Hebrew Bible: Deutero-cannonical wisdom literature

Deutero-cannonical Wisdom Literature

Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach (Ben Sira), Baruch

12/07/2011

Authorship

Sirach

   only book written by the name given in the title

Wisdom

   sophisticated Greek and Platonic ideas, so must not have been written by Solomon

Baruch

    "Jeremiah's friend" -- written in Greek, Baruch's living situation not the same as Jeremiah describes

Sirach (or Ben Sira)

• written in Hebrew in 180 BCE
• autobiographical statements and a prologue
• prologue written by son in Alexandria
• translated the text into Greek 
• never cannonized, so Hebrew version was lost
• hope that the original would come to light at some point
• two Scottish sisters 1890 went to Cairo...
• buy a piece of a manuscript 
• they do not recognize the Hebrew text
• Cambridge friend Solomon Sectar (?) realizes this is the Hebrew version of Ben Sira!!!
• at Cairo, Solomon tracks down the manuscript
• a synagogue that is broken down
• found 750,000 leaves of Hebrew and Arabic manuscripts!!
• Cairo Geniza -- the find of the manuscripts, especially the letters
• Then, Dead Sea Scrolls found in 1947

Book Contents

• Textual contents
• from Jerusalem 
• from a priestly family (or closely linked to one)
• an anthology
• not cannonized probably because of how blatantly late 
• Daniel was cannonized though, and it was later!
• yet Daniel was pseudonimous -- said to have been written by a Babylonian prophet
• on the other hand, Ben Sira didn't claim to write the words of any person in antiquity
• Women
• spoken of poorly 
• visionary experiences brought about "flaming eyes" -- flaming vaginae?
• blames Eve for the sin of humanity
• Wisdom = Logos
• wisdom is the pillar of cloud that accompanied the Israelites after the Exodus
• wisdom is the Torah
• Logos -- Gr. "word"
• important in Christianity
• e.g. Gospel of John prologue, saying Jesus = Word
• Logos becomes intermediary between God and humanity
• No belief in life after death
• Life is ultimately just

Wisdom of Solomon

   written around 20 BCE in Greek in Alexandria, Egypt, where a thriving group of Jews lived. 

• Contextual ideas
• The author was a learned, Hellenized scribe
• full of Greek philosophical language
• Jews in Alexandria were very Hellenized 
• written to persuade Hellenized Jews to embrace their Judaism
• biblical-style wisdom and Greek philosophy
• FIRST TIME the idea of an eternal soul is discussed
• God made the soul eternal
• (explicit talk about soul's immortality)
• soul is the vehicle of ultimate justice
• after death, true justice will prevail
• became important for Christian theology
• Three parts
• ch. 1-6 -- Book of Eschatology -- study of the End Times
• ch. 7-10 -- Book of Wisdom
• ch. 11-19 -- Book of History -- specifically, the Exodus

Baruch

   written ~ 200 BCE.  Written in Hebrew first? (now oldest in Greek)

• poem to wisdom
• wisdom will come live with among humanity
• fits with Logos
• Christians attribute this idea to Jesus

Hebrew Bible: Daniel and Maccabees

Daniel and 1-4 Maccabees

12/05/2011

Final Papers:  DUE MONDAY 12/12 BY 11:59PM

   Absolutely no papers will be accepted late.  If all else fails, submit a paper with simply "land and children" and receive a D. :)

   Remember to check Blackboard, and write out 8 pages (and no more).

Final Exam:  THURSDAY 12/15 FROM 3-5, SAME ROOM

   On Wednesday, all the questions for the final will be posted on Blackboard.

