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What is the definition for wisdom? The art of being successful (in other words, wisdom is essentially practical).

Where does wisdom come from? Wisdom comes from God

Since wisdom and righteousness are almost synonymous in the OT, is it possible for a wise man to sin? Yes (1 Kings 11:1-7).

Were there wise men and women other than Solomon? Yes

Are wise women referred to in the OT? Yes (2 Samuel 14:2)

Hebrew Names

|Wisdom |Hokhman |

|Job | |

|Psalms |Tehillim meaning Book of Praises |

|Proverbs |Mashal translated as proverb and meaning comparison |

|Ecclesiastes |Qoheleth translated as Preacher |

|Song of Solomon | |

Classificatons:

|Book of Bible |In English Bible |In Hebrew Bible |

|Job |Poetry |Writings |

|Psalms |Poetry |Writings |

|Proverbs |Poetry |Writings |

|Ecclesiastes |Poetry |Writings |

|Song of Solomon |Poetry |Writings |

Authors:

|Book of Bible |Author |

|Job |Unknown but could have been Moses (time of writing unknown – written probably during the Solomon reign) |

| | |

| |1st section is Prologue (1-2) and is written in prose); 2nd section is the Argument: Job’s discussion with his 3 |

| |friends (3-31) and is written in poetry; 3rd section is Elihu’s speech (32-37) and is written in prose; God’s dialogue |

| |with Job (38-41:1-6); Epilogue (42:7-17). |

|Psalms |David as well as others (David did not write all the Psalms. Some Psalms written as late as the Babylonian captivity |

| |ie. Psalms 137. |

| | |

| |Divided into 5 books: Psalms 1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, 107-150 |

|Proverbs |Solomon |

|Ecclesiastes |Solomon |

|Song of Solomon |Solomon |

Description:

|Book of Bible |Description |

|Job |Why the righteous suffer |

|Psalms |Songs designed to be used to praise God. Best described as a a book of praise and adoration. |

|Proverbs |Wise sayings intended to teach how to be successful |

|Ecclesiastes |Deals with the meaning of life with theme “all is vanity” relating to “everything under the sun (which is|

| |on earth without considering God or the judgement) |

|Song of Solomon |Love songs celebrating romantic love |

Some Characteristics of Old Testament Poetry

|Hebrew Poetry does not rhyme (It has rhythm but its rhythm is related to the flow of ideas. If contains more figurative language than |

|prose.) |

|Parallelism is the main formal characteristic of OT poetry (2 lines of poetry, the 2nd line having a special relationship to the first line. |

|It may complete the idea found in the first line, constrast with the idea or repeat the idea). |

|Psalms 24:1 – example of synonymous parallelism (2nd line says same thing as 1st line) |

|Psalms 34:10 – example of antithetical parallelism (2nd line contrasts with 1st line) |

|Psalms 2:6 – example of synthetic parallelism (2nd line completes the 1st line thought) |

|Psalms 29:1 – example of climactic or stair-like parallelism (2nd line and any succeeding lines contain some of the same words as 1st line) |

|Psalms 42:1 – example of emblematic parallelism (1st line begins with “like” or “as” and 2nd line completes a comparison begun in the first |

|line} |

|Psalms 51:1 – example of inverted parallelism (1st part of 1st line parallel to 2nd part of 2nd line) |

|Hebrew poetry uses acrostics (lines of a poem begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order – 1st line begins with the 1st letter, |

|2nd line with the 2nd letter, etc.) |

|Israel used similar form to other people in the Ancient Near East (ANE) but the main difference between what the Israelites put in their |

|poetry and other people of the ANE was the content of the poems. |

Let’s Test Ourselves on Parallelism

For the expressions below, define if they are one of the following types of parallelism:

a. Antithetic b. Climactic or Stair-like c. Inverted d. Synonymous e. Synthetic

|Answer |Scripture |

| |A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger |

| |The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. |

| |I have set my king in Zion, my holy hill |

| |Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength |

| |If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, If I do not remember |

| |you. |

Some General Facts about Poetry and Wisdom Books

|Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are included in the list of Old Testament wisdom literature. |

|Not all the material in the Old Testament books of poetry is written in poetry and not all the poetry in the Old Testament is found in the |

|Old Testament books of poetry. |

|In the OT, wisdom was often used to speak of those who had technical skills, ie. the ability to build things. |

