The Materiality of Speech in Proverbs 10:1-22:16

Through an exploration of the materiality of oral language, this essay argues that the book of Proverbs understands words not simply as ephemeral sounds carried on the breath but rather as physical objects. As tangible matter, speech possesses certain physical characteristics. In Proverbs, words - and metonymically the organs that create words, namely the lips, tongue, and mouth - may be soft, sharp, level, twisted, hot, straight, crooked, or smooth. Ascriptions of such physical properties to speech are not merely metaphorical but rather point to the sages' view that words possess the capacity as things to do things. While an emphasis on the physicality of spoken language permeates all sections of the book, this essay demonstrates that the Solomonic Collection in Proverbs 10:1-22:16 adumbrates the material aspects of words with a particular intensity and a distinctive vocabulary.