American Academy of Religion

O. T. Theology and the Wisdom Literature

Author(s): Lawrence E. Toombs
Source: Journal of Bible and Religion, Vol. 23, No. 3 (Jul., 1955), pp. 193-196
Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1457998 .
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 O. T. Theology and the Wisdom Literature
LAWRENCE E. TOOMBS*

I In any attemptto outlinea discussionof Biblical

faith it is the wisdomliteraturewhich offers the
AN important aspectof recentstudiesin chiefdifficultybecauseit doesnot fit intothetypeof
Old Testament
theology has been faithexhibitedin the historicalandpropheticlitera-
the continuing search for a method tures.In it thereis no explicitreferenceto or de-
of approachwhich, while giving full weight to velopmentof the doctrineof history,election,or
the religious, social, and historicaldiversity covenant.'
of the sources, will nevertheless enable the And, one might add, no apparent interest in,
student to see clearly the underlyingunity the cultus.
whichmakesthem one. The most widely ac- It is the contention of this paper that some
cepted experimentin this directionis prob- at least of Israel's wise men held a view of the
ably D. WaltherEichrodt'suse of the cove- origin and nature of wisdom which makes.
nant as a meansby which the religiousideas their work an integral part of Old Testament
of the Old Testamentmay be seen in theo-
theology, expressing the fundamental convic-
logical perspective.' G. Ernest Wright ad- tion of Old Testament religious thought, not
dresseshimselfto the sametask in God Who out of the history and institutions of the na-
Acts, where he argues impressivelyfor the tion, but from the experience of human beings.
conclusion that "Biblical theology is the con- in the search for the way of the good life.
fessional recital of the redemptive acts of God
in a particular history, because history is the
chief medium of revelation."2 The Scandina- II
vian interest in cult myths has led Gunnar It is almost universally recognized that the
Ostborn to approach the problem from that theological significance of the Law does not
point of view. He sees in the cultic motif of depend on the originality of the individual
doom followed by salvation, of struggle commandments that it contains. These can be
turned to victory, the clue to the unity of the paralleled at point after point from the Baby-
Old Testament, which in his terms becomes lonian, Assyrian, and Hittite laws, and
an account of the activity of God expressed in clearly reflect a common body of ancient Near
the cultic pattern.8 Eastern tradition. It rests rather on the con-
All three of these works show some embar- nection of the Law with the saving activity of
rassment when they deal with the wisdom lit- God. Recognition of this fact by students of
erature and particularly with the book of Old Testament theology is only a modern
Proverbs. Wright states succinctly why this confirmation of the judgement of the writer of
is so. Deuteronomy.
* LAWRENCEE. TOOMBSis AssistantPro- Whenyoursonasksyouin timeto come,"Whatis
fessorof OldTestamentat DrewTheologicalSemi- the meaning of the testimoniesand the statutes, and
nary to which post he came in 1954 from St. the ordinanceswhichthe Lord our God has com-
Stephen's Theological College, Edmonton, Alberta, mandedyou?"thenyou shall say to your son, "We
Canada.He has written a course of Bible study ma- were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt; and the Lord
terials, entitled A Year with the Bible, publishedby brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and
the Board of Christian Education, the United the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and
Churchof Canada,Toronto. grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all
193

