A typology of personified wisdom hymns.

Abstract

The author undertakes an evaluation and classification of those texts in First Testament Wisdom Literature which personify Wisdom in hymnic fashion. Such a classification may have value not only in itself, but it may he useful for understanding the nature of traditions known to writer of the Johannine Prologue. The author proposes a division of such hymns into the categories of "Hidden," "Accessible," and "Apocalyptic."

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My original purpose in examining Wisdom traditions was to seek the background for the Johannine Prologue and to see how various motifs and themes, especially the transformation and elaboration of the personified Wisdom, were taken up in the Prologue as a "hermeneutical construct" with unique appropriation (Sheppard: 13-18). The Johannine Logos was an end product in the trajectory of Jewish Wisdom traditions. Wisdom traditions in the Second Temple period exhibit enormous interest in the Primeval History (Genesis 1-11), especially the Creation Prologue of Genesis (Gen 1:1-2:4a). This remarkable attraction and theological reflection upon the creation story--along with diverse motifs and themes--ultimately influenced the Johannine Prologue, and eventually contributed to reframe the christological speculation in the Fourth Gospel.

Wisdom literature characteristically focuses on human life--how to cope with life, how to assure well-being, or how to master one's life--in the union of religion and ethics. It draws a combination of both folk traditions native to its own traditional culture (practical wisdom as in proverbs and folklore inherited in family, clan, and tribe) and the cosmopolitan concerns and educational traditions of the royal court. Deep within Wisdom literature are features designed to discern and to describe "order" in life, a search for order in the realm of experience and nature. Wisdom literature began to demonstrate a profound theological speculation on the role and nature of Wisdom in an abstract sense, exhibiting deep interest in the order of the world, and enthusiastically searching for the dynamic relationship between humans and nature, while not showing as much attention to salvation history as other parts of the First Testament. The development of the Wisdom tradition was fostered by the exilic and post-exilic experience and the strong forces of Hellenism. The traumatic national crisis inevitably intensified the search for the "meaning" of the Israelites' experience, reinforcing their awareness of theodicy, or a legitimation of God's way in the face of human suffering and evil. Wisdom literature in the Second Temple period is grounded by the profound need to reconstruct a meaningful cosmos or order of reality, presided over by the transcendent God, to which human beings can entrust and submit themselves. God is transcendent and absolutely beyond human comprehension: "God alone is one who creates, sustains, exists forever, and provides hope for salvation" (Perdue 1994: 327). But certainly the God of compassion reaches out for humans. Wisdom tradition, thus, centers around this basic understanding of God's benevolence and righteousness toward humans. In the Wisdom tradition, creation theology also became a "crucial category" in which people re-interpreted and re-formulated their faith, and in which the later rapproachment between biblical tradition and Hellenistic speculation was to be actualized (Zimmerli: 146-58; von Rad 2001: 441-53; Scobie: 43-48; Murphy 1996: 111-31; 1985: 3-11; 1978: 35-45; Terrien: 125-53).

The most prominent feature in the development of theological Wisdom is the personification of Wisdom (Blenkinsopp 1983: 151-82; Crenshaw: 80-88, 145-46, 168-70, 198-204; Murphy 1996: 133-49; von Rad 1972: 53-73, 144-76). Personification as a literary device is not unfamiliar in the First Testament, but the process was unique in its elaboration and expansion. This process is sometimes described as a movement toward "hypostasis"--in the sense that the personification represents an intermediate existence independent from Yahweh; but under the strict monotheistic context of Judaism in the Second Temple period, it is unlikely that the personification of Wisdom could be understood as a divine being separate from Yahweh. Wisdom could never fully become more than a personification or a divine attribute; rather, it expressed the active power of Yahweh, recognizing it as the embodiment of Yahweh's communicative power (Dunn: 163-76). Also, the Religionsgeschichtliche research has exhausted almost all the possibilities for the background of this female personification: an unnamed Assyrian or West Semitic goddess, the Canaanite goddess Ashtart or Asherah, the Egyptian Ma'at, the Hellenistic Isis, or a pre-gnostic deity (Blenkinsopp 1983: 161-66; Crenshaw: 66-67, 165-76; Murphy 1996: 115-16, 147, 161-62; 1995: 222-23). While a consensus has formed about the background role of Ma'at in the female Wisdom figure in Proverbs and the influence of Isis aretologies on Wisdom of Solomon 7-9, this could not fully account for the usage in the Jewish contexts.

The basic texts of the personified Wisdom are Job 28, Proverbs 8, Ben Sira 24, and Wisdom of Solomon 7-9. The following section also includes two texts from apocalyptic literature--Baruch 3:9-4:4 and the Similitudes of Enoch (I Enoch 37-71)--which also deal with Wisdom in a distinctive way. Personified Wisdom carries different meanings according to each sapiential thread--even though the expressions are similar and written within a relatively short time in the post-exilic period. In this sense, the motif of personified Wisdom is polyvalent, having a wide range of meanings and connotation. At least three different lineages in the portrayals of Wisdom, each with a distinct emphasis are recognizable: (1) the hidden Wisdom tradition, (2) the accessible Wisdom tradition, and (3) the apocalyptic Wisdom tradition (Blenkinsopp 1983: 151-82; von Rad 1972: 53-73; Murphy 1996: 41, 76-79, 88-89, 133-47).

The first type stresses the essential hiddenness and inaccessibility of Wisdom to humans. This tradition includes Job 28, Baruch 3:9-4:4, and the Similitudes of Enoch. The unattainable nature of Wisdom underlines the essential "mystery" of Wisdom that only God can grasp, and eventually was linked up with the esoteric "revelation" of mystery in apocalyptic literature. Thus, the first type is further subdivided into the apocalyptic Wisdom tradition which includes Baruch and the Similitudes of Enoch.

The second type, emphasizing the accessibility of Wisdom, embraces Proverbs 8, Ben Sira 24, and Wisdom of Solomon 7-9. Here, personified Wisdom is portrayed as accessible to humans, as having a special role in creation, as declaring her life-giving nature to all humans, and as inviting all to follow her. Actually, these are the texts of personified Wisdom par excellence, which remarkably illustrate the personification of Wisdom. Even though these first two types of characterization are not necessarily mutually exclusive, they certainly do illustrate different perspectives with regard to Wisdom. Also, there is no strict demarcation or rigorous categorization among traditions. In fact, within the same book, different Wisdom traditions coexist (the hidden Wisdom motif is found in Ben Sira 1:6 and Proverbs 30:4 [Sayings of Agur]). Also, Wisdom of Solomon--whose Hellenized liberalism is usually contrasted with the traditional conservatism of Ben Sira--upholds the accessible Wisdom and identifies Wisdom with Torah in a way similar to that of Ben Sira. My intention is not to oversimplify various types of Wisdom traditions, but to differentiate their speculation on the nature of Wisdom.

