Beginner’s Bible Study Blog-Session Five
Books of Poetry/Wisdom
The five books of poetry and wisdom fall exactly in the middle of the Old Testament. There are 17 books before Job and 17 books after the Song of Solomon. Here is a quick way to remember the content of each of the five books:
Job—a book for those who are suffering
Psalms—a book to help us express ourselves to God
Proverbs—a book of timeless advice for living life
Ecclesiastes—a book that’s not afraid to look at the downside of life
Song of Solomon—a book that gives a God’s-eye-view of sex
Each of these books is written in a different Hebrew poetic style, not like the English form of poetry such as “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, couldn’t put Humpty together again.” Rhyme isn’t important in Hebrew poetry. The books prior to Job and following Song of Solomon follow a prose style rather than poetry. Prose applies ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech. The poetic literature involves higher concentrations of words and phrases with rare meanings or usages or simply rare words and phrases themselves. Free Rhythm and Parallelism are two of the significant signs of Hebrew poetry.
Job begins with a prose introduction and ends with a prose conclusion. The bulk of the book is poetry. The book begins with these words in Job 1:1, “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from Evil.” Satan visits God and tells him that he is protecting Job. Satan is given permission to test Job to see how strong his belief really is. Job loses everything but his life. Eliphaz, Bildad, Sophar, and Elihuh try to convince Job to turn his back on God. All the reasons of suffering are discussed. Check out Job’s response in Job 42:1-6 and ask how yourself how you might respond to God after so much suffering?
Psalms is the largest book in the Bible. It is full of lyrical poetry. These poetic Psalms spring from people’s encounter with God in the midst of worldly and heavenly experiences. The song that Jesus sang with his disciples at the Last Supper (Mark 14:26) was probably part of Psalms 115-118. On the cross Jesus was remembering Psalm 22:1 when he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalms means praises. It is one of the most loved books of the Bible. You’ll probably recognize these three Psalms when you read them now: Psalm 23 Psalm 100 Psalm 8
Proverbs is probably the oldest of the five poetic/wisdom books. King Solomon has been connected as the official founder of wisdom literature. Under his reign Israel flourished and grew in art, religion, and worship. The literary style of Proverbs is the mashal, literally the comparison or parable, consisting of two parallel lines. Proverbs 9:10-“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs are teachings of wise people boiled down to their memorable essence. Biblical proverbs are based on the Lord-on loving God and obeying him. In the New Testament, the book of James is similar in practical wisdom to Proverbs.
Ecclesiastes contains no mention of Israel’s past and their institutions. The person speaking is called the Preacher in 1:1. He functions as a critic and or debater. His major function is to analyze a view of life, probe its standard assertions, and expose the weaknesses. Ecclesiastes may have been written by the wisdom elite as a reaction to the simplistic answers of Proverbs. A favorite scripture passage from Ecclesiastes comes from 3:1-15. Take some time to read it now.
Song of Solomon is another book that seems connected or dedicated to King Solomon. It is written like a song a bridegroom might sing. It has been looked as an allegory, a celebration of human love, or the cultural liturgies of pre-Israel built upon ancient myths of those people. It is the most sexual book of the bible. The book never mentions God. The women or bride has the leading role. To get a sense of the earthiness of Song of Solomon read 4:1-7.
At the end of each session we are asking you to turn to a passage of scripture and read and reflect on four questions:
1. What do I think this passage means for those who read it the first time?
2. What does this passage mean for me right now?
3. What are you going to do or how are you going to act differently in the future as a result of what this passage says?
4. What questions do I have about this passage that I need clarification on?
Please read the following from the Book of Proverbs: 9:10, 11:22, & 10:1
*The Beginner's Bible Study Blog would like to acknowledge the following sources in creation of this study: Downloading the Bible by Jonathan Brant, The True Story of the Whole World by Craig G. Bartholomew & Michael Goheen and The Layman’s Bible Commentary, Volumes 8, 9,& 10
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