Handbooks on hermeneutics and commentaries on Proverbs have trained readers to interpret any proverbial promises as merely probable patterns. A scholarly consensus asserts that proverbs are general truths, not laws. Some readers are relieved to know that Prov 22:6 does not condemn good parents whose children turned out bad, because the proverb was never a solemn promise but more of a general observation. Other readers become bored with the book and question its role as authoritative Scripture – why bother with supposedly wise sayings that only have to be true 51% of the time in order to qualify as a general truth? A reading strategy which excludes promise from proverb blunts the rhetorical impact of the book, lowers reader expectations, and is at cross purposes with the book’s aim of provoking a maturity-building crisis of faith. The thesis of this paper is that the genre of proverbs, characterized by brevity and parallelism, has room for divinely authoritative promises and warnings. When the proverbs are read as sermonic instruction, as applications of Old Testament law, the tension induced by unfulfilled promises becomes part of the book’s agenda for discipleship – nurturing a healthy fear of the Lord. When life experience seems to refute the truth of a proverb, the solution is not to explain the tension away by appealing to the genre of a general truth, but to recognize that some proverbs are designed to provoke puzzlement and distress.
The current moment in Wisdom Literature circles, when Will Kynes has questioned the usefulness of the “Wisdom Literature” category, is an ideal time for a fresh look at what the proverbial genre does and does not include. The paper will interact with the work of Andrew Judd, whose forthcoming book on biblical genre wisely responds to Kynes’ challenge. The insights of Edward Schnittjer, Ted Hildebrandt, Bruce Waltke, and Richard Belcher complement my argument, as does Phyllis Trible’s memorable description of proverbs as “texts of terror.”
By clarifying the genre of proverbs this paper seeks to discern how Proverbs contributes to a biblical view of promise and reward. Proverbs complicates the simplistic and false retribution theology of Job’s three friends. But the psalmist’s crisis in Psalm 73 makes little sense if some sort of retribution theology is not in play. This paper will suggest how the designed tension created by unfulfilled promises in Proverbs – parallel to the Ps 73 crisis – creates a gap uniquely filled by the New Testament. A consideration of how the NT uses Proverbs will provide a check on the thesis of this paper.
If Prov 24:30-34 is a description of how all proverbs originated – that a sage observed patterns in his life experience and then arrived at wisdom – this paper’s thesis is unlikely. But if proverb formation includes the sage’s engagement with special revelation as well as general revelation, then the likelihood of this paper’s thesis is increased.