The difference of emphasis among these traditions seems to reflect their historical/ideological background in the Second Temple period. Behind the development of Wisdom traditions, there existed a kind of "power politics"--a rivalry between the hierocratic movement of Zadokite priests and those who opposed this Zadokite priesthood (Perdue 2000: 55-58; 1997: 78-101; Boccaccini, 2002: 43-75, 203-05; Blenkinsopp 1995: 83-98). The dominant political and religious leaders among the immigrants who returned from Babylonia were the controlling faction of Persian appointed officials and the Zadokite priests. These people promoted the Temple-centered sacrificial hierocracy, legitimated by the Persian authority, with high priests appointed by the Persian authorities. Against these "Powers," a rival movement emerged and challenged the hierocratic party, particularly opposing the Zadokite priesthood and their monopoly over Second Temple Judaism. This rival movement (which was not a unified group, either) was represented by so-called "visionaries" constituted by politically and religiously marginal people and some of the Levitical families subjugated by the Zadokite priests. If one considers the fact that before the exile the priesthood was exercised neither by Zadokites nor by Aaronites, but by Levites (Deut 17:9; 18:1-8), this opposition from the Levites, who were reduced to clerus minor status (lower-order priests, like sacristans), is understandable. "This largely disenfranchised group came to regard the existing temple cult as defiled and its priesthood as corrupt ... [and] argued that Yahweh would establish a new political order" (Perdue 2000: 59). The Zadokite priests endeavored to offer a framework of stability and order centered around the temple sacrificial system. Their passion for order and harmony, beautifully illustrated in the Creation Prologue (Gen 1:1-2:4a), was consequently legitimated ideologically by the institution of Torah. In this sense, the notion of accessible Wisdom mirrors the Weltanschauung of the priests that "all [humans] are in the divine image and all survivors of the Deluge are the recipients of a covenant" (Blenkinsopp 1995: 105). According to this theological speculation, the identification of Wisdom with Torah elucidates the truth that "a crucial moment ... is the revelation of divine name to Moses," which guarantees the divine presence in the institution of Torah (Blenkinsopp 1995:107). In other words, the accessible Wisdom tradition exhibits this universalistic religio-political ideology of the authorities in the Second Temple period.

Over against this traditional conservatism, the apocalyptic and the hidden Wisdom traditions emerged as counter-movements. The early Jewish apocalyptic movement, which gradually became distinctive in the Hellenistic period, is a rival movement to the Zadokite hierocracy, backed up with different social, political, economic, and religious necessities and expectations. The apocalyptic Wisdom tradition maintains that God's Wisdom is a hidden mystery, and that only "visionaries" can have access to this mystery and reveal it to the righteous--this is a typical apocalyptic scenario. The movement of so-called "visionaries" obviously disapproved of Zadokite religious formulations, and instead emphasized "future eschatological redemption," pointing to a coming time of judgment, namely, the Day of the Lord (Perdue 1994: 56-58; Richard: 38-43). Although both the hierocratic party and the visionaries depended on Second Isaiah's vision of restoration and new creation (Isaiah 40-55), the apocalyptic Wisdom tradition envisaged the future in a quite different way, for the truly new creation is to come in the future.

Another rival movement is a lineage of the "literature of dissident," consisting of critical sages (Job, Qoholeth, Sayings of Agur) and some of the Levitical families. The hidden Wisdom tradition, particularly Job, also shows a strong repugnancy toward universally accessible Wisdom. Thus, Job is an alternative path to the constituted hierocratic party of Zadokite traditionalists; however, the attitude is more cynical and skeptical, and does not picture the "hopeful future" that the apocalyptic tradition asserts. In other words, Wisdom traditions embraced "dissident and critical sages": Job, Qoheleth, and Sayings of Agur are classified in this category. Together with early Jewish apocalyptic literature, they constitute one distinctive approach to Wisdom (Perdue 2000: 59-62).

Therefore, "it is clear that two distinct camps of sages emerged during the post-exilic period" (Perdue 2000: 60). On the one hand, Proverbs 1-9 and Ben Sira, in their pro-Zadokite speculation, propose the accessibility of Wisdom. The proponent of the Zadokite lineage is Ben Sira, whose presentation of Wisdom culminates in its identification with Torah. Weaving the themes of salvation history (exodus, wilderness, the Sinai covenant) into the Wisdom motifs, Ben Sira stresses the "universal availability" of Wisdom/Torah. On the other hand, Job and the apocalyptic literature (Baruch and Enoch) insist on the hiddenness of Wisdom. The counterview to Ben Sira is represented by I Enoch. Although here I take up only the Similitudes of Enoch, it is widely granted that the Enochic circle was an opponent to Zadokite Judaism. In this respect, Ben Sira and I Enoch would demonstrate two apogees in the wide range of Wisdom traditions. Wisdom of Solomon, in this regard, presents an all-embracing synthesis of both traditions within the universalistic Hellenistic elements

The trajectory of the transformation of Wisdom and the amalgamation of various motifs in the course of the development steadily enriched the theological matrix, and eventually, toward the first century CE, they laid the theological as well as literary groundwork for the development of more diversified forms of Judaism. Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism have their common origins in post-exilic Jewish thought (Boccaccini 1991: 7-25; Neusner: 35-61). Post-70 Judaism--formative Judaism, which later developed into Rabbinic Judaism--has its deepest "roots" in this tradition of the Zadokite priests, although of course its more immediate origins are found in the Pharisaic tradition, "which was a post-Maccabean variant of the Zadokite system" (Boccaccini 2002: vxii). Formative Christianity in this regard emerged as a ramification of formative Judaism in the post-70 period (Boccaccini 2002: xiv-xv). Apocalyptic Judaism was one background for the theological development of early Christianity. Let us now consider the texts of personified wisdom.

Hidden Wisdom

Job 28

The poem on Wisdom in Job 28 presents one traditional understanding of divine Wisdom. The passages resonate to the imagery found elsewhere in the Book of Job. Divine Wisdom manifest in creation is referred to in several places (Job 26:5-14; 36:24-33; 37:1-24). And the creation motif is subtly illustrated in Job 28:25-26: "When he gave to the wind its weight, and appropriated out the waters by measure; when he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the thunderbolt." Verses 25-26 are subordinate to v 27: "Then he saw it and declared it." Thus, this creation motif is unmistakably associated with Wisdom (Newson: 532).

The personification of Wisdom is still abortive: "Indeed, wisdom might be interpreted as a divine attribute" (Murphy 1996: 134). Characteristic of Job 28 is that the question concerning Wisdom is expressed in the refrain: "Where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?""(vv 12, 20). This quest for locale is an effort to find the original cosmic place or home of wisdom, a crucial task because the locale of Wisdom is related to its true nature and origin. Job 28:23 answers, "God knows the way to it; it is he who is familiar with its place." The poem on Wisdom in Job 28 assumes the essentially mysterious and hidden nature of Wisdom, which is somehow immanent in creation but totally transcendent and beyond human comprehension; it is "somehow present and visible [only] to God" (Murphy, 1996: 134). Unless it is revealed, Wisdom is totally invisible--basically inaccessible--to humans (Murphy 1996: 134-35; 1995: 222-24; Blenkinsopp 1983: 153-57; MacKenzie & Murphy: 466-88). In relation to God's creative activity, v 27 presents as "the locale" of Wisdom that God "saw it," "declared it," "established it" and "searched it out." These four verbs, in spite of their profound difficulty for translation, try to enunciate God's special relationship to Wisdom. Namely, the complete and thorough knowledge of Wisdom is exclusively God's possession: "she is the divine secret in the created world" (Murphy, 1996: 135). It is only God that knows the place of Wisdom and carries out the work of creation.

