Capítulo I De los Fines
REGLAS DE OPERACIÓN DEL SISTEMA INAP
In the book of Proverbs, the concept of Sheol is first found in Proverbs 1:12 and is usually used to characterise dangers related to an adulterous woman. In Proverbs 5:5, the loose woman is depicted as going herself down to Sheol, whereas 9:18 adds that those who enter her house will be brought to Sheol, a place of no-return.289 Here, as in Proverbs 7:26-27, the sage does not condemn the woman but the foolish young man falling into her trap because the ‘depths of Sheol/death’ (9:18) await him.
The word לוֹאׇ שׇיׇ קׇ מִׇע (depths of Sheol) is the equivalent of the depths of abyss since in Isaiah 51:10 the substantive
yQem;[]m;(
refers to the lowest part of the life-threatening waters of the sea (ם י) and many waters (הָּׁב רׇ םוֹה ת),290 bringing death to the created order (Johnston 1994:416). It is thus not an accident that the word םיִׇקׇ מֲׇע is related to water’s depths in Proverbs 18:4 and 20:5. LXX’s addition of foreign waters as explanation to Proverbs 9:18 is thus significant. In verse 18b, LXX reads: for thus willyou go through foreign water and pass through a foreign river. It seems that LXX
draws on Greek myth assuming that one has to cross the life-threatening river Styx on the way to Hades (Cook 1994:474). This assumption links up with the Canaanite myth believing that the cosmic waters were located at the entrance of the watery abode of Mot (Sheol) (McCarter 1973:405).
This would imply that ancient Israelites believed that Sheol was located near the deep (Rudman 2001a:244). In this sense, death and watery chaos were often paralleled to the point that the expression ‘many waters’ could simply mean Sheol/death.291
In Ancient Near East, it was believed that on death, people live in an infernal ocean, or
288 See also Psalm 30:2; 88:11f; 115:17; Isaiah 38:18.
289 See Job 28:1; 55:15; 88:5; 143:7; Numbers 16:30; Is 5:14; 38:18. 290
In other texts, the Bible uses the word ‘depths’ or its related concepts in relation to water of death, especially in those texts which are contemporary with the book of Proverbs or later. These are Sirach 24:5; 3 Maccabees 2:7; 3 Esdras 2:7; 4 Esdras 3:18; 5:25; 8:23; 13:52; 16:12; Micah 7:19; Zechariah 10:11; Psalm 68:22; 7:20; Proverbs 8:24; etc. (NRSV)
291 Texts such as Psalm 69:15-16; 124:3-5; 144:7; Isaiah 43:2 are examples of threatening waters that are
symbols of the disasters from which rescue is hoped. For further observations, see May, H G 1955. Some Cosmic Connotations of Mayim Rabbîm, "Many Waters". JBL 74/1, 9-21 (see page 17).
should cross the infernal waters before reaching their final dwelling (Reymond 1958:212).
Probably, Proverbs 9:18 echoes this conception in mentioning the depths of Sheol as the destiny of those who follow the way of Folly.292 The strange woman is here linked or associated with the watery chaos that laps at the threshold of the self, threatening to submerge her victims (Brown 1999:291). In this sense, Proverbs 9:18 implies that:
The chaos waters by their very nature are symbolic of the absence of order [life] and creation … For the writers of the OT [Proverbs 9:18], who saw the formation of the individual as part of God’s ongoing creative activity (Jer 1:5; 49:5; Zach 12:1), and who likewise saw death [Sheol] as a reversal of creation (Gen 2:7; 3:19; Qoh 12:7), the deep would be an appropriate image to denote the cessation of life (Rudman 2001a:244).
Water is presented here with a life-threatening potential. The thieves of water or bread are destined not only to Sheol, but also have to cross life-threatening waters at the gates of Sheol (see Pr 18:18 in LXX). In this sense, Haupt (1917:258) thought that the word Sheol should be written לוֹא ש (with Çerê, not Šewa, in the first syllable) from the root Šûḥ (Šaḥṯ) denoting the idea of sinking into an ‘uncomfortable’ damp and wet pit.293 It was thus believed that being in Sheol is like being in a real cistern of water. Johnson (1950:88) clearly states that Sheol was considered as a great hole located not only under earth, but also under water in the cosmic sea so that Israelites believed that the dead went in a real cistern.
Aware of this potential threat, Proverbs 5:15 commands to drink water from his own container (his wife), since the path of public294 pots (harlots) leads to depths of Sheol. LXX reads then in Proverbs 9:18d that avoiding the way of the whore will let the young man live for a long time and years of life may be added to him. Water is thus seen here with life-threatening potential associated with death. Just as YHWH
292 As in Proverbs 2:18; 5:5-6 and 7:24-27 and in the extra-biblical texts related to a goddess inviting heroes in
epics of Gilgamesh, Aquat and the Odyssey, the woman’s guests are invited to erotic encounters, but they end up in the underworld (Clifford 1999: 107).
293 Exodus 15:5 uses the word תלוֹצׇ מ (depths) as synonym of םיִׇקֲׇעׇ מ (depths) when he states: The floods covered
them; they went down into the depths like a stone (NRSV).
294 Unlike Woman Wisdom (Pr 9:1-6), Woman Folly (Pr 9:13-18) does not build a house or send out maids;
rather, she calls to passers-by from her chair. She offers food and drink too – stolen water and bread. She stands at the boundaries of society, representing the chaos of folly (Domeris 1995:99).
contained the watery chaos by Wisdom (Pr 8:22-31), young men will avoid the depths of Sheol through obedience to the decrees of wisdom from the father. The depths of Sheol are life-threatening water-related phenomena designed as destiny for those who follow the way of Woman Folly.
4.2.3 Water and water-related phenomena in Proverbs 25:23-26