Today’s Scripture Reading (September 20, 2019):
Proverbs 1
Amenemope was an Egyptian
scribe who lived during the late twelfth century or early eleventh century
B.C.E. Amenemope is known to us because he left a wisdom text called
“Instruction of Amenemope.” The “Instruction” is ostensibly a teaching that
Amenemope wanted to leave for his son. It is a collection of principles by
which Amenemope hopes his son will endeavor to live his life.
What makes this set of
teachings essential to students of the Bible is that it seems that the writings
were important to King Solomon, who lived a century or a little more after the
sage Amenemope. The teachings of Amenemope so impressed Solomon, the son of
David, that Solomon wanted to have a set of instructions of his own. The result
of that desire is the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs is a unique book among
the other biblical texts. Unlike other books in the Bible, Solomon’s Proverbs
is a collection of sayings or axioms by which we might live our lives. But it
is also a book that is more concerned about living life in a practical manner
then it is about communicating ideas about salvation, God, and his desires for
his creation. And it is unique because it is similar to, and at times dependent
on, the secular writings of other nations that were written at about the same
time or slightly earlier than the Book of Proverbs; such as the “Instruction of
Amenemope.” And while Proverbs appears to borrow from other secular texts of
the time, Solomon rarely quotes from other parts of the Hebrew Canon. Garrett
points this out comparing it to early American writing. “An analogy to this is American folk wisdom which, although
often dominated by Christian morality and presuppositions, contains few
allusions to the Bible or Christian theology.” Although Solomon builds his
wisdom on earlier Hebrew writings, including that of the Torah, he rarely
bothers to quote directly from that work.
All of this combines to make Proverbs a very different kind of biblical
book.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Proverbs 2
No comments:
Post a Comment