LECTURE 5
Prof. Hennie Viviers
Prof. Hennie Viviers
(Dept of Religious Studies, University of
Johannesburg)
This lecture is loosely based on the seventh chapter of Marcus Borg’s
book, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time
Introduction: What
is Wisdom?
Wisdom is found in the wisdom books of the Hebrew Bible, namely Proverbs,
Job and Ecclesiastes (but also in Esther, the Joseph narrative, some psalms, and
also extra-biblical books like Sirach and the Song of Solomon). This kind of
literature is not primarily interested in Israel’s (salvation) history or in
its cult but rather concerned with what goes on in ordinary everyday life. A definition
of wisdom is a reflective look at reality, a formulation of rules to allow
one to blend harmoniously with society and so become a successful person. It
has a few assumptions/characteristics proprietary to it: it accepts a God-given
order in life and assumes an “indirect revelation.” Traditional wisdom
is optimistic, you can have success by just doing the right things (at
least according to Proverbs). Doing the right thing is to accept the doctrine
of retribution – what goes around comes around. Older wisdom also
underwrites the respect for authority and being humble. It has three
originating contexts: tribal wisdom very early in Israel’s
history where the parents and authority figures in families functioned as teachers
or amateur “philosophers;” with the rise of the monarchy we find the “courtiers”
as the wisdom advisors to the king and young princes; lastly, especially in
post-exilic times we find the so-called teachers who headed wisdom
“schools”/guilds. Wisdom thought also went through three developmental phases: the
unproblematic wisdom phase where the doctrine of retribution is fully
accepted; then follows a dogmatized /systematized phase (where one can
infer from the consequences what the preceding deeds were, e.g. Job’s friends)
and then a critical phase of protest wisdom where the doctrine of
retribution is seriously questioned – what goes around does not always come
around!
Proverbs
The book of Proverbs underwrites traditional, conventional or
unproblematic wisdom, do good and you will reap good, do bad and you will bear
the consequences. Chapters 1-9 (post-exilic), consists of longer reflections
and admonitions and an older part, chapters 10 ff. consisting of short
aphorisms or “proverbs” proper. The first part (ch 1-9) can be labelled “in
praise of wisdom,” it is all about “selling” wisdom to the inexperienced youth,
shaping them into wise and righteous people instead of godless fools. Wisdom
itself is often personified in female form to enhance its worth and
attractiveness (3:13ff). The short aphorisms of ch 10ff cover a wide array of
topics (family, wealth and poverty, rewards of right living, etc) and function
as typical truth sayings recommending good advice. Proverbs can be criticized
for being class biased, patriarchal and blindly accepting the doctrine of
retribution.
Job
The post-exilic book of Job rejects the doctrine of retribution or
conventional unproblematic wisdom thought and opts for protest wisdom instead. The book consists of a framing prose part
(ch 1-2; 42:7-17) setting the scene for the poetic dialogue (ch 3- 42:6) in
between. The core theme of Job is the problem of innocent suffering. Despite
living a pious and righteous life Job landed on the ash heap having lost
everything. He challenges his friends’ naïve deed-consequence explanations
(doctrine of retribution) and challenges God also. When God answers (ch 38 ff) Job
is taken on a tour through the wonders of creation, instead of directly answering
Job’s accusations. The point is clear: Job (and the rest of humankind implied)
is not the centre of the universe and the universe is managed well, despite
anomalies in the natural and (human) moral sphere. Accept it! And Job does this: “I heard of you by the
hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you…” (Job 42:6).
Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes or Qoheleth (“teacher”)
can be dated 300-250 BCE. Similar to Job this book reflects protest wisdom,
strongly exposing the doctrine of retribution. Other than Job who stays
optimistic Ecclesiastes comes across as rather pessimistic, even “fatalistic” and
agnostic—God is far away and unreachable. Two central metaphors determine the
book’s overall message: “Vanity of vanities: all is vanity” encloses the whole
book (Eccl 1:2 and 12:8) and the accompanying expression “chasing after wind.”
These central themes question the optimism of conventional wisdom: e.g. Eccl 7:15
“In my vain life I have seen everything: there are righteous people who perish
in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in
their evildoing.” Is there any solution to this stark, sombre outlook on life?
“Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry hart…Enjoy
life with the wife whom you love…Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your
might” (Eccl 9:7-10), but remember even here death is just around the corner.
Marcus Borg argues that this expression is neither hedonistic, nor going about
“grasping” (“rat race” of go-getters) as conventional wisdom would promote, but
it is about “living in the present” (“mindfulness!”). It is about “carpe diem,”
seize the day!
