SVST – Adamson University

WISDOM LITERATURE
Second Semester 2019-2020

Take Home Final Exam

Name: Aung San Htay

Answer the following in briefest but substantial way possible. (2 points each)

1. What are the three worlds of the text and how can you explain them in layman’s
term?
The three world of the text are the following: world behind the text, world
of the text and world beyond the text.
The world behind the text helps us to understand the deeper meaning of
the text or the scriptures through their historical and social context. The date the
biblical text was written, who is the author of the biblical text and the historical
context of the time it was written. World of the text are exegesis or interpretations
of biblical scholars of the biblical text, in order to understand the text as a work of
literature like knowing the characters in the text and where the story takes place.
The world beyond the text is the biblical hermeneutics of the three world of the
text. We can understand it as posing a question on us; how is the biblical text and
its interpretations relate to us (the readers) socially and culturally in our time. This
also includes the descriptions of how was the understanding of the biblical text at
different time periods.
2. What is the basic difference between a diachronic and a synchronic approach in
interpreting the biblical text?
The synchronic approach focuses on the completed form or the final text
interpretations while the diachronic approach focuses on how the biblical text
developed through time and what happen after.
3. What are the sources of Wisdom in ANE outside Israel? Could you cite concrete
influences of this kind of wisdom on the Bible?
The sources of Wisdom Literature in ANE outside Israel are Egyptian,
Mesopotamian, and Greek Wisdom. As Communities formed in ancient times and
struggled to survive, people would gather the fruits of their reflections based on
experiences. Mesopotamia and Egypt became the centers of such developments.
The scribal school evolved out of the needs of this centralized power structure.
The scribal school provided training in the most basic skills for the ancient
bureaucrat, reading and writing skills, which demanded long hours of study and
practice.
4. How about the sources of wisdom within ancient Israel? Could you explain how
did this develop?
Such refugee peasants and shepherds realized the advantages of
cooperation and collaboration. They joined together to develop the agricultural
potential of the hill country. A key moment came with the arrival of a small group
of refugees from Egypt. The scribal school also served as another important
 context for the development wisdom and wisdom tradition in Israel. As Israel
became centralized and authoritarian state under David, there had been a need for
a more complex administrative apparatus.
5. For what purpose was the gathering of wise reflections in ancient Israel? Who are
the first beneficiaries?
First is to discover and rediscover the richness of those ancient literatures
and its history. Second is to preserve those writings and reflections of particular
periods of times, memories and history of Israel people and their faith journey.
6. What served as the context of the transmission of popular wisdom in ancient
Israel?
The family or clan served as a context for the development and
transmission of a “popular” wisdom.
7. In what major part of the Hebrew Bible one will find most of the Wisdom
Literature? Why do you think it should belong to this major part?
Wisdom literature flourished throughout the ancient Near East, with
Egyptian examples dating back to before the middle of the 3rd millennium BCE.
It revolved around the professional sages, or wise men, and scribes in the service
of the court, and consisted primarily in maxims about the practical, intelligent
way to conduct one’s life and in speculations about the very worth and meaning
of human life.
8. Could you explain the etymology of the term Psalm or Psalms?
In the Hebrew Bible (TNK), psalms are placed in the third division called
the Writings. Within such division, the psalms are put within the “poetic
writings,” along with Proverbs and Job. The title, “psalms,” is derived from the
Greek word “psalmoi” which means songs or psalms. The etymology of the term
psalm in the Old Testament was the word Mizmor, meaning a poem sung with the
accompaniment of a stringed instrument like harps.
9. What are the different types of Psalms?
The different types of Psalms are wisdom, praise, royal, thanksgiving and
lament. Wisdom - it teaches a lesson and morals. Praise – this are the hymns in
glorification of God. Royal – this is about kingship and how their kings bring
them back closer to God. Thanksgiving – as the word provides, it give thanks for
everything God has done to them. Lament – this includes the painful experiences
of the Israelites in their journey.
10. Could you give at least three examples of Wisdom Psalms and explain their basic
characteristics?
Three examples of Wisdom Psalms:
Psalm 34, the fear of the Lord brings wisdom
Psalm 78, the warning of history against wickedness
Psalm 112, happiness of those who fear God
The basic characteristics of the wisdom psalm are that, it instructs the
readers how to deal with their issues, doubts and their individual questions in life.
11. Could you explain what we mean by “dynamics of parallelism?”
The dynamics of parallelism is defined as a balanced construction of a
verse or sentence or strophe, where one repeats the form or the meaning of the
other. In this approach that highlights the sameness of relationship existing
 between parallel versets, synthetic parallelism appears only as a catchall for
categories that cannot be clearly defined in terms of sameness.
12. How do you apply it in some Wisdom Psalms like Psalm 34?
In psalm 34, it keeps on repeating the “fear of the Lord” which in a way is
acrostic.
13. What do we mean by the term Proverbs? Why do you think it is called as such?
Proverbs is a collection of collection of wise sayings. It helps the reader
learn wisdom, avoid problems and live well in accordance with God’s law.
Proverb is also a short saying that expresses a universal truth for practical,
righteous living (christianity.com). It is a trite maxim; a similitude; a parable. In
Hebrew, Mashal – to be like. I this it is called proverbs because it conceals in
itself deep understanding of life as stated in each proverbs in the bible.
14. What are the different “modes of reference?” What is allusion? Could you apply
or cite an example where allusion is used in two different passages of the Bible?
The different modes of reference are quotation, allusion and echo.
Allusion is any phrase of 5 words or less, even if contains the exact expression of
the previous text, will be considered as one. There are four important points for
the this definition.:1)An intentional, conscious attempt by an author to point a
reader back to a prior text. 2)It has, in each instance, a single identifiable
source.3)An allusion has to stand out in order to be perceived by the reader or
audience.4)The reader will remember the original sense of the previous text and
link the appropriate components that the new context requires in order to be fully
understood. We can used it in prov 8:22-31 and col 1:15-2.
15. Could you explain the difference between the Mishpat and the Rib? Could you
cite concrete examples where the concepts of Mishpat and Rib are found in the
Bible?
Mishpat is a transliterated word of the word, judgement, justice or
ordinance. In Micah 7:9, “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have
sin against him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me; He will
bring me forth to the light, and I will see His righteousness. "The word “case”
refers to “rib”, justice is “mishpat” and the word righteousness is sedaqah. The
word Rib can also be found in exodus 23:2, 23:3, 23:6.
16. To the Book of Job, for example, what could be the theological implications
when we apply to its drama the concepts of Mishpat and Rib?
In the Bible, there exist two juridical processes. Mišpāṭ (Mishpat) –
judgment and Rîb (Rib) – juridical controversy.
In Job 31:35, the word “Rib” is used by Job to refer to God as his
prosecutor and it emphasizes on God’s judgments and the word “mishpat” refers
to judgments.
When we deal with the accused, Mishpat brought into the court of law that
he or she might be convicted through a third party who plays the role of a judge.
Rib summoned to conversion with the goal of reconciliation. In the social setting,
mishpat is the tribunal and rib is the family.
17. What do we mean by frame in the analysis of Biblical text? What are the two
major literary genres that are found evident in the Book of Job?
 The two major genres in the book of Job are prose and poetry, a genre that
is not so common in the Hebrew Bible. The prose is used at the beginning and at
the end and majority of the text is poetry.
18. What is the poetic technique of intensification? Can you apply it concretely in
some parts of the Book of Job?
The poetic techniques of intensification used in the book of Job are
parallelism, dialogue, monologue which was arranged in bicolon. If we apply it in
the book of Job, we can

