Ben Sira: Chapters 1 to 7

Here is the end of Wisdom, the previous book.   Now for the last book before we hit the prophets:

FOREWORD

This book actually has an official forward.  It’s not part of the Bible chapters, but its also more than just the intro notes.  The grandson of the original author apparently wrote this, saying his dad loved wisdom, read all the Bible writings, and felt inspired to churn this out, which his descendents now present to all. 

The author (not of the foreword, but the main author) was Yeshua (Jesus) son of Eleazar, son of Sira.  That’s where Ben Sira comes from.   It’s a naming practice – I don’t claim to know exactly how it goes.  It’s also called Ben Sirach, which is just a Greek version of it.  For a long time it was called Liber Ecclesiasticus, which is Greek for “Church Book.”  Fortunately, it’s no longer call that, as that is way too similar to Ecclesiastes.  And both those names are hard to spell.

CHAPTER 1

The beginning of the last book of wisdom sounds a lot like much of what I’ve already read.  This is just a bunch of words about how wonderful wisdom is.  Yeah, I’m not disagreeing, but I’ve read this already.  Repeatedly.

Let’s see – wisdom comes from God.  It was here before all other things.  Fear of the Lord is the root of wisdom.  Yup, we’ve seen all those points before.  Repeatedly.

Actually, this book does place an unprecedented amount of attention upon fearing God.  The phrase “fear of the Lord” shows up about 10 times.  It’s like an incantation.  It’s central to wisdom.

The line that really stuck with me is: “The fear of the Lord drives away sins.”  Yeah, there is some truth to that, obviously.  But it is also a negative view of human nature.  We’re less inspired to do good than we afraid made afraid of doing bad.  Again, I’m not necessarily agreeing, but this book sounds like it fits really well for denominations that take a bleak view of human nature.  And that typically has been the Catholic view.

CHAPTER 2

This chapter’s title is, “Trust is God.”  It’s an anti-Job chapter, in that it goes against a lot of the lessons there.  The chapter asks us, “has anyone trusted in the Lord and been disappointed?  Has anyone persevered in his fear and been forsaken?  Has anyone called upon him and been ignored?” 

Guess what – the answer to all of those questions is a clear and unambiguous, “YES!”  That was the whole point of Job.  Sometimes bad things happen to good people.  Life isn’t a moral wonderland.  But this book is telling us the opposite.  So I’m having trouble with it already.

In fact, this book tries to cover its tracks from the above, and really infuriates me all the more when it does so.  Now we’re told, “Woe to the timid hearts and drooping hands to the sinner who walks a double path!  Woe to the faint of heart!  For they do not trust, and therefore have no shelter!  Woe to you that have lost hope!  What will you do at the Lord’s visitation?”

So …..the Lord doesn’t forsake those that call for him.  Just have faith and it’ll happen.  You might have to wait, but it’ll happen.  Oh, and if it doesn’t happen – keep faith and keep faith and keep faith.  And if you should lose your faith -  then it’s all your fault!  It’s all on you!

This is a confidence game.  Always assume that God will rectify it.  Always believe it.  And if your hope falters, then we can blame you for it not happening.  But of course it’s human nature to have doubts.  And the world isn’t a moral wonderland – but we’ve just found a way to blame people for the problems.  We’ve just blamed the victim.

So far, I’m not liking this book very much.

CHAPTER 3

Here we get some general advice.  It’s good advice for the most part, but it’s fairly generic common sense.  We are to treat our parents well.  We are to act humble – and the greater we become, the most humble we should be.  Also, we should avoid stubbornness (and the way to do that is through studying wisdom).  Finally, give alms to the poor.

I can see how Jews developed into a studious culture from books like this.  They are constantly told the glories and wonders of studying. 

CHAPTER 4

There is more talk about how you should act.  Treat the poor and needy well.  Act with sincerity and justice.  Oh, and if you act well, wisdom will reward you.  Also, wisdom will punish you if you don’t act well: “But if they turn away from me [re: wisdom], I will abandon them and deliver them over to robbers.”  This is veering a little too closely into notions that earth works by moral laws.  That’s the notion that Job rather effectively smacked down.  The advice here is good but the bigger picture is a tad wanting.

