The Encyclopedia of World Religions

476 S wisdom literature

Jesus Son of Sirach” (51.1). Not all of the advice translates well today. The section on children begins: “He who loves his son will whip him often, so that he may rejoice at the way he turns out.” Not all of Sirach is so brutal: “The whole of wis dom is fear of the Lord, and in all wisdom there is the fulfillment of the law” (19.20). Psalms is a collection of 150 hymns. Accord ing to tradition, King D AVID wrote them, but their true authorship is obscure. Some relate more spe cifically to wisdom themes than others. A good example of one that does is the first Psalm: “Happy are those . . . [whose] delight is in the Torah of YHWH, and on his Torah they meditate day and night.” Song of Songs is sometimes known as Can ticles or Song of Solomon. It got the last name because tradition suggested that Solomon wrote it, as he allegedly wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Wisdom of Solomon. Song of Songs is a col lection of love poetry. In much of it, one lover cel ebrates the beauty of the other. Jews have some times said that the book really celebrates YHWH’s love for his people, Christians that it celebrates the relationship of C HRIST and his church. Images and concepts in the wisdom books influenced J UDAISM and C HRISTIANITY . The books were also used in worship. For example, Song of Songs is used in the celebration of P ASSOVER , Ecclesiastes in the celebration of Sukkot or “Tab ernacles” ( see J EWISH FESTIVALS ). Wisdom litera ture also influenced G NOSTICISM . For Gnostics Sophia (Greek for “wisdom”) was no longer a creature who helped the creator god. She was his superior. She also provided the divine insight that would undo the mess that the creator had made of the world. Israel’s Wisdom Literature: A Liberation-Critical Reading (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997); H. Wayne Ballard Jr. and W. Dennis Tucker Jr., eds., An Introduction to Wisdom Literature and the Psalms, (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 2000); Roland E. Murphy, Wisdom Literature and Psalms (Nashville: Abingdon, 1983). Further reading: Dianne Bergant,

foolish and lazy suffer. The book personifies Wis dom as the first of God’s creations. Indeed, it says she helped God create the universe (Proverbs 8). It also teaches that “the fear of YHWH (”the Lord”) is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9.10). Job is much less complacent about prosperity and suffering. S ATAN , the accuser (not the devil), appears in God’s heavenly court. He questions whether Job is simply praising God because he is rich and enjoying life. God and Satan decide to check this out. Job loses his wealth, his children and grandchildren, and his health. The book then relates speeches by Job, several of his friends, and eventually God. These speeches raise the classic problem of THEODICY ; Why do good people suffer? The book does not answer this question. It simply shows that when Job is confronted with the maj esty of God, he is struck speechless. Ecclesiastes is even more pessimistic. It teaches that all is vanity, all must die. But this pessimism makes many passages in the book profound. Prob ably the most famous passage begins: “For every thing there is a season, and time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted . . .” (Ecclesiastes 3.1–2). The Wisdom of Solomon seems to present Jewish perspectives on Greek ideas. For example, some Greeks believed that the SOUL is immortal. The Wisdom of Solomon talks about immortality, too, but it links it to righteousness and unrigh teousness. “The righteous live forever, and their reward is with the Lord” (5.15). That is true even of righteous people who die young. The unrigh teous, however, those who pursue riches and fine living and oppress the poor, widows, orphans, and the old, will find that their good things sim ply vanish. They have made a covenant with death (1.16). Sirach resembles Proverbs, although it is less aphoristic. The section headings in the Greek text give an indication of its content: “Self-control” (18.30), “Discipline of the Tongue” (23.7), “The Praise of Wisdom” (24.1), “Concerning Children” (30.1), “Concerning Foods” (30.18), “Hymn in Honor of Our Ancestors” (44.1), and “Prayer of