Kavusa, Kivatsi Jonathan2018-07-042018-07-042017Kivatsi Jonathan Kavusa, “An Eco-Theological Interpretation of Proverbs 5:15-20 in the Light of Water Crises Experienced in Present-Day Africa,” OTE 30 no. 3 (2017): 707-724. DOI: https://DOI.org/ 10.17159/2312-3621/2017/v30n3a10.1010-9919 (print)2312-3621 (online)10.17159/2312-3621/2017/v30n3a10http://hdl.handle.net/2263/65296Proverbs 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.enOld Testament Society of South AfricaProverbs 5CisternsWellsWater metaphorsEcological hermeneuticsEco-justiceBiblical interpretationFaithfulness in marriageAfricaEnvironmental metaphorsSustainable developmentTheology articles SDG-06SDG-06: Clean water and sanitationTheology articles SDG-13SDG-13: Climate actionTheology articles SDG-15SDG-15: Life on landArticle