Wisdom is a Woman

The Canonical Metaphor of Lady Wisdom of Proverbs 1–9 Understood in Light of Theological Aesthetics

Lance Rundus

Wisdom is a Woman

The Canonical Metaphor of Lady Wisdom of Proverbs 1–9 Understood in Light of Theological Aesthetics

Copyright © 2019 Lance Rundus. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Pickwick Publications

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-8270-4

hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-8271-1

ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-8272-8

Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Names: Rundus, Lance, author.

Title: Wisdom is a woman : the canonical metaphor of Lady Wisdom of Proverbs 1–9 understood in light of theological aesthetics / Lance Rundus.

Description: Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2019 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: isbn 978-1-5326-8270-4 (paperback) | isbn 978-1-5326-8271-1 (hardcover) | isbn 978-1-5326-8272-8 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Bible.—Proverbs—Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Wisdom (Biblical personification) | Wisdom—Biblical teaching | Bible.—Proverbs I–IX—Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Women in the Bible

Classification: BS1465.52 R86 2019 (print) | BS1465.52 (ebook)

Manufactured in the U.S.A.: June 23, 2020

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, hg. v. Karl Elliger und Wilhelm Rudolph, fünfte, verbesserte Auflage, hg. v. Adrian Schenker, © 1977 und 1997 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016

Table of Contents

• Title Page

• List of Illustrations

• Preface

• Acknowledgments

• Abbreviations

• 1. Introduction

• 2. Methodological Challenges

• 3. Hemispheric Balance and Methodological Stability

• 4. The Diversity and Paradox of Lady Wisdom in Proverbs 1–2 and the Diversity and Paradox of the Triune God

• 5. Women and the Divine

• 6. Wise or Strange?

• 7. Faithful Desire

• Appendix A

• Appendix B

• Appendix C

• Appendix D

• Appendix E

• Bibliography

To the LORD and to my family who have been the vehicles of his strength, encouragement, and love

List of Illustrations

1 Diego Velázquez, Venus At The Mirror (Rokeby Venus)

2 Source-Target Mapping

3 Metonymy

4 Hierarchy of Metaphor

5 Virus Integration Network

6 Metaphor and Structure in Proverbs 2

7 Diego Velázquez, Christ after the Flagellation Contemplated by the Christian Soul

8 Simplex Network

9 Mirror Network

10 Double Scope Network