Freedom in Christ

From the Household into the World
THE WOMEN’S BIBLE COMMENTARY
(Proverbs 10: 1-22: 16)
Proverbs 1–9 culminates at a crossroads. The youth hears the voices of wisdom
(9:3–6) and folly (9:16–17) beckoning him home for supper, each with initially
identical invitations (“you who are naive, turn in here,” 9:4, 16). Wisdom and folly, it
seems, are not always distinguished quickly. Will the youth choose to feast in secret
on stolen water and bread? Or choose the house of wisdom and step across her
threshold into the next major section of the book (10:1–22:16)?
The wise reader encounters a starkly new literary landscape. Proverbs 10:1–22:16
consists primarily of two-line proverbs, each of which stands on its own and appears,
at least initially, disconnected to the proverbs that precede and follow it. Disorienting
at first, the arrangement fosters the development of moral imagination by shifting the
responsibility for making sense of the proverbs from the parent in Proverbs 1–9 to
readers. Lack of prioritization among the proverbs requires careful consideration of
each one and when it might be applicable.
Readers further discover that, absent the father’s firm mediation, conflict and
contradiction exist not only between the wise and foolish, but within the community’s
wisdom. Divergent proverbs occur side by side or nearly so without qualification. For
example, some proverbs consider wealth an unqualified good (e.g., 10:15, 22; 14:20)
while others regard it as a liability (11:4, 28); some attribute poverty to laziness (e.g.,
10:4; 20:13) while others attribute poverty to violence, extortion, and deceit (e.g.,
11:1, 16; 13:23). This interweaving of countering claims—none of which the sages
discount or trivialize—teaches that wisdom does not hold only one perspective on
wealth or poverty or, for that matter, on most things. As women and minority groups
have long insisted, different experiences yield different insights that can benefit the
whole community. And wise people study them all.
Proverbs 10:1–15:33
Although the youth has left the childhood home of Proverbs 1–9, the importance of
family continues. Prevalent use of antithetical proverbs in this section reinforces the
father’s morally bifurcated worldview. And a central concern is the building and
maintenance of an honorable household. The sages insist that the well-being of
women and men hinges on the well-being of their families; the fate of a household is
coupled to the character and conduct of its members. So the sages urge finding a
good spouse. Women are deemed wise when they build up the home (like wisdom
herself, 9:1–6) or foolish when they tear it down “with [their] own hands” (14:1).
Celebrated here for the first time in Proverbs, a “woman of substance” (cf. 31:10–31)
is said to promote her husband, whereas a “shameful wife” destroys him like “rot in
the bones” (12:4). The honor and joy of both parents depends on the discipline and
behavior of their children (e.g., 10:1, 5; 15:20) even as the glory of children is the
parents (cf. 17:6). (Whereas parents in the ancient Near East assumed the use of
physical discipline with their children [e.g., 13:24], many parents today reconsider the
practice in light of contemporary wisdom.) Indeed, a good home is so fundamental
that the sages underpin it theologically: God destroys the house of the proud but
defends the property markers of the widow, one of the most vulnerable members of
society (15:25). Far from downplaying concern for home and family, proverb after
proverb emphasizes the primary importance to men of what has long been the
domain of women.

Women may also attain honor, the sages observe, by their “attraction” (hen, a term
that refers to physical beauty and/or graciousness). Proverbs 11:16, which presents
some interpretive difficulties, compares such an attractive woman with men who
seize and hold onto wealth by means of violence. The proverb may be a cynical
observation that women use beauty and men use “muscle” to get ahead in the world
—a sentiment reminiscent of the father’s caution about the “strange” woman’s
eyelashes that threaten to “capture” the youth (6:25). The proverb may also contrast
one woman whose good character earns her public honor with many men whose
brutality gets them only money. One thinks of such women as Ruth, Esther, Abigail,
and, in Proverbs, a “woman of substance” (31:10–31). Finally, implicit in the proverb
may be the assumption that while women may attain and enjoy honor, wealth is a
reward of men. Women were rarely owners of property in the ancient world, and
whatever wealth they accrued usually transferred to their husbands.
Only a few proverbs later, the sages make the arresting comparison of a bejewelled
pig with a beautiful woman who has forsaken her good sense (11:22). Her choice to
behave foolishly— perhaps she flaunts her good looks and relies on her charisma—
makes her appearance disconcerting. The sense is that beauty without wisdom is
wasted and may even be destructive. After all, a pig is led to slaughter by a ring in its
nose (Davis, 80).
Proverbs 16:1–22:16
Many of the themes addressed in 10:1– 15:33 continue, but antithetical proverbs are
now mixed with a greater diversity of wisdom genres, including synonymous and
synthetic proverbs, “better than” proverbs (e.g., 16:8, 32; 17:1), rhetorical questions
(e.g., 17:16; 18:14), and the introduction of “not fitting” proverbs (e.g., 16:29; 17:7).
The variety requires increasing dexterity from readers. It also affords greater
opportunity for nuance and the expression of relative values. The sages
acknowledge more readily that things are not always what they seem (e.g., 16:25;
17:28; 18:17). And they weigh competing values—arguing, for example, that it is
better to eat a dry crust of bread in quiet than feast in a household torn apart by
fighting (17:1; e.g., 16:8, 16, 19). This engagement of the more “gray” realities of life,
of the messiness of navigating in the world when things are not clearly wise or
foolish, good or bad, can be a welcome resource for women making difficult choices
in a male-dominated society.
The circle of moral concern widens, and, with it, the sages pay more attention to
navigating conflict and preserving social harmony— frequently over individual
interests and desires. In addition to family, there is greater emphasis on friends, who
are occasionally favored over family (e.g., 17:17; 18:24). And readers engage an
increasingly diverse cast of characters, such as personal enemies (16:7), nobles and
princes (17:7, 26; 19:6, 10), warriors (16:32; 21:22), lenders (22:7), and hagglers
(20:14). Particularly noteworthy is the king, who steps to the forefront in 16:10–15
and remains significant in the book thereafter; indeed, his appearance prompts
interpreters to call this the “Royal Collection.”
Various proverbs continue to extol the value of a “good” wife, who is called a gift from
God (18:22; 19:14). Far less desirable is her counterpart, the “contentious wife.” A
series of three proverbs increases the distance between the reader and the wife,
underscoring the importance of avoiding her at all costs. The first compares her
quarreling to the irritating, steady drip of a leaky roof (19:13). The second takes the
reader up on the roof and back into a corner, saying it is better to live there, alone

