wisdom

wisdom

1. who?

   • exclusive class of wise men
     • associated with state bureaucracy
     • no technical term of 'wise men' used
     • ascriptions to kings like Solomon (prov 1.1, 10.1)- ROYAL COURT?
       • BUT merely reflects interest that the royal court may have had in wisdom
   • average person
     • not confined to the world of intellectuals
     • parents pass moral instruction on
       • Deut 32.7: ask your father and he will tell you, your elders and they will explain to you
     • used for skilled carpenters and craftsmen- realm of education and statecraft
       • more practical than purely intellectual notion
   • noone
     • beyond human capacity. only god can know

2. what?

   • practical vs theoretical
     • practical makes possible for people to be considered wise vs theoretical which people may seek but only god knows.
     • Job 28- mortals do not know the way to it
       • humans can find hidden treasures in the earth but not wisdom
       • only god can know wisdom
       • wisdom literature- crucial insight to get closer to wisdom
   • wisdom literature
     • genre seen to be made up of diverse elements
     • Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes. plus Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon
       • hkm- wisdom found 183/318 in the ot
     • largely post-exilic even if origins are pre-exilic
       • even if only a few centuries apart, wisdom is NOT STATIC and alters throughout times and society
     • other books mention wisdom
       • but- distinct as maintain a consistent focus on the intellectual reflection about life's problems, the quest for truth and rules for life and nature of reality
       • wisdom psalms
       • Hosea- hold a wisdom theme rather than wisdom lit. proper
       • prominence of wisdom in the thought world
   • Lady Wisdom personification
     • personification is no stranger in the ot
       • but- though justice and peace may kiss, only wisdom is given a voice that resembles the lord
     • wisdom is involved in divine activity
       • Job 28.25: yahweh 'seeing, appraising, establishing and searching her out'
     • in the divine mind, a master plan- HABEL: fundamental principle which governs the design of the world
     • Von Rad: something like the meaning implanted by god in creation
     • of god, born of god and in god
     • divine attribute- means through which god created the world
     • Prov 8.23: created before the beginning of the earth. at the side rather than attibute
       • Lady Wisdom like egyptian ma'at as goddess at the side of god
       • Ecclus 24 which has wisdom established in heaven with god in the assembly of the most high
       • Hadley: 'feminine to be represented in the deity' as eradication of other goddesses
     • just literary device- for universal moral code
   • beyond our knowledge/human capacity
     • Von Rad: whole israelite theory of knowledge orientated towards wisdom via the fear of god
     • Prov 3.5: be not wise in your own eyes, fear the lord and turn away from evil
     • Job 36.22: Elihu- god is great beyond our knowledge
     • make wise choices without being sure of what wisdom is
   • wisdom is righteousness
     • rather than instructions, deals with the grey area of forming character and integrity of action
     • righteous- saddiq with wise- hakam
     • Prov 10: wise child makes a glad father but a foolish child is a mother's grief