrast, sayings that are primarily concerned with articulating
something about the condition of the poor belong to the social justice discourse (see
below) and normally deploy a different kind of rhetoric (e.g., *71, [TDfc, "DU), as do
proverbs belonging to the discourse of social observation (see Chapter IV).
Although offering a promise of well being through images of material wealth and
lack, as in 24:3-4, the books prologue, the folk-like form o f the sayings, and the patterns
of metaphorical usage already established by the wisdoms virtues discourse suggests that
these promises ought not to be understood only as literal promises of literal wealth. That
is, the emerging Gestalt o f the book indicates the promise of wealth in the sayings serves
a broader symbolic purpose. They function to persuade the hearer of the value and
desirability of a variety o f virtues (working the land, toiling, remaining awake and
161
active), and the undesirability of certain vices (pursuing vanity, idle talk, love o f sleep,
slackness, lack o f sense). As with other wisdoms virtues proverbs, the specific,
individual virtues and vices in the different sayings function as a kind of synecdoche (the
particular for the universal) for a more general virtue or vice, in this case diligence and
laziness, usually represented in Hebrew by the term p in on the one hand, and ITD)
(or a form o f the root on the other.57 As is typical of the wisdoms virtues
discourse, the lazy/diligent proverbs cited above employ an economic discourse as a clear
and easily recognizable measure of the value of the virtues and vices of which they speak.
That the lazy/diligent sayings are first and foremost concerned with saying
something about virtue and vice and are not primarily offering literal promises or
comments on the origins of rich and poor people is clear as well from one further
observation: they belong to a larger group of lazy/diligent proverbs that do not always
employ an economic rhetoric. Proverbs 10:26 is a good example:
bw n p ]w d i p m
Like vinegar to the teeth and like smoke to the eyes, thus is the lazy person to the one
sending him.
Proverbs 15:19 is significant as well, for this proverb contrasts the lazy person not with
the diligent person, but with upright personsthe ItZT-a term that belongs
fundamentally to moral discourse.58
57 A form of b-H -P appear in Proverbs at 6:6, 9; 10:26; 13:4; 15:19; 19:15, 24; 20:4; 21:25-26;
22:13; 24:30; 26:13, 14, 15, 16; 31:27. The tenniTD") appears at Prov 10:4; 12:24, 27; 19:15. The term
p i n is attested at Prov 10:4; 12:24, 27; 13:4; 21:5; cf. Hausmann, Menschenbild, 138.
58 Other sayings in Proverbs that have to do with diligence and laziness, but which do not draw on
explicit wealth and poverty language include: 12:24; 13:4; 18:9; 19:24; 22:13; 26:13-16. Proverbs 21:25-
162
n ^ o onizr m i p in raron bxv pin

The way of a lazy person is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is paved.59
Both 10:26 and 15:19 follow a logic analogous to the lazy/diligent proverbs
discussed above. However, instead of pairing a moral negative with an economic
negative, 10:26 pairs a moral negative (a lazy person) with an image of negative physical
sensation (vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes). Proverbs 15:19 builds, especially,
on the moral metaphor of the way. On the one hand, it associates a moral negative (a lazy
persons way) with a navigational negative (a hedge of thorns); on the other hand, it
associates a moral positive (the upright persons path) with a navigational positive
(pavement).
Proverbs 12:27 likewise is clearly more concerned to say something about virtue
than with offering an observation about the rich and poor. It reads:
f n n -p' m t r p m i t h iron
A lazy person does not roast his game, but the precious wealth of a person is diligence.60
26, more explicitly, has to do with the economic virtue of generosity. In these lines the lazy person refuses
to labor, but the righteous person gives freely.
50 The verse is problematic. The sense of the first stich is either that the slothful person has no
game to roast or is too lazy to bother. The meaning of the verb p H , however, is uncertain. It is a hapax in
HB and, according to Whybray, the rendering roast is a conjecture based on the verbs sense in post-
biblical Hebrew and Aramaic where the meaning singe or char is attested. Whybray reports as well that
modem Hebrew attests the meaning roast for this root and that medieval Jewish commentators
understood the word in Proverbs similarly. See Proverbs , 198; cf. Murphy, Proverbs, 88. In regard to the
second half of the verse, Driver understands Ip to have been transposed with f i m and to mean not so
much precious as heavy, which is the literal force of the root. He confidently states: surely the true
reading is simply Ip1 fTin D"TO "piTl but the wealth of the diligent man is much. See G. R. Driver,
Problems in the Hebrew Text of Proverbs, Biblica 32 (1951): 173-197, esp. 180. This is an attractive
option and appears to be how Clifford, in Proverbs, 128, understands the line. Nonetheless it should be
rejected. It obscures an important intertextual allusion to the precious wealth promised by the robbers in
ch. 1. Although f n n is properly the adjective diligent rather than the noun diligence, Rashi
understands the sense correctly: the wealth of a person is (to be) diligent cited by Toy, Proverbs, 258
and Murphy, Proverbs, 88; cf. below. Murphy also appears to accept the re-ordering of the terms suggested
163
The line is a crux, which, however, when read in the context of the books effort to value
virtue and vice, begins to make some sense. Although the second half of the verse
employs wealth terminology, the first verse half is not an economic saying and indicates
that the lines principle focus is on the virtue of diligence. Moreover, though the second
stich is difficult, Rashis suggestion that it means something like but the precious wealth
of a person is (to be) diligent is on target. Such a rendering, unlike certain proposals for
emendation, preserves the intertextual echo with the sinners rhetoric of chapter one.61
This evokes a contrast between the robbers quest for Ip 1 ] in - valuable wealth, which
leads to violence rather than well being, and which I argued was a symbol for all that the
text considers to be the wrong wayand the truly valuable virtue of diligence,
figuratively called Ip1 TO (a persons precious wealth). The line also plays on
the word fHHn, which besides diligent can also mean gold.62 According to this
proverb, the precious wealth of a person is not gold, as one might suspect, but the
attainment of virtue, diligence.
The lazy/diligent sayings that use economic imagery thus are a subset of a larger
group that deploy a variety of images and belong to the ancient sages efforts at moral
instruction. The sort o f speech act these lazy/diligent sayings constitute is thus clarified:
their purpose is not to explain disparities in the distribution of wealth, but like the other
sayings belonging to the wisdoms virtues discourse, to recommend a virtue and to
discourage a vice. The hearer o f the lazy/diligent wealth and poverty sayings is being
by Driver, but preserves the meaning of precious for Ip1: but the wealth of a diligent person is
precious. For other possible understandings of the second stich, see Toy, Proverbs, 258-59.
61 For these proposed emendations, see n. 60.
62 Cf. Prov 3:14; 8:10, 19; 16:16.
164
rhetorically prodded into a life o f industrious activities with the threatening rod of
poverty or dispossession behind him and the carrot of financial security or abundance
dangled in front of him.
Conclusions
The primary concern of the wealth and poverty proverbs considered in this section
is to insist on the incomparable value of wisdoms virtues and to communicate the
undesirability of follys vices. The majority of the sayings considered contain features
internal to the proverbs themselves that highlight their figurative qualities. However, a
figurative understanding of the different wealth and poverty proverbs is further supported
by the prologues invitation to discern the books tropes. It is supported as well by the
very form of the sayings that is reminiscent of folk proverbs, proverbs which regularly
function metaphorically to say something about human life. As meshalim, all of the
wealth and poverty proverbs considered thus far ought to be understood as containing and
constituting genuine figures that the hearer or reader is invited to discern.
Most of the wealth and poverty sayings considered thus far do not employ any
sort of act-consequence rhetoric. However, certain sayings do employ images of material
well being in a manner that intimates a wisdom prosperity axiom or an act-consequence
nexus is, in some sense, to be discerned in Proverbs. Yet, as I have shown, aspects of
even these sayings point to their figurative qualities, or otherwise indicate that their
wealth and poverty language and act-consequence rhetoric should not be read in an
overly literal fashion.
The patterns of usage o f wealth and poverty language established by this initial
analysis of the wisdoms virtues discourse in Prov 10-29 (31)and in chapters 1-9
165
should encourage one to view similar images elsewhere in the collections, e.g., in sayings
that employ a more explicit cause and effect rhetoric, less as literal promises than as
analogous rhetorical motivations. As I will suggest in Chapter IV, the wealth and poverty
sayings in Proverbs that deploy a more explicit act-consequence rhetoric do not simply
offer simple promises of prosperity. They also serve a broader symbolic purpose. Though
promising material reward, in so doing they sure up the wisdom mythos that insists on the
incomparable value of virtue, which the cosmos itself favors.
The Discourse of Social Justice in Proverbs 10-29 (21)
Characteristics
The wisdoms virtues discourse in Proverbs employs the rhetoric of wealth and
poverty in order to persuade the hearer or reader of the value of wisdoms way and
particular virtues associated with that way. Although assuming the value and desirability
of riches, it has little concrete instruction to offer concerning economic matters, except
cautions against overvaluing wealth. The various sayings of chapters 10-29 (31)
considered thus far propose little that might imply a particular concrete economic ethic or
suggest how a reader or hearer of the book should regard wealth and poverty or act
toward the poor or rich.
Yet Proverbs is far from silent on such matters. The text in fact is quite explicit in
its insistence that one engage in fair economic practices, particularly as regards the use of
weights and measures. It also recommends to the hearer a general stance of kindness to
the poor and at points is very specific in stating that this kindness should be embodied in
just dealings with the poor, especially in the legal sphere. Several sayings in Proverbs
166
also underscore the role of a royal figure or political elites in maintaining minimum
standards of justice for the economically marginalized, and this aspect of Proverbs
instruction is reminiscent of a larger biblical and ancient Near Eastern royal ideology of
social maintenance. The book appears simply to have adopted features of that
paternalistic discourse into its own ethical vision and one can say, in Bakhtinian terms,
the proverbial rhetoric carries traces of its life of use in that broader sphere.63
Although the texts insistence that justice and kindness be shown the poor is
clearly a virtue and value that belongs to the way of wisdom, the sayings that commend
such a stance employ a wealth and poverty rhetoric that is distinct from the wisdoms
virtues discourse. In contrast to that discourse, these sayings prefer the personal language
o f the poor person, especially the substantivized adjectives b~\, p i UK, DU, and appear
either as indicative statements or admonitions. The poor in these sentences are also,
grammatically speaking, always objects acted upon, not subjects who act. The rhetoric of
wealth and poverty in this group of proverbs, moreover, unlike those comprising the
wisdoms virtues discourse, does not regularly function figuratively in the service of a
larger didactic end. Although several of the Proverbs employ metaphors, there is nothing
in the sayings that suggests the sayings are concerned to offer the hearer anything other
than instruction about wealth and poverty. The particular modes of conduct and general
dispositions that this discourse of wealth and poverty recommends to the hearer or reader
have to do specifically with the hearers real economic practices and character. Taken
together, sayings in Proverbs that exhibit these features make up, within the larger moral
63 On this larger ideology of social justice in the ancient Near East, see F. Charles Fensham,
Widow, Orphan, and the Poor in Ancient Near Eastern Legal and Wisdom Literature, JNES 21
(1962): 129-139; Moshe Weinfeld, Social Justice in Ancient Israel and in the Ancient Near East (Jerusalem:
Magnes, 1995).
167
discourse of the instruction, a second discemable sub-discourse of wealth and poverty,
which I call a discourse of social justice.
Justice in Economic Practices
The most obvious manner by which Proverbs attempts to construct a particular
economic ethic for its hearers is in its insistence that the hearer who would be wise act
rightly and fairly in the economic sphere by using accurate weights and measures.
Several proverbs make these kinds of concerns explicit.
iDim hd70 p m mrr ramn h d t dtkb

False scales are an abomination to the Lord; an honest weight pleases him. (Prov 11:1)
m n p DS0D D^s
Just scales and balances are the Lords; all the weights in the bag are his work. (Prov
16:11)
m0"m mrr roinn nsrm hetk pm pt*

False weights and false measures; both are an abomination to the Lord. (Prov 20:10)64
ricne dtrdi p a r p a mrr nnmn

False weights are an abomination to the Lord; dishonest scales are not good. (Prov 20:23)
Each o f these proverbs evaluates the importance of the use o f fair or dishonest
weights and measures (particular economic practices) by reference to YHWH rather than
some lesser locus of value, say wealth (cf. 14:31 below). Here YHWH is the touchstone
for determining the worth of virtue and the one who motivates adherence to the ethic the
sayings promote. Proverbs 11:1; 20:10; and 20:23 negatively evaluate, and hence
64 In the Hebrew the phrases false weights and false measures are literally stone and stone
and ephah and ephah" respectively. The repetition (as in 20:23a) probably is an allusion to the practice of
deceptively employing two sets o f measures and weights. Cf. Murphy, Proverbs, 151.
168
discourage, the use o f false weights and measures by calling these HI FT rOUTD, an
abomination to the Lord. Although nothing in the lines creates and absurdity that would
force a re-reading of the saying in metaphorical terms, the language of abomination that
the lines employ has a rich and varied range of usage.
The term rQITin appears at least ten times in Proverbs.65 The basic meaning of
the root appears to be to abhor, loathe and the rhetoric is perhaps most familiar from
the realm of the cult where it can, among other things, evaluate negatively the use of
unclean animals for food (Deut 14:3) and certain sexual practices (Lev 18:22). However
foreign gods (Deut 32:16) and the customs of foreign nations (1 Kgs 14:24) can also be
described as rQ Plfl. Amos (5:10; cf. 6:8) and Micah (3:9), moreover, deploy this
rhetoric not only to speak of cultic shortcomings, but to evaluate the relationship of these
shortcomings to moral, especially economic, violations. In an ethical sense, all that is
irreconcilable with YHWHs nature and rejected by him, is rQJ2in.66 In short, that
which is an abomination to YHWH is something offensive, detestable, or abhorrent to
this deity. Such, for Proverbs, is the use of dishonest weights and measures.
The second half of Prov 20:23 also more broadly calls the use of false weights
not good. Though this may be a simple evaluation of the practice, it resonates with
those sayings to be considered below where the language of the good is more
intimately related to virtuei.e., associated with what is good or necessary for a
flourishing human life. By contrast, Prov 16:11 deploys a more positive rhetoric to
65 Prov 6:16, 12; 8:7; 13:9; 16:12; 21:27; 24:9; 26:25; 28:9; 29:27.
66 E. Gerstenberger, THAT 2:1054; (sind mit dem Wesen Jahwes unvereinbar und von ihm
abgelehnt).
169
associate honest scales and balances with YHWH. They belong to him and he is their
maker. Literally they are called scales and balances of justice (QSOD), and in 11:1
are said to constitute YHWHs pleasure (131H1).
The primary function of the different sorts of language in these proverbs is, of
course, to encourage the hearer who would be wise and righteous to use fair and honest
measures in the economic realm.67 An implication of the rhetoric, however, is that such
practices are integral pieces to the establishment of the social justice the book so highly
values, and which for Proverbs is prerequisite for a good life.
Kindness to the Poor
The book o f Proverbs also presents to its hearers and readers a number of sayings
that make clear that the virtue o f showing kindness to the poor belongs to the way of
wisdom. Such a disposition is an important, perhaps the most important, component of
the economic ethic the book puts forward and is an integral piece of the social justice the
book commends. Consider first Prov 14:31:
pn niQDi ine *pn rrptoi?

Whoever oppresses the poor insults his maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors
him. (Prov 14:31)
The verse uses a poverty rhetoric typical of the social justice discourse, with the first half
of the verse speaking of the poor b l and the second stich using the functional synonym
]r :m . The verse reveals no indisputable absurdity when read literally and the poverty
67 Proverbs 22:28, which admonishes the hearer: Do not remove the ancient boundary stone that
your ancestors set up (NIPS) can also be said to belong generally to the set o f social justice proverbs that
insist on the use of honest and fair weights and measures.
170
language is not employed figuratively to a larger instructional end. The verse motivates
its claims not with economic rhetoric as the wisdoms virtues discourse does, but similar
to the sayings promoting the use of accurate measures, by an explicit appeal to the deity.
Ones action toward the poor simultaneously constitutes an action toward God. A
particular kind o f behavior toward the poor person (oppressing) offends, and another kind
of behavior toward this one (showing kindness) venerates, the deity. The fundamental
concern of the proverb is to discourage abuse of the poor in particular and advocate
graciousness toward the same. The lines repeated use of the participle, moreover, hints
that the saying is not simply offering an occasional command but is concerned with the
formation of the hearers disposition.68
The discourse of social justice in Proverbs also contains a number of sayings that
advocate protection o f the poor in the legal sphere in particular. Proverbs 22:22 and 29:7,
for instance, are succinct in their demands for just treatment of the poor in the legal
realm. The verses read:
du KinrrbNi ^ y r ^ n n -^
Do not rob the poor person because he is a poor person; do not crush the low ly person in
the gate.
nin y y s b vm n'bi p pnx irr

The righteous know the rights o f the poor; the wicked have no such understanding.
Proverbs 22:22, which belongs to the opening of the so-called Amenemope section of the
book, is cast as a negative admonition. This fact distinguishes it formally from many
other social justice sayings, including 29:7. However, as I suggested in the Introduction,
68 The participial forms in 14:31 are: co seg (oppressing), honen (being kind,
generous), m ekabbed (honoring).
171
indicative statements or observations in Proverbs often function as admonitions. Because
the text is persistently concerned with instructing a hearer in virtue, such is likely the case
here.
There is also nothing in either 22:22 or 29:7no absurdity or other makerto
suggest these sayings ought to be understood figuratively.69 Both verses, moreover, use
the same personal terminology for the poor common to the discourse of social justice
the substantivized adjective (pi. in 29:7). Proverbs 22:22, however, also introduces a
new word, DP, as the parallel to *71. As in 14:31 where b l and its parallel
function as like terms, so here *7! and *3X? are essentially equivalents.70 The latter lexeme
031}) is also a substantivized adjective and likewise belongs to the personal language of
poverty. Regardless of term deployed, the poor in each verse are also grammatical
objects.71
The language of 22:22 and 29:7, especially the image of the gate (HOT), and
the rhetoric of the right ( p T), wicked (PETI), and righteous (p'HH) is drawn from
the legal sphere. The demands in 22:22 that the hearer not rob specifically the b l nor
crush specifically the "DI? are motivated by the claim in v. 23 that YHWH will plead
the case of the poor and exact punishment on those who perpetrate wrong against them,
69 In Prov 13:23 KD7 (to beat to pieces, crush) is probably best considered a dead metaphor
that has simply come to mean oppress.
70 In the discourse of social justice all three substantivized adjectives *77, jVDR, and DPare
functional synonyms.
71 Though b l in the second half of 22:22a is employed in a nominal clause.
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imagery that likewise points to the legal realm.72 This cluster of terms, and especially the
allusion to the gate in 22:22a term in HB used to describe the locus ofjudicial
activityindicates that these texts are primarily interested in curbing oppressive
activities within a forensic context.
Proverbs 22:22 in particular implies that the wise and righteous person will not
use the advantage economic or social position (potentially) brings to judicial proceedings
to gain unjustly at the expense of the poor. The legal sphere is thus a particular realm
where Proverbs believes the ethical principle of kindness to the poor can be embodied.
There is here no split between virtue and law (or legal rightness). Rather for Proverbs
legal institutions should provide a context for the living of a virtuous life (particularly
vis-a-vis the poor).
McKane believes Prov 29:7 is one of the few examples of a wisdom sentence
which is an instrument of prophetic teaching and that the lexemes know and
knowledge are being deployed in the prophetic sense.73 However, it is unnecessary to
draw a sharp distinction here between wisdom and prophetic teaching, for both types of
literature draw on larger ancient Near Eastern conceptions of justice. The language of
both wisdom and prophetic discourses, in Bakhtins terms, tastes of its life in a larger
ancient Near Eastern discourse of social justice. Rather than deploying terms in a
prophetic sense, it is better to say that in 29:7, the proverbial discourse of social justice
provides a kind o f diagnostic case to suggest the wicked and the righteous stand in
72 Proverbs 22:23 reads: BSD DrrMpTIR M p l D T I IT T m iT "'D (For YHWH will

plead their case and despoil the ones despoiling them of life; following NIPS). The meaning of IQ p,
however, is uncertain. Toy {Proverbs, 425-26) notes the word elsewhere in HB appears only in Mai 3:8-9
and suggests a sense o f rob or cheat. Cf. Murphy, Proverbs, 169.
73 William McKane, Proverbs: A New Approach (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1970), 641.
different relationship to knowledge, to wisdom. Knowing the legal rights o f
specifically the poor (presumably so that one might act from this knowledge) is the
particular virtue this verse wishes to inculcate in the hearer. As von Rad writes:
Wherever the wise men encourage men to practise good behaviour, wherever they try to
prevent bad, what is characteristic is the fact that they address themselves to mans ability
to think and to his better understanding, in order to reach him by way of reflection.74The
prologues highlighting of not only social (and practical) virtues, but also intellectual
virtues, together with the books ordering of certain virtues under the rubric o f wisdom
(and not only righteousness), also makes clear that the morally right person in Proverbs
is the one who knows rightly. In the legal sphere this means understanding the rights of
the poor. The morally wicked person is the one who lacks such understanding. As 28:5
states, though deploying somewhat different terminology:
bn ir T mrr dsod srr

