Wisdom (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. In the age of the Prophets.— The Wisdom (HT^n hokhma) of the Hebrews developed itself originally as an independent intellectual movement, side by side with the religious one, in the form of a half-poetical, half-philosophical ob- servation of nature. We have the earliest remini. scences of this in the Fable poetry of the OT (Jg 9'"", 2 K 14"), and in the traditions which attach to the name of Solomon (1 K 5'""'^ [Eng. i^^]). The comparison between the latter and the allied crea- tions of Arabia (v." ("'I), and the description of the material of Solomon's sayings (v.'" i*'), show that we have to do here %vith products not of religious but of secular poetry. This Wisdom was thought of as specially naturalized in Edom (Jer 49', Ob"). — The great prophets are upon the whole not favourable to this Wisdom, Is 5=' 29", Jer 4== S'- » 9=^ : they reproach ' the Wise ' with conceit and immor- ality. In the technical language of the propliets, ■TiiB, i.e. decision by oracle, is attributed to the priests (Jer 18'^ Ezk 7=") ; i?^, ' the word of Jah- weh ' ( = '"•131 Jer. I.e.), to the prophets; njt;,:, the faculty of self-determination or devising of mea- sures, to 'the Wise' (Jer. I.e.). Even before the Exile the need made itself felt of fixin" the teaching of Jahwch and establishing lirmYy its contents. It was this that led to the composition of the Book of Deuteronomy. The fierce conflicts with false prophets which had to be waged by Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer 28. ^Sfi^-, Ezk 13) tended further in the direction of limiting the in- fluence of prophecy (Dt 18''=). The latter decayed to such an extent that in the post-exilic period its silence was painfully felt (Ps 74", 1 Mac 9='). Yet it proved impossible to cause this dry branch on the tree of Israel to put forth shoots afresh. 2. Post-exilic development of the Wisdom teach- ing.— The priests and ' the Wise,' unlike the pro- phets, found a new sphere for their activity after the Exile ; the former in the re-established cultus of the temple, the latter in the carrj'ing forward of the legal religious system which Ezra the scribe took in hand after the Return (Ezr 7"- '"). Yet it ^\•as a considerable time before the effort to confine the whole intellectual life of post-exUic Judaism within the limits of rigid law succeeded. The wave which stirred the nations in consequence of the establishment of the world, empire of Alexander the Great, overflowed the Holy Land as well, and on the other hand carried Judaism far beyond the borders of that land to the interior of Asia and all the coasts of the Mediterranean. Israel came thus evenfwhere into contact with Greek civilization, for the Greeks were from the earliest times a race of colonists. 3. The earliest traces of Greek influence.— The traces of the influence of Greek W'isdora meet us for the first time in the Book of Proverbs (2nd cent. B.C.), which, in addition to the practical wisdom of life wliich it preaches (hence the name .icrn iDD applied to it m Tos. to Baba bathra, 146), is ac(iuainted also with a special artificial form of gnomic wisdom. On V;;'? ' likeness,' 'parable,' attached at first to an object borrowed from the world of nature, or ny'jij (LXX aKoreivbt Xiiyo's) ' hidden allusion ' (Pr 1' ; cf. nyn, ib. and Ezk 17=), cf. Cheyne, Job and Solomon, London, 1887, p. 215. Wisdom is conceived of in Pr 8"- as a separate • Philosophy proper had no existence, and could have none, amont' the Ii"jl>rewa. A proceae of thought free from preMip- positions was unknown to them. G<)d and Divine revelatiun were accepted as tlxed points. Accordingly, all that waa aimed at was merely to penetrate deeper into the contents of what was ^;iven and to define it more precisely. Nor is the form of the Iliikhma that of the scliool speech ; it is popular. It problems are not theoretical, but concern qiiestious dealing with the practical wiadom of life or with godlinetia. WISDOM WISDOM 9?5 Existence whom Jahweh formed as the first of His works prior to the creation of eartlilv tilings (vv.2^, « cf. v.