Lecture 2, Fundamentals for Preaching the Book of Proverbs

This is the second in a four-part series, delivered as the W. H. Griffith Thomas Lectureship at Dallas Theological Seminary, February 6-9, 2007.  I am sure that there are plenty of mistakes in my transcription, but it is a great and informative sermon anyway.  Additional material at the end that was not in the lecture is found in the corresponding article, "Fundamentals of Preaching Proverbs," Bibliotheca Sacra 165 (January-March 2008): 3-12.

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This lecture deals with...
The Fundamentals of Preaching
1. Demarcating the Text
2. Choosing the Translation 
3. Exegeting the text
4. Abstracting the Big Idea
5. Translating the Idea into a Message
6. Developing the Argument
7. Applying the Message
Fundamental Concepts of Proverbs
1. Distinctive Mark
2. Wisdom Literature's Epistemology
3. Five Rungs Confessions to Assure Us that We Can Find Wisdom from Proverbs 30
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I apologize for violating the first rule of preaching yesterday, to stop on time, and today I’m taking off my watch so I don’t make that mistake—Well, I don’t say I won’t, but I’ll try. 

To preach Proverbs authentically the expositor should master the fundamentals of preaching (the topic of lecture one) and understand the fundamentals of Proverbs, the topic of this in the next two lectures.  The preamble of Proverbs 1.1-7 reveals the prerequisite fundamental concepts for interpreting the book.  In this lecture I have two objectives, first to reveal and illustrate the fundamentals of preaching by expositing the book’s preamble and, second, from the superscript of the preamble, verse one, to reflect on two—I’ll only have time for one of the six fundamental concepts the expositor should understand.

First then, an exposition of the preamble.  The exposition of the preamble entails seven fundamental steps: demarcating the text, choosing the best translation and exegeting it, followed by abstracting its big idea and transforming that into a message, and then developing that message into a sermonic form and applying it.

FUNDAMENTAL ONE THEN: DEMARCATING THE TEXT

Here’s the text for the first sermon of the book of Proverbs.

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

for gaining wisdom and instruction; (gaining in Hebrew is yada`, wisdom is chokmah and instruction muwcar )

for understanding words of insight;

for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,

doing what is right and just and fair;

for giving prudence to those who are simple,

knowledge and discretion to the young

—let the wise listen and add to their learning,

and let the discerning get guidance

—for understanding proverbs and parables,

the sayings and riddles of the wise.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, (Hebrew da`ath)

and wisdom and instruction (which would be chokmah, muwcar) fools despise.

Formal rhetorical criticism demarcates Proverbs 1.1-7 as an intentional grouping.  Grammatically verses 1-6 are one sentence: a topic (the proverbs of Solomon) and a predicate that gives the writer's purpose for writing this book (w. 2-6). Formally the preambles to Egyptian instruction also contain similar superscripts modified by purpose clauses. This form contrasts radically with the forms of the following twelve lectures and sermons in prologue 1.8 through 9.18.  Their form consists of an admonition by the lecturer to the addressee to accept the teaching followed by motivations to heed the lesson.

Rhetorically verse seven also belongs to the preamble. Grammatically it stands apart as a separate sentence from the superscript with purpose clauses in verses 1-6, but its rhetoric firmly attaches it to the preamble. The sequence of words in 1.2 for gaining wisdom and instruction (da`ath, chokmah, muwcar) are repeated in the same sequence but with a different syntax in 1.7.

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of da`ath, chokmah, muwcar, but wisdom and instruction fools despise." Moreover this key verse provides transition from the preamble to the prologue (chapter one, verse eight).  1.7b reads “For fools despise wisdom and instruction,” and the first admonition in verse eight is, “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction.”   

Thus verses 1-7 may be demarcated by grammar and by form and rhetorical criticism as a unit, and it serves as a preamble. In sum, by grammar, form, and rhetorical criticism we have demarcated 1.1-7 as a text and identified its form as a preamble. 

FUNDAMENTAL TWO: CHOOSING THE TRANSLATION

Having established by grammar, form, and rhetoric that 1.1-7 is an intentional preamble to the book, the expositor chooses for his congregation the best translation of his text for accuracy, clarity, and beauty.  I find the TNIV best.  As for accuracy, consider verse two.   "For gaining (which renders da`ath)  wisdom and instruction.”  Literally da`ath means "to know," and is so rendered in the NASB and the ESV.  But the English term “to know”  normally separates the knower from the object from the knower, whereas the Hebrew term means to experience, to internalize the object known. The New RSV gets it all wrong by rendering da`ath "to know about wisdom.” It’s not that at all.  "To gain" more accurately represents the Hebrew thought to know an object by personal knowledge  than  the bald translation "than to know" which suggests to know about something or someone as the New RSV thought.   To the novice the NASV and ESV seem more accurate and the TNIV seem to be playing fast and loose with the text.  But in fact the TNIV more accurately translates the Hebrew text.  [7:34]

FUNDAMENTAL THREE: EXEGETING THE TEXT

In the lectures that follow I will exegete the text as necessary.  Here I analyze only its structure at first.  The structure of the preamble consists roughly of a superscript (v. 1), a statement of purpose which is signaled by the conjunction (v. 4) and the intitial position in verses two through six, and a foundational principle: the fear of "I Am." The prose superscript identifies the literary form of this book, "the proverbs," and its author, "of Solomon son of David, king of Israel." More precisely the structure of the preamble can be analyzed thus:

I. Superscript (v. 1)

A. Literary genre: “proverbs” (v. la)

B. Author: “of Solomon” (v. lb)

II. Purpose of the Book (vv. 2-6)

A. Summary (v. 2) “For gaining wisdom and instruction; for understanding words of insight;”

That is 1. As to the book's substance: “to gain wisdom” (v. 2a)

2. As to the book's style: “to understand words of insight” (v. 2b)

Then B. The purpose: “To gain wisdom” (w. 3-5) “for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just,” looking at it from the student’s viewpoint, and from the teacher’s viewpoint, “for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young—let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance”

1. In verse three Wisdom defined in terms of ethical behavior.  “for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair”

2. In verse four Wisdom is defined in regard to simpletons.  “for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the inexperienced”

And 3. with regard to the wise (v. 5)  “ —let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance”

And then finally a summary again at the end—well, going back to II B  “ To understand the words of insight, —for understanding proverbs and parables,

the sayings and riddles of the wise.”

C. To understand words of insight (v. 6)

III. Essential Spiritual Component to Gain Wisdom (v. 7)   “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Next, FUNDAMENTAL FOUR: is ABSTRACTING THE BIG IDEA

What is the author's ideological grid that interfaces the superscript (v. 1), purpose (1.2-6), and essential spiritual quality (1.7)?  Kipling's "six little men" help focus the point. Ye coined the saying,

"I keep six honest serving-men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When,

And How and Where and Who."

But the problem with the preamble is that the expositor seems to have too many little men to help him.  Verse one answers the questions, What is the book's literary form? and Who is its author? Verses 2-6 answer, Why did he write it and for whom? And verse 7 answers “How does one acquire the wisdom of this book? First, the preamble needs all these little men cause it answers all the questions asked by Kiplings little men.  In sum, the question the preamble answers is, What do you need to know to gain the wisdom of this book.  To state the question metaphorically,  What is the code of the combination lock spiritual that unlocks the gate to gain access to the paradise, the wisdom of the book of Proverbs    prerequisite for learning this book? In summary the essential question the preamble answers is, What do you need to know to gain the wisdom of the Book of Proverbs? To state the question metaphorically, What is the code of the combination lock that unlocks the gate to gain entrance into the paradise, the wisdom, of the Book of Proverbs?