19. What can you say about Qohelet? Can you locate it in a particular historical
context?
We can say that the book of Ecclesiastes, one of the Wisdom books is the
qohelet. The literary genre of this book is Royal Testament because it was written
in the purpose of instructing the successor of the king. The author identifies
himself as son of King David.
Scholars identify the qohelet the finished text of post-exilic, 3 rd century
BCE. This is when Judea came under the Hellenistic kings of Egypt, the
Ptolemies. They already learned money-based transactions and taxations that
resulted also in widening the gap between the rich and the poor.
20. What do we mean by archetypal and analytic approach? What theological
implications could be drawn when this kind of approach is applied to the Book of
Qohelet?
Archetypal approach in literature is a typical character, an action, or a
situation that seems to represent universal patterns of human nature. An
archetype, also known as “universal symbol,” may be a character, a theme, a
symbol, or even a setting. Archetypes are literary devices that employ the use of a
famous concept, person or object to convey a wealth of meaning. Many literary
critics are of the opinion that archetypes – which have a common and recurring
representation in a particular human culture, or entire human race – shape the
structure and function of a literary work.
21. What are the most important things we can learn from the Book of Ben Sira?
Could you explain its historical context?
In chapter 10, we find a striking statement of the glory and the degradation
of mankind: “What race is worthy of honor? The human race. What race is
worthy of honor? Those who fear the Lord. What race is unworthy of honor? The
human race. What race is unworthy of honor? Those who transgress the
commandments” (Sir 10:19).
It was written originally in Hebrew by Ben Sira in the early second
century before Christ, and translated into Greek by his grandson about fifty years
later. The Hebrew was lost for a time, and it is the Greek text that the Church
accepted as canonical. During the second century BC, the Seleucid kings
persecuted the Jews and forced them to accept Greek customs. Therefore, as
might be expected, this Biblical book reinforces an authentic Jewish
understanding of wisdom and goodness.
22. What do we mean by contextual reading of the Biblical text? Can you apply this
to the Book of Ben Sira?
 Contextual reading of the Biblical text is that we read what precedes and
what follows the selected text. We encourage reading the entire chapter or the
entire book for contextual reading.
We can apply contextual reading on the book of Ben Sira in reading the
entire book and focus on chapter 6 wherein the Jews were threatened by the
Greeks and then, read what precedes and what follows the text after chapter 6.
23. What is the importance of the Book of Wisdom? Could you situate it in a
particular historical setting?
Wisdom literature flourished throughout the ancient Near East (ANE),
with Egyptian examples dating back to before the middle of the 3rd millennium
BCE. It revolved around the professional sages, or wise men, and scribes in the
service of the court, and consisted primarily in maxims about the practical,
intelligent way to conduct one’s life and in speculations about the very worth and
meaning of human life.
24. What is Flashback as a literary devise? Can you apply it to some passages of the
Book of Wisdom?
Flashback is a literary device wherein the author depicts the occurrence of
specific events to the reader, which have taken place before the present time the
narration is following, or events that have happened before the events that are
currently unfolding in the story.
25. Why should we include Song of Songs among the Wisdom Writings? Can you
explain what an inter-textual approach is and apply it involving the text of the
Song of Songs?