Roland E. Murphy

Book Review: Proverbs: A CommentaryProverbs: A Commentary. By CliffordRichard J., Old Testament Library. Louisville: Westminster/Knox, 1999. Pp. xvi + 286.

The Book of Proverbs is generally not considered to be a prime biblical source for theology. At one time Prov 8:32 was a pivotal text in the Arian controversy, but the book itself fell into the benign neglect of the Old Testament Wisdom Literature. Job and Qoheleth have been the preferred books, apparently because they challenged God and the status quo. In contrast, Proverbs seems like a dreary repetition that wisdom (virtue) will triumph and folly (sin) will self-destruct. Clifford’s commentary gives the lie to this. The Book of Proverbs can be exciting and also theologically fruitful. Wisdom has now become a hot item in OT research, and its utilization in theology is only beginning. One thinks of the following topics: formation of moral character, the symbolism of Woman Wisdom, and the enlarged understanding of Jesus as wisdom teacher. In these and in other areas, wisdom will have its day. Among his important achievements is C’s ability to show the pertinence and liveliness of proverbial wisdom. There is a telling admission in the preface: “If a verse seemed banal, I knew I had not understood it, and so I returned to it” (vii). That sense of discovery pervades the commentary. The sayings open the modern reader to a way of thinking about life, especially about formation of character. In a sense, specialists in ethics may have the most to gain, because the sages approached the puzzles of life and attempted to weigh values. No single saying exhausts its chosen topic, but the sayings bounce off of each other to provide a perspective into a holistic style of acting. They do not “moralize” so much as they offer provocative observations. The saying reflects more a way of thinking than a nugget of thought, as the several “contradictions” demonstrate (24:5–6, whether to answer a fool or not). Thus C. remarks, “Proverbs is concerned with wisdom as a fundamental option in life rather than with specific wise actions . . . the quest for wisdom is depicted as a drama that is charged with conflict” (32). And this drama is heightened by the basic realization that to be truly wise is a slippery affair. “Do you see someone wise in his own eyes? There’s more hope for a fool than for him” (Prov 26:12). The Bible is filled with literary personifications, none of them more extensive than the figure of personified Wisdom, which runs through Proverbs, Sirach, and Wisdom of Solomon, to form a background to the “Word” of the Gospel of John. C. catches all the nuances of Woman Wisdom. He remarks of the important text 8:30–34: “As wisdom delights in God ‘daily’ in v. 30b, so the disciple is to wait upon her ‘daily’ in v. 34. The relationship between Wisdom and her disciples on earth in vv. 32–34 mirrors the relationship between Wisdom and Yahweh in heaven” (97). Paradoxically, this Wisdom, which is said to be a gift from the Lord (Prov 2:6), is also someTheological Studies 61 (2000)

38.95

Lewis Ayres and Stephen E. Fowl in a recent critique of the Pontifical Biblical Commissions document The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church took issue with the author on his claim that the paschal mystery does not serve as an hermeneutical principle for interpreting Scripture. The author defends the meaning and context of his original statement.

Quaestio Disputata: Is the Paschal Mystery Really the Primary Hermeneutical Principle?

p. 34, for example, it is said that Wis 9:15 teaches the corruption of the body, a doctrine probably based on Platos teaching. Yet in the commentary on p. 130 the author rejects this view and, following Gregg, holds that the writers view on the body goes no further than the Psalmist, who in Ps 103:14 speaks of the frailty of our flesh. This is but a minor defect and is insignificant in comparison with the great amount of solid information along with the carefully weighed judgments which make R.s edition a singularly valuable tool for Jewish and Christian scholars.

Book Review: Dix ans de découvertes dans le désert de JudaDix ans de découvertes dans le désert de Juda. By MilikJ. T., Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1957. Pp. 120.

contain a judicial decree or a precept. Items considered in this section include the following: under judicial precepts, the difference between a precept and a decree and between a precept and a sentence, and possible precepts in processes of beatification and canonization; under administrative processes, an outline of various administrative processes, and decrees and precepts in such processes; under penal precepts, such precepts given by superiors with jurisdictional or dominative power, and the reservation of censures imposed by precept (here the dispute centering around canon 2245, namely, about the reservation of a latae sententiae censure attached to a precept, is adequately reviewed). The precept as a penal remedy is treated in a brief, separate chapter. Before the final chapter, there are a few remarks about recourse and appeal from precepts. The work concludes with a discussion of the cessation of precepts in various ways: by revocation; by lapse of time; upon fulfilment of a command; by removal of the superior; through loss of juridical subjection (even if the precept was given in a document or before two witnesses) ; by prescription (not common). In certain circumstances a penalty attached to a precept can cease without the precept itself ceasing. The author appends numerous reference notes to his statements; all are placed at the end of the work. A bibliography and a good index are added features.

Book Review: Espiazie sacrionficale e riti espiatori nell'ambiente biblico e nell'Antico TestamentoEspiazie sacrionficale e riti espiatori nell'ambiente biblico e nell'Antico Testamento. By MoraldiLuigi, I.M.C. Analecta biblica 5. Rome: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1956. Pp. xxxi + 304.

ground, the relation between the Epitomist and Jason of Cyrene, the meaning of Maccabee (Z. reiterates his claim that the term denotes a physical characteristic: Judah, the hammer-headed), and the date (written in the reign of Agrippa I, 41-44 A.D., in Antioch). In the introduction Z. incorporates much material of an exegetical nature: the problem of the letters (Z. thinks there is only one) in chapters 1 and 2, the sacred fire (1:19), Hanukkah, martyrdom, and the religious concepts of the Epitomist. The peculiar ideas of Z. concerning Christianity appear intermittently. This volume will undoubtedly be of value to the Jewish audience for which it is intended. But the works of Bévenot and Abel, which are both cited in the bibliography, and, more recently, of Angelo Penna (1953), are of higher caliber and more serviceable to theologians.

6.00.

accepts, too, their usual dating in the tenth, eighth, and fifth centuries B.C. respectively. But in line with recent critical trends he maintains that each of these narratives (even P, the latest) contains traditional materials centuries older, and at times in an almost unchanged archaic form. The (J)ahvist in particular he represents as a collector of ancient Patriarchal traditions that were recited or sung at cult festivals of the various Palestinian sacred places in the time of Solomon. But the Jahvist was no mere compiler. The Zwischenstücke with which he wove together his materials into an artistic literary whole reveal his theological preoccupations and the religious spirit in which he would have his narrative understood. Such a piece von Rad considers 18:17-33 to be. In the preceding fascicle he explained 6:5-8 and 12:1-9 in a similar manner. The reader will probably disagree with some of the authors conjectures. Nevertheless he will find the fascicle stimulating and very much worthwhile for its valuable insights into some present-day trends of Pentateuchal criticism. Von Rad is now a veteran in the field. It may be noted here that recent Catholic commentators on Genesis, such as Chaîne (1947) and de Vaux (1951), accept JEP as a convenient hypothesis and likewise seek to disentangle the ancient traditions it enshrines. As in the other volumes of this series, religious values are kept in view. The minute, penetrating literary analysis to which the text is subjected in rigorous scientific fashion is in fact done in view of theological exegesis for a better understanding of Gods revelation to His people and of its living value for all mankind today.