FUNDAMENTAL FIVE: TRANSLATING THE IDEA INTO A MESSAGE

The big idea is “What is the information needed to profit from this book?” must now be transformed in a message to be responded to.  The big idea calls for a response of the joyful willingness to learn the goal.  Be wise. Learn the fundamentals that unlock the gate to wisdom. Don't be a fool and ignore them.  [12:18]

FUNDAMENTAL SIX: DEVELOPING THE ARGUMENT

The code of the combination lock has six numbers—that is to say that we must understand six concepts. In this lecture we intended to develop the first two.  I’ll do just the first one which are found in the book’s superscript understanding the book's genre or better species: "proverbs" and, two, understanding the book's authors, especially "Solomon son of David, king of Israel" (1b). In the next lecture we develop two more fundamentals, understanding the book's purpose "to gain wisdom,” and understanding the book's addressees: simpletons and those growing in wisdom (vv. 4-5). In the final lecture we develop the last two, understanding the book's words, and, six, understanding "the fear of Ί Am.' "   [13;15]

FUNDAMENTAL SEVEN then is APPLYING THE MESSAGE

In the light of these lectures preach the book with passion, and authority.  [13:25]

Two, then, FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF PROVERBS FOR PREACHING PROVBERBS

Let us now learn the preambles code for unlocking the book.  The first number is the book’s literary form.  The proverbs of Solomon and the sayings of the wise of the book of Proverbs all scholars agree is a species of the wisdom genre.  But they do not agree about the distinctive characteristics that bind together such diverse works as Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiasties, all of which belong to this genre of wisdom literature.  The point to understand the species proverbs we must first understand the broader genre of wisdom literature. 

So THE GENRE OF WISDOM LITERATURE

To unpack the nature of wisdom literature and the relevance to the preacher we reflect upon its distinctive mark and the epistemology that informs it.

A, WISDOM LITERATURE’S DISTINCTIVE MARK: its form of inspiration. Scholars differ on pointing their finger on the distinctive character of wisdom literature According to some it is humanistic in its orientation; according to others it is international in scope. Others note that it is nonhistorical, unlike the rest of the Old Testament, or they note that it is eudaemonistic in their view, that is "we do good to get good." Still others define wisdom literature as a human search for order, and Kidner fingers its rational tone. Although wisdom literature contains some of these characteristics, other forms of literature also contain some of them, howbeit not to the same extent.  Nevertheless I put my finger on the nature of wisdom literature, its inspiration, its distinctive mark.

The writer of Hebrews notes that in the Old Testament God spoke in diverse ways. For example, to Moses, theophany, to the prophets in visions and auditions, and to the sages in their keen observations on creation and cogent reflections upon their observations.  One can observe from Proverbs 24:30-3. His laboratory was the sluggard's field (30.31). "I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins" (w. 30-31).  Note now this keen observation is followed by cogent reflection in this experiment. "I applied my heart to what I observed, learned a lesson from what I saw."  

And now note how the sage coins cites the lesson he learned in a proverb.   "A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man" (w. 33-34).

The sage, however, does not base his wisdom on what theologians call natural theology. Natural theology is based on God's general revelation in creation, human conscience, and human reason. In other words, in natural theology nature itself is God's oracle. God's sages, by contrast, based their theology on God's covenants with Israel, and in light of those covenants they find illustrations in creation that support the values of Israel’s covenants.

In other words the "inscape" of the sages determines how they see their landscape. As William Blake expressed it, "We see through the eye, not with the eye." What we are inside determines how we sees the world. Upon assuming David's throne, Solomon copied by hand Moses' Book of the Law under the tutelage of the priest. "When [the king] takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests who are the Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere I AM his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees" (Deut. 17:18-19).

Undoubtedly even before becoming king, Solomon had been instructed in Israel's covenants. What I am saying is that Solomon and the sages of Proverbs viewed the world from a character saturated in God's Law and its concerns for justice and mercy. [19:15]

This orientation from Israel’s covenants pervades their writings. They speak-the sages and proverbs speak of God as "I Am,” God's name connected with His covenants with Israel. Moreover, when they observe creation and reflect upon it, they overlook those aspects of creation that do not affirm the covenant’s values. When Solomon erects the add into a paradigm of discipline and prudence in Proverbs 6:6-11, he turns a blind eye to the disastrous effects of the carpenter ant. Qoheleth the preacher in Ecclesiasties and Job temporarily removed the lens of Israel's covenants, speak of the Lord as Elohim, that is, of God as transcendent, and they observed in the creation the presence of evil and the lack of justice. Job and Qoheleth in the final analysis extract Israel’s values from the created order by finally viewing it through faith through Israel's covenants. Both fall back on "the fear of Ί Am' " (Job 28:28; Eccles. 12:13), which entails special revelation.  [20:42]

The point is that though the sage's form of inspiration differs from that of Moses and the prophets, they are just as inspired. With Solomon's wisdom on his lips, a fictitious father lectures his son: "For the Ί Am' gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding" (2:6).   [21:18]

WISDOM LITERATURE’S EPISTEMOLOGY: its dependence on revelation.

Inspiration, as we have defined it entails revelation. Moreover, without comprehensive knowledge, knowing everything, which must be had by revelation, there is no absolute or certain knowledge. The finite mind cannot determine absolute truth. Agur made this argument in his autobiographical confession in 30:1-6. Agur, a sage and a prophet, confessed his philosophy of knowledge to an unknown official named Ithiel, who in the canon of Scripture represents all the people of God.  We read,”The sayings of Agur, son of Jekah, an inspired utterance,” (Unique by the way to TNIV. This man’s utterance didn’t repeat “inspired” but the Hebrew text says that.)  to Ithiel.” And then amending the text by exegisis, “I am weary, God, but I can prevail,” (unique translation to the TNIV) “Surely I am only a brute not a man, I do not have human understanding.  I have not learned wisdom nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.  Who has gone up to heaven and come down?  Whose hands have gathered up the wind?  Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?  Who established all the ends of the earth?  What is His name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know! "Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. 6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

In the third lecture I will argue that by "understanding" and "wisdom" Agur had in mind ethics and social skills, that is, the skill of proper behavior in relationship to God and to one's neighbor. Agur introduces his philosophy of knowledge in a summary statement: "I am weary, God, but I can prevail.”  In this succinct statement he assures us that we can climb out of the pit of our human inability and weariness to find wisdom.  He does this by constructing a ladder with five rungs of confessions. [24:00]

[FIVE RUNGS OF CONFESSIONS TO ASSURE US THAT WE CAN FIND WISDOM]

CONFESSION 1: Apart from revelation, none attains wisdom. The first rung of Agur's ladder is made from  the stuff of human experience. The first rung that we must climb is an honest confession that on their own as mere mortals they cannot attain sure? and social skills. "Surely I am only a brute, not a human being; I do not have human understanding. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One."

Agur's honest confession contrasts sharply with the self-assurance of the Enlightenment. Its philosophers have full confidence that by designed experiments with cogent human reasoning, humankind can determine how to behave. After having been tried for three centuries the Enlightenment has enabled the human race to achieve what before the Enlightenment would have been regarded as miracles. Remarkably physicists and engineers enable humankind to walk on the moon. Chemists have eliminated dreaded disease. But in social and moral skills the Enlightenment has proved to be a failure. Alasdair Maclntyre documented how the Enlightenment moved Western civilization from the Greek virtues to Nietz-che's will for power.*  In its wake came Nazi genocide and ethnic cleansing. Geneticists, social scientists, and medical practitioners sometimes play God and kill unwanted human beings. Today no human life can be sure it is precious or safe. [26:12] *Alisdair Maclntyre, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, 2nd ed. (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984).

