Old Testament Essays (Dec 2017)

An eco-theological interpretation of Proverbs 5:15-20 in the light of water crises experienced in present-day Africa

  • Kivatsi Jonathan Kavusa

DOI
https://doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2017/v30n3a10
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 30, no. 3
pp. 707 – 724

Abstract

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Proverbs 5:15-20 is not about ecological issues such as water management. However, the biblical author employed water-related metaphors as a way of speaking about faithfulness in marriage. The young man is instructed to drink water from his own cistern/well and to restrain himself from wasting this precious resource on the public areas (vv. 15-16). This article explores attitudes or assumptions towards water that might have informed the author’s use of water-related metaphors in an attempt to promote fidelity in marriage. The water management metaphors in Prov 5:15-20 are relevant in contemporary Africa, where water crises have developed not necessarily because of a lack of resources, but often because of issues related to poor water management. The investigation is facilitated by a hermeneutics of suspicion and retrieval or trust. Two of the six eco-justice principles associated with the Earth Bible Project are applied, namely the principles of intrinsic worth and interconnectedness.

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