Wisdom Poetry Research Paper

Wisdom encompasses all reality, so it is difficult to say that wisdom is found in any particular historical events, cultures or religions or in any ancient civilizations. However, the encounter with wisdom of the community of Israel can be traced in the written corpus which includes the Torah and the prophetic writings. Even so, some scholars studying the wisdom literature have the opinion or caution that, as wisdom is fundamentally related with creation and is available in every aspect of creation, one cannot limit wisdom to one people or one historical process. Creation is the locus for the wisdom literature because it reflects and develops the idea that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1, 27). In this literature, human beings are the part of a whole …show more content…
Then the question arises, what are the characteristics of the wisdom literature? Does it remain only in the realm of human experiences? Many scholars agree that the characteristic of the wisdom literature is that, while based on human experiences, it is didactic in nature. Wisdom literature does not come from such a divine revelation as inspired the Torah and the prophetic writings. There is a major difference between the prophetic writings (teaching) and the wisdom literature. Prophetic preaching was always based on the covenant, whereas wisdom writings do not refer to the covenant. Prophetic teaching involves a divine revelation: a prophet receives a revelation or vision from God and in turn goes to the people and shares that revelation which he has received from God in the form of a teaching that may be a warning or an admonition. Even the language of the prophet is specific when he preaches saying, “Thus says the Lord (of