Abstract
This study is an explication of a great portion of the Book of Proverbs. It aims at allowing the reader to enter the world of this Book by means of the direct speeches contained therein.
At the same time, it attempts to describe the function and interrelations among specific types of messages (I form, direct speech, proverbs) in the Book, and to verify whether the analytical methodology chosen is appropriate and effective, i.e., to explore the positions of direct speeches in the Book and their relation to the proverbs. The effort to discern a structure of the Book, its canonical value and function is based on a methodology created for the purpose of analyzing the Book of Proverbs (the form of communication is the key to its content).
The interpreted scriptures are analyzed in a synchronous manner on the basis of the Hebrew original. After describing the various direct speeches, the study examines the protagonists of the Book of Proverbs, the role of oral tradition (the function of direct speeches to the son and sons in the Tanach) and the direct speech functions.
Interpretations of all direct speeches in the Book of Proverbs, analyzed in the sequence of their appearance in the Book, form the basis of the study. These direct speeches define a structure of the Book of Proverbs.
The dominant position among them is taken up by the speeches of Wisdom and of the wise man. Specific direct speeches in the Book of Proverbs are structured into parts according to the imperatives used and the proverbs.
Each of the direct speeches contains a core message (requirements and statements about the Lord) and supplemental messages, among which we can include in particular the "catalogues" (lists that are typical for the direct speeches contained in the Book of Proverbs). The direct speeches have their topics and purposes.
All of them are interrelated, and these interrelations are pointed out in the explication. The footnotes include translation variants, additional information about the translation, intertextual relations, and text structures.
Throughout the study and in its conclusion, I point out direct speeches in related types of texts (usually in psalms) and formulate their context and common elements. At the end, the study includes an index of Biblical scriptures interpreted in the study.
The direct speeches contained in the Book represent a method how a new generation of the Lord's confessors was formed (the son's initiation), thus allowing us to better understand the principles of live oral tradition and how it worked in practice.