University Lectures Delivered by Members of the Faculty in the Free Public Lecture Course (Volume 1918-1919) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1919 Excerpt: ... SOME NOTES ON THE WISDOM LITERATURE OF THE BIBLE By Jos1ah H. Penn1man Vice-Provost of the University and Professor of English Literature What I shall endeavor to present to you today is not the consideration of any single topic but rather some thoughts on several topics connected with the study of certain portions of The Bible. One of the most interesting of the many kinds of literature included in The Bible is that to which has been given the general title of Wisdom, or in Hebrew, Hokmah (ilDSn). In The Bible, including the Apocrypha, examples of Wisdom literature are found in Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom of Solomon, and in such works as the Sermon on the Mount, the Epistle of James, and such Psalms as the 49th and 104th, 139th. Psalms 14, 58, and 82 are gnomic poetry. All wisdom is conceived of as coming from God, who imparts it to men. The efforts of men to understand God, and their own environment and experiences are expressed in the Wisdom books, an examination of which will show that, in general, the writer of Wisdom conceived of himself as bearing to his message a different relation from that borne by the Prophet to his message. The former speaks to this effect, "Hear me and I will tell you the results of my experience and observation," the latter, "Hear ye the word of the Lord" or "Thus saith the Lord." In the Wisdom books we have discussions of many problems of this life upon which experience throws light. We have the formulation of the results of this experience for the instruction of others, especially of the young by the old. The Wisdom books contain therefore "teachings," and in this connection it is significant to note that at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount: "the multitudes were astonished at his teaching, fo...