The Discourse of Wealth And Poverty in the Book of Proverbs

Timothy J. Sandoval

BRILL, 2006 - Religion - 234 pages

"The Discourse of Wealth and Poverty in the Book of Proverbs" argues that the discourse of wealth and poverty in Proverbs is more coherent than is usually thought, and is actually comprised of three distinct, but related subdiscourses of wealth and poverty. The key to discerning the three sub-discourses is recognizing the figurative interpretive possibilities of aspects of the text and the fact that a reading of the book as a whole requires, as a trope or figure does, a significant interpretive act. The book contains an Introduction that includes a discussion of "proverbs and metaphor," an initial chapter that reviews major studies of wealth and poverty in Proverbs followed by three chapters that examine particular passages in Proverbs in depth. A conclusion reviews the work's major conclusions and suggests a possible social-historical setting for the book. Scholars and students of biblical wisdom literature will find this study particularly useful.

Contents

• PROVERBS METAPHOR AND DISCOURSE: 1
• 11 Why This Text?: 4
• 12 Proverbs and Metaphorical Language: 6
• 12b Folk Proverbs and Metaphor: 10
• 12c Metaphoricity and the Gestalt of Proverbs: 13
• 13 The Analysis of Discourse: 19
• 13a Procedures: 22
• 14 Conclusions: 26
• THE DISCOURSE OF WEALTH AND POVERTY IN PROVERBS: 29
• 21a The Ambiguity of Wealth and Poverty in Proverbs: 31
• 21b The Scribes of Proverbs: 39
• 21c The Date of Proverbs: 41
• 22 The Instruction of Proverbs 19 and 1031: 43
• 22a The Prologues Virtues: 45
• 22b The Prologue as Hermeneutical Cue: 49
• 22c The Two Ways as Hermeneutical Orientation: 56
• 22d Wealth as Motivational Symbol: 57
• 22e The ActConsequence Nexus: 61
• 23 Conclusions and Thesis: 66
• THE DISCOURSE OF WEALTH AND POVERTY IN PROVERBS 19: 71
• 32 Wealth as Motivational Symbol in Proverbs 29: 76
• 1416: 79
• 59: 83
• 1011: 89
• 1821: 92
• 33 Direct Instruction in Proverbs 19: 101
• 910: 102
• 2728: 104
• 15: 106
• 34 Conclusions: 112
• THE WISDOMS VIRTUES DISCOURSE AND THE DISCOURSE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IN PROVERBS: 115
• 41 The Wisdoms Virtues Discourse in Proverbs 1031: 117
• 41b Figurative Wealth and Poverty Sayings: 119
• 41c Further Figurative Sayings: 124
• 41d The Comparative Valuing: 128
• 41e The Value of Diligence: 134
• 41f Conclusions: 141
• 42 The Discourse of Social Justice in Proverbs 1031: 142
• 42b Justice in Economic Practices: 143
• 42c Kindness to the Poor: 145
• 42d Social Justice and the King: 148
• 42e Conclusions: 153
• THE GESTALT OF PROVERBS AND THE DISCOURSE OF SOCIAL OBSERVATION IN PROVERBS 1031: 155
• 51 The Wisdoms Virtues Discourse Revisited: 156
• 51b Wealth Poverty and the Tropes of the Wise: 167
• 51c Other Discourses of Desire: 174
• 52 The Discourse of Social Justice Revisited: 180
• 52a Care for the Poor: 181
• 52b The Divine Concern for the Poor: 183
• 52c Royalty and Justice for the Poor: 184
• 53 The Discourse of Social Observation in Proverbs 1031: 186
• 53b Excessive Wealth Lack and the Rich: 188
• 53c The Critique of Wealths Social Ties: 193
• 53d Ironic Wealth and Poverty Sayings: 197
• 54 The Woman of Worth: 201
• CONCLUSION: 205
• 62 Evaluating Wealth and Poverty in Proverbs: 210
• 63 The SocialHistorical Setting: 211
• Select Bibliography: 215
• Index of Ancient Sources: 223
• Index of Modern Authors: 229
• Subject Index: 232

About the author

Timothy J. Sandoval received his Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible for Emory University and is currently Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at Chicago Theological Seminary. He is the editor, with Carleen Mandolfo, of Relating to the Text: Interdisciplinary and form-Critical Insights on the Bible (2003) and is currently working on a project entitled Wisdom's Worth: Wealth, Poverty, and Value in Israelite Wisdom Literature.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Discourse of Wealth And Poverty in the Book of Proverbs; Volume 77 of Biblical interpretation series, ISSN 0928-0731
• Author: Timothy J. Sandoval
• Publisher: BRILL, 2006
• ISBN: 9004144927, 9789004144927
• Length: 234 pages
• Subjects: Religion / Biblical Studies / General; Religion / Biblical Studies / Old Testament; Religion / Judaism / History