Evil people do not understand judgment; but those who seek the Lord understand all.
Social Justice and the King
A number of sayings in Proverbs make mention of the king or a politically elite
figure.75 There is some debate as to whether these proverbs originated in a royal context
or find their provenance with the rural folk. Whybray, on the one hand, argues that the
royal proverbs probably emerged, not in a courtly setting, but in the context of the
74 Von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, 93. Von Rads n. 28 reveals that 29:7 is one of the verses he has in
mind with such a statement. However, although von Rad recognizes that behind the sages instruction is a
knowledge of Yahwehs desire for justice he understands the law of the act consequence relationship
more literally than I and is more certain than I that the sages insights are certainly to be attributed to the
experience that they are under the curse of their evil deeds.
75 For a discussion of the royal proverbs, see Whybray, Wealth and Poverty, 45-59.
174
small farming village.76 On the other hand, Fox suggests, pace Whybray, that the
language and imagery of the royal proverbs almost certainly emerged from a courtly
context.77
Whatever the origins, or genealogies (see Chapter I), of the royal proverbs in
Proverbs, they are, in the form that we have them in the book, the product of a scribal
elite; and several of these belong to the discourse of social justice. Like other sayings
belonging to this discourse, these social justice royal proverbs promote the virtue of
showing kindness to, and insuring justice for, the poor. A number of the sayings are
particularly important, however, for like certain proverbs in the wisdoms virtues
discourse treated above, they might be heard on more than one level (cf. 16:19; 17:1;
19:17). Recalling the prologues invitation to consider wisely the books tropes and
figures is thus also important for understanding fully the social justice discourse, a
discourse in which wealth and poverty rhetoric is generally not employed figuratively.
Consider first 28:15, a saying that employs the personal language of *71 as the
object of the actions o f the politically elite figure the text depicts. The saying reads:
bi~w by ym bm ppw xn onma

A roaring lion and a prowling bear is a wicked man ruling a poor people.
McKane believes proverbs like 28:15 are a consequence of the careful
observation of misrule and its effects.78 Although a saying like 28:15 could be
76 Whybray, Wealth and Poverty, 45-59.
77 Fox, Social Location, 227-239, esp. 232-234. Foxs criticism o f a position like Whybrays
seems valid, but somewhat overstated. My own view is that although a proverb may employ a particular set
of images, it does not necessarily follow that the saying emerged out o f the precise milieu from which the
images were taken.
175
considered a poetic description of certain kinds of social interaction (the way things
are), it would be a mistake to assume that it is only an observation. Rather one ought to
consider how the verse functions rhetorically, ask what it is doing in the larger moral
discourse, and consider what value or virtue it is recommending or what vice it is
disavowing.
The images o f the bear prowling and lion roaring metaphorically define and
characterize the actions of the wicked ruler toward the *77. Syntactically *77 in 28:15
is not required and people (DP) might have been modified in another way or not at all.
But the adjectives presence provides a degree of specificity for the hearer. The image of
the v r n bm (wicked ruler) is alluding to, if not a royal personage (as 29:14 plainly
does), a political figure who does not ensure justice for his DP (people). That the
following verse (28:16; treated below) deploys the explicit political designation 7 13D,
describing this person as one who oppresses, likewise suggests v. 15 is concerned with
a political figure and not simply anyone who exercises authority perversely.79Because the
king in ancient Near Eastern royal ideology has a special duty to ensure the establishment
and maintenance o f justice, the failure to do so might be viewed as particularly
destructive behavior on the part of a political elite so that the images of devouring beasts
in 28:15 is especially appropriate.80
78 McKane, Proverbs, 628. McKane is speaking not only of 28:15, but o f 28:3 and 16 as well. He
writes further that all of these sayings can be explained as an empirical judgment that probity in politics is
the best policy.
79 Proverbs 28:16 also belongs to the discourse o f social justice but will be treated below because
its rhetoric follows a more clear act-consequence logic.
80 Cf. 28:3 which employs analogous images of destruction:

nb 'pw pno HDD d1bi popi m nm
176
However deciding whether the imagery in 28:15 was originally concerned to
address those in a royal or political context or some other realm is not vital, for it is clear
that all Israelites, not just the monarch, had an obligation to act justly toward the poor.
Hence, on one level, the didactic end of the verse is not merely or primarily to point out
the nature of the real politick, but is to discourage the hearer of any standing from acting
in unjust ways. The proverb is not so much stating an observation as it is admonishing all
hearers to insure the poor b l receives justice.
Yet the rhetoric of politics that the proverb employs is more significant as well.
Like the rhetoric o f feasting on flesh and sacrifice in 15:17 and 17:1, the terminology in
28:15 is particularly freighted and might be heard in different ways by different hearers.
With its negative characterization of the wicked ruler, 28:15 is not only a sentence that
exhorts any hearer of any social or political rank, it also functions as a declarative speech
act. It decrees institutional (royal) abuses of power to be illegitimate (cf. 19:7; 22:9;
28:16; treated in Chapter IV).
Some of the wisdom material attributed to a certain Agur in chapter 30 appears
also to concern a political elite and likewise employs a rhetoric of wealth and poverty that
belongs to the sub-discourse of social justice.81 After describing a haughty, impure, and
supercilious kind of human in 30:11-13, verse fourteen continues its depiction of such
persons. They are:
A pauper who oppresses the poor is a destructive rain that leaves no food.
Although the verse is perfectly comprehensible, the notion of poor persons oppressing other poor persons
sometimes appears incongruous to interpreters and subsequently different emendations of the line are
regularly proposed (e.g., 2D to UETI). If pauper (ED) in this verse is emended to prince (IE?), positing
a metathesis, it perhaps reflects a similar understanding as 28:15.
81 For discussions of the critical issues associated with the Agur collection see Toy, Proverbs, 517-
18; McKane, Proverbs, 643-47.
177
v n i^ n D iti'edkdi * m :in m i
Dim n^rnw pa bmb

A breed whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives ready to devour the poor of
the land, the needy among humans.82
Although the lines deploy metaphor, as with other verses belonging to the
discourse of social justice, this text does not make use of wealth and poverty language
figuratively to value virtue and vice. Rather, in keeping with the character of the
discourse of social justice, the text employs the personal language of povertythe
substantivized adjectives '313 and j r UKas grammatical objects. The violent and vivid
language, which similar to 28:15 evokes images of hungry, wild beasts on the prowl,
depicts the activity o f those who oppress the poor. Although the verse does not explicitly
instruct the hearer to avoid such activities, it is clear from the negative imagery that the
instructing voice abhors such behavior. In fact, some of the terms and images in the
larger pericope describing this breed of peoplee.g., exultation in ones eyes
(30:13)are elsewhere in Proverbs explicitly associated with the way of folly.83 As
McKane notes, though the form of the verses hints that they are observations, they
function as denunciatory preaching.84Like other sayings belonging to the discourse of
social justice, they are not simply a colorful description of the way the world often works,
but offer a judgment on certain types of behavior and serve as a kind of admonition.
82 The final word of v. 14, D7NQ (from/among humans), might be emended to HDISD (from
the earth), which would provide a neater parallelism with the first half of the line. However, the line as it
stands is comprehensible.
83 See, for example, 26:12 and 28:11 where the image (if not identical language) of persons being
exalted in their own eyes, is also found.
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However, although no hearer o f the proverb is to oppress the poor, the censure of 30:14 is
not merely individualistic. The allusions in the line to sword and knife may also point to
those who are invested with the power of the swordthe political elite. For those in the
position to discern it as such, this mashal, like 28:15, can function as a censure of
institutional political violence.
Finally, Prov 31:2-9 is a further passage belonging to the discourse of social
justice that has to do with the role of political elites in maintaining social justice. After
Lemuels mother exhorts him to avoid women and strong drink, neither of which is
fitting for princes, in verses five to nine she states her rationale and an alternative:
^ m n -b D p men ppno ra e n nner ]s (5

E3S3 HD1? pn 121Kb "DETUn (6
m n D T 1 Kb ibojn ieti m e n nner (7

*)ibn izrbD pi~bK obKb - p s T in s (8
]V3Ki ' i v p n p iir e s E ) -p srrrn s (9
5) Lest they [princes] drink and forget what has been ordained, and infringe on the rights
of the poor.85
6) Give beer to the perishing and wine to the embittered.86
7) Let them drink and forget their poverty and put their troubles out of mind.87
85 The translation of the passage largely follows NJPS. Line five employs singular verbs when
plural forms are expected based on v. 4 s mention oflTDbD (kings) and 13T"n (princes). However,
as Murphy notes in Proverbs, 240, these forms might be regarded as collectives in v. 5.
86 The line oddly reverts to the plural in the imperative just at the point one might expect a singular
form to begin the Queen Mothers address to Lemuel.
87 The verbs and pronouns in this line are all in the singular. Plural English forms are deployed for
ease of reading in translation.
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8) Speak up for the dumb, for the rights of all the unfortunate.88
9) Speak up, judge righteously, champion the poor and needy.
The duty of the king to insure justice for the poor is here underscored. The Queen
Mother is plainly drawing on motifs from the ancient Near Eastern ideology o f kingship
and for the most part the passage reveals the rhetorical features associated with the sub
discourse of social justice. The terminology she uses, for instance, is the personal
language of the substantivized adjectives and jVDK, and these poor are again
objects of the activity she encourages. The legal language of rights, judging, and
advocacy ( p i , C3S0, S fir) is also prominent. To the extent that any reader or hearer
can recognize the call to just dealings with the poor in the lines, they function as a general
exhortation for all and not only for a royal figure. However, because the passages
rhetoric has explicitly to do with a king, like other proverbs having to do with the duty of
political figures, it articulates a standard by which the legitimacy of political elites can be
measured.89
Conclusions
Acting fairly in the economic sphere by employing honest weights and measures,
showing kindness to the economically marginalized, and tending to the rights of the poor
in the legal realm are all virtues of wisdoms way. To this extent the discourse of social
88 The final word of the line, bn, is difficult. The rendering unfortunate follows NIPS.
Murphy, in Proverbs, 240, suggests it may mean one passed on or over or away. Fichtners BHS notes
posit an emendation of the term to 1 bn (sickness), suggesting the final peh appears as a result of
dittography with the first letter of the next word, v. 9 s TOIS.
89 The call for the king to deliver opiates to the poor masses, however, is not a regular aspect of
biblical or ancient Near Eastern ideologies of social justice. As Clifford writes in Proverbs, 271: The
author transforms traditional warnings to rulers against the abuse of sex and liquor into an exhortation to
practice justice.
justice is similar to the wisdoms virtues discourse. The difference is that in the discourse
of social justice wealth and poverty rhetoric is not used figuratively to value virtue, but is
concerned specifically with highlighting particular economic virtues for the hearer, i.e.,
with constructing a particular economic ethic for its addressee.90 The social justice
discourse in large part seeks to minimize the negative social effects that poverty, the
manipulation of the legal sphere, the falsifying of weights and measures, or the
oppressive execution o f royal or political office might produce. For Proverbs, such
negative activity limits the possibility of human flourishing. By contrast, the acquisition
of social virtues and the realization of such values in communal lifee.g., the
demonstration of kindness to the poor and fair actions in the market placecontribute to
the building of the good life humans desire. As 21:15 claims, justice is what those who
travel wisdoms path delight in, but not so others whose passions are directed elsewhere:
|ik nnnD i tsso s nwv p H H 1? n r r o

Justice done is a joy to the righteous, but ruination to the wicked.91
90 Proverbs 17:3; 25:4; and 27:21, speak of the purification of precious metals. These sayings are
not concerned to value virtue or to construct an economic ethic and hence are not treated in this study.
181
CHAPTER IV
THE GESTALT OF PROVERBS AND THE DISCOURSE OF SOCIAL
OBSERVATION IN PROVERBS 10-29 (31) .
Although thus far I have highlighted the distinct nature and characteristics of the
wisdoms virtues discourse and the discourse of social justice, occasionally one finds
sayings in these chapters where some of the preferred characteristics of one discourse are
taken up by the other. This is the case, for instance, in 17:5 (see below) where a social
justice proverb, instead of employing one of that discourses preferred terms for the
poor *71, ]T1D^, or DUmakes use of the term H, a word common to the wisdoms
virtues discourse. As I suggested earlier, however, some overlap between closely related
discourses is to be expected and one ought not attempt to force every wealth and poverty
saying into procrustean analytical categories.
Yet the overlap of discourse features also suggests more. It points to an
interaction, or kind of dialogue, between the sub-discourses of wealth and poverty in
Proverbs that is on-going throughout the book. The sayings belonging to the discourse of
social justice and the wisdoms virtues discourse that have been considered thus far, both
in chapters 1-9 and 10-31, reveal certain patterns of value and usage. In Ricoeurs terms,
these patterns, along with the books prologue, intimate a certain architecture to
Proverbs discourse. They suggest, that is, a certain literary and moral Gestalt to
Proverbs. It is in relationship to this Gestalt that the remaining wealth and poverty
sayings in Proverbs, which employ an act-consequence rhetoric more obviously than
most o f the verses considered thus far, ought to be assessed and understood. When read
against this Gestalt, these remaining sayings can be shown to belong either to the
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discourse of social justice or the wisdoms virtues discourse. The Gestalt of Proverbs
likewise provides the hermeneutical lens for recognizing and analyzing a third sub
discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs, the discourse of social observation.
Hence, in light of the books literary and moral Gestalt, this chapter will first
consider which of the wealth and poverty sayings in Proverbs not yet considered belong
to the wisdoms virtues discourse and which to the social justice discourse. Subsequently
the chapter will discuss those other sayings in Proverbs that constitute the discourse of
social observation. In a final section, I will consider briefly how the final lines in the
book, the poem to the woman of worth, also reveals a dialogue of wealth and poverty
discourses in Proverbs.
The Wisdoms Virtues Discourse Revisited
A number of wealth and poverty sayings in Proverbs that have not yet been
discussed function essentially in the same manner as the wisdoms virtues proverbs
already considered. They serve to value particular virtues and vices via a wealth and
poverty rhetoric or related images of material abundance or lack. The language of these
remaining sayings, however, makes clearer use of a cause and effect rhetoric than many
of the proverbs in the book. Hence they appear to promise material prosperity almost as
an automatic reward to the one who acts in a particular manner. Yet the Gestalt of
Proverbs alluded to abovethe moral vision and rhetorical and figurative patterns of
language use established by sayings belonging to the wisdoms virtues and social justice
discourses already consideredindicates that these promises must not be reduced only to
literal promises. The act-consequence rhetoric of the sayings to be examined next also
functions more symbolically to undergird that larger wisdom mythos I spoke of above.
183
These sayings offer not merely a literal promise of literal material wealth. They also
constitute a symbolic promise of general well being to the one who finds wisdom and
function as a motivational device to move and keep the hearer or reader on wisdoms
way, pursuing that which is most valuable and that which the cosmos favors, virtue.
Righteousness and (Wicked) Wealth
There are a number of wealth sayings in the wisdoms virtues discourse that are
concerned primarily with demonstrating the desirability of the particular virtue of
righteousness in order to motivate a hearer to acquire this virtue. Each of these lines
employs economic terminology with a rhetoric that reflects a wisdom prosperity axiom.
However, the books literary and moral Gestalt demands that their promises of well being
not be understood in only, or overly, literal terms. These sayings also permit one to
glimpse more fully what is at stake in the texts valuing work through an economic
rhetoric.
Consider first three proverbs that deploy a similar rhetoric of economic wage,
produce, or reward:
nxonb urn rwnn crnb pHH nbus

