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Introductory matters: Tracing the aims of Proverbs 1:1–7 through the book's first collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2025

Matthew A. O'Kelly Open the ORCID record for Matthew A. O'Kelly [Opens in a new window]
Matthew A. O'Kelly*
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University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
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Email: m.okelly.22@abdn.ac.uk
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Abstract

While the introductory role of Prov 1:1–7 is well recognised, its relationship to subsequent sections has received less attention. This essay argues that Prov 1:1–7 introduces, not the entire book, but specifically the first collection in chapters 1–9. Building on Arthur Keefer's analysis, it posits that a single audience, ‘the wise’ in v. 5, is exhorted to listen to instruction and thereby acquire a sense of direction, with the expectation that, in doing so, they will be equipped to attain three primary aims: (1) to enhance understanding oriented towards the fear of Yhwh, (2) to cultivate moral virtue and (3) to instruct the next generation to do likewise. The introduction's programmatic function is then demonstrated as these aims are traced throughout the first collection.

Keywords

fear of the LordinstructionintroductionProverbswisdom
Type
Research Article
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Scottish Journal of Theology , First View , pp. 1 - 11
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

1 Murphy, Roland E., The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature, 3rd edn (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2002)Google Scholar, p. 16. It is worth noting at the outset that there has been no uniformity among scholars for terminology for the different sections of Proverbs. Murphy here refers to this opening section as an ‘introduction’; others have referred to it as the ‘prologue’ (e.g. Fox, Michael V., Proverbs 1–9: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary [London: Yale University Press, 2000], pp. 325–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Sandoval, Timothy J., ‘Revisiting the Prologue of Proverbs’, Journal of Biblical Literature 126/3 [2007], pp. 455–7310.2307/27638448CrossRefGoogle Scholar); and still others, a ‘preamble’ (e.g. Waltke, Bruce K., The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1–15 [Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2004], pp. 10–1310.5040/bci-008yCrossRefGoogle Scholar). I will be referring to it as an ‘introduction’, since, as I will argue, it does not really form its own section in the context of the whole book, but forms part of the opening collection in chapters 1–9. Insofar as Prov 1–9 can be taken as an introduction to the collections to follow, 1:1–7 can be taken as an introduction to the introduction, but since it only introduces the rest of the book by extension, insofar as it forms part of the opening collection, I do not think it necessary to give it its own term. Readers may disagree with my nomenclature; it does not significantly detract from my argument.

2 Sandoval, ‘Revisiting the Prologue’, p. 456; also, Murphy, Tree of Life, p. 16.

3 Brown, William P., Wisdom's Wonder: Character, Creation, and Crisis in the Bible's Wisdom Literature (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2014)Google Scholar, p. 30.

4 See also, Ansberry, Christopher B., Be Wise, My Son, and Make My Heart Glad: An Exploration of the Courtly Nature of the Book of Proverbs (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2011), pp. 45–6Google Scholar; O'Dowd, Ryan, Proverbs (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017), pp. 51–2Google Scholar; Perdue, Leo G., Proverbs (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2000), pp. 68–9Google Scholar; Schipper, Bernd U., ‘Wisdom for Beginners and for the Advanced: The Prologue of the Book of Proverbs and the System of the Seven Superscriptions’, in Körting, Corinna and Kratz, Reinhard Gregor (eds), Fromme Und Frevler: Studien Zu Psalmen Und Weisheit (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020), pp. 469–78Google Scholar; Waltke, Proverbs 1–15, pp. 174–5.

5 Fox, Proverbs 1–9, p. 326 (emphasis added).

6 Ibid.

7 Ibid.

8 See also, Katharine J. Dell, The Theology of the Book of Proverbs (Cambridge: CUP, 2023), p. 58.

9 It has been noted that the fear of Yhwh also reappears in 31:30, creating a frame around the book as a whole; see e.g. Meinhold, Arndt, Die Sprüche: Teil 1: Sprüche Kapitel 1–15 (Zürich: Theologischer Verlag Zürich, 1991), pp. 47–8Google Scholar. This is noteworthy, but not as strong a connection as the repetition of the claim that the fear of Yhwh marks the beginning of wisdom/knowledge in 1:7 and 9:10. It is also noteworthy that, while the fear of Yhwh reappears at numerous points throughout the book (1:29; 2:5; 3:7; 8:13; 9:10; 10:27; 14:2, 16, 26–27; 15:16, 33; 16:6; 19:23; 22:4; 23:17; 24:21), it is only here that it is presented in this programmatic fashion as the beginning of wisdom/knowledge.