-^ '::?; see also Ps 13'j'=). The ^okhma did not cooiierate in the creating of the Leavens and the earth, for, according; to vv.=-^, Jahweli Himself made all things. Hence [icij of v.'" cannot be rendered 'master workman' (RV), but, upon the analogy of i?x.7 of Nu 11'- ('guardian of children '), ought to be tr'' ' foster-child ' (cf. AV, Anuila TiBjivoi'iJ.ii'T], Gunkel [Sr/iojifting, 1895, p. 94] ' Hiitschelkind '). The Ilo/chma poet's thought is that .lahweh, after the toils of creation (which, according even to Gn '2', rendered rest necessary), found a diversion, as it were, in this His tirstbom before the world, as the child jdayed before His eyes (Pr S"). Wisdom is thus, m the mind of our poet, not a principle at work in the forming of the world, since she was only an onlooker at this and at the fashioning of individual objects. She has, according to Pr 8'"", to do with men alone. In these she finds her delight, to them alone she turns with her call to hear instruction (ic'o Pr 8^). It is thus purely ethical aims to which she seeks to lead men, Dj' whom, of course, from the Judaistic standpoint, are meant simply Israelites. The notion of the Divine ffokhma as a separate E.xistence outside of and over against Jahweh, is, how ever, as un, Israelitish as possible and abso- lutely opposed to the monotheism of the inx nirr (Dt 6^) that had become firmly established since the time of Deuteronoiuy. It can be e.vplained only as due to the influence of Greek philosophy, accord- ing to which the archetypes of things {apx^rviroi iS(ai, Plato, Timwtis, p. 29) or the powers of the Divine es-sence diH'used throughout the world (the xoaal lyrotat of the Stoics; cf. C. Wachsmuth, Die An- sichten dcr StoUccr iiber Mantik, etc. p. 21) are regarded as having a separate existence of their own, although in their relation to the world they are otherwise conceived of than in the Book of Proverbs. 4. The Jewish doctrine of retribution and the itrufjglcs of faith to which it qnve rise. — In other parts of the Book of Proverbs the questions of wisdom in the ordering of the life of a Jew are discussed. Pietj' appears here as the successful and most advantageous course (2"- "'• ^•~). Virtue is never unrewarded (S"-"-'"- '« lO-'"'- 1G="). Misfor- tune befalls only the ungodly (11"), for the pious it is only a passing chastisement (3"'"). — The actual experiences, which were diametrically opposed to eucli doctrines, led to a period of struggles of faith (Farrar in Speaker's Apocr. vol. i., London, 1877, 'The era of dilTiculties,' p. 416), whose deposit we have in several of the Psalms, in Job, and in Ecclesiastes. (a) The Psnlms. — Ps 37 proceeds upon the idea that the good fortune of the wicked has no con- tinuance (vv.-"'' "• 2>). »'■ 3"). In brilliant poetic lan- guage the sudden end of their prosperity is de- Bcribed, and this has the counter -description opposeil to it of the exaltation and happiness of the godly which always comes to pass after a transient period of woe (vv."- ""■'»• "'• »• «"•). Since, however, this was contradicted by other experiences which told of wicked men who were prosperous down to the end of their life (Job 21'-'»- ''"■«•), the dilliculty was not solved. The expedient of declaring that in such CB-ses the punishment over- takes the children of the ungodly (Job 21'") was nothing more than a palliative, for this punish- ment extended, according to Ex 20^, only to the tliirtl or fourth generation ; and it gave no satis- faction at all to the later prophets (cf. .ler 3r-'"'-, Ezk 18-''), who insisted upon the personal re- Bpunsibility of the transgressor. — Ps 49 accordingly grappled with the problem afresh and otlered the solution that death at all events brings punishment to the wrong-doer whom continued prosperitj' has made dclianl (v.'). Then can none deliver him (vv."""), he must leave behind him his ill-gotten wealth (vv.'-' "■™), and he himself becomes a prey to corruption (v.'). The godly man, on the other hand, has the sure hope that God will deliver him from death (v.", cf. Ps 16'"), and he can enjoy his prosperity, while the wicked die away (v.''^). But, seeing that the stroke of death falls in any case at last upon the righteous as well, neither could this solution of the problem be regarded as satisfactory. — Ps 73, in which we can still detect tlie scars of the fierce conflict which faith had to sustain with doubt (vv. ''■"'), followed to some e.xtent the same path, arguing that the prosperity of the ungodly is but fleeting, whereas tliat of the godly is at last permanent (vv.""^, '). Along with this, it points to a solution which, from the Christian standpoint, indeed, would be perfectlv satisfying, namely, that the happiness of the rigliteous is purely inward, and that this, or in other words the blessedness produced by the fellowship of the heart with God, cannot be torn from them by any suflcring of an earthly kind (v.'-^'-). But this .solution was inade- quate from the standpoint of the OT, for the latter demanded outward prosperity for the righteous by way of reward, and outward sutl'ering for the wicked by way of punishment. Equally unsatis- factory as a full answer was the declaration that, in the case of the righteous, suffering is chastening, and, as such, an evidence of Divine love (Pr 3", He 12'"'), intended to warn tlu^m against going on further in sin (Job 33'°'- "■■"'), and, on the other hand, purifies them from stains and in this way perfects them (Ho 12""-). However correct and beautiful all this is, one does not see why in that case the ungodly, who surely in any case also deserve punishment, receive none. Again, from the OT jioint of view, the use of such a purifying of the godly could not be apprehended ; for if, as frequently hajipencd, the suttering continued till the death of the sufferer, the whole fruit of such purification was lost in Sheol, where godly and un- godly lead the same dreamy existence (Ps 49"- ", Job 3"-"' 7'-"' U~, Ezk 3'2'»-»-). There even the righteous have no more hope (Ps 6= .W, Is 38"'- ''•, Job 7'"- H"'-'^ ; cf. esp. W. Schwally, Lebcn naih iIkiii Tode iinrh den Vorstelluvfjcn e/cs nlten Israels, li lessen, 18'J2, pp. 59-74). Nor could doubts be solved by the expedient of declaring that in the last resort all are sinners, that none is good but God alone (Job 4"-'« H 15'<-'» 2')-", Mk lO'"), for this supjilied no answer to the question why it is, under these circumstances, that the nutoriously ungodly so often remain unpunished. l!ut, above all, these attempts at solving the problem all left the main question untouched, how the circumstance is to be explained that God does not fulfil His solemn promise to reward the righteous and to punish the wicked (Dt 28), but almost consistently docs the opposite. With loud comjilaints the godly addressed to God the bitter question why He looks so calmly on this course of things (Jer 12'- '') ; and a kind of desMiair took po.ssession of them (Jer 20'''""', Jobs'"'-). It appeared as if God were asleep (Ps 44'-^). The pros|ierous transgressor asked mock- ingly, 'Where is now thy God?' (Ps 42'-'") and triumphantly denied the alleged principle of a Divine government of the world (Ps 10" 14' 73"). (4) The Booh of Job. — The finest exhibition of the problem of the doctrine of retribution on all its sides and in all its depth is afl'orded by the poem of Job. We have here three [or four] speakers, who state their case from the standpoint of the traditional doctrine ; and also in the speeches of their opjionent. Job, a large space is devoted to a description of the doctrine he combats. The fiimla- mental dogma of the old doctrine of retribution 926 WISDOM WISDOM is that all sufloring is punishment inflicted by an angry God. God turns away otl'ended from man (Job IS^-" 19' iS"; SO-"'-); or turns the glance of His anger upon him (?" 