One other thing I note.  Almost all of the advice here tells us what Not to do.  They phrase “Do not” kicks off eight of the 31 verses.  The trick to acting properly is less a matter in what you do well.  It’s more about avoiding poor actions.  When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound so bad.  That said, I’m reminded of some advice I once got when I began teaching.  I had a list of paper instructions, and the first page was some grammar rules to follow.  It read “Do not do X” and “Do not do Y.”  Do not do not do not.  A teacher looked at it and advised that I try a different approach.  To many “don’t” can create an adversarial relationship. 

CHAPTER 5

Heh.  As soon as I note that one chapter has a lot of “Do not”s, I hit the motherload here.  Each of the first 10 verses starts off, “Do not.”  The basic idea is don’t be a big shot.  If you have wealth and power and prestige, that’s no excuse to be a dick.  God notices, and he’ll punish you.  Again, the Book of Job’s power comes from the acknowledgment that this doesn’t always work.  To be fair, often in life people do get their comeuppance, so I suppose there is some room for both.  But the problem is when you say the Lord will be angry with them, well, that’s rather absolute.  It makes it sound like the world really is a moral wonderland.

CHAPTER 6

This one has some nice thoughts about being a friend.  “Do not be a foe instead of a friend. A bad name, disgrace, and dishonor you will inherit.  Thus the wicked, the double-tongued.”  Frenemies: not approved of by God.

We’re told to be nice and pleasant to all, but “one in a thousand your confidant” only.  Test your friends to make sure that they really are true.  While part of me thinks this is a negative view of human nature, a larger part of me agrees.  Who hasn’t had someone treat them nice for their own self-serving reasons? 

Some are friends when it suits them only.  Others become enemies.  Others, “are friends, table companions, but they cannot be found in time of affliction.”  I like that phrase – “table companions.”  It’s a different way of saying acquaintance.  And I don’t mind if someone falls into that category.  That’s someone who is your friend – but not a deep friendship, just a casual one.  There is nothing wrong with that, but this book is aiming deeper, obviously.

If you’ve food a true friend, you’ve hit the jackpot.  They are beyond price and “are life-saving medicine.”  Yeah, this is really smashing stuff on friendship.  Oh, I’m a little annoyed at how it ends – “Those who fear the Lord enjoy stable friendship.”  I don’t doubt that’s true, but you know what?  So do most who don’t fear the Lord.  Most people have a few really good friends they can keep, regardless of their beliefs. 

CHAPTER 7

It’s more general good advice.  There is little to argue with, but then again there is little that really makes you go “wow, that’s brilliant!”  And it’s an especially tough chore of the last of the wisdom books.  It’s plowing the same ground as Proverbs, just with less style and originality.

There is a section that reminds us that the ancient Hebrew were a patriarchal culture, as the book says to make sure to keep your daughters chaste and don’t indulge them too much. Oh, and then there’s this: “Give your daughter in marriage, and a worry comes to an end; but give her to a sensible man.” 

Also, I’m beginning to see what the professor told me when she advised me to avoid saying “Do not” too much in my instructions to students.  This book keeps on with the “do nots” and it really does get old.  We get 17 do nots here – all in the first 20 chapters. 

Let’s start a tally.

Chapter 1: three do nots.

Chapter 2: None!  (A few “woe”s but no Do nots.

Chapter 3: 1

So early on, there weren’t many.  But then the fun begins.

Chapter 4: 8

Chapter 5: 10

Chapter 6: 2

Chapter 7: 17

So that’s 51 – and counting.  I’m not even one-seventh the way through this book you know.

Click here for the next batch of Ben Sira.

Ben Sira main page

Chapters 1 to 7
Chapters 8 to 14
Chapters 15 to 22
Chapters 23 to 32
Chapters 33 to 42
Chapters 43 to 51

Song of Songs

Click here for the end of Ecclesiastes.  Now for the next book - Song of Songs.

