Wisdom you know it when you see it

Wisdom—you know it when you see it • Tôb šēm miššemen tôb—a good reputation (name) is better than precious ointment Ecc 7: 1 • Do horses run on rocks, or does one plow the sea with oxen? Am 6: 12 • Those who restrain their words have knowledge; those who have a cool spirit have understanding. = A fool who keeps silent is considered wise; a fool with closed lips is considered intelligent.

Wisdom in the OT and the ANE • Egypt: Instructions offered by a father to his son, teacher to pupil. Life in accord with maat (justice, order, truth) brings blessings—and vice versa. Self-control a top virtue. • Instructions of Amen-em-opet are similar to Prov 22: 17 -24: 22. • Tale of the eloquent peasant—a corrupt official robs a peasant; later regrets his actions against such an eloquent person

Wisdom in Mesopotamia • “I will praise the Lord of Wisdom. ” A person loses social status and health; values are reversed where the gods are concerned. But he is visited by deity and recovers • Babylonian theodicy—remoteness of gods and inscrutability of their ways. • Dialogue of pessimism. Master and slave. What is good—to have our necks broken and be thrown into the sea.

More wisdom in Mespotamia • Do not sacrifice—it only makes your god follow you about like a dog. • Do not make love, master. A woman is a pitfall, a ditch, a woman is a sharp dagger that slits a man’s throat. • Ahiqar: three virtues: one who drinks wine and gives it to others; one who guards wisdom; and one who hears a word and does not tell

Wisdom Books in the Bible • • Proverbs Job Ecclesiastes/Qoheleth Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) Wisdom of Solomon Psalms 1, 19, 37, 73, 119 Elements of wisdom in Joseph, Deuteronomy, even prophets

Definition of Wisdom • How to accommodate one’s life to the orderliness of the world, or what to do when that order fails. Being wise meant a search for and a maintenance of “order” • God embedded truth within all of reality. Humans are to seek for that insight and live in harmony with the cosmos. • In “wisdom” there is confidence in the world and in human potential. “In humanity we trust. ” People do not need and cannot expect divine assistance.

More definitions of wisdom • Wisdom based on close observation and careful reflection on the world. There is a wisdom or order built right into the world • Creation more prominent than saving history in wisdom literature—no Exodus, Davidic covenant, Mosaic legislation, divine control of history. God created universe and expected humans to figure it out. Job 38 -41; Proverbs 8 • Experience more important than revelation • Much of early wisdom “secular”; but the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom

More definitions of wisdom • Wisdom is the reasoned search for specific ways to assure well-being and the implementation of those discoveries in daily existence. • Israel did not keep faith and knowledge separate • Is wisdom misogynist or a resource for feminism? Better to live in a desert than with a contentious wife. But experience valued. • The wisdom through which God created the world is personified

Wisdom • Is Practical—know how, judicial activity, composition of proverbs and songs • Has limits—Job refutes his friends but he is refuted by God. • Is a human task and a divine gift. Wisdom is acquired through experience and obedience and given by God. • Is a reflection on wisdom. Wisdom is hidden with God; wisdom is an attractive woman who shares with her friends the life shares with God.

Relationship of Wisdom/Saving History • What is the relationship between nature and grace, creation and saving history? • Sirach 24—wisdom sought for a home everywhere and finally found it in Torah • Sirach 44 -48 “famous men”— from Enoch to Hezekiah and Isaiah

The Doctrine of Retribution: Reward and Punishment • Life in harmony with the principles of the universe leads to health, wealth, fame, honor, longevity, progeny. • Evil deeds produce evil results • Canonical wisdom contains assertion of wisdom theology—and its rebuttal (Job, Ecclesiastes) • Job broke through a simplistic understanding of divine justice, and Ecclesiastes guarded the

Social Setting of Wisdom • Royal court: Solomon (“author” of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Wisdom of Solomon—wealthy and wise), men of Hezekiah (Prov 25: 1), international connections of wisdom. An elite phenomenon? Schools? • Wisdom also among the clans and the elders and among