The wage of a righteous person leads to life; the produce of a wicked person to sin. (Prov
10 : 16)
r m od npm in n npernbiB nw vm
The wicked earn an illusory wage, but the one who sows righteousness has a true reward.
(Prov 11:18)2
1Rather than leads to life7to sin, Whybray suggests the lamed of T ib and of D^Dnb
should be reckoned as the emphatic lamed i.e., is life, etc. In this regard Whybray cites, among others,
C. Brockelmann, Hebraisches Syntax (Neukirchen: Kreis Moers, 1956), section 31a, and alludes to Ecc
9:4. See Roger N. Whybray, Proverbs, (NCBC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 166.
184
rm sa vm n K in n r n m ]o n p n n
The house of a righteous person is an abundant treasure; but in the produce of a wicked
person is something putrid. (Prov 15:6)3
The logic of 10:16 is most clear. It discloses its metaphorical structure in its claim that an
economic gain (wage) leads to life for the righteous person, but that another form of
economic gain (produce) leads to sin for the wicked person. Any attempt to
understand literally how a wage leads to life, and especially how produce leads to sin,
ends, in Ricoeurs terms, in an absurdity. A literal understanding of the line is non
sensical. The proverb is comprehensible only if the wage and produce (that which
normally accrues to a laborer) of the line are read metaphorically as that which accrues to
a person from acting in a righteous or wicked manner.
3 The first half o f the line is often translated as in the house of the righteous there is much
treasure (cf. 21:20) and the second half as but trouble befalls the income o f the wicked (cf. NRSV;
NJPS). That is, the first half is rendered as if the first word was preceded by the preposition bet and the
second half as if the preposition connected to the first term was absent. Such renderings are consistent with
some MSS, the Syriac, and the Targum (see Fichtners notes in the BHS apparatus), but are likely also an
attempt to render the line in a manner more consistent with a wisdom prosperity axiom, literally
understood. On v. 15a see W. A. van der Weiden, Le Livre de Proverbes: Notes philologiques, (BEO 23;
Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1970), 115. Oesterley writes that the sense of the verb in the second stich
demands the omission of in. Oesterley rightly recognizes the term n DI?3 in the second verse half is
somewhat problematic. It is the niphal f. sg. part. ofri-D -P and may mean something like a thing
troubled. Oesterley insists that the term cannot be translated as an abstract noun and affirms
Frankenberg and Toy who emend so as to read is cut off. See W. O. E. Oesterley, The Book o f Proverbs
with Introduction and Notes (London: Methuen & Co., 1929), 119; cf. C. H. Toy, Proverbs: A Critical and
Exegetical Commentary on the Book o f Proverbs, (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988), 304-05. Murphy, by
contrast, does in fact understand the form as a substantive and renders disorder, trouble. See Roland E.
Murphy, Proverbs (WBC; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 110. In my view the f. sg. participle must be
regarded as a substantive, as Murphy takes it. However, the term here means something like that which is
spoiled, putrid, which fits better with the lines agricultural imagery. In later Hebrew, the niphal of the
root 1-23-P not only carries the sense of to be stirred up (as in HB), but can be extended to mean to be
foul. See Marcus Jastrow, Dictionary o f the Targumim, Talmud Babli, Yerushalmi and Midrashich
Literature (New York: Judaica Press, 1996), 1079; one volume reprint of the two volume 1971 original. A
substantive of the f. sg. participle might thus be rendered something like that which is foul or putrid. If
so, the second half of 15:6, which introduces the agricultural image of produce with the preposition bet
(flNQ rQ 1) begins to make sense, the image being of a rotting harvest.
185
The nature o f the parallelism life/sin in 10:16, however, is not as easily grasped
as some other pairings in Proverbs (e.g., life/death). Whybray, for instance, is puzzled by
the verse since he believes a wisdom prosperity axiom, literally understood, must be at
work in the line.4 He writes: Sin would naturally be the cause, not the result, of the fate
of the wicked. Hence he turns to one of the meanings of the cognate verb HDI1to
miss the mark to explain that the wicked person gains nothing.5
Toy, by contrast, believes that in order to produce a better parallel with the first
half of the verse, the term (sin) in 10:16 ought to be emended to something like
destruction.6 Similarly, at least one English translation of the line (NJPS) renders the
word (sin) as want. Clifford, too, suggests n^CDPI in this instance, in fact, means
something like want, while McKane essentially suggests the term is synecdoche for
death, which may be closer to the mark.7
4 Others who see 10:16 as reflecting a wisdom prosperity axiom include Clifford who, without
suggesting the language should be understood other than literally, speaks of reward and punishment and
envisions life to include health, reputation, and children. See Richard J. Clifford, Proverbs: A
Commentary, (OTL; Louisville: WJK, 1999), 115. Murphy, Proverbs, 74, likewise alludes to the law of
retribution and writes that the efforts of the just will prosper, in contrast to the wicked who continue on
their sinful ways without profit. Cf. Meinhold, who explicitly mentions the Tun-Ergehen theory; see Arndt
Meinhold, Die Spriiche (2 vol.; ZBK; Zurich: Theologischer Verlag, 1991), 2:176. Otto Ploger writes: If
the works of the righteous, which lead to life, are contrasted succinctly with the vain yield of the sinful,
which lead even to death, then verse 16 may be seen as conveying a categorical sense. (So darf dem Vers
16 die Bedeutung einer grundsatzlichen Aussage zugebilligt werden, wenn lapidar dem zum Leben
fiihrenden Wirken des Gerechten der nichtige, ja zum Tode Juhrende Ertrag des Frevlers gegeniibergestellt
wird). See, Spriiche Salomos (Proverbia) (Neukrichen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1984), 127. Cf. further
Whybray, Proverbs, 166; Toy, Proverbs, 209; William McKane, Proverbs: A New Approach (Philadelphia:
Westminster, 1970), 425.
5 Whybray, Proverbs, 166; emphasis in the original.
6 Toy, Proverbs, 209. Presumably the emendation Toy has in mind is from hattat to mehittah. Cf.
Whybray, Proverbs, 166.
7 Clifford, Proverbs, 115; McKane, Proverbs, 425. Cf. Jutta Hausmann, Studien zum
Menschenbild der alteren Weisheit (Tubingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1995), 52. Commentators like Toy and
Hausmann see the verse as concerned with the right and wrong use of wealth. Though such a view is not
186
An emendation o f D^DFl b, however, not only has little textual support (as Toy
and Whybray explicitly recognize), it also would obscure an important inter-textual
echo.8 The verses rhetoric of sin, drawn from the root D- FT, evokes the destructive
activities of the robbers in chapter one, who are called IT^Dn. In 10:16 the benefits that
accrue to the righteous person, his wage metaphorically speaking, is life. By contrast,
that which accumulates to the wicked person, i.e., his metaphorical produce, is sin. As
the sinners activity in chapter one reminds, however, this kind of produce is
accompanied by little that is of worth. Rather it is characterized by competitive, brutal
conduct that not only undermines the establishment and maintenance of social harmony
and equity, but as the fathers words in 1:18-19 make clear, ends in death. The parallel
life/sin thus does make sense. It is simply a pairing that is more allusively constructed
than many.
With its allusion to treasures in the house of the righteous person, Prov 15:6 is
reminiscent of 21:20 and 24:3-4 discussed in Chapter HI. However, the logic and
structure of especially its first half can be regarded as more analogous to 10:16. The
absurdity produced when one attempts to understand the first stich literally suggests its
metaphorical nature. In Ricoeurs terms, the literal reckoning of the linethe righteous
persons house is a treasurequickly gives way to the metaphorical understanding
the righteous persons house is like a treasure. As with the righteous persons wage in
10:16, the righteous persons house in 15:6, which is like abundant treasure, is a figure
necessarily wrong, the language is too broad to gain a sense of what this might actually meanthough
Hausmann at least links the wrong use of wealth to wrongly trusting in it. See Toy, Proverbs, 208-209;
Hausmann, Menschenbild, 52-53.
8 Toy, Proverbs, 209; Whybray, Proverbs, 166.
187
for that which accrues to him from acting rightly, virtuously. By contrast, the image of
the second half of 15:6o f something rotting in the crop of the wicked person
intimates that that which will accrue to the one who acts wickedly may initially appear
valuable and desirable, as a gain, but is ultimately not so (cf. 10:16). Proverbs 11:18
functions analogously to both 10:16 and 15:6. That which accrues to the wicked in this
linea wagelike the produce of the wicked person in the other verses, is not at all
valuable. It is illusory. Similar to the one who acts rightly in 10:16, that which accrues
to the one who sows righteousness in 11:18a rewardis valuable and desirable. It is
true.
The rhetorical strategy deployed by these three sayingsidentifying that which
appears desirable as ultimately not sois one that Proverbs has deployed from the outset
of the book. In chapter one the sinners promise the hearer all precious wealth, but,
according to the instructing voice, can only deliver unjust gain that leads to death.
Similarly, throughout chapters 1-9 the hearer is warned about the temptations of the
strange or foreign woman. On the literal level of the text she is likely the wife of another
man, but because she appears to coalesce with Woman Folly and is otherwise described
in term s that mirror the description of Woman Wisdom, she is also a cipher for all that
belongs to the way o f folly. Although the text imagines sex with her will appear desirable
to the addressee, the instructing voice insists that this too will lead to death.
That the righteousness proverbs cited above ought to be reckoned
metaphorically is revealed as well by a comparison with Ps. 1, especially verses 3-4:
ctd ^*73^ fra rrm
Tirr-K1? in^pi inra p m s i m
188
r r b ir 7 w v ' ~ \ m
D ^ tzn n p - ^
n m B in n m p :r a < ^
[The one who delights in Torah] will be like a tree planted by streams o f water, which
yields its fruit in its season, and its leaves do not wither. In all that he does he prospers.
Not so the wicked who are like chaff which the wind drives away.9
The economic metaphors of productive activity in the proverbial sayings just discussed
follow essentially the logical pattern of the metaphor associated with the wicked and
those who shun sinful ways in the psalm. In the proverbs, the good and bad things that
are said to accrue to the wicked and righteous, their benefits or misfortunes, are called
wages and produce. In the psalm, however, the benefits of the one who delights in Torah
and the misfortunes of the wicked are described in terms of plant life, a clearly
metaphorical description. Those who delight in Torah are likened to flourishing trees
while the wicked are said to be like chaff.
Each o f the righteousness proverbs cited above thus reveal a clear metaphorical
structure and this, together with the books literary and moral Gestalt, points to the
symbolic work they do in Proverbs. Their promises cannot be regarded merely in literal
terms. Rather their rhetoric undergirds the larger wisdom mythos that insists on the
primacy and incomparable value of virtue.
Proverbs 10:2; 15:27; and 21:6 operate by a logic slightly different than the
proverbs just considered. These sayings allude not to the reward or produce of the wicked
person but to wicked wealth. They read:
9 The translation follows NRSV.
189
moo 'run npiin sm m-mm

Treasures of wickedness do not profit, but righteousness rescues from death.
mrr rano m 2 shi: i r r n 22V

Whoever pursues unjust gain makes trouble for his house; whoever hates a bribe will
live.
n iQ -^ p n D syn t a n ip o rm m brs
Treasures gained by a tongue of deception are a driven mist, seekers of death.10
Whereas in the righteousness proverbs of 10:16; 11:18; and 15:6 (treated above)
economic images represent the benefit virtue brings (or the disadvantage of vice), the
point of these sayings is simply that wealth acquired by unjust or wicked means is not as
valuable as virtue. Proverbs 10:2 is clearest in this regard, contrasting treasures of
wickedness that do not profit with righteousness, a virtue that possesses its own worth in
that it is able to rescue from death. Proverbs 15:27 is similar. On the one hand, unjust
gain doesnt profit, but makes trouble. On the other hand, virtue, specifically the
shunning of a bribe, analogous to righteousness in 10:2, leads to life.11 Proverbs 21:6 does
10 The translation is more or less a literal one. The lines sense and syntax, however, are not
simple. Whybray, Proverbs, 309, believes that MTs p o 'a l should be read as p o rel, the one getting
(following LXX; o Evepycov) rather than getting; or in the translation above gained. In regard to the
second verse half, Whybray suspects the line is almost certainly corrupt. Instead of seekers of death,
LXX reads snares of death (uayiS as Oavocrou). The entire Greek verse might be rendered: He that
gathers treasures with a lying tongue pursues vanity on (to) the snares of death. The translation is
Whybrays; cf. Toy, Proverbs, 400.
11 The moral status of bribes and gifts in Proverbs needs to be reckoned on an evaluation of
individual sayings. In some instances, as in 15:27, they are negatively evaluated (cf. 17:23; 28:21) and in
other instances they appear to be spoken o f positively (cf. 17:8; 18:16; 21:14). A tracing of the common
terminology, ]nO and 71112, is of little help. Cf., esp., 21:14 where both terms are deployed.
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not allude to the value o f virtue, but is clear about the limited worth of wealth gained by
deception: it is as enduring and valuable as mist or vapor.12
That Proverbs should suggest that virtues like righteousness are more valuable
than wealth attained in a wicked or unjust manner is not surprising, especially given the
texts concern with social justice.13Yet the book elsewhere speaks of the value of virtue
over wealth with language that is not marked by negative terms. Consider, for example,
Prov 11:4 and 11:28:
moo run npiî rray nvn pn

Wealth does not profit on the day of wrath, but righteousness rescues from death.14
inns1D'pnn nbrai bs1 Kin n em nton

Whoever trusts in their riches will fall, but the righteous will burst forth like a leaf.15
The logic o f these sayings is virtually the same as those just discussed. The
difference, however, is that these proverbs do not speak o f wicked wealth, but simply of
wealth. Although some, such as Whybray, claim that 11:4, like the nearly identical
10:2, is probably speaking of ill-gotten wealth, the verse does not restrict its evaluation
12 To the extent that 10:2; 15:27; and 21:6 also encourage the hearer to avoid engaging in unjust
economic practices, the sayings gesture toward the discourse o f social justice, which attempts to construct a
concrete economic ethic for the books addressee.
13 Cf., too, Prov 28:20 and 28:22 (cf. 13:11), which are concerned with wealth gained in haste. It
appears that for Proverbs wealth gained in haste is suspect and does not belong to wisdoms virtuous way.
This is at least the case in 28:22, which links the pursuit of quick gain to the greedy miser.
14 This line is absent in Rhalf s LXX handbook, which is based on B, S, and A. According to
Fichtners BHS apparatus, the line would likewise not be found in the Old Greek (OG).
15 As Whybray notes in Proverbs, 187-88, there is no need, as Fichtners BHS apparatus proposes,
to emend the verse in the direction of Ps 1:3b, which deploys similar images (i.e., bS1 to b T ; from b33,
to whither).
191
of wealths limited worth to wicked wealth.16 It claims simply that riches (without a
modifier) do not profit, at least not in certain contextse.g., the day of wrath, language
that belongs to moral-religious discourse, for as Meinhold indicates, the phrase likely
refers to divine judgment, a sense it carries, for instance, in Zeph 1:18.17
Proverbs 11:28 is similar in this regard. As with 11:4, there is no sense that the
wealth in this line is tainted, wicked wealth. The verse, moreover, does not name a
specific context with which it is concerned, as v. 4 does (the day of wrath). It simply
insists, quite generally and boldly, that the one who trusts in their riches will
metaphorically fall (apparently like a leaf from a tree), while the righteous will
figuratively burst forth like new foliage (cf. the imagery of Ps 1). The problem in 11:28
thus is trust in wealth, or, one might say, a misperception of how it does or does not
profit, as v. 4 puts it. This problem, moreover, suggests that there is more to this set of
wealth sayings than a simple, though important, moral point about pursuing legitimate
rather than illegitimate economic gain. The fundamental issue underlying all of the
proverbs under consideration, both those that refer explicitly to wicked wealth and those
that do not, is essentially the samethe nature of the value of wealth.
Whether the riches in these wealth sayings is claimed to be illegitimate or not, it is
often said that verses do not violate Proverbs basic adherence to a wisdom prosperity
axiom. Rather, at most they relativize the value of wealth in relationship to righteousness,
17 Meinhold, Die Spruche, 1:187. Cf. McKane, Proverbs, 436. The meaning of the phrase,
however, may be more circumscribed and refer simply to a legal judgment. Cf. further Meinhold, Die
Spruche, 1:187; Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 136; Whybray, Proverbs, 111. In light of the parallel term
death in the second verse half of 11:4, it is likewise possible that any life threatening situation is to be
envisioned. Cf. Clifford, Proverbs, 122.
192
or censure an inappropriate trust in wealth.18 This again is essentially a correct assertion,
but such a formulation of the matter does not appreciate fully the way this wealth
language is functioning. Several matters become clear when one considers the rhetorical
force of the sayings in light of the texts moral and literary Gestalt.
Notice first that the promises in these lines are not economic. Yet like the more
clearly figurative wealth and poverty sayings already treated, the assurances offered by
these lines also cannot be reduced to literal promises. This is clear especially in 11:28,
where the end of the righteous is compared, by means of a simile, to the leaf of a tree
(H *?IO). Furthermore, despite the use of the contrastive waw, neither 11:4 or 11:28 (or
10:2) sets up riches and righteousness as absolute opposites in the way wisdom and
folly or the righteous and wicked typically are (e.g., as in 11:18 cited above).19 The
comparison is of a different sort. As in other sayings in the wisdoms virtues discourse,
riches, the verses assume, are in some sense desirable, valuable. However, if wealth is
easily recognizable as desirable because of what it can and should do in its own sphere
(i.e., the market place), by underscoring its limited ability to save from death (10:2;
11:4) or to keep one from falling (11:28), the proverbs imply, by contrast, that what is
valuable in the religio-moral or legal sphere(s) are things like righteousnessi.e.,
wisdoms virtues.20
18 Cf. Holger Delkurt, Ethische Einsichten in der alttestamentlichen Spruchweisheit (BTS 21;
Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1993), 103 who writes: 11:4 and 28 criticize not riches as such, but
rather trust in riches (kritisieren 11,4.28 nicht den Reichtum als solche, sondem Vertrauen a u f Reichtum;
emphasis original). Toy, likewise, writes in regard to 11:4: It is not said that wealth is in itself bad, but it is
hinted that some men rely on wealth instead o f righteousness to save them from calamity. See Proverbs,
222. Whybray likewise states in regard to 11:4 that: This is not a condemnation o f wealth as such. See
Proverbs, 177; see p. 187 for his remarks regarding 11:28.
19 Cf. the similar observation by Hausmann, Menschenbild, 91.
20 For other sayings dealing with the ability of wisdom to save, see 28:26; 11:9 and cf
193
Meinhold is close to the mark when he writes:
The second half o f verse four [11:4] is identical with 10:2b, but the first verse half goes
further than 10:2a. There, the futility o f unrighteous possessions is highlighted; here the
uselessness of every possession for a specific situation is asserted . . . . But on the day of
wrath it [wealth] does not suffice . . . . [Indeed on such a day] even wealth gained in a
godly manner would not suffice.21
As Meinhold recognizes, for Proverbs riches cannot buy innocence or acquittal
before God.22However, this proverbial claim (in regard to 10:2 and 11:4) coupled with
11:28s insistence that the righteous (a term also falling under a moral-religious or legal
rubric) flourish while those who trust in wealth will wither, is quite significant. It
intimates that for Proverbs wealth is, or should be, ineffectual in the religio-moral sphere.
As I suggested in Chapter I, wealth in Proverbs is a particularly effective symbol
for persuasion or motivation. It is what Burke calls a god term. However, if this is so,
because it is a god-term it must be distinguished from God, as these sayings essentially
make clear. The sages distinguish wealth from, and do not permit it to compete with, the
divine, which for the ancient teachers certainly was the center of religious life, the
primary or ultimate locus of value, and intimately related to valuable wisdom and its
virtues.
Hausmann, Menschenbild, 2 8 4 .1 borrow the language of social spheres from Michael Walzer, Spheres o f
Justice: A Defense o f Pluralism and Equality (New York: Basic Books, 1983).
21 Meinhold, Die Spruche, 1:187. Meinholds text reads: V.4 ist in seiner zweiten Halfte identisch
mit!0,2b, aber der erste Versteil geht tiber 10,2a hinaus. Dort is die Vergeblichkeit ungerechten Besitizes
(vgl. u. a. 3,9; 8,18) fur eine bestimmte Situation behauptet . . . . Aber am T a g des Z o m s richtet er
nichts aus . . . . Selbst von Gott geschaffener Riechtum (10,3a. 22) wurde dann nichts ausrichten.
22 Or, cannot buy acquittal before humans, e.g. in court, etc., if the phrase day of wrath points as
well to the human realm.
194
Although Prov 10:2; 15:27; and 21:6 are easily understood as censuring the
pursuit and acquisition o f wicked wealth, these proverbs along with 11:4 and 11:28
(which do not speak of tainted riches) are a further part of the sages attempt to address
that cultural anxiety surrounding wealth and poverty. They attempt to countermand that
unspoken but real social script that attempts to privilege, unduly as far as Proverbs is
concerned, the value o f wealth. In contrast to that scriptwhich perhaps in part over
values wealth by intimating riches can and do profit in spheres beyond the market place
(e.g., at the temple or in the gate, where justice is dispensed)Proverbs insists that
wealths value ought to be confined to its own realm. Moreover, it insists that that which
is of highest worth in any realm is virtue, a view it has championed from the books
outset.
The commentators thus are right to insist that wealth is not being disparaged by
the proverbs considered in this section. However, the sayings do not so much relativize
wealths value in relation to a wisdom prosperity axiom conceived in literal terms, as
they once more exploit the clear value riches possess in the market place to a larger
rhetorical and didactic end.23
A number of the sayings treated in this section also deploy images that hint, more
precisely at why wealth for Proverbs is not as valuable or desirable as wisdoms virtues.
Put otherwise and in terms closer to Proverbs own idiom, because the wisdom mythos I
23 Some like Clifford, Proverbs, 122, and Meinhold, Die Spruche, 1:187hint at similar
understandings, though their comments are only of a general nature. Clifford, for example, writes simply
that: In mortal danger, riches are of no avail, but only that which assures ultimate protection
righteousness. Certainly this is essentially what the saying literally says, but he does not suggest what
exactly Proverbs means by making such a statement. Meinholds comments are similar: Before YHWH
neither material nor cultic achievements count (Ps. 50:9-13), but [only] the doing of righteousness (21: 3)
[VorJHWHzahlen weder materielle noch kultische Leistungen (Ps. 50, 9-13), aber das Tun der
Gerechtigkeit (21, 3)]. Cf. Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 136.
195
spoke of above imagines wisdom to be inherent to the structure of the cosmos, the virtues
o f wisdoms ways are often associated with that which endures. By contrasts, vice, which
finds no genuine place in the deep structures of the universe, is linked with images of that
which fades quickly. Proverbs 11:28 is particularly clear in this regard. In this line, as in
Ps. 1, images from the realm of plant life highlight the important point. Riches, for
Proverbs, are understood to be fleeting or temporary. They are external to a person and
hence subject to the vagaries of fortune and changes in circumstances. If one trusts in
wealth, the saying claims, one will not long last but fall like a leaf from a tree. The virtue
o f righteousness on the other hand endures. It is internal to a person and so not subject to
changes in circumstances. Those who possess it will spring forth to life like fresh foliage.
Images in other lines, also suggest this same point clearly. Like the sweet bread of
deception in 20:17 that turns to gravel in ones mouth, Proverbs 11:18 speaks of the
fleeting or illusory wage of the wicked; 15:6 of their rotting reward; and 21:6 of
wicked wealth that vanishes like mist.24
Wealth, Poverty, and the Tropes of the Wise
Several other sayings in Proverbs function similarly to those just considered but
reveal as well further ways how one who is wise or understanding might interpret
Proverbs tropes and figures (cf. 1:5-6). Consider first Proverbs 28:11. It reads:
mprr p D t w rrxn can

