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2. introduction to wisdom literature

2.1 Introduction. 2.1.1

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2. introduction to wisdom literature

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    1. 2. Introduction to Wisdom Literature

    3. 2.1 Introduction 2.1.2 “In the place of such emphases one finds ideas and literary forms that are closer to certain Egyptian and Mesopotamian works. That literary corpus contains a rational principle of the cosmic order that is worthy of study (hmkx in ancient Israel, ma(at in Egypt, me in Mesopotamia) and expresses a belief that conduct in accord with this principle brings well-being. Or the literature gives voice to various levels of doubt about the validity of this understanding of reality, a skepticism spawned life’s inequities. Since study of the underlying principle of the universe rather than proclamation of the divine word comes to prominence here, modern scholars designate these texts as wisdom literature.” [James L. Crenshaw, “Wisdom Literature: Biblical Books,” Urgent Advice and Probing Questions: Collected Writings on Old Testament Wisdom, (Macon, Georgia: Mercer, 1995), 1 ]

    4. 2.2 Definition & Terminology 2.2.1 “. . . formally, wisdom consists of proverbial sentence or instruction, debate, intellectual reflection; thematically, wisdom comprises self-evident intuitions about mastering life for human betterment, gropings after life’s secrets with regard to innocent suffering, grappling with finitude, and quest for truth concealed in the created order and manifested in Dame Wisdom. When a marriage between form and content exists, there is wisdom literature. Lacking such oneness, a given text participates in biblical wisdom to a greater or lesser extent.” [James L. Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom: An Introduction, (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1981), 16-19]

    5. 2.3 Wisdom Genres 2.3.1 “The basic wisdom saying is usually composed of two lines in parallelism, a common feature of Proverbs 10–31. Very often there is simply a juxtaposition, without a verb, as the following illustrates: “A gatherer in summer—a wise son; a sleeper during harvest—a disgraceful son” (Prov 10:5). The juxtapositional style, which is not evident in the usual translations, enables the author to put things together (synonymous parallelism), and also to contrast them (antithetic parallelism).” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    6. 2.3 Wisdom Genres 2.3.2 “The obvious contrast between the disparate sayings in Proverbs 10ff., and the consecutive poetry in Proverbs 1–9 and in Job and in many parts of Sirach suggests that one may speak of “wisdom poems.” These may be structured along alphabetic lines, such as the 22 lines in Proverbs 2, with its alep and lamed stanzas (Murphy 1981b: 52), or as the deliberate acrostic in Psalm 34 (Ceresko 1985), or the acrostic poem on the valorous woman in Prov 31:10–31. P. Skehan detected several alphabetic factors entering into the speeches of Job (1971: 96–123). Although the speeches in Job have been called “disputation speech” (Crenshaw 1974: 253–255), it must be admitted that they have also incorporated other genres from law and wisdom.” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    7. 2.3 Wisdom Genres 2.3.3“As the structure of Ecclesiastes is highly disputed (Wright 1968; 1980), so also the literary forms are difficult to capture. The several sayings in the book (e.g., chaps. 7, 10) are obvious. For the rest, the author seems to utilize reflections on various turns in life (Ellermeier 1967: 66–79; Braun 1973: 155–158). ” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    8. 2.4 Thought World of Wisdom 2.4.1“The most striking characteristic is the absence of elements generally considered to be typically Israelite: the promises to the patriarchs, the Exodus experience, the Sinai covenant, etc. . . the rule: salvation history is absent from the realm of wisdom. Another way of putting this is to say that wisdom is an international heritage in which Israel had a share.” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    9. 2.4 Thought World of Wisdom 2.4.2“One can indeed distinguish between saving history (Exodus, covenant, etc.) and an experiential attitude toward life’s daily events. But this distinction existed in the one Israelite individual who worshipped yhwh and denominated yhwh as God. Those same Israelites ultimately canonized the Wisdom Literature as a genuine expression of their traditions. . . . The fact of the matter is that there is no incompatibility between the saving God of history and the God of human experience.” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    10. 2.4 Thought World of Wisdom 2.4.3“Biblical wisdom is basically religious, not secular. The fateful distinction between religious and secular, sacred and profane, so widely accepted in modern culture, has been applied in much too wholesale a fashion to the Bible.” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    11. 2.4 Thought World of Wisdom 2.4.4 “There seems to be a general consensus that biblical wisdom connotes a search for “order”. That is to say, the sages held that there was a fundamental order in the world, discernible by experience, and the teachings were designed to bring about conformity with this order that had been determined by God.” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    12. 2.4 Thought World of Wisdom 2.4.5 “. . . the famous study of Koch (1955) is to be noted. On the basis of several biblical passages (Prov 26:27–28 can provide an example) he reconstructed a specific mentality behind biblical reward/punishment. For him there is no retribution or intervention by God; rather, deed and result are mechanically related. An evil deed produces an evil result; a good deed produces a good result. Hence Koch speaks of a “destiny-producing” deed; the Lord does not intervene. In Koch’s metaphor, God is a kind of “midwife” watching over events and their results, good and bad. This is the nature of the “retribution” that God has

