My Son, Listen to the Instruction of Your Father : An Analysis of How the Father’s Rhetoric in Proverbs 1-7 Continues and Climaxes in Proverbs 8-9

Liu, Hsiao-Yung (Samuel) My Son, Listen to the Instruction of Your Father: An Analysis of How the Father Rhetoric in Proverbs 1-7 Continues and Climaxes in Proverbs 8-9. Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary, 2007. 200 pp. This dissertation proposes the thesis that the father\u27s rhetoric in Prov 1-7 continues and climaxes in Prov 8-9, thus supporting the unity of Prov 1-9. Although diverse voices and genres make the reading of Prov 1-9 difficult, there still exists the unifying perspective of the implied speaker in the text, which is the father\u27s rhetoric, Therefore, assuming that one single author or editor completed the current text in Prov 1- 9, this investigation proposes that the Sitz im Leben of the text is family and the speaker is a father, whose rhetoric is the key to a unified reading of Proverbs 1-9. That is, the same person who says directly in the fatherly discourses, My son, listen to the instruction of your father (Prov 1:8; see also 2:1; 3:1; 3:21; 4:10, 20; 5:1; 6:1; 6:20; 7:1) is also the one using the wisdom poems of Proverbs 8-9 to communicate indirectly. In other words, this speaking father uses the figure of personified Wisdom in Prov 8-9 as the rhetorical/imagery device to continue and to climax what he has said in the previous discourses (Prov 1-7) so that the speaker obtains a stronger rhetorical/ persuasive effect upon the listener (the listening son) and makes him listen/obey. In order to find a unity in the text, scholars try to fill the gap made by the difference/ discontinuity of the father\u27s voice (Prov 1-7) and wisdom\u27s voice (Prov 8-9), providing different interpretations in the structure and reading of the text. To explain how the continuity and climax are set up, this study examines the work of both form-redactional critics and feminist critics on Proverbs 1-9. While both offer interesting insights, neither deals adequately with the challenges of the text, particularly in the area of discontinuity ( e.g., the discontinuity existing between the fatherly discourses [Prov 1-7] and the wisdom poems [Prov 8-9]). Responding to the discontinuity and dialoguing with these two methods, this study employs rhetorical criticism to demonstrate how the father\u27s rhetoric in Prov 1-7 continues and climaxes in Prov 8-9, thus creating a unity within the nine chapters. In the content of the dissertation, this study will argue the thesis step by step. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction concerning the setting, assumption, rationale, demarcation and outlines of this dissertation. Chapter 2 gives an overview of the secondary literature regarding form-redactional and feminist criticism, showing how these studies are able to explain the text and structure but are inadequate to approach Prov 1-7 and 8-9 holistically. Chapter 3 is the introduction to the methodology that this study follows. This study uses rhetorical criticism to help prove its thesis. Chapter 4 demonstrates the rhetorical strategies concerning how this study develops the rationale in this thesis. Chapter 5 investigates the structure and content arrangement of the father\u27s rhetoric in the compositional dimension, in which symmetry and repetition are the two principles used to investigate the inclusio, center, chiasmus, contrast, and climax of the text. Chapter 6 deals with the persuasive dimension, particularly with the stylistic elements, the speaker\u27s ethos, the listener\u27s pathos and imagery devices. Chapter 7 presents the conclusions of this study based on all that has gone before. The thesis that the father\u27s rhetoric in Prov 1-7 continues and climaxes in Prov 8-9 will be confirmed

Raising students' awareness of cross-cultural contrastive rhetoric in English writing via an e-learning course

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Can Wisdom be Taught? Implicit and Explicit מוּסָר as the Aesthetic Pedagogy of Proverbs

The aim of this thesis is to show how Proverbs endeavours to teach for wisdom and, in so doing, to further substantiate the argument that Proverbs is an educational collection of pedagogical merit, and to provide a stimulus for reflection when considering the more philosophical question: Can wisdom be taught? A method of rhetorical analysis of the text of Proverbs is used, which draws out the מוּסָר (normally translated ‘instruction’ or ‘discipline’) of the collection. This מוּסָר is both advocated (i.e. Proverbs recommends certain courses of action) and inherent (i.e. the text itself educates the audience as they read Proverbs). The inherent מוּסָר employs several literary devices (e.g. structure, parallelism, and metaphor) to persuade, shape and direct the desires, reason, and habits of the hearer. Through exegesis of selected passages from Proverbs I have shown how the inherent מוּסָר is implemented within the text, discovering, not an articulated pedagogical system but clear pedagogical principles and methods. In Proverbs, I have argued, can be found a rich and fascinating approach to educating for wisdom and, more broadly, character, which displays a remarkable understanding of the integrated nature of the human self in its pedagogy, which I have termed the aesthetic pedagogy of מוּסָר . When Proverbs was then considered alongside some of the insights of Virtue Education, the commitment to the significance of the emotions, the power of literary form, the importance of habit, and the formation of virtuous character were all found to be shared with other voices from this field, particularly Aristotle, placing Proverbs firmly within this area of educational thought. Nonetheless, Proverbs remains a distinctive text with its own distinctive pedagogy and aims which derive from Proverbs’ underlying commitments as a text rooted in a Yahwistic worldview and operating within the covenantal framework of the wider Hebrew Bible.St Luke's Foundation Diocese of Truro Magdalene College Cambridge St Matthias Trust Philpott Boyd Trus

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