Daniel and Maccabees -- same time period; same social and religious issues

Post-Persian History

•  Alexander the Great
• conquered the ancient world ~ 330 BCE
• died in 323 BCE
• split kingdom between two generals
• Ptolemies, ruling from Egypt, had control over Palestine (Jewish land) from 323-198 BCE
• Seleucids, ruling from Syria, had control over Palestine starting in 198 BCE
• Antiochus IV Epiphanes
• son of the Seleucid king who overtook Palestine
• ruled from 174-164 BCE
• the name Epiphanes was self-given name glorifying his "incarnation of wisdom and piety"
• in actuality, Antiochus was like an Ancient Hitler
• he sold the position of high priesthood to the highest bidder
• Jason paid to be the high priest; he urged Hellenization (Greek culture)
• opened a gymnasium in Jerusalem
• for exercise
• men exercised nude --> circumcision deemed abbrasive to the "perfect body" ideal of the Greeks
• Jews stop circumcising
• others have reversals....
• opened a school of thought in Jerusalem
• encouraged worship of Greek god Dionysus in Israelite temple
• hoped that Jerusalem would become like the shining Greek example of Polis
• Internal priestly skirmish seen as a revolt against Grecian rule
• Antiochus reacted by desecrating the Israelite temple
• took sacred dishes and tools (?)
• supposedly sacrified a pig to his god there
• he outlawed Judaism and ordered everyone to worship Zeus
• his actions paved the way for the Maccabean revolt
• Mattathias violently attempted to stop Hellenization
• Judah, his son, effectively led a revolt agains Antiochus' rule
• Israelite local rule lasted from 167-63 BCE
• Maccabee family ruled until Pompeii (Rome) conqured in 63 BCE

Daniel

   Chapters 1-6 -- court tales (like short stories)

   Chapters 7-12 -- Apocalypses (Gr. "Revelation").  Two types:

         -- revelation of the heavens

         -- often symbolic revelation of end times, either historical events or "The End" (like Daniel)

   Chapters 2-7 Aramaic; the rest in Hebrew.  One Theory as to why:

      -- ch. 1 composed later

      -- 2-6 independent tales (circulating in Persia, Aramaic being the local language)

      -- 7 written in Aramaic to tie in the later apocalypses

      -- 11-12 are appended apocalypses (in Hebrew)

Dating:  ch. 2-6 -- 5th century BCE (that is, after the Persians but before the Greeks)

              ch. 7-12 -- much later

Daniel's apocalypses

• statue of metals describe political history
• gold = Babylon;
• other metals are Media, Persia, Greece, and Ptolemies/Seleucids
• little horn = Antiochus
• prediction that he will die in Israel
• yet he dies in Persia
• **evidence of ch. 7-12 composition date in 2nd century BCE
• Nebuchadnezzar goes crazy and eats grass
• actually, the final Babylonian king, Nabonidus goes crazy
• but he is cured by conversion to YHWH by a Jewish man
• **first direct reference to resurrection in Hebrew Bible**
• **apocalypses advocate political quietism
• the Jewish practice of NOT revolting
• the idea was that God would intervene, and even if not, resurrection was promised in the end

1 Maccabees

• first written in Hebrew, but since it was lost, the oldest manuscript is in Greek
• covers 185-135 BCE (before Antiochus)
• **gives details of the revolt
• heroes are the Maccabees
• not in cannon -- probably because of the advocation of rebellion  (maybe that's why Daniel is in the cannon instead)

2 Maccabees

• covers same events as 1 Mac, but narrower time frame -- 175-161 BCE
• written in Greek by a man named Jason
• like a summary of the events
• anti-Greek tones

3 Maccabees

• not in the Protestant or even Catholic cannons
• nothing to do with Maccabees!
• **discribes the life of the Diaspora in Egypt

4 Maccabees

• Greek wisdom literature
• discusses the revolt

Daniel additions

• in the furnace -- a pslam/prayer added
• Bel and the Dragon (NRSV pg 1552)
• Bel = Babylonian Marduk
• a detective story
• Daniel outwits Bel (?)
• Susana
• saved by Daniel's wisdom

 

 

 

 

Hebrew Bible: Short Stories

Hebrew Short Stories

Ruth, Jonah, Esther, Judith, and Tobit

12/02/2011

In the Hebrew Bible -- Ruth, Jonah, and Esther

Omitted -- Tobit and Judith

   regardless of the cannonization of the books, they were all most likely written in Hebrew originally.

