Wisdom Literature and the Structure of Proverbs - Hardcover

Perry, Theodore A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0271009292 ISBN 13: 9780271009292

Publisher: Penn State University Press, 1993

Synopsis

Wisdom is one of the oldest and continuous genres of our literary tradition, dating back to the Hebrew Bible and the literatures of the Ancient Near East and extending into modern times through such notable points of transmission as medieval Spain. Despite its length and multicultural complexity, wisdom can be characterized, beyond its well-known emphasis on guidance in practical living, by its use of literary structures such as proverbs and maxims. A close study of these forms reveals a remarkable continuity of purpose, an interest in underlying logical structures that were crucial to both the analysis and the production of meaning.

This study focuses less on "popular" proverbs than on the critical stance through which the sages approached such popular perceptions of truth. Perry argues that wisdom was a reaction to dangerous tendencies in the normal use of proverbs: their authoritarian presumption, the assumption that they somehow represent absolute truths. By way of reactive defense, sages responded through the creation of wisdom sayings, here viewed as specific tools of critical thinking and value analysis. Perry approaches the Bible from a literary point of view and draws interesting parallels with the work of such scholars as Greimas and other structuralists. He then offers a formula derived from the sages' own exegetical practices for unlocking the secrets of wisdom sayings.

About this title

About the Author

T. A. Perry is Professor of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, and author of several books including Dialogues with Kohelet (Penn State, 1993) and The Moral Proverbs of Santob de Carrió n (1987).

Review

“There is no other study of the structure of proverbs that can match this one in scope or in heuristic utility. Perry's astute analysis of the quadripartite structure of proverbs, his mastery of the Hebraic sapiential tradition over two millennia, and his wide-ranging scholarship, grounded in a mastery of the proverb tradition in Spain during the flowering of Jewish thought, advance wisdom research significantly.”

—James L. Crenshaw, Duke University

Edition details

• Publisher: Penn State University Press
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0271009292
• ISBN 13: 9780271009292
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 150