WILUAM M,XMlE PROVERBS © ""illiam Mc:Ka.u: '97() All rights reserved. No part of this publir.atit.n may he reproduced, stored in a retrieval syst<!'ln, ~)r transmitted, in any form or by any O\r.ar:.~. '~lectric"l, mechanical, photocopying, rec(lrdin:: ft,r otherwise, without the prior pc:-rmi",illll ..r the publisher, SCM Press Ltd. 334 0'341 0 • .Jo'irst published 197" .. • by SCM.' P.ess Ltd we, 50 monmFui'y Street. London . 'third impUMion .!)fto I'rinted and Loulld in Great Britaill I,y Redwood Durn Limited Trowbridse and Eahflr Prt;lace .\"11 A;,hrer:;fltin1l.r llC BIMingm/Jh..y Xl Inl:uduction A Proverbs 1-9 J n The Sc:J1tCIICl~ r.it~ralllre ill the Book of Proverbs 10 c The Meaning of miiJtil ~2 D The Septuagint Text of Proverbs 33 PART O,N}; INTERNATIONAL WISDOM I The Egyptian Instruction 51 A Ptah!UJkp 51 n Ka.r:emni 65 c Alerika" 67 D Form of Ptahhotep and Merikare 75 E AI1U1ltmhet '82 DuauJ 86 F G For- of D,Ul,!! and IAIIJing go Ani ;n 92 J Form of A1li 99 J Amennnope 102 It Form of Amenemope 110 I. OTICluhtshonq!J 117 Non-proverbial sentences 124- Proverbial sentences 129 Instruction 139 I ( The 1\:'hylonian-AlI.~yri;m Instruction A (.'o,uutls t!l Wist/"m D AhikM III Babylonian and A~yrian Proverbs v vi CONTENTS PART TWO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS IV Translation 211 V The Instruction Genre in the Book of Proverbs 262 A Chapten J-9 262 B Chapter. 22"7-24.22 369 c Chapter 31.1-g 407 VI The Sentence Literature in the Book of Proverbs 413 A Chapters 10-22.16 413 B Chapter 24.23-34- 572 C Chapters 25-29 577 VII Poems and Numerical Sayings 643 A Chapter 30 643 B Chapter 31.10-31 665 PREFACE IT IS with a sense of relief and yet inadequacy that I come to the end of this study which has taken up much of my time and thought in recent years. The thesis that Provo l-g, 22.17-24.22 and 3I.1-g are a different literary kind from the sentences in 10.1-22.16 and 24.23-29.27 is one which is gaining recognition and which will stand the test offurther enquiry. The argument that the history of the wis dom tradition in Israel and the direction of its development are mirrored in the book of Proverbs is more difficult to conduct, involv ing as it does the division of the sentences into three classes. Although I have reached considered conclusions here too, I am aware that I have touched on more contentious matters. The analysis of the con stituents of a 'proverb' is, so far as I am aware, an original contribu tion which should serve to focus attention OIl the special concreteness or organization of imagery which produces a ·proverb.'. Alongside these lines of argument and in some measure indepen dent of them, there is the exegetical work which I have done on the sometimes difficult and often fhscinating text of Proverbs. My friend and fonner teacher, Eric F. F. Bishop generously handed ovt'r to me material on the I)alestinian background of the book of Proverbs. Where I have used this, I have indicated the source with the abbrevia tion EFFB. Since the order of exposition does not follow the verse order in 10.1-22.16 and 24.23-29.27, the verse under discussion is given in bold type and the same procedure is followed where necessary in the other parts of Proverbs. In the translation I have used italics to indicate an emended text or an uncertain translation. The related discussion will be found in the body of the commentary and the page number is given in the margin of the translation. I am deeply grateful to my colleagues Mr P. W. Coxon and Mr J. D. Martin Jor the careful and skilful way in whch they have read the proofs of this work, and for having urged upon me the need for a final reconsideration of a number of points. Sl Mary'J' (,'011'1:", U"ilJersiry of St Alldrews VII AHllREVIATIONS ABL * R. F. Harper, .As~yrian and Babylonian Letters A]SL American Journal ofS emitic Languages ANET * J. B. Pritchard, Ancient NeaT Eastern Texts An.Or. Analecta Orientalin ATD Das Alte Testament Deutsch AV Authorized Version BASOR Bulletin oft he American Schools of Oriental Research nOB * Brown-Driver-Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicnn BEThL Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium IU La llible de Jerusalem Ill, * H. Bauer-P. Leander, Historische Grammatik RWANT Beilriige zur Wissenschafl uom allen und neuen Testament llWL * W. G. Lambert, Babylonian Wisdom Literature nZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissen schafl CAD Chicago Assyrian Dictionary CML * G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends E.F.F.B. t. Eric F. F. Bishop ET English Translation ET The Expository Times EThL Ephemerides Theologicae Louanienses EV English Version GK * Gesenius-KautZ$ch, Hebrew Grammar HAT I-Iandbuch zum alten Testament IITR Harvard Theological Review lJ(!CA Ilebrew Union College Annual ICC The International Critical Commentary JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JEA Journal of Egyptian Archaeology JJS Jou'FJJIJl ofJ ewish Studies ]NES Journai of Near Eastern Studies ]POS Journal oft he Pales~ine Oriental Sociery JQ,R Jewish Qparter(y Review JRAS Journal of the Royal AsiaticSociery JSS Journal ojS emitic Studies tSee Preface, p. vii. ix x ABBREVIATIONS JTS Journal of Theological Studies K. K~tlb KB • Koehler-Baumgartner KD Kerygma und Dogma KS • A. Alt, Kleine Schriften LXX The Septuagint MT Masoretic Text MVAG Mitleillmgen der vorderasiatisch-iigyptischen Gesellschaft NEB New English Bible NTT Nieuw Theologisch Tijdschrift OLZ Orientalistische Literatur ;:,eitung Or. Orientalia OTS Oudtestamentische Studien PEQ, Palestine Exploration Q.uarterry Pesh. Peshitta PWM • W. McKane, Prophets and Wise Men Q. Q!re RB Revue Biblique RSV Revised Standard Version RV Revised Version SBOT Sacred Books of the Old Testam~nt (editor, P. Haupt) SBT Studies in Biblical Theology SJT Scottish Journal of Theology Targ. Targum TGUOS Transactions oft he Glasgow University Oriental Society ThLZ Theologische Literatur zeitung ThZ Theologische Zeitschrift TT Theologisch Tijdschrift V Vulgate VT Vetus Testamentum VTS Supplements to Vetus Testamentum WMANT Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum alien und neuen Testament ZA Zeitschriftfiir Assyriologie ,v4eS Zeitschriflfar /l!(Yptische Sprache und Altertum.rku1/de ZAW Zeitsc/lriflfar die alUeslamentliclte Wi.rsenschnjl ZDMG Zeitschrift der deutschen morgm[/lndischen Gesellsdzajt ZThK Zeitschriftfar Theologie und Kirche For full details of entries marked·, see llibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY P. R. Ackroyd, 'A Note 011 the Hebrew Roots b'! and bwI', ]TS xliii (1942),),P. d;nf. 'The MeallillR orHebrew dor considered', ]SS xiii (1968), pp. 3-10 Y. Aharoni, 'lkth-haccherem', Archaeology and Old Testament Study (ed. D. Winton Thomas) (1967), pp. '71-4 J. Aistleitner (0. Eissfeldt), Worterbuch der ugaritischen Sprache3 (1967). Berichte tiber die Verhandiungen der sachsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, Phil.