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.