CHAPTER 1

And now, for what may very well be the most unlikely book in the entire Bible.  Sure, Ecclesiastes didn’t seem to have much interest in that whole God thing.  And sure, the Book of Esther didn’t even mention God (unless you have the Catholic version, and even there the extra parts felt weirdly tacked on).  But at least Ecclesiastes dealt with the big questions of what gives life meaning.  But at least Esther was about the Jewish people.

But Song of Songs? Eh, well – hmm – let’s just say it’s a very, very different kind of Bible book.  Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.

So what is it?  Well, let me go back to the old family Catholic Bible; the one my mom got from her mother.  It was printed back in 1950 – before Vatican II.  It titles this book “Canticle of Canticles” – and really, that’s a much nicer title.  “Song of Songs” just sounds lame by comparison.  Anyhow, here is the old school Catholic interpretation of this book, as per the 1950 introduction.  This book is, “concerning the union of God and His people and particularly of Christ and his spouse: which is here begun by love; and is to be eternal in heaven.  The spouse of Christ is he church.”

Got it?  This is a poem about the love between Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church.  That’s what it’s about. 

So with that in mind, I present to you the book – a book which clearly, obviously, and blatantly has nothing at all do with the union between Christ and the church.

The first part of Chapter 1 is called “The Woman Speaks of Her Lover” – and this first-person section begins, “Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth.” 

Yeah, right away, any allegorical interpretations have just gone right into the ditch.  Deep into a motherfucking ditch.  And it keeps up like this.  The entire first section is a woman talking about how wonderful her lover is.  It has a nice line “for your love is better than wine.”  That sounds like an analogy with a future. 

Oh, I guess we can claim that the wine reference refers to the Last Supper and thus communion, right?  Eh, sure.  To be fair, Catholics aren’t the only ones who make some absurd allegorical claims for the book.  I guess the religious leaders feel they have to do something like that – how else can they explain this being in the Bible. It’s pretty clearly a straight up love poem.  So what the hell is it doing in the Bible?  I have no idea, but I sure am glad it’s here.

It’s a really nice love poem.  Our female protagonist exclaims of her man, “Let us exult and rejoice in your, let us celebrate your love: it is beyond wine!”  Fun fact: while reading this section, I was listening to “Praise You” by Fatboy Slim on my iPod.  I recommend doing this while reading this book.

I’m still just four verses in.  The thing gets more interesting as we learn more about the lady of the moment.  She says, “I am black and beautiful.”  Wow!  I didn’t see that one coming, did you?  She goes on, “Do no stare at me because I am so black.”  Huh.  So, she’s exotic then.  We’re later told that she’s the “most beautiful among women.”  Say it loud, she’s black and she’s proud. 

And our proud black beauty is deeply in love.  She calls her lover beautiful three times in two verses, and also notes, “My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh between my breasts he lies.”  Hey Pope and Papal posse – which part of the Catholic Church is the breasts in your analogy?  Or is it that Christ has breasts?

Oh, one other thing.  We’re told that, “The king has brought me to his bed chambers.”  So does that mean the person she’s so in love with is the king?  (That would be Solomon, as some Bibles call this book the Song of Solomon).  Well, I guess, but it when he describes her love, it sounds like someone she knows better.  As we go along, it seems unclear as to who her lover is – Solomon or just some lucky local kid.

CHAPTER 2

This has a great start: “I am a flower of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.”  Yeah, whoever this poet is, the poet knows the words. 

It’s mostly more about how in love our beautiful black female is.  This is a very physical love, as we’re told her lover’s “fruit is sweet to my taste.”  So …..what part of Christ is the fruit?  Oh, she said taste – must be the communion wafer.  Also, “His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.”  Now, if his left hand is under her head, wouldn’t that mean she’s lying down?  So…..hey-hey!  Jesus is getting freaky with the Roman Catholic Church!

She remembers when her lover visited and calls him a young stag.  “My lover belongs to me and I to him.”  There’s another nice line – and that one can actually work as an analogy for the Church (provided that you ignore all the other lines in the poem so far).

CHAPTER 3

We’re really heading towards a climax here, no pun intended.  She’s lying in bed, desiring the one she loves.  She is so ready for him – ahem – that she gets out of bed and takes to the streets.  She goes around asking all that are there if they’ve seen the one she loves.  My oh my – she sure is revved up.  Clearly, this can only be the union of Christ and the Catholic Church we’re talking about. 

Then she finds him!  “I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of her who conceived me.”  A-hem!  Yeah, it sounds like she is about ready to get it on.  “Praise You” might work earlier on, but here you might need a slow jam or something.  Maybe slip on some Barry White if you have it. 

Next comes a nice bit of advice, “I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the does of the field, do not awaken or stir up love until it is ready.”  Advice like that has been given out how many times across history?  More times than anyone can count.  And this case it can be taken two ways.  Either she’s glad she’s waited for this moment, or she’s wishing she’d waited longer than this moment.  But right now it seems like the first interpretation.

But wait – before anything else can happen, our story takes a very different turn.  Before anything happens in the chamber of her who conceived our protagonist, columns of smoke rise up in the desert.  (Suddenly, it’s daytime or something.  Weird).  It’s Solomon!  He’s coming along pimped out with his posse, with all of his bling showing.  He’s got 60 men – all wonderful warriors armed with swords.  He’s got his silver and purple cloth and his riches all with him.

We’re told it’s the day of his marriage.  So….. is our main character going to be taken from her love just before consummation to be with Solomon? 

CHAPTER 4

Now, after three verses from the point of view of our female lead, we shift focus to the guy.  I guess it’s Solomon, as he strolled up at the end of the last chapter.  Besides, it sounds like there’s a marriage about to happen, and that fits with what’s going to be said here.

Enough of the boring part of trying to figure out exactly who is who.  Now for the fun part – what’s going on.  And what’s going on is really simple: a bunch of sweet-talking. 

He loves everything about her.  She is beautiful, and beautiful in every way.  He goes over all parts.  Her eyes are like doves behind her veil.  (Huh.  The female is wearing a veil.  That’s interesting.  Her teeth are great.  Her lips are great.  Her cheeks are great.  Her breasts – yup, this supposed allegory for the love between Christ and the Catholic Church takes some time to rave about her breasts.  She is flawless in every way, and has ravished his heart.  “How much better is your love than wine,” we’re told.  Hey – they’re using the same lines!  Also, “your lips drop honey, my bride.”  Yeah, that’s another good one.  You can practically see her melting as you read this.  Someone is so getting laid tonight.

That said, some lines ….well, some lines just don’t translate that well.  How about this one: “Your hair is like a flock of goats.”  What’s that now?  Yeah, I can see the honey line and the sweeter than wine line – but the flock of goats?  That one hasn’t survived very well.

Actually, I can kind of figure this one out, thanks to Exodus.  Back there, the Bible had an extended section describing the construction of the Ark of the Lord.  We heard all about its building materials for several chapters.  Among all the special materials and gold and glorious materials, was goat hair.  Apparently, goat hair was very fine and nice.  Saying she has hair like goats means she has really nice hair.  I guess.

He also says, “Like pomegranate halves, your cheeks behind your veil.”  (Again, a reference to her wearing a veil).  Pomegranate references haven’t really stood the test of time in love poems. 

CHAPTER 5

They’re about to get it on.  He tells her, “Open to me, my sister.”  Folks – this is in the Bible.  Again: I defy to find a less likely Bible book in the Bible.  (Can you imagine what the Books of Tobit and Judith must be thinking?  “What?  They kicked us out but left this in? Seriously, Martin Luther? Seriously?”) 

