with the culture’s proverbial stock.”38 In this way even unconventional ideas can gain a hearing because they are presented in traditional, authoritative Wisdom garb. Ninth, because of the indirect and conventional form of the speech, the speaker is somewhat protected from immediate rejection, and his ideas, even if unconventional, are given time to gain a hearing.39 Various of the above observations bear some close scrutiny when one considers Jesus’ sapiential teaching and particularly his aphorisms.