Wisdom Literature: A Course of Study

The core corpus consists of Proverbs, Job, Qohelet, Ben Sira, and Wisdom.[1] Suppose your goal is to understand this literature, to savor it for its take on the human situation, its theology, and its practical advice. How would that goal best be reached?

The most important thing is to master the literature itself. That’s the only true antidote to the mass of misleading statements one will encounter in the secondary literature. For example, it is often said that wisdom is secular at its core. But that statement, even if carefully qualified, cannot account for proverbs like the following in which YHWH is a protagonist of the first order: Prov 16:1,9; 20:24; 21:30. It is often said that the God of wisdom does not intervene in human affairs, but is a deity after Thomas Jefferson’s heart who politely remains in the background, a postulate of the mind, not much more; instead of an intervening God, on this view, there are intrinsic correlations between particular deeds and particular consequences. These statements do not stand up to critical scrutiny. Divine causation in human affairs is all-pervasive according to the wise of Israel, just as it is according to the prophets. If it wasn’t, verses like Prov 20:22; 22:12 would not exist. The following verse is not, so far as I know, a Calvinist interpolation:

כֹּל פָּעַל יהוה לַמַּעֲנֵהוּ

וְגַם־רָשָׁע לְיוֹם רָעָה

The Lord made everything for a purpose,

even the wicked for an evil day.

Prov 16:4 (NJPSV)

The second most important thing is to read other examples of ancient wisdom literature. There is a common theology and a common set of themes and solutions that unite biblical and other ancient Near Eastern wisdom literatures. There are also aspects and insights unique to each tradition of wisdom literature. A common fallacy is to assume that the unique features of biblical wisdom literature are of the most interest. Why should that be the case? Is a piece of wisdom that is common to more than one tradition of less value for that reason? The key ancient Near Eastern texts are introduced and essential bibliography provided in Kenton L. Sparks, Ancient Texts for the Study of the Hebrew Bible: A Guide to the Background Literature (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2005) 56-83.

The third most important thing is to read the wisdom literature of the Bible in the company of those who have dedicated a lifetime of study to one or more of its components. The best introduction currently available is that of Maurice Gilbert, Les cinq livres des Sages. Les Proverbes de Salomon. Le livre de Job. Qohélet ou l'Ecclésiaste. Le livre de Ben Sira. La Sagesse de Salomon (Lire la Bible 129; Paris: Éd. du Cerf, 2003). See also Maurice Gilbert, “Wisdom Literature,” in Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Qumran Sectarian Writings, Philo, Josephus (ed. Michael E. Stone; CRINT 2/2; Assen: Van Gorcum; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984) 283-324.

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[1] Ben Sira and Wisdom, of course, are not part of the Hebrew Bible. It is, however, extremely helpful to study them carefully even if one’s primary interest is in Proverbs, Job, and Qohelet. It also makes sense to take a close look at other wisdom texts of the Jewish tradition: Dead Sea scroll fragments, Pseudo-Phocylides, and Pirkei Avot.

Comments

[Ros]

Suppose your goal is to pass a comprehensive exam on the biblical wisdom literature (plus Psalms and Song of Songs)... any tips?

[JohnFH]

Studying for the exam you are. I never was any good at that.

[Ros]

Well, not quite yet, but in the next year or so.

[dave b]

Some very good points . . . and things I have been pondering myself lately.
To the first point--amen and amen!

[Jim Getz]

I'm starting to teach the wisdom literature (sans Wisdom of Solomon, I'm afraid).

In a survey setting, I've been struck on how to give the students enough text to read to get a handle on the genre, but not so much that they lose the forest for the trees. It's a hard balance when you only have a week or so to impart (ahem) wisdom.

[JohnFH]

Jim, survey courses are a bear.
Sometimes it makes sense to give students just one brief passage to dig into, even an atypical one like Prov 9:1-6, just to get them interested in the subject matter.

It's also helpful to give examples of choice aphorisms, not only from Proverbs and Qohelet, but from other ANE literature. Sparks cites some real doozies in his manual.