Sure enough, she’s game.  She opens for her love and is ready for him – but he’s gone!  Wait –what?  The hell?  All that build up, all that talk?  Huh?  This part doesn’t make much literal sense, so score that for the people who see the poem as an allegory, but the allegorical interpretation still has more problems than a literal take would.

So now she’s out looking for her lover.  She pauses to tell the reader, “I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my love, what shall you tell him?  That I am sick with love.”  One comment: this is the first time all Bible long I’ve gotten a sense that the writer is female. Mostly it’s guys.  They were the scribes, after all.  Other parts could’ve been written by a woman, but this one feels like it more than anything else. 

Some people stop her to ask for a description of her lover.  Since this is right after she addressed the Daughters of Jerusalem, I guess that’s who she is talking to.  But her being asked for a description sounds like she’s going to give a missing person’s report to the cops.  So I imagined the rest of the chapter as her speaking to Detective Lenny Briscoe from Law & Order.  (Hey, Lenny is a Jew at least).

Briscoe: Can you describe he?

Female lead: “My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among thousands.”

Briscoe: Reddish, huh?  When you say outstanding, I take it you don’t mean he’s just really tall.

Female: “His hair like palm fronds, as black as a raven.”

Briscoe: Black hair, got it.

Female; “His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathing in milk.”

Briscoe: Lady, you’d make my job a lot easier here if you’d just say, “dark eyes.”

Female: “His loins, a work of ivory covered with sapphires.”

Briscoe: Uh, I hope we don’t have to look there to try to identify him.  Couldn’t you just give us a name or something?  Are those sapphires piercings or something?

CHAPTER 6

Rejoice!  He’s been found!  How he left and why he left are questions unanswered (never brought up, in fact). 

But they are united once more.  And he gives her some more sweet talk.  Wait – it’s the same sweet talk.  Some lines are left out this time (no breasts reference) but we get the goat hair and the pomegranate halves and many other lines already used.  If this is Solomon, that’s kind of lame.  He’s king and supposedly really wise.  Can’t he think of a second speech?  If it is just a local lad she fancies, it’s actually a little endearing.  He loves her and has a found a few words to express himself, but – well, he’s a little inexperienced at this whole wooing thing I guess.  So he’s just reusing the old material. 

And to the walnut grove they go down together. And what happens?  “Before I knew it, my desire had made me the blessed one of the prince’s people.”  So, uh, consummation then?  Weird euphemism for it, but that’s my best hunch.

CHAPTER 7

Well, maybe it hasn’t been consummated just yet.  He’s admiring her. Some of the lines we’ve heard before, but this time many of the lines are new.  Here’s another pick up line that hasn’t survived the ages, “Your belly, a mound of wheat, encircled with lilies.”  Yeah, I don’t think you want the use the word “mound” when discussing a woman’s belly these days. 

But he’s moved beyond goats when complimenting her on her hair: “Your hair is like purpose, a king is caught in its locks.” I’m not sure I fully get it, but purple was the royal color, so I guess he’s saying her hair is majestic. 

And he reaches his peak with the following: “Your very form resembles a date-palm, and your breasts, clusters.  I thought, `Let me climb the date-palm!  Let me take hold of its branches!  Let your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the fragrance of your breath like apples and your mouth like the best wine – that flows down smoothly for my lover, gliding over my lips and teeth.”  I take back what I said last chapter – ain’t nothing consummated yet.  They’re still working their way there. 

She chimes in with “I belong to my lover, his yearning is for me.”  That seems to be the central line of the poem. 

They go down to the garden, where all sorts of fruit are in bloom.  There is seems like they’ll finally do it, after plenty of panting and pleading and yearning.  ‘cuz that’s so incredibly like the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and Jesus Christ!

CHAPTER 8

The first line of this last chapter really kills a lot of the mood we’ve been building up: “Would that you were a brother to me, nursed at my mother’s breasts!”  Ummm .. huh?  When you’re on the verge of having sex, maybe you don’t tell the guy you wish you were siblings.  The days of Abraham and Sarah are long ago (and they were only half-siblings).  And maybe you don’t bring up your mother’s breasts.  That’s just …weird. 