The rich person is wise in his own eyes, but a discerning poor persor. searches him out.
(28:11)
24 Proverbs 20:17 reads in the NRSV: Bread gained by deceit is sweet, but afterward the mouth
will be full of gravel.
196
The line, which contrasts the rich and poor, is sometimes reckoned as an observation and
the proverb, in fact, shares some rhetorical features with sayings that belong to the
discourse of social observation (see below).25For instance, the rich "PCX? here is
contrasted with another substantivized adjectivein this case the poor *7*1. Although *77
is a preferred term of the discourse of social justice, in that discourse, recall, the word is
always the grammatical object of a verb. The poor person here, however, is a subject who
acts, a usage that I will suggest below is typical of the social observation discourse.
As with the righteous and wicked in 29:7 (treated in Chapter HI), the b l and the
T 0 D here in 28:11 stand in different relation to knowledge. The participle [HQ
reverberates with the meanings of cognate forms like HP!} and rDimn, which elsewhere
in Proverbs are explicitly linked with the meta-virtue of wisdom. The rich person in
28:11, though confident in his own ability (because of the confidence he places in his
wealth?), doesnt possess knowledge or wisdom or understandingi.e., virtue. The logic
of the proverb is thus similar to the logic of a number of the sayings belonging to the
wisdoms virtues discourse. Essentially it indicates that what looks like advantage, e.g.,
having wealth, often is less than it appears. Possessing the virtue of understanding or
discernment (a moral positive) even though one is poor (an economic negative) is, the
verse intimates, more valuable and desirable than being rich (an economic positive) and
unduly proud or overestimating ones own ability (a moral negative).26
25 Clifford, Proverbs, 245, for example, writes: According to this observation on the effect of
wealth and of poverty on wisdom, the social position of the wealthy can mislead them.
26 Elsewhere in Proverbs the notion of being wise in ones own eyes is said explicitly to belong
to the way of folly and wickedness. See, for example, the similar expressions in 26:12 and 30:14.
197
Proverbs 21:17 and 23:20-21 are also interesting examples to consider, for in
taking up a wealth and poverty rhetoric they appear largely to be concerned with how the
hearer or reader ought to conduct themselves at table. Yet they potentially function in a
more sophisticated manner. They read:
nw nrro nrro nns mono vrx

A person of lack is the one who loves pleasure; whoever loves wine and oil will not be
rich.
HDi] e r a bn m r bbm hdd - ' d
Do not be among those who guzzle wine or glut themselves on meat. For guzzlers and
gluttons will be dispossessed, and drowsing will clothe you in tatters.
On a basic, literal level both texts can be said to be offering advice, if not about
table manners, at least about how much food and drink (and presumably in 21:17 other
pleasures) one ought or ought not to take.27 With an impersonal wealth and poverty
terminology typical o f the wisdoms virtues discourse, 21:17 begins by claiming it is the
person of lack (HOItD) who loves pleasure. The line ends with a reminder that those
who indulge themselves will not become rich CTtDIT $b) . The admonition of 23:20-21
(part of the so-called Amenemope section of the book) is explicit in asserting that the
27 Proverbs 23:29-35 is similar to 21:17 and 23:20-21 in that the text offers a description of what it
views as unpleasant aspects o f intoxication. That such behavior does not belong to the way of wisdom is
clear from the passages context. Between 23:20-21 and 23:29-35 one finds exhortations regarding
honoring parents, acquiring wisdom, and the dangers of the foreign or strange woman, who like the sinners
in ch. 1 lies in wait p )U) and increases transgressions among men (DlfcG). The juxtaposition
suggests the text means to make a connection between certain potentially unpleasant effects that one must
endure after enjoying alcohol and the temporary, but ultimately harmful pleasures of the foreign woman
and the way of folly she represents. The text functions both as a warning about what it considers illicit
sexual encounters and drunkenness, but both of these also are ciphers for the in part desirable, but
ultimately undesirable way of folly.
198
hearer ought not to indulge in certain kinds of drinking and eating. With a rhetoric
analogous to that of 21:17, the line also offers a reason for this advice. Such conduct
leads to dispossession (HTVT) and, the instructing voice adds, a drowsiness that will also
impoverish (literally leave one in rags).28
The rhetorical strategy o f both 21:7 and 23:20-21, like many wisdoms virtues
sayings, is to pair an economic negative with a moral negative. However, although each
text holds out a threat to the glutton, the cause and effect rhetoric in neither
unproblematically reflects the common understanding of the wisdom prosperity axiom
discussed above. Indeed it is difficult to imagine how enjoyment of wine and oil would
lead to literal impoverishment. It is thus sometimes assumed that it is excessive
indulgence in (love o f ) pleasure and excessive eating and drinking (guzzling and
gluttony) that the text has in mind, as if the cost of such an excessive lifestyle might lead
29
to poverty.
This sort of interpretation is imaginable. However, the moral and literary Gestalt
of Proverbs makes it clear that Proverbs is preeminently concerned with offering moral
instruction and with valuing virtue and vice and this suggests that the threats of the
wisdom prosperity rhetoric in 21:7 and 23:20-21 ought not be reduced to the literal level.
Rather these assurances serve to underscore the broader wisdom mythos that insists on
28 Meinhold also understands the sleep of 23:20-21 to be the result o f excessive celebration. See
D ie Spruche, 2:335.
29 See Clifford, Proverbs, 192, 213; Murphy, Proverbs, 160,176; Toy, Proverbs, 405; Whybray,
Proverbs, 312, 338. Cf. Meinhold, D ie Spruche, 2:335, 355, who speaks of the poverty in 21:17 as the fault
of the individual (selbsverschuldet) . Similarly, cf. Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 247; H a u s m a n n ,
Menschenbild, 326, 332. Cf. as w e l l Deut 21:18-21 where participial forms o f the same roots that appear in
23:21, b b l andtOD, are employed to describe a rebellious son. In Deuteronomy, however, the precise
nuance of the language is not as clear since the forms lack an object (i.e., neither wine or meat is mentioned
as that which t h e rebellious son consumes).
199
the preeminent value o f virtue and demands that worthless vice be shunned. Although the
feasting in the verses sounds desirable, by associating such activity with images of
material lack, the proverbs claim it produces well being in the same measure as poverty
produces prosperity.
The primary moral concern ofboth proverbs may be to move the hearer away
from what might appear to be a desirable life of pleasure to one which is full of the virtue
of moderation. However, the phrase T 0 IT (he will not be rich) in 21:17 and the
rhetoric of dispossession in 23:21 intimates that feasting is the opposite of
industriousness, since elsewhere the text has coarsely linked this virtue with economic
prospering (cf. 10:4; 12:11, 27; 28:19). The language of guzzling or loving wine and oil,
of glutting oneself on meat, and of drowsiness all symbolize non-industrious activity.
These particular images of vice function as a kind of synecdoche for the more general
vice of slothfulness and, analogous to the relationship between virtue and prosperity, are
coarsely linked by the proverbs with economic deprivation (cf. 14:23; 24:33-34).
But the lines, cast in the indicative as a kind of observation that over indulgence
leads to poverty, may be doing more than simply encouraging industriousness. In the
context of the ancient Levant, wine and oil and meat are luxury goodsproducts
consumed regularly only by the rich. The lines demand the addressee avoid gluttony and
practice moderation and so, as 23:21 implies, remain awake and industrious. Yet in so
doing the proverbs may gesture toward a critique of those who in fact do love oil and
wine and meat, those who do regularly indulge themselves with such delicacies. Implicit
in the rhetoric of moderation is the fact the vices, which the text speaks of to make its
point, are not just any old vices, but specifically (if stereotypically) the vices of the
200
rich.30 The sayings thus begin, at least minimally, to locate dangers to a life of wisdom
in connection with wealth.
As I argued above, it is best to assume that Proverbs is the product of an
intellectual elite, though not necessarily a political or economic elite. Subsequently I
suggested that the interests of the former should not be considered coterminous with the
interests of the later, or the rural folk (see Chapter I). In such a complex social landscape,
the sages who produced and used Proverbs could be certain that sayings such as 21:17
and 23:20-21 could be heard safely by the political and economic elite to whom they
might be in service. On one level, the level of what James C. Scott might call a public
discourse, the call to moderation or industriousness is almost completely innocuous,
almost banalthough perhaps nonetheless welcomed by the political and economic elite
who may have valued some curbing of the indulgent ones in their own rank and would
not tolerate such indulgence among those in their midst of inferior status.31 However,
when heard from a somewhat different social locationfrom the view o f a sage whose
values and interests would be somewhat different than the political and economic elite
the hidden transcript (again borrowing Scotts terminology), or the more stringent
critique of the practices of the political and economic elite implicit in the sayings, can be
recognized.32
30 Cf. Prov 15:17 and 17:1 discussed above. Whybray, Proverbs, 312, recall, regards such saying
as emerging among small farmers who, though not destitute are nonetheless not rich and cannot afford such
excessive pleasures.
31 James C. Scott, Domination and the Arts o f Resistance: Hidden Transcripts (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1990), 2.
32 Scott, Domination, 4.
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Proverbs 11:24-26 and 28:25 are likewise verses that might be heard in different
ways by the sages that produced and transmitted Proverbs and others not belonging to
their rank. They read:
niDnDy ^ -,TSQ ^
tn v Kirrm miDi ]in riTm ]

T30Dmib nanni oik1?imp1in m
There is one who scatters and increases more; and one who withholds what is rightonly
for lack.
A generous person will grow fat, and one who gives water will also get water.
The one who withholds grain will be cursed by the people, but blessing is for the head of
the one who dispenses it.33
]0t mrr"^ nani ]hd hit rarnm

A greedy person provokes a dispute, but the one who trusts in the Lord will grow fat.34
Nearly all interpreters recognize in these verses some version of the proverbial
wisdom prosperity axiom. Yet because Proverbs is regularly regarded as the product of
the sages observation of the world, the lines cause and effect rhetoric is often
understood in overly literalistic terms. In regard to 11:25 and 28:25, for instance, without
33 The rendering of the lines follows NJPS and NRSV. The final word of v. 25, KT1 ^, is probably
an unusual hophal form o f the root H -1 -1 , a hiphil form of which begins the second verse half. The
interchange between aleph and heh in Ill-weak roots is well known. In v. 26 dispenses (D B) may mean
simply sell grain, implying less an act o f charity than a refusal to profit by hording or speculation. Cf.
Meinhold, Die Spruche, 1:199; Clifford, Proverbs, 1 2 6 ; Murphy, Proverbs, 84; Toy, Proverbs, 235;
Whybray, Proverbs, 186.
34 The initial phrase of the verse, BHUUm, in all likelihood points to one who is greedy. Cf.
Clifford, Proverbs, 247, who notes that the versions understood the phrase in this way as well. This figure
is essentially the opposite of the rD D B] in 11:25 who, like the one who trusts the Lord in 28:25, also
will become fat (JETT).
202
offering an indication that the lines should be regarded in a non-literal fashion, Hausmann
explicitly alludes to a Tun-Ergehen connection. Murphy, similarly without elaboration,
states (in regard to 11:25) that: Blessing (others) leads to prosperity.35 It is also
sometimes claimed that these proverbs recount real, though ironic, occurrences of which
the sages took note.36 Whybray, for example, writes: Such things do sometimes happen.
Toy, too, opines that, experiences teaches that the man of liberal methods prospers, and
such an one, it is probably meant to say, has the blessing of God.37
Yet it is not clear that empirical observation would bear out the kinds of claims of
Whybray and Toy make. The one who hoards and is not generous may well increase his
economic status.38 The well being of the community as a whole, however, depends upon
the behavior the verses promote and the act-consequence rhetoric of the text suggests this
socially desirable behavior is assumed to be supported by the structure of the cosmos.
Proverbs 11:26 is the most straightforward o f the four sayings. Its concern with
hoarding and selling grain indicates that it is fundamentally occupied with the question of
social responsibility. The reward mechanism it deploys is explicitly social and
intuitively on target. The one who does not neglect his social responsibility is viewed
favorably by others in the same social formation. The reward mechanism in the other
35 Hausmann, Menschenbild, 232, 271; Murphy, Proverbs, 84. Similarly, in relation to 11:25, Toy
(Proverbs, 235) speaks of certain social laws.
36 In relation to 11:24, see Murphy, Proverbs, 83-84. Clifford, likewise, speaks of the paradox in
verses such as these. See Proverbs, 125.
37 See Whybray, Proverbs, 186; Toy, Proverbs, 235. Toy, however, also recognizes that such
sayings can be applied to the moral realm; cf. Murphy, Proverbs, 83-84.
38 Though as I indicated above, one schooled in the wisdom-prosperity view of the world may tend
to see matters as conforming to the act-consequence nexus more often than one not inculcated in this
world view. Similarly such a person may tend to screen out experiences that do not conform to this view of
the world more readily than others.
203
sayings is more hidden than in 11:26, but the structure is the same. Proverbs elsewhere
has urged the virtue of careful and prudent husbandry of goods, as in 21:10 (see Chapter
III). Through the set of sayings cited above the book takes up the corresponding virtue of
socially responsible generosity and distribution.
Although the virtue of generosity in 11:24-26 and 28:25 is ascribed value in terms
of a broadly economic rhetoric, its desirable aspects are also implicit in the terminology
the texts deploy to describe the generous person. This person in 11:25, for instance, is a
nDQ 0 3 ] a person of blessing. The term 0 3 ] basically means throat and can be
used to speak o f an appetite, i.e., the desire of someone. The person of blessing is thus
one whose appetite or desire is for rD Q (blessing), a positive and mutually enhancing
relationship with ones fellows. This one walks the path of wisdom and does not compete
with his companions for gain (e.g., by speculation in grain; cf. 11:26). Nor does he
withhold what is right 0 0 * ), but gives generously (cf. 11:24). All of this is
consonant with the books concern with establishing and maintaining social justice and
harmony (cf. 1:3).
By contrast, the greedy person is described in 28:25 as 0S]"0rH-wide of
throat or wide of desire.39The language evokes images of the sinners (and Sheol) in
chapter one and the wicked in 21:20, both of whom swallow up (V ^0) what they
desire. As Clifford writes, the one who is 0S]0rR is the voracious man.40 Similarly,
28:5 hints that confusing the value of the virtue of generosity with the value of material
39 Chapter 28 is particularly concerned with the topic of greed (cf. w . 20, 22, 24).
40 Clifford, Proverbs, 247.
204
goods or economic gain, and pursuing these with what Ploger describes as hemminglos
zwang (unrestrained compulsion), leads to strife (]1TD) a state of affairs antithetical
to the social harmony which, according to the prologue, is most important to wisdoms
way. 41
Although the text motivates what it views as desirable behavior by means of
images of material prospering, the figurative and rhetorical patterns of use of wealth and
poverty language in Proverbs, the books Gestalt, again suggests that these images cannot
be viewed only literally. Certainly the lines rhetoric contains a promise of material
benefit. However, this promise is not only a literal assurance, but also functions
symbolically to reinforce the wisdom mythos, which insists virtue is what is most
valuable and that the cosmos is constructed to support the acts of a virtuous life.
It is also significant that the figure of the one who gathers and dispenses grain
described in 11:24-26 is reminiscent of the vizier Joseph in Egypt.42 The images in this
description are appropriated from the world of the economic and political elite. The
sayings, as I suggested, underscore the value and desirability of the virtue of generosity
and this point would certainly be accessible to all hearers. However, by choosing to value
generosity via these particular images, the proverbs also construct a particular expectation
that the elite act fairly and responsibly in the economic realm (cf. the social justice
discourse). In a sense, the text is engaging in social control o f the wealthy. Against that
broader social script which over values material goods, and to which these elite might be
41 Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 238. See too, Murphy, Proverbs, 217, who in regard to 28:25 writes
that the greedy person is one who brings about dissension. Cf. Meinhold, D ie Spruche 2:478.
42 Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 142, and Whybray, Proverbs, 180, also are reminded of Josephs
activities in Egypt. Cf. Gen 41:37-57.
205
particularly vulnerable, Proverbs highlights the value of what is upright "1G71
scattering, generosity, selling at fair prices, not speculating, rejecting greed. Although, an
economic elite would certainly hear the call to generosity, the wise and understanding
person who attends to the books riddles and figures may also hear an implicit critique of
any elite that strayed from the meshalim's norms.
Other D iscourses o f Desire
Certain sayings in the sentence collections of Proverbs value wisdoms way with
rhetoric that is not properly the language of desirable wealth. Nonetheless, these sayings
deploy a rhetoric that is related to the discourse of wealth and poverty in that they too
draw on images o f that which is desirable. F o r instance, a number of proverbs already
considered deploy food images.43 Proverbs 13:18, like 3:14-16 (cf. 8:18) and 4:5-9
(treated in Chapter II) and 16:19 (treated in Chapter III), on the other hand, draws both on
poverty language and the rhetoric of social status.44 It reads:
-nrr nram nmtm noia mis ]i^pi ten

Poverty and humiliation are for the one who spurns instruction, but the one who takes
reproof to heart gets honor45
4j See 12:11; 15:17; 16:8; 17:1; 20:13, 17; 28:19. The most obvious instance of the sages
expression of the desirability of wisdoms way via food images is perhaps 24:13-14 where the desirability
of wisdom (170311) is explicitly likened to the sweetness o f honey. Honey (or the honeycomb) is likewise
deployed to speak o f the desirability of particular values and virtues associated with wisdoms way e.g.,
right speech in 16:24 and the proper quest for honor at 25:27, which should be read with 25:16 (cf. 27:7).
To these verses one could add 10:3 and 10:21.
44 Proverbs 19:22 is a further instance of this intermingling of different sorts of rhetoric as well.
The saying reads: 11017 DIN 171817 3T3 ET8D ETTOltDl. The first stich of the line, however, is
ambiguous. The term 1D17 may mean faithfulness, kindness as it usually does in HB or it may be the less
common reproach, a term which might be said to belong to a discourse of social status. Hence the
proverb might be read as: What is desirable in a person is loyalty; and it is better to be poor than a liar;
or, The desire of a person is his reproach; and it is better to be poor than a liar.
206
The logic of the saying is analogous to the logic of several of the wisdoms virtues
proverbs I have already discussed. The verse is attempting to persuade a hearer of the
value of heeding instruction and it accomplishes this task rhetorically by
promising/threatening poverty to the one who spurns instruction pD ID PITS). In the
first half of 13:18, however, a moral negative (spuming instruction) is paired both with an
economic negative (poverty) and a social negative (humiliation); in the second half of the
line a moral positive (taking reproof) is also linked to a social positive (getting honor).
The line thus not only attempts to persuade its hearer of the value of heeding
instruction through an economic rhetoric but through the rhetoric of social status,
promising humiliation to the one who rejects instruction and honor to the one who
attends to reproof.46 Proverbs 11:16 functions similarly.
"itBiTODrp to d p m ]rmm
A woman of repute obtains honor; ruthless men obtain riches.
The line is problematic for many. Some have suggested that there is a lacuna in
the Hebrew text and have subsequently turned to the LXX and other version when
rendering the line.47 The appeal to the versions, however, appears largely to be based on a
desire to have the text conform more neatly to a wisdom prosperity axiom. For instance,
it is sometimes suggested that IT IT"!# (ruthless) should be emended to HTin
(diligent).
46 For the notion of the close relationship between status and wealth in regard to 13:18, cf.
especially McKane, Proverbs, 456 and Raymond C. Van Leeuwen, Proverbs: Introduction, Commentary,
and Reflections, NIB 5:133.
47 So the NRSV. This is not necessary for the MT is comprehensible. For a discussion, see
Whybray, Proverbs 182-83.
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However, the logic of the line is similar to 13:18. It initially pairs a moral positive
(being of repute) with a social positive (honor). Subsequently, however, it pairs a moral
negative (being ruthless), with an economic positive (riches).48 If the line were cast
explicitly in the comparative it would produce little difficulty. Here, however, the
comparativethat virtue is better than vice, even with economic gainis implicit and is
triggered by the negative connotations of 'IT'")!?. Indeed as the discourse of social
justice makes clear, ruthlessness in the acquisition of wealth, cannot be what the text is
valuing. Rather, the proverb implicitly critiques such conduct by contrasting it with the
actions of a woman who possesses a virtue, which the text values through a rhetoric of
social status.
Proverbs 11:16 is simply more complicated than many other wealth and poverty
sayings in the book, because in its contrasting of the virtue of repute (with its reward of
social status) with the vice of ruthlessness, it both employs a parallelism of gender
(woman of repute vs. ruthless men) and appears to contradict an act-consequence notion
that would insist men of diligence, not the ruthless, would receive riches. The key to
understanding the saying, however, is to read it through Proverbs moral and literary
Gestalt, the patterns o f value and language usage that other wealth and poverty sayings
establish.
Again although in the verses just discussed an act-consequence rhetoric points to
the reward of virtue, this promise cannot be regarded simply or only in terms of literal
economic and social status. Proverbs 11:16, for instance, calls such a view into question,
by promising riches for the ruthless. The literary and moral Gestalt of the book indicates
48 For the positive moral connotations of]FI, cf. Prov 22:1.
208
that, like economic rhetoric elsewhere, the images of the non-primary good of social
status function as motivational symbols that value virtue and vice. Although the rhetoric
hints that the sages believed social status ought to come through the attainment of
wisdom, it serves to undergird the larger wisdom mythos that insists the cosmos favors
those who attain to the incomparably desirable way of virtue.
A series of other sayings in Proverbs deploy a more general rhetoric of desire than
that of food or social status. According to the NRSV renderings, for instance, Prov 13:21;
16:20; and 19:8 speak, respectively, of the righteous person, the one who gains insight, or
the one who attains wisdom as prospering, a term which in contemporary American
English can often primarily connote economic gain.49
Dp Hirnw nxn epnn ,w n

Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous. (13:21)50
v i m m rra n r a i mtrKHD1
Those who are attentive to a matter will prosper, and happy are those who trust in the
Lord. (16:20)51
rmnn im rra; nn nbTup
49 W ebsters Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, for instance, lists the first definition of prosper as
to succeed in an enterprise or activity; e s p to achieve economic success.
50 Although the use in this verse of abstract nouns as subjects o f active verbs may cause confusion,
MT is comprehensible as it stands. Fichtner (see the BHS apparatus), however, suggests the final two words
of the line (31D~D *2ET) should be read as 31 positing that a dittography with the first word o f v. 22
(DID) produced the present text. A rendering of the second verse half along the lines of, He (the Lord?)
rewards the righteous with good (see Murphy, Proverbs, 95) is unnecessary and destroys the parallelism
with the first verse half, which also employs an abstract noun as the subject of an active verb (misfortune
pursues).
51 Note the end of the first verse half and the beginning of the second plays with the letters 3-1 -D.
To what exactly the 1 3 1 in this verse referse.g., a human or divine word/affairis unclear. The matter
is probably undecidable and the text slides between both possibilities, though the second half of the line,
which speaks of trust in YHWH, may favor understanding 3 3 3 as referring to a divine word.
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To get wisdom is to love oneself; to keep understanding is to prosper. (19:8)52
Each of these lines resonates with other lines in Proverbs in significant ways.53
Each, moreover (particularly 13:21), reflects a wisdom prosperity axiom in some sense.54
However, these verses also reveal that their act-consequence rhetoric ought not to be
conceived of too simplistically as promising automatic material prosperity, for the verses
literally deploy the language o f the good p lQ ) to speak of the valuable reward that
comes to the righteous person, the insightful one, and the one who buys a heart.55
52 It is appropriate to emend the infinitive ftiJD1? to a finite verb as the versions suggest. See
Fichtners notes in the BHS apparatus; Mitchell Dahood, Congruity o f Metaphors, VTSupp. 16 (1967):
40-49, esp. 40; Whybray, Proverbs, 278; Murphy, Proverbs, 141. An appropriate, though somewhat literal
translation of the line based on the emendation might be: The one who acquires wisdom loves himself; the
one guarding understanding will find good.
53 In 13:21, the image of evil pursuing sinners recalls, in ironic fashion, the picture sketched in
1:10-19, where it was sinners who chased after wealth. The 'TDBD in 16:20, likewise, finds (KUI2)
something valuable just as the robbers in ch. 1 had hoped to find (H3SQ3; we will find) all precious
wealth (*73 "Ip1 ]1H; 1:13). This m a sk ll also might be said to embody the wise dealing (haskel)
imagined in the prologue (1:3). Moreover, although he does not fear the Lord (cf. the books motto in
1:7), he nonetheless trusts in YHWH. In 19:8 the deployment of the verb H3p likewise hearkens back to
key verses in chs. 1-9 (e.g., 1:5; 4:5-9; cf. 16:16; 17:16; 23:23). The phrase H?TI3p (lit. the one who
acquires a heart), which surely means the one who finds wisdom (cf. the language of the second verse-
half, n m n IDE), the one who guards understanding), also seems to be the opposite of the one who
lacks heart Q b 'ID fl)a common expression throughout Proverbs (see 6:32; 7:7; 9:4, 16; 10:13, 21;
11:12; 12:11; 15:21; 17:18; 24:30; and the similar 28:16).
54 In the first half of 19:8 the one who acquires a heart is said to love himself. In the second
verse half, however, like the in 16:20 and the righteous (p'HH) in 13:21, he is promised
something else very valuable (the good). Although the first half of 13:21 claims that evil pursues
sinners (cf. 1:10-19), this may be a description or a prognosis (i.e., hinting as well that sinners pursue
evil). The second half of the line, however, like the first half of 16:20, more clearly deploys a cause and
effect rhetoric and claims that the righteous will be recompensed (D^tD). Regarding the act-consequence
notion vis-a-vis 13:21, see Ploger, Spruche Salomos, 163, who alludes to the previous verse and speaks of
the Ergehen of certain deeds; Whybray, Proverbs, 208-09, who approves of the RSVs (and hence the
NRSVs) use of the English prosperity in the verse and who notes that the verse is a bare statement
about retribution. Murphy, Proverbs, 98, also writes in regard to 13:21 and 22 o f the law retribution.
Similarly Hausmann, Menschenbild, 53, 224, 236 alludes to the Tun-Ergehen principle at work in 13:21, as
she also seems to in regard to 16:20 and 19:8 (see pp. 271 and 317 respectively). In regard to 19:8, Clifford,
Proverbs, 176, in mentioning prosperity and silver and gold (and alluding to 2:2-4) underscores the
material nature of the promise implicit in the verse, for with wisdom come all other gifts. Toy, in
Proverbs, 371, too, highlights the verses promise of what is useful in physical life, though he also more
explicitly recognizes the particulars of the promise ought to be more broadly conceived.
210
Although DID in HB can carry economic resonances as the NRSV renderings intimate
(in Proverbs see 3:27; discussed in Chapter II), to what extent one opts for a more or less
materialistic reading of the promises of good in these sayings is largely a function of
how one understands a wisdom prosperity axiom to be at work in Proverbs.
The sayings permit readings on multiple levels. The logic of the lines, however, is
similar to other wisdoms virtues sayings. Each pairs a moral positive with a promise of
good (DID; 13:21b; 16:20; 19:8) or, as in 13:21a, a moral negative (sinners) with a
promise of evil (7112"!; 13:21). With the possible exception of DID itself, however, none
of the lines uses any economic rhetoric. Rather just as wealth functions in other sayings
to value wisdoms way, the more general language of the good articulates the worth of
virtue and motivates the hearer to acquire it.
The syntax of 13:21 also suggests that an overly literalistic understanding of the
wisdom prosperity rhetoric in this line ought to be avoided. The notion that an abstract
notion such as misfortune might pursue anything forces one to a non-literal reckoning
of the lines rhetoric. With 16:20, although the language o f wealth in the previous v. 19
might be taken as a sign that these two verses were coupled together because they both
treat the theme of riches, the focus of the line 20 is with the insightful maskil who trusts
55 In 13:21 NJPS translates 3112 with the rhetoric of reward; in 16:20 success; and in 19:8
happiness. For the usual, overly literal understanding of the act-consequence schema in relation to the
proverbs under discussion, see the citations in the previous note. The statement that all three verses employ
language of the good is valid if the MTs text at 13:21 is accepted (cf. n. 46 above). Fichtners suggestion
in the BHS apparatus that the final word of the line be perhaps read as ! btD and not 313 (postulating the
present text reflects a dittography with the beginning of v. 22) would provide a neater parallelism. Yet even
if this is so, 31 b^D (peace, well being) like the good (313) is not clearly an economic term, but points
to something that throughout HB is typically highly valued. In Proverbs, D1 *221, like material wealth, is
sometimes associated with wisdoms way (e.g., 3:2, 17; cf. 12:20). It, however, more than the rhetoric of
wealth, whose value in the economic sphere is clear, more nearly represents the valuable thing promised by
the wisdom mythoshuman flourishing and well being.
211
in YHWH.56The verse, moreover, may include a kind of pun that hints to the hearer or
reader that the good which the wise and righteous will find is in fact not primarily any
kind of wealth or riches-IOTbut a reward of another sort. Such a person, the text
perhaps playfully hints, will not necessarily become an TO T (a rich person), but he
will find the contentment of a flourishing life (happy is he). Similarly 19:8s
parallel of the good with the phrase 0SD (to love oneself) underscores the
affective rather than material well being that wisdom is sure to deliver.
These features internal to the sayings together with the patterns of metaphorical
and rhetorical use o f wealth and poverty language thus far established by the wisdoms
virtues discourse suggests that even if TED in the proverbs cited above can carry an
economic sense, it cannot, in the context of the book, be reduced to that single sense. The
cause and effect rhetoric of the lines underscores the message of the wisdom mythos that
well being awaits those who succeed in the attainment of virtue.
The Discourse of Social Justice Revisited
As with the sayings belonging to the wisdoms virtues discourse that I just
considered, a good number of proverbs belonging to the discourse of social justice deploy
an act-consequence rhetoric to motivate the hearers adherence to their instruction as
well. The Gestalt o f Proverbs, its moral vision and patterns of figurative and rhetorical
use of wealth and poverty language, however, indicates that the reward mechanism
articulated by these social justice proverbs also ought not to be regarded merely as literal
56 Prov 16:19, recall, speaks of the poor (DTI?) and spoil ( ^ 0 ) . The presence of the TED in
the comparative construction of the verse might also be understood as the catchword that drew verses 19
and 20 together.
212
promises. As with those wisdoms virtues sayings discussed above, the act-consequence
language of these social justice proverbs, though motivating adherence to instruction
through the promise of reward (often material reward), reinforces that proverbial wisdom
mythos which emphasizes the value of wisdoms way and insists the virtues of social
justice are in accord with the genuine fabric of the cosmos.
Care for the Poor
Like Prov 14:31; 17:5; and 19:7 discussed in Chapter III, several other sayings in
Proverbs promote the virtue o f kindness to the poor. Consider first Prov 21:13; 22:9; and
28:27:
rrcir bi Kip' Hirrm binpPTQ idtk nm

Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the wretched, he too will call and not be answered.
bib iDnbo ]nrnn piT Kin pinna

Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.
m iK irm t t u b^Di mono p 01b ]ni3

The one who gives to the poor will not be in want. But whoever shuts his eyes will have
many curses.
Proverbs 21:13 and 22:9 both employ the word b l , one of the terms that the
social justice discourse prefers when speaking of the poor person. Proverbs 28:27,
however, makes use of the term EH. This word, recall, is common in the wisdoms
virtues discourse, and the saying might easily have been grouped with those proverbs
advocating a specific virtue, e.g., generosity. However, as in 21:13 and 22:9, the poor
person in 28:27 is grammatically speaking an object, a feature common to the social
justice discourse. Similarly, though the poor person in 21:13 is able to cry, this one is not
213
a subject, but the object o f the genitive in the prepositional phrase that forms the
predicate of the first clause (^TTlpUTO).57 Someone else acts by turning a deaf ear to
this ones cries.
Although each of the sayings cited above employ (to greater and lesser degrees)
an act-consequence rhetoric, they do not function simply or primarily as observations of a
mechanical moral universe where good and wicked deeds are automatically rewarded,
though commentators sometimes seem to imply as much.58 The invocation of the act-
consequence schema ought not to suggest that the sages believed an experience of a lack
of compassion (21:13), blessedness (22:9), or material security (28:27) follow, literally
and inevitably, generous or uncompassionate conduct of every individuals life in some
empirically verifiable way. The principle concern of these proverbs lies elsewhere.
As I suggested in the Introduction, in certain contexts even observations and
indicative statements in Proverbs can carry the force of admonitions and each o f the
sayings under consideration function in part as a command.59 They mean to inculcate in
the hearer a particular social virtue. In 22:9 it is the sharing of bread, or more
57 The subject and verb of the clause are expressed by the participle }6tem (whoever stops).
58 See in regard to 21:13, Murphy, Proverbs, 160 who speaks of the talion law; Whybray,
Proverbs, 311 who speaks of exact retribution. Cf. Clifford, Proverbs, 191. In regard to 22:9, see Toy,
Proverbs, 417 who writes that blessed in the verse means by God, immediately or through natural laws,
and by men. Cf. Van Leeuwen, Proverbs, NIB 5:198-99; Delkurt, Ethische Einsichten, 124-25; Clifford,
Proverbs, 248. In regard to 28:27, see McKane, Proverbs, 627 who writes that Yahweh will see to it that
only men of character and compassion hold wealth in his community. Cf. Whybray, Proverbs, 397. In all
three of lines under discussion, Whybray finds evidence that the original speakers of the sayings were
agriculturalists who were neither rich or poor, but often in danger o f falling into poverty. See Proverbs,
311, 320, 397 and Chapter I above.
59 The comments of several interpreters suggest that they too understand such sayings to be
functioning as admonitions or commands. Van Leeuwen, for instance, relates 22:9 to Deut 15:9-11 which
forbids stinginess and commands generosity. See Proverbs, NIB 5:198. Whybrays rhetoric in regard to
22:9 is similar: the verse advocates generosity to the poor. See Proverbs, 320. He likewise calls 21:13 a
strongly persuasive variant on the theme of duty to the poor. See Proverbs, 311; Clifford calls the verse a
concise and challenging statement. See Proverbs, 191.
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symbolically, acts of generosity on behalf of the poor that is underscored; in 21:13 and
28:27 ignoring or disregarding the plight of the poor (closing ones ears or shutting ones
eyes) is disavowed. The latter verse, like 22:9, also advocates generosity to the poor.60
Moreover each o f the proverbs employs participial forms when encouraging kindness to
the poor, intimating that the sayings, like other social justice proverbs (e.g., 14:31;
discussed in Chapter III) are perhaps concerned more with the hearers dispositions than
the performance of individual acts.61
The Divine Concern for the Poor
Proverbs 17:5 and 19:17 are both reminiscent of 14:31, which I treated in Chapter
III, and speak specifically of the relationship of the deity to the poor. They read:
npr Kb t k 1? noe? liroi? pn m b yvb

W hoever mocks the poor person, insults his maker. Whoever rejoices over anothers
misfortune will not go unpunished.62
i b ~ u iton *71 pin mrr nite

W hoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and will be repaid in full.
As in 14:31 (Whoever oppresses the poor insults his maker, but whoever is kind to the
needy honors him), both 17:5 and 19:17 motivate their claims by an appeal to the deity.
60 The first half of 28:27 is sometimes read as an ironic observation of a mechanistic moral order
similar to the way 11:24-25 sometimes is (see Chapter III above). See, for example, Whybray, Proverbs,
397, who alludes to 11:24-25 and writes: The affirmation that giving away part of ones wealth to the poor
will paradoxically lead to an increase in ones wealth or prosperity is made in various ways (italics
original).
61 In regard to 21:13 the participle is: 3otem (stopping); in 28:27 noten (giving), ma E m
(shutting). Proverbs 22:9 deploys a perfect form, natan (he gives).
62 The translation follows NJPS. The Greek renders T ftb as arrTToXXugEvcp suggesting a reading
o f " n a b . However, as Murphy writes in Proverbs, 127, perhaps the abstract is simply rendered as
concrete. Cf. further Fichtners notes in the BHS apparatus.
215
Each proverb promotes the virtue o f kindness to the poor and censures those who would
oppress them. In each, moreover, the poor person is the object of the sentence,
grammatically speaking. Like 14:31 as well, Proverbs 19:7 also deploys a term for the
poor that is particularly prevalent in the discourse of social justice (*71); Proverbs 17:5
uses tH (cf. 28:27; treated above).
Both 17:5 and 19:17 take up a cause and effect rhetoric and describe the desirable
and undesirable consequences of different kinds of conduct. In 17:5 (again like the first
half of 14:31) the rhetoric serves to censure a particular kind o f behaviormocking the
poor person. In 19:17 (similar to the second half of 14:31) the rhetoric encourages a
particular virtue showing kindness to the poor *71. Unlike many sayings that evoke the
Tun-Ergehen schema, however, in 17:5 and 19:7 cause and effect language is explicitly
associated with the deity, which may imply retribution comes directly from the divine
rather than as an inevitable consequence of a particular act.63 The rhetoric associates wise
and right conduct less with the true nature of the cosmos, as postulated by the wisdom
mythos, than with the one who created the cosmos by wisdom (cf. Prov. 8:22-31). Again
as in 14:31, the use of participles also hints that the texts concern is with the formation
o f the hearers dispositions.64
Royalty and Justice for the Poor
Just as Prov 28:15; 30:11-13; and 31:5-9 (all treated in Chapter III) highlight the
63 Cf. Klaus Koch, Gibt es ein Vergeltungsdogma im Alten Testament? Zeitschrift fiir Theologie
undKirche 52(1955): 1-42.
64 The participles of 17:5 are: Jo eg (mocking); of 19:17, malweh (lending), honen (being
generous). Instead of a participle, the second stich of 17:5 employs the substantivized adjective sameah
(one who rejoices).
216
role of political elites in maintaining justice for the poor, so too do 28:16 and 29:14.
However, these latter verses deploy an act-consequence rhetoric more clearly than the
others. They read:
cr y n r ru n m pran nm m ra n non
A prince w h o lacks understanding is very oppressive; he who spurns ill-gotten gains will
live long. (Prov 28:16)65
]it 12b ikdh rrb i rm n v z w pbo

A king who judges the poor honestly, his throne will be established forever. (Prov 29:14)
Like 29:7 (discussed in Chapter III), Prov 28:16, although it is cast in negative
terms, sets up a close relationship between a social virtue (right social conduct or not
oppressing) and a broad intellectual virtueunderstanding.66 With its allusion to the
oppressive prince, Prov 28:16 builds on the imagery of 28:15 (discussed in Chapter
III). This social justice proverb, recall, states: A roaring lion and a prowling bear is a
wicked man ruling a poor people (17TDIJ b2 OT) *7OT ppl DU n ]- "HN).
Proverbs 29:14s use of *71 (pi.) as an object of the right legal action of the king
intimates that this proverb, too, belongs to the social justice discourse.
The two verses (28:16 and 29:14) promulgate the ancient Near Eastern political or
royal ideology, which legitimated political powers to the extent that these insured a
65 The verse is difficult and the translation follows NIPS. Probably T V should be emended to
T V so that the first five words might be rendered something like a prince lacking in understanding
increases oppressions. The 3rdpers. sg. impf. verb appears to take as its subject the m. pi. const,
participle "WC reckoned as a collective. Cf. Murphy, Proverbs, 213; Toy, Proverbs, 501-02.
56 As is not uncommon in the wisdoms virtues discourse, the second half of 28:16 also intimates
that the injustice o f the ruler, like that of the sinners in ch. 1, has to do with attempts at acquiring, by unjust
means, wealth (11123) that ultimately will not benefit in that it cannot insure him of life or length o f days.
217
minimum standard o f justice and protection for societys poor and vulnerable.67However,
implicit in this promulgation of the ancient codes of social justice is the notion that the
monarchs failure to carry out his royal duties as defined in this royal ideology is
sufficient grounds for his rule to be declared illegitimate. If, as 29:14 suggests, a kings
rule is established through the enactment of justice, it follows that the failure to establish
justice would mean that a monarchs position is insecure. Along with sayings like 28:15
and the other royal social justice sayings discussed in Chapter III, these proverbs thus
divest rulers, whose reigns are characterized by injustice, of their authority.
Though one who was immersed in the wisdom mythos might more often than not
tend to view political realities as corresponding to the act-consequence assertions of lines
such as 28:16 and 29:14, whether or not in reality oppressive regimes lasted days or
decades is not as significant as the texts implicit claim that such a royal house or dynasty
/n
will not endure. For the sages it is not accumulating wealth through oppression or the
arbitrary exercise o f power that makes a king, but rather, as 29:14 suggests, the
establishment of justice.69 Proverbs such as 28:16 and 29:14 reflect the moral and
political values of a caste o f intellectual elites. Though ultimately conservative in not
actively seeking to undermine traditional political institutions, these scribes are not so
67 Cf. Prov 16:12; 20:28; 25:5; 29:4, all of which speak of the proper establishment (e.g., by
justice) of a monarchs rule.
58 Such a message would prove a particularly forceful, almost prophetic, critique of political or
imperial authority in both an 8th century and a post-exilic context. Though perhaps not emerging until the
Hellenistic period, the tales in Daniel and Esther explore similar themes o f the legitimacy and illegitimacy
of political power.
69 Such a moral impulse and critique is reminiscent of the episodes recounted in 1 Kings 21 and
Jer 22:13-18. In the former Jezebel encourages Ahab to act like a king and seize Naboths vineyard, an
action opposed by the prophet Elijah who, as a representative of more traditional Israelite tribal values,
apparently had other notions regarding the nature ofkingship. In the latter passage Jeremiah rhetorically
inquires of king Jehoiakim as to whether oppressive building projects or the establishment of justice is what
establishes royal authority.
218
uncritically. They formulate moral and political criteria and offer judgments based on
these criteria. The assertion that an unjust political figure who seeks unjust gain will not
increase his days, and the claim that an honest kings reign will last forever, are
obviously not straightforward observations of the world that might be empirically
verified. They are a part of Proverbs construction of a moral universe and identity for its
addressees which places a premium both on the individuals attainment of social virtue
and the realization of these values in social life.
The Discourse o f Social Observation in Proverbs 10-29 (31)
Characteristics
Up to this point we have been concentrating attention upon the various sayings in
Proverbs that comprise the wisdoms virtues discourse and the discourse of social justice.
There is, however, another group sayings in the book that make up a third distinct sub
discourse of wealth and poverty, which I call a discourse of social observation. Yet
unlike the books other two wealth and poverty discourses, the sayings belonging to the
discourse of social observation do in fact often appear simply to reflect the sages
scrutiny of their social world, including a recognition that the rich, and especially the
70
poor and poverty, are social givens. However, observations of socially important
categories and groups such as wealth and poverty/rich and poor are, as Bakhtins insights
regarding the social nature of discourse intimate (see the Introduction), never neutral.
Though the wealth and poverty sayings we now turn to are regularly cast in the indicative
70 The suggestion that the sages recognized the given-ness of social classes and did not respond
critically to them is common; see Chapter II above, and further, Murphy, Proverbs, 261; T. Donald, The
Semantic Field o f Rich and Poor in the Wisdom Literature of Hebrew and Accadian, OrAnt 2 (1964): 29;
Roger N. Whybray, Wealth and Poverty in the Book o f Proverbs (JSOTSup 99; Sheffield: JSOT, 1990), 61.
219
and function, more obviously than many proverbs already treated, as observations, they
too are doing something beyond observing. They present not unfiltered snapshots of
brute social fact. Rather, like the photo journalists art, they are composed and evaluative
statements that carry and reflect a particular perspective. They depict how things are,
but only as seen and evaluated within a set of particular assumptions and values.
The moral vision and patterns of language use discemable in the wisdoms virtues
and social justice discourses, i.e., the Gestalt of Proverbs, constitutes the set of
assumptions and values through which the discourse of social observation views what it
observes. This Gestalt, moreover, is the hermeneutical lens for understanding the moral
work that the sayings carry out rhetorically.
In short, the sayings belonging to the discourse of social observation offer social
critique and touch upon a range of topics (e.g., trust in YHWH, the value of social ties,
the precarious situation of the poor).71 On the one hand, sayings belonging to the
discourse of social observation often have to do with the same overvaluing of wealth, and
confusion of wealth with moral right, that was of concern to the wisdoms virtues
discourse. On the other hand, their critique often concerns the negative effects of poverty,
which the social justice discourse seeks to redress. In particular, the social observation
discourse highlights the adverse social effects produced by excessive lack or wealth and
often sets a certain kind of rich person in an unfavorable light.
71 This despite Pleins claims that the sages, though promoting charity, offered no such critique.
See J. David Pleins, Poverty in the Social World of the Wise, JSOT 37 (1987): 61-78. That they did not
offer it in the same way as did the prophets is certain and, in part, to be expected since the sages and
individual prophets probably emerged from and flourished in distinct, though not necessarily entirely
exclusive, socio-historical contexts. Nonetheless, sayings like Prov 21:3 (II'D] DS2JD1 HplH HOT;
m ? n m n , L 5 To do justice and righteousness is more desirable to the Lord than sacrifice) sound as if
they could have been uttered by Amos (cf. Am 4:4-5) or Isaiah of Jerusalem (cf. Is 1:10-20; cf. further 1
Sam 15:22).
220
Besides this common rhetorical thrust, however, the discourse of social
observation is also characterized by the fact that, like the discourse of social justice, it
employs the personal language of the poor person, but does not distinguish between the
use of the terms EH and *21. It also regularly takes up the personal language of the rich
person, notably preferring the substantivized adjective TTO (rich person)- Very often,
though not exclusively, this discourse will contrast the rich with the poor as well. Yet in
distinction to the social justice discourse, the poor person in the discourse of social
observation can appear as a grammatical subject. In contrast to the wisdoms virtues
discourse, however, this third sub-discourse of wealth and poverty never sets the poor
person as a subject in a comparative structure.
Excessive Wealth, Lack, and the Rich
On at least nine occasions Proverbs employs the substantivized adjective "Y0f72
Several of these cases belong to the discourse of social observation where the text
contrasts the rich with the poor and is critical of the former. Elsewhere the ill social
effects produced by excessive wealth or excessive lack are highlighted. Such lines thus
make more explicit the message of those sayings, which one occasionally encounters in
the other proverbial wealth and poverty discourses that begin to locate a danger to the life
of virtue with wealth (e.g., 15:17; 16:19; 17:1).
Consider first 10:15; 18:10-11; 18:23; and 22:7. Each text is cast in the indicative,
offers a particular perception of social reality, and is in some sense critical of that reality.
0*n it *71 nnna to rrnp t t o ]in
72 Prov 10:15; 14:20; 18:11, 23; 22:2, 7, 16; 28:6, 11.
221
The wealth of the rich is their fortress; the ruin of the poor is their poverty. (Prov 10:15)
ntm pman pm-m mm nTirbma

irpDem r\nw: nmnm itu rm p Ttou |in
The name of the Lord is a tower of strength to which the righteous person runs and is
safe.
The wealth of the rich person is his fortress; in his fancy it is a protective wall.73 (Prov
18: 10- 11)
m ip rtDir TtDui e tt - q t n m ]n n
The poor person speaks beseechingly. The rich persons answer is harsh. (Prov 18:23)
m ba crab mb 1 2 m biram Era teh?
The rich person rules over the poor and the borrower is a slave to the lender. (Prov 22:7)
Verses 10:15; 18:11a; 18:23; and 22:7 each may initially appear to be offering
nothing more than an observation of a social reality, namely that wealth secures certain
benefits. Delkurt, for instance, associates 10:15 with 13:8 (Wealth is a ransom for a
persons life, but the poor get no threats; NRSV) and suggests both proverbs underscore
the view that wealth can prove an advantage in a variety of circumstances, including a
bad harvest (so, his example in regard to 10:15), or even in the legal realm, where ones
wealth might free one even from a sentence of death (so, his understanding of 13:8).74
Murphy notes similarly: The point [of 10:15] seems so simple: Riches are a source of
73 On the relatively obscure and its likely meaning, fancy, imagination, see Ploger,
Spriiche Salomos, 212 and Whybray, Proverbs, 269. Fichtners BHS apparatus proposes an emendation
based on the Greek, but the MT is understandable and should be preserved; cf. Murphy, Proverbs, 134;
Clifford, Proverbs, 171.
74 Delkurt, Ethische Einsichten, 101-102. In my view, 13:8 does speak of an advantage that wealth
brings its possessor, but questions that value in that its usefulness is found in an adverse situation that the
wealth itself may have brought on.
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strength; poverty is ruinous. There is no intention of communicating here a moral lesson.
This is simply a reflection upon reality; that is the way things are.75 McKane relates
18:11 to 10:15 and believes the verse suggests simply that wealth affords security. The
rich persons wealth is a buffer protecting him against the whims and caprice of
circumstance.76 Toy also writes that 18:11 (together with 18:10) simply states a fact.
Although he suggests the verse appears to say that wealth is a protection not really, Toy
believes this sentiment belongs to a redactor and verse 11a would better be read and like
a high wall is his riches.77 Similarly Murphy compares 18:11 to 10:15, noting that it
expresses an obvious fact: riches are a protection, though he also recognizes a level of
critique or bite in the rhetoric o f imagination or fancy.78 Likewise Whybray regards
18:23 as a neutral comment on a fact of social life and relationships, i.e., as a
description of the way things are.79 Though he rightly believes 22:7 may contain an
75 Murphy (P roverbs , 74). However, relating the line to 18:11 Murphy does indicate that these
sayings have a way of prompting new perspectives. Similarly, Van Leeuwen, in Proverbs, NIB 5:111,
states the saying has no moral or spiritual judgments attached (cf. v. 4). But the picture is more complex,
as the proverb pair in 18:10-11 shows (cf. 10:29). Cf. Toy, Proverbs, 208, who writes: There is probably
no ethical thought in the proverb the sense is that wealth smoothes ones path in life, bringing supply o f
bodily needs, guarding against the attacks of the powerful, and giving social consideration. . . while the
poor man is exposed to bodily and social privations. See further Friedemann W. Golka, The Leopards
Spots: Biblical and African Wisdom in Proverbs (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993), 65 who suggests 10:15
offers a neutral view o f wealth and poverty. Cf. Whybray, Proverbs, 165.
76 McKane, Proverbs, 516-17.
77 Toy, Proverbs, 361.
78 Murphy, Proverbs, 136; cf. Whybray, Proverbs, 268-69.
79 Whybray, P roverbs, 274. Whether 18:23 is describing a single or typical encounter is not
completely clear, though the latter is most likely. Cf. McKane, Proverbs, 518, who calls the verse an acute
observation. The line is factual rather than condemnatory. This is just the way of the world. Delkurt,
Ethische Einsichten, 117, similarly writes that, This sentence saying records an observation without
drawing out a consequence for any of the participants (Dieser Sentenz halt schlicht eine Beobachtungfest,
ohne eine Konsequenzfllr einen der Beteiligten zu ziehen). Delkurt relates the statement to 22:7 as well. In
regard to this latter verse, see McKane {Proverbs, 566) who considers the line the product of a close
observer of Israelite society. It is a frank recognition of the power o f wealth and must be regarded as a
factual statement about the power of money. Cf. Clifford, Proverbs 197. Murphy, Proverbs, 165, and
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implicit warning about falling into debt, for him this proverb also is ostensibly simply a
statement about the harsh facts of life.80 Van Leeuwen, too, recognizes an implicit
warning in 22:7 but also characterizes the proverb as a straightforward observation.81
Yet if the wealth verses cited above reflect simple observations of the way things
are, in the context of the book the lines are somewhat incongruous. This apparent
incongruity, however, does not necessarily suggest that the proverbial discourse of wealth
and poverty is hopelessly ambiguous. It can also be viewed as an invitation to the wise
and discerning reader to consider the meshalim more closely as sayings which name
something that is, but ought not to be. The Gestalt of Proverbs, already established by
the wisdoms virtues and social justice sayings treated above, I contend, constitutes a
perspective for discerning what sort of observations these are.
For example, just as the wisdoms virtues discourse highlighted the limited value
of wealth by evoking the ephemeral nature of riches and subordinating wealths worth to
that of virtue, so too 18:11 critiques a trust in ones wealth by labeling this an illusion.
Moreover, by explicitly naming the T D the verse caricatures this class or type of
person as one which typically does trust in wealth. Such a person is one who embodies
that implicit but real social script which, as far as Proverbs is concerned, overvalues
wealth or wrongly considers it to have significant worth outside the economic realm.
Whybray, Proverbs, 320, regard at least the first half of 22:7 similarly, though these also hint that the line
as a whole also may contain a critique.
81 Van Leeuwen, Proverbs, NIB 5:198.
224
Hence the saying in 18:11, at least for one who attempts to discern the books tropes and
figures, also functions more generally as a critique of a certain kind of rich person.82
This critical function o f 18:11 is particularly evident if one reads the line with the
immediately preceding verse 10.83 According to this verse it is not wealth that affords
protection, but rather a certain kind of piety that characterizes the virtuous, i.e., the
righteous, person. When the two sayings (w . 10 and 11) are read together, the rich
person who trusts in wealth for protection is contrasted with the righteous one who tmsts
in the Lord. In the context of the books Gestalt, especially its two ways discourse, this
functions not merely to color negatively the rich person, but to associate that person
morally and symbolically with the wicked and fool, the entire way o f folly and
wickedness.
Proverbs 10:15, which shares an identical initial stich with 18:11, is not so
explicit in its negative evaluation oftheTEJU as is 18:10-11. The wealth of the rich
person in 10:15 is not labeled an illusion. The verse appears more as a neutral observation
and read in isolation might even be suggesting a positive role for riches. The riches of
10:15, like a fortified city, might be thought to protect their possessor from unforeseen
disaster. This at least appears to be what the rich person in the saying believes and is also,
82 Prov 13:23 might likewise be said to belong to those proverbial observations that critique the
reality they observe. It reads in the NRSV: The field of the poor (1E7ftl) may yield much food, but it is
swept away through injustice (BSOT ft *23).
83 As do many commentators. See, for example, Whybray, Proverbs, 269; Clifford, Proverbs, 171;
Meinhold, Die Spruche, 2:303. The similar images of fortifications as well as a shared vocabulary (ZUC3 in
v. 10 and rQJEJD in v. 11) suggest reading 18:10 and 18:11 together is warranted.
225
as I intimated above, what many commentators suggest when speaking of the worth
wealth holds for the sages of Proverbs.84
Such a view, however, is a misapprehension of the value Proverbs places on
wealth. As the wisdoms virtues discourse suggests, wealth holds limited value for the
sages outside o f the economic realm. The mashal of 10:15 clearly contrasts the rich
person with the poor person whose lack results in the absence of the same kind o f social
safety net that the rich persons wealth might be thought to supply. This, however, is not
a simple neutral perception of a social given, for the instructing voice calls such a
situation disastrous. The poverty of the poor is their ruin. It may be that the
instructing voice o f 10:15 knows as well that the overvaluing of wealth, the unbridled
quest for economic profit that can make one rich, can also lead to ruinous
competitiveness and brutality, creating a human environment that does not embody the
social virtues the prologue highlights.
The wisdoms virtues discourse and the social justice discourse also provide a
hermeneutical framework for understanding Prov 18:23 and 22:7. Like 10:15, both of
these lines also gesture toward a critique of a situation where the poors lack of economic
resources leave them vulnerable. Proverbs 18:23 states that the poor person speaks with
petitions and that the rich person answers the poor tH harshly.85 The rhetoric here is
literally the language of strength. The replies strongly (TT1TI7), and the
84 See the writers cited in n. 68 and n. 69.
85 The root ] -3-PI often, though not exclusively, is taken up by the discourse o f social justice and
characterizes the wise and righteous persons conduct toward the poor as, e.g., in 14:21, 31; 19:17; 28:8.
As here in 18:23, elsewhere in HB (e.g., the Psalms) the term is found on the lips of the one who petitions
the divine. It (]3I1) is the language of one in need speaking to one who is able, and in some sense, obligated
to meet those needsbe it the neighbor, king, or deity.
226
implication is that the rich person arrogantly does not feel himself bound by the poor
persons claim. Excessive lack has put the poor person in a vulnerable social position,
and excessive wealth has led the rich person to locate his source o f strength or security,
not in YHWH or community ties that would oblige him to respond differently, but in
riches.
Similarly 22:7 offers a far from neutral observation about the social world of the
wise. What the saying observes is that significant inequalities in the distribution of
wealth are intimately related to particular economic practices. Despite the use of the root
(to rule), the line is not alluding explicitly to a royal or political figure. Rather
it highlights simply the unequal social control or power resulting from inequalities in the
economic sphere. The verses second stich is somewhat explicit, not only in regard to
how this inequality in power can get played out in economic terms (e.g., one borrows
instead of lends), but as regards the larger social effect it can bring about (the borrower
becomes slave to the lender). The observation that the poor person and borrower
becomes subject to and slaves of the rich lender, moreover, is constructed from
language which, in Bakhtins terms, has led a particularly charged social life. The
rhetoric of slavery in particular would be especially forceful to the Israelite imagination
attuned to the great national narrative of the Exodus.
Although 10:15 and 22:7 may represent the way the world is, the books social
justice discourse, which has constituted the poor as a class of moral concern, provides a
critical perspective for discerning what sort of observation each statement constitutes.
Both are an articulation o f the fact that something is, but ought not to be; and in both
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verses, the instructions particularly resonate images, implicitly critiques the reality it
observes.
The Critique o f Wealths Social Ties
Several other sayings, which do not explicitly contrast the rich person with the
poor person, also belong to the wealth and poverty sub-discourse of social observation.
These proverbs highlight the nature and kinds of social ties that wealth both produces and
severs. However, when one understands these proverbs in dialogue with the other two
wealth and poverty discourses in Proverbs, it becomes clear that the observations, which
appear to speak positively of wealths social role, also contain an implicit critique.
Consider the following:
Qrmi m wur inmb-m

A poor person is despised even by his peers; but a rich person has many friends. (Prov
14:20)86
n s 1 inm n bn o m crm |in

Wealth makes many friends, but a poor person looses his last friend. (Prov 19:4)87
]nd crab xnrrbm ib n c n n
Many court the favor of a great man, and all are the friends of a dispenser of gifts. (Prov
19:6)
86 Although the poor person here appears acted upon, a state of affairs which is most typical of the
discourse of social justice, the 2D is actually the subject of the niphal verb.
87 Although the first stich of 19:4 does not use the substantivized adjective TEII? (which is
common in the discourse of social observation), the noun] Til (wealth) functions as its equivalent. The
term is a favorite of the wisdoms virtues discourse, but is not exclusive to that discourse. As it is
contrasted with the poor person (the one experiencing exceptional lack), it appears the text in 19:4 has in
mind not simply wealth but excessive wealth. The word here is essentially metonymy for the person with
wealthi.e., the rich person.
228
[ n n r 1? e t - i d k ^ t i d ] id d d p m in in D ^ in tutB c r r n R b3
All the brothers of a poor person despise him. How much more is he shunned by his
friends [ . . . ] . (Prov 19:7)88
Each saying is cast in the indicative and can be said to reflect a genuine scrutiny of social
reality.89 Most commentators, for instance, understand the proverbs as observations of the
real social advantages wealth can provide and as a recognition of the given-ness of
on
social-economic stratification. Such a social situation, however, is not immediately or
explicitly evaluated as negative.91 In fact, if one were to read 14:20b, 19:4a, and 19:6b
together but in isolation, wealths social effect might be regarded as exclusively positive
(cf. 10:15a) 92 This, for instance, is Meinholds view. He writes: That which 10:15a
says about the certain security that wealth offers, is not questioned. Also not challenged is
what according to 19:4 is an advantage of wealth, namely that it creates friends.93
88 The third line o f 19:7 is anomalous. Its relation to the first two lines is not clear and it is omitted
in the translation given here. The Ketiv reads: nQiTN1? DlDK ^ 7 7 0 ; the Qere is HOm*? DHOR
S)7IQ. If one reads the K the line might be rendered (one) pursuing words not these and understood to be
modifying, via a m. sg. part., one of the brothers or friends (plural) of the poor person who abandon him. If
so, the line would suggest that in their rejection of their poor kin or fellow these brothers or friends are
following a way that is not wisdoms. However, there is no agreement in number between the second and
third stichs. Cf. Murphy, Proverbs, 141; McKane, Proverbs, 527; and Fichtners notes in the BHS
apparatus.
89 Proverbs 19:4, 6, and 7 were likely intentionally grouped together by a redactor.
90 In regard to 14:20, see Murphy, Proverbs, 105; Delkurt, Ethische Einsichten, 100; Whybray,
Proverbs, 218-19; McKane, Proverbs, 471. On 19:4, see Murphy, Proverbs, 142; Delkurt, Ethische
Einsichten, 100. On 19:6 and 7, see Murphy, Proverbs, 143; Delkurt, Ethische Einsichten, 100; McKane,
Proverbs, 526.
91 The case in 17:8, where a precious stone (or perhaps a bribe) appears to produce positive
affects for its bearer, is analogous. It reads: riJIZr 5733 I1S i n T O T TlEm ]ITpK ; A
precious stone is a charm in the eyes o f its possessor; wherever he turns he succeeds.
92 Proverbs 19:7 tells the same story as the other sayings, but from an opposite social position. The
poor person looses his friends because o f his poverty.
93 Meinhold, D ie Spriiche, 1:187. Damit wird nicht in Frage gestellt, was 10,15a iiber die
229
Though such an understanding is not entirely incorrect, the sayings are not
completely neutral statements about the way things are. This set of sayings, which speak
of wealths social benefits, is also explicit regarding the negative social consequences of
excessive lack (cf. 20:15b): various social connections are severedbe it friends (14:20;
19:4) or even kin (19:7). In these meshalim, moreover, the behavior of the brothers and
friends, who despise the one in need, transgresses the principles of the social justice
discourse that insist one show kindness to the poor. This fact indicates that these
observations are functioning simultaneously as social critiques. Indeed 14:20 is
immediately followed in v. 21 by a proverb belonging to the discourse of social justice:94
vim n'vv pinm mn in in 'r n

