Reference: Wisdom
Hastings
The great literary landmarks of the 'wisdom' teaching are the Books of Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, and the Wisdom of Solomon. This literature, in its present form at least, belongs to the latter half of the Persian period and to the Greek period of Jewish history. But behind this latest and finest product of the Hebrew mind there lay a long process of germination. In the pre-exilic history there are traces of the presence of the 'wisdom' element from early times. This primitive 'wisdom' was not regarded as an exclusively Israelitish possession, but was shared with other nations (1Ki 4:30-31; Ge 41:8; Jg 5:29; Jer 10:7; Eze 27:8). In Israel it was confined neither to rank (1Ki 10:28; De 16:19; Job 32:9) nor to sex (2Sa 14:1 ff; 2Sa 20:22); but it was particularly characteristic of 'the elders' (De 1:16; Job 12:12; 32:7), and in course of time seems to have given rise to a special class of teachers known as 'the Wise' (Jer 18:18).
Early 'Wisdom' was varied in character and of as wide a scope as the range of human activities. It thus included the most heterogeneous elements: e.g. mechanical skill (1Ki 7:14), statecraft (1Ki 5:12), financial and commercial ability (Eze 28), political trickery (1Ki 2:6), common sense and tact (2Sa 14; 20:14-22), learning (1Ki 3:16-28), military skill and administrative ability (Isa 10:13), piety (De 4:6), and the creative energy of God (Jer 10:12). In short, any capacity possessed in an exceptional degree was recognized as 'wisdom,' and was regarded as the gift of God. But there was already manifest a marked tendency to magnify the ethical and religious elements of 'wisdom,' which later came to their full recognition.
In pre-exilic Israel, however, 'wisdom' played a relatively small part in religion. The vital, progressive religious spirit exhausted itself in prophecy. Here was laid the foundation of all the later 'wisdom.' Not only laid the prophets hand down the literary forms through which the sages expressed themselves, e.g. riddle (Jg 14:14-18), fable (Jg 9:3-15), parable (2Sa 12:1-3; Isa 5:1-5), proverb (1Sa 10:12; Jer 31:29), essay (Isa 28:23-29), lyric, address, etc., but they also wrought out certain great ideas that were presupposed in all the later 'wisdom.' These were: (a) monotheism, which found free course in Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, and Deutero-Isaiah; (b) individualism, or the responsibility of the individual before God for his own sins and for the sins of no one else
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And it happened [that] in the morning his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called all of the magicians of Egypt, and all its wise men, and Pharaoh told his dream to them. But {they had no interpretation} for Pharaoh.
And at that time I instructed your judges, saying, '{hear out your fellow men}, and [then] judge fairly between a man and between his brother and between {his opponent who is a resident alien}.
And {you must observe them diligently}, for that [is] your wisdom and your insight before the eyes of the people, who will hear all [of] these rules, and they will say, 'Surely this great nation [is] a wise and discerning people.'
You shall not subvert justice; you shall not {show partiality}; and you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe makes blind [the] eyes of [the] wise and misrepresents [the] words of [the] righteous.
And his mother's relatives spoke all these words concerning him {to} all the lords of Shechem; and {they supported Abimelech}, for they said, "He is our relative." And they gave to him seventy [pieces of] silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hired with them worthless and reckless men, and {they followed him}. read more. And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerub-Baal survived, because he hid himself. All the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo gathered, and they went and made Abimelech as king, near [the] oak of [the] pillar that [is] at Shechem. And they told Jotham, and he went up and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and {he cried out loud} and said to them, "Listen to me, lords of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. "The trees went certainly, to anoint a king over themselves. And they said to the olive tree, 'Rule over us.' And the olive tree replied, 'Should I stop [producing] my oil, which by me gods and men are honored, to go sway over the trees?' Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You, come rule over us.' But the fig tree said to them, 'Should I stop [producing] my sweetness, and my good crop, to go sway over the trees?' And the trees said to the vine, 'You, come rule over us.' But the vine said to them, 'Should I stop [producing] my wine that makes the gods and men happy, to go sway over the trees?' So all the trees said to the thornbush, 'You, come rule over us.' And the thornbush said to the trees, 'If in good faith you [are] anointing me as king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; if not, may fire go out from the thornbush and devour the cedars of Lebanon.'
He said to them, "From the eater came out food, From [the] strong came out sweet." But they were unable to explain the riddle for three days. When it was the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband and tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us to rob us?" read more. And Samson's wife wept before him, and she said, "You must hate me; you do not love me. You told the riddle to {my people}, but you have not explained [it] to me." He said to her, "I have not explained [it] to my father and mother. [Why] should I explain it to you?" She wept before him the seven days of their feast; and it happened, because she nagged him, on the seventh day he explained [it] to her, and she told the riddle to {her people}. The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went [down], "What [is] sweeter than honey? What [is] stronger than a lion?" And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle."
