Context at a Glance
Author:Traditional Attribution
Topic:psalm Chapter 150 Study
This chapter provides a foundational look at the theological themes of psalm, analyzed across multiple historic translations for maximum scholarly depth.
Psalm 150
New Revised Standard Version
1Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!
2Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
3Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!
4Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
5Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6Let everything that breathes praise the LORD! Praise the LORD! PROVERBS
1231PROVERBS Introduction The purpose of the book of Proverbs is to transmit insights whereby one might learn to cope with life (1.2-6). Its emphasis is on teachings gathered from tradition of the elders (e.g., 4.1-4) and from experience (e.g., 6.6-11). In contrast to many other books of the Hebrew Bible, major themes such as the Mosaic and Davidic covenants are absent; Temple worship and sacrifice are rarely mentioned. Although some sayings are neutral observations, on the whole a moral ideal is inculcated. Guided by the principle that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (9.10; 1.7; 15.33), the sages emphasize values such as honesty, diligence, trustworthiness, self-restraint, and appropriate attitudes toward wealth and poverty. Proverbs acknowledges the limitations of human wisdom (16.1-2, 9; 21.30), yet the book offers a clear view of divine reward and punishment: Wisdom (generally equated with righteousness) brings success; folly (or wickedness) leads to destruction. The books of Job and Ecclesiastes, however, show that this schematic account of divine justice remained a problem for the sages. The authorship of this composite work is multiple and essentially anonymous. Some of the material appears to be preexilic, but the book was completed in the post-exilic period. The attribution to Solomon (1.1; 10.1; 25.1) derives from traditional accounts of his legendary wisdom (1 Kings 4.29-34) and lends authority to the collection. The book is typical of the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible and also of the ancient Near East, especially Egypt. In fact, most scholars agree that 22.17-23.11 is in some way dependent upon the "Instruction" of the Egyptian sage, Amen-em-ope (ca.
1100BCE). Royal scribes are responsible for much of the material in Proverbs; hence the sayings sometimes reflect an elite point of view. But the learned editors of the PROVERBS
1232book also preserve the folk wisdom of ancient Israelite villages and extended families. The original audience of Proverbs was primarily young men preparing for adult responsibilities; a male-centered perspective prevails in the book. There is intense interest in finding a "good wife" (e.g., 12.4) and in governing a household successfully. In chs 1-9, presented as the instruction of a father to his son, the center of attention is a vibrant feminine personification of divine Wisdom. She is opposed to the foolish woman (ch 9) and to the complex, threatening figure of the "strange woman" (chs 2, 5, 7). Proverbs contains several sub-collections of short proverbial saying framed by sets of longer wisdom poems in chs 1-9 and 30-31. The book opens (1.1-7) with a title (1.1) followed by a programmatic statement of purpose and theme (1.2-7). Then comes a lengthy instruction in Wisdom (1.8-9.18), consisting of extended poems in second-person perspective, with commands and admonitions usually completed by motive clauses. Personified Wisdom and her opposites, the "strange woman" and the foolish woman, are prominent. A collection of proverbial sayings follows (10.1-22.16), each of which is typically two lines in parallel thought, as is characteristic of Hebrew poetry. Antithetical parallelism predominates in chs 10-15; synonymous or synthetic parallelism (in which the second line repeats or extends the thought of the first) in 16.1-22.16. Another collection is "the words of the wise" (22.17-24.34), which are teachings, chiefly brief admonitions, patterned after the Egyptian "Instruction of Amen-em-ope" (esp. 22.17-23.11), with an appendix of additional "sayings of the wise" in 24.23-24. Another collection of sayings (25.1-29.27), credited to the "officials of King Hezekiah (25.1), comprises two main sub-units, chs 25-27 and 28-29. The words of Agur and other sayings (30.1-33) are a wisdom dialogue and a prayer (vv. 1-9) followed by admonitions and numerical sayings (vv. 1033). The words of Lemuel (31.1-9) consist of teachings on sobriety and responsibility attributed to King Lemuel's mother. Ending the collection, and expressing both closure and completeness by its acrostic form, is the section in praise of the woman of worth (31.10-31), a poem on the ideal wife, the embodiment of Wisdom. PROVERBS
1233The reader should begin with chs 1-9, which form an extended invitation to the pursuit of Wisdom. Especially noteworthy are the programmatic statements of 1.1-7 and 8-19 and the speeches of divine Wisdom in 1.20-33 and 8.1-36. The sayings collections of chs 10-29 may be approached as exercises in judicious reading. The artful arrangement of discrete proverbs creates a certain coherence in the Hebrew by means of catchwords, plays on words, alliteration and assonance, and the thematic associations. Some sayings have been repeated in other collections (e.g., 21.9 = 25.24); others are meaningfully paired (e.g., 17.27-28; 26.4-5), or gathered in thematic groups (e.g., 25.1-7). Although these verbal characteristics and thematic arrangements may have been an mnemonic aid, the care given to these groupings indicates that the interpretation of the sayings is meant to be an exacting discipline (cf. 26.7, 9). Individual proverbs are not simply to be mechanically applied; rather they should be read in creative tension with one another. Proverbs invites the reader to intellectual discipline as a life-giving synthesis of keen observation and reflection, ethical concern, and piety.