The one who despises his friend is wrong; the one who shows pity for the poor is
happy.95
That v. 21 is in some sense intended as a response to v. 20 is clear, for instance,
from the fact that the first stich of both verses begin with a one syllable word linked by a
maqqep to a following iniH*? while the last word of v. 21, THEM (happy is he) plays
on the (rich) in the second stich of v. 20 (cf. 16:20). Though the verbal
terminology of the first half of each of the two verses is not identical (83 E? [to hate] vs.
T*Q [to despise]), the fact that each root connotes strong negative emotions or
gewisse Sicherheit sagt, die der Reichtum bietet (vgl. aber 18,11). Auch wird nicht bestritten, was nach
19,4 ein Vorzug des Besitzes ist, dass er namlich Freunde schafft."
94 In 14:21 the terminology for the poor, as is typical for the discourse of social justice, is the
substantivized adjective, the plural D H i}, who are also objects acted upon rather than subjects who act.
The verse functions to promote in the hearer the virtue of kindness to the poor by declaring the one who
acts graciously (] D1FID) to the lowly to be happy or blessed.
95 Reading the Ketiv a naylm rather than the Qere a nawim.
230
affections also ties the two lines together. But if verse 20 states the social observation
the way the world isand only implicitly critiques that status, verse 21 states wisdoms
evaluation more unequivocally. The one who despises a neighbor in verse 20 is said in
verse 21 to have simply missed the mark. That person, like the robbers in chapter one,
is a sinner ÊDFT, a characterization which obviously situates this person and such conduct
on the way of folly.96
The insistence of this set of social observation sayings that excessive lack severs
social relationships also ironically calls into question the nature and stability of the social
relationships described in the sayings. If the relative lack or excess of material wealth is
the operative variable in the number of social ties, the nature of those social ties is likely
uncertain when this variable is in play. The observations, in fact, imply that when this
variable is operative, social bonds are likely weak. The rhetorical force of 14:20a, 19:4b,
and 19:6 lies in the recognition that the tie that binds the friends to the rich person is
not the rich persons character, nor the values and obligations of community or family,
but only the possession of the more ephemeral and unpredictable wealth (cf. 23:4-5). By
observing how both excessive wealth and excessive lack produce fragile social ties
instead of firm bonds like those based on kinship and friendship, each verse implicitly
critiques the economic context that produces such fragile ties.
Proverbs, however, offers not only a critique regarding the weak social ties that
wealth produces, it also offers a positive counterpoint in sayings such as 17:17; 18:24;
and 27:10a and c:
96 For the association of sin and sinners (NDf!) with the way of folly and wickedness, see 5:22;
8:36; 10:16; 11:31, etc.
231
iVr nnnb rmi inn nn n irte

A friend loves at all times; a brother is bom for adversity.
ma p m nrm m m n n n 1? oîn m
There are friends who are to appear as friends; but there is one who loves and clings
closer than a brother.97
mnp pcu mts rp ra DV2 ainrr'uK y n x nm] yziK nun pm
pinn d
Do not abandon your own friend or the friend of your father; [do not go to your
kins house on the day of your disaster;] better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far
off.98
In each of these sayings the importance of social ties based on something other than
material riches is underscored. For Proverbs, it is not wealth that has genuine value in
adversity (17:17) or in the day of disaster, as the wisdoms virtues discourse surely also
knows (e.g., 11:4). Rather it is familial and communal ties; and the wise or virtuous
person will attend to these obligations.
97 The translation of 18:24 assumes an emendation of the first word of the verse, from MTs ETN
to E71. Certain LXX MSS, the Syriac, and the Targum follow this reading as well; see Fichtners BHS
apparatus. In the MT the third word of the verse (18:24) is derived from W 1 , to be bad, displeasing.
However, the above translation follows the versions which seem to read instead the Htd of ni)"l, appear as
friends. The sense is that there are two types of friends: those who seem to be friends, but whose ties to a
person are perhaps based on unreliable things such as wealth, and those who are true friends. Cf. Murphy,
Proverbs, 134; Whybray, Proverbs, 274; Toy, Proverbs, 366-67.
98 The middle stich of 27:10 may be a gloss. See Toy, Proverbs, 486. The verse nonetheless makes
sense. The point perhaps is that the hearer ought not to intrude unduly upon his kins household. Even if
there might be some expectation that kin should assist kin in days of distress, the verse may be suggesting
that the one in need ought not to initiate this aspect o f the relationship. On the other hand, if the second
stich is read with the third, together they may simply underscore the value o f a geographically close and
reliable friend over a relative who is at some remove. Fichtners BHS notes suggest reading TDD instead of
N inn in the middle stich so that the demand is that one not curse his kins house in the day of distress.
Toy, Proverbs, 486, suggests the stichs negative should be deleted.
232
Ironic Wealth and Poverty Sayings
A number o f wealth and poverty sayings that appear as ironic observations also
begin to make more sense when understood in light of Proverbs moral and literary
Gestalt. Consider the following sayings:
31 pm ronm bz pw ~\wr\n er
One person shows himself to be rich and has nothing; another shows himself to be poor
and has much wealth. (Prov 13:7)"
twain ir n pmnb ]ish D^rnm r n r died
A good person has what to bequeath to his grandchildren; the wealth of sinners is stored
up for the righteous. (Prov 13:22)100
m in r a -p |r a ib m n m b b i p r a
Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, will lead only to
loss. (Prov 22:16)101
lamp1 jnnb rrmrni -\vn idih m io

The one who increases his wealth by loans at discount or interest amasses it for one who is
generous to the poor. (Prov 28:8)102
As with several other sayings already considered, the claims of 13:22; 22:16; and
28:8 are problematic for some commentators who understand Proverbs to reflect a
wisdom prosperity axiom in a more or less straightforward manner. For example, Van
102 The translation follows NJPS. The economic terms in this verse resonate with other texts in
HB. Cf., for example, Ex 22:24; Lev. 25:36; Deut 23:20. See further, Whybray, Proverbs, 391.
Leeuwen believes 13:22 extends the act-character-consequence schema.. .to reflect
Gods generosity over generations and that in unexpected ways the good inherit what
sinners wrongly took or used. The line, he believes, provides one solution to apparent
failures in the pattern of retribution: Things will be made right in the generations to
come. 103 In regard to 22:16, Whybray notes that the first stich might not only suggest
that it is the poor b l whose wealth will ironically increase, but that the line appears to
run entirely counter to the spirit of these proverbs and seems even to encourage the
oppression of the poor rather than, as would be expected, to promise the ruin o f the
wicked. He speculates that 22:16 might even be a verse where two originally
unconnected fragments have been erroneously set side by side because of their formal
parallelism.104 In regard to 28:8 he suggests the point of the verse is that while one man
may extort money from the poor by usury, his heir may be a generous person who pays
it back through gifts to the poor.105
However, these proverbial observations need not be understood in such literalistic
terms. Indeed, like several sayings treated above, it is not clear that any sort of empirical
observation would bear out the kinds of claims the sayings themselves seem to articulate
and which the commentators cited seem to reiterate. Rather through their act-
consequence rhetoric, the proverbs can be seen to reflect the claim of the wisdom mythos
that the structures of the cosmos favor the life of virtue. At the same time the lines
103 Van Leeuwen, Proverbs, NIB 5:134.
234
highlight the importance o f particular social virtuesparticularly the notion that justice
be shown the poor and that it be embodied in economic practices.
Proverbs 13:7 is likewise a kind of observation that it would be difficult to
verify in any empirical fashion, since the text itself claims appearances are not always
reliable. Murphy, for instance, suggests the saying may be an observation that simply
states the fact that appearances are deceiving so that no moral issue need be
involved. However, he also recognizes that the proverb prompts other legitimate lines of
questioning that might have to do, among other things, with whether the wealth of the
poor person consists] in another order of values, such as dependence upon God.
Ultimately however, he seems not to favor such lines of inquiry since they go beyond
the literal sense of the proverb, which he believes results in one losing sight of the
irony implicit in the literal sense.106Whybray, too, seems concerned that any
interpretation of the line which considers the line to be more than a simple observation
is in danger of overinterpretation.107
However, besides hinting that one should not judge by appearances, or that one
cannot conceal ones true circumstances, etc., the proverb is also concerned with
saying something about the true locus of value in human life.108 Though one may appear
rich, if this person lacks the virtues of wisdoms ways (which the robbers behavior in
chapter one indicates may result in conduct contrary to the establishment of justice and
equity), he is, in the symbolic world established especially by the wisdoms virtues
235
discourse, in fact poor. Likewise though one may lack material goods, if this person
possesses wisdoms valuable virtues, he might legitimately declared in possession of
much wealth. Whybray himself recognizes that such a reading, which he associates with
Oesterley, in fact may be in accordance with wisdom teaching. However, he ultimately
rejects such broader interpretations because it is not what the text says.109Though
Whybray is right that 13:7 does not literally state that wealth and poverty are to be
regarded figuratively, the Gestalt of Proverbs demands that the lines not be read only
literally. Indeed when they are they must largely remain, in Murphys language,
paradoxical and ambiguous.110
To the ironic sayings just considered one might also add Prov 22:2 and 29:13.
These read:
m rr n bn n m 10222 e m T 0 0
A rich person and a poor person meet; the Lord is the maker of them all.111
m rr n m e? 1022.1 m m n 0 ^ 1 m
A poor person and a fraudulent person meet; the Lord gives light to the eyes of both of
them.
Proverbs 22:2 contrasts the rich person with the poor person, a feature which is not
uncommon to the discourse of social observation. Clearly 29:13 is closely related to 22:2.
Both employ the term 0 1 and the verb 022. Each also relates the poor person and the
rich person or fraudulent person to the deity. Certain scholars, such as Kaiser and Pleins
236
intimate that the sayings offer the observation that the sages believed rich and poor are
simple social givens and that such social stratification is ordained by God.112 Others view
the proverbs to be underscoring the fundamental equality between rich' and poor (or the
fraudulent person), which their status as YHWHs creatures establish.113 This view rightly
recognizes the proverb to be offering a kind of critique of contexts where the disparities
between rich and poor are great. The fact that in 29:13 the poor person is paired with the
fraudulent person and not simply the rich person as in 22:2 indicates as well that the two
sayings recognize disparities in wealth may be the result of injustice. The critique the two
lines offer is underscored initially when each is read in light of the other and more
fundamentally when one reads both in light of the books moral and literary Gestalt.
The Woman of Worth
A further final, and slightly different, example of the manner in which the various
discourses of wealth and poverty in Proverbs interact and stand in mutually interpreting
dialogue with one another can be discerned in the acrostic poem o f Prov 31:10-31, which
describes the bTt HTO (woman of worth).114 This poems wealth and poverty rhetoric
might be said at points to belong to any one of the three discourses of wealth and poverty.
However the wisdoms virtues discourse and the discourse of social justice are most
obviously represented.
112 Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Old Testament Promise of Material Blessings and the
Contemporary Believer, TrinJ 9 (1998): 151-170; Pleins, Social World, 69.
113 Whybray, Proverbs, 318; Murphy, Proverbs, 165.
114 Proverbs 12:4 also alludes to a woman of worth.
237
Whether the DEJK should be understood primarily as a personification of
wisdom, the ideal wife o f an ancient patriarchal imagination, or in some sense as a
description of a particular class of women in Persian or Hellenistic period Syria-
Palestine, remains the subject of some debate.115 Probably the depiction of the figure
draws from each possibility and works on all three levels. Yet certainly the description of
the woman of worth shares a number of characteristics with personified Wisdom in
chapters 1-9 and is reminiscent of Proverbs descriptions of the value of virtue as this
imager emerges throughout the wisdoms virtues discourse.116 The poem, for instance,
begins with a series o f images that celebrate the woman of worths diligencea virtue
highly valued by the wisdoms virtues discourse.117 The texts opening lines also liken her
value specifically to material riches. Verses 10-11 read:
rraa dtbd prrn b ^ n nm
- o r n1? bbw\ nbsjn n1? m nm

A woman of worth who can find her? Her worth is far beyond that cf rubies.
Her husband puts his confidence in her and lacks no good thing.118
The value of the ^ n ' n here, like the worth of Woman Wisdom in 3:15, is
expressed via an economic rhetoric of exchange. Although the terminology of value or
worth is not identical with that of earlier chapters (in 3:15 IftD vs. DG in 31:10; but
115 Christine Roy Yoder reviews the history of the question in Wisdom as a Woman o f Substance:
A Socio-Economic Reading o f Proverbs 1-9 and 31:10-31 (BZAW 304; Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 2001), 1-13.
116 Yoder lists a number of similarities between the woman of valor and personified Wisdom in
Woman o f Substance, 91-93.
117 For instance, she sets her hand to wool and flax; she rises early to secure provisions; she
acquires an estate; she plants a vineyard; etc.
238
cf. 31:18), the imagery is analogous and she is said specifically to be of greater worth
than *n ]3 (rubies), just as personified Wisdom is in 3:15.119

