E H T PROVERBS VOLUME II Proverbs 10-15 N by James Alfred Loader T O N Y E R M LA A A T T N C S I E R E M O T M T D S O L I H O C HISTORICAL COMMENTARY ON THE OLD TESTAMENT *** PROVERBS VOLUME II PROVERBS 10-15 HISTORICAL COMMENTARY ON THE OLD TESTAMENT Editorial team: Carly Crouch (Nijmegen, The Netherlands) Bénédicte Lemmelijn (Leuven, Belgium) Gert T.M. Prinsloo (Pretoria, South Africa) Klaas Spronk (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Wilfred G.E. Watson (Newcastle, UK) PROVERBS VOLUME II PROVERBS 10-15 by James Alfred Loader PEETERS LEUVEN – PARIS – WALPOLE, MA 2022 A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Cover design by Dick Prins. ISBN 978-90-429-4838-9 eISBN 978-90-429-4839-6 D/2022/0602/84 © 2022 — Peeters, Bondgenotenlaan 153, B-3000 Leuven (Belgium) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. CONTENTS PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IX BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XV INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 §1. Using the Commentary: Practical Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 §2. The Structure of the Book and the Question of Proverb Groups . 4 2.1 The Main Divisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2.2 Single Sayings or Proverb Groups? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 2.2.1 The Sentence Literature as Independent Sayings . . . 7 2.2.2 Proverb Groups in the Sentence Literature . . . . . . . . 13 2.2.3 A Two-sided Coin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 §3. Line, Parallelism and Rhythm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.1 Line (= Stich) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3.2 Parallelism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 3.3 Rhythm and Metre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 §4. The Date and Social Setting of the Book and its Diversified Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 §5. The Order of the Masoretic Text and the Versions . . . . . . . . . . . 35 §6. The Relevance of Proverbs: Theological and Ethical Consid- erations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 §7. Essays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 §7.1 Virtue between Command and Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 7.1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 7.1.2 Proverbs as a Handbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 7.1.3 Education in Different Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7.1.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 §7.2 Learning in the Indicative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 7.2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 7.2.2 The Imperative, the Indicative, and Life-setting . . . 58 7.2.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 §7.3 Metaphorical and Literal Readings of Aphorisms in Proverbs 65 7.3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 7.3.2 Evidence from the Textual Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 7.3.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 VI Contents COMMENTARY THE SECOND PART OF THE BOOK OF PROVERBS PROVERBS 10:1–22:16* ESSENTIALS AND PERSPECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 CHAPTER 10 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Translation and Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 CHAPTER 11 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Translation and Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 CHAPTER 12 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 Translation and Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 CHAPTER 13 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410 Translation and Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413 CHAPTER 14 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490 Translation and Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494 CHAPTER 15 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584 Translation and Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588 INDEX OF AUTHORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663 INDEX OF RABBINIC AND PATRISTIC SOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671 * This volume of the commentary covers half of the Second Part of the Book of Proverbs (10:1–15:33). The other half will open the next volume of the Proverbs commentary in HCOT, beginning at 16:1. PREFACE In the preface to Proverbs 1-9, which is the first volume of this commen- tary on the biblical book also known by its Hebrew title of Mishle, I made a number of remarks that also hold good for the second volume under the title of Proverbs 10-15. Among those are the questions regarding the justifica- tion for another commentary on the Book of Proverbs, a matter that does not need to be discussed in a second volume of the same commentary. An issue that does bear pointing out in the preface of a second volume, is the demands made on the author of a commentary in which the short sayings beginning at Chapter 10 are concerned. The short sayings need to be treated along the same lines that govern all the volumes in the series Historical Commentary on the Old Testament. • The Hebrew text is