CONFESSION 2: Apart from revelation humankind cannot obtain wisdom. Whereas Agur made his first rung out of experience, he makes his second rung out of his cogent reflection on his confession that human beings on their own do not know how to behave. He set this rung in place by four "who" questions in verse 4a. "Who has gone up to heaven?”  That is to see everything holistically, the knowledge of the Holy One, and who has come down to tell us the whole?  “Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?”  In other words, who sustains the earth with rain?   “Who has established all the ends of the earth?"

Agatha raises the four "who" questions to confirm the post-modern philosophy of knowledge.  All human knowledge is relative and uncertain. This is so, Agur reasons, because without comprehensive knowledge the human race cannot derive certain knowledge.

Engineers, on account of their limited knowledge, used to think damming up rivers was good; now ecologists tell us that sometimes dams are bad. People used to think forest fires are always bad; now horticulturalists tell us that they may be necessary. In other words what was once thought good and wise now with more knowledge turns out to be bad and foolish.

Westminster Seminary, where I once taught, rightly prides itself on its superb library, located prominently on a hill overlooking the surrounding valleys. Around the library's core of books are the faculty offices. One of our students, however, prior to his coming to Westminster, worked for the department of the United States government that measures concentrations of deadly radon gas in atmospheres. One day our student decided to test the amount of radon gas in our library.

Now to understand the findings you need to know that the atmosphere normally contains four picocuries of radon gas; each day a chain smoker inhales about two hundred pico curies, and a uranium miner inhales with every breath about four hundred pico curies. In fact the United States government requires uranium miners to take every third year off  to detox. Our student discovered (and the government confirmed) that the atmosphere of the Westminster library, where my office was located, had a concentration of, get this, four thousand picocuries, ten times more than in a uranium mine. The day after the discovery the government sealed the library shut with black and yellow tape, with the words "Danger. Lethal. Keep out!" And that was my office!

The point, the architects who located and designed the library thought they had built wisely, but in truth they built foolishly. Unknown to them, according to geologists, there was a fracture in the earth's crust, forty miles directly below the library, spewing out the largest concentration of the radon gas ever measured in the United States.

Postmoderns of the twenty-first century, unlike modernity of the past three centuries,  agree with Agur that all unaided human knowledge is relative. But unlike Agur these secularists have drawn the perverse conclusion that there are no moral absolutes by which to evaluate social behavior. According to their philosophy of knowledge human beings must own up to the reality that they can no longer speak of values; they can only speak of evaluations. In their view no culture is better than another. Their jettison of absolute values has thrown Western civilization over the cliff into a free fall of moral relativity that must end inevitably in death. Postmodernism, cultural relativism, Utopian pacifism, and moral equivalence have now filtered down from our universities through to news media to the general public. And we are seeing the pernicious wages of such theories. For the first time in Western civilization marriage is no longer defined as between a man and woman, and cohabitation of any form is tolerated. Those wages are also paid in the Western nonchalance toward Islamic jihadism. The devil is always on the lookout for the moral relativism that signals a latter-day Faust,* and it seems that he is finding eager recruits among some prominent spokespeople in the West.

* Faust: the chief character of a medieval legend, represented as selling his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power.  -- Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.

* Faustian: 1876, a reference to Johann Faust  (1488-1541), Ger. wandering astrologer and wizard, who was reputed to have sold his soul to the Devil. He was the hero of dramas by Marlowe and Goethe. -- Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

CONFESSION 3: For lack of time, I will just mention it.  Only the Creator has comprehensive knowledge. When he says, “What is His name?’ Only God has seen it all and has it all.  That is a statement of faith. [32:15]

[ Comments from the article in “Bib Sac” fill in some information here. “In contrast to postmodernists, Agur composed his next three rungs out of faith. To climb above the failed modernity of the first rung that depended on experimentation and reason to determine values, and the deadly postmodernity of the second rung that denies the possibility of establishing absolute values, Agur's third rung calls on God's people to answer the first of two "what" question: "What is his name?" (v. 4). Agur challenged Ithiel by his assertion, "Surely you know." Surely a catechumen in Israel's faith would know the name of the Creator "who has established all the ends of the earth" and its Sustainer "whose hands have gathered up the wind" and "who wrapped up the waters in a cloak." Believers intuitively answer, " Ί Am' is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe." Implicitly since God knows everything from beginning to end, He knows comprehensively and speaks absolute truths.”]

CONFESSION 4: Israel is God's son.  Agur’s fourth rung on which we must step to escape our social and moral inadequacy to adequacy is the second  “what” question, “What is the name of His son?”  His third rung called upon us to name the competent teacher, I AM.    Now he calls on them to name the privileged student. Although he says to his original audience, "Surely you know," his later Christian audience may not know. The New King James Version wrongly answers his question by capitalizing Son, presumably a reference to Jesus Christ. The answer to Agur's question, however, must be deduced from the firm lexical evidence. In the book of Proverbs "son" always refers to a student who listens to his teacher. The son whom Agur had in mind is Israel, as can be seen in many Old Testament passages, such as Exodus 4:20 [sic. 22], where God calls Israel His unique son. The Greek translation of Hebrew’s son which was rendered a century before the birth of Christ Septuagint uses a dynamic equivalent changing the singular son to the plural children.  "What is the name of his children?" interpreting "son" as the children of Israel. Baruch, a sage of the second temple period, answered Agur's two questions, "This is our God, with whom none can be compared. He found the way of understanding and gave it to Jacob his servant and to Israel whom he loved."*

* Baruch 3:35-36

In the fullness of time Jesus Christ was born and demonstrated Himself to be the quintessential Son of God, and His church is baptized into Him making each of us who trust in Jesus  Christ the seed of Abraham and a child of God. In short, the triune God is our Teacher, and we are His children and students.  I’ll skip to the next point.

[Comments from the article in “Bib Sac” fill in some information here.  "Agur's challenging questions to identify the God of Israel as the Father-Teacher, who is competent to teach wisdom, and to identify ourselves as His sons-students, radically reshapes the crisis of knowing into a crisis of relationship. The human epistemologica! crisis in ethics and social behavior is now defined in relational rather than intellectual categories. True wisdom is found in a responsive and receptive relationship with the triune God." ]  [34:16]

CONFESSION 5: God revealed Himself in Holy Scripture. Looking back down the ladder we have come a long ways.  Thus far we have confessed (1) that we have failed to find out how we should behave, (2) that we cannot establish absolute values by which to determine which behavior is good or which is bad, (3) that only the omniscient God of Israel is competent to make such evaluations, and (4) that we must confess that we are His students. Agur now leads us to take the fifth and final step out of our own relative and unreliable knowledge to the firm ground of God's absolute knowledge.  We step on this ground when we confess that the triune God has spoken to us in the Bible. Verses five and six, "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar". Reverend Childs, professor of Old Testament at Yale, similarly interprets verses five and six, "As an answer to the inquirer's despair at finding wisdom and the knowledge of God, the answer offered is that God has already made himself known in his written word."*

* Brevard Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979), 556.  

