Israelite wisdom literature, David Penchansky argues, records the disputes of ancient sages over basic human questions: What is the purpose of life? Is God just? Why do we suffer? Does God even exist? Penchansky sees conflicting answers to these questions in Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ben Sira, and the Wisdom of Solomon — and does not try to harmonize them. Instead, he finds meaning in the very dissonance and contradiction within these texts. Employing the latest scholarship yet remaining accessible to nonspecialists and students, Penchansky strikingly focuses on the "big picture" behind wisdom literature — making it easy for readers to follow and appreciate these challenging texts — without undermining each book's distinctive features. In the process, Penchansky opens up this rich and fertile vein of Israelite thought and demonstrates the renewed relevance of ancient Hebrew wisdom for today.

Understanding Wisdom Literature

Conflict and Dissonance in the Hebrew TextBy David Penchansky

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company

Copyright © 2012 David Penchansky
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8028-6706-3

Contents

Abbreviations.........................................................................................ixAcknowledgment........................................................................................xiiIntroduction..........................................................................................11. Who Are the Sages?.................................................................................112. What Unity in Proverbs?............................................................................223. The Meaning of the Book of Job.....................................................................354. Wisdom, Madness, and Folly: The Three Qoheleths....................................................505. Sounds of Silence: The Absence of Covenantal Theology in the Wisdom Literature.....................646. Sophia and Simon: The Two Poles of Ben Sira's Affection............................................867. The Conservatism of Pseudo-Solomon.................................................................96Conclusion............................................................................................111Bibliography..........................................................................................114Subject and Author Index..............................................................................125Scripture Index.......................................................................................127

Chapter One

Who Are the Sages?

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. GENESIS 3:1

"But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth." 2 SAMUEL 14:20

The sage, or wizard, takes prominent place in the stories of many cultures. From Merlin, Gandalf, and Dumbledore in the Anglo-American tradition to the placid Zen monks who lived in Japanese villages, there have been individuals with a deeper understanding of things, people who give advice. They knew how things worked and the right thing to do.

Wisdom begins in the family, in the villages and tribes. This happens three ways. First, parents share their wisdom and experience with children. Second, older people in the community serve as a source of wisdom to the younger generations. Finally, the villagers regard certain individuals within their community as wise, and a source of good judgment. People go to them with problems, disputes, and questions. Among the wisdom books, certain parts of the book of Proverbs reflect these early forms of wisdom. This localized, informal wisdom activity continued throughout Israel's history, but except for the book of Proverbs, no one preserved their insights in written form.

During the Israelite monarchy there emerged a professional sage class. Many biblical wisdom scholars question this, but the circumstantial evidence supports their existence. This professional class wrote and edited early forms of the books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. The authors of these wisdom books were sages, "the wise," who served as the "wizards" of ancient Israel. They wrote the wisdom books during a period that spanned no more than a few hundred years. It should have been relatively easy to examine these works and determine who wrote them, why, and what was happening at the time. It should be easy, but it is not. The authors of the first three wisdom books deliberately concealed their identity.

Why would these authors not want people to know who they were? Perhaps the sages thought that by avoiding specific references to their identity and time of writing, they demonstrated the more universal nature of their work. They did not intend their writing for Israel only. It was meant for all peoples and for all time. It was not meant for Israel in particular, so the first three books scarcely give a hint of the authors' own national identity. For example, Job was an Edomite (from a land due south of Israel), and from even further south, in Egypt, the Israelite sages freely borrowed Egyptian proverbs for their collections.

This makes it difficult to determine the identity and nature of these authors. Therefore, one finds out more about the characteristics of the sages, "the wise," by looking at things written about them, rather than what they wrote themselves. The group responsible for the wisdom books made its presence felt in other Israelite literature of the same period. The following features in nonwisdom books suggest the presence of a wisdom ideology: use of wisdom vocabulary; reference to individuals known as "the wise" (Heb. Fakam); individuals who give advice, wisdom, or counsel to kings; narratives where characters stand out as especially wise; or members of a guild who are initiate in secret wisdom, such as magicians.

There are two different, broad ways that scholars have regarded the presence of "wisdom" perspective in the rest of the Bible. Some claim that the sages influenced the composition of many biblical books. An alternate approach claims that individuals who wrote the wisdom books were not "the wise," but rather were part of a broad intellectual movement, not a wisdom "class" but an intellectual tradition. Whether these wisdom books were written by "the wise" or by otherwise employed, educated Israelites, wisdom and wisdom influence were to be found in many parts of the Bible. For instance, British scholar Norman Whybray wrote about wisdom influence in the David story (1 Samuel 16–1 Kings 1). Because the narrative dealt in morally ambiguous ways with a whole host of situations, he claimed it would be especially useful for the instruction of scribes. Eager young students who read the courtly advice in Proverbs would consult these novelistic treatments about Joseph and David (now in Genesis and 2 Samuel), which functioned as "case studies." Whybray and others believe that wisdom tradition is the invisible hand that formed much of the Hebrew Bible. After Whybray, scholars began to see wisdom influence in many places in the Bible. They claimed that wisdom perspective pervades the whole of the Hebrew canon, noting, for instance, proverblike language in the prophets. For instance, in both Proverbs and Amos we find the same type of numerical proverb:

