Week 3 Lecture notes

Week 3

Quiz

Hebrew Poetry

What constitutes “poetry”? In groups:

1. Define “poetry.”

2. How can you tell something is poetry and not prose? What are its characteristics?

3. What would happen if someone read a poem and didn’t realize it was poetry?

What characterizes Hebrew poetry?

1. Parallelism.

a. synonymous
Song 1:10 Your cheeks are comely with ornaments,
// your neck with strings of jewels.

b. antithetic
Song 4:7 You are altogether beautiful, my love;
// there is no flaw in you.

c. synthetic / formal
Song 6:13 Why should you look upon the Shulammite,
// as upon a dance before two armies.

2. Connotative, figurative, highly metaphorical language.

a. Standard metaphors:
Body parts (“heart”=mind & being; “eyes”=opinion, view)
Paths=conduct (ways).

3. Terseness.

a. juxtaposition
Proverbs 1:7 Fear of Yahweh, beginning of knowledge.

4. Distinctive Forms:

a. Acrostic (Lamentations; Psalm 119; Proverbs 31:10–31)

b. Numerical proverbs (Proverbs 30:29)

Why is it important that poetry be recognized as such?

1. Parallelism: we can interpret one line in light of the other.

2. Figurative language: poetry isn't meant literally, but tries to create associations/connections in one’s mind.

3. Poetic units: we must consider the message of each poem as a whole.

Hochmah game question (read handout):

In tribes, figure this out:

· From what you have read, how does biblical wisdom literature compare to babylonian wisdom literature on the question of suffering? On what points do they agree? disagree?

· They address the same philosophical question, from a person who does not understand why he is suffering.

· In Babylonian literature, there is no such thing as undeserved suffering as there is in Job.

· In Babylonian literature, whatever happens is because the gods decreed it that way, not because we make morally wrong choices.

· They agree that humans cannot totally understand God.

Lady Wisdom

· Creation is permeated by Wisdom. God’s wisdom permeates the whole created order (universe).

o Wisdom was with God when he created all else.

o Creation was done “by” Wisdom (3:19–20; 8:22–31)

o Lady Wisdom calls the world “good” (8:31).

o There is good in everything (in ants).

o 30:24–28
Animals conform instinctively (work wisely), but human must choose: The difference between us and the rest of creation is that nature follows the created order instinctively, whereas we have a choice.

· Interpretations of Personified Wisdom

o Wisdom=Torah (Ben Sira 24). But “all the judges of the Earth” (8:16) do not govern by Torah.

o Hypostasis (a personification of a divine attribute whereby it assumes an independent identity, i.e., becomes a divine being itself). But wisdom in Proverbs has three names: ḥokmah, binah (understanding), and t^ebunah (good sense).

o The primeval order itself, or order-producing force with which God informs the world.

o Personification as a literary trope, for rhetorical purposes. Wisdom is female by virtue of the feminine gender of ḥokmah.

o Wisdom is not very active or responsive. She does not punish or reward (people do that to themselves). She sets the circumstances (builds a house) under which life is lived.

· Wisdom’s personality

o She wants human attention. (1:23–27; 9:3, 4; 8:32a)

o Wisdom realizes her potential only through human activity. She is not a collection of truths, but an approach to life, an attitude, a way of thinking.

Break

Proverbs and the ANE and extra-canonical Jewish wisdom.

In groups, each with a text (Ahiqar; Ecclesiasticus/Sirach; Wisdom of Solomon):

1. What similarities to biblical wisdom literature do you see?

2. What differences?

3. Is Wisdom described as a person? As something else?

4. What is Wisdom’s relationship to creation, if any?

Retribution

· Exodus 34:6–7
God rewards good and punishes evil.

· Deuteronomy 28
In the Pentateuch, there are blessings and curses in the covenant formulas. The nation is rewarded for following God’s law.

· Genesis 18:23; Ezekiel 18:2
Wisdom literature is about the individual rather than the nation when speaking of reward and punishment.

· Proverbs 26:27; 28:10
Good actions are associated with good results, and bad actions with bad results. The individual who acts with integrity will do well; the one who schemes, scoffs, is arrogant, secretive, etc., will only end up hurting himself when what he tries to do to others (and nature) comes back on him. This is natural retribution. Proverbs has this “optimistic” view, in which exceptions are not usually admitted.

· But there are exceptions: Psalm 73; Job 12:1–6; Proverbs 19:10; 10:2; “Better” proverbs (it is better to be poor than a liar; better to be righteous/loyal to God than to prosper; better to be lowly)
Because proverbs are partial sayings, they can’t, and are not intended to give the whole truth.
The truisms of Proverbs are not absolute promises, but general principles based on careful observation of the human experience.
They are predictions, and like other predictions (e.g., the weather), things can turn out differently than predicted.

· The sages were not blind; they did not think the retribution principle was 100% accurate. But they had faith that overall, good would be rewarded and evil punished.

· 3:1–4
In Proverbs, the motivation is this-worldly.
One is rewarded or punished in this life; there are only a few hints of afterlife in Proverbs.

· Other wisdom books challenged a simplistic interpretation of Proverbs:

1. Job shows that the reverse of the Retribution Principle (if you’re suffering, you must have sinned) is wrong.

2. Ecclesiastes has trouble understanding God (3:11; 7:13; 8:17).

What do some other ancient Jewish wisdom books think?

In teams, read the handout excerpts from Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) and from the Wisdom of Solomon

· These are both Jewish wisdom books written between the Old and New Testaments, included in the “Apocrypha” in Catholic Bibles.

3. Sirach struggles with theodicy (God allowing good people to suffer), but is unable to solve the problem.

4. Wisdom of Solomon finds a solution by claiming that reward and punishment happens after death.

Opportunity for Challenges

For Next Time

Read for next week’s quiz:

· Ecclesiastes

· Song of Songs

· Provan 23–42

· Fee & Stuart Fee & Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth 212–215