and exposed to the elements, than in the house with her (21:9). And the final proverb
transports the reader into the desert, a place of wildness and solitude that the sages
claim is preferable, even in its danger, to the misery of her quarrelling (21:19).
Perhaps the sages intend some humor here. But they never ponder what might
prompt a wife to be so contentious with her husband, nor do they balance these
proverbs with others that urge a woman to get as far away as possible from a
quarreling, abusive man.
Engaging the Wisdom of Other Cultures
(Prov. 22:17–24:34)
From wisdom identified explicitly as Israelite (“the proverbs of Solomon,” 1:1; 10:1),
readers move to internationally inspired instructions: the first of these two sections
attributed to the “wise,” 22:17–24:22, is an artful adaptation of the Egyptian
Instruction of Amenemope. That the transition occurs rather seamlessly in the
Hebrew suggests that movement between Israelite and foreign wisdom is rather
ordinary. The sages assume that their work requires critical engagement with the
wisdom of cultures—an assumption that directs their attention outward and presses
the question, to whom should we be listening now? At the same time, because the
sages rework Amenemope in various ways, they teach that the borrowing of
traditions and texts is not done mechanically but critically, mindful of one’s contexts
and purposes. Attentiveness to the world’s wisdom becomes even more explicit at
the end of Proverbs with two other sections that are or are made to appear foreign—
the wisdom of Agur (30:1–33) and of King Lemuel’s mother (31:1–9).
Renewed use of direct address (e.g., “my son”) and attention to the household and
family spark a sense of déja vu. This revised foreign wisdom reads much like
Proverbs 1–9. But the reader is addressed this time not only as a child in the family
home, but as a young man responsible for building and tending a household, a
neighbor and a citizen, a commoner, a messenger, a present or potential member of
the royal court, and a military leader. The youth appears poised to assume new roles
and responsibilities— most of which were exclusive to men in ancient Israel. For the
first time in the book, there is guidance about how to eat at a ruler’s table (23:1–5)
and to recognize a reluctant host (23:6–8), along with extended warnings about
excessive drinking, eating, and overwork (23:4–5, 20–21, 29–35). Perceived threats
to the youth’s well-being and advancement are characterized as obstacles on his
path, including the “strange” woman who appears again and is described as a “deep
pit,” a “narrow well,” and a thief (23:26–28).
Resonant are poignant appeals for moral courage and action. The sages point to
God’s attention to and investment in the human situation to motivate compassion and
justice, particularly for the sake of those in peril: the poor and afflicted for whom God
pleads (22:22–23), the orphans for whom God is the redeemer (23:10–11), and those
“unjustly taken away to slaughter” for whom God looks for rescuers (24:10–12). The
sages confront those who strive to get ahead—here they are young men—with the
harsh realities of injustice and suffering. They cannot avoid it, minimize it, or deny
knowing about it. Indeed, the sages interpret human suffering in cosmic, historical,
and global terms; everyone—God, your ancestors, peoples, and nations—stands on
the side of the vulnerable and wronged (22:28; 23:10–11; 24:24). The sages hold out
hope that those rising into positions of power will act boldly on behalf of the
powerless.
Taken from THE WOMEN’S BIBLE COMMENTARY by Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley