The author of the Book of Wisdom presents positively the connection between human and wisdom in the light of marriage symbol. But the marriage image is not the same as in the prophets for the covenant of grace. It is for the love of wisdom. Thus, the general notion is that God loves the person who lives with wisdom. Hence Solomon from his youth seeks wisdom as his spouse, desires to take her as a bride, and become infatuated in her beauty (Wis. 8:1, 9, 16). For the author, to accept wisdom into one’s life is like engaging oneself in marriage. They are completely faithful to each other, and their mutual love reaches a completion that goes beyond themselves (Kolarcik, 2002). The commitment to live with wisdom will assure human (Solomon) good counsel and encouragement in the trials of life. It is good for us to note here that the image of “living with wisdom” conjures up the parallel that the relationship between the just and wisdom is comparable to that of husband and wife (cf. Isa 62:5).
The underlying metaphor of courtship and marriage is unmistakable seen in the book as an influence of a long tradition. According to Winston (1979), the literary device of treating wisdom or other abstract values as a lover and wife who is to be sought and cherished is common in both the Israelite and the Greek traditions. The relationship is a mystical marriage between humans (represented by Solomon) and Wisdom. It highlights the personal engagement involved in choosing and appropriating values through the metaphor of human love. Just as courtship and marriage fully engage the entire spectrum of our intellectual and affective concerns, so too does the pursuit of God’s wisdom demand the engagement of the entire person (Kolarcik, 2002).
For Teresa of Avila, it is the final stage in one’s relationship with God in terms of a spiritual marriage. It is the complete fusion of the soul with God through the image of a spiritual marriage. In short, human friendship, love, and commitment provide images through which we can
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grasp both the challenge of wisdom and its gifts of rest, completion, and intimacy
Another interesting contribution of the book is the characterisation of large family not as something of intrinsic value in itself but as a value within the context of the moral and religious life. It is clear, too, that it is a polemic against the prosperity of the "ungodly Egyptians" which gives the first impetus to this new idea. Along the line of argument of Wisdom, the pagans should not glory in prosperous and large family because it is not an indication of Yahweh’s blessing (Wis. 3:10-4:6).
According to Schillebeeckx (1965), the idea is new. It emerges in post-exilic Israel. Thus "Blessed is the barren woman who is undefiled … [and] the eunuch whose hands have done no lawless deed" (Wis. 3:13f.), and large number of children is, in itself, no blessing; it is better to have no children at all, if this childless state goes together with virtue (Wis.
I).
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
1. What is the bond between human and wisdom?
2. What do you understand by mythical marriage?
3. Why does the Book of Wisdom praise barrenness, eunuch and childlessness?
4.0 CONCLUSION
You can now see that the sapiential tradition, compared to the prophetic literature, has a wider horizon that portrays the relationship between God and humans through the image of a marriage. Unlike prophets who extensively used courtship and marriage to portray the painful consequences of unfaithfulness as well as the renewal of the relationship in a more profound manner (cf. Hos. 2:1-23), sapiential tradition personified wisdom in womanhood, and encourages humans to pursue wisdom (cf. Kolarcik, 2002). The marriage metaphor in the literature heightens the beauty of the exchange of love in the covenant and sharpens the pain of loss due to unfaithfulness. Wisdom is the one who brings complete peace, rest and joy both in public life and private life.
However, we are once more reminded that life and nature are matter of created structures and limits (8:29), and also that the ultimate “loves” for one “woman” or another. When love is misplaced, when one loses direction, when boundaries are violated, when creation’s goods are misappropriated, then the good becomes harmful and damage is done.
Consequently, wisdom implies love within limits, freedom within form, and life within law (Cohn, 1981).
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We may therefore conclude that the Wisdom literature testifies to the Israelites and to the Jewish faith about the goodness of marriage based on a firm foundation of religion and morals. While many may have different opinions on the genre of the Song of Songs, it stands as a living echo of a positive and healthy concept of married love. It tells us how crazy, how innocent, how ardent the passion that brings human beings together is. It reminds us how preposterous, how unthinkable, how supernatural is the actual union that takes place, when wedding ends and marriage begins, when the ceremony is over and true life takes over, when passion fades and true love has a chance to emerge.
5.0 SUMMARY
You must have seen how marriage symbol is presented in the sapiential tradition, and some of the areas of emphasis such as:
i. Marriage is a gift from God and a sign of God’s favour. It is a source of joy, happiness and fulfilment, which must be appreciated, hence desirable for young person. And this must be guided by faithful love and virtue.
ii. Adultery is folly; hence any wise person should endeavour to avoid anything that could bring one closer it. Among the evils of adultery are (i) breaking the divine legislation, (ii) betraying a marital relationship, and (iii) bringing children into the world where they will not be wanted
iii. The marriage symbol used in the wisdom literature does not only tell us about God, but also about ourselves. It presents to us positively the connection between human and wisdom in the light of marriage symbol. It differentiates itself from the prophets, for the interest is not primarily on covenant of grace but love of wisdom. It highlights the personal engagement involved in choosing and appropriating values through the metaphor of human love.
iv. Human erotic love and sexuality is also captured in our discussion. It tells us among other things that love is life. While it is positively an affirmation of the creaturely goodness of the relationship between man and woman, it is also a frank protest against the mythical and religious rites of Canaan's worship of Baal, and against the religious sexuality which pervades the whole of the ancient Near East. It reminds us that belief in Yahweh is incompatible with any deification of human sexuality.
