Proverbs

Forthcoming, 2027

Proverbs is a distinctive book within the Hebrew Scriptures. It is full of insight on how life should and should not work, full of illuminating and thought-provoking and challenging and provocative observations. But it makes little or no reference to common themes of the Scriptures such as the exodus, the covenant, the Torah, the prophets, prayer, or the worship of the temple. In introducing it, this volume divides into three parts.

The first part looks at some facts about Proverbs—how it works as a wisdom book, how it is structured, how its contents and nature compare with ancient Egyptian wisdom, what is its social background, how it uses metaphors, and how it does relate to the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures. The middle part looks at themes within the book—its worldview, its understanding of teaching, its view of moral order, its attitude to wealth, its assumptions about economics, and its assumptions about gender. The third part looks at Proverbs in a worldwide context: in the context of Jewish interpretation, of Chinese proverbs, of Arabic proverbs, of African proverbs, and of Native American wisdom.

The contributors to the book come from Australia, Congo, Germany, Israel, Lebanon, and Malaysia, as well as England and the United States, and thus bring a worldwide perspective to this book which has so many points of connection with everyday life.