Verse 5 is a citation from a psalm of David: "As for God, his way is perfect: the LORD'S word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him" (Ps. 18:30). Agur's further confession, "Do not add to his words or he will. . . prove you a liar," is known as the canonical formula.  The formula warns us not to add to or subtract from any part of God's Word. The formula is taken from Moses' teaching in Deuteronomy 4:2 and 12:32. In other words Agur will locate his own teachings that follow in the rest of Proverbs 30 within the framework of the Word of God to the extent that the canon existed in his day. [36:17]

CONCLUSION: These reflections on biblical wisdom’s literature revelation from God and its inspiration through observant and reflective sages goad the preacher to preach as n oracle of God.  When you preach Proverbs, you are a trumpet with a clear and certain sound of God's Word, not the uncertain sound of human advice.  Thank you.

Fundamentals of Preaching Proverbs links

Fundamentals of Preaching Proverbs

with Bruce Waltke on February 6, 2007

http://www.dts.edu/media/play/fundamentals-for-preaching-the-proverbs-bruce-waltke/

Fundamentals of Preaching Proverbs I.  

with Bruce Waltke on February 7, 2007

http://www.dts.edu/media/play/preaching-fundamentals-of-proverbs-part-i-bruce-waltke/

Fundamentals of Preaching Proverbs II.   

with Bruce Waltke on February 8, 2007

http://www.dts.edu/media/play/preaching-fundamentals-of-proverbs-part-ii-bruce-waltke/

Fundamentals of Preaching Proverbs III.  

with Bruce Waltke on February 9, 2007

http://www.dts.edu/media/play/preaching-fundamentals-of-proverbs-part-iii-bruce-waltke/

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Bib Sac links
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/resultsadvanced?hid=105&sid=37337a10-c86a-4a98-bc09-1330131d43f2%40sessionmgr110&vid=2&bquery=%28Fundamentals+for+Preaching+the+Proverbs%29&bdata=JmRiPWE2aCZ0eXBlPTEmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl

Intro.  
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=105&sid=37337a10-c86a-4a98-bc09-1330131d43f2%40sessionmgr110&vid=3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a6h&AN=ATLA0001644710

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=105&sid=8e9d1e88-3e9b-46de-8f9c-d767384d0925%40sessionmgr114&vid=2 

1.   
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http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=105&sid=d3f344ec-af4b-486b-8407-f0ae0d293371%40sessionmgr112&vid=4   

2.  
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=105&sid=37337a10-c86a-4a98-bc09-1330131d43f2%40sessionmgr110&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a6h&AN=ATLA0001655068

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=105&sid=833a815a-54d5-42a1-890d-1d4f82fb7552%40sessionmgr104&vid=2

3.
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Introduction, Part 1: “Overview of the Series and Book”

This Parent’s Purpose for Kids————

The Westminster Larger Catechism rightly teaches that “man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.”  While that is the big picture goal for us and our kids, what are several benchmarks, characteristics, or goals that will indicate you are done* and your children are ready to launch out on their own.  Fill in this list independently of your spouse and then compare notes. (Doing it independently first is not designed to create controversy or a "gotcha" moment. 

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

 * In the strictest sense we are never “done” raising children, but when they launch out on their own our role in their life changes.

1. The purpose of this exercise  is to bring the insights of each spouse into the mix to add perspective and completeness to the final list. 

2. It is really important to be in harmony (even though they may not be identical) on your goals for your children.

3. As a result, time should be spent with each other working through Scriptural (and practical) goals for your children (and even some specific goals or aspirations for each individual child).  It will be time well spent.

4. It is reasonable to expect these to be improved and adjusted as you grow in understanding.

5. (Ask your parents how they think they did raising you.  What were their goals?  How do they think they did on them?)

I. Purpose of the series—

To grow in our understanding of the book of Proverbs and apply it specifically to our parenting.

Strong's H1121 - בֵּן(  (bēn) son, grandson, member of a group.  55xs in Proverbs

Occurring almost five thousand times, bēn is basically but not exclusively a reference to the male offspring of human parents. It is also used idiomatically for children generally, for descendants, i.e. grandsons, for male offspring of beasts, for age designation (e.g. “son of eight days,” Gen 17:12) and for people or items belonging in a category or group (e.g. “sons of prophets”). A synonym is yeled “child.”  —TWOT

Proverbs 1:1; Proverbs 1:8; Proverbs 1:10; Proverbs 1:15; Proverbs 2:1; Proverbs 3:1; Proverbs 3:11-12; Proverbs 3:21; Proverbs 4:1; Proverbs 4:3; Proverbs 4:10; Proverbs 4:20; Proverbs 5:1; Proverbs 5:7; Proverbs 5:20; Proverbs 6:1; Proverbs 6:3; Proverbs 6:20; Proverbs 7:1; Proverbs 7:24; Proverbs 8:4; Proverbs 8:31-32; Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 10:5; Proverbs 13:1; Proverbs 13:22; Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 14:26; Proverbs 15:11; Proverbs 15:20; Proverbs 17:2; Proverbs 17:6; Proverbs 17:25; Proverbs 19:13; Proverbs 19:18; Proverbs 19:26-27; Proverbs 20:7; Proverbs 23:15; Proverbs 23:19; Proverbs 23:26; Proverbs 24:13; Proverbs 24:21; Proverbs 27:11; Proverbs 28:7; Proverbs 29:17; Proverbs 30:1; Proverbs 30:4; Proverbs 30:17; Proverbs 31:5; Proverbs 31:8; Proverbs 31:28

1. Personal application of its truths and skills to our own lives.

2. Understanding key truths and skills  to marinate our children in.

3. Glean principles of parenting.

 

II. Authorship & Date

A. Authorship

A collection of proverbs. It is typical of Hebrew literature to name the work after its most eminent contributor--in this case, Solomon.

· The bulk of the proverbs (375) are attributed to Solomon. We know from I Kings 4:29-32 that he wrote some 3,000 proverbs.

1. Meaning: peaceful, (Hebrew: Shelomoh)

2. David's second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Samuel 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father on the throne in early manhood, probably about sixteen or eighteen years of age.

3. Early Prayer for Wisdom  (1 Kings

4. His history is recorded in 1 Kings 1-11 and 2 Chr. 1-9. During his long reign of forty years the Hebrew monarchy gained its highest splendor.

5.  Downfall initiated by disobedience  Deut. 17.16-17 comp. w/  gold—1Kings 10.14-25; horses 1 Kings 10.26-29; wives 1 Kings 11.1-8 (esp 4)

· Wise men (plural, 22:17; 24:23)

· Agur (30:1)

· Lemuel (31:1)

B. Date

· Most of the proverbs themselves date to Solomon (10:1; 25:1),

· according to 25:1, the book itself was put together either during or after the time of Hezekiah (c. 700 B.C.).

· The arrangement of the Proverbs plays an important part in their meaning and message.

III. Genre of Proverbs

1. Based on the epistemological*  foundation, the fear of the Lord (1.7):  It is more that just good sense (not natural theology without God) *the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity

2. Inspired and authoritative:  Though understood in light of its special genre

3. More concise and brief— (The big idea without all the exceptions and conditions) Must be aware of how and when to apply the saying, etc. Proverbs 26.4-5

4. Frequent use of imagery and figures— (Simile/explicit, “is or like” 26:18; metaphor/implicit 11.22; personification/ attributing human qualities to what is not human 9.1-6; synechdoche /a part represents the whole 16.31; hyperbole/overstatement-exaggeration 30.3

5. parallelism—  synonymous (same thought with different words), antithetical (contrast), synthetic (second verse expands the thought)

IV. Outline

I. Series of Fatherly Talks   (1-9 / 1.8  “My son…”)

II. First Collection of Solomon’s Proverbs ( 10-22.16 / 10.1 The proverbs of Solomon...)

III. Thirty Sayings of the Wise ( 22.17-24.22 / 22.17  Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise...)

IV. More Sayings of the Wise  (24 / 24.23 “These things also belong to the wise…)

V. Second Collection of Solomon’s Proverbs Copied by Hezekiah’s Men  ( 25-29 / 25.1...which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.)

