Reading the Psalms, Proverbs & Wisdom

3 Misunderstandings about Wisdom Literature

1. People often read these books in bits and pieces and they fail to see that they have an overall message.
2. People sometimes misunderstand the terms and categories of Hebrew wisdom as well as its styles and literary modes.
3. Especially in Wisdom discourse like Job, people often fail to understand what the book is all about, and thus also fail to follow the line of argument.

WISDOM IN PROVERBS

4 Guidelines on Reading Proverbs

1. Proverbs Are Not Legal Guarantees from God
2. Proverbs Must Be Read as a Collection
3. Proverbs Are Worded to Be Memorable, Not to Be Theoretically Accurate
4. Some Proverbs Need to Be “Translated” to Be Appreciated

 WISDOM IN JOB

1. Understand the Goal of Job: to establish convincingly in the mind of the reader that what happens in life does not always happen either because God desires it or because it is fair. It’s a wrestling to understand suffering and how it comes about.
2. Understand the 2 main points:

• Will a person fear, follow, and love God for nothing? As humans we are wholly dependent on God for well-being. Will the godly love God for Himself or only for His benefits?
• Author asks where wisdom can be found. As humans endowed with human wisdom, are the godly willing to live within the bounds of human wisdom or will they demand to participate as equals with God’s wisdom?

    3. 

3. You must pay attention to who is speaking. This is vital.

WISDOM IN ECCLESIASTES

1. The author is unknown but traditionally it is Solomon. The author is referred to as Qoheleth (assembler of wisdom, teacher). Understand that the author was speaking for God in the Jewish Wisdom tradition.
2. The main word is Hebel – breath or vapor (KJV); vanity (NASB) and meaningless (NIV) -- Occurs 37 times
3. The book has a rambling nature; there is no sense of organization or flow of thoughts.
4. There are some strikingly antithetical statements in the same book and the negative sides of these statements seem to contradict what the Bible says elsewhere
5. Understand the Author’s perspective which is one that asks lots of questions, but in the end maintains His trust and confidence in the Lord.

WISDOM IN THE SONG OF SOLOMON

1. Try to appreciate the overall ethical context. Monogamous, heterosexual marriage was the proper context for sexual activity according to God’s revelation in the OT, and Israelites would regard the book in that light.
2. Be aware of the genre. Its closest parallel is love poetry of the OT and elsewhere in the ancient Near East.
3. Read it as suggesting godly choices rather than merely describing these choices in a mundane manner. They carry truth as suggestions and generalizations rather than precise statements of universal fact.
4. Be aware that it focuses on very different values from those of our modern culture. It’s about romance and fulfilling the needs of one’s spouse.