Simultaneously, this articulation underscores God's "Wholly Otherness." Using the metaphor of mining precious metals, the author of the poem illustrates the difficulty, the danger, and (ultimately) the impossibility of attaining Wisdom through human efforts. Although its value is comparable to those precious metals, it is unidentifiable or unreachable for humans. Job's emphatic contention that the Wisdom of God is essentially incomprehensible to humans is, in one sense, thorough resistance against the domestication of transcendence--the effort to contain God in neat retributional schemes. When the Wisdom of God is made universally available and thus "comprehensible" to anybody, it inevitably results in the danger of subsuming God into the human discursive world, taming God's transcendence, when the retribution theory is applied to this comprehensible scheme of the cosmos, everything comes to be determined by human behavior and ironically expels the possibility of divine grace or revelation. Therefore, the hiddenness of Wisdom preserves God's transcendence and freedom to bestow grace. What is implied here is not negligible: the apocalyptic Wisdom tradition establishes the hidden nature of Wisdom, a perspective which Christianity surely adopts.

Accessible Wisdom

Proverbs 8

The Book of Proverbs is one of the earliest illustrations to testify to the personification of Wisdom (McCreesh: 454; Perdue 2000: 1-3; Murphy 1996: 18-19). The most intensive reflection of the personification of Wisdom is found in the first section (Proverbs 1-9, especially chapter 8), which is a preamble to the whole book. Both in form (long poems) and in content (basically exhortatory), Proverbs 1-9 is distinctive among all the sections, emphasizing persuasion and encouragement to follow the path of Wisdom on the basic backdrop of contrasting right and wrong or wisdom and folly. In Proverbs 8, Wisdom calls out to people to find and pursue Wisdom--here Wisdom is in the first person and is clearly personified as a prophetic figure (8:1-21) (McKane: 342; Perdue 2000: 148-39; von Rad 1972: 152-53). Proverbs 8 is an interesting combination of Lady Wisdom, as a prophetic teacher, inviting the unlearned in quotidian locales or among the governing authorities, and Lady Wisdom as a cosmic figure, existing at creation. Proverbs 8 consistently emphasizes "the givenness of Wisdom," both on the level of quotidian human experience: "beside the way, at the crossroads ... beside the gates in front of town, at the entrance of the portals""(vv 2-3) and on the level of "outside the world of ordinary human experience" (vv 22-31) (McKane: 343). The insertion of v 21 a in the Septuagint ("if I announce the daily things, I shall recount the things from eternity") indicates an editorial bridge that somehow connects the preceding section (earthly sphere, vv 1-21) and the following section (cosmic sphere, vv 22-31), making smooth the transition between two supposedly different traditions. The focus thus shifts into a cosmological context, in which the authority of Wisdom is drastically magnified (McKane: 351; von Rad, 1972: 151-53). "Supra-historical existence prior to the creation of the world and man" laid the foundation for this universal accessibility to Wisdom (McKane: 344).

Proverbs 8, with its setting at creation and pre-creation, expands its frame of reference to the cosmological sphere. Proverbs 8:22-31 describes the role and nature of Wisdom in creation and exhibits Wisdom as "pre-existent" and as the agent in creation. Because of its advanced way of speculation in light of creation, this passage is sometimes regarded as an "interpolation." The attribution of "pre-existence" to Wisdom in the monotheistic context, however, does not mean that it existed as something independent from God. Wisdom is not understood as a "hypostasis," but is rather a personified metaphor of the active and creative power of God (Hurtado: 42-44). Throughout 8:22-31, the allusion to the creation story is evident. The words used here parallel those in the creation story of Genesis 1-2: "in the beginning" (Prov 8:22-23; Gen 1:1), "the earth" (Prov 8:24, Gen 1:1-2), "abyss" (Prov 8:24, 27-28; Gen 1:2), "water" (Prov 8:24; Gen 1:6-7); "be born/become" (Prov 8:24-25; Gen 1:3, 5). Just as the Genesis story itself presents "the reflective use" of the canonical Babylonian creation myth (Enuma Elish), so Proverbs 8, too, makes use of the mythic character of Genesis in a reflective way--that is to say, "appropriating mythical language, material, and patterns from different myths" and using "these patterns, motifs, and configurations for its own theological concerns" (Schussler Fiorenza: 17-41). In fact, the author of Proverbs employs many mythological motifs in the book: "the tree of life" (11:30), "the fountain of life" (13:14), and "the seven pillars" (9:1). The adoption of the mythical character of Genesis serves as a basis for insisting on the fundamentally accessible character of Wisdom from the beginning of creation. Wisdom as pre-existent in a sense reinforces the Wisdom of Yahweh as the Lord of creation, both close to God and at the same time present in the world. The creation story in Genesis is reinterpreted in terms of Wisdom. The theological reflection of the creation myth in relation to pre-existent Wisdom affirms the intermediary existence of Wisdom between Yahweh and created beings, and simultaneously the accessibility of Wisdom.

The relationship of Wisdom to God is unique. She existed at the time of God's work of creation. Though she herself was also created, she existed before anything else (vv 24-25), since she presided over God's creative work (or at least, witnessed it beside God) (vv 22-23). The repetitive use of "before" underscores the precedence of Wisdom's existence (von Rad 1972: 153). She recounts its primeval origin; she who was "created" first (v 22, "fathered") and "brought forth" (vv 24-25) (Perdue 2000: 142-43). Wisdom is the "first-born" (v 22) (Murphy 1996:136), meaning that she was "the initial product of divine creation" (Perdue 2000: 143), privileged as the best of all created beings. In the First Testament the "first-fruits" of the harvest (Amos 6:1,6) and the firstborn son had a distinguished status, a unique "birthright" or "blessing" (Gen 43:33; 25:31; 27:19).

Wisdom's special status as the "firstborn" thus intimates her distinctive role in the creation, depicted in the word 'amon in v 30, translated either "master-worker" or "a little child" (Perdue 2000: 145; Murphy 1996: 136; Fox: 613-33). Whichever translation one accepts, however, there remain ambiguity and obscurity. The translation "a master worker" implies that Wisdom is an architect who designs and builds the cosmos; this translation resonates vv 27-29, illustrating a relation to Yahweh as the divine architect. On the other hand, the translation "a little child" makes better sense with vv 30-31, describing Wisdom as playful and joyful both before Yahweh and among people. Either way, though, the sense is probably that Wisdom was present and presiding over creation with God--she cooperated with God in the work of creation. Personified Wisdom is "co-agent" in God's work of creation. Therefore, the role of Wisdom is two-fold: on the one hand, when she was with the Lord, she was "rejoicing before him always" (v 30), whereas on the other hand she "rejoices in the human race" (v 31). In this sense, she is "the intermediary existence between Yahweh and humans, bridging delightedly by both, or representing God's activity in this world" (von Rad 1972: 166; McCreesh: 454; Perdue 1994: 93). In other words, the striking character of personified Wisdom in this text is that she mediates between God and the world; she is the revelation of God (McCreesh: 454; Murphy 1996:138).

