Smith College-Spring 2009

Religion 211: Wisdom Literature and Other Books from the Writings

Professor Joel S. Kaminsky (E-mail: jkaminsk@smith.edu)

Office: Wright Hall 126 (Office Phone: 3608)

Office Hours: 2:35-3:20 MW or by appointment.

Required Books

1. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, New Revised Standard Version. It is best to buy a copy of this Bible because it is the one I will use in class. Furthermore it is an excellent Bible and has many study tools within it. Other versions that are in modern English (e.g. Jerusalem, New English) are acceptable if you already own one and cannot afford the Oxford. The Authorized (meaning the King James) is not acceptable because it is not in modern English. It is essential to own a Bible that also includes the Apocrypha.

2. James Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom (referred to as OTW).

3. Course Packet available from Paradise Copies.

Optional Books

1. Hershel Shanks, Ancient Israel.

Course Requirements

1) There will be a Midterm Exam worth 30% of your course grade, tentatively scheduled for March 4^th.

For assignments 2-3 you will write 2 papers worth 15% of your grade each, 30% total. You must turn in the first of the two papers by Wednesday April 1^st and the second paper by Wednesday April 22nd. Producing the "two article" comparison paper should help build your skills toward producing your research paper. Details found below:

2) You will be required to summarize, compare, contrast, and critique two of the secondary readings from the packet that are on the same wisdom book but are written by different authors. For example you might compare Carol Newsom's article on Job to say Michael Fox's or Bruce Zuckerman's, or you might evaluate the opposing claims of Crenshaw and Talmon on the question of whether narratives like Esther and Joseph were written by scribes connected to the Wisdom Literature, or you might compare say Terrien and Whybray on the question of wisdom influence on the Psalms. This paper should be approximately 4-5 pages double-spaced (1000-1250 words). The point is demonstrate that you clearly understand each article and can place them into a larger intellectual and evaluative framework. When building your case cite relevant page numbers from each article when necessary!

3) You will be required to write one short research/exegetical paper approximately 6-8 pages double-spaced (1250-1750 words). If you write an exegetical paper you will take a passage in a biblical or apocryphal wisdom book and research how the various commentaries (using at least 3 differing RECENT critical commentators) wrestle with the issues raised by your particular passage. Questions of date, setting, authorship, language, and interpretation will be addressed. If you choose to research a wisdom related concept or historical issue you will collect at minimum 4 differing secondary articles on the topic that you fully understand and put these into dialogue with each other as you pursue your topic. Your paper should contain a final bibliography along with real footnotes that include page numbers. Whenever possible you should be using legitimate scholarly resources that were published within the previous 50 years All paper topics must be cleared with me in advance!

Additional option for more ambitious students who score at least an A- on the midterm or who have had a previous Bible course with me in which they received at least a B+:

Instead of writing the two shorter papers you will write one research paper 10-12 pages in length for 30% of your course grade. This will be an exegetical or historical paper on either a text from the wisdom corpus or on an idea, event, or figure of direct importance to the wisdom corpus. This paper must include a full bibliography and real footnotes. All topics must be approved by the Professor before you leave for spring break in mid-March. A rough draft will be due no later than on Monday April 6^th. Your rough draft should be at least 5 pages double spaced and include a bibliography as well. All students must meet with me to discuss their rough drafts!! The Final draft will be due on Monday April 27^th.

4) There will be a Final Examination worth approximately 30% of your course grade.

5) Class Attendance and Participation will be worth approximately 10% of your course grade. If you skip more than 3 classes I will drop your grade by 1/3^rd of a letter grade for each absence above 3. As part of your participation grade you may be asked to introduce a particular day of class by sketching out the basics of a particular book and introducing some questions that you believe are worth further discussion or bringing in a passage that you think deserves our attention, or introducing one of the secondary articles. I will also expect every student to bring in 1-2 passages related to the text under discussion each day that intrigue or confuse them.

6) In order to do well at any of the above requirements it is imperative that you do all of the readings required for each class. If you are pressed for time before a particular session make sure to do at least the primary readings. (I mean those that are selected from the Bible). But you must eventually complete all the secondary readings in order to do decently on the exams.

Course Outline

January 26^th-Intro to the course

Jan. 28^th -Intro to Israelite Wisdom and its Egyptian and Babylonian antecedents

Assignments:

1) Read "The Instructions of Ptahhotep," pages 61-80 in Ancient Egyptian Literature volume 1 at the front of the PACKET. As you read be prepared to bring in at least one proverb from this or the other ancient Near Eastern texts that you want to discuss further in class.

2) Read "Instructions addressed to King Merikare," pages 97-109 in Ancient Egyptian Literature volume 1 at the front of the PACKET.

