Will Kynes - The Oxford Handbook of Wisdom and the Bible

The concept of wisdom holds a prominent place in the social and theological imagination of the biblical authors. Wisdom is presented as one of Gods defining characteristics (Isa 31:2; Job 12:13; cf. Rom 16:27), present with the deity at creation (Prov 3:19; 8:2731), 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 1:2225).

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 additional 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 conception 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 interpretation 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.

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: wisdoms association with skill and success in its advice, its connection to knowledge and revelation in its epistemology, its role in character formation as a virtue, its ligature with creation and covenant in its theology, and its encapsulation 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 concept of wisdom. Wisdom and Wisdom Literature no longer dance in quite as tight an embrace; how wisdoms 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.