The Composition of the Book of Proverbs.

• Author: Forti, Tova

The variety of style, form, and topics within the book of Proverbs has stimulated scholarly debate concerning the unity of its authorship and the date of its composition. Beyond the study of philological and text-critical issues, special attention has been given to conceptual topics, such as the view of life fostered by Proverbs. The influence of international "old wisdom literature" from Egypt and Mesopotamia has also been examined, tracing stylistic and ideological affinities. In this regard particular attention has been given to the collection of Prov. 22: 17-24:22, assumed to be a wisdom composition modeled upon the Instructions of Amenemope.

In recent years literary study has tried to trace editorial activity. The question of the age of the various collections in the received book involves the seven headings of the collections in the MT (1:1, 10:1, 22:17, 24:23, 25:1, 30:1, 31:1) contrasted to the lack of headings at 10:1, 30:1, 31:1 of LXX and the different arrangement of LXX as compared to the MT. These data have been considered internal criteria for the editorial stages of compilation and redaction. This volume exemplifies the focus on editorial activity.

The book under review consists of five chapters. The first four contain a very detailed analysis of the numerous "collections" or "sections" as defined by Whybray, as part of a methodology for the composition of Proverbs. Literary form criticism serves as the main tool for investigating the structure of Proverbs in its final form. In chapter five, "The Redaction of the Book," the author opines that "there is a correspondence between the first and the last sections of the book (chs. 1-9 and 31)" (p. 159). The portrayal of the wife "echoes the figure of Wisdom" (p. 160) and other female figures, thus reflecting a thematic linkage. Whybray carefully considers recent opinions concerning structural features, such as the lack of a heading in the last section (31:10-31) and the particular acrostic form of the poem, seen as indications of framework.

The analysis of Mahnspruch (admonition) as a genre separate from "sentence literature" has always involved the question of the Sitz im Leben of "popular," "proverbial" wisdom structures vis-a-vis longer literary units. Whybray, in his quest for a compositional Tendenz and organizing features within different literary types, distinguishes between deliberate juxtaposition of individual short proverbs and "carefully composed literary compositions...