14 16'), meets him as an enemy (19" 13-^), smites him with the stroke of His hand (13-' 30-'). The storms of trial appear like the attack of an adversary (10" 16"'- 19'-) or the threatened onslaught of wild beasts (10", cf. Ps 22'3'- ", Is 3S'3). Side by side with this we find the figures of the net (Job IG'^), the prison (7'^ 13-"), darkness (IG"), the closed-up way (3^ 19" e< al.). The sutt'erings are described at one time as out- ward (9^), and again as inward (30" pains of the entrails). Finally, they carry the man off (9"'- 2418-211) This hostile attitude on the part of God awakens in the mind of the sutterer the fear of further misfortunes (Job 9^ 10'^'- 30^'), and there- with a feeling of desjiair and hopelessness (3^'- 9"- 23'^ ), so that he prays merely for a brief respite (719 10^0 i46,_ OT even for death (6"r- 7"). —The further result of this view of the causes of Butter- ing is that the sutterer torments himself continu- ally with the question why he has incurred this mysterious and, to him, inexplicable anger of God (lO-- 13-="- 23-'"'), for it appears to him as if he were continually watched by God, who seeks for occasions to punish him for possible transgressions (7"- 13-'''-). — To the sutterer it is peculiarly painful that his a.ssociates, friend and foe alike, take the same view of the cause of his woes. They regard him as one thus marked out by God. His enemies with malicious joy seize the opportunity to inveigh against him (lO""'- 30"f-) ; his slaves and domestics refuse him obedience (19"'-); wife and children and friends shrink from him (19'='»"- 12^); all regard him as a reprobate (17''). Whoever should doubt this would call the Divine justice in question, charge God with unrighteousness and untruth, and tiius commit the most heinous blas- phemy (8' 34''''-), and he would load himself with new and heavier guilt (IP 15'' 33'''- 345^-). The whole duty of the sutterer is, accordingly, by honest self-examination to discover his oH'ence. Such must be a priori assumed, for otherwise there would be no suttering, i.e. no punishment, to explain (8") ; and, as no one is perfect (4"'"' 15'^'' 25^"-°), some kind of guilt will not be difticult to discover. [It might be that the ott'ence was trilling : in that case it was God's aim to deter the man liom something worse, 33-'''™]. Hence the man who denies his guilt reveals a hardened dis- position, which will not confess what is certainly there all the same, and which justifies, according to the notions of the time, the heaping of all con- ceivable evil charges upon his head (ch. 22). — To this doctrine Job objects : in the first place, that at all events the sutterer has a right to complain ; in G^"' that it is harsh when, instead of ottering to the sutterer comfort in his attiiction, people up- braid him with the sins they impose upon him (v.""), repeat with all kinds of variations the familiar theory of the Divine punitive justice and ap]>ly this to the unfortunate being before them (12, ' 13- le-""- 19-'). Again, it is an easy matter on the ground of pure tlieory to heap all kinds of charges uiiou a sullerer's head, charges to which the latter can oppose the partlj notorious facts of his blameless life (ch. 31). No doubt, the omni- potence of God makes rebellion on man's part against the strokes of His hand useless, but this does not prove that these sutt'erings are just (9^- ®''- Hjis-17 i.2i\a. 131H-J1 lyeff.). Although it is not to be denied that there are terrible instances of Divine judgment upon WTong-doers (19^ 13"'- "), on the other hand experience shows that good and bad alike are the victims of God's stroke (9=^'- \2'^<'-), and that it goes well with the one and ill with the other, without any merit on the ji.irt of the one or blame on the part of the other (21^- "). It often happens even that wicked men enjoy un- disturbed prosperitj' down to their death (12'''2l'""- so-33 24"''). — On the other hand, no power in tho world, and no alleijed doctrine of Divine Pro- vidence, however hallowed by time, can tear from the soul of an innocent sutterer the consciousness of his innocence, and compel him, in opposition to the acquitting voice of conscience, to confess him- self guilty (10' 13'" 16" 23'^'- 27"- 31). Such a man is entitled to appeal to the better judgment of God Himself, which does not agree with tlie verdict which men tliink to discover in the strokes of mis- fortune that have fallen upon the sutterer (10' 12 137-11. aa. mi3.2i 173 lu-Dif.). The very assertion that there is not a single righteous man shows how utterlj' untenable is the old doctrine of retribu- tion, for in that case it is quite incomprehensible whj- it often happens that it is just those who are relatively least stained with guilt that are most severely punished, whereas gross offenders go tree (812. 