-hist. Klasse, Band 106, Heft 3 W. F. Albright, 'An archaic Hebrew Proverb in an Amarna Letter from Central Palestine', BASOR 89 (1943), pp. 29-32 'A Prince of Taanach in the Fifteenth Century B.C.', BASOR 94- (1944.), pp. 12-27 'A new Hebrew Word for "Glaze" in Proverbs 26.23', BASOR 98 (1945), pp. 24f. 'Canaanite-Phoenician Sources of Hebrew Wisdom', Wisdom in Israel and The Ancient Near East (Rowley Festschrift), VTS iii (1955), pp. 1-15 A. Alt, 'Die UrspriinRe des israelitischen Rechts', Kleine Schnflen zur Geschichte des Volkes Israel3, vol. i (1963), pp. 27B-332; ET (R. A. Wilson), Essays in Old Testament History and Religion (1966), pp. 79--132 'Die .weisheit Salomos', op. cit., vol. ii (1964), PP.90-99 R. Anthes; 'Lebensregeln und Lebensweisheit der alten Aegypter', Deralte Orient, 32, 2 (1933) P. Auvray, 'Sur Ie sens du mot 'ayin en Ez. LIB etx.12', VTiv (1954), P·5 D. H. Baneth, 'Bemerkungen zu den Achikarpapyri', OLZ '7 (1914), pp. 24.8-52, 295-9, 348-53 A. Barucq, Le Livre des Proverbes (Sources Bibliques, 1964) J. B. Bauer, 'Encore une fois Proverbes viii.22', VT viii (1958), pp. 91f. A. J. Baumgartner, Etude critique sur Ntat du texte du Livre des Proverbes d' aprb les principales tmductions anciennes ( I 890) II. Bauer, P. Leander, lIistorische. Grammatik deT hebr/iischen SprQchl (1922 ) W. Baumgartner, IJraelitische und altorimtalische Weisheit (1933) 'Die literarischen Gattungen in der Weisheit des Jesus Siracl1', ZAW:H (19'4.). pp. 161-98 XI xu BIBLIOGRAPHY A. Bentzen, Introduction to the Old Teslammt\ vols. i-ii (1959) G. Bertram, 'Die religiose Umdeutung altoricntalischer L,'lwns ZA weisheit in· der griechischen tlbersctzung des AT', JV 5.1 (1936), pp. 153-67 J. Bewer, 'Two Suggestions on Provo 30.31 and Zech. 9.16', JBL lxvii (1948), pp. 61r. G. Bickell, 'Kritische Bearbeitung der Proverbien', Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes (1891), pp. 79-1()2, 191-214,271-99 A. M. Blackman and T. E. Peat, 'Papyrus Lansing: a translation with notes',JEA xi (1925), pp. 284-98 P. A. H. deBoer, 'The Counsellor', VTSiii (1955), pp. 42-71 G. BostrBm, ProrJerbia Studien,' die Weisheit und das fremde Weib in Spr. 1-9 (Lund, Universitets Arsskrift, N.F., Avd. I, Bel. 30, Nr. 3,1935) - . F. Brown, S. R. Driver, C. A~ Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of tke Old Testament (1966) () H. Brunner, Altagyptische Er ziehung (1957) 'Gerechtigkeit ai, Fundament des Thrones', VT viii (1958), pp. 426-8 A. de Buck, 'Het religieus karakter der oudste egyptische wijsheid', NTTxxi (1932), pp. 322-49 'The Instruction of Amenemmes', Melanges Maspero I, Orient Ancien, second fascicule, pp. 847-52. Memoires publics par les membres de l'Institut Fran-;ais d' Archeologie Orientale du Caire, sous la direction de M. Pierre Jougnet, tome lxvi, 1935-38 H.J. Byington, 'Hebrew Marginalia III', ]BL lxiv (1945), Pp.339-55 M. A. Canney, 'The Hebrewmeli;r', A]SLxl (1923-4), pp. 135-7 H. Cazelles, 'L'enfantcment de las Sagesse en Provo viii', Sacra Pagina i (BEThLxii, 1~59), pp. 51 I-IS G. Contenau, Trente TaUettesCappadociennes, 1919 F. C. Conybeare,J. Rendell Harris, A. S. Lewis, The Story oj Ahilcar2 (1913) A. E. Cowley, Aramaic Papyri oft he Fifth Century BC (1923) ~ B. Crook, cThe Mllrringeable Maiden of piov. 31.10-3", ]NES xiii (1954), pp. 137-40 M. Dahood, PrfRJerbs and Northwest Semitic Philology (J 963) cImmortality in Proverbs 12.28', Biblita 41 (1960), pp. 176-81 'To pawn one'a cloak', Bihlica42 (1961), PP. 359-66 G.Dalman,Arblit rmd Silte in Pallistina, 1.1 (1926) G'amm.tJlik du jildisch-pallislinisclren AramlJisch2, 1905