The Oxford Handbook of Wisdom and the Bible

Description

This collection of leading scholars presents reflections on both wisdom as a general concept throughout history and cultures, as well as the contested nature of the category of Wisdom Literature. The first half of the collection explores wisdom more generally with essays on its relationship to skill, epistemology, virtue, theology, and order. Wisdom is examined in a number of different contexts, such as historically in the Hebrew Bible and its related cultures, in Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as in Patristic and Rabbinic interpretation. Additionally, wisdom is examined in its continuing relevance in Islamic, Jewish, and Christian thought, as well as from feminist, environmental, and other contextual perspectives. The second half of the volume considers "Wisdom Literature" as a category. Scholars address its relation to the Solomonic Collection, its social setting, literary genres, chronological development, and theology. Wisdom Literature's relation to other biblical literature (law, history, prophecy, apocalyptic, and the broad question of "Wisdom influence") is then discussed before separate chapters on the texts commonly associated with the category. Contributors take a variety of approaches to the current debates surrounding the viability and value of Wisdom Literature as a category and its proper relationship to the concept of wisdom in the Hebrew Bible. Though the organization of the volume highlights the independence of wisdom as concept from "Wisdom Literature" as a category, seeking to counter the lack of attention given to this question in the traditional approach, the inclusion of both topics together in the same volume reflects their continued interconnection. As such, this handbook both represents the current state of Wisdom scholarship and sets the stage for future developments. Cover Wisdom and The Bible Copyright Dedication Contents List of Abbreviations List of Contributors Chapter 1: Wisdom and Wisdom Literature: Past, Present, and Future 1.1 Wisdom as Concept and Category 1.2 Past 1.3 Present 1.3.1 The Traditional View 1.3.2 Pan-Sapientialism 1.3.3 Sapiential Minimalism 1.4 Future 1.5 Conclusion Works Cited Part I: The Concept Of Wisdom In The Hebrew Bible Chapter 2: Advice: Wisdom, Skill, and Success 2.1 Wisdom and Canon 2.2 Vocabulary 2.3 Case Study: Vocabulary of Proverbs 1:2–7 2.4 Literary Form 2.5 Advice 2.6 Transmission through Instruction Works Cited Chapter 3: Epistemology: Wisdom, Knowledge, and Revelation 3.1 Experience and Reasoning 3.2 Tradition 3.3 Skepticism 3.4 Revelation 3.5 Conclusions Works Cited Chapter 4: Virtue and its Limits in the Wisdom Corpus: Character Formation, Disruption, and Transformation 4.1 Wisdom and Virtue 4.2 Proverbs: Ethics of Formation 4.2.1 Efficacy of Virtue 4.2.2 “Happiness” in Proverbs 4.2.3 Narrativity of the Self 4.3 Job: Ethics of Encounter 4.3.1 Virtue’s Efficacy? 4.3.2 Eulogy over Eudaimonia 4.3.3 Ethics of Encounter 4.3.4 Narrativity of the Self: Job’s Integrity 4.3.5 Eudaimonia Regained? 4.4 Ecclesiastes: “Ethics” of Enjoyment 4.4.1 Moral Lack 4.4.2 “Ethics” of Enjoyment 4.5 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 5: Theology: Creation, Wisdom, and Covenant 5.1 Creation: Cosmos and History 5.2 Wisdom as a Concept 5.3 Presuppositions and Conditions for Wisdom 5.3.1 Fear of the Lord 5.3.2 Knowledge and Praxis According to the General Patterns of Reality 5.3.3 Knowledge and Right Action in Relation to Individual Realities 5.3.4 Tradition 5.3.5 Excellence 5.4 What Does Wisdom Do? 5.4.1 Wisdom Solves Problems 5.4.2 Wisdom Negotiates the Spectrum of Relative Goods 5.4.3 Wisdom Acts Fittingly in Characteristic Ways 5.5 Covenant 5.6 The Intersection of Wisdom and Covenant Works Cited Chapter 6: Order: Wisdom, Retribution, and Skepticism 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Proverbs 6.2.1 The Correspondence of Human Conduct and Its Results: Connective Justice 6.2.2 Theology of Creation 6.2.3 The Ethics of Love towards God and the Neighbor 6.2.4 Universalism and Faith in YHWH 