Let’s go back to basics for a minute:
Knowledge : Facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject; true, justified belief; certain understanding, as opposed to opinion
Religion : A strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny

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A synonym for failure is fiasco : A thing that is a complete failure, esp. in a ludicrous or humiliating way
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Success : A person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity

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Now we turn to a variety of Old Testament texts written at various times after the Babylonian exile
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The authors of these books tried to answer these questions:
 What does it mean to be a wise person?
 What is the meaning and purpose of life?
 Where are we going?
 Why do good people suffer and bad people prosper?
 Why should we be good in a world that is unfair?
 How can we live good and faithful lives when surrounded by those who are hostile to our beliefs?

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The Book of Proverbs appeared sometime after the Babylonian exile during the period when the second, primitive temple was being built in Jerusalem
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It contains collections of wisdom teachings oriented toward teaching the young
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Parts of The Book may date back to the time of King Solomon
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It is concerned with how to live a good life
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It is full of down-to-earth, practical advice

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How to live a good life according to The Book of
Proverbs : (See pg 246 ff) – Discuss one @ a time
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Parenting
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Communicating
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Attitudes
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Manners at court
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Work
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Conducting Business
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Reputation
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Leadership
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Gossip
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Learning
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Relationships with neighbors

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Notice the literary device used in wisdom sayings: the same thing is said twice in two different ways, ex “Misfortune pursues sinners, / but prosperity rewards the righteous”
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The teachers says the first part of the saying and the students respond with the second part
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In the original Hebrew it would have been even more fun with the clever word plays and sounds unique to the Hebrew language
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According to The Book of Proverbs, success & prosperity in this life , gained fairly, are the reward for a virtuous life

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Notice the focus in Judaism on rewards for being good come in this life not in the afterlife as in
Christianity
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Honor, dignity, and a good name are a person’s memorial – there is no hint of an afterlife in
Jewish theology
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If pressed, Rabbis talk about a “collective” afterlife with God in heaven but there is no notion of an individual afterlife with God
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Where is God in all this wisdom? – most of the sayings do not mention God

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The perspective of the Jewish sages (“ sage ” means a
“ wise teacher ”) was that true wisdom is from God, no matter where we find it – even in other cultures with their appealing wisdom sayings
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The sages saw the world as full of God’s wisdom so it is not surprising that the sages looked to the everyday experiences of the world to find wisdom
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The Book of Proverbs often portrays the image of
God’s wisdom as a
and adds a feminine voice and quality to the traditional image of God as masculine and this feminine image of wisdom has been called “ Lady Sophia ” after the Greek word for wisdom

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God is pure spirit – neither man nor woman
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God is personal, but transcends the human categories of gender
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The Old Testament writes used the terms
“male” and “female” because that’s that they knew from their everyday experience
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Catholic tradition has often read the passages on Wisdom in the Old Testament as related to
Mary, the mother of God.
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Mary is called the “ Seat of Wisdom
” in some prayers in the Catholic liturgy

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