Bible Basics Wisdom

Old Testament History Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon These books contain the classic “Wisdom” of the Bible

What’s in there? The account of Job The Psalms of David Solomon’s wisdom

Job Job is so named for its main character Job is “blameless”, God-fearing and prosperous (Job 1:1-3) God allows Satan to inflict Job with loss of his wealth and his family (Job 1:8-12) Job reflects a godly attitude in he does not blame God through this whole ordeal (Job 21:22) Eventually, through more affliction and turmoil, Job does wish that he had never been born (Job 3:1-3) Finally, after Job acknowledges who God is, God restores his possessions twofold, gives him more sons and daughters, and allows him many years (over 140) (Job 42:10-17)

Psalms Psalms contains the “song book” of God’s people, authored by David Some Psalms are worshipful, some regretful, some prophetic, and others vengeful (Psalm 7 contains 3 of these 4) Examples of messianic prophecy in the Psalms are 2:2- 6,16:10,22:16 The Psalms also show what true repentance is: Psalm 51 Both synagogues and Christian churches have used the Psalms in their worship

Proverbs Proverbs is the collection of short sayings, used to reflect the wisdom of Solomon and other authors Many proverbs present the difference between a foolish man and a wise man or the righteous vs. the wicked (e.g. Prov 19:1) They also give many moral life lessons on topics like money-3:9, sex-5:18-19, children-13:24.

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes means “preacher” Solomon is the author of this book (Ecc 1:1) It contains many passages about “nothingness” and “vanity” about all the things he built and all the pleasures he experienced Many may recognize the passage of 3:2-8 as a popular song from 1965, with lyrics taken almost directly out of the KJV for the passage It is seen in (Ecc 3:11) that “God has set eternity in their heart”.

Song of Solomon Song of Solomon is a love story, written by Solomon It reflects a deep love relationship; an example to us of an ideal relationship The story can also be seen as a symbol of the Lord’s relationship to His people Many times, Christ is compared to a bridegroom, and the church his bride (Eph 5:25-33)

What else can we say about Wisdom? Jesus quoted the Psalms (Matt 23:39 | Psalm 118:26, Matt 22:44 | Psalm 110:1) Interestingly, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon are not quoted in the New Testament

Occurrences of “wisdom” and “understanding” in the Bible