201. 13^^. 144. 17) xhe negative result of these observations is briefly this : What hitherto it has been the custom to call the exercise of Divine justice in the fortunes of men is nothing more than the exercise of Divine omnipotence, whose resolutions are without any moral quality. These take their place, undistinguished, amongst natural occurrences, be these beneficial or destructive, and affect all men alike. In like manner, individuals are prosperous or the reverse in the att'aiis of their natural life, without regard to whether they are good or bad. The gifts of prosperity and the blows of adversity, in so far as by these are under- stood material well, being or suttering, do not depend at all on the moral character of the man, and have no relation at all to the moral nature (the righteousness) of God. Such is the result of an unprejudiced examination of things. The old doctrine of Divine retribution is completely shat- tered against it. Cf. Goethe's Faust, i. — Flach sei der Hoffnung I Finch dem Glaul)en I TJnd Fluch vor alien der Goduld I Geister-Chor : Weh ! Weh 1 Du hast sie zerstort. Die schone Welt, Mit miichtiger Faust , Sie stiirzt, sie zerfallt : £in Halbgott bat sie zerschla^n J Wir tragen Die Trummern ins Nicbts hinubflr, Pnd klagen ijber die verlome Schone. Machtitrer Der Erdensohne, Pnichtiger Baue sie wieder. In deinem Busen baue sie aut 1 Over against this the following positive struc- ture is reared by one who supplemented tha poem (cf. C. Siegfried, 'Job' in Haupt's SBOT). He insists that, while Nature, especially in her ter- rible catastrophes, exhibits merely the working of Almighty power whose immensity overwhelms man (ch. 26), yet in her positive operations, in the variety of her creatures and their mode of life, she reveals an admirable law and order ; from which it follows that not merely brute force but also hidden wisdom interpenetrates and controls the life of nature (chs. 38-41). The depths of this wisdom are indeed beyond man's understanding (28'-"), but the analogy of the life of nature leads us to postulate a similar order for the moral world, although it is not in man's power to state its laws. Man luis left to him the essence of all wLsdom in the practical maxim of life — the fear of Jahweh and the avoiding of evil (26^). The theo- retical solutiou of the problem is thus given up in the Book of Job. Yet the standpoint of faith and of religion is maintained, as in Ec 12'"-. — Another solution is proposed in the Elihu speeches, but it WISDOM WISDOM 927 is opposfil to the whole tendency of tlie poem. These speeches trace tlie sullerin^s of the ri^'litcous to an aim on (Icxl'a part to purify them morall}', and to keep them from sin (33'"- -''-' 30). The olijeet of buflering, that is to say, is here a pa;da- go^ic one. (r) Ecclesiastes. — A complete breach with the position of Jewisli orthodoxy was reached in the ' Giundsclirift ' of this book (Q' ; cf. C. Siefifried in Xowack's Udlcum. z. AT, ' I'rediger and Holies- lied,' Uottinjien, 1898), embracing the following f)a.s.sa"es : H-2'-' "•>•"• 3'''"- ''■ '"• '»"-' 4'-- '•''■ '^-" S""- 2-lli (Jl-7 ■Jlb-4. 1». 26-28 ga(. U. Ml. g2(. »(. JQS-? (gf / j_ p. 6tr. ). We tind here a pessimist pliitosophy radically divorced from Judaism and influenced mainly by Stoicism (cf. I.e. pp. 6-10). The buok \va.s glossed by an Epicurean Sadducee (Q-), to whom belong 3^= u""!" yn- is gio 9^- '■'"• '= lO" ll'""- a.. 10 i.2ib-7. (; c. p. 10 f.) ; further, by a haUiilm (Q'), who defends Wisdom against its disparagement by Q', and to whom are attributed 2"- '^ 4' 6'- "" 7"'- " 8' 9"-" lO'--', " {I.e. p. 11); and, most notably, by a Jewisli liiisid {Q ; I.e. p. 11 f.), who corrected the anti-Jewish views of Q'. To his hand we owe the passages: 2, "'-'^ 311. 13M7 417.51. 3-s. 61. 1. (jio-21 -13. 