6.3 Job 6.3.1 Introduction 6.3.2 Job, the Long-Suffering Man 6.3.3 Job, the Rebel 6.3.4 The Poem on Wisdom (Job 28) 6.3.5 The Speeches of Elihu: From Experiential Wisdom to Revelational Wisdom 6.3.6 The Speeches of God 6.3.7 Job’s Answers 6.4 Ecclesiastes 6.4.1 Introduction 6.4.2 Limitations of Human Knowledge and Actions 6.4.3 Qoheleth as Deconstructionist 6.4.4 The Ordering of Space and Time 6.4.5 Via Media as an Answer to the Crisis of the Correspondence of Conduct and Result 6.4.6 Criticism of a Naïve Conception of the Divine Order of Creation 6.7 Conclusion Works Cited Part II: The Concept Of Wisdom In Related Cultures Chapter 7: Wisdom In Egypt 7.1 The Problem of the Genre 7.2 Other Sorts of “Knowledge” Texts 7.3 Teaching Wisdom 7.4 Relations to Funerary Texts 7.5 Historical Development 7.6 Textual Transmission 7.7 Compositional Form 7.8 Social Setting(s) 7.9 Basic Contents 7.10 Relations to Other Cultures 7.11 Perspectives for Further Research Works Cited Chapter 8: Mesopotamian Wisdom Literature 8.1 Origins and Distribution 8.2 Approaching Mesopotamian Wisdom Literature: Genre, Role, and Key Themes 8.3 Proverbs and Instructions 8.4 Vanity Theme Works 8.5 Existential Works 8.6 Disputation Poems 8.7 Satire and Parody 8.8 Conclusion: Assessment and Aftermath Works Cited Chapter 9: Wisdom in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Jewish Interpretation 9.1 Questions of Classification 9.2 Reinterpreting Wisdom 9.3 Wisdom and Prayer beyond the Hebrew-Greek Divide 9.4 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 10: Wisdom in Dialogue with Greek Civilization 10.1 Athens and Jerusalem 10.2 Hebrew and Greek Thought 10.3 Ecclesiastes 10.4 Proverbs 10.5 Job 10.6 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 11: Wisdom in the New Testament 11.1 Synoptic Gospels 11.2 John 11.3 Paul 11.4 The Rest of the New Testament 11.5 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 12: Wisdom in Patristic Interpretation: Scriptural and Cosmic Unity in Athanasius’s Exegesis of Proverbs 8:22 12.1 Proverbs 8:22 and Scriptural Intertextuality 12.2 Skopos 12.3 Cosmic Unity in Christ 12.4 Speaking as Scripture Speaks 12.5 Revisiting Christological Unity 12.6 Revisiting Skopos 12.7 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 13: Wisdom in Rabbinic Interpretation 13.1 Avot As Mishnah, Hebrew Wisdom, and a Greco-Roman Succession 13.2 Avot and Ben Sira 13.3 Avot as Wisdom Works Cited Part III: The Concept Of Wisdom In The Modern World Chapter 14: Wisdom in the Qur’an and the Is lamicTradition 14.1 Background and Assumptions 14.2 Wisdom in Arabic and Qur’anic Usage 14.3 Part 1: Wisdom as a Unique Bestowal 14.4 Part 2: Wisdom Reveals Precious Treasure 14.4.1 Wisdom and the “Treasures” of the Beautiful Names of God 14.4.2 God’s Wisdom in Nature 14.4.3 God’s Wisdom in Destiny 14.4.4 Divine Wisdom and Life after Death 14.4.5 Competing Claims for Wisdom 14.4.6 Islamic Jurisprudence and Wisdom 14.4.7 Theological Debates on God’s Wisdom 14.4.8 God’s Wisdom and Power 14.5 Part 3: Wisdom as Relational 14.6 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 15: Wisdom in Jewish Theology 15.1 Wisdom as a Virtue in Medieval Philosophy: Maimonides’s The Guide of the Perplexed 15.2 Wisdom as a Sefirah in Medieval Mysticism: The Zohar 15.3 Human Reception of Wisdom in Medieval Mysticism: The Zohar 15.4 Wisdom in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Hasidism 15.5 Wisdom in Twentieth-Century Jewish Philosophy: Martin Buber 15.6 Wisdom in Twentienth-Century Jewish Philosophy: Emmanuel Levinas 15.7 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 16: Wisdom in Christian Theology 16.1 Two Dimensions of Wisdom 16.2 Wisdom and Contemporary Culture 16.3 Wisdom and a Creation Theology 16.4 Wisdom and the Doctrine of a Triune God 16.5 A Wisdom Christology Works Cited Chapter 17: Personified Wisdom and Feminist Theologies 17.1 Sources for the Personification of Wisdom in Proverbs 17.2 Personified Wisdom’s Preeminent Relationship to God and Role in the Creation of the World 17.3 Wisdom’s Relationships to Humanity and the Natural World 