DE 5060 The Book of Proverbs
Lecturer: Bruce K. Waltke
Course Description
An exegetical study of The Book Of Proverbs in both its cultural and historical setting and in its literary setting with attention to its critical and hermeneutical problems. * This course may require access to a theological library for some course materials.
Course Objectives
General Objectives
- To understand the Book of Proverbs in its historical, canonical, and contemporary contexts.
- To know God by doing His will as expressed in this book.
Specific Objectives
- To understand the forms of sapiential literature in the Book of Proverbs as understood in part from Ancient Near Eastern collections of sayings and admonitions
- To understand its court setting and its democratization
- To define "wisdom" precisely and to understand the relationship of God and man to wisdom
- To understand the relationship of the Book of Proverbs with other forms of wisdom in the Bible
- To understand the hermeneutical issues in using the book: e.g., the fittingness of a proverb to a given situation; the truthfulness of its promise of prosperity and life; the distinction between that which is abiding from that which is historically and culturally conditioned.
- To understand the book's teaching on selected topics
Course Materials
All course materials can be purchased through the TEDS bookstore (800.456.7323/ 847.317.7103).
- Waltke, Bruce K. The Book of Proverbs, Audio Lecture Series, Study Guide, and Expanded Study Guide. Grand Rapids, MI: Institute of Theological Studies, a division of Outreach, Inc., 1988. (Included with Study Guide: Whybray, R. N. Proverbs. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994.)
Textbooks
- Crenshaw, James L. Old Testament Wisdom: An Introduction, rev. ed. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998 (Note that this syllabus has been paginated according to the revised edition).
- Kidner, Derek. Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentary, Vol. 15. Downers Grove, IL.: InterVarsity Press, 1964.
- ________. The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes: An Introduction to Wisdom Literature. Downers Grove, IL.: InterVarsity Press, 1985.
- Von Rad, Gerhard. Wisdom in Israel. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1972. Reprint, Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1993.
DE 506 Coursepack (the following materials comprise a coursepack that can be purchased through the TEDS bookstore):
- Bryce, G.E. A Legacy of Wisdom: The Egyptian Contribution to the Wisdom of Israel. London: Associated United Press, 1979, pp. 80-87.
- Clements, Ronald E. One Hundred Years of Old Testament Interpretation. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976, pp. 99-117.
- Malchow, Bruce V. "A Manual for Future Monarchs," Catholic Biblical Quarterly 57 (1955): 238-245.
- Pritchard, James B., ed. "The Teaching of Amenemope" in Ancient Near Eastern Texts: Relating to the Old Testament. Princeton Univ. Press, 1969. pp. 421-425.
- Ruffle, John. "The Teaching of Amenemope and its Connection with the Book of Proverbs," Tyndale Bulletin 28 (1977) :29-68.
- Waltke, Bruce K. "The Book of Proverbs and Ancient Wisdom Literature," Bibliotheca Sacra 136 (1979) :221-238.