17. iJ-a. 29 82-8.11-18 Ql jp. 8b. 9b JO'- ">, On tile other hand, scattered interpolations (Q» ; I.e. p. 12), in the spirit of the old gnomic Wisdom, contain exhortations to a prudent conduct of life: 4""'- 52.lia.8.11 -la. 8. 6«. 7-10. 18. 2U-^ ()11 JQJ. 8-11, 10-18 Jll-4.8 A redactor (R') put together 1, 12', and supplied this whole with the closing formula 12^ Then came particular additions : Urst epilogue 12^'-, which in- forms the reader as to the personality of Qoheleth anil removes the mask of king Solomon ; second epilogue 12'"-, which assumes an opposite attitude, one opposed to this Wi-^dom literature; and 12"'-, the work of a linal redactor (R-), who from tlie I'liari.saic standpoint alludes to a llnal future judg- ment, a doctrine with which Q (3" 11"'') is not yet acijuainted {I.e. p. 12). In the genuine parts of the poem the theme 'All is vanity ' is treated by tj' in a series of parallel arguments. In the first of these it is establislied that all that happens on earth exhibits an iron law of cycle, in which certain jiassing phenomena re- gularly recur (I''"). All man's ellorts to discover a reasonable ground for this arrangement come to nought (vv. '-■'"). Qoheleth assures us that he has tried all kinds of expedients to banish the pessi- mistic disposition produced by the above oh.serva- tion ; he has revelled in every species of enjoyment; he has given himself to the most laborious inven- tions. IJut all in vain (2'""). The attempt to tind consolation in the pursuit of Wisdom ('in- "''■ '"•) has likewise been a complete failure, so that he has ended in blank d(!s])air (vv. "•-"). — The second argument on the theme of 1' shows how the con- traries, which characterize all that liajipens on earth, prove all labour on man's part to be vain, liirth is followed by death, planting by rooting up, etc. (3'"). This law of nature, which alwajs de- stroys again what it has made (vv.'°- '-• '"), shows that there is no moral principle in the ordering of the world. Consequently there can be none in the ca.se of men either, for, as their existence is not essentially dillcrent from that of the beast, no more can their fate be difleicnt (3'°' '""'■"). Special arrangements for the good of man are im|>ossible in the plan of the universe. — The third argument (chs. 4. ')) isalreadj' interrupted by a number of in- terpolations. IJut the hand of Q' may still be recognized in 4i-<.6-8. i3-i» gut. n-i« ;„ ^1,^. complaint about human auflering, from which there is no escape, and which is yet so useless, and aliout the restless and yet fruitlc'ss labours of men. Isolated fragments o^ the following chapters (Siegfried, I.e. p. 22) contain complaints of Bimilor experiences. and wage a special conflict with the Deuterononiic doctrine of retribution. Laws of nature, according to li', not moral laws, rule eveiything. There is no Divine government of the world. This is proved by the world's course. Man's lot is a continual vain struggle. Pleasures cannot compensate him for this, for they rest upon an illusion. Nor does AVisdom bring any real satisfaction, for the pursuit of her is fruitless. — Amongst the glo.ssators, Q,^ occu]iies a purely Epicurean standpoint. Eating and drinking and other sensual indulgences he considers of very real value, and counsels jiartici- pating in tliese before the coming of old age when the capacity for enjoying them ceases, l.abour, again, is, according to him, not without result, for by it man gains something which procures enjoy- ment. Hence man is to note the good days and accommodate himself to the evil ones. — The gloss- ator, the lidkhum t^', as was already remarked, defends Wis<lom against the disparagement of its value by Q'. — The I'hariseo i^ maintains the positions of Judaism against Q', namely the Divine causality in the creation and governirient of the world : the Divine justice, which calls even the exalted to account and protects the law-abiding ; the view of premature death, which overtakes the wicked, whereas it is escaped by the godly (Sieg- fiied. I.e. p. 11 f.). 5. Tlie Wisdom teaching in the Apocrypha.. — In the apocryphal literature the Wisdom teaching received abundant attention. (a) Sirach. — The standpoint of the sayings of Ben Sira has points of contact with that of Q^ just described. His 'Wisdom' is out and out Jewish-religious. 