Old Testament Wisdom Literature

NOTES TO OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM LITERATURE

By Prof. Dr. Fr. Anthony R. Ceresko, OSFS, SSD
DIVINE WORD SEMINARY, Tagaytay City

Compiled by ARNOLD C. BIAGO, SVD

I. General Instruction to OT Wisdom

1. Search for Wisdom

1. The Wisdom writers of the OT were engaged in a search for wisdom, even though they realized that the fullness of wisdom is beyond the group of human beings.
2. The “fullness of wisdom”: the skill and knowledge necessary to control our world and thus masters of our own fate and future.
3. The “fullness of knowledge” belongs to God alone.
4. Human pride often presumes to be able to attain this “fullness of wisdom”. Such presumption is the ultimate sin, as the story of the Fall in Gen 2-3 (“the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and bad” Gen 2, 9.17; 3, 3-6)
5. Characteristics of wisdom:
1. Wisdom is beyond value. Nothing can compare with her Prov. 2, 1-5 & Mt. 13, 44-46
2. Wisdom eludes those who search for her Job 28, 12-18
3. But wisdom is given freely to those who love her. Wis 6, 12-16
6. In searching for Wisdom, the ultimate goal for the Wisdom writers was “life”; see Prov 8, 32-36; Prov 10, 17; Amos 5, 14; Deut 30, 15-20; John 10, 10; 11, 25-26
7. The “search” for wisdom in each of the wisdom books:
1. Proverbs – search for knowledge
2. Job – a search for God’s presence in the midst of suffering and God’s apparent absence and silence
3. Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) – a search for meaning in a confusing and disorienting world.
4. Sirach – a search for continuity with past tradition and changing present circumstances.
5. Book of Wisdom – the search for immortality in the face of persecution and the danger of death.

2. The Meaning of Wisdom in the OT

1. Wisdom in the Old Testament
1. The Hebrew word HAKAM “to be wise”

HAKAM “sage, wise men/women

HOKMAH “wisdom”

2. General meaning: “superior mental ability or special skill”

(See 1 Kings 2, 1-2. 5-6; 3, 9.12; 4, 29-34; Exod 35, 31-33)

2. Only in the wisdom books as such (Prov, Job, Qoh, Sir, Wis) does hokmah take on a fundamentally religious (theological) and ethical meaning: “The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord” (Prov 1, 7; Job 28, 28; Qoh 3, 14) – awe; wonder
3. The “Wisdom Books” of the OT are five: Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ben Sira, Wisdom of Solomon. Older tradition included the Song of Songs and the Book of Psalms to make up “The Seven Books of Wisdom”

3. The Sources of Biblical Wisdom:

1. The Family and Clan served as a “source”. Wisdom was generated in the process of “socializing” the younger generation, handing on to them the Weltanschauung (“world view”) of the community and culture and teaching them how to cope with, survive, and live a happy and successful life. Sir 3, 10-16; 1 Sam 24, 12-16;

Amos 3, 3; Ez 16, 44.

2. The royal court also served as a “source”
1. The scribal school served the king and his court and teachers and writers who acted as secretaries and advisors. They wrote, taught, and composed reports and documents for the king and his cabinet (see Prov 25, 1)
2. Wise men and women acted as advisors to the king, for example “David’s royal officials” (2 Sam 8, 15-18), and the wise men “Hushai & Ahitophel” in 2 Sam 16, 15-17.
3. Scribes who served the temple to keep the Financial records, compose and copy ritual texts, and music and songs for public worship services and to accompany sacrifices. See the “Wisdom Psalms” such as Pss 1, 34, 49, 119. See Ps 49, 1-5.

4. The Proverb: The most common literary form used by the Wisdom writers.

1. The popular definition of a proverb: “a short, clever statement in common use, often using rhyme and word play.
1. Examples (English)

- a new broom sweep clean

- a stitch in time, saves nine

- red sky at night, sailor’s delight; red sky at morn, sailor take warn.

2. Examples (Hebrew)

- Ez 16, 44: ke’immah sha’ag mî lô’ yira’ (the lion roars who is not afraid?

2. “school proverb” or “literary proverb”
1. in the OT wisdom books, the “proverbs” are more formal, studied compositions that follow the rules of classical Hebrew poetry.
2. These “Literary Proverbs” of the Book of Proverbs and Sirach are composed of one verse divided into two parallel parts
3. These Literary Proverbs mostly come from the scribal school of the royal court (Prov 10, 1; 25, 1)
4. The Proverbs of Solomon are literary proverbs written by the scribes of the Scribal School in the Royal Court. They were not written by Solomon himself. They follow the proverb-style of the scribal school founded by David and Solomon in the Royal Court: a single verse divided into two parallel parts. Ugaritic Literature, Ugarit

3. Kinds of Parallelism in Hebrew (see Ceresko, Intro to OT Wisdom p.31-32)
1. Synonymous parallelism – the second part of the verse enhances or repeats the thought of the first part, but often using different words.
2. Antithetic parallelism – the second part of the verse echoes or repeats the thought of the first part, but in a negative or contrasting way.
3. Synthetic parallelism – the second part of the verse continues or complete the first part.

Merismus – two extreme or two important in a sense stands the whole.

Ex. Heavens – netherworld; top of his head to the soles of his feet; A – Z

Chiamus (Greek “cross) – repetition of two or more items, but in reverse order. Ex. Ps 117: Praise the Lord all you nations, extol him all you peoples! For great is his steadfast love for us and faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. (RSV) (NIV) LORD:him::his:LORD

Literal Direct Equivalence à Dynamic Equilance

Inclosure – repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and end of a poem or section of a poem Ps 8, 2.10 Qoh 1, 2; 12, 8 Prov 1, 7; 9, 10

4. The reasons for the two-part verse form:
1. Easier memorization
2. Antiphonal recital in the classroom for group learning (by note)

5. The “Literary” or “School” Proverb: A powerful intellectual tool for learning and analyzing

1. The Greeks had not yet developed the tools of formal logic and abstraction for analyzing and learning (for example, the syllogism: “If A=B and B=C then A=C”)
2. But the sages of Israel had their own intellectual tool – the literary or school proverb – for engaging in the search for knowledge and wisdom, by conveying two things that at first sight do not seem to be similar, but on further reflection, similarities begin to become clear.
3. The noun mashal (proverb) means “likeness or compare”
4. The verb mashal means “to rule”, that is, to provide a rule or model or paradigm for understanding or measuring (points out toward a hidden truth)
5. The purpose of a mashal was not to indoctrinate but to “illuminate”, to educate in the true sense of education; it attempted to awaken the mind, to kindle the imagination and to train the judgment to bring some order to one’s experience
6. The parables of Jesus was expanded or extended “proverbs” or “comparisons” (The kingdom of God is like…)
7. The proverb or parable (mashal) is like a riddle; it teases the mind; it lends us towards the truth or insight without making it explicit; it is open to a number of interpretations or explanations.
8. Through a process of defamiliarization, by means of paradox, exaggeration or surprise, proverbs force us to look at and evaluate the ordinary, or the familiar in a new and unfamiliar ways. (to defamiliarize)
9. This kind of wisdom instruction:
1. It is based on experience – the experience of previous generations that must be tested and accepted or modified by the experience of the student.
2. Its purpose is pragmatic or practical – to learn how to survive and succeed and achieve satisfaction, well-being (shalom) and happiness.

6. The Liberating Spirituality of Proverbs and Parables

1. Proverbs and parables, by making a surprising comparison or telling a shocking story provoke and tease the listeners into a radical new insight into their own situation.
2. For example, in 2 Sam 12, 1-9, the prophet Nathan tells David the parable about the rich man who owned many flocks and herds, yet still stole “the one little ewe lamb” that his poor neighbor possessed, in order to feed an unexpected guest.
3. David is provoked to violent anger by the story: “As by the Lord lives, cries David, “That man deserves to die.”
4. Nathan’s answer shatter David, “You are the man” (‘attah ha’ish)
5. David is stunned. He realizes now the full impact of his double sin of adultery and murder of which he is guilty. David has passed the death sentence on himself in his reaction to the parable.
6. Nathan’s parable makes David aware of his sin personally and not just theoretically, at the gut level and not just at the head.
7. We see a similar process of “consciousness raising” or arrival at a new awareness in the way that Jesus teaches. For example, in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
8. We become involved in the story ourselves. We have only to imagine ourselves as the victim on the roadside to know what the situation demands.
9. This pedagogy or method of instruction of the wisdom writes in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament tries to bring us to a new awareness.
10. This method of teaching is like that of the liberation theologians, Paolo Freire, for example, a Brazilian educator, calls it “conscientisizing” or consciousness raising (awareness-raising).
11. Proverbs and parables (likeness or comparisons) provoke the listeners to a critical awareness by turning their expectations upside-down and upsetting their accepted attitudes and values.
12. First they train the mind to be critical of unjust economic and social arrangements (the propaganda and false picture of life and values of the advertising and communications media):

- a king whose pride and selfishness destroy a family and a human life.

- The hypocrisy of the priest and levite dedicated to God yet cruelly ignoring the wounded man by the roadside.

13. Second, they subvert or overturn these unjust arrangements by offering an alternative a more just vision of what human life can and should be like:
1. A world in which a loving God is present and active: Prov 5, 21; 15, 3.11; 16, 1-4.9.33 and so forth.
2. Good life-giving relationships among human beings – within family and among friends (friends: Sir 6, 14-17; parent and children: Prov 3, 1-4)
3. The right use of wealth: Prov 10, 2; 11, 4.18.24-25
14. In short, the parables and proverbs of both Old Testament and New Testament subvert our world because they point (by figure or metaphor) to an alternative world (the Kingdom of God; the “new society” implicit in Jesus’ preaching), where relationships are structures not by ambition, greed and selfishness, but by love. George M. Soares-Prabu, SJ “The Liberative Pedagogy of Jesus” pp. 100-115, in leaven the temple ed. Felix Wilfred, Orbis Books 1992

7. Old Wisdom and the Wisdom of the Ancient World

1. The ancient Egyptians wisdom work “The Instruction of Amen-em-ope” discovered and published in 1923
2. This wisdom work has close connections with a section of Proverbs called “The Sayings of the Wise” (Prov 22, 17-24, 22)
3. This discovery opened the eyes of scholars to the wider background of Israel’s wisdom writers began their work.
4. Wisdom writing and thought took two directions in Mesopotamia and Egypt (and in the Old Testament)
1. Optimistic, pragmatic, success oriented wisdom (for example in Egypt) “The Instruction of the Vizier, Ptah Hotep” 2450 BCE; the Book of Proverbs)
2. The sceptical, questioning, sceptical wisdom (Mesopotamia: Epic of Gilgamesh; the Books of Job & Qoheleth

8. Jesus as a Wisdom Teacher

1. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as a sage, a wisdom teacher.
2. Jesus makes use of sayings (proverbs) and parables (proverbs or comparisons expanded into stories) that tease the mind and invite the hearers to new levels of insight.
3. Jesus did not claim any special “revelation” from God. Rather, he appealed to common human experience.