Date
12-11-2024
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Bible Exposition (PhD)
Chair
Joel A. A. Ajayi
Keywords
Proverbs, Wisdom, Literature, Narrative, Proverbs 10, Structure, Narrative Literature Structure, Job, Son of Songs, Solomon, Son, Sage, Proverb, Father, fear, Yahweh
Disciplines
Christianity
Recommended Citation
Babcock, Craig W., "Literary Structure of Proverbs and the Stages of a Righteous Life" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6221.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6221
Abstract
The structure of Proverbs and the applied wisdom of the father and mother which begin with the son in the first chapter are present throughout the entire book of Proverbs creating an ongoing narrative literary structure connecting the individual proverbs. The narrative literary structure demonstrates the shifting nature of the moment of life for the son in life and beyond death. To demonstrate the more prominent literary structure, the son follows a hero’s journey, with the son ending as a sage. The theological understanding of the son and the fear of Yahweh guide him through the complex nature of life and different aspects of aging and situations. Proverbs demonstrates the stages and movement of life from being a young man to an old man in Yahweh and beyond through the book’s complex structure that mirrors the complex structure of living a righteous and wise life.
