Proverbs
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The Power of a Proverb
Proverbs transmit the traditional wisdom, truth, and morals of a culture. They preserve that wisdom in compact, metaphorical, and memorable forms: “Birds of a feather flock together.” “Let sleeping dogs lie.” “When the elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.” Proverbs instruct us and explain the world to us. We would be hard pressed to find a culture without proverbs.
Proverbs are especially important in oral cultures, where people rely on the spoken word rather than written communication. Proverbs are highly accessible, so they are influential in daily life. Proverbs play an important role alongside (and sometimes within) other oral communication forms like stories, songs, and poetry.
Proverbs are a window into a culture’s values. They reflect and reinforce “what everybody knows.” When we want to understand a culture, we give attention to its proverbs and stories and how it uses them. Proverbs, after all, are the distilled essence of many previous stories, the lessons drawn from the experience of generations. Likewise, proverbs look ahead to the many life experiences (stories) yet to take place.
In his 2009 book, African Proverbs Reveal Christianity in Culture, Jay Moon explains how to study proverbs as a means of understanding a culture. He also tells how to use proverbs as a bridge for communication. He has distilled the key material from his book for our readers’ convenience.
In their 2008 article, “A Proverbial Gold Mine,” Scott A. Moreau and Mike O’Rear share several resources
about proverbs. Some examples of resources cited in the
article are listed and attached below:
“Great Overview [of proverbs]”
(article)
The “Sweet Talk in Africa, Using Proverbs in Ministry” article can be found in the April 2004 Evangelical Mission Quarterly at a theological
library or online at www.emqonline.com. Moon, J. (2004) “Sweet Talk in Africa, Using Proverbs in Ministry.”
Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 162-169.
The “Proverbial Gold Mine” article can be found in the July 2008 Evangelical Mission Quarterly at a theological
library or online at www.emqonline.com. Moreau, A. S., and O’Rear, M. (2008) “A Proverbial Gold Mine.”
Evangelical Missions Quarterly, 376-380.
