Chapter 12: Wisdom: Then and Now

The Limits of Wisdom

*Not all wisdom in the ancient world was godly or orthodox. *Much of this wisdom resembles the Old Testament wisdom writings, though it lacks the firm emphasis on the Lord as the origin of wisdom (Prov 2:5-6) and the purpose of wisdom as to please him (Prov 3:7). *Wisdom does not cover all of life, but is intensely practical.

Nature of Wisdom

*The Hebrew word for wisdom is translated "skill for living," because the Jews regarded wisdom in very practical terms. *This literature provided guidance for moral behavior and everyday living. *Hebrew wisdom literature, as distinguished from the wisdom writings of other cultures, was centered on God. *"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Prov. 1:7) Wisdom is the ability to make godly choices in life. *This is achieved by applying God's truth to your life, so that your choices will be godly.

Wisdom in Proverbs

*The book of Proverbs is the primary locus of "prudential wisdom"—that is, memorable aphorisms (maxims) people can use to help themselves make responsible choices in life. *In contrast to Ecclesiastes and Job, which use speculative wisdom as a way of wrestling with the great issues of life, proverbial wisdom concentrates mostly on practical attitudes and behavior in everyday life. *Presents a distinct contrast between choosing a life of wisdom and a life of folly. *Contains very little specifically religious language. *Not everything in life has to be religious to be godly. *Indeed, Proverbs can help serve as a corrective to the extremist tendency to spiritualize everything, as though there were something wrong with the basic material, physical world, as though God had said, "It is bad" rather than "It is good" when he first looked on what he had made.

Abuse of Wisdom Literature

*The tendency to miss the overall message leads to misapplication. *Misunderstanding the terms and categories of Hebrew wisdom, as well as styles and literary modes, leads to misuse. *Failure to follow the line of argument so that the meaning is missed.

Who is wise?

*Wisdom is not something theoretical and abstract—it is something that exists only when a person thinks and acts according to truth when making the many choices that life demands. *The wise person is highly practical, not merely theoretical. *Able to formulate choices that would help produce God's desired results in life. Other ancient cultures had similar wisdom literature, but biblical wisdom revolves around making godly choices—the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. *It has nothing to do with IQ, cleverness, skill, or even age. *Responsible, successful living was the goal. *Wisdom literature, then, tends to focus on people and their behavior—how successful they are at making godly choices and whether or not they are learning how to apply God's truth to the experiences they have. *It is not so much the case that people seek to learn how to be wise but rather that they seek to get wise.

Uses and Abuses of Proverbs

-A proverb is a brief expression of a truth. *The briefer a statement is, the less likely it is to be totally precise and universally applicable. *A brief statement is, however, memorable. *A proverb does not state everything about a truth, but rather points toward it. *Proverbs tend to use figurative language and express things suggestively rather than in detail. *A successful life is according to God's definition—not ours.

Some Proverbs Need to be "Translated" to Be Appreciated

-Whoever loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend. (Proverbs 22:11) *Translation: "make a positive impression on people in leadership positions." -Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

Some Hermeneutical Guidelines

1. Proverbs Are Not Legal Guarantees from God. *Proverbs state a wise way to approach certain selected practical goals but do so in terms that cannot be treated like a divine warranty of success. *The particular blessings, rewards, and opportunities mentioned in Proverbs are likely to follow if one will choose the wise courses of action outlined in the poetic, figurative language of the book. *But nowhere does Proverbs teach automatic success. 2. Proverbs Must Be Read as a Collection. *Each inspired proverb must be balanced with others and understood in comparison with the rest of Scripture. *An individual proverb, if misunderstood, may lead you to attitudes or behavior far more inappropriate than would be the case if you read Proverbs as a whole. 3. Proverbs Are Worded to Be Memorable, Not to Be Theoretically Accurate. *No proverb is a complete statement of truth. *No proverb is so perfectly worded that it can stand up to the unreasonable demand that it apply in every situation at every time. *The more briefly and parabolically a principle is stated, the more common sense and good judgment are needed to interpret it properly—but the more effective and memorable it is (cf. the example, "Look before you leap" ). *Proverbs try to impart knowledge that can be retained rather than philosophy that can impress a critic. *Thus the proverbs are designed either to stimulate an image in your mind (the mind remembers images better than it remembers abstract data) or to include sounds pleasing to the ear (i.e., repetitions, assonance, acrostics, et al.). 4. Some Proverbs Need to Be "Translated" to Be Appreciated. *A good many proverbs express their truths according to practices and institutions that no longer exist, although they were common to the Old Testament Israelites. *Unless you think of these proverbs in terms of their true modern equivalents (i.e., carefully "translate" them into practices and institutions that exist today), their meaning may seem irrelevant or be lost to you altogether.