Novellas

   fictional short stories that are often entertaining and edifying

• although the short stories are located in different locations, the share in common their novella structure
• especially in the Christian Bible, the novellas are located in totally different places

Apocrypha

   see NRSV Bible page 1362 for cannonization chart

• The Jews still read the apocryphal (or deuterocannonical) works, even if they are not considered Scriptural
• e.g. the event from which Hanukkah is derived is located only in the Apocrypha (1 and 2 Maccabees)
•  the oil of Hanukkah is a later rabbinic tradition
• The Chart -- 
• **How did all these books end up in the Christian Apocrypha but not the Jewish cannon?
• the cannon represents a certain timeline (no later)
• the Jews considered the Apocrypha to be written too late to be cannonical
• the issue of revolts developed after the Second Temple period
• 70 CE -- Romans torch the Temple in Jerusalem
• 139 CE -- Bar Kokhbah's revolt
• **Jewish leaders decide that revolts are bad, so writings that favor revolts are not considered Scriptural

Ruth

    Plot:  Ruth, the main character is a Moabite, a race that is often looked down upon in the Hebrew Cannon.  Naomi is an Israelite, and Ruth marries into an Israelite family, yet Naomi's sons die.  Ruth does not return to her home but stays with Naomi.  Naomi has Ruth "lie at Boaz's feet" to get him to marry her -- this is a euphemism:  "feet" = "genitals".  Genealogy is given from Ruth to King David.

    Lessons:  the importance of the kinsman-redeemer (Boaz) in society and religious integrity; the use of a Moabite as the main character opposed strict ethnic purity Ezra-Nehemiah supported.

    Composition:  either just before or during the Hellenistic period

Jonah

    although Jonah is considered a prophet in the Christian Bible, the lack of prophecies and the prose content makes it more like a short story. 

    Plot:  Jonah flees from God's command to prophesy to Nineveh in order that they repent.  On a boat, Jonah is thrown overboard;  he lives inside a giant fish (like Pinocchio) and eventually goes to Nineveh.  His teaching gets them to repent/convert, so God's wrath upon them is subsided.  Then Jonah gets mad at God's grace. 

    Fiction:  records from Nineveh show no evidence of a Jonah-like prophet or mass conversion.

    Lessons:  bell of a fish represents turmoil and distress "in the waters," but for Christians, this has been interpreted as a sign of Christ's burial and resurrection.  The Jews understood this story as fictional but with moral/spiritual significance (whereas Christians often understand the story to be literally true).

    Why included in the Cannon?

• message:  don't take prophets too seriously!
• not written in first-person like most prophets
• not consisting of prophecies
• God's ways are above people's
• for Christians, "the sign of Jonah" represents Jesus' resurrection
• God's grace/mercy can rest on Israel's enemies
• in contrast to Harem -- "total destruction," most notably ordered when Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land
• a whole nation can be converted
• mercy specifically to Assyrians

Esther

    Plot:  Israelite woman lives in Persia as the king's wife; a court tale -- popular motif in Hebrew literature; Mordechai verses Haman (Ha-MAHN); Esther saves the people by her bravery; the king orders Haman's death and the Jews are allowed to kill their enemies.

    Purim:  a celebration of victory over enemies -- deliverance of Jews in Persia; today, Purim is celebrated by drunkenness, costumes, and noisemakers, and the point is to party so hard that you don't know who's your friend and who's your enemy.

    Critiques of the story:  

• "God" is never mentioned in the cannonized text 
• the Diaspora (Israel) doesn't want to leave Persia 
• Diaspora -- "displaced" Israelites living outside their homeland
• e.g. the diaspora in Deerborn, Michigan
• Esther lives in the Persian king's harem....

For the first time, the concept of killing of all the Jews arises.

The Greek versions of Esther are longer, containing prayers, dream, and "God"

Tobit

    Plot:  Tobit lives in Nineveh; he buries the dead (illegal but moral); a bird poops in his eyes, blinding him; son Tobias is instructed to marry someone from the family, and he goes to Medes for money; Raguel, an angel in disguise, and a dog accompany Tobias; Sarah's 7 husbands all died by a demon before their marriage was consummated; demon is warded off when Tobias and Sarah marry; Tobit is cured.  :)

    Not cannonical:  too late a date of composition; concerns Northern Jews; **yet the book gives us insight onto the culture of 2nd Temple Judaism; historical inaccuracies; the text appreciates but doesn't know the Law

Judith

    Plot:  Judith in Judah during military conflict; she goes into the Assyrian (?) camp, into the general's tent; general:  "a woman this beautiful would be offended if I don't seduce her"; Judith cuts off his head

Big historical errors, such as Nebuchadrezzar living in Nineveh. 

Hebrew Bible: Job

The Writings

The Book of Job

11/30/2011

Religion and Its Monsters, Timothy K. Beal

God:  a Biography; "Confrontation and Fiend", Jack Miles

FINAL:  DECEMBER 15TH AT 3PM, SAME ROOM

Paper due:  December 12th by  11:59pm

Job

    a response to Wisdom literature:  do good and blessings will follow

(Qoheleth is another response)

• Job is from Uz, in the East -- NOT an Israelite
• very wealthy and big family, great reputation
• God brags about Job's devotion to the Adversary
• "He's only great because nothing bad has ever happened to him" -- hasatan
• the wager:  hasatan thinks he can break Job's devotion so that he curses God
• hasatan's infliction
• loses possessions and family -- Job does not curse God
• boils and extremely poor health
• friends come to "comfort" Job
• Job must have done something sinful
• because God is ultimately just
• friends speak and Job responds
• Job stands beside his innocence
• Job 21:1-7, 17 -- friends "mock;" Job's impatience; good things happen to the wicked
• Where is God's justice?
• God comes in a whirlwind
• God's answer:  "I am all-powerful"
• justice not addressed
• Job's response
• Job 42:1-6 -- "I cannot speak"
• God asserts that Job is right and his friends are wrong
• why?
• Job is restored to his wealth and new family

Religion and Monsters -- Beal

• Job wants to conjure up chaos 
• undoing what God has done, e.g. creating him
• suffering = undoing
• Job SUFFERS
• true suffering cannot be escaped -- Beal
• Job wants to die
• God watches Job from the panopticon -- 
• derived from the idea of a whole prison which can be seen from one point all the time\
• likewise, Job cannot escape God's gaze
• conjure
• Yam
• Leviathan
• chaos, in general
• an opposition to Genesis
• "let there be darkness"
• **chaos is the only answer to Job's intense suffering
• God's response
• He "out-monsters" Job -- Beal
• God controls the chaos monsters
• Leviathan
• a huge sea dragon
• in some cases in Scripture, God creates it
• other cases, God conquers it
• 41:9-11 -- use of pronouns
• talk of self and talk of self
• "who can take a stand before me"
• **God can out-chaos Job (or anyone else) -- Beal  
• has harpoons and fishing spears
• has animal parts, fish and human parts
• very strong
• "classificatory obfuscation" -- descriptions don't fit together!!
• cannot be understood
• "a linguistic smokescreen"
• supporting God's sovereignty and power
• according to rabbinic Judaism, when the Messiah returns, God will hold a feast of Leviathan