first translated, followed by short observations under the following headings: • “Essentials and Perspectives” that are intended to offer readers a general orientation to the pericopes to be commented on. • In the design of the series that is followed by an “Introduction to the Exegesis,” which was identified as “Exposition I” in the first Proverbs volume. • Last follows the detailed exegesis, previously under the title “Exposition II,” which contains the mainstay of the commentary. • The first two of these are also provided with a short literature list relevant for that specific section. I have followed this pattern as closely as possible in the first volume of the commentary, which could be done because it was concerned with the extended texts making up the poems found in Chapters 1-9. But in the present volume such a strict organisation is not possible. Here we have to do with single say- ings, each requiring its own interpretation in terms of form and content, that is, cum grano salis, like miniature chapters in their own right.1 It stands to reason that each cannot be treated as though it were a full chapter, each con- taining the paragraph headings suited for extended texts. But I have tried to attend to the issues required by the series Historical Commentary on the Old Testament, and to do so in a way suitable for the treatment of short sayings. 1 This remains true despite the fact that some have been edited together to form what has come to be called “clusters.” My view on interpreting short proverbs in their own right while allowing for the existence of groupings and pairs is set out in the Introduction and will be obvi- ous throughout the commentary. VIII Preface This volume has been a long time in coming, somewhat like the first one – and to a not inconsiderable degree for similar reasons. I sincerely hope the third volume will not follow the same pattern. That simply won’t do, even if I no longer have the luxury of assistants whom I would have liked to thank again, such as Frau Katja Bachl, Frau Helene Lechner, Frau Esther Scheuchl, Herr Björn Bergh, Frau Nayomi Lara Keller or Herr Ferenc Susmaier. At the end of this stage, I nevertheless express words of gratitude. First, to the edi- tor of the series Historical Commentary on the Old Testament, who yet again showed the patience and understanding I thanked him for in the preface to the first volume – and to whom I owe the same appreciation, but to a height- ened degree. To Dr Margot von Beck, who did the page editing and always showed concern for my personal wellbeing. To my family, especially my wife, who supported me during the continued difficult time of writing not only this volume, but also her own book. Special thanks to our little dog, who lay on my feet under the desk when there was nobody else at home. That provided the warmth indispensible for work in the Alpine cold. Finally, it seems that Qohelet was wrong – producing books does come to an end, at least for individuals. In my case, whether I get to the end of Volume III or whether I don’t. I would like to dedicate this volume to Professor Jurie le Roux, in gratitude for having learnt much more from him than he will ever realise. Vienna, as autumn encroaches on the last rose of summer, 2021 ABBREVIATIONS AB The Anchor Bible AEL Lichtheim, M., Ancient Egyptian Literature I-III, Berkeley 1973-1980 AJBI Annual of the Japanese Biblical Institute AJSL American Journal for the Study of Religion AnBib Analecta Biblica ANE ancient Near East ANEM Ancient Near East Monographs ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, ed. J.B. Pritchard, Princeton 1955; Supplements: The Ancient Near East. Supplementary Texts and Pictures Relating to the Old Testament, Con- sisting of Supplementary Materials for The Ancient Near East in Pic- tures and Ancient Near Eastern Texts, ed. J.B. Pritchard, Princeton 1969 (page numbering continuous) ANF The Ante-Nicene Fathers AnOr Analecta Orientalia AOTC Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries ArTh Arbeiten zur Theologie ArOr Archiv Orientálni AS Acta Sumerologica ATD Das Alte Testament Deutsch AThANT Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und Neuen Testaments AuS Arbeit und Sitte in Palästina I-VII, by G. Dalman, Hildesheim 1964 [Gütersloh 1928ff.] BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BBRS Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplements BDB Brown, F., Driver, S.R. & Briggs, C.A., Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. With an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic, Oxford 1966 BEThL Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium BHQ Biblia Hebraica Quinta, Part 17, ed. J. de Waard, Stuttgart 2008 BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Part 12, ed. J. Fichtner, Stuttgart 1974 BHTh Beiträge zur Historischen Theologie BIFAO Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale Bib et Or Biblica et Orientalia Bibl Biblica BINS Biblical Interpretation Series BK Biblischer Kommentar BOT De Boeken van het Oude Testament BS Biblische Studien BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies BTh Biblical Theology BThZ Berliner Theologische Zeitschrift BWANT Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft