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WISDOM BOOKS

ACQUISITION OF NEW KNOWLEDGE

Wisdom/insights are usually generated

through the natural human effort of fixing their
minds upon an issue at hand. Other synonymous
terms for this effort includes pondering, meditation,
reflection, even contemplation. “Human wisdom is
universal, but each person has his own way of
expressing his insights and attitudes to life”
according to his culture and experiences.
The same activities were experienced by the
authors/writers of the of the books included in
Wisdom Literature. Thus, Wisdom Literature is a
product of prayerful meditation of the
authors/writers about life’s issues revealed by God.
Wisdom Literature flourished during the time of King
Solomon. He asked God for wisdom as he led the Israelites. Later, he recruited sages
(wise men, people with good judgment) from Egypt and Mesopotamia to serve as his
scribes. They were wise and experienced men who studied and internalized the Sacred
Scriptures by praying and meditating on them. They used parables, allegories and riddles
with moral instructions in their writings.
The goals of the Wisdom Literature are for people to acquire knowledge for the
sake of godliness and for them to develop the art of excellence in all things.
The principles taught by the sages are the following: no one can be wise who is
not also good. A man who does not avoid sin and evil is not wise; wisdom will lead others
to see God in all things; lastly, wisdom is not only knowledge but practice in daily life.
Maxims or short sayings, parallelism (synonymous, antithetic and climactic),
universal truths and presenting God in daily life experiences are the characteristics of
Wisdom Literature.
Now, let’s take a look at the main ideas about each book belonging to Wisdom
Literature.
Wisdom Literature or Wisdom Books includes the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom and Sirach.
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“Job is a wealthy man living in a land called Uz with his large family
Job and extensive flocks. He is “blameless” and “upright,” always careful
to avoid doing evil (1:1). One day, Satan (“the Adversary”) appears
before God in heaven. God boasts to Satan about Job’s goodness, but Satan argues that
Job is only good because God has blessed him abundantly. Satan challenges God that,
if given permission to punish the man, Job will turn and curse God. God allows Satan to
torment Job to test this bold claim, but he forbids Satan to take Job’s life in the process.
In the course of one day, Job receives four messages, each bearing separate news
that his livestock, servants, and ten children have all died due to marauding invaders or
natural catastrophes. Job tears his clothes and shaves his head in mourning, but he still
blesses God in his prayers. Satan appears in heaven again, and God grants him another
chance to test Job. This time, Job is afflicted with horrible skin sores. His wife encourages
him to curse God and to give up and die, but Job refuses, struggling to accept his
circumstances.” (https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/oldtestament/section11).
This book tells us of the suffering of Job and his desire to find a satisfactory
explanation for his sufferings. Its main theme is the mystery inherent in the unmerited
suffering of the just man. The perennial question is this: How can a just God permit an
innocent and just man to suffer? The reality pointed to us by this book is that, the task of
finding an answer to the problems of punishment and reward in this life is too much for
man to grasp. The value presented to us as human beings in confrontation to our
sufferings are faith and humility.

The Book of Psalms is a collection of 150 religious songs

Psalms stressing the human emotions in different form of religious
experiences namely: Joy and Praise, Worship and Thanksgiving,
Trust, Longing and Repentance. King David was credited by scholars to be the main
author of the Book of Psalms.
The Book of Psalms are classified according to the following categories: Hymns,
Thanksgiving Psalms, Supplication Psalms, Confidence Psalms, Processional Psalms
(during liturgies), Royal Psalms, Wisdom Psalms, Historical Meditations and Prophetic
Psalms. These psalms are mainly used during the Liturgy and personal and
communitarian prayers.
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Here are some examples of Psalms.

