(Download) "Proverbs 8:22-31: Three Perspectives on Its Composition." by Journal of Biblical Literature * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Proverbs 8:22-31: Three Perspectives on Its Composition.
- Author : Journal of Biblical Literature
- Release Date : January 22, 2006
- Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines,Books,Professional & Technical,Education,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 244 KB
Description
Proverbs 8:22-31 is one of those passages in the Hebrew Bible that has profoundly affected Western religious tradition. The development of Prov 8:22-31 in Sirach 24 with its identification of personified Wisdom as Torah, for example, and the role of Prov 8:22-31 in the early church's christological controversies stand out as almost rites of passage in its ongoing postbiblical life. (1) The purpose of this article is to step back in history to the nativity of this poem to offer (yet another) demonstration that it was from the beginning conceived in theological discourse, born into polemic, and nurtured in concerns of divine-human mediation. To achieve this goal I investigate and interpret several literary factors in the composition of Prov 8:22-31, presenting three complementary perspectives to show that the language of this poem weaves a rich tapestry of literary allusions and creates multivalent poetic possibilities in order to explain personified Wisdom's origin and relationship to Yahweh, to polemicize against foreign gods of wisdom, and to present personified Wisdom as Yahweh's uniquely qualified, prophetlike messenger to humanity. I. FRAMING THE DISCUSSION