As I mentioned before, I’m currently doing a study of Proverbs with some of the high school and college students at my church. I’ve been working through the first Parental Instruction over the past several days. During this time I have been struck by the difficulty in accurately identifying the structure of a poem that, on the surface, seems somewhat simple.

One might take, for instance, the disagreement between Murphy’s structural analysis and Waltke’s analysis. Murphy outlines the passage thusly:¹

I. Admonition to heed parental teaching, with motive clause (vv. 8-9)
II. Warning against enticement of sinners (vv. 10-19)
     A. Casuistic² introduction (vv. 10-14)
     B. Admonition, with motive clause (vv. 15-16)
     C. Description of ways of sinners (vv. 17-19)

Waltke, on the other hand, outlines the passage as follows:³

1. Introduction: Summary Statement (1.10)
2. Body: Sinners’ Temptation Unfolded (1.11-14)
3. Body: The Father’s Warning Unfolded (1.15-18)
4. Conclusion: The Lesson’s Moral (1.19)

That Waltke’s division is somewhat arbitrary can be seen from the fact that the poem break down into sections of exactly equal size. The two external statements are exactly one verse, while the internal body of the poem is divided into two sections of two verses each. He views verses eight and nine as separate from this poem.

I find both of these analyses lacking. Murphy’s is perhaps preferable to Waltke’s, but even the former seems to me to divide the section somewhat arbitrarily. Obviously any analysis of this nature may seem arbitrary to some extent; let me be clear, I mean to say that I do not see that Murphy and Waltke have been lead by the text in their analyses. If I were to analyze the structure of the passage, I might decide on something such as:

I. Introduction (vv. 8-9)
II. Protasis (vv. 10-14)
     A. General warning (v. 10)
     B. Specific example (vv. 11-14)
III. Apodosis (vv. 15-19)
     A. Apodosis proper (v. 15)
          1. Motivation Clause One (v. 16)
          2. Motivation Clause Two (vv. 17-19)

Although I prefer my own analysis of the structure of the First Instruction, I have no doubt that others will find fault in various places. My point in this post is not to convince anyone that I have arrived at the correct answer to the question of structure. Rather, I mean to point out that analyzing the structure of even a seemingly simple poem such as Proverbs 1.8-19 is a difficult endeavor. Having said that, I would be interested in thoughts on my own analysis of the structure of the First Instruction. Discussion is always a worthwhile pursuit.

UPDATE: June 9, 2009; 11:31AM: After only a few minutes further reflection, I’ve decided that verse ten is a protasis and apodosis within itself, 10a-Protasis, 10b-Apodosis. So that should probably be included in a new roman numeral before “II. Protasis” thus causing the current II to be moved to III and so on. Something like:

I. Introduction (vv. 8-9)
II. General Warning (v. 10)
     A. Protasis (v. 10a)
     B. Apodosis (v. 10b)
III. Specific Example – Protasis (vv. 11-14)
IV. Specific Example – Apodosis (vv. 15-19)
     A. Apodosis proper (v. 15)
          1. Motivation Clause One (v. 16)
          2. Motivation Clause Two (vv. 17-19)