THESIS NO.7
In contrast to so
called Historical books and the writings of the Prophets, Wisdom Literature
addresses itself to human beings rather than to Israelites. It also draws
heavily from much earlier Sumerio-Akkadian (Job, Qoheleth) and Egyptian
(Proverbs) models. We have to spell out the implication of this for
inter-religious dialogue. The understanding of Wisdom, as Personified (Pro 1:
20ff; 8:1-21; Sir 24), as pre-existent (Pro 8:22-31; Wis 9:10; 18: 14-15; Bar
3:29ff), and the identification of Wisdom with the Torah (Sir 24:23) have
influenced NT christological speculations.
Historical Books
The word history refers to past
actuality, to events which have in fact occurred. It is also used of the
process of discovering, interpreting and recording past actuality and of
finished product of these processes. History presupposes change. Without change
there can be no history. History's relationship to theology is further affected
by the fact that it is conventionally restricted to the study of human beings
and events and more particularly to events of significant social interaction
among human beings, to their impact on society and its impact on them. In Bible
we have 14 historical books in the Catholic canon, 12 books in the Protestant canon
and 8 books in the Jewish canon. And in the historical books we enter a
different world, where we can notice a continuous sketch of history that
embraced the Israel over the centuries. There are also continuous stretch of
literature from Deuteronomy or Joshua to 2 Kings. A continuous chronology is
more or less clearly recognizable. Thus we can say that historical books carry
the history of Israel. Therefore it is more relevant to Israelites rather than
to all human beings residing at different places of Earth.
Writings of Prophets
Prophets is one who has an immediate
experience of God, he is one to whom the holiness and will of God have been
revealed, he contemplates present and future through the eyes of God, he is
sent to remind men to their duty to God and to bring them back to obedience and
love. we have 16 books of the prophets in which we have 4 major prophets and 12
minor prophets. And their division is based on length and not on their
importance or significance. For the
convenience sake we have divided the prophets into two categories such
as pre-exilic and post exilic. The pre-exilic prophets belong to 7th
or 8th centuries and post exilic prophets are those who prophecized
after the exile 587/6 BC. And the message of prophets is ordinarily directed to
groups or rather to people as a whole (Jr 20:6 Am 7). The king responsible for
the whole nation is an exemption. But generally the message of prophets is
addressed to whole Nation. In every description of a prophets's call it is made
clear that his mission is to the Nation (Is 6:9; Ezk 2:3; Am 7:15) or in the
case of Jeremiah to all Nations. The writing prophets no longer play an active
part in politics but accomplish their purpose solely through their words. And
we can say prophets, who received God's call were mainly speaking to Israelites
rather than the human beings as a whole.
Though the prophet is sent to the
people of Israel, his vision, like the strong arm of God, which is his theme,
reaches more distant horizons. we can also say that prophecy was an officially
recognized institution of Israelite's religion (Dt 13: 1-6). And Prophets
played an important role in the religious development of Israel. They strove to
keep the nation faithful to true religion of Yahweh. Prophecy thus understood, an
d despite the similarities which may be traced with phenomenon, is a thing
peculiar to Israel, a providential instrument of God for the guidance of his
chosen people.
Wisdom Literature
Five books of the OT are called
wisdom books: Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes or Qoheleth, Ecclessiasticus or Ben
Sira, Wisdom with these some Psalms (Ps 5:139) and song of Songs are also
grouped. They represent a current of
thought also to be found in parts of the books of Tobit and Baruch. In the
impressive prologue to Proverbs (Pro 1-9), divine wisdom speaks as person, at
once present in God from eternity, and acting with him in the work of creation
(Pro 8: 22-31). In Job 28, Wisdom is presented as distinct from God who alone
knows where she lies hidden. In Sir 24, Wisdom says of herself that she has
come from the mouth of the most High, that her home is in heaven whence God
sends her to Israel. In Ws 7:22-8,1, she is an outpouring of the glory of the
Almighty, an image of His perfection. Thus wisdom as a divine attribute is
distinguished from him and assumes a personality of her own.
And wisdom literature of OT
seeks to educate a select group of
People. And they becomes expert in it.
They prefer to use only secular vocabulary. The goal of Wisdom is Anthropocentrism.
It means wisdom seeks what is good for human life, to prolong the life and to
ensure the highest quality of life. And conclusions are based on human
experience. Therefore we can say that wisdom generally addresses simple and
young people rather than academician or elites. And the wisdom literature was
taught more rigorously in a court schools as well as transmitted orally by
parents to children at home (Tob 4:1-9). Even though it has references to
Israelites it is more universal rather than particular. The content of
addresses are not intellectual nature nor scientific knowledge but prudence,
integrity and truth. Thus we can attribute certain international flair to
wisdom literature. This is shown by the appearance of non-Israelites such as
Agur and Lamel in Prov 30-31 and Job with his three friends, by the explicit
comparison of Solomon's wisdom to that of the people of the East and of Egypt
(IKgs 4:29-34) and by the obvious influence of extra biblical wisdom (Pro 28:
51-53).