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194 LAWRENCE
his household,beforeour eyes; and he broughtus rhetorical descriptions of wisdom as Prov-
out from there,that he mightbringus in andgive erbs 8.
us the landwhichhe sworeto give to our fathers.
Andthe Lordcommanded us to do all thesestatutes,
to fearthe Lordour God,for ourgoodalways,that
he might preserve us alive, as at this day" (Deut.
6:20-24RSV).
The Law, then, takes its religious signifi-
cance, not from its content, but from its con-
text; from the fact that it originated in, and
was itself an integral part of the act of God by
which he worked a deliverance for his people
which they were helpless to achieve for them-
selves.
Later rabbinic speculation regarded the
Torah as the first-born daughter of God, eter-
nally present with Him, and His agent in the
creation of the universe, but such specula-
tion would never have arisen had not the
theological significance of the Law been es-
tablished on the prior grounds already de-
scribed.
The book of Proverbs provides a rather
striking analogy with the Law. In the main it
is a collection of proverbial sayings which can
be closely paralleled from non-Israelite wis-
dom sources. Much of it has a definite "hu-
manistic" cast, speaking to man as man, and
evoking no specifically religious principles,
just as much of Israel's common law would
have been equally well received in any poly-
theistic kingdom of the Near East. Wisdom,
like the Law, was hypostatized and regarded
as the preExistent instrument of God in the
creation of the world. In estimating the theo-
logical significance of the Law it has been
found necessary to look beyond both the spe-
cific commandments which make up the legal
codes and the metaphysical glorification of
the place of Torah in God's universal plan,
and to focus attention on the context in which
the Law was given. It is thus a priori prob-
able that the theological meaning of wisdom
will be found in the process by which wisdom
comes to men, rather than in those collections
of proverbial sayings which formed the stock-
in-trade of the wise men, or in such highly
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E. TOOMBS
III
If the conclusionjust reachedis valid, the
sermonettein Proverbs2 is of specialinterest
because it contains an arresting account of the
acquiring of wisdom and of the worthy life
which follows.
The Chakambegins by calling his pupils to
a strenuous search for wisdom. It is a task
which demands single-mindedness and devo-
tion, a readyear to receiveinstruction,
and
the self-disciplineof diligent application.
Casualinterestis not enough. That degreeof
personal involvement which can only be de-
scribedas longingfor wisdommust be pres-
ent before the seeker can reach his goal. And
the search goes forward with the intensity and
sense of high adventure of a hunt for buried
treasure.
My son,if you will receivemy words,
And treasureup my instructionwith you,
By incliningyourear to wisdom,
Andturningyourheartto understanding;
If indeedyou cry aloudfor discernment
And raiseyourvoice for understanding;
If you searchfor it like silver,
And like hiddentreasureseekit out (Prov. 2:1-4).
TheWiseMenof Israelareoftendescribed
as Old Testament "humanists." It is difficult
to see how any humanist of whatever stamp
could refrain from following such a descrip-
tion of the search for wisdom with the assur-
ance that now wisdom would be achieved.
The writerof this sermonettehas the ex-
pectedemphatic"then"(az, "inthatcase,")
buthegoesonsurprisingly
to say:
You will knowthe fearof the Lord,
Knowledgeof Godyou will find (Prov. 2:5).
It appears that the search for wisdom, de-
manding as it is, does not lead directly to wis-
dom, but to God. It brings, not a sense of
achievement, but of reverence. The result of
the search for wisdom is that strange admix-
 O. T. THEOLOGY AND WISDOM LITERATURE
ture of love and awe, that acuteawarenessof
man'slittlenessand insufficiencyin the pres-
ence of his Creator,whichthe Old Testament
knowsas "thefear of the Lord." The end of
the questis also thatintimatepersonalfellow-
ship with the Eternal which is "the knowl-
edge of God."
The thoughtof the passagemoves by way
of the connectivekNintoverse 6. The forceof
kNhere is to indicatethat the sentencewhich
followswill give the basison whichthe previ-
ous assertion rests, that it will explain the
paradoxof a searchfor wisdomwhichends in
reverence.
For the Lordgives wisdom,
Fromhis mouthknowledgeandunderstanding.
Wisdom is to be foundwith God, and no-
whereelse. And unlessthe quest for wisdom
bringsa man to his knees in awe and rever-
