herm wisom
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OT WISDOM LITERATURE Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs
OT – WISDOM Introduction
You have persevered the end of this book!
“Of making may books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” –Ecclesiastes 12:12b
Purpose of the wisdom books
Law, narrative, and prophets stress “Believe!” and “Obey!” while wisdom stresses “Think!”
Call us to listen, look, think, and reflect
Offer practical insights for living
Goal is to develop wise and godly character for life in the real world
The big picture Four wisdom books balance each other theologically.
Read each one in context of all four.
Proverbs
Rational norms of life (what normally happens). Does not present universals (what will always happen). Job
Righteous and wise suffer in ways that mere humans cannot understand.
Ecclesiastes
Failure of the rational, ordered approach to provide ultimate meaning to life. Meaning only comes through a relationship with God.
Song of Songs
Irrationality of romantic love between husband and wife.
Wisdom as poetry A large portion of wisdom literature is poetry.
Wisdom books use parallelism as their standard structural feature.
The more emotional the tone, the more the book will use figurative language:
Less Emotionally Charged, More Emotionally Charged, Less Picture Language More Picture Language
Proverbs Ecclesiastes Job Song of Songs
Grasping the wisdom books
Proverbs Proverbs – short, pithy sayings that teach practical wisdom
about life Individual proverbs reflect general nuggets of wisdom about
what normally happens in life (e.g., “Don’t be lazy! Work hard!”).
Proverbs are never to be taken as universal promises. The book of Proverbs does not deal with the exceptions to
the normal rules. Since each proverb presents a general principle, the river of
differences is usually quite narrow and shallow. But be careful how you define “blessing.”
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
ProverbsStep 1: Grasp the text in their town. Explore the literary context. Note the structure and basic units of the book.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
ProverbsStep 2: Measure the width of the river to cross. Note the agrarian context. Note references to kings.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
ProverbsStep 3: Cross the principlizing bridge. Typically the Proverb is already a general principle. Remember these are not universal promises.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
ProverbsStep 4: Consult the biblical map. Many themes of Proverbs are affirmed in the New
Testament. However, the theme of wealth as a blessing from God does
undergo an alteration.
Job Job does all that Proverbs commands, but he receives dead
children, financial ruin, physical pain, and criticism from his friends.
Job is a story (in contrast to Proverbs) and we must take the literary context of narrative seriously:
1-2 Job is afflicted2-37 Job searches unsuccessfully for a rational answer38-42 God answers Job’s accusations42 Job’s friends are rebuked and Job is restored
The differences between the ancient audience and us are not great.
Lessons from Job: God is sovereign and we are notGod knows all and we know precious littleGod is always just, but does not always disclose his reasonsGod expects us to trust his character
NT presents suffering as a normal feature of a godly life. Don’t repeat the mistake of Job’s friends and misuse biblical
truth. Book of Job teaches us that it is not wrong to cry out to God
in anger and frustration when unexplained tragedy strikes. Our focus in grief should not be on “why” but rather on God
and his character. Comforting friends is different from having all the answers.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
JobStep 1: Grasp the text in their town. Identify literary context. Central lessons not seen until 38:1-42:17. Job’s friends are negative characters not to be emulated.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
JobStep 2: Measure the width of the river to cross. Cannot assume all tragedy is connected to satanic
involvement.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
JobStep 4: Consult the biblical map. New Testament does not repeat the picture of peace and
prosperity as a result of righteous living.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
JobStep 4: Consult the biblical map. New Testament does not repeat the picture of peace and
prosperity as a result of righteous living.
Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes (like Job) must be interpreted as a whole with
the ultimate answer coming at the very end. The book is full of satire, sarcasm, and cynicism. The “Teacher” or “Preacher” declares that a strictly rational
search for meaning is “meaningless.” At the end of the book, the Teacher comes to his conclusion:
“Fear God and keep his commandments.” Apart from God, not even wisdom can give life meaning. River normally shallow in Ecclesiastes except for a limited
concept of death and the afterlife. The NT adds that apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ,
life is meaningless; victorious after life Apart from a relationship with Christ, not even a college
degree can make life meaningful!
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
Song of SongsA collection of love poems between a young man and a young woman.
Song of Songs Shocking book because it speaks openly and joyfully about
human sexuality (read 7:7-8). The book is organized into three sequential units:
1-3 Courtship3-5 Wedding5-8 Life of Love
Highly emotional and full of picture language as the man and woman describe their love for each other
Scholars today reject the allegorical interpretation A model of the joy and irrationality of a married couple
madly in love Wise and godly people should express their marital love in
strong, emotional (mushy?) terms. We suggest a little updating of the figurative language (hair
like a flock of goats?)
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
Song of SongsStep 1: Grasp the text in their town. Likely read or sung at weddings. A conversation between husband and wife.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
Song of SongsStep 2: Measure the width of the river to cross. Much of the imagery doesn’t communicate to the modern
reader.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
Song of SongsStep 3: Cross the principlizing bridge. The person seeking to live a wise, godly life should be
madly in love with her husband or his wife and should express this love in strong, emotional terms.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
Song of SongsStep 4: Consult the biblical map. The New Testament affirms this principle.
GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS
Song of SongsStep 5: Grasp the text in their town. Married couples can apply it verbally expressing their
love to their spouse with romantic gestures.
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