Proverbs: A Summary

1. Proverbs are often parabolic (i.e., figurative, pointing beyond themselves). 2. Proverbs are intensely practical, not theoretically theological. 3. Proverbs are worded to be memorable, not technically precise. 4. Proverbs are not designed to support selfish behavior—just the opposite! 5. Proverbs strongly reflecting ancient culture may need sensible "translation" so as not to lose their meaning. 6. Proverbs are not guarantees from God but poetic guidelines for good behavior. 7. Proverbs may use highly specific language, exaggeration, or any of a variety of literary techniques to make their point. 8. Proverbs give good advice for wise approaches to certain aspects of life but are not exhaustive in their coverage. 9. Wrongly used, proverbs may justify a crass, materialistic lifestyle. Rightly used, proverbs will provide practical advice for daily living

Wisdom in Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes is difficult particularly because we assume that everything in the Bible was written from God's perspective. *It can be interpreted as cynical wisdom in which the speaker most often represents the point of view to be avoided. *It could also be interpreted as an expression of how one should enjoy life in a world in which we all die. The term hebel (vanity, futility) is the key to understanding the book. *The Teacher seems to think that one should live life, hebel as it is, as a gift from God. Four realities dominate his thinking: 1. God is the single, indisputable reality, the Creator of all and the One from whom all of life comes as a gift, including its—for Qohelet—burdensome nature; 2. God's ways are not always, if ever, understandable; 3.On the human side, "what is done under the sun" doesn't add up at all, in that the way things should be are not always—if ever—the way things actually are; 4. The great equalizer is death, which happens to all people alike. At the heart of all this is Qohelet's lack of hope in a resurrection of the dead. Once dead, that's it; and this is what makes life itself seem so hebel (at least "fleeting" and perhaps also "in vain"). The book does not deal with matters of theology or God's faithfulness. Rather, as speculative wisdom, it is not so much trying to provide answers as to remind the reader of the hard questions.

Wisdom in Job

Job comes to us as a carefully structured dialogue between Job and his desperately wrong, well-meaning friends. *This dialogue seeks to establish convincingly in the mind of the reader that what happens in life does not always happen either because God desires it or because it is fair. *Job prevails in his argument with his friends. *God prevails in reference to Job's question of "why?" Just because suffering exists in our lives does not mean that he doesn't know what he is doing or that his rights should be questioned. *Through Job we learn about God's gracious sovereignty over suffering and the way innocent suffering can glorify God.

Wisdom Expressed through Poetry

Poetry was an especially popular technique to aid the student of wisdom in remembering what they were taught. *Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job, and Song of Songs, as well as the wisdom psalms and other bits of wisdom in the Old Testament, are composed, therefore, mostly in poetry. *Formal parables, allegories, riddles, and other poetic techniques are also found in wisdom material.

Wisdom in Song of Songs

This is an example of lyric wisdom. *It deals with the "wise choice" of marital and sexual fidelity. -Monogamous, heterosexual marriage is the proper context for sexual relations. - As ancient love poetry, its proper context was marriage. - The book suggests godly choices in poetry rather than describing them in a mundane way. - The book is not about how we can satisfy ourselves, but how one can respond faithfully to the attractiveness of another and fulfill their needs.

Wisdom among Colleagues

Wisdom is found in proverbial, lyrical, and speculative forms. *The kind of wisdom that predominates in the book of Proverbs is called proverbial wisdom, whereas the kind found in Ecclesiastes and Job is usually called speculative wisdom. Speculative wisdom is highly practical and empirical rather than merely theoretical (Job and Ecclesiastes).

Wisdom in the Home

Wisdom was taught in the home more than any other setting. *The advice may be strongly practical and concerned with secular issues, but it should never fail to acknowledge that the highest good a person can achieve is to do God's will. *Subordinates all wisdom to God's wisdom.

Teachers of Wisdom

Wise men and women who instructed others in wisdom arose as early as the beginning of the kings of Israel. *Served as a sort of substitute parent to the person seeking wisdom.