The pre-existence of personified Wisdom represents a cosmological dimension that guarantees the effectiveness of Wisdom in the human world; thus, Wisdom pre-exists and permeates through the phenomenal world from the "supra-historical" cosmic world, "thereby supplying a theological explanation for the empirical dominance of wisdom" (McKane: 344). It is, however, important to remember that the cosmological imagery of pre-existent Wisdom does not signify any protological or ontological connotation of personified Wisdom. In the Jewish framework, this pre-existence of personified Wisdom only stresses the soteriological effectiveness of God's action (Hurtado: 49-50). In this relation, Proverbs 3:19-20--"The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew"--demonstrates that in the view of the sages the world is principally beautiful and ordered, and makes sense, corresponding to their experience and calling for prudent and righteous human participation. The knowledge and power displayed by God at the creation are also available to those who find Wisdom. Mediating between God and humans, Wisdom underwrites this parallel schema of aesthetic orderliness. Here there is some sense of domesticating the transcendence of God, which is totally alien to the contention of Job 28.

Also, it is notable that personified Wisdom is "life-giving" (Prov 1:33; 3:18; 11:30--the Tree of Life). For humans, whether one finds it or not is a matter of not only wisdom and folly, but life and death. Those who find it gain life (8:35) and are approved by Yahweh (v 35), whereas those who "hate her love death" (v 36). This quasi-dualism seems to go parallel to the dualism delineated in the apocalyptic tradition, although the latter describes this division more explicitly and relates it to judgment. While the life referred to in Proverbs is more this-worldly oriented, the life signified in the apocalyptic tradition is more other-worldly oriented. As Murphy points out, the finding of Wisdom is "made very personal" ("who finds me," v 35) (1996: 137). The gaining of life is further related to the nourishment Wisdom provides for humans: namely, the most basic human needs of eating and drinking: "Come, eat of my bread and drink of my wine I have mixed ... and live and walk in the way of insight" (9:5-6). This again underscores the worldliness of "life."

Ben Sira 24

It is obvious that the author of Ben Sira or Sirach took Proverbs as his model--both in the literary composition and in the personification of Wisdom (Di Lella: 497; Murphy 1996: 71-72; 1995: 226; Perdue 1994: 247-50). The texts in Ben Sira where Wisdom is personified are as follows: 1:1-10; 4:11-19; 6:18-3; 14:20-15:8; 24:1-29; and 51:13-30 (Murphy 1995: 226; Perdue 1994: 248). This cosmological speculation evinces the author's defense of Judaism against strong Hellenization and his resolution of the problem of theodicy, as he insists on "the goodness and order of a world created by means of divine wisdom (Blenkinsopp 1983:164). Among these texts, Ben Sira 24 deserves our close attention. Herein the pre-existence of Wisdom is announced explicitly: "Before the ages, in the beginning, he created me, and for all the ages I shall not cease to be" (24:9). This declaration resonates to the introduction in 1:1-10, in which Wisdom sings of her divine origin (1:1, 4, 9, and 10). Wisdom exists "from eternity" (1:4b), has a divine origin (1: 1, 9: "with him it [sophia] is forever"), and is the revelatory Word of God (1:6, "the root of Wisdom--to whom has it been revealed?"). The theme of this poem is clearly derived from Proverbs 8:22-31. It is only God who comprehends the mystery of Wisdom (1:8). Ben Sira insists, however, that Wisdom is an attribute of Yahweh, a quality of the cosmos, which is bestowed as a free gift upon humans who love Yahweh (Blenkinsopp 1983: 163; Perdue 1994: 247-48). Starting with 24:1, Wisdom proclaims her presence both "in the midst of her own people" (24:1b), namely, among the People of God, and "in the assembly of the Most High" (24:2a). Again, Wisdom is located between people on earth and Yahweh and his host in heaven (cf. Prov 8:30-31). Wisdom coming out of the mouth of God alludes to the Word of God in the Creation Prologue (Gen I:1); thus Wisdom is equated with the Word of God, which also proceeds from the mouth of God (Isa 45:23; 48:3; 55:11). Further, Wisdom that "covered the earth like a mist" (v 3b) intimates the Spirit/breath of God (pneuma), possibly using the imagery of Gen 1:2. Although the allusion to the spirit in Ben Sira is not explicitly articulated; the Wisdom/Spirit motif which is to be elaborated in Wisdom of Solomon can be surely recognized. The underlying imagery is predominantly from Genesis. Wandering through the world, the personified Wisdom searches for a resting place in the world (v 7). This narrative is a combination of the motifs of the creation story and wilderness. In 24:7-12, the motifs of the Sinai covenant, the wilderness, and the tabernacle are interwoven into the creation motifs. In relation to the image of Wisdom dwelling among people, the allusion to wilderness becomes much stronger. This is a beautiful technique of Ben Sira. Underscoring the Jewish tradition and conflating it with the creation motif, Ben Sira links the transcendent realm (the cosmological dimension) to the immanent presence of God among people (the human world).

The tabernacle or dwelling place of Wisdom motif is quite significant (Koester: 6-7). Ben Sira suggests that Yahweh directed Wisdom--who "sought a resting place" (v 7a), wondering "in whose territory" she should "abide" (v 7b)--to "make (her) dwelling in Jacob" (v 8a). That is to say, Wisdom, who originally pre-existed in heaven before Yahweh, came down to live among her people and, according to Yahweh's will, she dwelt among them. For Wisdom, Israel is her "inheritance" (v 8b) and she "makes her dwelling" there. The words "dwelling" (v 8a) and "to dwell" (v 8b), are clearly associated with "a tent" (tabernacle, v 10). The Tent is the Tabernacle or Dwelling that Yahweh commanded Moses to build in Exodus 25:8-9; 26:1-37. It is the place of divine revelation (Exod 25:27) and of Yahweh's presence among his chosen people (Exod 25:8; 29:45-46). Ben Sira's point is, then, quite apparent: just as Yahweh's presence in the Tabernacle assured his covenant faithfulness in the past, so Wisdom's presence in the Tabernacle again guarantees Yahweh's faithfulness for Israel. The dwelling of Wisdom was placed "in Jacob" (v 8), "the beloved city" of Jerusalem. Against the backdrop of the Sinai covenant motifs, Ben Sira totally reformulates those concepts in terms of Wisdom: the divine revelation (v 11, "in Jerusalem is my authority"), the faithfulness of Yahweh and the Election (v 12, "an honored people," "the portion of the Lord," "his heritage").

