Proverbs (review)

Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 165 Reviews Indeed. Brown explicitly introduces his study as an attempt to find biblical wisdom's place "in ethical discourse among Christians" (p. ix), and those who are interested in this question will find themselves the most rewarded here. (The explicit Christian orientation is restricted to the conclusion and to the observation that "the next and final move" after what happened to Job was the crucifixion.) Brown demonstrates command of the scholarly literature on his subject, but this and comments directed at scholars are confined almost entirely to the footnotes. This reader found Brown's insistence on the organizing principle of character. and more so on the word itself, ultimately unconvincing as an overall explanation of wisdom literature; but the view through this lens is, indeed, thoughtprovoking . Michael Carasik Hebrew College Brookline. MA 02146 PROVERBS. By R. N. Whybray. The New Century Bible Commentary. Pp. xxxii + 446. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans and Marshall Pickering. 1994. Paper. Professor Wbybray has spent much of his long and distinguished career studying the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. To the task of writing this commentary he brings a vast knowledge of the biblical text of Proverbs and of the scholarship which debates its meaning. As with his other publications, Whybray has produced a clear, comprehensive, and well-reasoned study of a difficult and complex book. After a select but representative and balanced bibliography, Professor Wbybray provides a succinct introduction to Proverbs which deals with the character of wisdom and its place in ancient Israel, the literary forms found within the book, and its overall structure. Before each major section of the text, Wbybray discusses its content and character. pertinent scholarship , and his rationale for its structural cohesion and integrity. The New Century Bible Commentary is based on the Revised Standard Version, but Wbybray is not timid about suggesting other readings and pointing out problems with the translation when he feels it is justified. The strength of this commentary is Wbybray's ability to do detailed and careful exegesis of difficult texts in a way which is both academically responsible and lucid. Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 166 Reviews Over and over he presents readings and interpretations which represent mature and well-founded judgments. Although he does not focus on the Septuagint, he uses it when it can help deal with a difficulty in Hebrew. Throughout the commentary the reader feels that he is in the presence of a master exegete who has control of all the pertinent scholarship. Not all the problems of interpretation are or can be solved, but even here Whybray lets us know why! Most of the shortcomings of this commentary, of which there are very few, have to do with the format and purpose of the series in which it is found. This is not a commentary for beginners. Although his clarity is exemplary, Whybray deals too much with critical scholarship and the Hebrew text to make this commentary of interest and value to the new reader. The present reviewer is always sorry to have a commentary with no translation in the book itself. In this case, I wish Whybray had produced his own translation rather than regularly commenting on the inadequacy of others. Finally, Whybray has been careful not to provide new brilliant theories of composition or intrusive theories of wisdom which tie all of the proverbial teachings together. But one could easily draw such a conclusion about Whybray's intentions from the rhetoric on the jacket cover of this book. What Professor Whybray has done is to give us a solid commentary which will be of value for a long time to come. Unburdened by new theses of the whole but filled with careful and compelling interpretations of particular proverbs and chapters, this is an excellent piece of scholarship for the serious student, which interrelates the texts with others in Proverbs and throughout the Bible. Whybray's exegetical skill and sensitivity, his analysis of variant readings, his command of Hebrew and of the pertinent research-all of this produces a solid reading of the biblical text, a commentary in the best sense of the word. One will surely need to go to other studies...