The Bible
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 50, No. 1 – Fall 2007
Managing Editor: Malcolm B. Yarnell III
By Bruce K. Waltke. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005. 589 pages. Hardcover, $50.00.
In this second volume of a two volume work on the book of Proverbs, Bruce K. Waltke, continues his discussion of this important book of the Bible in a manner consistent with and based upon the excellent foundations for understanding the book he outlined in volume one. The chapters of Proverbs included in this volume include some of the most difficult to categorize texts in the book, as well as some of the better known sections. One would be hard pressed to find a Christian parent who is not familiar with Proverbs 22:6 or a Christian mother who has not received a Mother’s Day card with at least a portion of Proverbs 31:10–31 quoted within it. As such, a text written by someone of Waltke’s skill and expertise ought to be seen as a welcome reality to all who desire to move beyond popular misconceptions of texts in order to gain a deeper understanding of what a life lived before God actually entails.
The first several chapters of the book of Proverbs covered in this volume continue the genre of proverb that began in volume one of this commentary set. Therefore, if one is going to understand properly the nature of much of the argumentation going on in this volume, he should first visit the introductory discussions of volume one. The nature of these proverbial sayings as instructions for life is sometimes missed on those who would generally consign them to being merely easy to remember statements of truth. Conversely, they might be improperly applied by those who turn a genre of instruction into a list of promises being made by God. Waltke thoroughly and appropriately outlines the proper hermeneutical method- ology when calling on his readers to interpret and apply these sayings in a manner that avoids either extreme. Furthermore, his treatment of the “Valiant Wife’ of Proversb 31 is handled quite admirable in its ancient Near Eastern context by noting not only the similarities with other such discussions, but more importantly its differences. The end result is a commentary that draws the reader to recognize the nature of the text as that which God would hold up as truly praiseworthy, across the millennia and in a variety of contexts.
As with the previous volume, Waltke seems sometimes to forget that not all of his readers have the depth of understanding of Hebrew that he possesses, though this is far less prevalent in this volume than in the previous. Nevertheless, this volume, like the first, represents an important evangelical perspective on the book of Proverbs and is a helpful addition to the library of anyone who wants a thorough understanding of the type of wisdom God would have us possess.