The leech has two daughters; "Give, give," they cry. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough." (Prov 30:15)

Similarly in Amos one reads:

Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. (Amos 2:6)

These wisdom scholars find in the Joseph story in Genesis an exemplary tale of a courtly sage:

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has shown you all this, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. (Gen 41:39-40)

In the story of David, wise counselors appear at moments of crisis in both David's political and family dramas. (I examine them in detail below.)

Both the books of Proverbs and Job contain accounts of the creation of the universe. In Job it says:

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements ... when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4-7)

In Proverbs, Woman Wisdom speaks:

When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, ... When he established the heavens, I was there.... (Prov 8:24-28)

That draws attention to Genesis:

... the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2)

Perhaps then both the sages (who wrote Proverbs and Job) and the author of Genesis 1 drew from the same source and were part of the same group. The approach of Whybray and others to understanding the sages in other parts of the Bible claims that wisdom had a strong and positive presence in the Bible.

James Crenshaw demonstrated the deficiencies of this suggestion. He examined many of the examples of so-called "wisdom influence" and found them unconvincing. He asserted that many of the "wisdom words" found outside of the wisdom books have a common usage throughout the Israelite culture, and their presence alone does not necessarily suggest authorship by a wisdom group.

Rather than seeing the rest of the Bible as wisdom-shaped, the second approach to understanding the sages is quite the opposite. It notes instead that many biblical authors regarded "the wise" with disdain and hostility. If this is the case (and I think it is), then we have a treasure trove of testimony as to the role and function of "the wise" in ancient Israel. That it comes from those who thought the wise a bad influence on the Israelite youth makes it that much more interesting to examine first. One learns most from those who are not prone to flattery.

The following are biblical passages that suggest (a) the existence of a group of sages and (b) that they are regarded as a negative or questionable influence in ancient Israel.

The first sage in the Bible is the serpent who speaks to Eve in the garden of Eden. The serpent is not Satan, or the devil, although Christians and Muslims have commonly interpreted the story this way. Rather, the text of Genesis says that the serpent is a "wild animal that the Lord God made" (Gen 3:1). Why would the writer take pains to make this point about the serpent, unless to argue against someone who might have claimed the opposite, that the serpent is a divine or supernatural being? The writer of Genesis 2–3 insists that the serpent is not a supernatural being, but rather one of the animals.

However, this animal talks and seems to be intelligent. The writer explains this by describing the serpent as crafty. "Crafty" (Heb. 'arum) is a word with many shades of meaning. The Hebrew word has a very similar import to the English word "crafty." Both may mean sneaky, underhanded, or deceptive, but also skillful, competent, and even wise. The serpent is just a beast, but a particularly wise one. And just like a sage advising a king, the serpent gives advice to the first humans. The depiction of the serpent in Genesis reflects upon sages who advise kings, and who claim special insight into the ways things work in the world.

This garden of Eden story that the Israelites told reflected their ambiguous relationship with the wisdom tradition and to the sages. Yahweh had said that the tree would kill them. The serpent told the woman that contrary to what Yahweh had said, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would not kill them. Rather, they would become wise like Yahweh, and that was the reason Yahweh did not want them to eat from it. Surprisingly, the serpent told only truth to the first woman. They did not die. Eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil did open their eyes, and they did become like God, knowing good and evil. So the wise counselor had given sage advice. He told them, "Do not listen to Yahweh, but instead use your own senses and reasoning to make an intelligent decision." However, the first humans felt shame after eating the fruit and accused each other. Harmony was broken. They proved incapable of clothing themselves. They used leaves. Yahweh clothed them properly with animal skins. The serpent did not warn them of these negative consequences. The writer of this story suspected that wisdom, or counsel from the wise, might lead to harm.

In another example, Amnon, the oldest son of King David, wants his half-sister Tamar in marriage. Such a union seems forbidden to him, and he is sick with desire for her. Only when a cousin and friend, Jonadab, gives him advice does he get what he wanted. Jonadab is described by the narrator as "a very wise person" (2 Sam 13:3-5) (Heb. hakam me'od). The advice he gives enables Amnon to seduce and rape the young Tamar. That is not a very satisfactory endorsement of hakam. Subsequently, Absalom, Tamar's full brother, murders Amnon, and David banishes his surviving son from Jerusalem.