Also, Ben Sira presents Wisdom as a kind of "priestess figure," who finds her manifestation in the cult of this Tabernacle, which corresponds to the Jerusalem Temple. Wisdom's role--to be a more positive intercessor between Yahweh and his people--obviously overlaps the role of Moses (Exod 24:3-8; 15-18; 33:8-11; 34:34). The esteem for the priestess figure can be found in many places in Ben Sira (44:6-26; 50:1-21). Anchoring personified Wisdom in the specific Israelite tradition, Ben Sira presents her as a priestess who directs liturgical service (v 10, "In the Holy Tent, I ministered before him"). It is notable that Ben Sira identifies the Sinai motifs with the Zion motif. In biblical and post-biblical traditions, "Zion" means--quite elastically, however--Jerusalem in general, particularly the Temple mount, as the symbol of God's Dwelling (Davis: 131-32). Thus, the Sinai covenant motifs are re-located in Zion, simply making the identification between the two symbolic loci (cosmic mountain). While underscoring the Jewish tradition, Ben Sira stresses, through the motif of the tabernacle (Wisdom as dwelling), the connection made possible between the transcendent realm of divine dwelling and the immanent presence of Yahweh among the chosen people. In other words, Ben Sira's unique conflation of the creation and the Sinai motifs beautifully connects the cosmological dimension to the human world.

In the same Sinai motif, the remarkable development of personified Wisdom in Ben Sira is the identification of Wisdom with Torah. The identification of Wisdom and Torah is already found in Psalm 19:8-11 and Deuteronomy 4:5-8 (Blenkinsopp 1983:164; Murphy 1996:140), but Ben Sira's illustration further advances this identification. That Wisdom is the Torah of Israel is one of Ben Sira's emphatic convictions: the Wisdom of God, he insists, is revealed in Torah (v 23). In other words, Torah is the perfect embodiment of Wisdom. Wisdom becomes present and expresses herself fully in the entire Torah, among the people: Wisdom/Torah, thus, dwells among people. Although this is the only passage where the identification is explicitly asserted, the association of Wisdom with commandments can be found in several different places (1:11-30; 6:32-37; 15:1; 19:20; 21:6; 23:27). Since Ben Sira portrays Torah as "the book of the covenant of the Most High" (v 23), it is apparent that he refers to the whole Torah or Pentateuch (v 23b, "the law that Moses commanded us") (Murphy 1995: 227). The identification of Wisdom with Torah, through the image of Wisdom as dwelling among her people, underscores that the revelation of Yahweh took a substantial and real presence on earth in the form of Torah (Murphy 1995: 227). In a sense, along with the Priestly Tradition's re-interpretation of the Sinai covenant motifs, Ben Sira postulates his unique reconfiguration of the Deuteronomistic understanding of Torah in light of Wisdom, so that Torah--the sign of the Election and a free gift from Yahweh--can be endowed with a more universal, even cosmic, significance.

The universalization of Wisdom/Torah is, moveover, articulated in the Eden motifs. The comparison of Wisdom/Torah to the four rivers--"the Pishon," "the Tigris," "the Euphrates," and "the Gihon"--associated with Eden in Genesis 2:10-14, shows Ben Sira's reflective use of the mythical elements of Genesis. (It is also regarded as "poetic Midrash.") Eden, one of the most prominent spatial images in the Bible, is viewed as "the locus of [the] primordial and eschatological presence of God" (Davis: 57). The Eden typolow can be illustrated as retrojective (primordial) or as projective (eschatological); "A retrojective spatial typology depicts a sacred place and/or institution with Eden imagery, whereas a projective typology presents a future hope in the imagery of Eden" (Davis: 57). The imagery delineated in Ben Sira 24 indicates both the retrojective and projective typologies, quite equivalent to the Urzeit-Endzeit formulations so characteristic of Judaism. A "typological" view of history, which is neither circular nor linear, is typically observed in Jewish speculation on history, presupposing both that each event is unique and that one event can be similar to others because the Yahweh's intention in history never ceases to be the same. Merging the dwelling place of Wisdom both in Zion and Eden figuratively joins together the Sinai motifs and the Creation motifs, thus still further identifying Zion and Sinai. At the same time, Ben Sira expands the availability and applicability of Wisdom/Torah from a particular revelatory locus (Zion, equated with Sinai) to a universal and cosmic locus, demonstrating the sovereignty of Torah over all the nations. Hence, the international or universal validity of Wisdom/Torah flows out of Israel. It also demonstrates Wisdom's life-giving power (those four rivers flowing in and out of the Garden of Eden are described as life-giving water, Ezek 47:9-12, also Rev 22:1-2), which corresponds to the depiction of the thriving growth of various trees and plants (vv 13-22) and the eating of them. The allusion to the tree of life is obvious. The Eden typology, in this sense, symbolizes the original perfection of the creation, denoting Yahweh's benevolent intention for the cosmos; at the same time, such typology exhibits a "super-historical" concept with an emphasis on "unchangeability" or "eternity." With this Eden typology in Ben Sira, then, Wisdom/Torah achieves both "historical" and "super-historical" quality, as an attribute of Yahweh.

Wisdom of Solomon 7-9

The Wisdom of Solomon evinces a striking influence from contemporary Hellenistic philosophy. While Proverbs and Ben Sira are categorized as "traditionalists" or "conservatives," the Wisdom of Solomon is classified as "liberal" because of its maximized susceptibility to Hellenistic thought, which clearly embodies the viewpoint of Diaspora Jews (Murphy 1996: 83-84. Grabbe: 87; Winston: 20-21; Wright: 510). Examples of the influence of contemporary Hellenistic thought are the references to the four cardinal virtues (8:7) and the philosophical speculation on the knowledge of God (13:1-9) and on the immortality of the human soul (2:23). The general drift of thought and the special ambience in which this work was formed was unmistakably the philosophical sphere of Middle Platonism (ca 80 BCE-ca 220 CE) and Middle Stoicism. The work perceives God the Creator as transcendent and totally beyond the world. However, through the introduction of the "Spirit," upon which Stoic philosophy has a great impact, this transcendence is counterbalanced by the immanence of Wisdom. Wisdom of Solomon thus saw a new synthesis of various sapiential traditions in a much broader philosophical/theological framework that could cope with a universalistic and Hellenistic perspective.

The influence of Stoicism is especially notable in the identification of Wisdom and Spirit (1:6, 7; 7:7, 22, 25) which is quite a novel way of speculating about Wisdom, although it is clearly related to "a spirit [or wind] of God" (Gen 1:2) (Perdue 1994: 304-05). Compared with the "dwelling" image of Ben Sira 24, in the Wisdom of Solomon there is an interesting "internalization" of Wisdom, especially the dwelling place of Wisdom/Spirit (1:5; 7:27) (Murphy 1996: 142-43; 1995: 228-29). In 7:25, Wisdom is depicted as "the breath of the power of God" and "a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty" (v 25), which permeates and purifies everything, particularly the human soul. The author takes up the image from Ben Sira 24:3 with much elaboration and refinement: indubitably, however, this idea demonstrates dramatically an extensive use of Greek philosophical terminology, reflecting the Stoic notion of a world soul (Blenkinsopp 1983: 171-72; Collins 1997: 196-97; Murphy 1996: 142-43; 1995: 229). Even though the breath or spirit of God's active power in creation is obviously an allusion to Gen 1:2, and the Wisdom of Solomon presents the identification of Wisdom with Spirit in the Jewish context, still, the background of this identification equation resonates Stoic philosophy (Collins 1997: 196).