ence, knowinghis own helplessnessto make
himself wise, wisdom remains for him a
closed book. Unless it is heardfrom the lips
of God it is not heardat all. This is why for
the wisdom writers "the fear of the Lord is
the beginningof wisdom"(Ps. 111:10, Prov.
1:7, 9:10, cf. Prov. 15:33, Job 28:28). It is
beyondman'spowerto achievewisdom. He
must wait for it, as he waits for all else worth
having,as the gift of God.
The remainderof the passagerequiresno
extended treatment. It is sufficientto note
the author'sfirm convictionthat to possess
wisdomis to be free from all the destructive
forces of life and to havethe deepestneedsof
the humanspiritsatisfied. In a word,to have
wisdomis to have salvation.
IV
To discussthe degreeto whichthis attitude
to wisdomcharacterizesthe wholeof the wis- In relation to the larger question of the fun-
domliteratureis beyondthe scopeof this pa- damentalsentenceof Old Testamenttheology
per. Yet, in orderto show that Proverbs2 is a study of this kind can offer only a sugges-
not unique, attention may be briefly drawn to
a very similar development of thought in Job
28. This chapter is a powerful poetic exami-
nation of the question, "Where is wisdom to
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195
be found?" A singularlyfine descriptionof
man'spowerto bendnatureto his will opens
the poem (vv. 1-11). But glorification of
human skill and resourcefulnessis not the
poet's intention. Even though man applies all
his wealth and power to get wisdom it will
forever elude him. The mysterious realm of
deathhas heardno morethan"a rumorof it"
(vv. 12-22). God, and He alone, knows
where wisdom is to be found, and human wis-
dom does not consist in knowing all things,
but in reverencingthe Lord, who is the Au-
thor of wisdom (vv. 23-28).
The climaxof the book of Job is a superb
illustrationof the thought under discussion
here. The Lord's speechesfrom the whirl-
wind with their repeated question "Canst
thou?"are not designedto impressJob with
the awful majestyof God so muchas to im-
pel the sufferer to recognizehis own utter
helplessness and insufficiency;to bid him
cease shaking his fist in the face of God and
come instead to that complete act of submis-
sion whichis the thresholdof wisdom. Job's
unforgettable response
With the hearingof the ear haveI heardof thee,
But now my eyes see thee.
Therefore I despise myself, and I repent
In dustandashes(Job 42:5,6).
is the completerejectionof his formerpreten-
tions to self-sufficiency. His strange confes-
sion "I repent"(with its unmistakableover-
tones of meaning, "I change," the root nhm)
shows, not that Job has reached a philosophi-
cally satisfying solution to the problem of
pain, but that he has come to the place where
wisdom may be found.
V
tion. As long as Old Testament theology is
represented exclusively in terms of the his-
tory, institutions and cultus of the Hebrew
people it will exclude the wisdom literature by
196 LAWRENCE E. TOOMBS
definition. It may be, however, that these
things are illustrations and manifestations of
a still more basic idea which is itself neither
historic or national. The context in which the
law was given, the monarchy developed, and
the cultus functioned was by its very nature
a historic one. The covenant takes its rise in
history and speaks back to history. The
formation of the nation is its occasion; the
preservation of the nation is its purpose.
Hence the covenant will be in the warp and in
the woof woven together of historical mate-
rial. Wisdom, on the other hand, takes its
rise in individual experience, and speaks
again to individual experience. Its ground is
the search for the good life, and its motive is
the preservation of that life. But recognition
of the fact that the contexts of wisdom and
covenant are thus radically different does not
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preclude the possibility that both wisdom and
covenant come into these contexts in funda-
mentally the same way; as a mighty act of
God in response to human need and human
insufficiency.
If the Old Testament is regarded as the ac-
count of the gracious acts of God whereby he
works on man's behalf an act of salavation
which man is helpless to perform for himself,
Proverbs 2 opens a door through which the
wisdom literature may be brought into a com-
prehensive Old Testament theology.
REFERENCES
1
Theologie des Alten Testaments (Berlin, 1948)
2
God Who Acts: Biblical Theology As Recital
(Henry Regnery Company, Chicago, 1952), p. 13
' Cult and Canon: a study in the canonizationof
the Old Testament (Uppsala, 1950)
' Op. cit., p. 103