One of the most striking parts about our discussion in class today was the universality of proverbs. Since my English teachers always taught me to avoid cliches and overused language (since that’s what they can easily become), I haven’t really thought about them much. Proverbs are meant to be universal, and that thought had never crossed my mind before. So many cultures have variations of other short sayings, and I vaguely remember that from Spanish class also. It makes sense that proverbs would be shared between different cultures around Israel. It’s amazing how distinct cultures can have shared values that can be communicated through similar epithets.
I also thought a lot about how wisdom writings often contain at least part of stories like Job’s. In order to have wisdom to pass on, authors need the experience to make it more than just knowledge. This has a poetic meaning to me, and lots of people find encouragement from Job’s story and the tales of hardship and advice in Proverbs.