Poetry and Wisdom

Question 1

What is a proverb?

Answer 1

A short, pithy saying, usually only two lines but sometimes three or four.

Question 2

How does Job contribute to our understanding of suffering?

Answer 2

• Those suffering are not necessarily wicked and those prospering not necessarily righteous
• Possible we don’t deserve suffering but God can use it regardless
• People can come to know God more profoundly through suffering

Question 3

What is speculative wisdom?

Answer 3

These deal with big issues and question traditional, shallow understandings of them.

Question 4

What is a figure of speech?

Answer 4

A word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for effect

Question 5

How is the Song of Songs structured?

Answer 5

Based on chronology of a relationship:
Courtship
Wedding procession
Wedding night
Conflict and resolution
Marital love
Resolution

Question 6

What is a proverb?

Answer 6

A form of wisdom that is generally a two-line saying that comes from observation.

Question 7

What is proverbial wisdom?

Answer 7

A short, pithy saying that comes from observing God’s creation. Usually two lines (e.g. proverbs)

Question 8

What is the essence of Hebrew poetry?

Answer 8

Parallelism - in thought (entire line) and in components (parts of a line)

Question 9

In which parallelism does the second line continue and extend the thought of the first line?

Answer 9

Synthetic parallelism

Question 10

What is a chiasm?

Answer 10

A pattern that follows an inversion, e.g. A B C C’ B’ A’

Question 11

Which psalm celebrates God’s work through the king and in choosing the king?

Answer 11

Royal

Question 12

What are the theological foundations of wisdom?

Answer 12

• God made everything (since observing creation)
• God is control (sovereign)
• God is wise (ultimate source of wisdom)
• God is the father (covenantal relationship - wisdom starts with relationship with God)

Question 13

What is an acrostic?

Answer 13

A section where each line begins with a successive letter of the alphabet

Question 14

How is the book of Psalms structured?

Answer 14

• Five sections
• Each ends with a doxology praising God
• Books 1-3 - feature David and his kingship, describe a king to come as a messiah
• Books 4-5 - celebrate God as king
• Reflects history

Question 15

In which parallelism does the second line say the same thing as the first line?

Answer 15

Synonymous parallelism

Question 16

Why are there lament psalms?

Answer 16

• About difficult crises find ourselves in
• Including imprecatory, asking God to help
• Model transparency in relationship with God

Question 17

What is an onomastica?

Answer 17

Wisdom in the form of a list that catalogs items (e.g. taxonomy in nature)

Question 18

Which kind of psalm gives praise for what God has done, how he has answered, or how he has delivered?

Answer 18

Praise

Question 19

What is the purpose of wisdom?

Answer 19

• Passing on knowledge about God and God’s creation
• Giving advice for how to live life
• Understand our relationship to God (fear of the Lord, acknowledge our limitedness, seek wisdom and relationship)

Question 20

Is Ecclesiastes positive or negative in its message?

Answer 20

• Positive - point is that meaning does exist and that it comes from God
• Should enjoy God and serving him
• God has given us good things in limited quantities

Question 21

In which parallelism does the second line give a contrasting thought to the first line?

Answer 21

Antithetical parallelism

Question 22

How do we understand and derive meaning from a proverb?

Answer 22

• Understand their purpose as wise advice for navigating God’s world
• Realize are generalizations
• Requires reflection to think about their context and where to apply them today

Question 23

Which kind of Psalm celebrates God’s presence with his people in the place he chose for them to put his temple?

Answer 23

Song of Zion

Question 24

What poetic literary device inverts parallel terms in successive lines?

Answer 24

Chiasm

Question 25

Why are the psalms theologically rich?

Answer 25

• Declarations of covenant relationship w/ God
• Expressing that through all different facets and emotions
• Many different forms

Question 26

Which kind of psalm celebrates God’s reign?

Answer 26

Enthronement

Question 27

What is the connection of Solomon to the wisdom books?

Answer 27

• Prototypical wise person
• Wrote some of the psalms and proverbs
• His persona taken on as a character in Ecclesiastes
• Used as a foil in Song of Songs

Question 28

Which kind of psalm was applicable when God solved a situation the Israelites faced?

Answer 28

Praise

Question 29

How does the structure of the Song of Songs reinforce its message?

Answer 29

• Shows proper order of love in God’s creation

- Shows many forms of enjoying each others’ company, not just sex

Question 30

Why is the Song of Songs a wisdom book?

Answer 30

• Has the components of us, creation, and God

- Looking at the world specifically about marriage, then celebrating in conclusion (vs questioning)

Question 31

Which kind of psalm is an honest prayer about a crises the Israelites found themselves in?

Answer 31

Lament

Question 32

What is a paranomasia?

Answer 32

A play on words; a pun