    13. 2.4 Thought World of Wisdom established. Again, we are faced with an inherent “order” of things. In fact, some scholars have argued that the books of Job and Qohelet demonstrate that the influence of Yahwism broke through this ANE idea of the fate-producing action. That seems to be too easy a victory for Yahwism. Instead, one should recognize that the OT sources present retribution from two points of view: both divine intervention and destiny-producing action. There is no evidence that one view is earlier than the other or, for that matter, more religious than the other. Certainly a cardinal affirmation in the Bible is the primary activity of the Lord in all that happens.” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    14. 2.4 Thought World of Wisdom 2.4.6 “The doctrine of the sages, especially as expressed in Proverbs and in the speeches of Job’s three friends, easily give the impression of a rigid dogmatism. This is misleading. The sages believed in their teachings, and like all teachers expressed themselves in such ways as to gain adherents. Exaggeration is one mode of convincing students. When one turns to the books of Job and Ecclesiastes, there is no escape from the hard questions that are put to the reigning wisdom orthodoxy. But even here one has to acknowledge that these hard questions arise from within the wisdom movement. If it is undergoing a crisis, at the same time it remains true to its aims. A fair understanding of the traditional doctrines of the sages has to be achieved for a correct assessment of the development that takes place.” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    15. 2.5 Wisdom’s Contribution to OT Theology 2.5.1 Wisdom & Creation 2.5.2 Wisdom & Experience 2.5.3 Wisdom & Moral Action 2.5.4 Wisdom & Skepticism 2.5.5 The Personification of Wisdom – Lady Wisdom / Dame Wisdom 2.5.6 Wisdom & Immortality

    16. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.0 Extra-Biblical Wisdom: 2.6.0.1 “Israel’s ceaseless search for knowledge, divine presence, meaning, and survival was part of a larger quest in the ancient Near East. Scattered allusions within the Hebrew Bible to the wisdom of the Easterners and the Egyptians (Genesis 41:8; Exodus 7:11; 2 Kings 4:30 [Heb. 5:9-10]; Isaiah 19:11-15) have assumed greater force again and again as literature form Egypt and Mesopotamia has come to light. Similarities between the Israelite wisdom and that of her powerful neighbors to the south and east abound, but decisive differences also exist.” [Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom: An Introduction, 212]

    17. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.1 Wisdom in Egypt: 2.6.1.1 “Egyptian wisdom functioned almost exclusively at the royal court. Its aim was to provide proper education for future bureaucrats in the pharaoh’s court. Accordingly, this literature largely assumed the form of instruction (e.g., the Instruction of Ptahhotep, the Instruction of King Amenemhet to His Son Sesostris, and the Instruction for Merikare) and its setting was usually the scribal school (praise of which occurs in Papyrus Sallier, Papyrus Anastasi, and the Instruction of a Man for His Son).” [James L. Crenshaw, “Wisdom Literature: Biblical Books,” Urgent Advice and Probing Questions: Collected Writings on Old Testament Wisdom, (Macon, Georgia: Mercer, 1995), 1]

    18. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.1 Wisdom in Egypt: 2.6.1.2 Extends from 2800 to 100 BCE – From the Fifth Dynasty (Prince Hardjedef) to the Ptolemaic Period. 2.6.1.3 “For convenience, Egyptian sapiential literature may be divided into text which consciously endeavor to inculcate traditional morals and practical lessons from experience, and those which challenge society’s givens because of adverse social changes that have rendered life hazardous at best.” [Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom: An Introduction, 212]

