{"id":1131,"date":"2021-08-05T03:34:50","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T03:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/?page_id=1131"},"modified":"2021-08-08T06:53:19","modified_gmt":"2021-08-08T06:53:19","slug":"wisdom-literature-overview-9","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/heavens-beauty.info\/wp-hb\/?page_id=1131","title":{"rendered":"Wisdom Literature Overview 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"For<\/span><\/p>\n

“<\/span><\/i>WISDOM LITERATURE OVERVIEW<\/span><\/b>“<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

This Old Testament literature deals mainly with the idea of wisdom. These include Job<\/b>, Proverbs<\/b>, and Ecclesiastes<\/b>, and parts of the Psalms<\/b> (such as Psalms 1<\/b>, 32<\/b>, 34<\/b>, 37<\/b>), and prophets<\/span> (the parables of Isaiah).<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Greek Old Testament<\/span> (and the English Apocrypha<\/span>), two additional books of wisdom are found. There are Ecclesiastics, a second-century BC work written by Jesus ben Sirach, and the Wisdom of Solomon, an anonymous work written during the Hellenistic period (when the Jews were conquered by the Greeks).<\/span><\/p>\n

PROVERBS<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Old Testament wisdom literature begins with Proverbs. Its wisdom has to do with morality\u2014the knowledge of how to live well\u2014not with high-flown speculation on the nature of reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

The starting point for all wisdom is the reverence (or \u201cfear\u201d<\/b>) of God. The book tries to show us the basic rules of good behavior\u2014integrity<\/b>, discipline<\/b>, justice<\/b>, and common sense<\/b>\u2014and the failure that awaits the fool<\/b>. Its wisdom was designed to be memorized by the young, who were educated at the feet of the wise men.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those who learned these truths by heart, the wisdom of the proverbs served as a moral and spiritual guide throughout life. There is a way to live successfully, a way governed by rules of right and wrong. The authors of Proverbs wrote to advise us how to live this life, the good life that followed the wisdom of the Creator of all life<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thus, the wise men of the proverbs were guides, in both their teaching and their writing; they did not build ingenious philosophical theories but communicated simple, practical wisdom on how to live. Wisdom is \u201cmore precious than jewels<\/b>, and nothing you desire can compare with her.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace\u201d (Proverbs 3:15-17<\/b>, RSV).<\/span><\/p>\n

ECCLESIASTES<\/span><\/strong> reflects the wisdom of a man who had lived long and seen the world from all perspectives. His faith was not the superficial, shallow faith of one who lived easily and believed lightly. The author of Ecclesiastes had seen that the righteous do not always prosper nor do the wicked always suffer. Too often the righteous suffer with no relief from their suffering, and the wicked enjoy carefree lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

The writer of Ecclesiastes sought justice, but as he observed the world through honest and objective eyes, he did not see that justice was always done. More than justice, he sought truth, but even truth in its ultimate perspectives eluded him. All was vanity, a grasping after the wind! Yet for all the negativity of Ecclesiastes, it is a magnificent monument of faith, a faith that held on to God despite the agony and pointlessness of a world filled with evil and vanity.<\/span><\/p>\n

This wise man could not soar with hope as the prophets did, but he could hold on to the fundamental truth of God when all else, including his ability to understand, failed. So the book of Ecclesiastes may become a close friend to those who see the world as it really is, in all its agony and apparent vanity. JOB While the writer of Ecclesiastes described the grief and sadness of the world from the perspective of an observer, Job described these things from within.<\/span><\/p>\n

Job describes a man who knew and lived the kind of practical wisdom reported in the book of Proverbs, but had an experience that called it all into question. He lost his possessions, property, prestige, children, and health\u2014and with the loss of his world, his wisdom seemed lost too. Job questioned the very beginning of all wisdom, God himself.<\/span><\/p>\n