This paper discusses the definition of wisdom and the study of modern wisdom literature, and holds that wisdom comes from father and clan, court and royal family, scribes and schools, as well as the genre, form and life situation of wisdom literature and the rhythm of Hebrew poetry. It also talks about the universality of wisdom literature: wisdom literature of ancient West Asia, ancient Egypt and ancient Canaan. It also talks about the position of wisdom literature in the canon: it is based on the fear of the Lord. Wisdom is not only a rational thinking activity of human beings, but also a manifestation of God's creation and governance of the world through human thinking and thinking.
The appropriateness of the wisdom literature in the Old Testament is rooted in a secular life created by believing in God, in which people enjoy all the beautiful things given by God. But this does not mean that everything in the world is beautiful, but that we can experience the beauty of God's governance in everything that happens. The order of the universe is to express theocracy and wisdom. When people follow the teachings of wisdom, people will live in harmony in the order of the universe.
Chapter II Proverbs
Proverbs is the oldest volume in ancient Israeli wisdom literature. Its literary genre is mainly divided into description and persuasion. The author is King Solomon. Wisdom is the most important thing in proverbs. It is the way to behave, the inherent quality to promote a happy life, and the skill to master the direction of life and move towards success. The center of this book is "The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge (wisdom)".
The purpose of proverbs is to persuade.
The theological theme of proverbs presupposes that God is the guarantor of the world, Israel is his people, and the wisdom and authority of proverbs are the life experiences of Israelis.
The causal law of wisdom literature is that everything is dominated by God, and God rewards good and punishes evil. However, the law of causality is not mechanical, and it does not rule out the possibility that the righteous will suffer and the wicked will gain, but this is temporary, so we should look at the end and end of people with eternal happiness. The law of causality is based on the order created by God. The fear of God will lead to the treasure of wisdom, the source of life, and all the benefits brought by the source: wealth, honor and dependent children.
The third chapter "The Book of Job"
The author and writing time of Job are unknown, and the literary genre is dialogue poetry and narrative.
The story of Job: Satan is tempted by God's permission to know whether Job fears God out of personal interests or because God is God, so he fears him. Job's wife lost faith in temptation and asked Job to curse God. Job's friends made mistakes when talking about God. Only job didn't lose heart. He obeyed God and refused to sue him. Finally, God rewarded Job. The conclusion of this experiment is: Job really regards God as a god.
In this story, the law of cause and effect that good people are rewarded cannot be applied to the ending of Job. Job's purity is not necessarily related to God's giving, and the ending of this story is a consideration of faith.
Job's theological theme is God and suffering, but it is not about the meaning of suffering, but the meaning of faith. Job's suffering lies in God. The Book of Job emphasizes giving up a mechanical universe and admits that some realities are incredible. So can we continue to trust and obey this incredible god? The author's answer is yes. This is not a simple and rational answer, but full of paradoxes and contradictions. Even job's confession in chapter 42 and verse 6 can't satisfy rational thinking. Job finally faced the problem confidently, established the sovereignty of God, the transience and ignorance of man, and also determined the bankruptcy of the traditional wisdom school.
Israel believes that everything comes from the Lord, and nothing will happen without God's permission. Satan is also a servant of God, carrying out God's will in anger. But his attack is under the control of God, and there is no evil force in this world that can be compared with the power of God. Suffering is God's test for Job and God's blessing for Job's makeup.
Chapter IV Ecclesiastes
The word Ecclesiastes means "gathering" in Hebrew, that is, the person who preaches at the gathering. The author may be Solomon.
Ecclesiastes ranks fourth in Jewish festivals and is sung in synagogues on the third day of the festival of tabernacles.
Ecclesiastes genre: proverbs, exhortations, speeches, questions, stories, sermons and autobiographies.
Ecclesiastes content: When everything is empty, labor, profit, life, laughter and happiness are all empty. However, vanity and happiness are inseparable among preachers, because people can't control their happiness without direct return. So people should eat, drink and be merry in time. Life itself is a gift, so eating, drinking and having fun are the conditions for the whole life to be reborn. There is also work, eating and drinking, and family life, all of which are the points of life. This is the meaning of life. Don't get ahead of everything in life. True wisdom is to know your ignorance. People should not get lost in depression. On the other hand, people should not think that life is in their hands. The meaning of life is to fear God.
The fourth chapter is the wisdom document of the Second Classics: Bensila's wisdom training.
Ben Silas' Wisdom Training was written by Ben Silas' grandfather, who translated his grandfather's wisdom training into Greek in the second century AD. The main contents are as follows:
1. Wisdom comes from God. Praise wisdom, seek wisdom and its blessings, and avoid things that are unfavorable to wisdom.
2. Be filial to parents, fulfill social responsibilities, be kind to the poor and avoid foolish behavior.
3, true and false friendship, and all kinds of improper things related to people's integrity.
4. Worship and sacrifice, praise God and praise the achievements of ancestors.
5, about women, making friends, funeral and other issues.
This book contains a wide range of contents, including reflections on God's philosophy, lectures on Jewish law, poems, lamentations and moral lessons.
The fifth chapter is wisdom literature II: Solomon's wisdom.
This book was written in Greek in Egypt a century before the Lord. The author was a Jew who had lived in Greece. The contents of this book are as follows:
The first paragraph: the pursuit of justice. A description of the wicked; God's creative will and how the devil leads mankind to death; The contrast between good and evil; The end of the wicked is destruction.
The second paragraph: The Book of Wisdom. Wisdom is better than everything, and it also has everything including eternal life. God is the source of wisdom, and wisdom has 2 1 attributes, which exert different virtues and make people become friends and prophets of God. God does not give wisdom, and man can accomplish nothing. Finally, it describes the salvation contribution of wisdom from creation to going out of Egypt.
The third paragraph: history books. By citing the event that the Israeli people left Egypt, it is said that Egypt was punished and Israel received all the blessings. In appendix 1, we talk about God's kindness, so that Israel can gain confidence and know that God is kind to them. Second, when it comes to idolatry, people worship all kinds of things in nature because they don't think deeply and don't understand the creator behind nature, which leads to all kinds of evils. Idolatry is the head of all evil.
Finally, the book ends with a compliment: "Lord, you value your people most, give them glory, never ignore them, and you will help them anytime and anywhere."
Solomon's purpose of wisdom and theology.
1 is the immortality of the soul, pointing out that death is not the end of man.
2. Causality will inevitably extend to the trial after death.
3. Wisdom is the penetration of justice, and wisdom lies in that justice will appear in it.
4. The essence of wisdom is transcendence and insight, which is one with God and fills the world. It is also the wisdom, thought, science and culture of the world. She is the spiritual mentor of human beings, the care of God for human beings, the entity of law and the eternal life of human beings.