But then we’re told why she feels this way – she could kiss him outside and no one would despise her.  Yeah, but – he’d be your brother. Still gross.

They poem rehashes some lines we’ve already come across, most notably again her statement to tell the girls to wait until the right moment to have sex.  I guess the time is now ripe.  No more Solomon going to come along in his pimp-mobile.  (I get the feeling that the man she’s with is a local guy.  Regardless, we hear virtually nothing about him all poem long, except that he’s pretty and that he thinks she’s is beautiful). 

They are happy.  They are in love.  They are together.  The book ends with her saying, “Swiftly, my lover, be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of spices.”  If Alfred Hitchcock was directed it, here we’d have a train entering a tunnel while the words “THE END” flash on the screen.  They’ve achieved unity, sexual unity. 

It’s a happy ending indeed.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Now that’s what I call a poem!  That was entertaining and memorable.  I had trouble following it at times, but the language was great, and the emotions of yearning and love came clearly through.  That sure is some kind of poem!

But is it a Biblical poem?  Well, in a literal sense, sure, because it’s a poem in the Bible.  But that just brings up the question – WHY is it the Bible?  The Catholic interpretation seems so strained that it’s worth a laugh and little more.  (OK, it’s worth many laughs – but still little more).  This is a secular love poem.  Solomon shows up for a few seconds (unless he’s really the main guy), but either way, the star of the poem is the lady.  And the poem is about her yearnings and feelings more than anything else. 

So why include it?  I have one thought. 

In Medieval Europe, there were mystics who envisioned their relationship with Christ in very personal terms.  One female mystic, Hadewijch of Brabant, wrote of her love for Christ in such personal and emotional terms as to be sexual.  Is there something like this going on here?

Maybe, but Solomon isn’t Christ.  And I still don’t see what the analogy would be.  More than anything else, I think it was just a well-written poem, featuring a prominent Biblical character, and was extremely popular.  Since it was so popular, they put it in.  It was too well known to leave out.  Essentially, it’s Biblical fan fiction.  Take Solomon, and insert him in your story – and whadaya know, you do a good enough job and it advances from fan-fic to part of the canon. 

Or maybe there is something else causing this book to make it into the Bible.  I don’t really know.  One thing I’ll give the Bible compilers a lot of credit for.  They’re not shying away from controversy when selecting books to make the final cut.  The Bible doesn’t always speak with one voice.  That is actually a lot of its power, as it gives you different angles to play against.  Job acknowledges that the world can’t be justified on moral terms.  Ecclesiastes notes how to live a good life without reference to God.  And Song of Songs introduces a personal, sexual emotion – and a female emotion, too.  They all help broaden the scope of the Bible.

This is a great book.  It’s also maybe the most distinctive book in the entire Bible.

Click here to start the next book, the Book of Wisdom.

Wisdom: Chapters 11 to 19

Here is the first half of the book.  Now for the second half.

CHAPTER 11

Eh. It’s more rehashing of the historical moments of the Torah, with plenty of congrats given to wisdom.  This book is really getting kind of thin.

The second half of the chapter is a digression on God’s mercy.  Nothing can happen unless God wills it, and he can overlook plenty of sins for repentance.

CHAPTER 12

It’s more about God’s mercy.  He rebukes offenders little by little.  Even the people that Joshua slaughtered, this book claims, God tried to rebuke by inches at first. 

There is one interesting point: God is merciful because he’s all-powerful. We’re told of God: “your mastery of all things makes you lenient to all.”  That’s an interesting though, but it’s about all I got from this chapter. 

It all just sounds like some generalized whatever. 

CHAPTER 13

Yeah, um …this book isn’t very good.  The fact that it’s actually arrogant enough to be titled “Wisdom” just makes it that much more annoying. 

This chapter is just a digression on false worship.  Apparently, idolatry is a bad thing.  He notes how silly it is for a person to cut down a tree and then worship the wooden figurine he made.  Yeah, nice point, but I know I’ve come across it somewhere previously.  Maybe psalms or somewhere in the back half of the Torah.  Somewhere before now.

