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Canonical Criticism: A Canonical Interpretation of Proverbs and the “Fear of YHWH”

  • Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies
  • Abbr : KJOTS
  • 2025, 31(4), pp.439~486
  • DOI : 10.24333/jkots.2025.31.4.439
  • Publisher : Korean Society of Old Testament Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology
  • Received : November 5, 2025
  • Accepted : November 22, 2025

Keun Jo Ahn 1

1호서대

Accredited

ABSTRACT

he purpose of this study is to introduce the theoretical framework of canonical criticism and to apply it to the interpretation of Proverbs 9:10, which highlights the “fear of YHWH” as the foundation of wisdom. This study explores the concepts of canon and canonization, emphasizing that Brevard S. Childs and James A. Sanders—representative figures of the canonical approach—understand canon and canonization not merely in doctrinal terms, but primarily in canonical terms. In articulating the canonical dimensions of Scripture, both scholars consistently consider the historical and theological processes involved in canonization. Ultimately, they seek to identify canonical rationale(s) that prompted the formation of the present shape and arrangement of the Jewish and Christian canons. Yet, If Childs emphasizes the dimension of the canonical form, Sanders places greater weight on the functional dimension of the canon community. Whereas canonical authority and revelatory character represent the normative form of Scripture for Childs, for Sanders they highlight the identity and renewal of the canonical community. Nevertheless, a significant point of convergence remains between the two scholars in grounding their interpretive framework in the canonical context. By synthesizing the canonical reading theories of the two scholars, this study proposes an alternative model of canonical criticism, termed “the canonical- heuristic reading of text and community.” The study seeks to establish principles of canonical interpretation from two perspectives: first, a literary reading attentive to the rhetorical structure of the text; and second, an examination of how the canonical community formulated canonical principles from the text’s message for the discovery and maintenance of its identity. As rabbinic midrash proceeds through a dialectical reading of both ‘halakhah’, the normative dimension, and ‘aggadah’, the narrative dimension, so this approach attempts to discern how the literary and normative forms of the text are brought into dialogue with the teachings and narratives that renew the identity of the canonical community. As a case study of canonical reading, this research investigates the meaning of “the fear of YHWH” in Proverbs 9:10 within three canonical contexts: the entirety of chapter 9, the theological unit of Proverbs 1–9, and the broader canonical perspective of the Old and New Testaments. The study finds that the concept of fearing YHWH constitutes a core religious ordinance that preserves holiness against Israelites’ continual temptation toward “longing for what is foreign.” In other words, in the contrasting voices of Woman Wisdom and the Dame Folly in Proverbs, the “fear of YHWH” delineates the boundary of faith, revealing the ways of life and death, and functions as “discerning heart”(1 Kgs 3:9) that protects God’s people from idolatry and from any desire for what is foreign, thereby preserving their holiness.

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