10 Sandoval, ‘Revisiting the Prologue’.

11 Brown, Wisdom's Wonder, pp. 30–2.

12 Schipper, ‘Wisdom for Beginners’, pp. 469–73; also, idem., Proverbs 1–15: A Commentary on the Book of Proverbs 1:1–15:33, trans. Stephen Germany (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2019), pp. 61–3.

13 Keefer, Arthur Jan, ‘A Shift in Perspective: The Intended Audience and a Coherent Reading of Proverbs 1:1–7’, Journal of Biblical Literature 136/1 (2017), pp. 103–1610.1353/jbl.2017.0006CrossRefGoogle Scholar; also, Johnson, John E., ‘An Analysis of Proverbs 1:1–7’, Bibliotheca Sacra 144 (1987), pp. 419–32Google Scholar.

14 See previous footnote.

15 See Prov 10:1; 22:17; 24:23; 25:1; 30:1; 31:1; outside Proverbs, see e.g. Isa 1:1–2; Obad 1; Nah 1:1–2; Neh 1:1; Song 1:1–2; Eccles 1:1–2. See Keefer, ‘Shift in Perspective’, pp. 105–6.

16 Fox, Proverbs 1–9, pp. 71–8; also, Fox, Michael V. and Millar, Suzanna R., ‘Egyptian Wisdom’, in Dell, Katharine J., Millar, Suzanna R., and Keefer, Arthur Jan (eds), The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Wisdom Literature (Cambridge: CUP, 2022), pp. 323–43CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Schipper, Bernd U., ‘Die Lehre des Amenemope und Prov 22,17–24,22 – eine Neubestimmung des literarischen Verhältnisses (Teil 2)’, Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 117/2 (2005), pp. 232–48Google Scholar; Weeks, Stuart, Instruction & Imagery in Proverbs 1–9 (Oxford: OUP, 2007), pp. 33–810.1093/acprof:oso/9780199291540.003.0003CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

17 Fox, Proverbs 1–9, p. 73. Fox here suggests that it cannot be taken as a given that ‘the authors of Proverbs knew the book of Amenemope itself, even in a Hebrew form’. In a later study, however, he modifies this position, suggesting that Amenemope was likely known in full in Israel, albeit in an Aramaic translation; ‘From Amenemope to Proverbs: Editorial Art in Proverbs 22,17–23,11’, Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 126/1 (2014), p. 77.

18 Keefer, ‘Shift in Perspective’, pp. 106–7; also, Johnson, ‘Analysis of Proverbs 1:1–7’, pp. 428–9.

19 See e.g. Clifford, Richard J., Proverbs: A Commentary (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1999)Google Scholar, p. 34; Perdue, Proverbs, p. 70; Waltke, Proverbs 1–15, pp. 180–1.

20 Fox, Proverbs 1–9, pp. 60–1; Schipper, Proverbs 1–15, pp. 66–7; Waltke, Proverbs 1–15, pp. 177–8.

21 Weeks, Instruction & Imagery, p. 193; also, Keefer, ‘Shift in Perspective’, pp. 113–5; Loader, J. A., Proverbs 1–9 (Leuven: Peeters, 2014)Google Scholar, p. 61; H. Seebass, לקח, in Helmer Ringgren, Heinz-Josef Fabry, G. Johannes Botterwck, and Holger Gzella (eds), Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, 17 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2018–2021), 8:21; R. N. Whybray, Proverbs (London: Marshall Pickering, 1994), pp. 33–4.

22 Keefer, ‘Shift in Perspective’, p. 114; Waltke, Proverbs 1–15, p. 179.

23 Waltke, Proverbs 1–15, p. 96; also, Keefer, ‘Shift in Perspective’, p. 115; Loader, Proverbs 1–9, p. 61; Whybray, Proverbs, p. 34.

24 The first half of Prov 1:3 refers to ‘the instruction of discretion’ (מוסר השכל); whatever intellective capabilities this includes, it must also come with a moral focus, given its specification in the second half of the verse as comprising ‘righteousness, justice, and fairness’; see Sandoval, ‘Revisiting the Prologue’, pp. 461–2.

25 Prov 1:33; 4:1, 10; 5:7, 13; 7:24; 8:6, 32–34.

26 Otto Plöger, Sprüche Salomos (Proverbia) (Neukirchen: Neukirchener, 1984), p. 46; Schipper, Proverbs 1–15, p. 166.

27 Fox, Proverbs 1–9, p. 324.

28 Dell, Katharine J., The Book of Proverbs in Social and Theological Context (Cambridge: CUP, 2006), pp. 34–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Meinhold, Sprüche 1–15, pp. 41–6; Schipper, Bernd U., ‘Das Proverbienbuch und die Toratradition’, Zeitschrift für Theologie und Kirche 108/4 (2011), pp. 397–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar; cf. n. 35 below.

29 So Fox, Proverbs 1–9, p. 111; O'Dowd, Proverbs, p. 79; somewhat differently, Heim, Knut Martin, Poetic Imagination in Proverbs: Variant Repetitions and the Nature of Poetry (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013), pp. 59–60Google Scholar.

30 So Schipper, Bernd U., ‘When Wisdom Is Not Enough!’, in Schipper, Bernd U. and Teeter, D. Andrew (eds), Wisdom and Torah: The Reception of ‘Torah’ in the Wisdom Literature of the Second Temple Period (Leiden: Brill, 2013), pp. 55–7910.1163/9789004257368_005CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

31 ראשית is used in this sense in Prov 3:9, and תחלה in 2 Sam 21:10. For a fuller articulation of this view, see O'Kelly, Matthew A., ‘Wisdom and the Fear of YHWH: Rethinking Their Relationship in Proverbs 1–9’, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 47/1 (2022), pp. 98–11310.1177/03090892221116913CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Weeks, Instruction & Imagery, pp. 113–8. A survey and discussion of positions on this can be found in Schwáb, Zoltán, ‘Is Fear of the Lord the Source of Wisdom or Vice Versa?’, Vetus Testamentum 63 (2013), pp. 652–6210.1163/15685330-12301128CrossRefGoogle Scholar; idem., Proverbs: Wisdom Calls: An Introduction and Study Guide (London: T&T Clark, 2023), pp. 36–7.

32 Brown, Wisdom's Wonder, pp. 30–2; Sandoval, ‘Revisiting the Prologue’, pp. 461–2.

33 Schipper, Bernd U., The Hermeneutics of Torah: Proverbs 2, Deuteronomy, and the Composition of Proverbs 1–9 (Atlanta, GA: SBL, 2021)10.2307/j.ctv2382d7pCrossRefGoogle Scholar, p. 169. The only other occurrence of these terms together comes in Ps 99:4, where the order is reversed.

34 This is picked up again in the following instruction, Prov 4:20–27.

35 The programmatic nature of Prov 2 as a sort of ‘table of contents’ for chapters 1–9, noted above (n. 28), has been mapped out by Meinhold, Sprüche 1–15, pp. 43–7. Not all have been persuaded by the connections Meinhold proposes; Fox (Proverbs 1–9, p. 323), for instance, suggests that ‘[t]oo much violates Meinhold's design for it to be effective in guiding reading or even to be recoverable to most readers.’ Whether we follow Meinhold on the specifics, however, his basic point stands that in Prov 2 we are introduced to the collection's key themes, including the ethical concerns with potential influence of the wicked men and their questionable decisions.

