Proverbs 7 in MT and LXX: Form and Content

164
Tova Forti and Zipora Talshir
The Concluding Address (Verses 24–27)
The last paragraph introduces the lesson drawn from the experience
described in the main body of the argument. It begins with
, echoing the incipient address . The inclusio thus formed is
further emphasized through the structure shared by both the conclusion
and the introduction, since both are set in synonymous parallelism, offering
a balanced and emphatic exhortation regarding the perils of the forbidden
woman.
The translator follows his Vorlage quite faithfully, passing the message
along with the form, just as he did in the introduction (see, however, v. 25).
Verse 24
.
d c b a *
1 $ "
1 * $
"
The plural address in the conclusion ( followed by and )
does not agree with the singular forms in the introduction ( followed by
etc.). 85 Moreover, the conclusion itself then continues in the singular:
“let your heart not wander”; “do not stray...” (v. 25).
Ch. 5 presents a similar case of plural-singular interchange within the
Hebrew. The speech begins with a singular address (5:1 (
), an address later resumed in the plural (5:7 ),
but the teaching immediately following is in the singular throughout (5:8ff
% (
). The fact that the interchange occurs in two
different cases might suggest that the style allows for such interchange. The
plural disappears in the LXX in both cases, probably in an attempt to create
a smooth text. 86
d’ c’ *
85 While the regular address is to ‘my son’, in the singular (e.g., 1:8; 2:1), there are
some verses that adopt a plural form (4:1; 8:32).
86 The situation is not as clear in the other two cases of plural address. In 8:32 the
LXX has a singular instead of the MT’s plural, which suits the plural addresses at the