Joy and Praise: “Exult, you just, in the Lord; Praise from the upright is fitting; Give
thanks to the Lord on the harp; with the ten-stringed lyre chant his praises.” (Ps. 33:1-2).
Worship and Thanksgiving: “Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; serve the Lord
with gladness; come before him with joyful song.” (Ps. 100:1-2)
Trust: “Keep me. O Lord, for in you I take refuge; I say to the Lord: My Lord are you.
Apart from you I have no good.” (Ps. 16:1).
Longing: “As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God.
A thirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God?”
(Ps. 42:2-3).

“The Book of Proverbs was King Solomon, who composed his

Proverbs sayings during his reign from 970 to 930 B.C. (Proverbs 1:1).
Solomon highly likely penned chapters 1 to 29 of Proverbs. A man
named Agur wrote chapter thirty. King Lemuel wrote chapter thirty-one. The author tells
us right in the first chapter the nine sets of reasons why the book was written.”
(https://www.biblestudy.org/).
It is a collection of short sayings. The purpose of this book is to teach wisdom
especially to young and unexperienced people and to those who desire advanced training
in wisdom.
The contents of this book are about common human activities and situations as
well as moral and religious truths about God and man.

Here are some examples of proverbs.

“Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and reject not your mother’s teaching; A
graceful diadem will they be for your head; a torque for your neck.” (Prov. 1:8-10).

“Happy the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding! For her profit
is better than profit in silver, and better than gold is her revenue.” (Prov. 3:13-14),

Its name is derived from the Greek ekklesiastes which means

Ecclesiastes “one who calls the assembly.” The Hebrew title is called koheleth
which means “teacher.” This title refers to King Solomon.
It is about the philosophical reflections on the vanity of all things though it main
theme is the purpose and value of human life. This book teaches us that all these
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deficiencies in life are the result of the fact that man is a mortal and limited being, not to
waste time or energies in illusions, to life fully the present moment by solving the problems
within our reach day by day and to enjoy the happiness God has prepared for us today.

Here are examples view about life.

“Desire to know leads to greater problems.” (Ec. 1:12-18).

“Fear the Lord and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all; because God will
bring to judgment every work, with all its hidden qualities, whether good or bad.” (Ec.
12:13-14).

Song of The traditional author of this book is King Solomon. This book
Songs is a collection of love songs at the same time it is a parable which
illustrates the Covenant relationship between God and His chosen
people with marriage as a theme.
This relation is the image of matrimonial love used in the Old Testament to express
Yahweh’s love for His people as presented in the life and works of the prophets Hosea,
Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Here are some examples of passages taken from Song of
Songs.

“Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth! More delightful is your love than wine.”
(Song 1:2).

“My lover speaks; he says to me, Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!
See: the winter is past, the rain are over and gone.” (Song 2:10-11).

The author of this books is King Solomon. This book was originally written in Greek
about 100 years before Christ.

The themes of this book are the splendor and the worth of
Wisdom divine Wisdom, the glorious events of Exodus, the folly of idolatry and
God’s mercy, punishment and reward for the individual souls. This
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book taught us that God’s wisdom can only be attained by prayer. Such wisdom will bring
eternal life. Here are examples of passages from this book.

“To know you well is complete justice,

and to know your might is the root of immortality.” (Ws. 15:3).
“The souls of the just are in the hand of God,
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and
their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, uttered
destruction. But they
are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of
immortality.”
(Ws. 3:1-4).

This book was written in Hebrew in Palestine around 180-175BC by

Sirach Ben Sira who was probably a scribe well-versed in Jewish law and
custom.
This book is the product of one man’s lifetime meditations on the Sacred
Scriptures, on life in general and his own broad experiences.
The purpose of this book is to deepen the religious and cultural heritage of Judaism
against the challenge of Hellenism (Greek culture). It contains moral instructions as well
in the form of warning and encouragement, praise of wisdom, duty towards parents,
sincerity and justice, conduct in public life and friendship. Here are examples of passages
from Sirach.

“All wisdom comes from the Lord and with Him it remains forever.” (Sir. 1:1).

“My son, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials. Be sincere of
heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity.” (Sir. 2:1-2).