'All wisdom is from the Lord, and is with him for ever ' (1'); hence it is unfathomable in its nature, for God alone comprehends it (v. 5). God created it (v.), and poured it out on all His works, but in a special manner upon the godly (v.'"), who re- cognize that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (vv."'-"). From this source flow all ethical rules, which are specialized in rich variety, a course which gives the author occasion for a number of separate expositions (P'-IO^). Once more he turns to the contemplation of the nature of wisdom in 24'-30'-'', a section which ojiens with a call to Wisdom to raise a liyiiin in praise of her- self, to which she responds in 24'''-. She glorifies herself as having proceeded out of the mouth of the Highest, and relates how at the Creation she lay upon the earth like a mist (cf. Gn 1' 2"). Then she took her seat upon a pillar of cloud (cf. Ex 14'") and spread her flight through the heights cf heaven. Hut she likewise walked tlirough the ileptlis of the abyss. Sea and dry land have been taken possession of by her, and slie has souglit a dwelling-place among all nations. But ' the Creator of all things' commanded her : ' In Jacob take up thy dwelling.' Then she received her place in Zion, and flourished there like a hne tree. And so she call.-' all who long for Wisdom to come and enjoy her fruits. But Wisdom has found its fullest expression in the Book of the Law (24'-^"-'''), whose full stream is com- pared with that of the four rivers of Paradise. With Sirach thus as in I'r 8 (see above, p. 'J25'') Wisdom is not God's inli rmediary in the creation of the world, but has to do only with men. Slio seeks a dwelling-]ilace with them upon the alrcaily created earth, and linds it in Israel, [lartlv in the Teiii|jle worship (24""-), partly in the Book of the Law (24-"). (4) Brirnch. — In this book Wisdom appears simply as attached to the book of the commands of (iod (ell. 4) : Israel's misfortunes, which came uiion her with the Exile, arc due solely to her having for- saken these commandments ot life {3'"'- ; cf. Rys.sel in Kautzsch's Apokr. «. Pseudcpigr. d. AT,i. 230- 475). )2S WISDOM, BOOK OF WISDOM, BOOK OF (c) 4 Maccabees. — Here the Jewish philosopher of religion starts with the principle that tlie natural reason (6 voOs) of man is intended to rule the passions (rd TdSri). This is auconiplishetl v lien the yoOs chooses a life in Wisdom and tlius becomes \oyiiT/i.6s. Only thus can it arrive at the ao<pla, w hich consists in possession of a knowledfje of things Divine and human and of their causes (<ro0ia 5ii roivvi/ iuTiv yvu3<xi^ d^ioiv koX avd p^irlvuv irpay/xdruv /cai Tu>i> Toi'moy oItIuv, 1'*). But the Wisdom that is recognized must also be desired, the Xoyicjtij^ must be ev<re^ris \oyi<x^i6s, thought determining itself to a >'irtuous life. The best aid to the leading of such a life is the ancestral Law, which teaches us Divine and human things in the wortliiest and most suitable manner (t; toO vi/iov vatdeia, di' 7^j Tct deia (Te/xf^s t:al Tct dvdpu^TTLva ffvfjLfpc- pl>vTw! ixavdiiiofiev, 1"). By the help of the prescrip. tions of the Jewish Law a man will be best able to check perturbations of spirit, for from it we derive trust in God, and the conviction that the enduring of any suffering for virtue's sake brings blessedness. True philosophy thus coincides with fiVe'ieia, and is of value simply as laying a scientific foundation for Judaism (cf. J. Freudenthal, Die Flavins Josephus beigelegte Schrift itber die Herr- sckaft dcr Vemun/t, Breslau, 1S69 ; A. Deissmann, ' Das sogenannte vierte Buch der Maccabaer ' ia Kautzscli's Apokr. u. Pseudcpigr. d. A T, ii. 177 ; and, in general, Farrar in Speaker's Apocrypha, 415''-420=' ; and art. MACCABEES in vol. iii. p. "l94). In this intellectual movement wliich defended the Jewish religion with the weapons of Greek philosophy, and embellished it with the grace acquired from Greek education, the Book OF Wisdom took its place as an important factor. See the following article. C. Siegfried.