FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
THE INNOCENT SUFFERER IN
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS
A Dissertation
submitted to
the
Faculty of the
Fuller Theological
Seminary
in partial fulfillment of
the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of
Philosophy
BY
DANIEL P. BRICKER
MAY
1998
Copyright 1998 by
Daniel P. Bricker
All Rights Reserved
Cited with permission by
Ted Hildebrandt
Report any errors to
thildebrandt@gordon.edu
Center for Advanced
Theological Studies
Dissertation
Approval Sheet
This dissertation
entitled
The Innocent Sufferer in the Book
of Proverbs
written by
Daniel P.
Bricker
and
submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of
Philosophy
has been awarded
by the Faculty of Fuller Theological Seminary
upon
the recommendation of the following readers:
__________________
Ronald
Youngblood
__________________
Frederic
William Bush
___________________
Duane
Garrett
5/27/98
Date
Acknowledgments
It is difficult for me to thank everyone who deserves
credit. My
friends and
family members deserve recognition for the role they
played in
offering unswerving support.
First on the list are my parents, Paul and Therese
Bricker of
and I can
never repay them for all they have done for me, both in
relation to
this program and in almost every other area of my life as
well. Then
I would like to thank all my friends who are far too
numerous to
mention by name. I would not have made it without
their
prayers and encouragement.
I must make special mention of the late Dr. David Allan
Hubbard, my first mentor in the
program, who provided me with the
guidance and
encouragement that I sorely needed. I was admitted to
the
program with a nine-year gap between my master's degree and
the start
of doctoral work, and I had a lot of catching up to do. I
regret very
deeply that I was unable to present him with a finished
copy of
this dissertation before he passed away June 6, 1996.
I would also like to thank my primary mentor, Dr. Ronald
F.
Youngblood, whose advice was
helpful in many ways. Dr. Young-
blood was
kind enough to take over about halfway through the
program when
Dr. Hubbard retired in 1993. I appreciate his patience
due to the
length of time it took me to complete the program because
iv
of
financial restraints and a whole host of computer and word
processing
problems. My secondary mentor, Dr. Fred Bush, also
offered some
extremely helpful advice and I wish I had been able to
incorporate some
of his thoughts and insights into this study a little
earlier in the
process. My external reader, Dr. Duane Garrett also
deserves
recognition. This study interacts with Dr. Garrett's
commentary at
many points and I feel honored that he was willing to
read and
evaluate my dissertation.
And special thanks go to Dr. Francis I. and Dr. Lois C.
Ander-
sen, who
treated me like family, offering advice and practical help in
many ways
that I could not have done without as I drew near to the
end of
this project.
I would like to dedicate this dissertation to the memory
of my
close
friend, Zane A. Mills, who died tragically on March 3, 1996. He
was like
family to me for nearly twenty years and no one could have
asked for a
better friend. He knew more about innocent suffering
from
personal experience than anyone I have ever known.
It is my sincere desire that this dissertation not be
left on the
academic shelf,
but that someday it will contribute toward the min-
istry of the
Church. If this dissertation adds to the knowledge of Pro-
verbs and
makes a contribution to that ministry, whether mine or
anyone
else's, it will have been worth it.
v
Outline
and Table of Contents
Acknowledgments iv
Outline and Table of Contents vi
List of Abbreviations xiv
Chapter 1: An Examination of
the Issues 1
Introduction 1
I. The Issue of Theodicy 3
A. Definition 3
B. OT Books Related to Theodicy 6
1. Job 7
a. The Prologue 7
b. The Dialogue 9
c. The Divine Speeches 10
d. The Epilogue 17
2. Qoheleth 18
a. 3:16-17 19
b. 4:1-3 20
c. 6:1-9 22
d. 7:15-18 24
e.
8:9-9:12 26
II. Suffering in the Literature
of the Ancient Near East 28
A. Mesopotamian Literature 29
1. Sumerian Literature 35
a
"Man and His God" 36
vi
b.
Letter-Prayers 38
2. Akkadian Literature 42
a. The Pious Sufferer 42
b. Ludlul Bel Nemeqi 44
c. R.S. 25.460 49
d. Babylonian Theodicy 50
e. The Poem of Erra 54
B. Egyptian Literature 58
1. The Absence of Theodicy in
2. Suffering Is Due to Perversion of Ma’at 65
a. Admonitions of Ipuwer 66
b. Dispute of a Man with His Ba 67
c. Tale of the Eloquent Peasant 70
d. Teaching of Amenemhet 73
3. Inequality or Injustice was Often
Rectified in the
Afterlife 75
C. Conclusion 75
1. A Clear Sense of Right and Wrong 77
a.
b.
2. Significant Individual Worth 79
a.
b.
3. Conflict Between
Deities 82
4. Judgment in the Afterlife 83
vii
a.
b.