CHAPTER 14

More info on idolatry.  It’s still bad.  Got that?

The writer has an entire section on the origins of idolatry, and ….he’s just taking his own personal guesses and claiming that’s how it goes.  He really has no idea.  It’s just him spitballing. 

CHAPTER 15

Oh, barf. 

That’s what I kept writing in the margins of this chapter.  Oh, barf. 

You see, after a long digression on idolatry and making idols out of wood we get….a section on idols made out of clay.  Really?  Do we really need this?  Will anything new be said?  Nope. 

And it’s all this morally bombastic crud about how a person who makes a clay god has no heart and only does it for profit.  And it’s profit that just creates evil.  And all this blah blah blah morally judgmental stuff about how bad it is. OK, fine we get it.

Oh, and the end of the chapter finishes the digression on idolatry.  Except I no longer remember what the main point is.  The header is no help: “Second Example Resumed.”  Second example of what?

CHAPTER 16

Apparently the second example is just a bunch of praise of God for how he treated the Israelites during the history listed in the Torah.  Everything God did was great.  All God’s moves were right and just.  But we’re getting so little info, and what’s being discussed is so broad, that all the praise becomes meaningless.  It’s all just hollow, empty words. 

The writer comes off like a lackey; a yes-man toady to the Lord.  I just finished reading Job, and there God smacks down Job, but then rewards him.  Throughout the Bible God has shown preferences for those who contend with him – Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Job – heck even Gideon.  But this author is just a bootlicker. 

You go, God!  You are so wonderful!  This so-called Book of Wisdom really isn’t living up to its title – and it’s just about over.

CHAPTER 17

It’s just more of the same.  It’s just retelling – really, just a referencing as the stories themselves aren’t retold – of what God did to the Egyptians in the time of Moses.  Again, all that God did was wonderful.  They had it coming.

This isn’t wisdom.  This is just boosterism.  This is the worst of the wisdom books to date.  Maybe Ben Sira will be worse, but that’s the only possible competition. 

CHAPTER 18

More of the same.  This just goes over the end of the 10 plagues.  God is so incredibly justified and wonderful and righteous and all that jazz.

CHAPTER 19

Mercifully, Wisdom comes to an end.  This covers the Red Sea.  Yeah, we know what happened, pal.  We don’t need you referring back to it.  This is just the Bible telling us how wonderful the Bible is.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

For a book called Wisdom, there sure isn’t much wisdom in it.

Early on, he’s trying too hard, and giving revenge fantasies like a junior high student who has been picked on too much.  Then he does a pointless retelling of parts of Genesis and Exodus, that just make him look like a servile yes-man flunkey to the Lord.  Oh, and in the middle of it, he goes into a long-winded and wearing diatribe against idolatry.

This isn’t wisdom.  It’s a guy who agrees with everything he’s supposed to agree with telling us why it’s so wonderful.  This is like that student in class who gets good scores on all his assignments and tests – is a real diligent do-er of what he’s told – but doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. 

The first few chapters were a little interesting, but the more I read of this book, the less I wanted to pay attention

Ecclesiastes: Chapters 7 to 12

Last time, the Book of Ecclesiastes began.  Now to finish it up.

CHAPTER 7

For me, Ecclesiastes peaks early.   The second half isn’t bad, but all its greatest moments are in the rearview mirror.

Take Chapter 7, for instance.  It starts off really gloomy, telling us that it’s better to go into a house of mourning than one feasting and that sorrow is better than laughter.  Huh?  Is this the same guy who earlier was (and later will) counsel us to enjoy life when we can.  I don’t quite get this part.  Oh, I understand the sentences, but I don’t see how it fits in this guy’s worldview. 

