Professor M. V. Fox
Heb 653: READINGS IN WISDOM LITERATURE
and
Heb 513: Biblical Texts: Poetry
Fall 2009
I. Course Description
Hebrew 653 is the first half of a year-long course in Wisdom
Literature. Hebrew 513 is basically the same course but giving greater
emphasis to the texts as poetry and defining standards appropriate
to the level of the student. In 513, focus will be on the nature of
parallelism. The subject is didactic Wisdom Literature, which
includes Qohelet but not Job.
II. Course Goals
A. To discover the meaning of the text and the ideas of the books.
B. To learn the methodology of critical exegesis (including text
criticism) by practicing it.
C. To become acquainted with the ideologies and literary forms of WL.
D. To understand the mechanics and techniques of Hebrew poetry.
III. Prerequisites
Participation in this course requires the completion of Hebrew 513 or
654 with a B or better and regular student status. Proficiency in
Septuagintal Greek is required for Grad students. The requirements for
Grad students in 513 differ from undergrads in 513, especially in
expectations for Greek readings. Undergrads who do not wish to use
Greek should use the English translations in, esp. A New English
Translation of the Septuagint. No auditors.
IV. Requirements
A. Hebrew Readings
These are all to be read regardless of how much we do in class. Be
prepared to translate every verse but the hopelessly obscure. Everyone
reads each unit in advance of the class in which it is studied. Read
with help of at least one commentary (see below). In the case of Sira,
compare the different MSS for variants.
We will try reading Hebrew and Greek combined. Then try dedicating
session 3 (Thur 9:55) to Greek and some Aramaic. Quite a few of the
READINGS are in
http://imp.lss.wisc.edu/~mfox/WisLit/Readings
username: Grad Readings. Password: as in 1334.
1. Proverbs 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 16, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30, 31
2. Psalms 1, 37, 119:1-40
The wisdom psalms with affinities to Proverbs are 1, 19B, 34, 37,
(111-112, and 119. Psalms with affinities to Job are 37, 49, 73, and
139. In reading Pss 37 and 73, ask how they deal with the
problem of injustice and theodicy.
3. Qohelet 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 12
4. Ben Sira 3:8-31; 9, 10, 36(33):1-26; 44
Sira: Vocalize correctly. Observe textual variants and ask how they
came about. Note: In session 3 this week we will read part of chap. 24
in Greek. Read the entirety of this important chapter in English.
5. Wisdom of Solomon 1-11 (Greek or English)
6. 4Q Instruction. Brief selection.
7. Pirqey Avot 1, 2
Numerous translations are available. The Danby translation of the
Mishnah, in VH 1334, has it after the tractate Nezikin.
513 students do not have to read the readings marked 653 only.
B. Service as CEO
Sessions 1 and 2 each week. One person, in rotation, will be a special
resource for the class, to reduce the amount of preparation for the
group. The CEO reads three commentaries or articles on the unit and
informs the others of the various interpretations as we go along. You
need not be limited to the commentaries listed below. You can
substitute an article or book relevant to the passage.
C. English Readings
Commentaries
Articles. See end of syllabus
To buy:
These books are available in 1334 VH and/or University Library Reserve
holdings. It is recommended that you purchase at least one commentary
and, for 513 students, the books by Berlin and Alter.
D. Oral reading (at end of session).
Read poetry as poetry, not a grocery list. Long units may be shortened.
E. Literary issues
In preparation, think about the following issues:
(1) Structure: What is the scope of the unit and its
subsections? (Remember, however, that your unit may a section in a
larger unit.)
(2) Literary history: Are there signs of revisions or
additions?
(3) Message: what is the main point the persona is trying to
convey? How does this message fit in with what he says elsewhere? Is
the author trying to communicate something different through the person
or behind the persona's back?
(4) Poetics and rhetoric: What techniques does the speaker
use to convey and impress his message on his audience? How does the
author communicate with his audience? Are there poetic values
beyond the rhetorical? (ie beyond those directed at persuasion).
Note that it is impossible to do these things completely in 50 minutes.
Selectivity—showing a sense for what should be selected—is essential.
F. The versions.
Readings in LXX, plus a couple of verses in Peshitta or Targum.
Hebrew 653 students: twenty verses a week.
Hebrew 513 students: fifteen verses a week.
Unless stated otherwise, the first 10 verses each week will be read
together in class. These will be the first 15 verses read on Tuesday,
unless you are notified otherwise. (It’s a good idea to ask me in
advance.) "15/20 verses" does not include title-verses (″Proverbs of
Solomon") or the like.
Steps in studying a version:
(1) translate,
(2) note differences with MT, and
(3) explain them.
