Leithart on the wisdom books:
What is wisdom? Follow the canonical progression of wisdom books.
Proverbs: There are two women. Choose Lady Wisdom and reject Lady Folly.
Ecclesiastes: All is hebel. Death looms. Therefore, eat, drink, rejoice in the wife of your youth. Joy in your wife is the way to Lady Wisdom.
Song of Songs: A man rejoices in his bride, eating and drinking a feast of love.
So:
Wisdom is about sex: Proverbs says, Choose the right woman; Ecclesiastes says, Cling to her in defiance of decay; the Song says, Love brings you back to the garden.
Or: Fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. Joy in defiance of death is wisdom coming to maturity. Fulfilled wisdom is knowing that love is as strong as death.
Or: Proverbs is priestly wisdom, distinguishing wisdom and folly. Ecclesiastes is kingly wisdom, rendering judgments in the midst of darkness. The Song is prophetic wisdom, the hope of future harmony.
Or: Proverbs is past; Ecclesiastes is present; the Song is future.
Or: Proverbs is the Father; Ecclesiastes the Son; the Song is the Song of the Spirit.
3 comments:
Or:
Proverbs is the Son's reliance on the Spirit as Wisdom, like a marriage
Ecclesiastes is chaos vs. order, the raging waters of day 2 vs. the order of the new King Jesus
Song of Songs as Christ and Church
So different portrayals of the Trinitarian relationship
Proverbs = Trinitarian relationship PRE-CREATION, the prayer for the bride (church) to be born of the excellent wife (the Spirit hovering over the waters)
Ecclesiastes = CREATION of the world (chaos, all under the sun) but from death comes life - hence the King focus in final chapter(s)
Song of Songs = prophetic final marriage of Christ and the church in NEW CREATION
yes..
i'm rambling
what about the other wisdom books then? =)
hmm.. let me continue to ramble..
since proverbs/ecclesiastes/song of songs takes on a different 'narrative'/writing style than, say, job and psalms, i'd say job and psalms are the 'gateway' to wisdom literature
job = oldest book of the Bible - starts with edenic blessing (of his household) but ends with even better new creation-type blessing (post-sevenfold sacrifice of the lamb)
psalms = reflection on OT events in the five books of Moses
so basically job and psalms are the 'narrative' wisdom literature books
and proverbs/eccl/songs are the.. hm.. 'mystical' wisdom literature books which explains the historical events in Job/Psalms?
i dunno..
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