Description
Proverbs: The (Trans)formation of Character in accord with Wisdom and Virtue
What is the good life? Proverbs answers this question across different collections and through different poetic forms, each of which are designed to (trans)form one’s character. This project of character formation assumes that wisdom and virtue are multifaceted. They include the intellect, the emotions, and an embodied form of life. This explains why Proverbs seeks to sharpen the reasoning, direct the desires, and cultivate the conduct of readers in accordance with the good. The anthology helps one to discern what is good, to love what is good, and to do what is good, all in relational dependence on God and others.
Designed for the pastor and Bible teacher, the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament features today's top Old Testament scholars and brings together commentary features rarely gathered together in one volume. With careful discourse analysis and interpretation of the Hebrew text, the authors trace the flow of argument in each Old Testament book, showing that how a biblical author says something is just as important as what they say.
Series Description
Commentary on each passage follows a clear structure to help readers grasp the flow and meaning of the text:
- The Main Idea of the Passage: A one- or two-sentence summary of the key ideas the biblical author seeks to communicate.
- Literary Context: A brief discussion of the relationship of the specific text to the book as a whole and to its place within the broader argument.
- Translation and Exegetical Outline: Commentators provide their own translations of each text, formatted to highlight its discourse structure and accompanied by a coherent outline that reflects the flow and argument of the text.
- Structure and Literary Form: An overview of the literary structure and rhetorical style adopted by the biblical author, highlighting how these features contribute to the communication of the main idea of the passage.
- Explanation of the Text: A detailed commentary on the passage, paying particular attention to how the biblical authors select and arrange their materials and how they work with words, phrases, and syntax to communicate their messages.
- Canonical and Practical Significance: The commentary on each unit will conclude by building bridges between the world of the biblical author and other biblical authors and with reflections on the contribution made by this unit to the development of broader issues in biblical theology--particularly on how later Old Testament and New Testament authors have adapted and reused the motifs in question. The discussion also includes brief reflections on the significance of the message of the passage for readers today.
The Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament series is the go-to resource for pastors and Bible teachers looking for deep but accessible study that equips them to connect the needs of Christians today with the biblical text.
Praise for Proverbs
Christopher Ansberry is to be congratulated on a wonderful and insightful addition to the acclaimed Zondervan Exegetical Commentary series. Already known to a scholarly audience as a Proverbs expert, here Ansberry deepens and refines his ideas in a thorough engagement with this enigmatic text. He shows how Proverbs, with its rich world of characters, is a transformative text for its readers, pedagogically shaping their moral and theological discourse in carefully crafted stages. Scholars, pastors, and teachers will benefit from Ansberry’s fresh translation and exegetical analyses, from his close attention to literary and structural issues and his emphasis on canonical and theological significance which showcases its relevance to Christian life and discipleship today. A tour de force of a commentary which takes its rightful place amongst the best scholarship on Proverbs in the present day.
—Katharine Dell, professor of Old Testament literature and theology, University of Cambridge
Christopher Ansberry takes his readers on a journey full of clarity and insight through the “Wisdom and Virtue” of the book of Proverbs, one based on both a deep knowledge of the book’s internal logic and the Hebrew text itself. Ansberry masterfully demonstrates how the different parts of the book of Proverbs form a greater unit with a clear pedagogical and theological agenda. Anyone interested in a fresh approach to this important biblical book, which has spent far too long being taken as an “outsider” within the Hebrew Bible, will find much to stimulate their own thinking.
—BERND U. SCHIPPER, professor of Hebrew Bible, Humboldt-University of Berlin
The book of Proverbs is not dry, mundane, or irrelevant. Rather—as Christopher Ansberry shows in this masterful commentary—Proverbs offers potent resources for the (trans)formation of character through wisdom and righteousness. After providing a fresh and nuanced translation of the Hebrew, Ansberry draws out the complexity and profundity of the book’s curriculum for wise living. Ansberry’s writing is reasoned and judicious without losing boldness and clout; it pays attention to detail without getting lost in the detail; it remains accessible and engaging without obscuring the complexity of scholarly debates. Ansberry highlights, not only the significance of the book in its original historical context, but its potential implications for the contemporary world. Himself a masterful teacher, Ansberry equips his readers with the skills and knowledge they need to dig into Proverbs’ wisdom for themselves.
—SUZANNA MILLAR, lecturer in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, University of Edinburgh
Ansberry’s great accomplishment is to offer a full-length critical commentary on Proverbs that refuses to characterize Proverbs’s moral vision as a simple guide to success and instead recognizes the heart of the book’s ethics to be its concern with character formation and virtue. But more than simply pointing to this fact, through careful attention to the book’s linguistic and rhetorical structures Ansberry shows readers of his commentary how Proverbs inculcates wisdom in its readers/hearers! For anyone interested in the rhetoric and pragmatics of Proverbs—how Proverbs carries out its moral vision—Ansberry’s work is a must read. A keen concern for the theological dimensions of Proverbs, and how the book’s discourse is refracted in later texts, including the New Testament, means Ansberry’s book will be especially valuable for Christian interpreters—whether established scholars or serious lay students. It is a most welcome addition to the world of Proverbs commentaries!
—TIMOTHY SANDOVAL, associate dean and associate professor of Old Testament, Texas Christian University
In this formidable commentary, Ansberry skillfully guides readers through the imaginative world of Proverbs and the paths, poetic forms, images, and tropes that form its terrain in order to show how the book as a whole achieves its aim of cultivating wisdom and virtue. An effective pedagogue himself, Ansberry invites audiences to “take the course” offered by Proverbs with precision, depth, creativity, and wisdom. This work will be a vital resource for all students of Proverbs and seekers of biblical wisdom.
—PATRICIA VESELY, associate professor of Hebrew Bible and Christian ethics, Memphis Theological Seminary
Christopher Ansberry's commentary on Proverbs proves invaluable for navigating this intriguing book. Ansberry's meticulous and well-researched approach offers both a scholarly examination of the text and a theological understanding of Proverbs. Whether you're a scholar, pastor, or curious layperson, Ansberry's work on Proverbs deserves a place on your shelf for its engaging insights into ancient and literary contexts, and for highlighting the relevance of the book of Proverbs for modern readers.
—DOMINICK HERNANDEZ, director of de Talbot en Español and associate professor of Old Testament and Semitics, Biola University
Ansberry has capitalized on the priorities of the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary series to produce a compelling interpretation of Proverbs. His attention to wisdom’s ubiquity, the concept-oriented and perspectival connections between sayings, and robust use of scholarly literature will make an abiding contribution. While Proverbs is not a book straightforwardly taken as a whole, Ansberry has written a coherent, creative, and level-headed commentary that should mark a new generation of scholarship.
—ARTHUR KEEFER, research associate, Divinity University and associate pastor, The Scot’s Church, Melbourne
About the Author
Christopher B. Ansberry (PhD, Wheaton College Graduate School) is associate professor of biblical and religious studies at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. He is the author of Be Wise, My Son, and Make My Heart Glad: An Exploration of the Courtly Nature of the Book of Proverbs and Reading Wisdom and Psalms as Christian Scripture: A Literary, Canonical, and Theological Introduction.
