DESCRIPTION: This course is designed to provide an opportunity for translation and careful exegetical examination of representative passages of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job, as well as a survey of a sometimes neglected portion of the biblical canon. Lectures will examine the setting and development of wisdom traditions within Israelite society, their impact upon the New Testament, and their contributions to biblical theology.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: The wisdom literature offers us unique resources for coping with life: for everyday life, practical observations about cultivating virtues and avoiding the calamities of the "broad way"; and for life "at the edges," sharp, honest searching about innocent suffering and "the meaning of it all." The wisdom traditions also offer bridges: from their varied expressions throughout the Old Testament, we will trace them through the intertestamental period and into the service of the preaching and teaching of the church.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students completing this course will have demonstrated (1) a fundamental knowledge of the literary forms and thematic content of the books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes; (2) an acquaintance with a range of issues pertaining to the historical and social location of the wisdom literature within Israel and its ancient Middle Eastern context; (3) an ability to trace the "trajectories" of Old Testament wisdom through selected examples of intertestamental literature and the New Testament; (4) an ability to reflect upon and evaluate the unique theological issues raised by this literature and to discern their implications for Christian faith and practice; (5) an enhanced competence in basic Hebrew, as well as in exegetical and hermeneutical skills; (6) an appreciation of how we may learn from historically and culturally diverse vantage points better to read, use, and obey this portion of Scripture.

COURSE FORMAT: The course will meet for two hours twice each week; one session will be devoted primarily to lecture, and the other to translation and exegetical discussion.

REQUIRED READING:

Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver & Charles A. Briggs, eds. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford University Press, 1952/Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996. ISBN-13: 978-1565632066. $34.95.

Elliger, K. & W. Rudolph, eds. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1990. ISBN-13: 978-3438052223. $39.95 [40% discount for students at http://www.bibles.com/products/ABS_NEW/111604.aspx].

Murphy, Roland E. The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002. ISBN-13: 978-0802839657. $28.00.

Course readings on e-Reserves.

See the Biblical Division bibliography "Linguistic and Exegetical Books Required in the Master of Divinity Programs" available at http://schedule.fuller.edu/sot/ecds/Ling-Exeg-Biblio.html and in the Academic Advising office.

Brown, William P. Character in Crisis: A Fresh Approach to the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. Eerdmans, 1996. ISBN-13: 978-0802841353. $22.

Gutiérrez, Gustavo. On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent. Orbis, 1987. ISBN-13: 978-0883445525. $24.

McKenzie, Alyce M. Hear and Be Wise: Becoming a Preacher and Teacher of Wisdom. Nashville: Abingdon, 2004. ISBN-13: 978-0687053919. $21.

_________. Preaching Biblical Wisdom in a Self-Help Society. Nashville: Abingdon, 2002. ISBN-13: 978-0687090501. $25.

Tamez, Elsa. When the Horizons Close: Rereading Ecclesiastes. Orbis, 2000. ISBN-13: 978-1597528559. $21.