3) Read "The Words of Ahikar" pages 427-430 in Ancient Near Eastern Texts at the front of the PACKET

4) Read Crenshaw OTW, 3-34 and 205-226.

Feb 2^nd , 4^th and 9^th The Book of Proverbs

Assignments:

1) Read Proverbs 10-31 and bring in a list of at least 4 proverbs that intrigued or confused you to discuss in class.

2) Read OTW, 44-88.

3) Read the Instructions of Amenophis pages 146-163 in Ancient Egyptian Literature volume 2 at the front of the PACKET.

4) Read Michael Fox, "What the Book of Proverbs is About," Congress Volume (VTSup 48; Leiden: Brill, 1997), 153-67. PACKET

5) Read Mark Sneed, "The Class Culture of Proverbs: Eliminating Stereotypes," SJOT 10 (1996): 296-308. PACKET

6) Read John J. Collins, "The Biblical Precedent for Natural Theology," Encounters with Biblical Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005), 91-104, notes on 209-214. PACKET

7) Read Proverbs 1-9.

8) Read Roland Murphy, "The Personification of Wisdom," pages 222-233 in John Day ed., Wisdom in Ancient Israel. PACKET

Feb 11^th, 16^th and 23^rd – Job

FEB. 18^th—Rally Day—No Class

Assignments:

1) Read Job. Again, as you read collect any passages that you feel deserve special attention in class.

2) Read Crenshaw OTW, 89-115.

3) Read "Ludlul Bel Nemeki," and "the Babylonian Theodicy" pages 596-604 in Ancient Near Eastern Texts at the front of the PACKET.

4) Read The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky, (Toronto: Bantam, 1981), pp. 284-296. PACKET

5) Read Michael Fox, "Job the Pious," Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 117 (2005): 351-66.

6) Read E. W. Nicholson, "The Limits of Theodicy as a Theme in the Book of Job," pages 71-82 in Wisdom in Ancient Israel (ed. John Day, R.P. Gordon and H.G. M. Williamson; Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995).

7) Read pages 13-33 in Job The Silent by Bruce Zuckerman (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).

8) Read Carol Newsom, "The Book of Job as a Polyphonic Text," Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 97 (2002): 87-108.

Feb 25^th and March 2^nd --Qohelet

Assignments:

1) Read Ecclesiastes and pick out at least one passage that intrigues or disturbs you.

2) Read Crenshaw OTW, 116-139.

3) Read Michael Fox, "Wisdom in Qoheleth," pages 115-31 in Leo Perdue ed., In Search of Wisdom: Essays in Memory of John G. Gammie (:Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1993). PACKET

4) Read James Crenshaw, "The Shadow of Death in Qoheleth," pages 205-216 in John Gammie ed., Israelite Wisdom (FS Terrien; Missoula: Scholars Press, 1978). PACKET

(LIBRARY TOUR—Time Permitting on either March 2^nd, 9^th, or 11th)

March 4^th -- Midterm Exam

March 9^th and11^th Esther

Assignments:

1) Read Esther. Read Exodus 17:8-16; Numbers 24:20; Deut. 25:17-19; 1 Samuel 9:1-2, 1 Sam 15.

2) Read J. Levenson, Esther: A commentary, Introduction, pages 1-27.

3) Shmaryahu Talmon, "Wisdom in the Book of Esther," Vetus Testamentum 13 (1963): 419-55. ATLAS PDF

4)) Read James Crenshaw, "Method in Determining Wisdom Influence upon ‘Historical Literature,'" Journal of Biblical Literature 88 (1969): 129-42. PACKET

March 23^rd -- Song of Songs

Assignments:

1) Read the Song of Songs. Which passages confuse or intrigue you? Is the book a unity or a series of discrete units?

2) Read Egyptian Love Poetry excerpts pages 182-193 in Volume 2 of Ancient Egyptian Literature volume 2 by Miriam Lichteim, found at the front of the PACKET

3) Read David M Carr, "Gender and the shaping of desire in the Song of Songs and its interpretation," Journal of Biblical Literature, 119 no 2 Sum 2000, p 233-248.

March 25^th Wisdom in the Psalms

Assignments:

1) Read Psalms 1, 8, 19, 34, 37, 39, 49, 73, 92, 94, 104, 119.

2) Read OTW 171-75.

3) Read Samuel Terrien, "Wisdom in the Psalter," pages 51-72 in Leo Perdue ed., In Search of Wisdom: Essays in Memory of John G. Gammie (:Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1993). PACKET

4) Read R. N. Whybray, "The Wisdom Psalms," pages 152-60 in John Day ed. Wisdom in Ancient Israel (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995). PACKET

March 30^th, April 1^st and part of April 6th-- Ben Sira

Assignments:

1) Read all of Ben Sira, also called Sirach or Ecclesiaticus (i.e., Prologue-chapter 51)

2) Pick out 2 passages that you find troubling or bothersome to discuss in class!