VI. The Sayings of Agur Son of Jakah (30 / 31.1 The words of Agur…)

VII. The Words of Lemuel that His Mother Taught Him  ( 31 / 31.1  The words of King Lemuel…)

     

Outline of the Introduction to The Book of Proverbs Chapters 1-15 (NICOT) by Bruce Waltke

I. Title p.1
.

II. Text and Versions  p. 2

A. Hebrew Texts

B. Greek Versions (LXX)

C. Other Ancient Versions

D. Conclusion
.

III. Structure p.9

A. Introduction

B. Collection I: Title with Preamble, Prologue, & Epilogue

C. Collection II:  Solomon I

D. Collection III: The Thirty Sayings of the Wise

E. Collection IV: Further Sayings of the Wise

F. Collection V:  Solomon II

G. Collection VI: The Sayings of Agur Son of Jakeh

H. Collection VII: The Sayings of Lemuel
.

IV. Ancient Near Eastern Wisdom Literature  p. 28.

V. Authorship  p. 31

 A. Solomon

B. Agur and Lemuel

C. The Final Editor
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VI. Forms of Proverbs  p. 38

A. Poetry

B. Poetics

C. Wisdom Genre

D. Genres in the Book of Proverbs

E. Setting
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VII. Theology p. 63

A. Introduction (64)

B. God (67)

   1. Names of God

   2. God as Creator

   3. Transcendence and Immanence (69)

   4. Retribution (73)

C. Revelation, Inspiration, and Tradition  (76)

   1. Definitions of "Wisdom" and of "Knowledge" 

   2. Revelation (78)

   3. Inspiration (80)

   4. Identification of  Woman Wisdom (83)

D. Anthropology (88)

   1. Human Beings in General

   2. The Wise and Fool  (93)

   3. Male and Female  (116)

E. Pedagogy  (126)

F. Christology  (126)

   1. Proverbs' Enduring Relevance

   2. Woman Wisdom as a Type of Jesus Christ

   3. The Superiority of Jesus Christ to Solomon's Wisdom
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VIII. Bibliograpy p. 133-170

Job 1-3

Job

1.1 & 1.8 & 2.3 

blameless

      תָּם (tām) perfect.

the verb’s fundamental idea of completeness

tāmam moves naturally toward that which is ethically sound, upright (Ps 19:13 [H 14]). The “perfect” (tāmîm) decision, as made by lots, is the correct one (I Sam 14:41). As made by men, it is the right one (Jud 9:16, 19). Asaph praised the completeness (tōm) or integrity of King David’s heart (Ps 78:72). tāmam is used with the commandments of God meaning to fulfill them (Josh 4:10). The AV translates Job 22:3, “if you make your ways perfect.”
---Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (974). Chicago: Moody Press.

and upright

1. Literally. “To go straight or direct in the way” (I Sam 6:12),
2. Ethically. Uprightness as the manner of life is a characteristic of the blameless (Prov 11:5) and of the man of discernment (Ps 119:128, “I have lived uprightly”). 

This definition of upright, "to go straight" is especially interesting in comparison to what "straight" means in today's culture when referring to people's behavior.

I used to think that their were four descriptions of Job, but today I am not so sure that we don't have just two (If you see the first two and last two as descriptions of the same things.

feared God and shunned evil.  The first causes the second.

2.3  incited Me against him to destroy him without cause.  Now this has set me to thinking.
3.25  It is curious to me that he seems to have had a premenition or concern that this would happen.

Gen 8-11

9.17  I'm wondering about the nature of a covenant that God would have with animals.

11.14  I think that Salah may have been the first one recorded to have had a son that young.  This is the geneology where we see the ages decrease dramatically.

11.31  Why did Terah start to move to Canaan?

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Fundamentals for Preaching the book of Proverbs

(I am not a professional transcriber, so I would assume there will be mistakes.  The audio is available at  http://www.dts.edu/media/play/fundamentals-for-preaching-the-proverbs-bruce-waltke/  You can view the written article basied on this message on Bibliotheca Sacra , the DTS theological journal.)
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This lecture deals with difficulties of Proverbs, kinds of sermons, the steps for preparing a sermon, and proposes and ten sermon series on Proverbs.
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"Promise and difficulties of preaching Proverbs" by Bruce K Waltke

Preaching is debatably God's highest calling for the preacher mediates God's word to God's Spirit. God is spirit and is present in His word and meets His people in an "I thou" relationship through preaching His word.  God is always present in words and rarely seen with the eye.  The people of God are people of the ear not of the eye.  They have an ear for the Proverbs, but how shall they hear without a preacher who knows how to exposit the book for them in a sensible way.  In a world bombarded by inane clichés trivial catchwords and Godless sound bites, the expression of true wisdom is in short supply today.  The Church stands alone as the receptacle and repository of the inspired traditions that carry a mandate for the holy life from the ancient sages.  As the course and bulk of Biblical wisdom the book of Proverbs remains the model of the curriculum for humanity to learn to live under God and with humankind.  As a result is beckons the Church to diligent study and application. To uncommitted youth it serves as a stumbling stone, but to committed youth it is a foundation stone. 

But Proverbs is a briar patch for its expositors. One student confessed that before taking a course of Proverbs he thought some proverbs were banal and others wrong.  To sober theologians the books promise of health, wealth, and prosperity seemed detached from reality and teach heresy.  Some proverbs seem to contradict each other.  “Do not answer fools according to their folly,” (26.4) is followed by, “Answer fools according to their folly (26.5).  Moreover whereas the book of Proverbs affirms a righteous order, the books of Job and Ecclesiastes seem to deny that reality.  How does a preacher preach what seems banal, wrong, or contradictory?  For the logical mind the book seems to be a hodgepodge collection having no rhyme or reason in its grouping of sayings. The proverbs and saying jump from one topic to another like scatterbrains in a living room conversation. Nevertheless from such an apparent mishmash the expositor is expected to develop a logically developed and emotionally escalating sermon.  No wonder expositors are afraid to touch this book. 

Also by way of introduction the preacher of the book can justifiably and profitably employ the three most common sermonic forms; textual, topical, and expository.  By textual preaching I mean the preacher devotes his entire message to preaching one proverb or saying.  This is feasibly and is arguably a form of expository preaching because each proverb has a distinct message.  By topical preaching I mean the preacher designs his message apart from a given text howbeit consistent with the books teaching.  In a topical message the preacher selects the topic of his message, develops his message in a logical fashion, and selects proverbs and saying from various groupings that support his message, and development of the sermon.  Topical preaching is especially in Proverbs because the composition of Proverbs differs so radically from the composition of a sermon that even the expository preacher must translate the organization of a group of sayings into a quite different form of a homily.  By expository preaching I mean that the expositor discerns by forms and rhetorical criticisms an author’s abstract message embedded in a grouping of several proverbs.  This abstract meaning serendipitously enriches the meaning of the individual proverbs and protects the vulnerable proverb against abuse.  Expository preaching is the queen of sermonic forms and only the most diligent preachers dance with her. 