Chapter
2: The Lack of Discussion Related to Innocent
Suffering in the Book of Proverbs 86
Introduction 86
I. Past Assumptions 86
A. Proverbs is Conventional Wisdom 87
1. Reflection of a "Divine" Order 87
2. Doctrine of Retribution 96
a. Forensic Retribution 100
(1) Proverbs 3:32-35 101
(2) Proverbs 5:21-23 103
b. Dynamistic Retribution 105
(1) Proverbs 11:31 106
(2) Proverbs 24:15-16
110
B. Job and Qoheleth React Against the Dogmatism
of Proverbs 111
II. A Current Proposal 116
A. Many Proverbs Refer to and/or Assume
Innocent Suffering 116
1. Parental Suffering 116
2. Emotional Suffering 117
3. Suffering Due to the Words/Deeds of Others 117
B. Job and Qoheleth are Not Necessarily in Opposition
to Proverbs 118
C. Correctly Understanding the Proverb Genre Negates
Dogmatizing 122
viii
D. Conclusion 124
Chapter
Three: Parental Suffering in Proverbs 126
Introduction 126
I. Parents in the OT 126
A. Social Structure and Duties 127
1. Structure of Kin Groups 127
a. Tribe Fb,we, hF.,ma 128
b. Clan hHAPAw;mi 128
c. Family bxA-tyBe 130
2. Roles of Individuals 132
a. Father 132
b. Mother 133
c. Children 136
B. The Family as a Setting for Wisdom 137
1. The Origin of Family Wisdom 138
a. Parents as Teachers 145
b. "My Son(s)"--Literal
or Figurative? 147
2. The Purpose of Family Wisdom 149
a. Proverbs Directed Toward
Children 150
b. Proverbs Directed Toward
Parents 151
II. Analysis of Individual
Proverbs 154
A. Parents of Fools 154
1. 10:1 (lysiK;) 156
ix
2. 15:5 (lyvix< ) 159
3. 15:20
(lysiK;) 160
4. 17:21
(lysiK;, lbAnA), 17:25 (lysiK;) 162
5. 19:13
(lysiK;) 165
B. Parents and Public Shame, Mocking, Disgrace, etc 167
1. Shame (wybime) and
Disgrace (MlaKA) 167
a. 10:5
(wybime NB,) 167
b. 19:26
(wybime NB,//ryPiH;ma) 171
c. 29:15
(wybime) 174
d. 28:7
(MlaKA) 176
2. Cursing (llaqA) 182
a. 20:20
183
b. 30:11
184
3. Mocking (gfalA) and Scorning (zUB) 30:17
186
4. Robbery (lzaGA) 28:24
189
C. Conclusion 191
Chapter
4: Emotional Suffering in the Book of Proverbs 193
Introduction 193
I. The Somatic Expression of
Ancient Hebrew Psychology 193
A. Pre-Scientific Terminology and Broad Meanings 193
1. Heart (ble/bbAle) 193
a. ble as the Anatomical Organ 194
x
b. ble as the Center of Inner Life 195
c. ble as the
Religious Life 195
d. ble as Representative of the Whole 196
e. ble as a
2. Spirit (HaUr) 196
3. Soul (wp,n,) 197
B. Similar Uses in Egyptian, Akkadian and Ugaritic 198
1. Egyptian 198
a. Heart (ib and ha.ty) 198
b. Spirit (ba and ka) 199
(1) ba 199
(2) ka 199
2. Akkadian and Ugaritic 200
a. Akkadian 200
(1) libbu 200
(2) napistu 200
b. Ugaritic 201
(1) lb 201
(2) rwh 201
(3) nps 201
II. Analysis of Specific
Proverbs Related to Emotional Suffering 202
A. Heart (ble) 202
1. 12:25 202
xi
2. 13:12 206
3. 14:10, 13 213
4. 15:13
217
5. 25:20 219
B. Spirit (HaUr) 225
1. 15:4 225
2. 15:13 226
3. 17:22 227
4. 18:14 229
C. Soul (wp,n,) 230
1. 14:10 231
2. 28:17 231
3. 29.10 232
D. Conclusion 236
Chapter 5: Innocent
Suffering Due to the Words or Deeds
of
Others 238
Introduction 238
I. The Legal System 238
A. Judicial Process in the Ancient Near
East 239
B. Judicial Process in Ancient
C. The Legal Process at Work 245
D. Proverbs and Legal Action 246
1. False Witness/False Accusation 246
2. Reversal of Justice 247
3. Value of the Legal Process 248
xii
4.
Royal Justice 249
5. The Legal Process and Everyday Life 251
6. How Can Justice Be Understood? 254
E. Analysis of Individual Proverbs Regarding Innocent
Suffering and the Legal System 255
1. 3:30 255
2. 13:23 257
3. 17:15 259
4. 17:26 260
II. Damaging Words 11:9, 11 263
III. Harmful Actions 265
A. 1:8-19 266
B. 3:27-35 268
C.
6:16-19 272
D. 16:29 274
E. 17:13 278
IV. Conclusion 279
Chapter
6: Final Summary 281
Bibliography 293
CurriculumVitae
318
xiii
List
of Abbreviations
This is a list of abbreviations
commonly used in this
dissertation. They are the standard
abbreviations found in most
scholarly publications, but are listed here for
the reader's
convenience. For full documention see the
bibliography.
Abbreviations
for books of the Bible are standard.
AB Anchor
Bible
ABD David
N. Freedman, ed., Anchor Bible
Dictionary, 6 vols.
AEL Miriam
Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian
Literature, 3 vols.
AfO Archiv fur Orientforschung
ANE Ancient Near East(ern)
ANET James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near.
Eastern Texts Related to the Old Testament