Wisdom Literature Dynamics of Scripture

Jump to Comments

Wisdom literature of Scriptures to the ancient Israelite was a vehicle to take real issues of life and sort them to find meaningful synthesis. This wisdom literature had (has) something for everyone from every walk of life. Bullock describes the practicality of wisdom as it “encompasses the struggle of the righteous man to understand his suffering and the limp efforts of a lazy man to overcome his sloth.” Wisdom reaches into every aspect of an individual’s life. We can find insight regarding family issues: parent-child relationships (Prov. 13:22,24; 22:6; 1:8-9; 15:5), marital issues (Prov. 12:4; 19:14; 31:10-31), and warnings against sexual sins (Prov. 5:1-14). Just as our personal life does not end with the family, the path of wisdom literature extends into other aspect of one’s personal life. These insights move past the family dynamic into social behavior resulting in, as Bullock concludes, “a stable and productive community.” “Moral virtues such as self-discipline (10:17; 13:13), temperate speech (10:19; 11:12), and honesty (15:27; 16:11) and vices such as slander (10:18; 19:5), envy (23:17-18), and gluttony (23:1-3), are subjects of wisdom’s regulatory function.” The personal wisdom extends further into social life by giving direction for social hierarchy, subjects relationship to their king (25:6-7), the king’s relationship to his subjects (14:28; 25:4-5).
While the above describe a horizontal personal relationships, there are many examples of admonitions to the reader regarding their vertical relationship as well. The authors of wisdom literature had a keen awareness of God’s sovereign will and His guidance in the live of those that belonged to Him (16:9; 19:21). Bullock describes the notion of the wisdom-controlled life as “the fear of the Lord.” This “fear of the Lord” could be understood as a personal attitude of disposition toward the Lord as one might fear a king (Prov. 24:21-22). Second, “the fear of the Lord” could be understood as moral virtue or appropriate behavior (Job 1:1; Prov. 8:13). Third, “the fear of the Lord” could be understood as knowledge of human frailty contrasted with the divine strength (Prov. 3:5-7). Bullock concludes that, “it would not be inaccurate to say that comprehensively the fear of the Lord is a world view that attempts to synthesize the elements of human life and work. It is an educational standard that gives balance to the individual as he relates both to his world and God.”
Wisdom as a Universal Dynamic
The author introduces Proverbs 8:22-31 (wisdom) as a personification of a divine attribute. Much like one notes that life emanates from God, so wisdom also. God revealed Himself to Israel through many modes (Law, Prophets…), wisdom literature is another way of revealing His wisdom (attribute) to man. Wisdom as a revelation of God gave rational to the world, according to Bullock, imparting understanding to mankind.
“While redemptive history is not a conscious rubric of wisdom literature in the Bible, the sovereign control of God in the universe nevertheless lies behind the literature, and this inevitable involves history, for God is the originator of the dynamic force that moves history and nature (Job 9:4; 11:6; 12:13; 32:8)” , states Bullock. The universalness of wisdom literature reveals the wisdom of God and gives us as reader/responders access to it just as other literature of Scripture gives us access to other attributes of God.
Wisdom of a Literary Dynamic
Although there are only three books of the Old Testament considered wisdom (Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes), wisdom genre is found in many other books of the Old Testament. We can find, according to Bullock, six different types of wisdom genre in the Old Testament: proverb, riddle, allegory, dialog, autobiographical narrative, and prophetic address. A proverb is “short pithy, its effectiveness depending in partly upon the concise, witty manner of expressing an idea or truth” (Prov. 22:1). A riddle was a method used to “disguise an idea so that hearers might be confused or challenged to search for its meaning” (such as Samson in Judg. 14:14). An example of an allegory is found in Ecc. 12:1-7, a device using one thing to describe another. The book of Job typifies a dialog, where it is most prominent. The autobiographical narrative technique is used in Ecc. 1:12-2:16 in which the narrator relates his own personal experience. The prophetic address is used twice in Proverbs (1:20-33; 8:1-36), where the Proverb is foretelling an event.
Another dimension on wisdom literature is that it is addressed to individuals not society in general. With this in mind, national concerns are not usually in the front of the writer’s mind. Not that the authors were not concerned with history, but their pursuit for instruction is more philosophical that historical. With individuals in mind, wisdom has specific references to youth and the upper class (Proverbs). While Job crosses “social and cultural boundaries to deal with timeless issues” accord to Bullock. Ecclesiastes notes “social oppression of that age”. Wisdom literature was not limited to any one sect of society, from the practical nature of the Proverbs we can determine that these are timeless truths for all classes and social tiers of people.

Cited Source: Bullock, C. Hassel. An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books

2 Comments

Filed under Hebrew Bible