Finally by way of introduction permit me propose that expository preaching consists of at least seven fundamental components the exegetical substance and sermonic style.  By labeling them as presuppositions I mean that they are prima facie reasonable.  Four fundamentals pertain to exegetical substance and three pertain to sermonic style.  Here are the four exegetical foundations:

1.       demarcating the textual unit by form and criticism and selecting which text to preach,

2.      two, deciding the English version to be used in the pulpit and by the congregation,

3.       three, exegeting the selected text according to the accredited grammatical historical method of hermeneutics,  

4.      four, abstracting the big idea that unifies the grouping of proverbs. 

Here are the three sermonic foundations,

5.      one, translating the big idea into a message in light of its place in the progress of redemption and of the congregation’s need,

6.      six, translating the text structure for which the audience has no reading strategy into the structure of the homily which the audience intuitively understands,

7.      seven, motivating the congregation to apply the message to concrete situations.  [13.30]

So let’s begin with the first one, the fundamentals of preaching. This lecture presents fundamentals of preaching for expositing Proverbs.  The next three lectures present fundamentals of proverbs for expositing the book. The first fundamental of preaching is demarcating and selecting texts.

1. The first fundamental of preaching then is demarcating the groupings and selecting the groupings to be preached.  In my two volume commentary I have demarcated its units by form criticism and rhetorical analysis.  My experience teaches me that four series of thirteen sermons per year works best because they provide the congregation with a sense of stable consistency and of appealing variety.  I have selected twelve texts for a series on Proverbs on the basis of, one, their importance for contemporary issues, two, the representative character of the book, and three, their potential to empower the congregation to use the book in their personal or family devotions.  I deliberately did not choose a thirteenth, leaving space for the preacher to include his favorite.  My choice for the thirteenth sermon would be on the theme of God’s attributes celebrated in this book. My big idea would be I Am, which the name of Yahweh means, and I prefer to translate rather than transliterate. I Am stands behind this book.  And my message would be, “Trust in I Am with all your heart.  Do not lean on your own understanding. And in all your ways take Him into account.”  [15.55]

To reflect more cogently on preaching the book of Proverbs it will help to familiarize ourselves with the book’s seven sections as marked by editorial notices at 1.1, 10.1, 24.23, 25.1, thirty, verse one, and thirty one, verse one.  Although 22.17 lacks a clear editorial marker, all scholars on the basis of form and rhetorical criticism demarcate 22.17 through 24.23 as a distinct section within the book.  In sum, the final edition of this anthology of wisdom literature consists of seven collections.   

     “Collection One Introduction to the Book” 1.1 through 19.18,
     “Collection Two: Proverbs of King Solomon One” 10.1 through 22.16,
     “Collection Three: Thirty Saying of the Wise Adapted by Solomon” 22.17 - 24.22,
     “Collection Four: Further Sayings of the Wise,” 24.23-34,
     “Collection Five:  Solomon Two Collected by Hezekiah’s Men” 25.1 though 29.27, 
     “Collection Six: The Saying of Augur, the son of Jakeh, 30.1-33,  
     "Collection Seven: Sayings of King Lemuel” 31.1-31. 
The groupings within these sections, however, lack clear editorial jackets.  These groupings imbedded in the seven collections are like sermons in a preacher’s file without file folders to separate them.  Unlike the Psalms which are separated by superscripts and subscripts, the textual units within Proverbs must be isolated by form and by rhetorical criticism.  Chapter divisions in the English Bible are not reliable indicators of the author’s groupings for the chapters were demarcated before form and rhetorical criticism had become a science.  We must down select the text with brief justifications.  Collection one 1.1-9.18. Collection one can be readily analyzed into a preamble 1.1-7, a prologue of lectures and sermons 1.8-8.36, and an epilogue 9.1-18.  The epilogue functions as a transition between collections one and two. 

The book’s preamble functions well as the first sermon to introduce the series of thirteen sermons because it sets for the fundamental information for understanding and preaching the book of Proverbs. The sermons I suggest be selected from the prologue because its encomiums to wisdom lay the theological and spiritual foundations for the catechistic teachings in the book.  Also, five sermons is not disproportional to the books own proportions.  The importance of the prologue can be inferred from its ruling metaphor, the way.  This dominant metaphor refers to a person’s whole life, namely, 1) his course of life, that is his character and context of life, 2), his conduct of life, that is one’s specific choices and behavior, 3) the consequences of that conduct that is the inevitable destiny of such a lifestyle.  Fundamental to conduct is character.  To try to live our the explicit or implicit admonitions of the proverbs and wise sayings in the collections without first preparing the heart to the encomiums to wisdom in collection one is as foolish as trying to keep the Mosaic law apart from the New Covenant.  That is to say the Torah, which means catechistic teaching, must be inscribed on the heart. As Moses in his three valedictory addresses in Deuteronomy first spiritually prepares the heart of his audience to spiritually love and trust God before giving the statutes and commandments in Deuteronomy 12-26, so also the encomiums in collection one spiritually prepare the catechumens to trust and love God before instructing them on behavior in the remaining six collections.  Moreover the poems of the prologue are highly relevant.  These lectures and sermons of collection one aim to safeguards Israel’s youth from both the seductive appeals of wicked men to make easy money and of the thin fudow? to indulge in easy sex.  Finally it is prudent to select half the sermons from the poems in this collection because the poems in this section come packaged for the preacher and shoehorn the church’s foot into the shoe of Proverbs.  (20.10)

Here then are the five suggested sermons from Proverbs 1.1 through 9.18.
·        Sermon one: the Preamble. Title: “Unlocking the Book of Life.”  I will exposit this preamble in my next three lectures.
·        Sermon two: “Safeguards against Wicked Men and Wicked Women” (2.1-22). This too is a must sermon for it presents the spiritual essentials to develop the Godly mind and against the temptations of easy money and easy sex.  This text will be exposited briefly in my lecture four. 
·        Sermon three: “Does Proverbs Promise Too Much” (3.1-12). The sermon sets for the covenant obligations of I Am and of the son.  The obligations of God’s part are promises not probabilities. But that raises the question for thoughtful people whether the book promises too much and of the wrong thing, a health, wealth, and prosperity gospel.  These questions trip up thoughtful people and if not answered will cause the expositor and his people to fall on their face.  I can’t touch it in the lectures.  The commentary resolves the tension in volume one pages 107 and 108.
·        Sermon four: “Why Father” (3.18-25).  Of the prologues twelve motivating lectures and sermons, this text offers the most comprehensive argument.
·        Sermon five: “What’s Wrong with Adultery?” Chapters 5-7.  The sermon on the femme fatale who plays a larger roll of the prologue that even woman wisdom can combine the tree successive warnings of the parents against her in chapters five through seven into three points of a sermon.  The sermon is essential in our liberal culture which wants liberty without law, freedom without form, and love making without marriage.
·        Sermon six: “Woman Wisdom’s Final Appeal to Uncommitted Youth” (8.1-36).  The ten lectures of the father and mother are directed to children about the age of puberty.  Woman Wisdom addresses her two sermons, 1.20-33 and 8.1-36, to simpletons, that is to say to children who have passed puberty without making a commitment to the catechism. The preceding four selected texts are the parent’s lectures in the home. Of Woman Wisdom’s two sermons to simpletons the second is the most famous because in the history of Christian doctrine the identification of Woman Wisdom with Jesus Christ became hardened doctrine.  That error can be corrected with spiritual profit.  That text will be considered in my lecture three. Course of all these quite briefly.   (12.40)

Turning to Collection Two, 10.1-22-16. Selecting the text and sermons from Collection Two is more difficult because the proverbs function on two levels of meaning individually and collectively.  Individually each proverb explicitly or implicitly admonishes the audience toward specific expressions of pious and or ethical behavior.  Collectively they communicate a message greater than the parts.  The groupings however depend almost entirely on rhetoric not grammar.  That is to say that unlike prose or longer poems they are not held together by syntactic links such as conjunctions, logical particles, and so on.  Not all agree that in Collection Two there are meaningful groupings each of which has a message.  If they are right then the preacher should preach either textual or topical sermons from this section.  Expository preaching as we have defined it would be wrong from the word go because is would impose upon reluctant texts messages not intended by the inspired author.  The commentary however argues the case for lager textual units in Collection Two and pastors have found the groupings useful.  While I was writing this paragraph I received this letter from a pastor in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dr. Waltke,
I can’t thank you enough for your commentary of Proverbs.  I recently finished preaching through the book and would have approached 10-20 topically had I not read your introduction prior to beginning the series.  I have never had to think and pray so hard in going from exegetical outlines to sermonic outlines, but in the process Proverbs became a whole new book for me and then to my congregation. 