It further emphasises the sexual exclusivity as an integral aspect of marriage, which is often translated not necessarily for fertility and the perpetuation of the clan and the nation but for human love
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v. In its application of marriage symbol, wisdom literature has more positive disposition to women, thus a dramatic departure from the negative characterisation of women as found in the prophetic literature.
vi. Another interesting contribution of the book is the characterisation of large family not as something of intrinsic value in itself but as a value within the context of the moral and religious life. Hence virginity, eunuch, bareness, and childlessness assume new positive meaning in Jewish tradition.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
1. What is the value of the marriage metaphor in the sapiential tradition?
2. Compare the use of the marriage symbol in Proverbs and in the Prophets.
3. What is the connection between marriage and adultery in the Book of Proverbs?
4. What could be the possible reason for Ecclesiastes to show less interest in applying marriage metaphor?
5. What does the Song of Solomon approach marriage and sexuality? What makes its approach a surprise?
6. What are some of the negative implications of the sin of adultery in the mind of Sirach?
7. What is the disposition of the Book of Wisdom on large family?
8. Has the Book of Wisdom any positive contribution to the contemporary understanding of marital love?
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Blenkinsopp, J. (1991). The social context of the 'outsider woman' in Proverbs 1–9. Bib 72, 457-73.
Bohmbach, K.G. (1996). With her Hands on the Threshold: Daughters and Space in the Hebrew Bible. (Ph.D. diss.) Durham NC: Duke University.
Carlston, C.E. (1980). Proverbs, Maxims, and the Historical Jesus. JBL 99, 87-105.
Cheryl Exum, J. (1973). A literary and structural analysis of the Song of Songs. ZAW 85, 47-79.
Cohn, R. L. (1981). The Shape of Sacred Space: Four Biblical Studies.
AAR Studies in Religion 23. Chico, Calif.: Scholars.
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Crenshaw, J.L (1978). Samson. Atlanta: John Knox.
Crenshaw, J.L. (1981). The Contest of Darius' Guards in 1 Esdras 3:1-5:3. In B.O. Long (Ed.), Images of man and God: The Old Testament short story in literary focus, (74-88, 119-20). Sheffield:
Almond.
Crenshaw, J.L. (1995). Urgent Advice and Probing Questions. Macon, Ga.: Mercer University.
Crenshaw, J.L. (2002). The Book of Sirach. Introduction, commentary, and reflections. In L.E. Keck (Ed.), In L.E. Keck (Ed.), The New Interpreter’s Bible. Complete Twelve Volume Commentary, v, (CD-ROM ed.). Nashville: Abingdon.
Crenshaw,J.L. (1996). Urgent Advice and Probing Questions: Collected Writings on Old Testament Wisdom. Macon, Ga.: Mercer University.
E. Schillebeeckx (1965). Marriage: Secular Reality and Saving Mystery, 1. London: Sheed and Ward.
Goulder, M.D. (1986). The song of fourteen songs, JSOTSup 36.
Sheffield: JSOT.
Hugenberger, G.P. (1994) Marriage as a Covenant: A Study of Biblical Law and Ethics Governing Marriage Developed from the Perspective of Malachi. SVT 52. Leiden: Brill.
Joüon, P. (1909). Le Cantique des Cantiques: commentaire philogique et exégétique. Paris: Gabriel Beauchesne.
Lefkowitz, M. R., & Fant, M.B (1982). Women's life in Greece and Rome. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University.
Meek, T. J. (1922-23). Canticles and the Tammuz cult. AJSL 39, 1-14.
Newsom, C.A. (1989). Woman and the discourse of patriarchal wisdom:
A study of Proverbs 1–9," In P.L. Day (Ed.), Gender and Difference in Ancient Israel (142-60). Minneapolis: Fortress.
Osiek, C. (2002). Reading the Bible as women. In L.E. Keck (Ed.), In L.E. Keck (Ed.), The new interpreter’s bible. Complete twelve volume commentary, i, (CD-ROM ed.). Nashville: Abingdon.
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Schillebeeckx, E. (1965). Marriage: Human Reality and Saving Mystery, 1 (2 vols). N.D. Smith (transl). New York: Sheed and Ward
Skehan, P.W., & Di Lella, A.A. (1987). The wisdom of Ben Sira, AB 39.
New York: Doubleday.
van Leeuwen, R.C. (2002). The Book of Proverbs. Introduction, commentary, and reflections. In L.E. Keck (Ed.), In L.E. Keck (Ed.), The new interpreter’s bible. Complete twelve volume commentary, v, (CD-ROM ed.). Nashville: Abingdon.
W. Sibley Towner (2002). The Book of Ecclesiastes. Introduction, commentary, and reflections. In L.E. Keck (Ed.), In L.E. Keck (Ed.), The new interpreter’s bible. Complete twelve volume commentary, v, (CD-ROM ed.). Nashville: Abingdon.
Weems, R.J. (2002). The Song of Songs. Introduction, commentary, and reflection. In L.E. Keck (Ed.). The New Interpreter’s Bible.
Complete Twelve Volume Commentary, v, (CD-ROM ed.).
Nashville: Abingdon.
Weems, R.J. (2002). The Song of Songs. Introduction, commentary, and reflection. In L.E. Keck (Ed.), The New Interpreter’s Bible.
Complete Twelve Volume Commentary, vi, (CD-ROM ed.).
Nashville: Abingdon.
Winston, D. (1979). The Wisdom of Solomon, AB 43. New York:
Doubleday.
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UNIT 5 MARRIAGE ETHOS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT