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God?s Twilight Zone ? Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible

Author:	T A Perry
Published By:	Hendrickson Publishers/Alban Books (Peabody/Edinburgh)
Pages:	208
Price:	£10.99
ISBN:	978 1 59856 227 9

Reviewed by Chris Skilton.

I’m delighted that in the last twenty years or so there has been a flourishing of interest in the Old Testament Wisdom literature, although sadly that has rarely been translated into an increase in sermons in church or material for house groups. When did you last hear a sermon from Proverbs or study Ecclesiastes in a Bible Study group?

This book by Perry promised to deliver interesting insights into the genre, looking not only at the books of the Old Testament traditionally assigned to ‘Wisdom’, but also (to quote the back cover), working on the assumption “that Wisdom can be found strategically throughout the Hebrew Bible, often in poorly understood passages that seem out of place within their wider context”. Indeed he  looks at the story of Judah and Tamar (Gen 38), the riddle proposed by Samson (Judges 14) and Solomon’s encounter with the two mothers (I Kings 3), amongst others.

There are some very helpful insights along the way. I enjoyed the argument (developed through looking at the Joseph narratives for instance) that at the heart of the life of the ‘wise man’ is the imperative to create and sustain life, which can be traced back to the creation theology of Genesis 1 and 2. However, there seems to be little substantial evidence given for the assertion that ‘wisdom’ came into its own when “direct divine intervention diminished and clear prophetic communication declined” (p.174). The detailed chapters on selected texts will require detailed knowledge of the Hebrew text and a shared fascination with the author on the possibilities of detailed philological study of words and word patterns. Interestingly it was only after reading the book that I noted that the author’s field of study is “Romance Philology and Comparative Literature”.

I would not recommend the busy minister to buy this book, but it if you are in a theological library (or should I say ‘when’), read the short introduction and see if any of the ensuing thoughts beguile you!