Learning from the sages

Superior studies on salient themes and texts of Proverbs now join similar anthologies on Job and Ecclesiastes that have been compiled by Roy B. Zuck. Learning from the Sages assembles thirty-two essays by twenty-seven scholars, covering genre, themes, and expositions of selected passages. Some include technical details of Hebrew, but in-depth linguistic knowledge is not necessary. Part 1 looks at the structure, context, and message of Proverbs, and offers suggestions on understanding its content, terms used, and metaphors for wisdom, wealth, and poverty. Essays on individual texts are arranged in canonical order in part 2. Commentators discuss such memorable sections as the advice to young men in chapter 3, the seductress of chapter 5, and the comparisons of the fool and the wise.