    19. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.1 Wisdom in Egypt: 2.6.1.4 “The fundamental concept which underlies these Instruction is ma’at, which may be translated as justice, order, truth.” [Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom: An Introduction, 214]

    20. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.1 Wisdom in Egypt: 2.6.1.5 “It is the divine order in the world into which a human being is to be integrated by his conduct. Success in this process of integration means prosperity; failure means chaos. This harmonious integration into ma’at underlies the teachings.” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    21. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.2 Wisdom in Mesopotamia: 2.6.2.1 “In Mesopotamia the study of school texts also played an important role, but the fundamental feature of wisdom was cultic, indeed, magical, and the goal of wisdom was to manipulate the paraphernalia of the cult in order to ensure one’s existence.” [Crenshaw, “Wisdom Literature: Biblical Books,” 1] 2.6.2.2 “Here, as in Egypt, writing and schools flourished already in the 3d millennium b.c. In the Sumerian e-dubba (“house of tablets”) or school, the scribes copied out in cuneiform signs many types of literature, some of which may be compared with Hebrew wisdom. Several collections of proverbs (many bilingual, in both Sumerian and Akkadian) have been published

    22. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.2 Wisdom in Mesopotamia: (Gordon 1959; BWL, 222–275), along with various literary types such as fables (Lambert BWL, 150–212). Comparable to the Egyptian instructions are the Instructions of Šuruppak (Alster 1974), which contain the advice of a king to his son Ziusudra, the hero of the flood as remembered in the Sumerian tradition. Similar in style is the Akkadian Counsels of Wisdom which treats of proper speech, avoidance of bad companions, etc. (BWL, 97–107).” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    23. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.2 Wisdom in Mesopotamia: 2.6.2.3 “As was the case with Egypt, there is a reflective literature in ancient Mesopotamia that has suggested comparison with Job and Ecclesiastes. Discussed in this literature, the issue is a perennial one, namely that of suffering, and especially the suffering of the righteous. . . .” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    24. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.3 Hellenistic Literature : 2.6.3.1 “Sophia, or wisdom, is of course a well-known concept in Greek philosophy and literature. Alexander’s conquest of the Fertile Crescent in the 4th century b.c. ensured the flourishing of Hellenistic culture which had already begun in the area (Hengel 1974). . . .” [Roland E. Murphy, “Wisdom in the OT,” Anchor Bible Dictionary, CD-Rom Edition, (New York: Doubleday, 1992, 1997)]

    25. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.4 Uniqueness of Israelite Wisdom: 2.6.4.1 “Old Testament Wisdom differs from its ancient counterparts in certain key respects. First, Israelite Wisdom in the canonical context unwaveringly integrates faith into life’s daily details. In these books the fear of the Lord is the beginning (Prov 1.7) and sum total (Job 28.28) of wisdom regardless of that wisdom’s particular arena. When trying to separate early from late Wisdom traditions in Israel, some scholars differentiate between secular and sacred material, with the former type considered the older of the two. The belief that secular Wisdom gradually moved toward religious expressions is an unproved developmental view of this literature’s emergence. The canon makes no such distinction. Rather it always makes one’s relationship to God the reason one is able to become wise. Everything one does proves or disproves one’s relationship with or fear of the Lord.”

    26. 2.6 Extra-Biblical Wisdom 2.6.4 Uniqueness of Israelite Wisdom: 2.6.4.2 “Second, Israel confessed that only one God exists. Thus only one God is able to inspire or impart wisdom. God possessed wisdom before the foundation of the world, which his status as Creator demonstrates (cf. Job 28; Prov 8). The Old Testament’s insistence that the one God is the Creator undergirds all Wisdom’s theological formulations. As Creator and only deity, the Lord is the only source for wisdom that allows human beings the means to let faith permeate life. Thus Israel’s desire for successful living parallels that of other countries, as does its use of particular literary tools for satisfying that desire. But its means of achieving that goal clearly diverges from its neighbors.” [R. House, Old Testament Theology, (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 425]

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