As the all-abiding principle, Wisdom also seems to echo the Stoic Logos. In Stoic philosophy, the pneuma penetrates all things, holding things together. In the same way, Wisdom is a sustaining principle or cosmic order: "Wisdom ... pervades and penetrates all things" (7:24), and "orders all things well" (8:1). Moreover, in Stoic philosophy, the pneuma or world soul is "intelligent and fiery spirit"; it is one aspect of the Stoic Logos, which is the rational and active principle of the world (Collins 1997:196-97). Indubitably, the Wisdom of Solomon shows the influence of the Stoic Logos/Pneuma concept. In fact, in the Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom and Logos are used in parallel (Wis 9:1-2, "God ... has made all things by your word, and by your wisdom has formed human kind"), and eventually Wisdom is replaced by Logos towards the end of the book, namely chapters 16-19, where the two become clearly interchangeable concepts (16:11, 12, "remind them of your Words ... but it was your Word, O Lord"; 18:15, "your all-powerful Word leaped from heaven"; 18:22, "by his Word he subdued the avenger"). Further, the transformation of the human soul from within by the Spirit (7:27) is also similar the activity attributed to the Stoic Logos/Pneuma, which is "an immanent deity, identical either with the world itself or with the active force within it" (Collins 1997: 198). In later Jewish philosophy (for example, in Philo of Alexandria), the Logos rather than the Wisdom tradition becomes dominant. In the same way, the author of the Wisdom of Solomon brings together both the Logos and the Wisdom traditions in its synthetic motif of Logos/Wisdom.

The relationship of Wisdom to God the Creator is clearly expressed in 7:25-29. Besides being "breath" (v 25, Wisdom/Spirit), she is "pure emanation" (or "effluence," v 25b) and "a spotless mirror" (v 26b). While the image of "emanation" implies the dynamic function of Wisdom with regard to God (which apparently foreshadows the neo-Platonic concept of "emanation") (Winston: 184-86), the image of "mirror" is more passive. But both indicate a more intimate relationship between Wisdom and God than was described in Ben Sira 24:3. The Wisdom of Solomon presents Wisdom not simply as of divine origin, but as "mirror" and "image" (v 26c) of Yahweh; in this sense, Wisdom is more properly a "reflection" of the Divine Being. Moreover, the image of "reflection of eternal light" (v 26a) and "light" (v 29, 30) reminds us of the Platonic analogy of light and the sun in the explanation of the relationship between the good in the world and the Perfect Good as Idea.

In Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom is portrayed as "the fashioner of all things" and "the fashioner of what exists" (8:6). The author of Wisdom of Solomon interprets 'amon in Proverbs 8:30 as "artisan/architect" or "master-worker" (Murphy 1996:143). Compared with the portrayal in Proverbs and Ben Sira, personified Wisdom here is endowed with a more explicit role in God's creative activity. Alongside the verses mentioned above (7:25-29), her role at the creation is detailed: "She glorifies her noble birth by living with God and the Lord of all loves her" (8:3), "she is an intimate in the knowledge of God, and an associate in his works" (8:4), and "With you is Wisdom, she who knows your works and was present when you made the world. She understands what is pleasing in your sight and what is right according to your commandments" (9:9).

Because of Greek philosophical influence, the author of Wisdom of Solomon succeeded in making a major breakthrough in his portrayal of Wisdom's role in creation. Wisdom has a role, moreover, not only in creation but also all through subsequent salvation history (Wis 10:1-21); the twenty-one predicates in 7:22 affirm her ever active and creative function (Collins 1997: 199-200; Murphy 1995: 228-29; 1996: 143-44).

In Wisdom of Solomon, however, the emphasis is not on the ontological level (as in Platonism or Stoicism) but on the soteriological level--that is to say, Wisdom/Spirit, as effluent from God, has a teleological or soteriological mission in human history. Wisdom/Spirit plays an active role in salvation history. Wis 10:1-21 exemplifies the re-interpretation of Israelite history in the light of Wisdom/Spirit (which later turns into Wisdom/Logos) (Blenkinsopp 1983:172). Thus, the internalized Spirit indwelling in the human soul can teach humans (from "within") the divine counsel (9:17), and consequently "save" them "by Wisdom" (9:18); simultaneously, Wisdom leads the Israelite people (from "without," but within history) to salvation, which demonstrates the Jewishness of the text, in spite of its maximized influence of the Hellenistic thoughts. The entire salvation history of Israel is re-configured through the role of Wisdom. In chapter 10, the author of Wisdom recounts Wisdom's function in salvation history from Adam (10:1) to Moses (10:16, "a servant of the Lord," 11:1, "a holy prophet," 18:5, "one child," 18:21, "a blameless man." In the process, salvation history is re-told in terms of Wisdom--"how, at the critical moment in the history of humanity, wisdom intervened on behalf of humans to restore and save the just" (Kolarcick: 103). Chapters 10-19 are also regarded as "a Hellenistic Jewish Midrash," drawing on biblical examples from Genesis and Exodus to recount and reinterpret these messages for the contemporary situation (Grabbe: 39-40). Salvation history by Wisdom thus recongifured is parallel to creation by Wisdom; both affirm the original benevolent intention of God in creating the world and humans. The linkage between creation and salvation is explained in the active and mediatory function of Wisdom, which is reminiscent of the mediatory Wisdom figure in Ben Sira. As a salvific and internal Spirit in human souls, she reveals the hidden plan and the way of God to humans, thus guiding them to "the right path" to salvation; as an active and creative power in the cosmos and history, she intervenes in human events, repeatedly recreating and restoring the conditions of created beings and their world to the original "right" orbit (Kolarcik: 102-07).

Finally, it is noteworthy that the dualistic motif of life and death--the righteous and just follow the path of life, whereas the wicked and unjust go along the path of death (chapters 2-5)--is restated in the dichotomy between light and darkness in chapter 17. While this dualistic motif between life and death is a familiar one in the Old Testament tradition (Deuteronomy 28, 30 and also Proverbs and Ben Sira), the dualistic motif between light and darkness appears to be much closer to the motifs later employed in the apocalyptic literature (I Enoch, IV Ezra, Daniel). Indeed, it is quite interesting that Wisdom of Solomon, while presenting the universally accessible Wisdom motif, comes very close to the apocalyptic Wisdom tradition because of its eschatological dualism. This is the reason that I locate Wisdom of Solomon between the accessible Wisdom tradition and the hidden/apocalyptic Wisdom traditions. Here, the author of the Wisdom of Solomon presupposes the eschatological judgment of the righteous and the wicked, by which the righteous gains "immortality of soul" (2:23) while the wicked "taste death" (2:24). The nature and destiny of the righteous people are hidden until the moment of the final judgment; however, those who follow the path of life through the guidance of Wisdom become "friends of God" (7:14, 7:27) or "servants of God" (2:13, "my servant," 'ebed Yahweh, Isa 52-53) (Collins 1998:186-87).

