Living Righteously: A Path for African-Hebraic-Christian Men

Hill and Walton insist that “The practical benefits of the way of wisdom are numerous for those disciplined enough to walk in the path of knowledge and understanding.” They maintain that “the way of wisdom promotes the understanding of righteousness, justice, equity, and every good path” (Prov. 2:9). They argue that “By analogy to the wisdom tradition of the ancient Near Eastern societies, the book of Proverbs was likely a ““school textbook”” and an important part of the curriculum in the education of Hebrew youth.” They conclude that “This practice continued into the early centuries of the Christian church as portions of the biblical Proverbs and the apocryphal book of Sirach (or Ecclesiasticus) were incorporated into the catechism designed to train Christian youth in godliness." If the book of Proverbs was vital to the education of Hebrew youth and early century Christian child, does it seem likely that the wisdom contained in the book of Proverbs would also be beneficial for training African Hebrew youth today?