
	The Wisdom Literature
	(Copyright (c), 1995,by Wm. G. Most)


	The Hebrew division of the Bible has three parts: the 
Law, the Prophets, the Writings. Within the writings are seven 
books which are commonly called wisdom books: ,Proverbs, Job, 
Psalms, Ecclesiastes (Qoholeth), Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach 
(Ecclesiasticus).

	Actually they are quite varied, but it is convenient to 
consider them together.

	First,the notion of the word wisdom is quite varied. In 
Genesis 41.39 Joseph, because of the knowledge he was given by 
God to interpret the dreams of the Pharao, was considered  as 
among the wisest of all men in Egypt. In Exodus  35.30 -37.29 
we find various kinds of craftsmen called wise: Bezalel had 
divinely given knowledge of every craft in embroidery, in 
making objects of gold, silver or bronze, in cutting precious 
stones, in carving wood. Oholiab had similar abilities, and 
they were also given the ability to teach others. So they made 
the Dwelling with its ten sheets and also a tent to go over 
the Dwelling, and likewise made the veil. Bezalel made the ark 
of the covenant.

	The Greek Socrates in Plato's Apology used the word wise 
in similar senses, of skilled craftsmen. However Aristotle in 
his Metaphysics 1.2  said that wisdom is a special kind of 
knowledge which knows all things by way of the first 
principles that control and underlie all. So wisdom knows 
difficult things, knows them exactly. Wisdom knows the 
universal truths which are difficult and exact. It is the 
highest kind of knowledge.Then he identifies wisdom with 
Metaphysics.

	The OT concept of wisdom as we see can includes a wide 
range. But the chief feature of it is the knowledge that leads 
one to live rightly in relation to God, and in relation to 
neighbor. Moses in Deuteronomy 4.6-8 told the people that 
their divinely given laws were really wisdom,such that other 
nations,on hearing of them,would admire the wisdom of that 
people. For God in giving commandments is not seeking anything 
for himself-- He cannot gain anything.And "glory" is useless 
to Him. Yet He does want us to obey, for two reasons:1)His 
Holiness in loving all that is good in itself wants this 
obedience, since Holiness says creatures should obey their 
Creator. 2)He wants intensely to do good to us.But it is in 
vain for Him to give if we are not open to receive what He 
wants to give. His commandments are simply rules on how to be 
open to His gifts. And at the same time, they steer us away 
from the evils that lurk in the very nature of things. So when 
Vatican I defined (DS 3025) that God created for His glory,it 
meant merely that as a matter of fact, glory does come to Him 
from the fact that He give so generously to Him. But He does 
not seek glory,for it does Him no good. It merely pleases His 
goodness to give (cf.the report of the theological commission 
of Vatican I on this point, cited in Wm.Most, New Answers to 
Old Questions, #27).

     St.Paul in 1 Cor 6.12 pointed out that violations of the 
law of God were not good for us. Much later,St.Augustine wrote 
in his Confessions (1.12): "You [Lord] have ordered it and it 
is so,that every disordered soul is its own punishment." This 
is obvious when a man has a hangover after getting drunk. It 
also often happens that a marriage is loveless after much 
premarital sex - for such sex is not driven by real love,but 
only by a chemistry that mimics love. Similarly, the Book of 
Wisdom 11.16:" By what things a man sins, by those things is 
he punished."  The great Roman historian Tacitus, an astute 
observer of human nature, wrote in Annals 6.6 about 
Tiberius,who indulged his evil whims when holed up in the 
island of Capri: "His crimes and wickedness rebounded to 
torment him. How correctly did the wisest of men say that the 
souls of despots, if we could see them, would show wounds and 
mutulations...like lash-marks on a body." [He was referring to 
the words of Socrates in Gorgias  479-80.Cf.also 
Plato,Theatetus 176-77]. 

     On the opposite side, the early Romans believed in living 
in frugality: it would bring happiness .They lived this ideal 
until about the end of the third century. Then they gradually 
departed from it in practice, though for long after continued 
to recognize it as an ideal.

	Was Moses thinking of the rules that would give them 
eternal life? Not very likely.The oldest promises of God given 
to Abraham, and at Sinai, originally referred to the land,and 
to added favors in this life. Yet around the end of the Old 
Testament period,these things were reinterpreted to stand for 
salvation in the next life, as we see in Galatians 3.15ff. 

	But we will return to the matter of future retribution 
later on to ask how much the Jews knew how early. The picture 
is complex. For now we are to look at the content of those 
books usually called wisdom books.

	At the start it is good to notice a development in the 
Old Testament thought about wisdom.  In  Job 28.12-27 and in 
Baruch 3.9 - 4.4 Wisdom is a divine attribute by which God 
creates and rules all things. Man cannot get it by his own 
efforts, but God gave it to man in giving the law (cf.above on 
Dt. 4.6-8). Another step of the development appears in 
Proverbs 1.20-33; 8.1-21 and 9.1-6 in which Wisdom is 
personified - for the Hebrew word for Wisdom hokmah is 
grammatically feminine ( So is Greek sophia). Hence wisdom is 
often spoken of as a woman, But this is only a 
personification, following on the fact that the noun, as we 
said is grammatically feminine. Grammatical gender has nothing 
 whatsoever to do with real sex. That has not prevented 
utterly foolish people today from saying there is a separately 
divine person, who is female. But as we said,this is a 
personification, and it no more stands for a physical person 
than does Lady Folly, also found in Proverbs 9.13-18, who 
lures men to their death. But Lady Wisdom stands on the 
corners and invites people to listen to her words and follow 
them.

