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----Last revised: 11/20/01
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13.1 Wise Men and Wisdom Literature
13.1.1 Wise Men and Their Work
13.1.1.1 Wisdom in the Ancient Near East
13.1.1.2 Wisdom in Israel
13.1.2 Wisdom Books
13.1.2.1 Proverbs
13.1.2.1.1 The wise man's purpose (Prov. 1:1-7)
13.1.2.1.2 The way to the good life (Prov.
1:8-9:18)
13.1.2.1.2.1 Son, listen to your elders (Prov.
1:8-19)
13.1.2.1.2.2 Wisdom's sermon to the simple
(Prov. 1:20-33)
13.1.2.1.2.3 Son, listen to wisdom (Prov.
2:1-22)
13.1.2.1.2.4 Son, let the Lord lead you (Prov.
3:1-35)
13.1.2.1.2.5 Son, get wisdom and insight (Prov.
4:1-27)
13.1.2.1.2.6 Son, beware of that wild woman
(Prov. 5:1-22)
13.1.2.1.2.7 Son, remember four important
things (Prov. 6:1-19)
13.1.2.1.2.8 Son, wisdom will keep you safe
from wicked women (Prov. 6:20-35)
13.1.2.1.2.9 Son, let's talk some more about
wicked women (Prov. 7:1-27)
13.1.2.1.2.10 Wisdom's sermon to humanity
(Prov. 8:1-36)
13.1.2.1.2.11 The two ways: The wise and the
foolish (Prov. 9:1-18)
13.1.2.1.3 The "Proverbs of Solomon" (Prov.
10:1-22:16)
13.1.2.1.4 The Book of thirty Sayings (Prov.
22:17-24:22)
13.1.2.1.5 More "Proverbs of Solomon" (Prov.
25:1-29:27)
13.1.2.1.6 The words of Agur (Prov. 30:1-33)
13.1.2.1.7 The words of Lemuel (Prov. 31:1-31)
13.1.2.2 Job: When Orthodoxy Fails
13.1.2.2.1 The structure of the book
13.1.2.2.2 Who wrote Job, and when was it
written?
13.1.2.2.3 Some things one needs to know to
help in understanding Job
13.1.2.2.4 The Book
13.1.2.2.4.1 Job, the righteous man: the prose
story (Job 1:1-2:13)
13.1.2.2.4.2 Job, the frustrated sufferer:
The poetic discourse (Job 3:1-42:6)
13.1.2.2.4.2.1 Job's complaint (Job 3:1-26)
13.1.2.2.4.2.2 The debate: Round one (Job
4:1-14:22)
13.1.2.2.4.2.2.1 Eliphaz, the man who has
visions (Job 4:1-5:27)
13.1.2.2.4.2.2.2 Job to Eliphaz: Round one
(Job 6:1-7:21)
13.1.2.2.4.2.2.3 Bildad, the traditionalist
(Job 8:1-22)
13.1.2.2.4.2.2.4 Job to Bildad: Round one
(Job 9:1-10:22)
13.1.2.2.4.2.2.5 Zophar, God's right-hand
man (Job 11:1-20)
13.1.2.2.4.2.2.6 Job to Zophar: Round one
(Job 12:1-14:22)
13.1.2.2.4.2.3 The debate: Round two (Job
15:1-21:34)
13.1.2.2.4.2.3.1 Eliphaz speaks again (Job
15:1-35)
13.1.2.2.4.2.3.2 Job lambasts his friends
and questions God (Job 16:1-17:16)
13.1.2.2.4.2.3.3 Bildad plays the same record
(Job 18:1-21)
13.1.2.2.4.2.3.4 Job reaches the bottom (Job
19:1-29)
13.1.2.2.4.2.3.5 Zophar knows the answer (Job
20:1-29)
13.1.2.2.4.2.3.6 Job replies to Zophar: Round
two (Job 21:1-34)
13.1.2.2.4.2.4 The debate: Round three (Job
22:1-27:23)
13.1.2.2.4.2.4.1 Eliphaz gets nasty (Job 22:1-30)
13.1.2.2.4.2.4.2 Job searches for God (Job
23:1-24:25)
13.1.2.2.4.2.4.3 Bildad contrasts God and
man (Job 25:1-6)
13.1.2.2.4.2.4.4 Job replies to Bildad (Job
26:1-4)
13.1.2.2.4.2.4.5 The continuation of Bildad's
speech on God and man (Job 26:5-14)
13.1.2.2.4.2.4.6 Job ends his part of the
debate (Job 27:1-12)
13.1.2.2.4.2.4.7 Zophar again? (Job 27:13-23)
13.1.2.2.4.2.5 The wisdom poem (Job 28:1-28)
13.1.2.2.4.2.6 Job presents his case (Job
29:1-31:40)
13.1.2.2.4.2.7 The Elihu speeches (Job 32:1-37:24)
13.1.2.2.4.2.8 The divine speeches (Job 38:1-41:34)
13.1.2.2.4.2.9 Job's submission (Job 42:1-6)
13.1.2.2.4.3 The traditional ending of the
story (Job 42:7-17)
13.1.2.2.5 Job: A summary
13.1.2.3 Ecclesiastes: Skeptical Wisdom
13.1.2.3.1 Vanity of vanities (Eccl. 1:1-2:26)
13.1.2.3.2 "For everything there is a season"
(Eccl. 3:1-15)