Thus, in this accessible Wisdom tradition, personified Wisdom is commonly depicted as: (a) having a divine origin (Prov 8:22; Ben Sira 24:3, 9; Wis 7:25-26), (b) pre-existing--existing before creation and having a role in creation (Prov 3:19; 8:22-30; Ben Sira 1:4; 9-10; 16:24 17:7; Wis 7:22; 8:4-6; 9:2, 9), (c) descending or coming into the world (Prov 3:19; 8:1-3, 30; Ben Sira 24:10-12; Wis 6:12, 16; 7:7, 14; 9:10; 17-18), and (d) mediating between God and humans (Prov 8:30 31; Ben Sira 24:10-12; Wis 7:14, 27-28). These images no doubt construct the background motifs for the Logos concept in the Johannine Prologue. However, the motif of ascending or returning Wisdom is not found in these texts. It is in the apocalyptic Wisdom tradition that this motif is located, together with the total hiddenness of Wisdom. While the mainstream of Jewish Wisdom tradition had a strong liking for universally accessible Wisdom, the Johannine Prologue exhibits a tendency to go back to the incomprehensible Wisdom imagery. In this sense, the apocalyptic Wisdom tradition plays a crucial role in the formation of the Johannine Prologue.

Apocalyptic Wisdom

Baruch 3:9-4:4

The similarity between the hiddenness and inaccessibility characterizing Wisdom here and her characterization in Job 28 is evident in the poem of Wisdom in Baruch 3:9-4:4 (Harrington: 92-102). Although the dating of Baruch is not precise, it is generally placed within the span of 200-60 BCE. The poem is linked to the prayer of confession (1:15-3:8), which explicates the experience of the exile as the result of neglecting Wisdom. Its indebtedness to Job is apparent, and the question in 3:15, "Who has found her place? And who has entered her storehouse," echoes the refrain of Job 28:12, 20. Also, the affirmation that only God knows and possesses Wisdom, "the one who knows all things knows her, he found her by his understanding" (3:32) is reminiscent of Job 28:23 (Murphy 1996: 140-42; 1995: 228; Fitzgerald: 563-67; Ashton: 161-86). Wisdom is totally inaccessible to humans. God alone has an access to her mystery. In the image of the universe, Baruch emphasizes the "Wholly Otherness" of God. The author of Baruch makes skillful of Deuteronomy 30:12-14, albeit with a reversing twist, and underscores the impossibility of finding and reaching wisdom through human search. The parallelism between Deuteronomy 30:12-14 and Baruch 3:29-30 is evident, even though the verbal relationship between the two texts is not strictly established: the phrases "who will go up to heaven for us.)" (Deut 30:12 in LXX and Bar 3:29) and "who will go over the sea" (Deut 30:13 in LXX and Bar 3:30) clearly show Baruch's dependence on Deuteronomy. Also, the Election of God in Baruch (3:37-38) is connected with the possession of Wisdom (Deut 4:6 and Bar 3:37-38). Further, the Deuteronomistic motif of "disobedience-and-punishment" is the undercurrent in Baruch 3:9-4:4, and the expression "the way of knowledge" resonates with the Deuteronomic "path" (Davis: 66-67; Collins 1997: 55). "The divine 'knowledge' is associated in both Baruch 3 and Job 28 with the divine control over the created world, which is guided by his intelligence and omniscience (Bar 3:32)" (Murphy 1996: 141).

At the same time Wisdom is identified, in Baruch, with Torah, a theme which marks it off from Job's interpretation of the divine wisdom: God "gave her [wisdom] to his servant Jacob and to Israel, whom he loved. Afterward she appeared on earth and lived with humankind. She is the book of the commandments of God, the law that endures forever" (Bar 3:36b-4:1) (Murphy 1996: 141; 1995: 228). While the text demonstrates similarities in words and images to Ben Sira 24, the contents are quite different. In Baruch, Wisdom/Torah is associated with life and death more in the sense of Deuteronomy, and there is no indication of Wisdom's role in creation. Although it exhibits some cosmic dimension of Wisdom/Torah, it contains no direct allusion to Genesis (Davis: 68; Collins 1997: 54-55). In this sense, the identification of Wisdom with Torah in Baruch shows a peculiar or "ethnocentric and particularist" thrust in the sapiential traditions.

   It is a curious combination of the question of Job xxviii
   12, 20 (cf. Bar. iii 15) concerning the mysterious hiddenness
   of Wisdom, and of straightforward answers about the "way of
   wisdom/understanding" (Bar. iii 20, 23, 27, 31,36)
   [Murphy 1995: 228].

   I Enoch 37-71 [the Similitudes of Enoch]

The Similitudes of Enoch or the Parable of Enoch demonstrates another lineage of the Jewish sapiential traditions. Although it involves a problem of translation, this Jewish Apocalyptic literature clearly reveals one lineage of the biblical or post-biblical Wisdom tradition. I Enoch is composed of five parts: chapters 1-36 (book I), 37-71 (book II), 72-81 (book III), 83-90 (book IV), and 91-104 (book V). The Similitudes of Enoch comprises the whole of book II, which deals with the coming judgment of the righteous and the wicked, the Messiah, the Son of Man, the Elect One, the heavenly secrets, the resurrection of the righteous, and so forth. Apparently, apocalyptic literature is an heir to the "hidden and mysterious wisdom" tradition in the sense that humans have no access to the "divine secret," to "all the hidden things" (40:2), or "all the secrets of heaven" (41:1), unless these are revealed by the visionary. In fact, the texts of the Similitudes are presented as Enoch's second vision, "a vision of Wisdom" (37:1-2, 5).

In I Enoch 42:1-2, the author presents a statement antithetical to Ben Sira 24 (and probably Baruch 3:29-4:1): namely, "Wisdom could not find a place in which she could dwell ... but she found no dwelling place" (42:1-2a). Consequently, Enochic Wisdom "returned to her place and she settled permanently among the angels" (42:2b). These passages are very interesting for two reasons.

First, they show Wisdom descending to find a resting place but eventually going back to heaven as her "permanent place." This motif of Wisdom "returning" is something novel, and it presupposes that there is a heavenly repository of mysteries, to which only the visionary can have a supernatural access. Here, Wisdom is "a cipher" or "Revealer" for the "heavenly secrets." If we take into consideration the passages in I Enoch 46-47, it is clear that the Son of Man figure is depicted as a messianic human figure, resident in heaven and also a judge. "The references to the Ancient (Head) of Days in I Enoch 46:1 and 47:3 indicate that the author used Dan 7:9-10, 13-14, and support the likelihood that his portrayal of the Son of Man arose from the reflection on Daniel" (Brown: 93-94). In fact, it is generally admitted that Daniel 7 is the basic motif in the late development of the Son of Man figure. Not only I Enoch (the Similitudes of Enoch), but also Sibylline Oracle 5 (after 70 CE) and IV Ezra 13 exhibit the same Danielic Son of Man figure.