When we get to Sira, we will read chap. 24 in session 3. When we read Pirqey Avot, we will read Wis Sol 6:11-21 (short verses) in the corresponding session 3.
G. Essay
Ten pages maximum. Due on the penultimate Thursday of
the semester. Grade lowered one step for each day overdue.
Students enrolled in 513 may choose from either A or B.
653 students must choose from option B, which leaves many
possibilities.
Option A. "A Literary Study of [Passage x]".
This should be a multlevelled literary analysis of one of the poetic
units not assigned for the class. You choose the length, but make sure
that it constitutes a meaningful poetic unit and is long enough to
provide sufficient material for analysis. Approx. 7-10 verses would be
appropriate.Apply what you have learned from your readings to analyize
the parallelism, structure, paronomasic, imagery, and thematic
development.
This essay must include a translation and description of the relations
between the stichs ("versets") of five verses, using Alter's
typographical system with additions; see below. The object is to show
graphically the structural network of interconnections. Then you should
discuss the significance of this structure, the function of other
poetic features, such as metaphors and allusions, and the overall
meaning of the unit.
You may define others as necessary. Color coding can be very effective.
Option B. "[Theme X] in Wisdom Literature, with Special Attention to [book Y]." Possibile topics below. Others can be approved.
The cult
Social justice
"Life" and "death"
The fear of God
Kingship and its duties
The innocent sufferer
God's word and command
The concept of folly
The individual's relationship with God
God in Proverbs and Amenemope
Existence after Death
The Status and Role of Kingship
Fate and Determinism
The meaning of "Life" and "Death" in WL
The Image of God in Amenemope and Proverbs
Freedom of Will and Action
The Poor Man in WL
The Power of Speech
The Wisdom of Solomon as an Expression of the Middle Stoa
Concepts of Pedagogy
The Problem of Divine Injustice and its Solutions
The Limitation of Human Knowledge: What are they really?
Social Justice and its Motivations
The Relation between Wickedness and Folly
Τhe Relation between Rightness and Wisdom
The Wisdom Psalms as an expression of Wisdom
The Wisdom Book from the Cairo Geniza
Process:
a. Thursday class, 12th week: Everyone submits a finished essay to
me. I will immediately distribute them, and you will edit the
papers you receive, making stylistic and substantive comments. I would
like you to try this anonymously, without your knowing yet whose paper
you are working on. Afterwards you can discuss it.
b. Thursday class, 13th week: Editors return papers. Authors
will then revise their own papers.
c. Thursday class, 14th week: Submit your papers to me.
d. Thursday class, 15th week: I'll return your graded papers to you.
e. Final Exam hour, 16th week (or before) give me your papers with any
further required revisions.
For help with writing skills and punctuation, go to Writing Center home page: www.wisc.edu/writing/. Do not just revise your paper and give me a fresh print-out! Either make the changes on the marked MS, or correct them in a new file, do a "track changes" or "compare documents," (Tools > Track Changes > Compare Documents) and give me a print-out of the doc with changes marked.
V. Resources
Read at least one commentary on every passage.
Books available at
University Book Store
Eisenbrauns (219) 269-2011
Dove (800) 318-4537
A. Proverbs
M. V. Fox, (Anchor Bible). Vol I (chaps. 1-9); Vol II (chaps. 10-31).
Richard Clifford (OTL, 1999). WJK Press
Roland E. Murphy (Word, 1998). Word press.
Supplementary
Wm. McKane (OTL, 1965). SCM Press.
C. C. Toy (ICC, 1899). Very solid. In GRR.
Franz Delitzsch (1874). Thoughtful & skilled.
B. Qohelet
Choon-Leong Seow, Ecclesiastes (AB). Major resource.
Michael Fox, Tearing Down and Building Up. Eerdmans 1999.
Roland E. Murphy, Ecclesiastes (Word Bible Comm.) 1992.
James Crenshaw, Ecclesiastes. OTL. 1987.
C. Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus)
Hebrew Text in VH 1334 and in http://imp.lss.wisc.edu/~mfox/WisLit/Readings
commentary: P. M. Skehan and A. di Lella, The Wisdom of Ben Sira
(AB)
D. Pirqey Avot
Hebrew Text in http://imp.lss.wisc.edu/~mfox/WisLit/Readings
R. Travers Herford, Pirke Aboth: The Ethics of the Talmud.
New York: Schocken 1962. OOP. In Reserve Collection.
E. Others
Amenemope, in AEL, 2.146-61. Selections
translated by MVF at Readings/Amenemope_selections_trans_Fox.pdf
Ptahhotep, AEL 1.62-76. Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian
Literature (AEL)
Wisdom of Solomon chaps 1-10, in English or Greek. Translation and
commentary: David Winston (Anchor Bible). Other translations in NRSV
Apocrypha, etc.
