잠언 1-9장에 나타난 여인 모티프 연구: “지혜 여인”과 “음녀”의 문학적/신학적 기능

Abstract

This study intends to provide an in-depth analysis of the literary and theological function of woman motif in Proverbs 1-9 with particular attention to the tension between Woman Wisdom and her rival Woman Folly. One of the striking features of the book of Proverbs is the active and decisive roles of woman figures. These features of women are unique in the Old Testament in that women are usually subject to male supremacy. In Proverbs, various female characters such as “wisdom lady”, “woman folly”, “the adulterous woman”, and “the strange woman” appear as active agents having crucial roles in both individual and communal contexts.Even before exploring the roles of these woman figures, we need to recognize the identities of these woman in the book. Woman figures mainly appear in the instructions of the opening nine chapters of the book. In order to identify these women, scholars suggest mythical and socio-cultural approaches. In this understanding, woman characters are regarded as reflections of either goddesses in ancient myths or social minorities, such as foreign women or forbidden community members. However, these approaches show intrinsic limits as they have tried to analyze the woman figures from external perspectives rather from the context of the book of Proverbs. Thus, this study intends to understand the woman motif within the context of Proverbs 1-9, in which a father teaches wisdom to his son. Women figures in Proverbs, indeed, are literary devices which represent the choice made by the young men. For pedagogical purposes, the father utilized “realistic symbolism” by personifying the abstract concept of wisdom and folly as a woman. Both woman wisdom and woman folly gradually reveal their identities and roles following the development of discourses in Proverbs 1-9. By doing this, the tension between woman wisdom and woman folly forms the structure of Proverbs 1-9. The question of identity of woman figures also raises the question of the roles of them in the book of Proverbs. In fact, the distinctions between woman wisdom and her rival woman folly is at the heart of the teaching of wisdom. This two types of woman competitively invite the son into a relationship with them. In this context, the young man, a son in Proverbs 1-9, is called on to make a choice between these two women. The choice between woman wisdom and woman folly plays a pivotal role in formingthe literary structure and theology of the book of Proverbs. When Proverbs 1-9 is understood in this way, we can get the roles of woman motif in Proverbs.