“Train Up a Child”: Michael Fox on Proverbs 22:6

Did you know that the best commentary on the book of Proverbs ever written is by Michael Fox? (I’m not biased, of course.) So far, it is in print through Proverbs chapter 9. Proverbs 10-31 was submitted to the publisher years ago. It will appear in what is now known as AYB, put out by Yale University Press. AYB’s general editor, John Collins, informs me they plan to have Proverbs 10-31 in print this spring.  

Below the fold, in an exclusive preview, you will find Fox’s translation and commentary on Proverbs 22:6. Some dirt on Fox: I chatted recently with another student of his, who told me that Fox extensively rewrote his Proverbs commentary based on feedback he received from a student reader and others. Fox did the same thing when I was his project assistant and he wrote his Song of Songs book and his Qohelet book.

There is a lot to be learned by watching the process of ongoing revision of a manuscript if the author of the manuscript cares about detail as much as Michael Fox. We, his student readers, are grateful for having had the opportunity to watch the revisioning in stages.

Here’s the Hebrew:

חֲנֹךְ לַנַּעַר     עַל־פִּי דַרְכּוֹ

גַּם כִּי־יַזְקִין   לֹא־יָסוּר מִמֶּנָּה

Here is Fox’s translation and commentary:

22:6     Train a youth according to his way,

                        and even when he grows old he will not depart from it.

 A child educated to go in the right path will stick to it throughout life. “His way” (darko) must refer to the right way, the way he ought to go in (McKane; thus b. Qid 30a), for that is the only one from which he must never depart. This is his way in the sense that it is truly his, the way proper to him, if he is morally educable and educated. Job uses derek “way” similarly: “If my steps went aside from the way and my heart followed my eyes....” (31:7). Job is asserting that he never strayed from his path and entered an evil way.

his way: “Way” is used similarly in Prov 23:19: “Listen, my son, and become wise, and go straight in the way of  your heart.” The “way of your heart” is the right way only if one has gained wisdom; see the Comment there.

Other identifications include the following:

(1) The child’s personal aptitude. He should be taught according to his age and ability (Sa`adia). But what would it mean to stick to these factors when he grows old? And if he is not educated “according to his way,” will he then abandon this way when he grows old?

        (2) The nature of youth as such, the way the young behave (Delitzsch). But there would be no virtue in not departing from youthful behavior, especially since it tends to be foolish (Prov 22:15).

(3) One’s social position, namely that of a squire, who should be trained according to his future role. (Delitzsch; Hildebrandt 1988a). But derek does not mean status and “squire” is an anachronistic translation of na‘ar.

(4) Whatever the boy wishes. Then the verse is facetious (Ralbag; Shadal). Clifford paraphrases: “Let a boy do what he wants and he’ll grow up to be a self-willed adult incapable of change!” But this is not the meaning of “his way” elsewhere.

train [חֲנֹךְ]: Elsewhere, this rare verb means “dedicate,” “initiate the use of” (Deut 20:5 [2x]; 1 Kgs 8:63 = 2 Chr 7:5). The noun חנוכה 7:10 means “dedication” or “dedicatory celebration” (Num 11, etc.). In Prov 22:6, חנך must mean “train,” a sense the D-stem has in RH and that is related to the notion of initiating someone into a position. Abraham’s חניכים (Gen  14:14) are usually understood to be “trained men,” hence “retainers.” These are calledנערים  in Gen 14:24.

youth: In reference to age, נער 4:21 can designate anyone from birth (e.g., 1 Sam  4:21)to early maturity (e.g., Gen 37:2; 41:12). MacDonald (1976), supported by Hildebrandt (1988a: 10-14), says that נער 22:15 designates status, not age. But it clearly refers to a child or adolescent elsewhere in Proverbs, for it is the young who are in their father’s tutelage and subject to corporal punishment (22:15; 23:13). “Youth” is the appropriate translation here, because childhood is the time for moral training, and it is distinguished from the time “when he grows old.”

Comments

[Doug Mangum]

How did you get lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the new commentary? Fox told me this summer that they were aiming for SBL this fall. I guess they must have pushed the timetable back on him again. That's frustrating because the manuscript was first finished and sent to Anchor in mid-2006. I know Fox was a little annoyed at the bibliography being several years out of date.

[JohnFH]

Doug,

I have connections. : )

If you offer to bring the bib up to date, I'll put in a word with John Collins and see if it can't be done.

