The structuring considerations of a Ricoeurian hermeneutic employed in a reading of Proverbs 14:2

Abstract

A Ricoeurian hermeneutic affords readers of the Old Testament an opportunity to access the biblical text anew as a source and norm for faith. Reese gave a convenient summarising description of Ricoeur’s hermeneutical approach. Ricoeur organised his considerations around four poles, namely distanciation, objectification, projecting of a world, and appropriation. These operate as the structuring considerations of a Ricoeurian hermeneutic and were illustrated with a sample proverb (i.e. Pr 14:2) from the collection Proverbs 10:1–15:33.

Keywords

• Fear of the Lord/Yahweh
• Proverbs
• Old Testament
• Hermeneutics
• Paul Ricoeur
• Symbolic world
• Distanciation
• Objectification
• Projection of a world
• Appropriation
• Contemporary reader
• Reader oriented approach