	In Proverbs 8.22-31 Wisdom is spoken of as if separate 
from God - this is just a further development of the 
personification. She came forth from the mouth of the Most 
High (24.1), when God created her in the beginning and before 
all ages (24. She went about heaven and earth and the nether 
world looking for a resting place (24.4-7), but finally took 
up her abode in Jerusalem (24.8-12), where she flourished and 
produced much fruit(14.13-17), which she invites men to 
partake of (24.18-21). Really this divine wisdom seems the 
same as the Mosaic Law,which, as we saw above,is true wisdom.

	Finally the Book of Wisdom (7.22 - 8.1) pictures divine 
wisdom as "an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of 
the glory of the Almighty (7.25), as an intelligent 
spirit(7.22) who advised God at creation (8.4).Wisdom can do 
all things ( 7.27) and knows all things (9.11-- we think of 
Aristotle's ideal of wisdom), penetrates all things (7.24) and 
governs all things (8.1).Wisdom is God's beloved companion 
(8.3) an attendant at His throne (9.4).

	It is interesting to compare the concept of number in 
St.Augustine who says that since wisdom extends from end to 
end (Wisdom 8.1) but yet cannot come to irrational and 
lifeless things, yet even these share in wisdom by way of 
number In this he depends on Wisdom 11.20 which says God has 
"arranged all things in measure and number". He notes that 
God,Infinite Beauty is supremely One. But material creatures 
have parts. However if the parts are arranged harmoniously so 
as to resemble unity, then they are beautiful. This is,of 
course, a sort of participation in number. (Cf.Wm.Most in CBQ, 
July 1951).

	Again, St.Paul in 1 Cor 1.24 speaks of Christ as the 
wisdom of God. He says that the wisdom of God is so lofty--he 
means the doctrine of the incarnation and the cross -- that 
compared to it, earthly wisdom is nothing at all,is folly (1 
Cor 1.18-25).

	Actually the wisdom contained in the wisdom books is a 
blend of human astuteness and divine wisdom. It is likely that 
they got some of the ideas from their stay in Egypt.One of the 
oldest works there is.  The Instructions of Ptahotep,a vizier 
of Egypt c 2400, who gives practical advice to his son on how 
to succeed in the court of the Pharaoh. A major thrust is to  
put human beings in harmonious agreement with ma'at, a cluster 
of virtues (order,truth,justice).  Later but very influential 
are the Instructions of Amenemope, dating probably from around 
1200 B.C.  This latter work has remarkably close similarities 
to some things in Proverbs. Especially we could compare 22.17 
- 24.22 to Amenemope iii.9-12; xi.13f;and xxvii.16f.

	Ptahotep for example gives the good advice that when one 
meets a speaker who is better at argument, one should cut down 
on bad talk by not opposing him. On meeting an equal,one 
should shows his superiority by silence,to impress the 
attending official. An inferior opponent should be treated 
with indulgent disregard, so as to "smite him with the 
punishment of the [really] great." When at table with a 
superior, one should keep a sedate face, take only what is 
offered, laugh only when the host laughs. An official should 
listen patiently to the pleas of clients, since, "a petitioner 
wants attention to what he says even more than obtaining that 
for which he came."

     There are also wisdom writings in Mesopotamia:Very early 
 is The Instructions of Suruppak, dating from around 2500 BC. 
 Suruppak gives instruction to his son, Ziusudra, the hero of 
the Sumerian flood story. The Akkadian poem , I Will Praise 
the Lord of Wisdom  ( Ludlul bel nemeqi) which deals with the 
problem of the righteous sufferer,and in this resembles the 
Book of Job. It  considers the relation of the gods to human 
suffering. - The Dialogue about Human Misery,dating from 
around 1000 BC. is also  in a way is like Job.It is a 
conversation between one who suffers and a friend. There is 
last toe book of  Akiqar, a narrative collection of 
fables,riddles and proverbs. It was translated into about a 
dozen languages.It may be as early as the 7th century BC. It 
tells the story of how Ahiqar,an upright official under 
Sennacherib of Assyria was betrayed by Nadin, a relative, but 
was eventually restored.

	As a result of the fact that this pattern of writing,or 
genre, containing both human astuteness and divine 
requirements, we need to check each saying to see  of which 
kind it is. Failure to do that has led to some unfortunate 
mistakes. For example, Clement of Alexandria in The Divine 
Educator 2.7.58 used Sirach 32.4 without seeing the 
difference. Sirach there says it is good to put a limit on 
speech at a banquet. Young men should answer only when asked 
the second time. Clement thought these were religious rules. 
They are not. We will see this more fully in our treatment of 
Sirach.

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