Practical or proverbial
wisdom constitutes the greater part of the second type of wisdom literature.
Proverbial wisdom provides instruction for dealing with life's daily affairs.
Proverbs and James fit in here.
Much of the Bible's wisdom
literature came out of the period of the United Kingdom. Why? Solomon, whom
God gave special wisdom, lived during this period; therefore, more wisdom was
available for recording. Additionally, peace and prosperity in his kingdom (1
Kgs. 4:20-34) allowed Solomon to devote himself to intellectual and philosophical
pursuits (e.g., exploring nature, recording his discoveries, and composing proverbs
[1 Kgs. 4:32-33; Ecc. 12:9]), unlike his father David who was constantly engaged
in strategizing for warfare and singing of God's intervention.
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The pursuit of wisdom
garnered international interest before, during, and after the United Kingdom
era. The Bible refers to wisdom gathered by the Edomites (Jer. 49:7), Egyptians,
and peoples of the East (1 Kgs. 4:30). Two periods of Egyptian history especially
yield numerous wisdom texts: the Old Kingdom period (3000 - 2500 B.C.) and the
New Kingdom period (1555 - 945 B.C.). The most notable Egyptian wisdom text
was "The Instruction of Amen-em-opet," a set of admonitions of a father to his
son that is closely akin to Prov. 22:17 - 24:22. Sumerian documents composed
in the third millennium B.C. (before and around the time of Job and Abraham)
and Babylonian documents composed between 1500 - 1000 B.C. also bear similarities
to biblical wisdom books.
Wisdom literature continued
to be important to the Jews after the Kingdom of Israel divided and grew in
perceived importance following the Babylonian Exile. C. Hassell Bullock writes:
After the exile and eventual
cessation of prophecy, Hebrew wisdom became increasingly important as a mode
of religious expression. Whereas the prophetic urging of the word of the Lord
upon Israel and the counsel of the wise had existed side by side in preexilic
times . . . the postexilic era witnessed the demise of prophetic activity. When
we recognize that Israel had depended upon the prophetic word for several centuries,
then the vacuum left by its cessation appears serious.5
The Apocrypha, religious
books from the intertestamental period that weren't included in the canon of
Scripture, contains at least two wisdom books. Matthew records the visit of
wise men from the east at the infant home of Jesus. The adult Jesus spoke as
a wise man using proverbs and parables. All of this evinces the constant significance
of wisdom in and around ancient Israel up to and including the Gospel-era.
The culture of Israel
in the Old Testament and early New Testament was a markedly oral culture. An
oral culture is not necessarily illiterate but one wherein history, traditions,
and wisdom are passed down from generation to generation using primarily oral,
rather than written, media. Oral cultures package their history, traditions,
and wisdom in various forms, including stories, songs, proverbs, riddles, instructions,
and monologues and dialogues. The Bible includes examples of all of these forms
both in and outside of its wisdom literature.