BIBLICAL LITERATURE

15
In books on world literature there usually It cannot be gotten for gold,
is a section on Biblical literature, for the and silver cannot be weighed as its price.
Bible contains one of the richest sources
of great literature. Much of it is what Plato 16
in the on, Ion calls inspired writing. Much It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
of the prose of the Old testament would In precious onyx or sapphire.
pass for poetry, and the Hebrews were
known for their songs. 17
Gold and glass cannot equal it,nor can it
The Hebrew genius did not seem to lie in be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
epic or dramatic poetry, which the Greeks
claim to be their national poetic vehicle. 18
Hebrew genius was essentially subjective, No mention shall be made of coral or of
the emotions and aspirations articulated crystal; the price of wisdom is above
in the first person rather than enterpreting pearls.
them through characters like Ulysses or a
Hamlet. It is in lyric poetry above all that it 19
finds its best expression. In contrast to The topaz of Ethiopia cannot compare
Western poetry, however, Hebrew poetrys with it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.
not concerned with either meter or
rhyme. The Hebrew poets conscious of 20
rhythm, and the chief characteristic of "Whence then comes wisdom?
both Hebrew poetry and prose is And where is the place of understanding?
parallelism which appears as plainly the
English translation as in the Hebrew 21
orlginal. The convention consists of It is hid from the eyes of all living,
making each couplet or verse of two lines and concealed from the birds of the air.
consist of two clauses of about equal
length, the second line orause completing 22
or contrasting the first. Abaddon and Death say,
'We have heard a humor of it with our
A. JOB 28:12-28 ears."

12 23
"But where shall wisdom be found? "God understands the way to it,
And where is the place of understanding? and he knows its place.

13 24
Man does not know the way to it, For he looks to the ends of the earth,
and It is not found in the land of the living. and sees everything under the heavens.

25
14 When he gave to the wind its weight,
The deep says, 'It is not in me, and meted out the waters by measure;
and the sea says, 'It is not with me.
 the work of a master hand.

26 2
when he made a decree for the rain, Your navel is a rounded bowl
and a way for the lightning or the thunder; that never lacks mixed wine.
Your belly is a heap of wheat,
27 encircled with lilies.
then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out. 3
Your two breasts are like two fawns,
28 twins of a gazelle.
And he said to man,
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is 4
wisdom; and to depart from évil is Your neck is like an Ivory tower.
understanding. Your eyes are pools in Heshbon,
by the gate of Bath-rab bim.
Job, the 18th book of the Bible is often Your nose is like a tower of Lebanon,
discussed by literary critics in relation to overlooking Damascus.
to the nature of Greek or Shakespearean
tragedy. Job seeks to show that suffering 5
need not be God's penalty for sin. God Your head crowns you like Carmel,
permits Satan to torment the virtuous Job and your flowing locke are like purple;
with the loss of family, wealth, and health. a king is held captive in the tresses.
Finding small comfort in wife and friends,
Job is bitterly questioning but remains 6
faithful, and is restored to good fortune in How fair and pleasant you are,
old age. O loved one, delectable maiden!

Questions: 7
You are stately as a palm tree,
1. What is the difference between wisdom and your breasts are like its clusters.
and knowledge? (Look up the meaning of
the two words in the dictionary.) 8
I say I will climb the palm tree
2. What is Job's definition of wisdom? and lay hold of its branches.
Explain what he means. Oh, may your breasts be like clusters of
the vine,
3. What is Job's definition of and the scent of your breath like apples,
understanding? Explain.
9
and your kisses like the best wine
THE SONG OF SOLOMON, Chapter 7: 1-13 that goes down smoothly,
gliding over lips and teeth.
1
How graceful are your feet in sandals, 10
O queenly maiden! I am my beloved's
Your rounded thighs are like jewels, and his desire is for me.
 William Neil, in Harper's Bible
Commentary, makes this statement: "It is
11 simpler to take [the Songs of Solomon) at
Come, my beloved, their face value, and to be grateful that
let us go forth into the fields, the Bible includes the little book which is
and lodge in the villages; not only unsurpassedly beautiful as a
piece of writing, but also sets the seal of
12 divine approval OR human Love and
let us go out early to the vineyards, affection despite the well meant attempts
and see whether the vines have budded, of Jewish and Christian ecclesiastics to
whether the grape blossoms have opened transform it into something it was ever
and the pomegranates are in bloom. intended to do."
"There I will give you my love.
Solomon, the second son of David and
13 Bathsheba, ruled ancient Israel about 970
The mandrakes give forth fragrance, 933 B.C. prosperity and gained at
and over our doors are all choice fruits, reputation the height of its for great
new as well as old, wisdom. Also attributed to Solomon is the
which I have laid up for you, O my book of Proverbs.
beloved.
His success in establishing lucrative
The Song of Solomon, like Ecclesiastes foreign trade and his Introduction at home
and Esther, almost failed to gain admission of taxation and forced labor which
into the canon of the Old Testament when enabled him to finance a massive building
the Jewish Church made up its list of program which included the famous
sacred scriptures at Jamnia in A. D. 90. temple and palace of Solomon.
The concern of the theologians was
designed to edify and to regulate the life Solomon, moreover was known to have
of the people of YHWH, and could see no 700 wives (many of them princesses from
place in the anthology of sacred books the other lands) and 500 concubines.
inclusion of poems which deal with sexual
love and dwell sensuously physical Chapter 7 is divided into two sections:
attractions of the human body. verses 1-9 spoken by the lover; verses 10
13 by the woman. are
The committee of rabbis, albeit with some
hesitation, finally decided to include them
in the official list of the Old Testament by
identifying the two young lovers as YHWH Questions:
(Jehovah) and Israel, so that the erotic
character of the poems could be given 1. Why is it difficult to accept the Jewish-
religious significance. When the Old Christian tradition of equating the man in
Testament became also Christian the poem with the lover as Jehovah and
scriptures, the Church followed the Jewish the giri as Israel or that the man is Christ
example by making the lover Christ, while and the girl is the church?
the girl became the Church.
Be specific in giving the details.
Look up the meaning of the following: aroused Saul's envy and wrath. After years
a. delectable as an utlaw, he was chosen king of Judah
b. pomegranate on Saul's death, soon tending his authority
c. mandrake over the northern tribes. David then
seized Jerusalem making it the religious
PSALM 23 and political center of Israel and large
empire. David was the prototype of the
A Psalm of David Messiah through whom God mediated his
blessing to Israel, and an ancestor of Jesus
23 Christ. David's character was not
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want; unblemished. Upon seeing Bathsheba, the
wife of a captain of Israel's army, he bent
2 her husband Urtah to a battle where he
he makes me lie down in green pastures. died. But David was highly successful
He leads me beside still waters; ruler; he ran his country in manner,
considering himself as the leader of
3 equals. his second son by Bathsheba,
he restores my soul. succeeded David and dictatorial king for
He leads me in paths of righteousness for 33 years.
his name's sake.
"David and his ancestors," says D'Alfonso,
4 "knew sheep and their ways, and David
Even though I walk through the valley has translated a sheep's musing into
of the shadow of death, simple words." What D'Alfonso wants to
I fear no evil; for thou art with me; say is that the twenty-third Psalm is the
thy rod and thy staff, contemplation of a sheep.
they comfort me.
The Lord is my shepherd:
5 I shall not want.
Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of my enemies; "Sheep instinctively," says D'Alfonso,
thou anointest my head with oil, "know that before they have been folded
my cup overflows. for the night the shepherd has planned
out their grazing for the morrow. It may