Nevertheless topical preaching from less clearly demarcated units has place in the healthy diet of sermons.  In my experience congregations respond well to a topical sermon that includes a short exposition of one textual unit at some point in the sermon.  If one opts for topical sermons from collection two then two must topical sermons to represent the teachings of this collection are sermon seven, “Being Money Wise” using the grouping 10.1-5 as one of the texts. 

Sermon eight “Wise Speech” using 10.6-14 as one of the texts.  I will exposit this unit in lecture four.  Three, Collection Three 22.17-24.22.  Grouping the sayings in collections three, the so called sayings of the wise is also challenging for the expositor, but not as challenging as Collection Two. After its own preamble in 22.17-21, the collection essentially consists of three decalogues of sayings.  Since the first decalogue which is mostly about money and the second which is about being an obedient son are topics already dealt with in the series, the congregation would find a healthy variety in the third decalogue. 

Sermon nine then, “Strength in Distress” 24.3-12.  This sermon is especially applicable to waken the Church to its social responsibility. Collection four 24.23-34.  Collection four is too short to demand representation in a separate sermon.  Its extended saying 24.30-34 which consists of almost half of its material will be considered in my lecture two.  Collection Five, 25.1-29.27.  Collection Five, so called Solomon 2, can be fairly readily demarcated both in respect to its macro groups and micro groupings the proverbs. 

[Sermon ten] One grouping amenable to expository preaching and relevant to safeguard youth against entertainment, the entertainment industry is “How to Deal with Fools” 26.1-12.  Collection Six: The Saying of Augur, the son of Jakeh, 30.1-33.  Although the prophet Augur intends his collection of inspired sayings to be treated holistically a sermon even as long as 45 minutes is better limited to his autobiographical confession in 30.1-6.  That biography sets for Christian epistemology and is especially applicable to a culture that believes in relative evaluations not in absolute values.  I will exposit this text in my lecture two.  Sermon eleven: “Christian Values Versus Postmodern Evaluations.”  Collection Seven 31.1-33.  Collection seven: “Sayings of King Lemuel that his mother talk him clobbers together two distinct poems into one,  “The Noble King” 30.1-9 and “The Noble Wife” verses 10-33,  thought challenging to the expositor though not too challenging, the preacher is better advised the second rather than the first because it draws the series to a conclusion with the book’s own conclusion.  The noble woman is a real shocker.  Although most speak well of her, few will emulate her. I’ll just comment here.  The key to that book is--the key to that sermon is a husband sits in the gate and she works to enable him to do it.  I never heard it preached.  Sermon twelve.  That may be my favorite text.  My wife’s text is, “She distributes portions to her maid servants.”  Anyway, sermon twelve “A Noble Woman: The Paradigm of Wisdom.” 

2. Turning then to deciding the translation.  A pastor must choose wisely for his congregation the translation for all his sermons.  All translations apart from The New World Bible are faithful and adequate.  By faithful and adequate I mean that all translations lead their audience to faith in Jesus Christ and to sound doctrine and never into heresy.  An anecdote will help explain what I mean by faithful and adequate.  In a course on the Old Testament prophets a student asked me, “Did anyone understand the prophets?”  I replied, “Well enough kill them.”  A congregation can respond to any message in the book of Proverbs using any English translation.  But translations are not all equal with regard to exegetical accuracy or to their targeted audiences or to fluency.  Part of my prejudice.  The best translation that satisfies these three criteria is Today’s New International Version, a revision of the New International Version.  As to the accuracy of the TNIV my inside knowledge may be useful to correct misrepresentations of this translation by evangelical leaders not competent to judge the merits of a translation.  The NIV was produced by 125 scholars in a hierarchy of four committees.  The highest committee, the committee on Bible translation CBT, hand the final authority over the text of the NIV and now of the TNIV.  CBT asked me as one of its members to generate revisions to the TNIV to improve its exegesis style of the NIV in the book of Proverbs.  75% of CBT, usually nine out of twelve had to approve a proposed revision in order for it to be adopted into the TNIV in order for it to be adopted.  I submitted 200 pages of suggested revisions with argument to justify the revisions.  CBT accepted about 90% of my proposals to improve the exegetical accuracy of the NIV and almost none to improve its style.  In contrast to the TNIV—I’ll skip that.  Moreover, the style of the TNIV is felicitous.  Unlike the as much as possible word for word translation of the New American Standard Bible, which I think is best for study, and of the English Standard Version, the TNIV follows the translation philosophy of Chrisaluaris??, a Byzantine Scholar who arrived in Florence Italy in 1397.  His rost(?) of students reads like a who’s who of early renaissance humanism. Prior to Chrisal?aris Medieval scholastic scholars when they had translated from Greek to Latin at all practiced a method they called verbin adverbin, (sp?) literally word for word.  At best this resulted in clumsy graceless Latin.  At its worse as Chrisalars pointed out, it could change the meaning of the original completely.  Chrisalaris abandoned the old method.  Instead he told his students to stick as close a possible to the sense of the Greek but convert it into Latin that was elegant, fluid, and idiomatic as the original.  The Chrisalarisis philosophy is, I maintain, true translation.  Leaders of the Afro-American community are trying to move their churches off the King James Version to an English version more intelligible to that large community.  We known African-American Hollywood producers and bishops of its major denominations are involved in this effort.  In choosing which of the modern versions to use they were especially concerned with how the text sounded.  They liked the way that the TNIV appealed to the eye but they needed to test the ear, so they decided to test a number of translations by recording different texts and adding background music and ambient sounds or sound effects.  In every situation the TNIV “sounded best” and will be their text.  Having spent forty years in producing English translations of the Bible, I am amazed at the cavalier manner in which pastor’s revise a translation on the basis of their own exegesis.  If the preacher corrects the TNIV or other major translation he infers that he with his quaint one or two years of studying the Hebrew Language is more competent that a committee of professional exegetes.  I have never heard a pastor’s revision that had not been rejected by CBT for good reasons.  Erasmus’s philosophy that if the church follows Luther, she will put a pulp in every pulpit has been fulfilled.         [40:45]