And a man from there responded and said, "And who [is] their father?" Therefore it became a proverb: "[Is] Saul also among the prophets?"
So Yahweh sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said, "Two men were in a certain city; one [was] rich and the other [was] poor. The rich [man] had very many flocks and herds, read more. but the poor [man] had nothing except for one small ewe lamb which he had bought. He had nurtured her, and she grew up with him and with his children together. She used to eat from his morsel and drink from his cup, and she used to lie in his lap and became like a daughter for him.
The woman went to all of the people with her wise plan, so they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bicri and threw [it] to Joab. Then he blew the horn and dispersed from the city, each to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
You must act according to your wisdom, but you must not let his gray hair go down to Sheol in peace.
Then two prostitutes came to the king, and they stood before him. The one woman said, "Please my lord, I and this woman are living in one house, and I gave birth, with her in the house. read more. It happened on the third day [after] my giving birth, this woman also gave birth, and we [were] together. There was not anyone with us in the house, only the two of us [were] in the house. Then the son of this woman died [in the] night because she laid on him. So she got up in the middle of the night, and she took my son from beside me while your servant was asleep, and she put him in her lap, and she put her dead son in my lap. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead! When I looked closely at him in the morning, behold, it was not my son whom I had borne." Then the other woman said, "No, for my son [is] the living one, and your son [is] the dead one." The other kept on saying, "No, for your son [is] the dead one, and my son [is] the living one," and so they argued in front of the king. Then the king said, "This one [is] saying, 'This [is] my son, the living one, but your son [is] the dead one,' and the other one keeps saying, 'But no! Your son [is] the dead one, and my son [is] living!'" So the king said, "Bring me a sword," and they brought the sword before the king. Then the king said, "Divide the living child into two, and give half to the one and half to the other." Then the woman whose son [was] the living one spoke to the king because her compassion was aroused for her son, and she said, "Please, my lord, give her the living child, but certainly do not kill him!" The other one [was] saying, "As for me, so for you! Divide [him]!" Then the king answered and said, "Give the living child to her, and do not kill him; she [is] his mother." When all of Israel heard the judgment that the king had rendered, they {stood in awe} of the king, because they realized that the wisdom of God was in him to execute justice.
The wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all the people of [the] east and more than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than all the men: Ethan the Ezrahite; Heman, Calcol, and Darda the children of Mahol; and {he was very well known}.
Yahweh gave wisdom to Solomon as he promised to him, and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them {made} a covenant.
He [was] the son of a widow woman from the tribe of Naphtali, and his father [was] a man of Tyre, an artisan of bronze. He was filled with wisdom and with ability and with the knowledge to do all the work with the bronze. And he came to King Solomon, and he did all of his work.
The import of the horses which were Solomon's [was] from Egypt and from Kue; the traders of the king received [horses] from Kue at a price.
Wisdom [is] with [the] aged, and understanding [is in] length of days.
I thought, 'Let days speak, and let many years teach wisdom.'
[It is] not {the aged} [who] are wise, or [it is not] [the] elders [who] understand justice.
"Yahweh possessed me, [the] first of his ways, before his acts {of old}. From eternity, I was set up from [the] first, from the beginning of the earth. read more. When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs of {abounding} water. Before mountains had been shaped, before hills, I was brought forth. When he had not yet made earth and fields, or the first dust of the world, {when he established} the heavens, there I [was], {when he drew} a circle upon the face of the deep, {when he made} skies from above, when he founded fountains of the deep, {when he assigned} his limits to the sea, that waters shall not transgress his {command}, {when he marked} the foundations of the earth, I was {beside} him, a master workman, and I was delighting day by day, rejoicing before him {always}, rejoicing in the world of his earth, and my delight [was] with the children of humankind.
Let me sing for my beloved a song of my love concerning his vineyard: {My beloved had a vineyard} on {a fertile hill}. And he dug it and cleared it of stones, and he planted it [with] choice vines, and he built a watchtower in the middle of it, and he even hewed out a wine vat in it, and he waited for [it] to yield grapes-- but it yielded wild grapes. read more. And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more [was there] to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why did I hope for [it] to yield grapes, and it yielded wild grapes? And now let me tell you what I myself am about to do to my vineyard. [I will] remove its hedge, and it shall become a devastation. [I will] break down its wall, and it shall become a trampling.