VI. Exams
A. Midterm: Oct. 22
*Includes translation of the chapters in Proverbs and Qohelet listed
above. (Units done in class receive special attention, and fuller
philological discussion is expected). Grad students will be expected to
use the LXX in two ways: (1) translating, identifying & explaining
variants in assigned Greek texts, and (2) scanning these and unassigned
material to identify variants and explain them.
*Question on readings in Crenshaw's Introduction and AEL.
*Discussion of a broader thematic issue.
*English readings: to be decided.
B. Final (at scheduled day and time, but in VH 1351)
Similar to midterm, plus texts from entire course, plus essay questions
on WL.
VII. Grading
Grading is based on (1) Midterm (30%); (3) Final (40%); (4) Paper
(30%). The percentages are subject to some variation..
ARTICLES TO BE READ:
Non-standard Abbreviations:
ET Extraterrestrial
WAI Wisdom in Ancient Israel. Ed. Day,
Gordon, Williamson 1995
SWA Seeking Out the Wisdom of the Ancients, ed.
Troxel, Magary, and Friebel 2005.
SPOA Sagesses du Proche-orient ancien.. Paris: Presses
Universitaires, 1963
SAIW Studies in Ancient Israelite Wisdom. Ed. J. L.
Crenshaw 1976.
Brown, William, "The Didactic Power of Metaphor" JSOT 29.2 (2004): 133-154. In Readings (Brown - Didactic Power.htm)
Camp, Claudia
“What's so Strange About the Strange Woman." Pp. 17-31 in The
Bible and the Politics of Exegesis (FS N. Gottwald). Ed. by D.
Jobling et al. Cleveland: Pilgrim, 1991.
Day, John
“Foreign Semitic Influence on the Wisdom of Israel and its
Appropriation in the Book of Proverbs. WAI, 55-70.
Gemser, Bernd
“The Spiritual Structure of Biblical Aphoristic Wisdom." Pp. 138-49 in Adhuc
Loquitor. Ed. by A. Van Selms and A. S. Van der Woude. Leiden,
1968.
Koch, Klaus (German)
(“Gibt es ein Vergeltungsdogma im Alten Testament?" Pp. 130-80 in Um
das Prinzip der Vergeltung in Religion und Recht des Alten Testaments.
Ed. by K. Koch. Darmstadt, 1972. (First published in ZTK 52
[1955] 1-42).)
McKane, William
Proverbs (1970). Pp. 10-22 of Introduction.
Rad, Gerhard von (German)
“Die Selbstoffenbarung der Schöpfung,” in Weisheit in Israel.
Neukirchen-Vluyn 1970. (Miserable ET in von Rad, Wisdom in Israel.
London: SCM 1972, pp. 144-76.)
Fox, M.V.
“Amenemope and Proverbs” and “Ahiqar and Proverbs” in AB Proverbs II,
pp. 753-69. Grad Students only.
Van Leeuwen, Raymond
“Wealth and Poverty: System and Contradiction in Proverbs." Hebrew
Studies 233 (1992) 25-36.
Zimmerli, Walther (German)
“Ort und Grenze der Weisheit im Rahmen der alttestamentlichen
Theologie." SPOA 1963 121‑38 (ET in SAIW 314‑26). Grad students only.
Zimmerli, Walther (German)
“Zur Struktur der alttestamentlichen Weisheit." ZAW 51
(1933): 177‑204 (ET in SAIW 175‑207). Grad Students only.
M. V. Fox, Ecclesiastes. Jewish Publication Society Commentary. Philadelphia 2004. Introduction, pp. ix-xxxiii
C. L. Seow, Ecclesiastes. Anchor Bible 1997, 47-69.
Cook, Johann
“The Text-Critical Value of the Septuagint of Proverbs.” Pp. 407-19 in SWA.
Fox, Michael V.
“Editing Proverbs: The Challenge of the Oxford Hebrew Bible.” JNSL
32/1 (2006): 1-13.
Fox, Michael V.
“LXX-Proverbs as a Text-Critical Resource.” Textus 22 (2005):
95-128.
Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Poetry. mid
Adele Berlin, The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism (Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009). final
General:
Murphy, Roland E.
The Tree of Life. 3rd Ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002. Pp.
65-96.
Perdue, Leo G.
Introduction (pp. 1-34) to Perdue, Scribes, Sages, and Seers.
Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008.
***
Put on Department of Hebrew & Semitic Studies web page on
9/3/2009.