Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 07:1 (Jul 1961)
Article: The Relationship Between God And Man In Proverbs
Author: F. Derek Kidner

---

TynBul 7:1 (1961) p. 4

The Relationship Between God And Man In Proverbs

F. Derek Kidner

Being the substance of a paper read to the Old Testament Study Group, 1960.

When we open the Book of Proverbs at random and take samples of its wisdom, we may form the impression that its religious content is somewhat thin and indefinite. Many of its maxims, and some even of its theological assertions, could be transplanted acceptably into non-Israelite, non-biblical soil. We are tempted to ask whether anything so specific as a covenant- relationship with God is presupposed here, and, if so, whether it is fundamental. A hostile reader might go even further, and ask whether the real God and master in this book is not Man himself, and the real goal prosperity.

Although this last question can be answered quite quickly, it is not enough to point to the recurrent motto: ‘the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge’ (1:7 and parallels); for this could be itself a mere counsel of prudence, a crowning example of a policy of cultivating the powers that be. The answer is seen rather in the relation throughout the book of prudential considerations to moral. It is the moral that always take precedence. To be sure, Proverbs is concerned to point out that what is right and what pays may travel long distances together, but it leaves us in no doubt which we are to follow when their paths diverge. It is in no hurry to anticipate that point. E.g. on the question of gifts and bribes, it will go as far as to say, without demur, ‘A man’s gift (מַתָּן) maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men’ (18:16); but it will not go a step further. ‘A wicked man’, says 17:23, ‘taketh a bribe (שֹׁחַד) out of the bosom, to pervert the ways of justice’ — and it is at once clear that justice, not success, is our proper concern, and that the unscrupulous will get no praise for their fancied wisdom. You have to be good to be wise — though Proverbs is

TynBul 7:1 (1961) p. 5

particularly concerned to point out the converse: that you have to be wise to be fully good. To take it further back, you have to be godly to be wise; and this is not because godliness pays, but because the only wisdom by which you can handle everyday things in conformity with their nature is the wisdom by which the LORD Himself made and ordered them. Proverbs 8, which states this superlatively, is therefore far from being a non-functional pinnacle of the book’s eloquence, but an exposure of a large part of the framework of its tho...

visitor : : uid: ()