|Wisdom is the ability to see the end from the beginning, to know probable outcomes. One must have experience, observation and a knowledge of|

|human nature in order to know probably outcomes. |

|Even though wisdom was practical, in the OT, there was consideration for philosophical concerns (such as discussions of the greatest |

|questions of the ages which is the meaning of life and the reason for suffering). |

|The story of the Book of Job is in Uz, a land in the East called Southeastern Edom. |

|The events in Job occurred during the patriarchal period (which is before the giving of the Law of Moses) and perhaps about the time of |

|Abraham. |

|There is no mention of the Law of Moses or of specifically Jewish institutions. |

|Job’s wealth, like Abraham, is based on the quantity of livestock he possesses. |

|Job himself offers sacrifices, as did the patriarchs. |

|The Psalms were written and intended to be used to worship God. |

|The Psalms are written in poetry and should be interpreted as poetry. |

|Many of the Psalms in the Bible have headings. Even though these headings are very ancient, they were not a part of the original poems. |

|Examples are historical, names of Biblical persons, methods of rendering a Psalm (Psalm 4, 6, 54-55) which are probably similar to musical |

|notations we use today. “Selah” is probably a musical notation. |

|Types of Psalms include: royal psalms (103, 8); communal laments (44, 74); hymns (8, 19, 29); songs of thanksgiving (30, 32, 34) |

|In answering the question, “Why do the innocent suffer?”, Job teaches us: |

|There is no answer except God wills it and He knows what He is doing |

|It is the responsibility of the sufferer to remain faithful to God |

|Even though Job was composed from a period of time from a number of different sources, the book of Job still has unity. |

|Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon deal with matters of great concern to people throughout the centuries. These 3 books teaches us |

|that God is the God of the whole of life, that we should be concerned about all of our lives, that God has something to say about all of our |

|lives and that we should listen to what God says and try to do what God says, not just in religious contexts but in every aspect of our |

|lives. |

|Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are thought of as part of the wisdom literature. Proverbs is considered optimistic and Ecclesiastes is considered |

|pessimistic. |

|Even though Proverbs is attributed to Solomon, the book of Proverbs contains many proverbs written and compiled by others. The book does |

|contain some proverbs from non-Israelite sources. |

|Proverbs did not reach its final form until the days of Hezekiah, who lives about 200 years after Solomon. |

|A proverb is defined as a short, pithy, axiomatic saying. |

|The proverbs deal with how one can be successful in every aspect in life. |

|In Proverbs, a wise man is thought to be a righteous man. |

|Suggestions that are given in Proverbs are based on the law and the covenant. |

|Proverbs should not be interpreted as law – they are wise sayings- but should be looked upon as some statements that are generally but not |

|always true. |

|Even though Solomon is attributed to writing Ecclesiastes, his name is not mentioned in the book. The book refers to a “Son of David” who |

|was King of Jerusalem. One argument against the authorship by Solomon is that the style of writing is different. |

|Ecclesiastes teaches us to live right, work hard, stay married. |

|The primary message of Ecclesiastes is found in the last 2 verses where the writer says that in view of the em;ptiness of life, which in turn|

|results from the inevitability of death, the only thing that gives life meaning is serving God. |

|The name of Song of Solomon in the Hebrew Bible echoes the first verse of the book: “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s”. In this text, |

|“Song of Songs” means best of songs. |

|Song of Solomon is also called canticles. Evidently, Song of Solomon experienced some difficulty in being accepted into the canon. |

|Song of Solomon has been attributed to Solomon because it includes his name in the introduction. It is possible that the expression “which |

|is Solomon’s” does not reflect authorship but ownership. There are arguments against Solomon’s authorship of the book. The most difficult |

|aspect of attributing the book to Solomon is to believe that Solomon, who had 1,000 wives and concubines, could be that much in love with one|

|woman. |

|The most difficult question concerning Song of Solomon is how it is interpreted. There are 7 possible methods of interpretation: (a) |

|allegorical, (b) dramatic, (c) shepherd hypothesis, (d) literal, (e) collection of wedding songs, (f) liturgical and (g) didactic-moral. If |

|allegorical is used, the male in the relationship is God and the female is the Church. |

|Looking at Song of Solomon as a love song or series of love songs, its value to us is that it celebrates romantic, erotic, sexual love, thus |

|demonstrating that this kind of love has God’s approval. |

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