I
This linguistic link between the description of Wisdom and the woman of worth is
striking. However the suggestion that the ^Tl will bring material prosperity to the
one who finds her is also strikingly reminiscent of the rhetoric Proverbs persistently
makes use of in order to value wisdom and its virtues. The poem, for instance, proclaims
the possessor or husband of the woman of worth (H literally her owner vs. a
possible ntTK, her husband) will lack fiDf!) no good thing (bb\D). Recall that it is
in part with bbtf!) (loot) that the sinners in chapter one attempted to lure the son on to
their way. The instructing voice, however, insisted the robbers could not deliver on their
promise and later claimed that Wisdom herself possesses her own kind of enduring
wealth (pni> ]"!!"!; see 8:18). Now at the end of the book, the text proclaims the one who
is the woman of valors husband will in fact not lack the valuable things (i.e., bblD) that
the sinners promised. Even the designation that this woman is a woman of worth (^"TI)
reminds the hearer of the manner in which the wisdoms virtues discourse continually
insists on wisdoms value in economic terms.
Recall as well that chapters 1-9 also deployed erotic, marriage imagery to
persuade the hearer to pursue and acquire desirable Wisdom as he might a wife.120Like
Wisdom in 4:9, who promises to honor the one who acquires or marries her, the
119 That is, reading the Ketiv of 3:15; 'n 3SD.
120 This, recall, is largely Yoders thesis in Woman o f Substance. She argues that the description of
Woman Wisdom in chapters 1-9 is based on real Persian period women of substance, like the one described
in 31:10-31.
239
woman of worth in chapter 31 brings her possessor or husband not only wealth and other
material goods (e.g., in v. 11; cf. 12-19), but also high social status. As v. 23 states: Her
husband is prominent in the gate. The one who acquires or owns the woman of Prov
31:10-31, like the one who acquires wisdom elsewhere in Proverbs, indeed finds
something o f great worth.121
All these correlations make it likely that on some level the woman of worth o f
Prov 31:10-31 is to be identified not only with that other woman Proverbs highly values,
Woman Wisdom, but with the virtue for which she is a personification. Notice too,
however, how the description of the woman of substance proceeds in 31:20:
ir n K 1? rrT i n tzn s h sd
She opens her hand to the poor. She stretches out her hands to the needy.122
Here the poet employs the substantivized adjectives DU and fTDN, who are objects of
the womans action, to describe how she acts on behalf of specifically the poor. The
vocabulary and syntax of the line is typical of proverbs that belong to the social justice
discourse. Among the virtues the woman of worth possesses is kindness to the poor, that
integral component of the economic ethic Proverbs attempts to construct for its hearers
through the discourse of social justice.
The poem o f Prov 31:10-31 thus incorporates at least two of the sub-discourses of
wealth and poverty in its description of the woman of worth. The wisdoms virtues
discourse underscores the womans (and hence wisdoms) desirability in terms of wealth
121 Cf. Claudia V. Camp, Wisdom and the Feminine in the Book o f Proverbs (Sheffield: Almond,
1985), 60, who in discussing Bernhard Langs Frau Weisheit (p. 157), speaks of the personification of
wisdom representing the unlimited value of the wisdom o f the school.
240
images. The rhetoric of v. 20 highlights the fact that the virtue o f kindness to the poora
virtue typical of the social justice discourse, but which also belongs to wisdoms wayis
also a virtue this woman possesses. Because the woman of worth is at least in part a
cipher for Wisdom/wisdom, v. 20 functions to remind the hearer that the truth about
wealth and poverty in Proverbs is not only what the wisdoms virtues discourse has to
say. This truth also lies with the discourse of social justice, as well as the discourse of
social observation. In the midst of a struggle to persuade its hearers that the locus of true
value in human life lies with wisdoms virtues rather than any lesser good such as
material riches, Proverbs at the same time insists that the virtues of social justice both
belong to wisdoms way and ought to be realized in social life. Hence, when considered
through an examination o f its wealth and poverty rhetoric, the book o f Proverbs, as many
have noted for other reasons, appropriately closes with the poem to the Woman of
Worth.123
123 See, for instance, Camp, Wisdom and the Feminine, 255.
241
CONCLUSION
Although the sages view of wealth and poverty in Proverbs is generally described
as ambiguous, such an evaluation is not entirely accurate. Although complex, being
comprised of three distinct sub-discourses, the books talk of wealth and poverty is more
coherent than is usually thought and plays an integral role in the books construction of a
moral vision for its reader or hearer.
The key to recognizing the coherence o f Proverbs discourse of wealth and
poverty is the recognition of the texts figurative interpretive possibilities. The books
prologue, which articulates the primary virtues and goals of Proverbs, itself invites the
wise and discerning reader at the outset of the instruction to consider the books tropes
and figures. With various individual meshalim, other internal cues, such as the difficulties
or absurdities posed by a literal interpretation, likewise point to the texts figurative
qualities. Moreover, the literary form which well over half of the book takesthe short,
sentence sayingis reminiscent of traditional folk proverbs, which regularly employ
metaphor and function metaphorically in the sense that they are generally deployed to say
something about human life. This fact about folk proverbs ought to encourage the hearer
or reader of Proverbs to be attentive to the metaphorical aspects and functions of the
formally similar sentence sayings. Finally, the books cause and effect rhetoric, which
reveals an act-consequence nexus (or in relation to wealth and poverty language, a
wisdom prosperity axiom), I argued is not the kind of language one takes literally, despite
the regular efforts o f interpreters to read its promises as literal assurances based on the
sages observation of the world. Although many of the sages literary formulations seem
to suggest that the wisdom they proffer was arrived at via observation of social and
242
natural realities, the Tun-Ergehen Zusammenhang promotes a narrative of the world that
is not, and is not meant to be, an empirically verifiable one. Rather it motivates adherence
to instruction by offering a particular claim about the true nature of the cosmos, the
structure of which favors (or rewards) virtue and opposes (or punishes) vice. This
wisdom mythos is the symbolic world that makes adherence to the values and virtues that
the book promotes both meaningful and possible.
Although a cause and effect rhetoric can be found in sayings belonging to each of
the three sub-discourses of wealth and poverty, it is particularly prevalent in the largest of
the three: the wisdoms virtues discourse. This discourse emerges most clearly in
chapters 10-29 (31). However, those sayings in Proverbs 1-9 discussed in Chapter II
under the rubric of wealth as motivational symbol likewise belong to the books
wisdoms virtues discourse. This discourse repeatedly employs the language of wealth as
a symbol of the positive in order to convince the hearer of the value and desirability of
wisdoms way, or particular virtues which belong to that path. This in turn functions to
motivate the son to choose that way. Likewise, the instructing voice employs the rhetoric
of poverty as a negative motivational symbol to persuade the reader of the undesirability
of the way of folly and the vices associated with that way so that the hearer might avoid
that path. Distinctively, the sayings that employ wealth and poverty rhetoric in this
manner are almost always cast in the indicative and the terminology they use (except in
chs. 1-9) is predominantly of an abstract or impersonal nature (either nominal or verbal).
The lexemes HOP and] HI (along with cognate forms) are the most common words for
riches and wealth while EPI and 110110 dominate the discourse of poverty. Only in the
comparative better than sayings does the wisdoms virtues discourse employ the more
243
personal language of the rich (but only once), and especially the poor, person. However,
unlike other sub-discourses of wealth and poverty, when these comparative sayings speak
of the poor they always use the substantivized participle S2D and set this figure as a
grammatical subject.
Like the wisdoms virtues discourse, the wealth and poverty sub-discourse of
social justice in Proverbs can be found throughout the variety of collections that make up
the book. It too emerges most clearly in the sayings of chapters 10-29 (31), but also can
be discerned in chapters 1-9. The meshalim of the early chapters discussed in sections
dealing with direct instruction in Chapter II belong to this sub-discourse. The discourse
of social justice, moreover, likewise possesses its own distinctive characteristics. Unlike
the wisdoms virtues discourse, however, the social justice discourse commonly employs
a personal vocabulary for the poor. The terms *T1, UU, and ]TQN, who in any particular
verse are exclusively grammatical objects acted upon (rather than active subjects), are the
preferred vocabulary. Again in distinction to the wisdoms virtues discourse, the
discourse of social justice does not employ the rhetoric of wealth and poverty to a larger
didactic end. It does not use the language of wealth and poverty as textual symbols of the
positive and negative in order to motivate the son to choose the way of wisdom or acquire
particular virtues associated with wisdom. It is concerned primarily with constructing for
the hearer or reader a particular economic ethic. When it speaks of the poor (it rarely
alludes to the rich), it instructs the addressee to act concretely in kind and just ways
toward specifically these economically marginalized persons. In so doing, the social
justice discourse seeks to instill in this addressee its primary virtue: kindness to the poor.
This virtue is of a piece with the books larger concern with social justice and harmony,
244
as is the discourses concern that one act fairly and honestly in the market place by
employing accurate weights and measures. The sub-discourse of social justice in
Proverbs also belongs to a larger biblical and ancient Near Eastern discourse of social
maintenance. The vocabulary, imagery, and other linguistic features characteristic of the
proverbial discourse of social justice reverberates not only in wisdom texts like Job, but a
variety of Psalms as well as a number of the Bibles legal and prophetic passages.
Ancient Near Eastern texts as varied as the Aqhat legend, Hammurabis code, and
Amenemope likewise treat similar motifs and employ an analogous rhetoric. One should
note as well that this broader biblical and ancient Near Eastern discourse is often
concerned not with the welfare of the poor alone, but also with other perennially (and
stereotypically) vulnerable social groups like the widow and orphan. For the sake of
completeness one should thus include within the sub-discourse of social justice in
Proverbs sayings like 15:25 and 23:10, which promote kindness toward these other social
groups or types as well.
Finally there is a group of sayings in Proverbs that make up a third sub-discourse
of wealth and poverty: the discourse of social observation. Although many wealth and
poverty sayings in the book, which appear to offer straightforward observations o f the
world, actually function toward larger rhetorical ends, sentences belonging to this third
discourse of wealth poverty are in fact largely concerned to offer some kind of comment
regarding the observed world. These sentences often set the rich and poor person in
parallel stichs, but in contrast to the other two discourses, the discourse of social
observation prefers to employ the substantivized adjectives TIOT and'Eri/^"! as subjects
o f simple indicative statements. However, the wealth and poverty sayings belonging to
245
the discourse of social observation do not neutrally observe anything. Rather they
evaluate the social effects that result from excessive wealth or lack and are especially
critical of a certain kind of rich person.
The features of the three sub-discourses of wealth and poverty in Proverbs also
occasionally overlap and the discourses themselves stand in a kind o f mutually
interpreting dialogue with one another. Although the act-consequence rhetoric of many
wealth and poverty proverbs suggests the book promotes a simple retributive moral
worldview where the righteous are rewarded with wealth and the wicked with poverty,
other proverbs that do not employ a cause and effect rhetoric call this view into question.
For many, such a situation suggests an ambiguity to the books discourse of wealth and
poverty.
However, a critical mass of sayings in Proverbs plainly value virtue and vice and
motivate adherence to the way of wisdom with an economic rhetoric in sayings that do
not employ an act-consequence formula. These proverbs belong to what I call the books
wisdoms virtues discourse. A number of other sayings, which likewise do not employ an
act-consequence rhetoric, promote a concrete economic ethic for a hearer and belong to
what I call the texts discourse of social justice. These sets of proverbs call into question
any claim that Proverbs promotes a retributive moral view of the world in some simple or
straightforward manner. This critical mass of proverbs, moreover, reveals a certain moral
vision and certain patterns of figurative use of wealth and poverty language in Proverbs.
It constitutes, that is, a kind of moral and literary Gestalt to the book that functions as an
interpretive lens to understand other wealth and poverty sayings in the text. Some of
these other wealth and poverty sayings belong to either the wisdoms virtues discourse or
246
the discourse of social justice, or to the books third sub-discourse of wealth and poverty,
the discourse of social observation.
The various wealth and poverty sayings in Proverbs thus complement one another
and form a complex view o f wealth and poverty.1This view, however, is less equivocal
than is usually thought. Essentially the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs
recognizes the worth riches hold in the market place, seeks to limit wealths worth to the
economic realm, and describes the desirability of wisdom and its virtues by means of
wealth, and other desirable, imagery (the wisdoms virtues discourse).2 The book,
however, is also critical of the adverse social effects of excessive riches and lack, and of
an economic elite with whom the text associates these adverse effects (the discourse of
social observation). Correspondingly, the text seeks to limit the adverse social effects of
excessive lack by insisting that kindness be shown to the poor and that some minimum
standards of social justice be maintained (the discourse of social justice). For sages who
know the value and dangers of wealth, and who put a premium on the life of virtue, the
saying ofProv 30:8-9 makes good sense:
Give me neither poverty ( W l) nor riches (IE?#), but provide me with my daily bread,
lest being sated, I renounce, saying Who is the Lord? Or, being impoverished (ETT1N), I
take to theft and profane the name of my God.3
Such is the moral vision Proverbs promotes and hopes, through its instruction in
1 Of course, occasionally one encounters economic sayings that fall outside the scheme I have
articulated. Proverbs 14:24; 15:15; and 27:14, for instance, represent the few exceptions one would expect
to discover in such a large and complex discourse as the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs.
2 Hence for the sages o f Proverbs both the literal and symbolic promises of.well being in a saying
like Prov 22:4 The effect of humility is fear of the Lord, wealth (*1K)I7), honor (TDD), and lifewould
be clear.
3 The translation follows NJPS. Verse eight begins with the words Keep lies and false words far
from me.
247
virtue, to instill in the character of the reader of the book. Though not uncomplicated,
these views on wealth and poverty are not incompatible with one another and essentially
represent the outlook o f a caste of intellectually elite scribes in ancient Israel and Judah
(Yehud). These scribes would have at least in part served the economic and political elite
and likely drew on the traditional proverbial wisdom of their people. However, due to
their unique skills and social position, their interests and values would not have been
identical to either those o f the economic and political elite or the rural folk. Indeed on the
one hand, the sages formulate moral criteria by which they evaluate and critique the
economic and political elite. On the other hand, the persistent claim that virtue is better
than wealth and poverty is not as undesirable as vice, may hint that the sages were at
some remove from the poorest strata of their society.
How one evaluates the moral vision of the book of Proverbs is, of course, a
further, vital question for anyone concerned with biblical ethics. Although such an
evaluation deserves more consideration than I can offer here, some preliminary thoughts
regarding the books understanding of wealth and poverty are in order. Likely many
contemporary readers will find aspects of the proverbial-scribal moral vision appealing
e.g., its insistence on the value of virtue over material wealth, its highlighting of social
virtue, and its assumption that political elites have an obligation to insure minimal
standards of justice be enacted in the social realm.
Nonetheless, despite these aspects of the books moral vision, which might in
various contemporary contexts be worthy of emulation or at least consideration, Proverbs
moral discourse will also give many pause. For instance, it values virtue for its imagined
male and heterosexual audience not merely in terms of material wealth, but in terms of
the sexual desirability of women; and it addresses poverty not through the restructuring
o f institutions that perhaps contribute to acute and perennial social and economic
stratification, but through the mechanism of charitable giving. Despite its worthy and
appealing moral impulses, Proverbs remains a deeply patriarchal, paternalistic, and
inherently conservative text. These aspects of the book ought not to be ignored or
uncritically glossed over, but included in any serious consideration of Proverbs value
for, and ability to contribute to, contemporary ethical discourse.
The Social-Historical Setting
My re-evaluation of the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs has primarily
been concerned to demonstrate that the books wealth and poverty talk is not as
ambiguous as it usually is said to be. Along the way, however, other important
conclusions were reached. One of the most important of these conclusions is the need to
attend to the books figurative interpretive possibilities. At the end of the study it also
seems clear that the rhetoric of wealth and poverty for Proverbs is more than a simple
topos or wisdom commonplace. Rather it is central to the sages project and fundamental
to the books overall goals or endthe promotion of wisdoms virtuous way. Indeed the
fact that much of Proverbs wealth and poverty language (e.g., ]1H, forms of 2P"W H,
and IVJD) does not show up much in HB outside of the wisdom corpus, or is particularly
prevalent in Proverbs (e.g., *77) is likewise suggestive. Wisdom voices concerned with
questions o f value in human life have laid a strong claim to this rhetoric and in Proverbs
have dictated its symbolic usage in a quite particular way. It is also possible at the end of
this study, to say something about a possible socio-historical context from which the
book o f Proverbs likely emerged.
The negotiation of the value of various goods is, of course, a perennial task for all
societies. However, there are also periods in the history of any society when this task
takes on greater urgency. Proverbs strong claim to, and rhetorical manipulation of,
wealth and poverty language implies that its moral discourse on wealth and poverty is not
a randomly constructed set of notions, but is one formulated in, and in response to, an
environment where the negotiation of the worth of different social goods, particularly but
not only that of material wealth, was acutely problematic.
The discourse o f wealth and poverty in the various collections of Proverbs thus
reflects a particular economic environment, one where, for example, a variety of
economic practices were widely known and where material wealth carried clear value. It
suggests as well a milieu where the plight of the economically marginalized was plainly
visible. It also suggests an environment where the sages were concerned that the worth of
wealth might be transgressing beyond its proper realm, the economic sphere, and was
intruding upon arenas, such as the moral and judicial realms, where it ought not to have
any currency. It reflects a context where, in the sages view, wealth was overvalued at the
expense of other social goods. It reflects a context where, on the one hand, the composers
and compilers of Proverbs began to contest what they perceived to be a false reckoning of
where the key to human flourishing is to be located and where, on the other hand, these
sages attempted to redress certain ill social effects that such a false reckoning might have
produced. That is, it reflects a context where the sages, over and against an implicit but
real social script that suggested a good and flourishing life is to be secured in the
attainment of one or another lesser good, including especially material prosperity,
insisted that wisdoms way, with its emphasis on intellectual, practical and especially
250
social virtue, would lead to this life. Although this social script was not necessarily well-
established in any particular competing discourse when Proverbs was produced, the book
reflects a context where the sages anxiety concerning economic matters was beginning to
emerge in a discemable set of discourse practices and patterns
Though it is impossible to discern precisely when any particular wealth and
poverty saying or passage in Proverbs might be best placed in the history of ancient Israel
and Judah (Yehud), some plausible, general suggestions regarding the date and socio-
historical context o f the book can be offered. As I suggested in Chapter I, the
preconditions for the formation of a scribal caste able to produce a book like Proverbs
would not have been in place in Israel or Judah before the 8th century BCE. Subsequently
the precise socio-economic environment that the discourse of wealth and poverty in
Proverbs assumes and to which it responds would not have existed before the 8th century
BCE. The texts o f Amos, Micah, Isaiah of Jerusalem, and even Hosea all provide
evidence that the level and kinds of economic activity and problems Proverbs assumes,
was present in at least segments of pre-exilic Israelite and Judean culture as early as the
8th century.4 It is thus possible that some of the collections of chapters 10-29 (31),
together with their wealth and poverty sayings, received shape in this period. Indeed Prov
25:1These too are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of King Hezekiah of Judah
transmitted suggests as much, and Prov 21:3To do justice and righteousness is
4 Cf. Friedemann W. Golka, The Leopards Spots: Biblical and African Wisdom in Proverbs
(Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993), 54. See further Marvin L. Chaneys description o f the 8th century political
economy, Bitter Bounty: The Dynamics of Political Economy Critiqued by the Eight-Century Prophets,
in Reformed Faith and Economics (ed. Robert L. Stivers; Lanham, Md.: University Press of America,
1989), 15-30.
251
more desirable to the Lord than sacrificesounds as if it could have been spoken by
Amos (cf. Am 4:4-5) or Isaiah of Jerusalem (cf. Is 1:10-20; cf. further 1 Sam 15:22).
Yet surely all of the collections in the book of Proverbs, in particular chapters 1-9,
did not reach their final form until some time after the exile. As I intimated above,
scholars are divided when it comes to the question of the date of the formation of the text
as a whole. Some favor the Persian period; others look to the Hellenistic era. The
evidence for significant economic activity in the Persian period marshaled by Seow and
Yoder, however, suggests the sages anxiety regarding economic matters, as revealed
through Proverbs discourse of wealth and poverty, could well have emerged in the age
of Persian imperial domination. It is probable that most of the collections and the
individual sayings making up these collections were brought together then.5
Of course a Hellenistic date cannot be entirely excluded. The LXX of Proverbs, in
which one can discern differences in order, minuses, and pluses all differing from MT,
may attest to the fact that the final form of the book was still somewhat contested in the
Greek period.6 As is well known, the Hellenistic age in Syria-Palestine seems to have
witnessed an even greater increase in economic activity than the Persian era and the sorts
of economic practices and concerns that Proverbs alludes to would also have been known
in the Greek period. It is thus possible that the Hellenistic period was the age when the
Hebrew collections of proverbs were consolidated. Proverbs discourse of wealth and
poverty in any case would not necessarily contradict such a hypothesis.
5 See C. L. Seow, Ecclesiastes: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB 18c;
New York: Doubleday, 1997), 21-36; Christine Roy Yoder, Wisdom as a Woman o f Substance: A Socio-
Economic Reading o f Proverbs 1-9 and 31:10-31 (BZAW 304; Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 2001), 39-72.
6 Emmanuel Tov, Textual Criticism o f the Hebrew Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress: 1992) 337;
Hebrew original 1989. Of course, these differences, pluses, and minuses may also be problems of the inner
Greek tradition process.
252
Although a Persian period date for Proverbs is perhaps to be preferred over a
Hellenistic date, it is likely that the increase in economic activity in Hellenistic period
would have spawned an anxiety vis-a-vis the economic sphere that was more acute than
in an earlier age. It is thus likely that such a situation would have evoked responses from
wisdom voices in Yehud. The wisdom instruction found at Qumran called 4QInstruction,
which makes considerable use of especially poverty rhetoric, witnesses to one such
response, and the Wisdom of Ben Sira, which also deploys extensive economic rhetoric,
witnesses to another.7Although these texts appear to have negotiated matters in a manner
somewhat different from what one finds in Proverbs discourse of wealth and poverty,
they are nonetheless deeply influenced by Proverbs and adopt much from Proverbs.8 A
consideration of the discourse of wealth and poverty in these wisdom texts, however, is
another project.
7 The LXX of Proverbs itself might attest to such a response outside of Syria-Palestine. See
Ronald L. Giese, Qualifying Wealth in the Septuagint of Proverbs, JBL 111 (1992): 409-25.
8 Besides the new economic realities, other particularities of the Jewish-Hellenistic environment in
Palestine, including the rise of an authoritative body of texts (Torah and the Prophets, at least; cf. Sirachs
Prologue), would have made this all but inevitable.
253
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In presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the PhD

Graduate Division of Religion

f /" " " I /

Dean o f the Graduate School

Adviser: Carol A. Newsom

Graduate Division of Religion

Adviser: Carol A. Newsom

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate

Graduate Division of Religion

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ProQuest Information and Learning Company

Why This Text? ............................................................... 4

Proverbs and Metaphorical Language ................... 6

Paul Ricoeur and Metaphor ........................... 6

Folk Proverbs and M etaphor...................................... 12

Metaphoricity and the Gestalt o f Proverbs ............. 15

Extra-Contextual Signs of Metaphoricity ....... 18

Contextual Signs of Metaphoricity ......................... 20

The Analysis of Discourse .................................................. 22

The Textual ................................. 26

The Extra Textual ................................. .... 26

Conclusions .................................................. ........................ 30

THE DISCOURSE OF WEALTH AND POVERTY IN PROVERBS

Proverbs, Wealth, and Poverty ........ .. ................. .. 32

The Ambiguity of Wealth and Poverty in Proverbs . . 34

The Scribes of Proverbs ..................................... 44

The Date o f Proverbs................. ................................. 46

Conclusions ........ ...................... .. 48

The Instruction o f Proverbs 1-9 and 10-29 (31) ....... 48

The Prologue as Hermeneutical Cue ............. 56

The Two Ways as Hermeneutical Orientation ... 63

Wealth as Motivational Symbol ............. 65

The Act-Consequence Nexus ........ .. ............... 70

Conclusion and Thesis .......... .................. 76

CHAPTER H ....................... ..................................... 81

THE DISCOURSE OF WEALTH AND POVERTY IN

Wealth as Motivational Symbol in Proverbs 1 (1:10-19) . . . 81

Wealth as Motivational Symbol in Proverbs 2-9....... ............... 87

Proverbs 2:4-5............ .................................................... 87

Proverbs 3:14-16............................... .............. .. 90

Proverbs 4:5-9............ .................................................... 95

Proverbs 8:10-11 103

Proverbs 8:18-21 . 106

Direct Instruction in Proverbs 1-9 117

Proverbs 3:9-10 118

Proverbs 3:27-28 121

Proverbs 6:1-5 123

Conclusions ...................................................... ....................... 130

THE WISDOMS VIRTUES DISCOURSE AND THE DISCOURSE

The Wisdoms Virtues Discourse in Proverbs 10-29 (31) .. 135

Characteristics ........................................ 135

Figurative Wealth and Poverty Sayings ........ 137

Further Figurative Sayings ................. 144

The Comparative Valuing .................... 149

The Value o f Diligence ........................................ 156

Conclusions ................................................ 163

The Discourse o f Social Justice in Proverbs 10-29 ( 3 1 ) ......... 165

Characteristics ................. 165

Justice in Economic Practices ............................ 167

Kindness to the P o o r ......................................... 169