3) Read OTW 140-164.

4) Read Alexander Di Lella, "The Meaning of Wisdom in Ben Sira," pages 133-48 in Leo Perdue ed., In Search of Wisdom: Essays in Memory of John G. Gammie (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1993). PACKET

5) Read "Ben Sira's Ethics," pages 62-79 in John J. Collins, Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age (Louisville: Westminster, 1997).

6) Read James Crenshaw, " The Problem of Theodicy in Sirach: On Human Bondage," JBL 94 (1975): 47-64. PACKET

Part of April 6^th and April 13^th--Wisdom of Solomon

Assignments:

1) Read all of the Wisdom of Solomon. Pick out at least one passage that intrigues or disturbs you for class discussion.

2) Read OTW 165-171.

3) Read John J. Collins "Wisdom and Immortality," pages 178-95 in idem, Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age (OTL; Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1997). PACKET

4) Read M. Kolarcik, "Universalism and Justice in the Wisdom of Solomon," pages 289-301 in Calduch-Benages ed., Treasures of Wisdom (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1999). PACKET

5) Read Shannon Burkes, "Wisdom and apocalypticism in the Wisdom of Solomon," Harvard Theological Review, 95 no 1 Jan 2002, p 21-44. PACKET

April 8^th—No Class in Preparation for people traveling home for Passover

April 15^th Tobit

Assignments:

1) Read all of Tobit.

2) Read "Tobit as Tale and Novel," Chapter 3 from Lawrence Wills, The Jewish Novel in the Ancient World (Ithaca: Cornell, 1995), 68-92. PACKET

3) Read A. J. Levine, "Diaspora as Metaphor: Bodies and Boundaries in the Book of Tobit," pages 105-117 in J.A. Overman ed., Diaspora Jews and Judaism (FS Thomas Kraabel; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992. PACKET

April 20^th and 22^nd -- Daniel

Assignments:

1) Read Daniel 1-12 and Susanna in the Apocrypha (on the 19^th focus will be on 1-6 and Susanna, and on 7-12 on the 22^nd).

2) Read John J. Collins, "Daniel and His Social World," pages 249-260 in James L. Mays ed., Interpreting the Prophets (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987). PACKET

3) Read W.L. Humphreys, "A Life-Style for the Disapora: A Study of the Tales of Daniel and Esther," JBL 92 (1973): 211-223. PACKET

4) Read Gerhard von Rad, Old Testament Theology, volume II (New York: Harper & Row, 1965), 301-315. PACKET

April 27^th Fragments of Wisdom elsewhere in the Apocrypha, Pirkei Avot and Theological reflections on the Wisdom Corpus

Assignments:

1) Read 1 Esdras 3:1-5:3 and Baruch 3:9-4:4.

2) Read OTW 175-77, 184-204.

3) Read Ethics of the Fathers, trans. Philip Birnbaum, (Hebrew Publishing Company, 1949), pages, 2, 4, 6, 10, 18, and 24.

4) Read Roland Murphy, "Wisdom—Theses and Hypotheses," pages 35-42 in John Gammie ed., Israelite Wisdom (FS Terrien; Missoula: Scholars Press, 1978). PACKET

April 29^th -- catch up, review for final exam, end of year social

Timeline of Important Dates in the Biblical Period

1800 B.C.E. = Abraham

1280 B.C.E. = The Exodus from Egypt

1240 B.C.E. = The Conquest of Canaan

1020 B.C.E. = King Saul, Israel's first monarch.

1000 B.C.E. = King David

960 B.C.E. = King Solomon, the one who built the Jerusalem Temple.

922 B.C.E. = The United Kingdom split into the North (Israel or Ephraim) and the South (Judah).

722 B.C.E. = The Northern Kingdom (Israel) fell when it was conquered by Assyria.

587 B.C.E. = The Southern Kingdom (Judah) fell when it was conquered be Babylonia.

538 B.C.E. = The Edict of Cyrus allowed the first exiles to return and rebuild the temple. This was the beginning of the 2nd temple period.

333 B.C.E. = Alexander the Great conquered the Persian empire and took all its holdings including what was once the territory of biblical Israel.

323 B.C.E. = Alexander the Great died and several generals fought over his kingdom. Two major victors emerged. Ptolemy ruled over Egypt, North Africa, and sometimes Palestine. Seleucus ruled over Persia, Syria, Asia Minor, and sometimes Palestine.

165 B.C.E. = The Maccabees

63 B.C.E. = Pompey, a Roman general, took Jerusalem.

2-6? B.C.E. = Jesus was born

70 C.E. = The Second Temple and Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans.

200 C.E. = The Mishnah was compiled by Yehuda HaNasi (Judah the Prince)