God:  A Biography, Miles

• focuses on Job's responses to God's speech from the whirlwind
• pg 317 -- in first response Job just gives up (Jerusalem Translation)
• Mile's translation
• "you haven't answered my question!"
• in essence, Job rests his case
• if asking why is God unjust, then God "royally changes the subject"
• no direct answer to the question of justice
• rather, God asks his own questions and asserts his power
• Job's second response
• what does it mean to repent?
• "to turn around" -- in Hebrew
• ketiv and qere
• "write" and "read"
• the Masoretes distinguish the differences between the actual text and how it ought to be read
• a more literal answer:
• "now that i see you, I shudder for mortal clay"
• no repentance
• Job terrified for humanity because he is greatly disappointed with the God he sees  -- Miles
• basically, Job is sarcastic:  so what if You're powerful?

also see A Serious Man, the movie

Hebrew Bible: Proverbs, Job, and Qoheleth

Wisdom Literature

Proverbs, Job, and Qoheleth

11/28/2011

Genre of Wisdom Literature

• can take poetic form 
• originated from the royal court, where the scribes were responsible for recording the literature; scribes learned and memorized and copied wisdom literature
• "words to live by!  gems of wisdom!"
• some origins from folklore
• the most common form of wisdom literature:  Proverb -- a little lesson of instruction

Proverbs

   "anthology of anthologies" -- a big collection of smaller collection of proverbs

   late 6th or early 5th century BCE

• different authors and collections compiled together into one book
• Solomon did NOT write the majority of the proverbs, because the language is of post-exilic Hebrew
• yet no evidence of Greek thought -- NOT Hellenistic 
• editors allowed duplicates 
• Prov. 21:9 -- "better to live on roof than in house with pretentious wife"
• Prov. 25:24 -- same proverb! 
• one lesson: Prov. 22:4 -- "the reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life"
• NOT (D), or else "land and children" would be rewards
• "to what you're supposed to for rewards" -- e.g. doing what YHWH says
• a worldly view of life 
• other wisdom
• simple propositions about life
• lists 
• e.g. "what walks elegantly"
• cause and effect
• Prov. 23:29-35 -- alcohol and dangers of drinking
• ethics/proper behavior in social settings
• Prov. 23:1-3 -- setting:  king's court; in struction for lower nobility/scribes; "don't gorge yourself"
• Prov. 8 -- Wisdom is personified as a desirable woman
• wisdom speaks and encourages men to chase after her
• v. 22 -- "the Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago"
• Wisdom comes from God before the creation of the world
• in Christianity, the "Word" is Wisdom, and the Word is Christ (see John 1).

Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 

   "the assembler" -- from Hebrew word "congregation"

    an ambiguous name! 

• attributed to Solomon -- tradition:
• Song of Solomon written when a teenager
• Proverbs written when an adult
• Ecclesiastes written when an old man
• later post-exilic ~ 3rd or 4th century BCE
• probably written AFTER Proverbs because it subverts some of what Proverbs says
• also, many Persian and Aramaic words
• Ecc. 3:21 -- is there an afterlife? -- a late development of thoughtH
• Themes
• Hebel -- vapor, vanity
• "everything is a vapor"
• transitory and fleeting
• everything is unjust
• e.g. death comes to all, no matter the toil or struggle
• **highlights the failure of wisdom literature to describe how life really works**
• Qoh. 8:10-11 -- the wicked are praised and not punished speedily; justice is not quick!
• v. 12-13 -- but yes!  there is a punishment for the wicked
• seems to contradict its message of justice is not given in this life
• did he quote a well-known proverb in order to repudiate it???
• v. 14-15 -- so enjoy life
• first-person; more like Descarte
• Epilogue, Qoh. 12
• v. 12 -- don't study too hard and wear yourself out trying to figure everything out
• v. 14 -- God will judge everyone!
• much debate arose over this book and its authenticity of its canonical status in Christianity and Judaism

