385 - Walking in Wisdom. Studying the Proverbs of Solomon & Wisdom Literature and Psalms

Walking in Wisdom.
Studying the Proverbs of Solomon
By William E. Mouser Jr.
Downers Grove, Ill., InterVarsity, 1983. 169 pp. $4.95.

Wisdom Literature and Psalms
By Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm
Interpreting Biblical Texts. Nashville, Abingdon, 1983. 160 pp. $6.95.

For a quick comparison of these two books, we find that Mouser's is well adapted for Sunday school; Murphy's is ideal for honor's high school or undergrad college courses. Mouser's remains exclusively with Proverbs; Murphy's includes all the wisdom books, plus Psalms. Mouser's, moreover, restricts inquiry to literary questions; Murphy's provides an historical and cultural setting within Israel and even beyond Israel across the ancient Near East. Mouser furnishes questions and projects with each small chapter; Murphy probes for implications and challenges, and sets the stage for classroom dialogue. Mouser's bibliography is confined to books from a conservative evangelical tradition; Murphy's offers greater depth and variety, ranging from Brueggemann's In Man We Trust to Simpson's scholarly Literature of Ancient Egypt.

Mouser dissects proverbs carefully, with chapters devoted to each literary aspect: parallelism that is synonymous and antithetical, asymmetrical, emblematic, synthetic. He uses outlines very effectively. Along with questions and projects, students will easily be analyzing proverbs in contemporary literature and even writing their own. Murphy completes the cycle of Israel's wisdom from its origin in family and court schools, independent of temple worship and salvation history, all the way into the late postexilic age with Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) and the Wisdom of Solomon where Israel's worship and redemptive history re-enter the sapiential movement. While enthusiastic about wisdom, Murphy recognizes its limitations, as seen particularly in the books of Job and Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes). Murphy also initiates us into the little known history of the Christian interpretation of the sapiential books. Two-thirds of his book exegetes selected passages from these books.

Carroll Stuhlmueller
Catholic Theological Union at Chicago.