For he says, "I have done [it] by the strength of my hand and by my wisdom, for I have understanding, and I have removed [the] boundaries of peoples, and I have plundered their stores, and like a bull I have brought down {the inhabitants}.
Listen, and hear my voice! Listen attentively, and hear my word! Is it all day [that] the plowman plows, opens to sow seed, harrows his ground? read more. When he has leveled its {surface}, does he not scatter dill, and sow cumin seed, and {plant} wheat [in] planted rows, and barley [in] an appointed place, and spelt grain [as] its border? And his God instructs him about the prescription; he teaches him. For dill is not threshed with threshing sledge, nor is a wheel of a utility cart {rolled} over cumin, but dill is beaten out with stick, and cumin with rod. Grain is crushed fine, but certainly one does not thresh it forever; and one drives the wheel of his cart, but his horses do not crush it. This also comes forth from Yahweh of hosts. He is wonderful [in] advice; he makes great wisdom.
Who would not revere you, O king of the nations? For you it is fitting. For among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like you.
[He is] the maker of [the] earth by his power, [who] created the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding he stretched out heaven.
Then they said, "Come and let us plan plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will not be lost from [the] priest, nor advice from [the] wise man, nor [the] word from [the] prophet. Come and {let us bring charges against him}, and let us not listen attentively to any of his words."
"In those days they will say no longer, '{Parents} have eaten unripe fruit, and [the] teeth of [the] children {are set on edge}.'
Watsons
WISDOM is put for that prudence and discretion which enables a man to perceive that which is fit to be done, according to the circumstances of time, place, persons, manners, and end of doing, Ec 2:13-14. It was this sort of wisdom that Solomon intreated of God with so much earnestness, and which God granted him with such divine liberality, 1Ki 3:9,12,28. It also signifies quickness of invention, and dexterity in the execution of several works, which require not so much strength of body, as industry, and labour of the mind. For example, God told Moses, Ex 31:3, that he had filled Bezaleel and Aholiab with wisdom, and understanding, and knowledge, to invent and perform several sorts of work for completing the tabernacle. It is used for craft, cunning, and stratagem, and that whether good or evil. Thus it is said by Moses, that Pharaoh dealt wisely with the Israelites, when he opposed them in Egypt, Ex 1:10; it is observed of Jonadab; the friend of Ammon, and nephew of David, that he was very wise, that is, very subtle and crafty, 2Sa 13:3; and Job 5:13, says, that God "taketh the wine in their own craftiness." Wisdom means also doctrine, learning, and experience: "With the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days understanding," Job 12:12. It is put for true piety, or the fear of God, which is spiritual wisdom: "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply or hearts unto wisdom," Ps 90:12; "The fear of the Lord that is wisdom," Job 27:23. Wisdom is put for the eternal Wisdom, the Word of God. It was by wisdom that God established the heavens, and founded the earth, Pr 3:19. How magnificently does Solomon describe the primeval birth of the eternal Son of God, under the character of Wisdom personified; to which so many references and allusions are to be found in the Old and New Testament! "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth," Pr 8:22-25. The apocryphal book of Wisdom introduces, by a reference to this passage, the following admirable invocation, Wisdom 9:9, 10:
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Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, lest they become many, and when war happens, they also will join our enemies and will fight against us and go up from the land."
And I have filled him [with] the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with skill and with knowledge and with every [kind of] craftsmanship,
Now Amnon had a friend whose name [was] Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David. (Now Jonadab [was] a very crafty man.)
Give to your servant a listening heart to judge your people, to discern between good and bad, because who is able to judge this, your difficult people?"
behold, I do hereby do according to your word. I hereby give you a wise and discerning heart; there was no one like you before you, nor afterwards will one like you arise.
When all of Israel heard the judgment that the king had rendered, they {stood in awe} of the king, because they realized that the wisdom of God was in him to execute justice.
[He] is capturing [the] wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are rushed.
Wisdom [is] with [the] aged, and understanding [is in] length of days.
It claps its hands over him, and it hisses at him from its place.
So teach [us] to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Yahweh in wisdom founded the earth; he established the heavens in understanding.
"Yahweh possessed me, [the] first of his ways, before his acts {of old}. From eternity, I was set up from [the] first, from the beginning of the earth. read more. When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no springs of {abounding} water. Before mountains had been shaped, before hills, I was brought forth.
I realized that wisdom has an advantage over folly, just as light has an advantage over darkness. {The wise man can see where he is walking}, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that both of them suffer the same fate.
The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a man [who is] a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."
For this [reason], behold, I am sending to you prophets and wise men and scribes. [Some] of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and will pursue from town to town,
For this [reason] also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and [some] of them they will kill and persecute,'