Job (more on Friday)

   also critiques traditional wisdom literature

• structure
• prologue of character introduction
• dialogue between friends, Job, and God
• epilogue 
• epilogue and prologue most likely post-exilic
• confusing and missing parts of dialogue cycle
• very old dialogue, the corpus of the text
• the character Job
• a fictional, famous biblical character
• even Ezekiel mentions him by name
• not an Israelite
• plot
• Satan  -- prosecuter of the heavenly court
• God allows Satan to do what he wants to Job so that He can prove Job's faithfulness
• torture for sport?
• or testing!
• or sets an example of how to life through persecutions 
• Job is understood as patient in James (Christianity)
• but he isn't patient!  
• God speaks from a whirlwind and humbles Job
• theodicy -- why do bad things happen to good people?
• wisdom literature -- righteous have rewards

For Wednesday, read the Collins about the short stories and the intros to those stories.

   

Rural Sociology: Franklin County 2

Franklin County, MO

11/18/2011

• The Situation
• shift in 1990s from "super labs" in West Coast cities to makeshift, small-scale operation in rural areas 
• law enforcement efforts have decreased production of meth in small-scale labs
• re-emergence of "super labs" in CA and Mexico
• increase of very small production and distribution in rural areas
• rates of use among youth in rural areas rival or surpass urban rates
• meth is the most frequently used illicit hard drug in rural areas
• Franklin County Video Notes
• Brandon
• kept awake while driving
• used many other drugs, but meth was the hardest
• became diabetic with IV
• BUSTED
• grandparents stayed with kids
• chemical cloud (children inside)
• used again after being in jail
• almost died
• busted again
• now spoils kids and has job
• God saved him! :)
• children
• severe problems with children born to meth-abusing moms
• neglect is a huge problem
• some foster homes
• work on answering questions
• 
  

Rural Sociology: Franklin County

11/16/2011

Methamphetamine Epidemic

Franklin County, Missouri

TOD:

• "America's Crystal Meth Epidemic"
• Case Study of Meth in Franklin County, Missouri
• percent of population involved in small
• What are the characteristics of meth production?
• What are the consequences for individuals, law enforcement, and communities?

Case Study:  Franklin County, Missouri

1. What happened to Mike Murphy?
1. explosion
2. would have died except that he was evac'ed to hospital
3. blind and partly deaf
4. effect on family
5. not charged with the crime (because of injury)
2. How did people report they got started making and/or using meth?
1. peer pressure
2. family influences
3. employers suggest meth to employees
3. What are the dangers of making meth?
1. ingredients are easy to obtain
2. google gives many recipes!
3. burning during cooking process
4. breathing in the fumes is dangerous
4. What are the dangers of using meth?
1. paranoia and hallucinations
2. family members are hurt/negatively affected
3. physically--teeth
5. Why do people get involved in making and/or using meth?
6. Educational and economic levels

Tennessee:  The police seized nearly 2100 meth labs last year -- a 45 % increase over the 2009 levels and more than any other state (2011).

Case Study Movie notes -- Franklin County

• just under 100,000 people
• meth reaches all people of a community
• uses ammonia and over-the-counter pills
• Mike Murphy
• started meth after 8th grade
• marijuana before that
• older man showed introduced him to meth
• pot of meth catches on fire and tank exploded on him -- severe injury
• blind in both eyes
• deaf in one ear
• scars for life
• Why here?
• agricultural communities and available chemicals
• can be made in home
• much crime follows meth
• paranoia common
• kids born with meth in their system :(
• "cooking" process
• 10lbs of waste for 1lb of meth
• toxic fumes to breathe in
• make-shift bombs to protect the lab 
• "a cancer growing from within"
• whole community is affected
• feelings of euphoria keeps people making/using drugs
• intensive drug court
• write papers
• community service
• Cody--meth from ex-girlfriend
• jail time or drug court
• Eric
• physical toll
• "meth mouth"
• tooth decay
• dentists highly needed
• first hit at 16
• dentures made him feel much more confident about his teeh
• Mark Hyndrich
• first hit at 15 (?)
•