The Oxford Handbook of Wisdom and the Bible

713 Pages·2021·4.526 MB·English

by  Will Kynes (editor)

The Oxford Handbook of
W I S D O M A N D
T H E B I B L E

The Oxford Handbook of
WISDOM AND
THE BIBLE
Edited by
WILL KYNES
1
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.
© Oxford University Press 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction
rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kynes, Will, 1981– editor.
Title: The Oxford handbook of wisdom and the Bible / edited by Will Kynes.
Description: New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2021] | Includes
bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020035227 (print) | LCCN 2020035228 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780190661267 (hardback) | ISBN 9780190661281 (epub) |
ISBN 9780190661298 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Wisdom literature—Criticism, interpretation, etc. |
Wisdom—Religious aspects. | Wisdom—Biblical teaching.
Classification: LCC BS1455.O94 2021 (print) | LCC BS1455 (ebook) |
DDC 223/.06—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035227
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020035228
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc., United States of America
To Vanessa,
who has embodied the delightful blessings of wisdom in my life.
Get wisdom; get insight: do not forget, nor turn away
from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
love her, and she will guard you.
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
and whatever else you get, get insight.
Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
She will place on your head a fair garland;
she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.
Proverbs 4:5–9

Preface
The concept of wisdom holds a prominent place in the social and theological imagina-
tion of the biblical authors. Wisdom is presented as one of God’s defining characteristics
(Isa 31:2; Job 12:13; cf. Rom 16:27), present with the deity at creation (Prov 3:19; 8:27–31),
the product of obedience to the Torah (Deut 4:6; Ps 119:98), and a divine gift (Prov 2:6;
Jas 1:5). It is identified with the fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7; 9:10; Job 28:28; Ps 111:10),
righteousness (e.g., Prov 10:31), and life (Prov 13:14), as well as with skill in practical matters,
such as spinning yarn (Exod 35:25), sailing ships (Ezek 27:8), proper speech (Prov 12:18;
29:11), and amassing wealth (Ezek 28:4; Prov 8:18). The wise, those who possess wisdom
in special measure, are respected for their just judgments (1 Kgs 3:28) and insightful
counsel (Jer 18:18). In the New Testament, wisdom is associated with Christ (1 Cor 1:24,
30), and is one of the attributes for which he receives eternal worship (Rev 5:12). The
Christian community is expected to be characterized by its own distinctive wisdom
(Jas 3:13, 17), different from that of the Greeks (1 Cor 1:22–25).
Within biblical scholarship, the discussion of wisdom and the Bible has been primarily
oriented around Wisdom Literature as a category of biblical texts centered around
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job, though sometimes including Psalms and Song of Songs,
as well as Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon, and even spreading its “influence” into addi-
tional texts across the canon. These texts have been associated with a group called “the
wise” in the Hebrew Bible, who are credited with promulgating a “Wisdom” tradition,
with its own distinct theological beliefs and literary forms of expression. Therefore, this
volume includes chapters on features of Wisdom Literature as a category (Part IV), its
relationship to other types of literature in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple period
(Part V), and each of the texts commonly associated with it (Part VI).
However, as becomes evident in a number of these chapters (especially those in Part
V), a focus on Wisdom Literature as a category will leave features of the biblical concep-
tion of wisdom in the blurry periphery of our vision. The field is currently in the midst of
a spirited debate about the value and validity of this category. Oxford Handbooks are
designed both to reflect the current state of the discipline and to help shape its future.
That makes this an ideal forum in which to carry out this debate. Contributors to this
volume represent the full range of opinions on the future of Wisdom Literature, from
those who think it should be discarded as a distorting hindrance to the accurate inter-
pretation of the biblical texts associated with it and the concept of wisdom it purports to
illuminate, to those who would maintain it for its heuristic value as the encapsulation of
distinct features the texts share and a window into the social world behind them.
viii preface
This volume is not designed to take a particular position in this debate, but it does
take advantage of the space the new questions being raised about the Wisdom category
has created to think anew about wisdom as a concept. As the introductory chapter
explains, the study of Wisdom Literature does not completely comprehend the study of
wisdom as a concept in the Bible and related cultures, and yet concept and category
remain intertwined, such that their treatment in a common volume is fitting.
Therefore, the first half of the volume focuses on wisdom as a concept. As interpreters
have attempted to describe this jewel of biblical thought, they have focused attention on
several of its glimmering facets: wisdom’s association with skill and success in its advice,
its connection to knowledge and revelation in its epistemology, its role in character for-
mation as a virtue, its ligature with creation and covenant in its theology, and its encap-
sulation of retribution and skepticism in its vision of order. Part I of this volume
considers each in turn.
A concept of such significance cannot be understood simply within the constraints of
the biblical canon. Part II examines how, dropped into an ancient world already awash
with reflection on wisdom, the biblical conception ripples through cultures shaped by
the Hebrew Bible. Part III, then, explores the continuing relevance of wisdom in the
modern world, both in the three “Religions of the Book” Islam, Judaism, and Christianity,
and in a sampling of ideological and contextual perspectives. As in the second half of the
volume focused on Wisdom Literature as a category, the contributors who reflect on
wisdom as a concept in the three parts in this first half represent a range of views on the
validity of the Wisdom category and therefore its value for illuminating the biblical con-
cept of wisdom. Wisdom and Wisdom Literature no longer dance in quite as tight an
embrace; how wisdom’s steps may change if no longer led by Wisdom Literature and
whether Wisdom Literature will even remain on the floor still remain to be seen.
I am grateful to Steve Wiggins at Oxford University Press for initiating and guiding
this project to completion. I am also indebted to Katharine J. Dell, Stuart Weeks, and
Mark Sneed for offering their insight on the topics to be covered in the volume and its
structure. I was incredibly fortunate to be joined in this endeavor by a group of contrib-
utors who represent so well the breadth and depth of wisdom. I would also like to thank
my research assistant at Samford University, John Pawlik, who worked with the dili-
gence endorsed by Proverbs to help prepare the volume for publication.
Contents
List of Abbreviations xiii
List of Contributors xix
1. Wisdom and Wisdom Literature: Past, Present, and Future 1
Will Kynes
PART I THE CONCEPT OF WISDOM
IN THE HEBREW BIBLE
2. Advice: Wisdom, Skill, and Success 17
Jacqueline Vayntrub
3. Epistemology: Wisdom, Knowledge, and Revelation 29
Annette Schellenberg
4. Virtue and Its Limits in the Wisdom Corpus: Character Formation,
Disruption, and Transformation 45
William P. Brown
5. Theology: Creation, Wisdom, and Covenant 65
Raymond C. Van Leeuwen
6. Order: Wisdom, Retribution, and Skepticism 83
Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger
PART II THE CONCEPT OF WISDOM
IN RELATED CULTURES
7. Wisdom in Egypt 103
Joachim Friedrich Quack
8. Mesopotamian Wisdom Literature 121
Yoram Cohen and Nathan Wasserman