Upon reaching Proverbs in our Sunday morning Bible study, I decided I needed some help. Having read Tremper Longman’s How to Read the Psalms and found it useful, I turned to his book, How to Read Proverbs, which I found equally useful.
Longman begins by looking at what a proverb is. He explains that a proverb is a saying that helps one navigate life well. It is not a universal truth, but a guide to be used in certain situations. He explores the structure of the book of Proverbs, especially as it presents the two different women of the book. He also explores the structure of individual proverbs by way of literary analysis.
In the second section, he begins by comparing the book of Proverbs to other wisdom literature, and he notes that the authors/compiler of the book of Proverbs may have taken worthy proverbs from other cultures/religions. This is where I find a weakness in the book: while I will not deny that it is possible that some of the proverbs are “borrowed,” as one who was beaten up with historical-critical theory, I wish Longman would have argued the reasoning behind accepting “borrowed” literature as Holy Scripture. Such a defense would have buffeted his work.
In any event, he then compares Proverbs with the other biblical wisdom literature – Job and Ecclesiastes – as well as the histories of Joseph and Daniel. He ends the section by exploring Jesus as the Wisdom of God.
In the third section, Longman looks at some of the themes of the book of Proverbs, including money. This is followed by useful appendices which help the student to set up a plan for reading and studying the book.
Longman’s work is a very useful introduction to Proverbs, and I would recommend it for that. However, I wish he would have defended the authority of Proverbs against the historical-critical view which would find ways to dismiss the text by finding its roots in extra-biblical literature.
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