A Shift in Perspective: The Intended Audience and a Coherent Reading of Proverbs 1:1–7

Abstract

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)Most interpreters agree that Prov 1:1-7 introduces a family of wisdom terms, identifies the intended audience(s), and states the book's purpose through a series of infinitive constructs (1:2-4, 6). Many commentators claim that the infinitives depend on the title (1:1) and indicate intended audiences: the simpletons and youth (1:4) as well as the mature reader referred to as the (1:5).1 reason is semantic: the title supplies the of as the agent required to complete the meaning of the infinitives. Read naturally as statements of purpose, the infinitives are often translated with a to, indicating purpose. Hence, with a governing title and assumed linking verb, the phrases read, The proverbs of Solomon (1:1) ... [are] for the purpose of-2 Most commentators apply this pattern to verses 2b, 3a, and then also to verse 4, which would read, The proverbs of Solomon . . . [are] for the purpose of giving to the ones prudence. It is therefore concluded that of the intended audiences is the simple/youth.I. Proverbs 1:1-7: Translation...1:1 proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:1:2 to know wisdom and instruction, to understand sayings of understanding,1:3 to receive instruction in dealing: righteousness, and justice, and equity,1:4 to give to the ones prudence, to the youth knowledge and discretion.1:5 Let the hear and increase in learning and the who understands acquire guidance1:6 to understand a proverb and an epigram the words of the ones and their enigmas.1:7 fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledgewisdom and instruction fools despise.Between verses 2-3 and verse 4, the implied agent of the infinitives changes. In verses 2-3, it is consistently the reader, not the proverbs, who knows (v. 2a), who understands (v. 2b), and who receives (v. 3a). Yet in verse 4 it is the proverbs of Solomon, not the reader, that give. Michael V. Fox clarifies the shift at verse 4: The verb [to give], may seem awkward because it describes something that book will do, whereas the parallel verbs in the series describe things the pupil will do (knowing, understanding, receiving).3 Fox assumes correctly that the infinitives imply an additional agent. Yet he, like many others, resolves the shift at verse 4 by claiming that the implied reader of verses 2-3 is now revealed in the direct objects of verse 4. Hence, verse 4 clarifies that the proverbs were written for the simple/youth, who might know, understand, and receive (1:2-3a). Interpreters then claim that verse 5 indicates a second audience, the wise, with verse 6 resuming the style of verses 2-3. While views divide over the precise structure and relationship of the clauses, the shift at verse 4 has not been adequately addressed.4The change at verse 4 relates directly to the question of audience. Who is or are the intended audience(s) as indicated by the introduction (1:1-7), particularly verses 4-5? Does Proverbs address the simple/youth or the wise one or both? In order to resolve these questions, I will account for structural, grammatical, linguistic, and rhetorical issues in Prov 1:1-7 and propose a coherent reading of the whole passage. In my reexamination of the section I undertake four tasks that will yield an alternative reading. I establish that (1) the title is independent of verses 2-6 and (2) that the infinitives depend on the finite verbs of verse 5. Then, (3) I demonstrate that the implied reader, or audience, is not the simple (v. 4a) but is indeed the (v. 5), who is the agent of verse 4 that gives prudence to the simple. I clarify the identity and literary-rhetorical function of the wise, and (4) address the two terms in verse 4. My conclusions will not only reveal a tightly knit structure for Prov 1:1-7 but will also focus the identity of the book's intended audience, as I establish a singular audience, the wise, rooted in the rhetoricalliterary context of Proverbs in ways heretofore either overlooked or undeveloped by interpreters. …