Sumerio - Akkadian and Egyptian Models
The wisdom literature originated in
the clan or tribe with in which lessons would have been transmitted in the
home. And secondly in the court schools in which more technical instruction was
available. An analogy can be drawn between Israel and the countries of
Mesopotamia and Egypt, where schools certainly existed. Wisdom Literature
flourished through the ancient East. Egypt produced wisdom writings in every
period of its history. In Mesopotamia, from the Sumerian period onwards,
proverbs and fables were being composed, as well as poems on human suffering
showing affinities with Job. Mesopotamian wisdom made its influence felt in
Canon: Wisdom texts, written in Accadian, have been discovered at Ras Sharma.
From Aramaic speaking areas we have the wisdom of Ahikar, Assyrian in origin
and translated into several ancient languages. This wisdom ignores national
boundaries. It is not primarily religious in character, being concerned rather
with human solution. It treats of the meaning of life, not philosophically in
the Greek manner, but by appeal to experience. It offers the instructions for a
successful way of life and is furthermore the signs of a good education. It
teaches people how to conform to the order of the universe and should in theory
at least, confer the secret of happiness and success.
The Israelites were acquainted with
this wisdom. The highest praise the Bible can give to Solomon is that his
wisdom excelled the wisdom of the sons of the East and the Wisdom of Egypt (1Kg
5:10). Pro 22:17-23 very faithfully follows the Egyptian maxims of Amenemophis.
Proverbs includes the words of Agur (Pro 30: 1-14), the words of Lamel (Pro 31:
1-9) both form Massa, a tribe in Northern Arabia (Gn 25: 14). Though the wisdom
of Israel springs from the Sumareo-Akkadian
and Egyptian models, it is essentially distinctive, and the effects of
this become more marked as revelation progress. The contrast once drawn between
wisdom and folly now becomes an opposition between uprightness and vice,
between true religion and false. Real wisdom is found in the fear of God which
is the very foundation of true religion. The wisdom of the East may be called a
kind of humanism, the wisdom of Israel is a religious wisdom.
The oldest and simplest form of
wisdom literature is the mashal. And this is the title of the book we call
`proverbs' though strictly speaking the
mashal is a striking sentence that catches the imagination, a popular saying,
or maxim. The older collections in proverbs consist only of short sentences.
Later, the mashal develops into more elaborate forms, becoming parable,
allegory, discourse, agreement. This development, already perceptible in the
short appended sections of proverb and still more so in the prologue (Pro 1-9)
crystallizes in the subsequent books with job, the mashal becomes a great
literary composition.
Implication of this for inter-religious Dialogue
Inter-religious dialogue is that
method by which we try to understand other religious traditions and truths
submerged in them. With this dialogue the partners will be enlightened and will
be called to lead a life worthy of his or her own religion. In inter religious
dialogue boundaries of each religion are broken. And it gives more space to
human beings rather than the institutions of each religions. Thus it is people
oriented rather than establishment oriented.
The pattern of wisdom literature,
which addresses human beings and establish a universal appeal rather than a
national appeal,is fully realized in the inter religious dialogue. As wisdom
literature took inspiration from non-Jewish traditions the church can also
recognize the element of truth present in the other religions. The wisdom
literature further advise us to have inclusivistic attitude in our
exclusivistic behavioral pattern. Thus we can make a step forward towards the
realization of unity in diversity.
The Undt(ing) of Wisdom as Personified (Pro 1: 20ff;
8:1-21; Sir 24)
The personification of wisdom had
literary antecedents in Egypt, where justice - truth was personified as Maath.
The imitation, however, is not slavish, it transformed by his Yahwistic faith.
In Pro 1:20ff; 8:1-21, the figure of lady wisdom emerges more clearly. She
speaks in the style of an OT prophet threatening her audience, should they not
heed her; she will laugh at their doom, just as the Lord laughs at his enemies
(Pro 1: 26). But she offers peace and security to those who obey her. And she
is present in public places and court rooms to help common people. she also act
as a councillor to rulers (Pro 1: 12-21) as an instructess. Thus we can see the
wisdom role in human affairs. The truth she proclaims is more valuable than
silver or gold, and she loves those who love her (Pro 8: 17).
(Sir 24):- The description of her in Sir 24 is also
elaborate. She speaks in the presence of the heavenly court and her message is
for all who desire her (Sir 24: 2&19). And Sir 24:3-22 gives a sketch of
self presentation of wisdom. It is presented in 22 parts or stanza with 22
alphabets of Hebrew language. And we can also notice the vertical (Sir 24: 4-5)
and horizontal (Sir 24:6) movement of wisdom to signify the cosmic dimension of
wisdom. And her dwelling place is on Earth, is Israel (Sir 24:8). And wisdom
came from the mouth of the most High and covered the Earth like mist to give
blessing.