Second, it declares the inverse image of Wisdom/Torah in Ben Sira, stressing the nature of Wisdom's "heavenly dwelling." As we have seen, Wisdom is identified with Torah in Ben Sira 24, portrayed as dwelling among people and thus becoming accessible to the chosen people in Zion; there also Wisdom/Torah has a universal character: she is available even to those who are outside (Ben Sira 24:30-34). But the author of the Similitudes reverses this nature and role of Wisdom/Torah, transforming her into "hidden Wisdom" accessible only by special revelation--a typical apocalyptic formulation (Collins 1997: 51; 1998:182-83; Davis: 70-71). Also, in the Similitudes, it is not Wisdom but iniquity that dwells among people "like rain in a desert, like dew on a thirsty land" (42:3). The metaphor of rain and dew seems to further negate the permeating nature of the Torah image found in Ben Sira. Indeed, there is a sense of figurative denigration of Ben Sira's Wisdom/Torah motif. In contrast to the "exoteric" cosmic and earthly Wisdom/Torah motif of Ben Sira, the Similitudes present earthly Wisdom as identified with Iniquity, as the cause of human corruption, being transmitted by angels in revolt against God (9:6): "You see what Azaz'el has done: how he has taught all (forms of) oppression upon the earth. And they revealed eternal secrets which are performed in heaven (and which) man learned."

In contrast to this earthly Wisdom, the Similitudes emphasizes the heavenly "esoteric" Wisdom--totally dissociated from Torah or the Sinai motifs--which is accessible only to the righteous and faithful through the revelation of the eschatological visionary figure, the Revealer of Wisdom--namely, the Son of Man ("the light of the gentiles," 48:4) or the Elect One (49:3) (Collins, 1998:179). This Elect-One motif may derive from the "chosen servant" of Isaiah 42:1 (Brown: 94). In its apocalyptic and eschatological dualism between the righteous and the wicked, and between true Wisdom and iniquity or false Wisdom, the Similitudes exhibits a view opposite to "the official teaching of orthodox writers like Ben Sira" (Ashton: 169). In this sense, in its emphasis on Wisdom, I Enoch embodies "the apocalyptic counterpart of the Mosaic Torah" (Davis: 106; Dix: 29-42; Boccaccini 2002: 89-103). Although both Ben Sira and the Similitudes finds Wisdom in the order of the universe, the Similitudes persistently illustrate it as hidden and inaccessible.

The Similitudes of Enoch underscores the salvific nature of the revelation. The revelation begins with the ascent of Enoch to "the end of heavens," where he sees the resting place of the righteous and the holy (I Enoch 39:3-4). Together with the repository of heavenly Wisdom, the revelation of the heavenly Wisdom and the acquisition of this Wisdom provide a demarcation between salvation or eternal life and punishment or eternal death (Davis: 111-12). The "elect and righteous," to whom this hidden mystery is revealed, are led to salvation, being exempted from sin even in this world. The salvific role of Wisdom here is quite similar to that accorded to her elsewhere (Ben Sira 24:22; Bar 4:1; Wis 8:13). Regarding her salvific nature, however, the dualistic world-view is further elaborated in the Similitudes than in Wisdom of Solomon A sharper contrast is drawn between the heavenly and the earthly, the righteous and the wicked, salvation and punishment. One figure, the Elect One, serves as a judge in the future eschatological judgment, taking control over this division, while another heavenly figure, the Son of Man, functions as the intercessor between the heavenly Wisdom and the righteous people (Collins 1998: 184-86). Also, the eschatological dualism is characterized by the contrast between light and darkness (I Enoch 58:2-6).

At the same time, the Enochic Son of Man motif clearly evinces the ascending and descending heavenly figure, who reveals the hidden Wisdom to the righteous. It is particularly noteworthy that the motif of "ascending to heaven" was very popular in first-century BCE Judaism. Although the author of I Enoch clearly relates to the Danielic heavenly figure (the Son of Man), other Jewish writers demonstrate a similar ascending motif. For example, Ezekiel the Tragedian (before 150 BCE) presents the story of Moses taken up by God to the heavenly throne. Also, the Qumran War Scroll illustrates an exalted and enthroned figure (that of the celestial Melchizedek) who will come to judge. Thus, in the Similitudes, we finally recognize the ascending/descending pre-existent heavenly figure, the Revealer of the hidden Wisdom, the eschatological judge, and the mediator between God and people.

Finally, the author of the Similitudes knows the motif of servant of Yahweh (Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52-53). The motif of the Elect One in I Enoch 48:4-5 clearly shows the Deutero-Isaian influence. The author of the Similitudes conflates two motifs--the heavenly figure of Daniel 7 and "the servant of the Lord" (I Enoch 48:4-5). This fascinating conflation of motifs in the Similitudes of Enoch definitely paved the way for the Christian interpretation of Jesus of Nazareth. There can be no doubt that the earliest Christians saw in Jesus Christ the fulfillment of these eschatological figures.

Thus we have seen the three--the hidden, the accessible, and the apocalyptic-Jewish Wisdom traditions. Now, it is not difficult to see that the Johannine Prologue is a natural heir to the Wisdom traditions: the motif and themes presented above in the various texts of the Wisdom traditions clearly resonate to those of the Prologue. Personified Wisdom has been depicted as somehow "pre-existent" and "unique," as a mediator between God and people: at the same time, in the apocalyptic tradition, she is the eschatological judge between the righteous and the wicked. The fundamental focus of these motifs lies in the soteriological effectuality of God's power ensconced in the cosmological and universal imagery. This portrayal of personified Wisdom as the active and life-giving agent of creation and salvation history sets up the final stage for her transformation into the Johannine Logos.

Works Cited

Ashton, John. 1986. Transformation of Wisdom A Study of the Prologue of John's Gospel. NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES 32: 161-86.

Blenkinsopp, Joseph. 1995. SAGE, PRIEST, PROPHET: RELIGIOUS AND INTELLECTUAL LEADERSHIP IN ANCIENT ISRAEL. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox.

1983. WISDOM AND LAW IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. The Oxford Bible Series. New York, NY: Oxford.

Boccaccini, Gabriel. 2002. ROOTS OF RABBINIC JUDAISM: AN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY FROM EZEKIEL TO DANIEL. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

1991. MIDDLE JUDAISM: JEWISH THOUGHT, 300 BCE "1"O 200 CE. Minneapolis: Fortress.

Brown, Raymond. 1994. AN INTRODUCTION TO NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTOLOGY. New York: Paulist.

Collins, John. 1998. THE APOCALYPTIC IMAGINATION: AN INTRODUCTION TO JEWISH APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE. Second edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

1997. JEWISH WISDOM IN THE HELLENISTIC AGE. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox.

Crenshaw, James. 1981. OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM: AN INTRODUCTION. Atlanta, GA: John Knox.

Davis, Stephen K. 2002. THE ANTITHESIS OF THE AGES: PAUL'S RECONFIGURATION OF TORAH. Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series 33. Washington, D.C.: Catholic Biblical Association.

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Nozomi Miura, MA (Loyola University, New Orleans), has based the present article on her master's thesis, A REDACTIONAL STUDY OF THE JOHANNINE PROLOGUE (JOHN 1:1-18) WITH A FOCUS ON JEWISH WISDOM TRADITIONS (2004). An additional article, An Attempt Made in the World of Globalization: Reflections on Social Justice based on the Bible and the Jubilee 2000 Campaign, is forthcoming in the Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa (Fall, 2004). A member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart, she now teaches at Fuji Sacred Heart School, 198 Momozono, Susono City, Shizuoka-ken, Japan 410-1126. Her e-mail address is [e-mail].