Knowing Scripture: Interpreting Wisdom Literature

Introduction/Review

Grammatical-Historical/Literal Method

Interpreting Law/Types of Laws

Definition of Wisdom Literature in comparison to Law

The Nature of Wisdom

The Abuse of Wisdom Literature

The Canon of Wisdom Literature

The Limits of Wisdom

Wisdom in Proverbs

Prudential vs. Speculative Wisdom (6:1-5; 7-11; 12-15)

Proverbs are not Legal Agreements from God (Prov. 22:26-27; 21:22)

Proverbs must be read as a collection (Prov. 26:4-5)

Proverbs are meant to readable not theoretically accurate (Prov. 15:19)

Some proverbs need to be “translated” to be appreciated (Prov. 25:24)

Wisdom in Job (Job. 42:7-9)

Wisdom in Ecclesiastes

Theories on Ecclesiastes 

The Message of Ecclesiastes (Ecc. 12:13-14)

Wisdom in the Song of Songs

Appreciating the Ethical Context of the Song of Songs

The Genre of the Song of Songs

The Song of Songs suggests godly choices, it doesn’t merely describe them