Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary by Bruce K. Waltke and Ivan D. V. De Silva

Abstract

Reviewed by: Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary by Bruce K. Waltke and Ivan D. V. De Silva Kristin J. Wendland bruce k. waltke and ivan d. v. de silva, Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2021). Pp. xxviii + 472. Paper $38. In Proverbs: A Shorter Commentary, Bruce K. Waltke and Ivan D. V. De Silva present a simplified and abridged version of W.'s two-volume commentary in the NICOT series (The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1–15 and The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 16–31 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004]). W. and D.S. suggest that one think of the longer, more technical work as a "massive footnote" to this abridged version (p. xv). Because of the intentional connection between the two works, I will make comparisons between them at several points throughout this review. The authors succeed well in their intention to produce a more accessible commentary for a more general audience, including students and pastors (p. xiii). For example, while the authors presume that a reader will have knowledge of terms such as LXX, Masoretic Text, and Latin Vulgate, they have, understandably, omitted much of the section on texts and versions. Some knowledge of biblical studies will assist a reader of this commentary, but the authors write in a way that will rarely overwhelm a nontechnical reader. In the introduction, the authors strike the balance particularly well between accessibility and technical detail in the sections having to do with vocabulary. The Hebrew-rich sections covering the vocabulary for wise and righteous and for wicked and fools engage the scholarly field and exemplify the careful scholarship of the authors, yet communicate in a way that a careful reader with knowledge of an English Bible will readily understand. Likewise, the authors helpfully engage, at least in broad contours, scholarship surrounding a number of central points of disagreement within the field, including interpretive possibilities [End Page 492] concerning the "Strange Woman" (ʾiššâ zārâ, pp. 55–57) and the various possible translations for ʾāmôn in Prov 8:30 (p. 163). Transliteration assists in accessibility, and the authors do an excellent job of leading a non-Hebrew reader to an understanding of how knowledge of the Hebrew aids in interpretation. Simplification and accessibility are defining characteristics of the commentary, but the authors also set out to produce an explicitly Christian work. W. and D. suggest that the clearest example of this is in the comparisons they draw between "the proverbs of Solomon and the sayings of the wise with the person and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ" (p. xiv). This section, actually entitled "The Superiority of Jesus Christ to Solomon's Wisdom," is, indeed, explicitly Christian but is also rather superfluous for understanding the Book of Proverbs, unless the title is meant to be an analogy to the subsequent argument about Woman Wisdom as a "Type of Jesus Christ" as opposed to identifying her with Christ in the way of Justin Martyr (pp. 58–61). The intended audience and the religious commitments of the authors are evident in other ways as well. For instance, they attribute the final form of the Book of Proverbs to an "inspired editor" who mediated the proverbs from their original addressees to a more universal audience (p. 9). Following this, W. and D. immediately conclude their discussion on canonization with the statement that "the Holy Spirit, through the church, then sanctioned the work as canonical" (p. 9). Whether these statements about inspiration and the Holy Spirit help or hinder the book are up to each reader, but they will certainly be more welcome in some contexts than others. More curious is that W. and D. skip over quite a bit in the discussion of canonization, including the inclusion of the Book of Proverbs in the Tanak and its continued use in Judaism. Inspired though the editor may have been, the editor was not Christian and did not hand over a book to be canonized by "the church" (p. 9). Much of the commentary section proper follows the 2004 publication in abbreviated version, with fewer notes on text-critical issues. W. and D. cite scholarship throughout this section—understandably with less detail and frequency than in...