Abstract
All people seek wisdom to explain and cope with life. Many of them preserve their ‘wisdom’ in maxims which they use extensively in their formal and informal speech. They are very important teaching tools which cannot be ignored by those who are seeking to teach them the message of God. But simply memorizing them and using them here and there is not enough. In fact, it could be detrimental. Therefore, careful study of the maxims and the context in which they are used is necessary. And if they are mastered, they are very effective for teaching. Translating the Wisdom Literature of the Bible or composing new maxims to teach biblical truths presents further problems. This paper addresses the problems of translating, composing, and using maxims cross-culturally.
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