[Doug Magnum]

John,
I think Fox intends to mention the most noteworthy things that appeared since the mss was completed in a foreword or afterword. If he had time and no other commitments, I'm sure he'd prefer to revise the entire mss again to bring everything up to date. I'll mention it to his current project assistant and see if they'll let me help, but I suspect it's already done and he's moved on to finishing his work on Proverbs for the Oxford Hebrew Bible project.

[Andrew C]

Thanks for the post, John. I have been amazed by everything Fox has written. His Prov 1-9 commentary is a great volume . . . 10-31 should be truly outstanding!

[tc robinson]

John, you had me on this one. At first I was thinking the actor (haha). I thought you were going to argue for "his way" as "his inclinations."

[JohnFH]

Thanks for the further news, Doug.

Andrew, keep reading Fox. You will never be disappointed.

TC, welcome to my world, in which the only Michael Fox who matters is not an actor. I hope you found his discussion and conclusions of interest.

[David Guttmann]

John,

I have difficulty seeing how it becomes "his" way when it is the universal moral code of the community and his teacher that he is taught.

I also do not understand the objection to Sa'adyah. Isn't life a constant learning experience but only if one is open to learning? A child taught according to his nature will never stop learning and growing while one that has been indoctrinated according to someone else's will become rigid.

[JohnFH]

David,

Thanks much for your questions. It's the nitty gritty of exegesis which interests me too. Your questions make this blog into a virtual classroom.

I have the same difficulty as you do, and we are not alone. Hence the many alternative construals that have been offered in the history of interpretation.

As far as the interpretation you suggest is concerned, it has the merit of being logical and self-consistent. But does derek refer to a person's "nature" or "inclination" elsewhere? If it doesn't, the interpretation's inner coherence is not enough to make it persuasive.

[David Guttmann]

Well John I think this is not so difficult - Mishlei 30:19-20

יט דֶּרֶךְ הַנֶּשֶׁר, בַּשָּׁמַיִם-- דֶּרֶךְ נָחָשׁ, עֲלֵי-צוּר;
דֶּרֶךְ-אֳנִיָּה בְלֶב-יָם-- וְדֶרֶךְ גֶּבֶר בְּעַלְמָה

כֵּן, דֶּרֶךְ אִשָּׁה-- מְנָאָפֶת:
אָכְלָה, וּמָחֲתָה פִיהָ; וְאָמְרָה, לֹא-פָעַלְתִּי אָוֶן.

The last two (especially the last) seem to translate best as nature or inclination making the verse a clever play on a word.

So too Breishit 31:35

וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל-אָבִיהָ, אַל-יִחַר בְּעֵינֵי אֲדֹנִי, כִּי לוֹא אוּכַל לָקוּם מִפָּנֶיךָ, כִּי-דֶרֶךְ נָשִׁים לִי

though this one may be questioned.

[JohnFH]

David,

This is how I understand the verses you cite. I could be misinterpreting, but you will discover that there is nothing original about my explanations.

In Mishlei 30:19-20, derek is to be taken in a literal fashion until the last occurrence, in which it is metaphorical with a sense of "the way proper to her," the same sense Fox suggests for derek in our verse, with, at the same time, a strong literal overtone based on the preceding context, a clever play on words indeed. Note NJPSV at 30:19-20:

How an eagle makes its way in the sky,

How a snake makes its way over a rock,

How a ship makes its way in the middle of the sea,

How a man has his way with a maiden, [it is possible to take derek here metaphorically, but a concrete sense is natural given the preceding]

Such is the way of the adulteress . . .

In Bereishit 31:35, it is not the "nature" or "inclination" of women that she experiences. It is "behavior proper to women" - her period - that she experiences.

[David Guttmann]

John, You may want to know that you are in good company. The Rabbis in Kidushin 2b read the last two, maiden and adulteress, as intercourse which is indeed closer to your reading.

[JohnFH]

"Our sages of blessed memory" are good company indeed.

[Angela Erisman]

Yes, he trained us up well, didn't he?

I find myself constantly rewriting things. Of course that can be a problem as well as a benefit, because at some point you have to let things go.

[JohnFH]

I'm still in training myself.

If you need to publish, the best advice is sometimes simply to stop revising, and put off trying to pin down one's evolving thought to a future date.