13.1.2.3.3 The question of justice (Eccl.
3:16-4:4)
13.1.2.3.4 The futility of working alone (Eccl.
4:5-16)
13.1.2.3.5 Do not fool around with God (Eccl.
5:1-7)
13.1.2.3.6 Life has problems (Eccl. 5:8-6:12)
13.1.2.3.7 Thinking about life (Eccl. 7:1-8:1)
13.1.2.3.8 Watch out for the ruler (Eccl.
8:2-9)
13.1.2.3.9 There is no justice in life (Eccl.
8:10-9:12)
13.1.2.3.10 Wisdom and foolishness (Eccl.
9:13-10:20)
13.1.2.3.11 The actions of the wise (Eccl.
11:1-6)
13.1.2.3.12 Advice to the young (Eccl. 11:7-12:8)
13.1.2.3.13 The end of it all (Eccl. 12:9-14)
13.2 The Sweet Singers of Israel
13.2.1 The Song of Songs
13.2.1.1 The Nature of the Book
13.2.1.2 Interpretations of the Book
13.2.1.3 A Look in the Book
13.2.1.3.1 The bride is prepared for her lover
(Song 1:1-6)
13.2.1.3.2 The bride and the groom together
(Song 1:7-2:5)
13.2.1.3.3 The bride's memories of love (Song
2:6-17)
13.2.1.3.4 The bride has a bad dream (Song
3:1-5)
13.2.1.3.5 The king's wedding procession (Song
4:1-5:1)
13.2.1.3.6 The bride has another dream (Song
5:2-6:3)
13.2.1.3.7 The groom describes the bride (Song
6:4-10)
13.2.1.3.8 An invitation to dance (Song 6:11-7:9)
13.2.1.3.9 The bride invites the groom to
a garden tryst (Song 7:10-13)
13.2.1.3.10 A poem in anticipation of the
wedding (Song 8:1-4)
13.2.1.3.11 Please be faithful (Song 8:5-12)
13.2.1.3.12 A final call (Song 8:13-14
13.2.2 The Book of Psalms
13.2.2.1 Who Wrote the Psalms, and When Were
They Written?
13.2.2.2 The Study of the Psalms
13.2.2.2.1 Hymns
13.2.2.2.2 Communal laments
13.2.2.2.3 Individual laments
13.2.2.2.4 Individual songs of thanksgiving
13.2.2.2.5 The royal psalms
13.2.2.2.6 The other psalms
13.2.2.3 A Look at Selected Psalms
13.2.2.3.1 Psalm 1 (a wisdom psalm)
13.2.2.3.2 Psalm 8 (a hymn on the glory of
the Lord and the dignity of humanity)
13.2.2.3.3 Psalm 117 (a short hymn)
13.2.2.3.4 Psalm 74 (a communal lament)
13.2.2.3.5 Psalm 22 (an individual lament)
13.2.2.3.6 Psalm 23 (a psalm of confidence)
13.2.2.3.7 Psalm 51 (an individual lament)
13.2.2.3.8 Psalm 32 (an individual song of
thanksgiving)
13.2.2.3.9 Psalm 116 (an individual song of
thanksgiving)
13.2.2.3.10 Psalm 45 (a royal psalm)
13.2.2.3.11 Psalm 139 (a lament of the individual)
13.2.2.3.12 Special groups of psalms
13.2.2.3.13 The vengeance psalms
13.2.2.4 Summary on the Psalms
a division of 
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