Exegeting the text:  Having selected the text and version, the preacher exegetes the original Hebrew text in order to be authentic.  He is God’s voice, the priest who mediates God’s Word to God’s people.  I began my theological studies at Dallas Seminary with the thought of becoming an expositor and quickly learned under the tutalege of S. Lewis Johnson that the knowledge of the Bible’s original languages is essential to being an authentic theologian and preacher.  In the introduction to Biblical Hebrew syntax I cite two arguments the first writers of Hebrew grammars used to justify their work. One, they argued, language is the means for all discernment and linguistics is the mean for all investigation and wisdom.  Two, the fulfillment of the commandments depends upon the understanding of the written word and in turn the proper knowledge of the language is impossible without the aid of linguistics they argued.”  I determined in my first year of seminary to be a skilled worker by competent exegisis and to be be a slop bucket theologian and or preacher and so I majored first in Hebrew and then in Greek.  Accredited hermeneutics includes the following disciplines:
     1) establishing the Hebrew text by textual criticism,
     2) establishing the literary genre by form criticism,
     3) defining significant terms by the use of a concordance or lexicon or theological word book,
     4) parsing and deciding the sense of all grammatical forms,
     5) identifying and interpreting  figures of speech,
     6) decoding the author’s rhetoric, and
     7) abstracting the Biblical writer’s thesis,
     8) locating the text’s teaching with in the context of the progress of redemptive history  and of the history of Christian doctrine.
A good expositor will involve himself in all these exegetical tasks to the extent of his available time and of his competence.  For these academic disciplines internalize the text in his soul and make it burn in his belly and causes it to flow from his lips as an oracle from God.  These fundamental disciplines are learned in seminary and a seminary that sends forth preachers incompetent to exegete the original text fails Christ and His Church and shortchanges its students.  Occasionally, however, one hears of a teacher or an exegete who denies himself the use of a commentary. This is fool hearty.  No unaided preacher has the time or competence to give authoritative answers to exegetical questions under the gun of a weekly clock.  He may fool his congregation and even himself about his own authority, but I suspect he is false.  To speak competently a preacher must use a good commentary intelligently.  Nevertheless keep in mind, as Milton said, that God does not expect of the expositor day labor life denied.  [44:31]

Absrtacting the Big Idea:  The expositor is now in the position to extract the big idea of the text.  He is above all concerned with the vital central concept of  his text with the interrelation of the idea of each proverb that links them one to another and with a deep underlying convictions that inspired the text and united them as a competent posit and unitary witness to ultimate theological truth. 
To put it another way, the expositor is looking for the grouping’s system or structure, a sort of inner grid which could be placed in the material and could be seen to provide some or ordering a coherence.  Simply put, as Haden Robinson who coined the term big idea wrote, “The big idea consists of both its subject and complement.  The subject answers the question, ‘What is the writer talking about exactly?’ The complement answers the question, ‘What is he saying about what he is talking about?’  The two together form the idea translating the idea into a message.” 

W. A. Criswell told me that he considered (He was the great pastor of First Baptist Church for you younger people.) having the sermon’s purpose the most important fundamental of preaching.  He kept the purpose in mind throughout the entire sermon from it’s attention grabbing introduction to is development of the body of the sermon to its climatic emotional appeal and climatic application to real and concrete real life situations.  What Criswell called purpose I call message.  The big idea abstracted by exegesis from the text must be translated into a message for as catechistic teaching the textual units of the Bible can note the potential of applicability.  That is to say they have a character which is suitable and able to provide direction to that which the human mind brings into relationship with it.  The notion of a big idea though good is inadequate.  The Bible is not interested in impersonal ideas and constructing ethical principles.  Moreover the Bible does not define itself as what Israel thought about divine matters.  The Bible is more than concepts about God or ethical principles or Israel’s witness to God.  The Bible is God’s address to his people, and He encounters them through spirit filled preaching of His Word.  Since the inspired author’s ideas and principles are true, they contain a moral imperative that demands a response.  In other words an idea in the Bible is a  message to be believed and acted on, not merely a notion or a guide to proper behavior.  I repeat, a message is not an idea, but an expected response to the idea.  Finally the ancient message must be expressed in a want that is consistent with the Christian Gospel.  A faithful Christian today is both similar and dissimilar to an ancient Israelite.   Both inherit Israel’s covenants, the Abrahamic, the Davidic, the New, which writes the ten commandments on the heart, share the same spirit of faith, hope, and love,   But the Christian now understands those covenants in the light of Jesus Christ.

W. A. Criswell, the late pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, said that he considered having a sermon's purpose the most important fundamental step in preaching. He said he kept his purpose in mind throughout the entire sermon, from the attention-grabbing introduction, to its logical development in the body of the sermon, to its climactic emotional appeal and practical application to real and concrete life situations.

What Criswell called a sermon's purpose may also be called its message. The big idea abstracted by exegesis from the text must be translated into a message, for the textual units of the Bible have a character that makes them suitable and able to provide direction to what the human mind brings into relationship with it. The notion of a big idea, though good, is inadequate. The Bible is not interested in impersonal "ideas" and ethical principles. Moreover, the Bible is not simply about divine matters. The Bible is more than concepts about God or ethical principles or Israel's witness to God. The Bible is God's address to His people and He encounters them through Spirit-filled communicators of His Word. Since the inspired author's "ideas" and "principles" are true, they contain a moral imperative that demands a response. In other words an "idea" in the Bible is a message to be believed and acted on, not merely a notion and/or a guide to proper behavior. A message, then, is not an idea but the expected response to the idea.

The ancient message must be expressed in a way appropriate to the Christian gospel. A faithful Christian today is both similar and dissimilar to an ancient Israelite. Both share in Israel's covenants, and both share the same spirit of faith, love, and hope. But the Christian now understands those covenants in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ—of His life, death, and resurrection—and he focuses his faith, love, and hope on the triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The expositor must formulate his message in the light of that more complete theological knowledge.

The wisdom literature for the most part does not come packaged for the preacher. Its literary genres differ more radically from the genre of the homily than any of the other literary genres attested in the Bible, making the expositor's job of translating the messages as packaged in Proverbs to the homily more difficult. The Book of Proverbs was composed to be memorized, sung, and meditated on by children in the home under the tutelage of parents, not to be preached as homilies in a church. Just as a word-for-word translation of the Hebrew into English, as in an interlinear, is frustrating and not intelligible to the reader. So also the literary styles of the Book of Proverbs to develop the sermon do not yield an intellegable homily. Congregations intuitively know the appropriate strategy for hearing a sermon, but they are mostly ignorant of the literary strategies for reading Proverbs. What I’m saying is just as the foreign Hebrew of the original Book of Proverbs must be translated into smooth English, so also the foreign literary forms of Proverbs must be translated into a flowing homily.

Finally, applying the message.  I have learned by experience that the response to a message can only be actualized and measured by concrete actions. What does the preacher expect the congregation to do with the message when they step out of the backdoor of the church door back into the world? How will they incarnate his message? Without a clear notion of how to apply the sermon upon leaving the church, the congregants will quickly forget the message and not transform it into action. They will have enjoyed the sermon, but not much more than that will have been accomplished.

Conclusion.  In sum, my reflections on the fundamentals of preaching the book of Proverbs are one, by form and rhetorical criticism identify a textual unit within the anthology of proverbs and sayings and select thirteen texts that best represent and communicate the message of the book. Two, use a translation that best represents the text to the average reader of the congregation. Three, exegete the text first privately and then with a good commentary. Four, extract from the text the dynamic idea that explains the relationship of the proverbs in a grouping, including their continuities and discontinuities with each other, and that progressive revelation of the divine matter. Five, translate the text's abstract idea into a relevant Christian message. Sixth, for the development of the message translate the unfamiliar compositional form of the original text into the familiar form of the homily. Seventh, draw the message to conclusion by applying it to real-life situations.

Thank you for your attention.