Wisdom as Pre-existent (Pro 8:22-31; Wis 9:10; 18:14-15;
Bar
3: 29ff)
(Pro 8:22-31):- No fever than six times does she affirm her existence before
creation. Here the speaker is wisdom herself; she sings her own praise and
explains her relationship with God, in whom she has been from all eternity and
whom she assisted when he made the world (Pro 8:22-31). She is described as moñ (Pro 8:30), a word of uncertain meaning: either
crafts wo(man) or nursling. Her precise role in the fact of creation remains
unclear. However she have a role in the created world, for her delight is to be
with human beings (Pro 8:31)
(Wis 9:10; 18:14-15):- Wisdom, who knows what is pleasing to God is asked by Solomon to send
wisdom, so that she may be with Solomon and disclose what is pleasing to God,
so that Solomon may rule over God's people justly. Thus wisdom is personified
as the one who is with God . This shows wisdom had pre-existence along with
God.
(Wis 18:14-15):- The description we need in this passage is inspired by (Ex.12:23; Job
4:13-15; IChr 21: 15-27). It is also an echo of (Wis 5: 18-21). In v.15 we see
the term `word'. In OT Yahweh's word was regarded as the executor of divine
judgements (Hos 6:5; Jer 23:29). This word can be understood as wisdom, who was
with God. Thus wisdom had a pre-existence along with God.
(Bar 3:29ff):- The book of Baruch one of the Deutro-canonical book contains a wisdom
poem (Bar 3:9-4:4) in which wisdom is identified with the law. In this poem, as
elsewhere in the OT (Pro 8:1-36; Sir 24:1-22), wisdom is personified and
endowed with quasi-divine attributes. And no one can achieve wisdom by his own
efforts; God alone can bestow it. He has chosen to bestow it on the jewish
people, to whom was given the law,the source of deliverance from present
difficulties. If God can only bestow wisdom to us it rest with wisdom.
Therefore wisdom has an existence with God.
Identification of Wisdom with Torah (Sir 24:23)
Ben Sira's original contribution is
to identify wisdom with law of Moses (24, 23-24). Unlike his predecessors: he
integrates wisdom into the tradition of reverence for the law. Further he
identifies observance of the law with a punctilious performance of religious
duties. V.23 says that true wisdom is the book of covenant. It is the precept
of the law. And the precept of the law is divine revelation. And v.23bc is a
direct quotation of (Deut 33:4). After journeying through the heavens and the
abyss, she obeys the wish of the creator to take up her dwelling in Jacob (24:
8-10). This residence makes possible the explicit identification of lady wisdom
with Torah (24:23). The identification with Torah is not taken up in (wd 7-9),
instead, her intrinsic qualities are developed.
Christological Application
The wisdom as personified and
pre-existent has influenced N.T. Christological speculations such as the
pre-existent Christ, New Mosses, New Messiah, Priest and Wisdom. Thus
historical, prophetical, priestly and wisdom role of Christ is influenced by
wisdom literature. The Christ as pre-existent like wisdom, is seen in John's
Gospel. Jn 1:1-2 says that Logos was with God. This is parallel to (Sir 24:
3&8&10). Jn 1:18 says son is going into the bosom of the Father. This
is showing the ascending nature of Christology. This is taken from (Sir 24:15)
where wisdom symbolize the incense, which indicates the returning of wisdom to
God. Thus John borrowed the language of wisdom to describe his Christology.
Similarly Paul also did. He wrote in Colossians (Col 1:15-20) that Christ is
the image of the unseen God and the first born of all creation, which he
borrowed from (Ws 7:26). Thus wisdom literature contributed to the development
of N.T. christology.
Jesus is Presented as New Moses in John's Gospel:-
He says (Jn 1:17) "the law was given
through Moses but grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ". John
further says "As Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, the son of man
be lifted up" (Jn 3:14). This he took from (Wis 16: 5-7). John again says "If
you really believed Moses, you would believe Jesus too" (Jn 5:46). Thus he
is the new Mosses. Paul also present Jesus as the new Moses (ICor 10:2). Thus
we get a historical being in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is presented as New Messiah:- This was firstly states in John's Gospel by the mouth
of Andrew. (Jn 1:41) says "we have found the Messiah which means the
Christ". This is further affirmed by the Samaritan Woman, who says "I
know that messiah - that is Christ - is coming; and when he comes he will
explain everything" (Jn 4:25). Thus Jesus' Prophetical role is emphasized
here. And Jesus' prophetical role is very well evident in the sermon on the
mountain. (Mt 5: 1-11).
Jesus as the Priest:- The letter to the Hebrews depict Christ as the high priest over all
the sanctuary of God (Heb 10:21). And Christ's priesthood remains for ever, and
has a perpetual priesthood (Heb 7:24).
Jesus as Wisdom:- The interpretation of wisdom as a communication of God's continued in
the Christian tradition. Christ is called the wisdom of God in (Icor 1:24) and
(Heb 1:3) seems to reflect (Wis 7:25-26). The role of Lady wisdom in the
development of Christology is an important chapter in the history of theology.
No comments:
Post a Comment