36 For a useful survey of views, see Fox, Proverbs 1–9, pp. 252–62. Some noteworthy recent discussions include, Blenkinsopp, Joseph, ‘The Social Context of the “Outsider Woman” in Proverbs 1–9’, Biblica 72/4 (1991), pp. 457–73Google Scholar; Forti, Tova, ‘The Isha Zara in Proverbs 1–9: Allegory and Allegorization’, Hebrew Studies 48 (2007), pp. 89–100CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Fox, Proverbs 1–9, pp. 134–41; Lavoie, Jean-Jacques, ‘Aux Origines de l'interdit Des Mariages Mixtes: Quelques Réflexions Exégétiques et Historiques à Partir de Proverbes 2,16–22’, Theoforum 43 (2012), pp. 243–67Google Scholar; Maier, Christl M., Die ‘Fremde Frau’ in Proverbien 1–9: Eine Exegetische und Sozialgeschichtliche Studie (Göttingen: V&R, 1995)Google Scholar; Tan, Nancy Nam Hoon, The ‘Foreignness’ of the Foreign Woman in Proverbs 1–9: A Study of the Origin and Development of a Biblical Motif (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2008)10.1515/9783110209839CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Washington, Harold C., ‘The Strange Woman (אשׁה זרה/נכריה) of Proverbs 1–9 and Post-Exilic Judean Society’, in Richards, Kent H. and Eskenazi, Tamara C. (eds), Second Temple Studies II: Temple and Community in the Persian Period (London: JSOT Press, 1994), pp. 217–42Google Scholar.

37 Aletti, J. N., ‘Seduction et Parole En Proverbes I–IX’, Vetus Testamentum 27/2 (1977), pp. 129–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Weeks, Instruction & Imagery, pp. 141–6; Yee, Gale A., ‘“I Have Perfumed My Bed with Myrrh”: The Foreign Woman (‘Išša Zārâ) in Proverbs 1–9’, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 13 (1989), pp. 53–68CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 Keefer's qualification here is worth noting, that ‘the summons of [Prov 1:5] does not exclude the young or nascent student from the school of Proverbs. The introduction neither distinguishes nor exclusively invites the “wise in real life” or “the simpleton in real life”; rather, it distinguishes between literary types that function rhetorically to invite any interpreter’; ‘Shift in Perspective’, pp. 112–3 (emphasis added).

39 Clifford, Proverbs, pp. 60–61; Fox, Proverbs 1–9, pp. 172–3; Loader, Proverbs 1–9, pp. 201–2; Tremper Longman III, Proverbs (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), p. 148.

40 Schipper, Proverbs 1–15, pp. 166–7; Goldingay, John, Proverbs (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2023), pp. 65–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Fox points out that while most Egyptian instruction texts are addressed to a single son, the instruction to Kagemeni stands as an exception, addressed throughout to a single son, but expanded out to the plural in the epilogue; see Fox, Proverbs 1–9, pp. 172–3; also, O'Dowd, Proverbs, p. 108.

41 Dell, Book of Proverbs, pp. 24–34; Fox, Michael V., ‘The Social Location of the Book of Proverbs’, in Fox, Michael V. et al. (eds), Texts, Temples, and Traditions: A Tribute to Menahem Haran (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1996), pp. 227–39Google Scholar; Longman, Tremper III, The Fear of the Lord Is Wisdom: A Theological Introduction to Wisdom in Israel (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017), pp. 191–8Google Scholar.

42 Longman, Proverbs, p. 148; McKane, William, Proverbs: A New Approach (London: SCM, 1970), p. 303Google Scholar.

43 Similarly, Meinhold, Sprüche 1–15, pp. 90–1.

44 As several others have also noted, this portrait matches what we find in Deut 6:1–9 of parents instructing their children to fear Yhwh and keep Yhwh's commands. There too the picture is intergenerational, promising ‘you, your child, and your grandchild’ long life, so long as they are obedient to Yhwh (Deut 6:2); see Meinhold, Sprüche 1–15, p. 91; O'Dowd, Proverbs, pp. 108–9. It is quite likely, in fact, that these verses were not far from the author of Prov 4's mind. Allusions to this text in other parts of Prov 1–9, most prominently in 3:1–3; 6:20–23; and 7:1–3, have long been noted; see e.g. Maier, Fremde Frau, pp. 153–66; Schipper, Hermeneutics of Torah, pp. 244–56.

45 For the most in-depth treatment of this in recent times, see Keefer, Arthur Jan, Proverbs 1–9 as an Introduction to the Book of Proverbs (London: T&T Clark, 2020)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

46 The heading in Prov 24:13 reads, ‘These too are by/for the wise’ (גם־אלה לחכמים). While the phrase דברי חכמים is not included, ‘these too’ (גם־אלה) suggests a hearkening back to the more explicit reference in 22:17.