17.4 Wisdom and Knowing Works Cited Chapter 18: Wisdom in Nature 18.1 Innate Wisdom Terminology 18.1.1 “Observeראה—” 18.1.2 “Discern”— 18.1.3 “Acquire”— 18.1.4 “Place”— מ 18.1.5 “Way”— ד 18.1.6 “Law”— 18.2 Locating Innate Wisdom 18.3 Innate Wisdom in Living Creatures 18.4 Innate Wisdom in the Cosmos 18.5 Wisdom the Primal Blueprint 18.6 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 19: The Pervasiveness of Wisdom in (Con)texts 19.1 Opening 19.2 A Brief History on Wisdom Scholarship in Context 19.3 Problems 19.4 Proverbs 19.5 Job 19.6 Ecclesiastes 19.7 Sociological Summary of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes 19.8 Ancient Far Eastern Contexts That Influenced Ancient Near Eastern Contexts 19.9 Proverbs and Chinese Philosophy 19.10 Job and Buddhism 19.11 Ecclesiastes and Chinese Philosophy 19.12 Open-Ended Closing Works Cited Part IV: The Category Of Wisdom Literature Chapter 20: Solomon and the Solomonic Collection 20.1 The Character of Solomon 20.1.1 Solomon: The “Historical” Character in 1 Kings 1–11 20.1.1.1 Solomon’s Birth and Accession 20.1.1.2 Solomon’s Wisdom 20.1.1.3 The Queen of Sheba’s Visit 20.1.2 Scholarly Questioning of the Tradition of Solomon’s Historicity and Wisdom 20.1.2.1 Historicity 20.1.2.2 Wisdom 20.1.3 Solomon in the Biblical Canon 20.2 The Solomonic Collection 20.2.1 Solomon as a Wisdom “Authority” 20.2.1.1 Proverbs 20.2.1.2 Ecclesiastes 20.2.1.3 Song of Songs 20.2.1.4 Other Texts 20.2.2 Concluding Remarks Works Cited Chapter 21: The Social Setting of Wisdom Literature 21.1 Identifying the “Wisdom Writers” 21.2 Wisdom Literature as Part of the Scribal Curriculum 21.3 Israelite Social Stratification 21.4 The Wisdom Writers as Retainers 21.5 Honor or Prestige 21.6 The Focus on Ethics and Aesthetics 21.7 Wisdom and Gender 21.8 Wisdom and Age (Implied/Intended Audience) 21.9 Summary Works Cited Chapter 22: Literary Genres of Old Testament Wisdom 22.1 On the Path to a Literary Genre 22.1.1 Fundamental Aspects of Classification 22.1.2 Phases of Old Testament Genre Research 22.2 Characteristics of a Wisdom Genre 22.2.1 General and Specific Parameters of a Genre 22.2.2 General and Specific Parameters of a Wisdom Genre 22.3 Literary Genres in Wisdom 22.3.1 The Instructional Book 22.3.1.1 Instruction 22.3.1.2 Treatise, Diatribe, and Protreptic 22.3.1.3 Testament 22.3.1.4 The Didactic Poem 22.3.1.5 Didactic Dialogue 22.3.1.6 The Saying 22.3.1.7 The Didactic Story 22.3.2 The Commentary 22.4 A Look Ahead to Further Research Works Cited Chapter 23: The Chronological Development of Wisdom Literature 23.1 Formation and Historical Classification of Hebrew Wisdom Writings 23.2 Proverbs 23.3 Job 23.4 Ecclesiastes 23.5 Wisdom Psalms 23.6 Ben Sira 23.7 A Short History of Old Testament Wisdom Literature Works Cited Chapter 24: Theology of Wisdom 24.1 Is There a Distinct Wisdom Theology? 24.2 What Is Wisdom Theology? 24.2.1 The Theology of Proverbs 24.2.1.1 The Fear of the Lord 24.2.1.2 Embracing Woman Wisdom 24.2.2 The Theology of Ecclesiastes 24.2.3 The Theology of Job 24.3 Where Does the Wisdom of Deuterocanonical Literature Fit In? 24.4 Wisdom in the New Testament 24.5 Conclusion Works Cited Part V: Wisdom Literature And Other Literature Chapter 25: Wisdom Influence 25.1 A Brief Review of Previous Scholarship 25.2 Criteria for Establishing Wisdom Influence 25.2.1 Wisdom Elements 25.2.1.1 Vocabulary 25.2.1.2 Forms 25.2.1.3 Themes and Motifs 25.2.2 Wisdom Usage 25.2.2.1 Vocabulary 25.2.2.2 Forms 25.2.3 The Number, Variety, and Distribution of the Elements 25.3 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 26: Law and Wisdom Literature 26.1 The Dichotomy between Law and Wisdom in Biblical Studies 26.2 New Approaches to the Relationship between Law and Wisdom 26.3 Towards a Complementary Understanding of Law and Wisdom 26.4 Recasting the Relationship between Law and Wisdom 26.5 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 27: History and Wisdom Literature 27.1 “Wisdom Influence” in Historical Texts 27.1.1 Historical Questions 27.1.2 Methodological Questions 27.2 Human Wisdom and Divine Intervention in