6 be that he will go to a new grazing ground.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow The sheep do not worry. His guidance has
me been good in the past and they have faith
all the days of my life; in the future because they know he has
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD their well-being in view."
for ever.
He maketh me to lie down in green
David (d. 961 B.C.) was a successful king of pasture..
Israel for 40 years. As a shepherd boy, who
killed in a fight the Philistine giant Goliath "Sheep graze from around 3:30 o'clock in
with a slingshot, he became armbearer to the morning until bout ten. Then they lie
King Saul of Israel, and an intimate friend down for four hours and rest," says
of Saul's son Jonathan. His popularity "Alfonso. "When they are contentedly
chewing their cuds, the hepherd starts his when he saw him he passed by on the
flocks out in the early hours on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he
rougher erbage, moving on through the came to the place and saw him, passed by
morning to the richer, sweeter trasses, on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he
and finally coming with the band to a journeyed, came to where he was; and
shade for its forenoon rest in fine green when he saw him, he had compassion;
pastures, best grazing of the day. Sheep. and went to him and bound up his
while resting in such happy surroundings, wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he
contentment." set him on his own beast and brought him
to an inn, and took care of him. And the
He leadeth me beside the still waters.. next day he took out two denarii and gave
"Every shepherd knows," says D'Alfonso, them to innkeeper, saying, "Take care of
"that sheep will not drink gurgling water. him; and whatever more you spend, I will
There are many small springs high in the repay you when I come back. Which of
hills of the Holy Land, whose waters run these three, do you think, proved
down the valleys only to evaporate in the neighbor to the fell among the robbers?"
desert sun. Although the sheep need the He said, "The one who showed mercy on
water, they wil11 not drink from these him." And Jesus said this to him, "Go and
fast-flowing streams. The shepherd must do likewise."
find a place where rocks or erosion have
made little pool, or else he fashions with The Bible has many fascinating character
his hands sufficient to hold at least a whose lives titute interesting stories. Ruth,
bucketful." Esther, Job, Joseph and Brothers (made
into a play), David and Goliath, David and
That is the opening page of the Reader's eseba, Samson and Delilah (which has
Digest article the literal interpretation of been made into ari -), Solomon and the
Psalm 23. Queen of Sheba all in the Old ment. In the
New Testament are the moving stories of
The allegorical interpretation of Psalm 23 Paul is conversion, Peter who betrayed
is the more Important one in which the Jesus but redeemed himself coo, was
sheep represents man and the shepherd is crucified with his feet up and his head
the Lord God. down), the tute Magdalene and her
conversion, Zaccheus on the sycamore
Exercise (optional): Pursue the allegorical Jesus himself invented and popularized a
interpretation from the first to the last line new kind of story the parable. Jesus used
of Psalm 23. the parable as a most effective
dramatising the doctrines that have
The Good Samaritan become basic elements Christian faith.
Luke 10: 29-37 Some of the famous parables: the prodigal
son, the talents, the sower, the widow's
But he, desiring to himself, said to Jesus, mite, the ten virgins, the two sons, the
"And who neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A unforgiving servant, mustard seed, the
man was going down from Jerusalem to The Good Samaritan
Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who
stripped him and beat him, and departed, To help you understand the meaning of
leaving him half dead. Now by chance a the parables of The Sood Samaritan, look
priest was going down that 350ad; and
up the following: Samaritan, Levite,
Paradox.

The life of Jesus is the greatest paradox of

all: the self-proclaimed savior of mankind
died on a cross. The priests derided aim:
"He saved others; let him save himself, if
he be Christ, the hosen of God." Even one
of the criminals crucifled with him on
Bolgotha mocked him: "If thou he Christ,
save thyself and us." On his so-called
triumphant entry to Jerusalem, he rode on
lowly donkey, not on a chariot nor onsa
horse. The greatest persecutor of the
Christians, Saul of Tarsus, from a Turkish
harbor town, became Paul the greatest
apostle. Mary Magdalene, the prostitute,
was the first to see the resurrected Christ.

The meaning of the wounded man and

the Samaritan is achieved through the use
of paradox. What is the paradox?

You can understand the paradox in the

story of "The Good Samaritan" if you
know the three characters who saw the
man who was robbed and beaten up:

1. The Jewish priest

2. The Levite
3. The Samaritan

Look up the meaning of the three

characters and what they stood for in the
time of Jesus.

Then show how the story of The Good

Samaritan is a good example of a paradox.