But he goes on, and sounds more like himself later on.  He tells us, “Who can make straight what God has made crooked?  One a good day, enjoy good things and on an evil day consider: Both the one and the other God has made, so that no one may find the least fault with him.”   Basically, this sounds like a defeatist version of the serenity prayer.  Lord help me to change the things I can change, accept the ones I can’t, and the ability to tell the two apart.  Here?  We’re being told that when in doubt – assume we can’t change.  Just accept life as it is. 

While I earlier made a big comparison between this book and Buddhism, this sounds more Daoist.  That was a folk religion in China that was often the wisdom and religion of the dispossessed.  The poor farmers couldn’t change things, and Daoism counseled them to just go with the flow and not fight against the way of life.  This is saying something similar. 

One theory is that this book was written at a time when the Jews were under strong foreign domination and unable to control their own affairs.  Yeah, I can see that.  These views do come through in this book.

We’re then given some practical advice.  Don’t give your heart to every word you’ve spoken.  There are sometimes wicked people up high. 

Oh, and then it ends on a note of sexism.  We’re told that few men are wise, but no women are.  Yeah, that puts a damper on my typical good feelings for this book.

CHAPTER 8

Again, we’re given more wisdom of the dispossessed.  When you’re given a command, follow along.  You can’t fight against it and the king has the power.  Please note that this book has a very bleak attitude towards people in power, so following orders in this book means following bad orders.  This is the logic and philosophy of a survivor.  This is very much the anti-martyr philosophy. 

Oh, and I really like this line: “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not promptly executed the human heart is filled with the desire to commit evil.”  Yeah, doesn’t that drive us all up the wall and encourage us to do something we otherwise wouldn’t? 

Then the book flips around the notion of God being unknowable.  We already learned that from Job, but here we’re told that since he’s unknowable, you may as well follow the edicts listed here in this book.  The world isn’t pure so don’t be pure yourself. 

CHAPTER 9

By this time, the book has already made its points.  It’s just elaborating.  Really, it’s just reinforcing – by which I’m mean repeating, but I’m trying to sound nice about it. 

There are some more good lines in it: “As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner.”  Yup, as was in Job, the world isn’t a moral wonderland.  The bad guys don’t always get theirs. 

Later, we get this nice bit: “the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the valiant, nor a livelihood by the wise, nor riches by the shrewd, nor favor by the experts; for a time misfortune comes to all alike.”  Huh.  I’ve heard that “the race is not won by the swift” line, but usually its used to mean something else.  Usually it means you should pace yourself.  Here it means we’re all doomed. 

CHAPTER 10

No one knows when evil may come to you.  You’ll never know what day your number is up.  So keep your head down and don’t cause any problems.  This is very Daoist; very much the philosophy of the dispossessed.  We’re told not to curse the bad rulers even to yourself in your bathroom, for if you do the birds might here and tell the kings. 

Yeah, that’s bleak.  Yeah, that’s dispossessed.  I’m also reminded of a machine politics town like Chicago.  Don’t mess with the machine, just do your part.  Don’t make no waves, don’t back no losers – just go along to get along.

CHAPTER 11

This is similar to the last chapter.  It says you’ll never know what day good will come to you.  But while that sounds more upbeat, the point is still the same. 

CHAPTER 12

We get a poem that ends as the book began: “Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, all things are vanity!” 

We get a brief epilogue, in which we’re told to fear God and follow his commandments.  That’s nice, but while it doesn’t necessarily go against the book, it sounds a little like something tacked on.  I wonder if someone else put it in after the original writer was done.  It reads like the “all things are vanity” line should’ve been how it ended.  It was circular with the beginning and thematically in place.  But that’s a downer ending, so insert this bit about fearing God.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Yeah, I really like this one.  This is one of my favorite Bible books.  But it probably isn’t my favorite overall. 

It’s great and I really like it, but it runs out of steam.  Even though it’s only 12 chapters long, I get a lot – a tremendous amount – out of the first handful of chapters.  I really like the distinctive voice.  I like the philosophy which veers away from much of the Bible and goes toward Buddhism and Daoism.  But then it keeps going.

But this is one of my favorites.

Click here for Song of Songs