the Wisdom Literature 27.2.1 Human Wisdom 27.2.2 Divine Intervention 27.3 Adam and Eve (Genesis 2–3) 27.3.1 Human Wisdom 27.3.2 Divine Intervention 27.4 Joseph (Genesis 37–50) 27.4.1 Human Wisdom 27.4.2 Divine Intervention 27.5 The Succession Narrative (2 Samuel 9–20, 1 Kings 1–2) 27.5.1 Human Wisdom 27.5.2 Divine Intervention 27.6 Solomon (1 Kings 1–11) 27.6.1 Human Wisdom 27.6.2 Divine Intervention 27.7 Esther 27.7.1 Human Wisdom 27.7.2 Divine Intervention 27.8 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 28: Prophecy and Wisdom Literature 28.1 Revelation in Wisdom and Prophecy 28.2 Theophany and Theodicy in Wisdom and Prophecy 28.3 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 29: Apocalyptic and Wisdom Literature 29.1 Genre 29.1.1 Wisdom 29.1.2 Apocalypses and Apocalypticism 29.2 Some Differences, Similarities, Interactions, and Evolutions 29.2.1 Form 29.2.2 Dating and Distribution 29.2.3 Binary Logic 29.2.4 Order 29.3 Wisdom as Progenitor of Apocalypse? 29.4 Contributions of the SBL Wisdom and Apocalypticism Group 29.5 The Importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls 29.6 Conclusion Works Cited Part VI: Texts Chapter 30: Proverbs 30.1 Composition and Compilation 30.2 Literary Forms 30.3 Socio-Political Context 30.3.1 Family Setting 30.3.2 Royal or Court Setting 30.4 Moral Reasoning and Ethical Conduct 30.4.1 Salient Aspects of Moral Reasoning 30.4.2 Perspectives on Moral Reasoning from the Teacher and the Student 30.5 Thematic Coherence 30.5.1 The Intellectualization of Piety vs. the Piety of Intellectualization 30.5.2 “The Fear of the Lord is the Beginning of Knowledge” 30.5.3 Proverbs’ God Works Cited Chapter 31: Ecclesiastes 31.1 Ecclesiastes and the Biblical Wisdom Tradition 31.2 Qoheleth: Name and Authorship 31.3 Language and Style 31.4 Proverbial Sayings and Key-Words in Ecclesiastes 31.5 Ecclesiastes in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context 31.6 Qoheleth and Greek Philosophy 31.7 Structure and Unity 31.8 Reading Contradictions 31.9 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 32: Job 32.1 Job the Righteous, Job the Patient, and Job the Athlete 32.2 Job, the Innocent Sufferer, and the Justice of God 32.3 The Hebrew Book of Job as a Literary Work 32.4 The Book of Job as “Wisdom Literature” 32.5 Ancient Near Eastern Literature and the Book of Job 32.6 The Cast of Characters, and a Fairytale Beginning (Job 1–2) 32.7 Arguments, Insults, and Soapbox-Speeches (Job 3–31) 32.8 Two Answers (Job 32–42:6) 32.9 The Aftermath, and a Happy Ending (Job 42:7–17) Works Cited Chapter 33: Song of Songs 33.1 Song of Songs—Some Introductory Remarks 33.2 Song of Songs as Part of a “Solomonic Collection”? 33.3 Wisdom Elements in Song of Songs 33.4 Love Lyrics in a Sapiential and Theological Environment 33.5 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 34: Wisdom Psalms 34.1 Form-Critical Approaches 34.2 Responses to the Form-Critical Views 34.3 The Shape and Shaping of the Psalter 34.4 Theological Themes 34.5 Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 35: Ben Sira 35.1 Transmission History of the Book 35.2 Author, Date, and Provenance 35.3 Ben Sira and a Wisdom Genre 35.4 Ben Sira, Torah, and Sapiential Pedagogy 35.5 Ben Sira’s Social Location 35.6 Ben Sira’s Scribal and Jewish Identities Works Cited Chapter 36: The Wisdom of Solomon 36.1 Title and Place within Wisdom Literature 36.2 Dependence on Earlier Wisdom Traditions 36.2.1 Qoheleth on the Wicked 36.2.2 Immortality after Death in 4QInstruction 36.2.3 Procreation and Sirach 36.3 Response to Earlier Wisdom Traditions 36.4 Relation to Greek Philosophy 36.5 Vocabulary and Thought 36.6 Setting and Date 36.7 Conclusions Works Cited Chapter 37: The Pursuit of Wisdom at Qumran: Assessing the Classification “Wisdom Literature” and Its Application to the Dead Sea Scrolls 37.1 Wisdom and Its Discontents: The New Sapiential Minimalism 37.2 Wisdom as a Category of Biblical Literature 37.3 Wisdom and the Dead Sea Scrolls 37.4 The Fragility and Vitality of Wisdom 37.5 Conclusion Works Cited Author Index Scriptural and Ancient Texts