Wisdom Literature

Introduction to wisdom literature

Prepare Sirach Foreword and chapter 1 (HTML or PDF)

Wisdom literature

• Relationship to apocalypses
• Canonical wisdom literature: Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, some Psalms
• Themes: theodicy, afterlife, creation, universalism, how is wisdom found?

Greek philosophical traditions

• Platonism: dualism of body and soul
  • Phaedo 66b, “so long as we have the body, and the soul is contaminated by such an evil, we shall never attain completely what we desire.”
• Epicureanism – no afterlife
  • The worst part about death is worrying about it
  • Avoid suffering, seek tranquility in this life
  • Empiricism – the idea that nothing should be believed except that which has been tested through direct observation and logical deduction
• Stoicism
  • Logos = wisdom = divine emanation that pervades cosmos
  • Evil is necessary because good is only knowable in contrast to bad

Sirach

• Written in Hebrew by Jesus ben Sira (Ben Sira)
• Prominent sage in Jerusalem
• 198-175 BCE
• Translated into Greek with foreword by his grandson, 132 BCE (Sirach)
• Canonicity
  • Included in Greek Bible used by early Church
  • Rabbis cited it as good teaching, but not scripture

Philo of Alexandria

• 15 bce to 50 ce
• Wealthy, educated leader of Jewish community in Alexandria
• Combined Jewish traditions and Platonic philosophy
• Allegorical biblical interpretation: reading a story as symbolic such that ordinary persons and objects represent abstract and lofty ideas

Wisdom of Solomon

• Alexandria, Egypt around 40 CE
• Written in the voice of King Solomon, 10th century BCE
• Jews were a minority, surrounded by Greek philosophy

Canon consciousness in the Foreword to Sirach

• Tripartite canon: TaNaKh (Law, Prophets, Writings)
• Ben Sira’s grandson wrote the Foreword (132 BCE)
• Seems to be aware of three parts, even if the last part is vague
• Closed? Expects Sirach to be added?

Ben Sira on theodicy and the afterlife

Prepare Sirach 2; 39–41 (HTML or PDF)

Theodicy

• Is God just?
• If God is all good and all powerful, why does evil exist?
• Why do the righteous suffer while the wicked prosper?

Sirach 2, suffering

• 1–9, accept trials
  • Mild
  • Temporary
  • Chastisement ≠ condemnation
  • Builds character
  • Accept the status quo
• 10, there is no evil, no unjust suffering
• 12, a righteous person who suffers is secretly evil

Sirach 39:16—40:10, good and bad in creation

• 16–23, everything is good
• 25–27, bad things are good because they punish bad people
• 30, why do scorpions exist?
• 31, nothing happens unless God wants it to
• 40:8–9, all have problems but sinners sevenfold

Eschatology

• Study of last things
• Individual: personal afterlife
• Collective: end of the world

Sirach 41:3–13, afterlife

• 41:3–4, accept death, inevitable, final
• 41:5–10, the wicked have a bad legacy and a bad reputation
• 41:11–13, a good reputation outlives the body (otherwise no afterlife)

Sirach 38:24–39:10, self-perception

• 38:24, scribe, leisure
• 38:32-33, influence
• 39:1-3, biblical interpretation
• 39:4, gentiles
• 39:9-11, legacy afterlife

Lady Wisdom

Prepare Sirach 1, 24 (HTML or PDF)

Wisdom personified as a woman

• More than just a metaphor
• God’s first-born
• Instrument of creation
• In Ben Sira equated with the Torah, the words God spoke at Sinai
• In Christianity equated with Christ, the Word God spoke at creation (through whom all things were made)

Different conceptions of eternity

• Figurative
• Unfathomable
• Infinite sequence of time
• Absence of time / change

Universalism and particularism

In most of the wisdom tradition

• God created with wisdom
• Creation is good
• The creator can be known through creation, as art can tell us something about the artist
• All humans have access to some knowledge of the creator through reason and observation of creation
• Universalism

Ben Sira chapter 24 (LINK)

• Wisdom started off universal but took up residence in one particular city
• Wisdom is located in the temple in Jerusalem
• Wisdom is equated with Jewish law (the Torah)
• Wisdom is only accessible to Jews
• Particularism

Ben Sira on wives and daughters

Prepare Sirach 25–26; 42 (HTML or PDF)

Wives, Sirach 25-26

• Evil women
  • All? most? some?
  • Origin of evil?
  • What makes them evil?
  • What to do about it?
• Good women
  • What makes her good?
• Do these attitudes persist today?

Daughters, Sirach 42:9-14

• “The birth of a daughter is a loss” (22:3) Why?
• What is expected of a good daughter?
• What is feared of a bad daughter?
• What to do about it?
• Do these attitudes persist today?
• Why does he care?

Honor and shame as a larger system

• A man’s ability to be “in control” in his profession is measured by his control of his women
• Women as status symbols, possessions, measures of success
• Ben Sira’s profession depends on his reputation
• Insecure? Lonely?

Hellenistic Judaism and the immortality of the soul

Prepare short selections from Philo (HTML or PDF); and Wisdom of Solomon 1–5 (HTML or PDF)

Philo on the afterlife

• Body/soul dualism
• Righteous: body dies, soul lives
• Wicked: soul dies

WisSol 2, immortality of the soul

• Portrayal of Epicureans
• Argument for immortality of the soul
  • Hidden counsels (rejects empiricism)
  • Biblical interpretation (Gen 1:26; 3:14)
    • Image of God
    • Serpent is the devil
    • Death originated in Eden
    • Overcome Satan = overcome death

Reward of the righteous

• The souls of the just are in the hand of God
• This life is not significant, death is a minor inconvenience
• Comparisons

Punishment of the wicked

• “A punishment to match their thoughts” (no afterlife)
• Vindication, but not eternal torment
• Vague suggestion of day of judgment

God will deliver the just

• Psalm 22:9, “You relied on the LORD—let him deliver you; if he loves you, let him rescue you.”
• WisSol 2:18, “For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes.”
• Matt 27:43, “He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Wisdom of Solomon on theodicy

Prepare Wisdom of Solomon 11-13; skim 6-10; 14-19

Theodicy

• Suffering of the wicked – punishment fits crime
• Suffering of the righteous
  • Good known through contrast with evil (11:8, Stoicism)
  • Chastisement ≠ condemnation
• Prosperity of the wicked
  • Allows a chance for repentance
  • No collateral damage

Where is wisdom found?

• WisSol: study of scripture, study of nature
• Ben Sira: study with teacher
• Apocalypses: secret revelation
• 2 Macc: patterns of history

Goodness of creation in the Wisdom of Solomon

• Basically agrees with Ben Sira
• Everything has a good purpose
• Creation can be used for good or bad as required
• Everything (except humans) follows God’s commands perfectly
• Miracles are not necessary because nature works for God
• Implied social location

Wisdom of Solomon on universalism and natural law

Natural law

• The idea that certain moral truths are universal and absolute, not culturally constructed
• Embedded by creator in creation
• Critiques

Universalism and particularism

• What makes the chosen people the chosen people?
• What should non-Israelites do?
• How should they know?
  • All nations have access to God
  • Creator is known through the created
  • Reason
  • 13:1-7, Hierarchy of worshipping manmade objects, lower creation, higher creation, creator
  • Greek philosophers describe the same basic truth as Judaism
• Comparisons

Test on wisdom literature

• Study guide (PDF)