FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY THE INNOCENT SUFFERER IN THE BOOK OF PROVERBS A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology Fuller Theological Seminary in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy BY DANIEL P. BRICKER PASADENA, CALIFORNIA MAY 1998 Copyright 1998 by Daniel P. Bricker All Rights Reserved Cited with permission by Ted Hildebrandt Report any errors to [email protected] Center for Advanced Theological Studies School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary 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 Sherwood, Arkansas. They provided me with support in many ways, 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 Egypt 64 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. Egypt 77 b. Mesopotamia 78 2. Significant Individual Worth 79 a. Egypt 79 b. Mesopotamia 80 3. Conflict Between Deities 82 4. Judgment in the Afterlife 83 vii a. Egypt 83 b. Mesopotamia 83 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 Center of Ethical and Religious Life 195 d. ble as Representative of the Whole 196 e. ble as a Remote Place 196 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 Israel 244 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.