Next, Joab, King David's military commander, hires an unnamed wise woman (Heb. 'ishsha hakamah) of Tekoa to convince the king to absolve the murderer of Amnon and lift his banishment. Through her flattery of the king ("But my lord has wisdom [Heb. hakam] like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth" [2 Sam 14:20]), she persuades him to lift the banishment. Absalom returns and subsequently organizes a rebellion against the king so that David had to flee his capital and run to save his life. One of David's counselors (Heb. yo'ets, another wisdom word), Ahithophel joins the rebellion against his former employer. Ahithophel advises Absalom to march against David while the king's army is weary and in retreat, but a spy planted by David gives "better advice." When Ahithophel sees that his counsel (Heb. 'etsah) is not taken and that Absalom's army is destroyed, the sage commits suicide (2 Samuel 15–17).

The prophets First Isaiah (eighth century) and Jeremiah (sixth century) strongly criticize the hakam. The Israelite prophets and the sages had a long-standing feud based on their fundamentally different orientations. The prophets received their information as direct revelation from God. The sages believed their messages came from their own careful observation and power to reason. The prophets were nationalists and believed their nation destined to dominate and rule the other nations. The sages were more open to other cultures, particularly those that had a long wisdom tradition like their own. Proverbs 22:17–24:22 are copied and adapted from the Egyptian Instructions of Amenhotep. This was acceptable practice when Egypt was an ally of Judah, but when the pharaoh became an enemy, the prophets questioned the sages' loyalty. Isaiah says:

Alas for those who go down to Egypt for help and who rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord! Yet he too is wise and brings disaster. (Isa 31:1-2)

"He too is wise." That statement drips with contempt for the people who claim to have a reliable source of wisdom or identify themselves as the wise. Yahweh too is wise, Isaiah says, and he will see to their destruction.

Oh, rebellious children, says the Lord, who carry out a plan (Heb. 'etsah), but not mine; who make an alliance, but against my will, adding sin to sin; who set out to go down to Egypt without asking for my counsel, to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt. (Isa 30:1-2)

The key word is "plan," spoken ironically, addressed to those who ordinarily give counsel, like Ahithophel. Isaiah accuses them of making plans against Yahweh's will.

Jeremiah says,

The wise (hakamim) shall be put to shame, they shall be dismayed and taken; since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what wisdom is in them? (Jer 8:9)

In what way did they "reject Yahweh's word"? There was a live political debate taking place in the courts of the king of Judah (as there was in every other petty kingdom in that region) about whether to seek an alliance with one of the other superpowers against the burgeoning threat of Babylon. From Jeremiah's perspective, the tide was turning, and one should join one's fortunes to the Babylonian emperor. The sages took the opposite approach, advising a strategic alliance with the Egyptians. For Jeremiah, that constituted "rejecting Yahweh's word."

In both First Isaiah and Jeremiah, widely apart in time, the prophet attacks a group of people called the wise, who give counsel to kings and who support a strategic alliance against a northern threat. In the case of First Isaiah, the threat was from the Assyrians, and in the case of Jeremiah, the Babylonians. The fact that neither prophet likes or approves of "the wise" is not an argument against their existence. The attitude of these prophets fits nicely with the depiction of the wise in the other stories we have cited. They suggest that at the time of their writing a group of the wise struggled against certain prophets regarding the proper foreign policy towards the superpowers in a time of struggle and transition.

There is only one positive portrayal of a sagelike figure in the Hebrew Bible. In Egypt, in the story of Joseph (Genesis 37-50), Joseph's skills compete with the wisdom of the court magicians. The narrator describes Joseph's adversaries collectively as "the wise ones and the sorcerers/magicians." However, the narrator specifies that Joseph gets his wisdom from God and not from observation or wisdom tradition. "And Joseph said to them, 'Do not interpretations belong to God?'" (Gen 40:8); "'It is not I; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer'" (Gen 41:16).

Whereas the wise and the magicians are unable to interpret the Pharaoh's dreams, the Hebrew prisoner Joseph can. Does that make Joseph a superior wizard? Wisdom scholars argue: Is the Joseph story in the Bible a paradigmatic wisdom tale, and is Joseph the ideal wise courtier? Why bray suggests that the story of Joseph was used as a textbook in wisdom schools, in order to teach young men how to serve as effective courtiers to the king. Joseph advises the king, and his advice is wise. Joseph saves the kingdom from a terrible famine, enriches the Pharaoh, and strengthens his authority.

Joseph is expert at interpreting dreams, but it is not his wisdom that enables him to see their meaning. Rather, Yahweh reveals the meaning of the Pharaoh's dream. This is more the way a prophet receives messages from God. If Joseph acted like a sage he would say, "I will figure out the dreams based on my experience interpreting other people's dreams, and because I have been initiated into a guild of people who interpret dreams." Joseph says, rather, "Do not interpretations belong to God?" He appears more a prophet than a sage.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Understanding Wisdom Literatureby David Penchansky Copyright © 2012 by David Penchansky. Excerpted by permission of William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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