In the Revised Version the noun “wisdom” and its corresponding adjective and verb (“be wise,” “act wisely,” etc.) represent a variety of Hebrew words: בּין, bīn (בּינה, bīnāh, and in the English Revised Version תּבוּנה, tebūnāh), שׂכל, sākhal (שׂכל, sēkhel, שׂכל, sekhel), לב, lēbh (and in the English Revised Version לבב, lābhabh), תּוּשׁיּה, tūshīyāh (and in the English Revised Version טעם, ṭe‛ēm), ערמה, ‛ormāh, פּקּח, piḳḳēaḥ. None of these, however, is of very frequent occurrence and by far the most common group is the verb חכם, ḥākham, with the adjective חכם, ḥākhām, and the nouns חכמה, ḥokhmāh, ḥokhmoth, with something over 300 occurrences in the Old Testament (of which rather more than half are in Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes). Ḥokhmāh, accordingly, may be treated as the Hebrew equivalent for the English “wisdom,” but none the less the two words do not quite correspond. For ḥokhmāh may be used of simple technical skill (Exodus 28:3; 35:25, etc.; compare The Wisdom of Solomon 14:2; Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 38:31; note that the English Versions of the Bible gives a false impression in such passages), of military ability (Isaiah 10:13), of the intelligence of the lower animals (Proverbs 30:24), of shrewdness applied to vicious (2 Samuel 13:3) or cruel (1 Kings 2:9 Hebrew) ends, etc. Obviously no one English word will cover all these different uses, but the general meaning is clear enough—“the art of reaching one’s end by the use of the right means” (Smend). Predominantly the “wisdom” thought of is that which comes through experience, and the “wise man” is at his best in old age (Job 12:12; 15:10; Proverbs 16:31; Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 6:34; 8:9; 25:3-6, etc.; contrast Job 32:9; Ecclesiastes 4:13; The Wisdom of Solomon 4:9; Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 25:2). And in religion the “wise man” is he who gives to the things of God the same acuteness that other men give to worldly affairs (Luke 16:8). He is distinguished from the prophets as not having personal inspiration, from the priestly school as not laying primary stress on the cult, and from the scribes as not devoted simply to the study of the sacred writings. But, in the word by itself, a “wise man” need not in any way be a religious man.
In the Revised Version Apocrypha and New Testament the words “wisdom,” “wise,” “act wisely,” etc., are always translations of σοφός, sophós, or φρόμινος, phrónimos, or of their cognates. For “wisdom,” however, σοφία, sophía is in almost every case the original word, the sole exception in the New Testament being Luke 1:17 (φρόνησις, phrónēsis). See also PRUDENCE.
(1) In the prophetic period, indeed, “wise” generally has an irreligious connotation. Israel was fully sensible that her culture was beneath that of the surrounding nations, but thought of this as the reverse of defect. Intellectual power without moral control was the very fruit of the forbidden tree (Genesis 3:5), and “wisdom” was essentially a heathen quality (Isaiah 10:13; 19:12; 47:10; Ezekiel 28:3-5; Zechariah 9:2; specifically Edomite in Jeremiah 49:7; Obadiah 1:8; contrast Baruch 3:22, 23) that deserved only denunciation (Isaiah 5:21; 29:14; Jeremiah 4:22; 9:23; 18:18, etc.). Certainly at this time Israel was endeavoring to acquire a culture of her own, and there is no reason to question that Solomon had given it a powerful stimulus (1 Kings 4:29-34). But the times were too distracted and the moral problems too imperative to allow the more spiritually-minded any opportunity to cultivate secular learning, so that “wisdom” in Israel took on the unpleasant connotation of the quality of the shrewd court counselors, with their half-heathen advice (Isaiah 28:14-22, etc.). And the associations of the word with true religion are very few (Deuteronomy 4:6; Jeremiah 8:8), while Deuteronomy 32:6; Jeremiah 4:22; 8:9 have a satirical sound—‘what men call “wisdom” is really folly!’ So, no matter how much material may have gathered during this period (see PROVERBS), it is to the post-exilic community that we are to look for the formation of body of Wisdom literature really associated with Israel’s religion.
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Wisdom
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.