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OT WISDOM LITERATURE Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs

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Based on the textbook, Grasping God's Word, these PPT slides review the chapter on wisdom literature and how to interpret it.

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Page 1: Herm wisom

OT WISDOM LITERATURE Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs

Page 2: Herm wisom

OT – WISDOM Introduction

You have persevered the end of this book!

“Of making may books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.” –Ecclesiastes 12:12b

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Purpose of the wisdom books

Law, narrative, and prophets stress “Believe!” and “Obey!” while wisdom stresses “Think!”

Call us to listen, look, think, and reflect

Offer practical insights for living

Goal is to develop wise and godly character for life in the real world

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The big picture Four wisdom books balance each other theologically.

Read each one in context of all four.

Proverbs

Rational norms of life (what normally happens). Does not present universals (what will always happen). Job

Righteous and wise suffer in ways that mere humans cannot understand.

Ecclesiastes

Failure of the rational, ordered approach to provide ultimate meaning to life. Meaning only comes through a relationship with God.

Song of Songs

Irrationality of romantic love between husband and wife.

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Wisdom as poetry A large portion of wisdom literature is poetry.

Wisdom books use parallelism as their standard structural feature.

The more emotional the tone, the more the book will use figurative language:

Less Emotionally Charged, More Emotionally Charged, Less Picture Language More Picture Language

Proverbs Ecclesiastes Job Song of Songs

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Grasping the wisdom books

Proverbs Proverbs – short, pithy sayings that teach practical wisdom

about life Individual proverbs reflect general nuggets of wisdom about

what normally happens in life (e.g., “Don’t be lazy! Work hard!”).

Proverbs are never to be taken as universal promises. The book of Proverbs does not deal with the exceptions to

the normal rules. Since each proverb presents a general principle, the river of

differences is usually quite narrow and shallow. But be careful how you define “blessing.”

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

ProverbsStep 1: Grasp the text in their town. Explore the literary context. Note the structure and basic units of the book.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

ProverbsStep 2: Measure the width of the river to cross. Note the agrarian context. Note references to kings.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

ProverbsStep 3: Cross the principlizing bridge. Typically the Proverb is already a general principle. Remember these are not universal promises.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

ProverbsStep 4: Consult the biblical map. Many themes of Proverbs are affirmed in the New

Testament. However, the theme of wealth as a blessing from God does

undergo an alteration.

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Job Job does all that Proverbs commands, but he receives dead

children, financial ruin, physical pain, and criticism from his friends.

Job is a story (in contrast to Proverbs) and we must take the literary context of narrative seriously:

1-2 Job is afflicted2-37 Job searches unsuccessfully for a rational answer38-42 God answers Job’s accusations42 Job’s friends are rebuked and Job is restored

The differences between the ancient audience and us are not great.

Lessons from Job: God is sovereign and we are notGod knows all and we know precious littleGod is always just, but does not always disclose his reasonsGod expects us to trust his character

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NT presents suffering as a normal feature of a godly life. Don’t repeat the mistake of Job’s friends and misuse biblical

truth. Book of Job teaches us that it is not wrong to cry out to God

in anger and frustration when unexplained tragedy strikes. Our focus in grief should not be on “why” but rather on God

and his character. Comforting friends is different from having all the answers.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

JobStep 1: Grasp the text in their town. Identify literary context. Central lessons not seen until 38:1-42:17. Job’s friends are negative characters not to be emulated.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

JobStep 2: Measure the width of the river to cross. Cannot assume all tragedy is connected to satanic

involvement.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

JobStep 4: Consult the biblical map. New Testament does not repeat the picture of peace and

prosperity as a result of righteous living.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

JobStep 4: Consult the biblical map. New Testament does not repeat the picture of peace and

prosperity as a result of righteous living.

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Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes (like Job) must be interpreted as a whole with

the ultimate answer coming at the very end. The book is full of satire, sarcasm, and cynicism. The “Teacher” or “Preacher” declares that a strictly rational

search for meaning is “meaningless.” At the end of the book, the Teacher comes to his conclusion:

“Fear God and keep his commandments.” Apart from God, not even wisdom can give life meaning. River normally shallow in Ecclesiastes except for a limited

concept of death and the afterlife. The NT adds that apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ,

life is meaningless; victorious after life Apart from a relationship with Christ, not even a college

degree can make life meaningful!

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

Song of SongsA collection of love poems between a young man and a young woman.

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Song of Songs Shocking book because it speaks openly and joyfully about

human sexuality (read 7:7-8). The book is organized into three sequential units:

1-3 Courtship3-5 Wedding5-8 Life of Love

Highly emotional and full of picture language as the man and woman describe their love for each other

Scholars today reject the allegorical interpretation A model of the joy and irrationality of a married couple

madly in love Wise and godly people should express their marital love in

strong, emotional (mushy?) terms. We suggest a little updating of the figurative language (hair

like a flock of goats?)

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

Song of SongsStep 1: Grasp the text in their town. Likely read or sung at weddings. A conversation between husband and wife.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

Song of SongsStep 2: Measure the width of the river to cross. Much of the imagery doesn’t communicate to the modern

reader.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

Song of SongsStep 3: Cross the principlizing bridge. The person seeking to live a wise, godly life should be

madly in love with her husband or his wife and should express this love in strong, emotional terms.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

Song of SongsStep 4: Consult the biblical map. The New Testament affirms this principle.

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GRASPING THE WISDOM BOOKS

Song of SongsStep 5: Grasp the text in their town. Married couples can apply it verbally expressing their

love to their spouse with romantic gestures.