The Fear of the Lord Is Wisdom: A Theological Introduction to Wisdom in Israel

by Tremper Longman III

Wisdom plays an important role in the Old Testament, particularly in Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. This major work from renowned scholar Tremper Longman III examines wisdom in the Old Testament and explores its theological influence on the intertestamental books, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and especially the New Testament.Longman notes that wisdom is a practical category (the skill of living), an ethical category (a wise person is a virtuous person), and most foundationally a theological category (the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom). The author discusses Israelite wisdom in the context of the broader ancient Near East, treats the connection between wisdom in the New Testament and in the Old Testament, and deals with a number of contested issues, such as the relationship of wisdom to prophecy, history, and law.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Biblical Studies, Old Testament

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Tremper Longman III (PhD, Yale University) is the Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Before coming to Westmont, he taught at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia for eighteen years. He has authored or coauthored numerous books, including An Introduction to the Old Testament, How to Read Proverbs, and commentaries on Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Jeremiah and Lamentations, and Song of Songs.

Reviews

[Andrzej Stelmasiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great stuff. A bit repetitive, but his writing style is amazingly accessible. Was reading it as my bed time reading, and Longman, like Calvin's Institutes, reads well.
So far, I think that's the best introduction to Wisdom that I have come across. Richard P. Belcher Jr. comes close though, but haven't read it cover to cover yet.

[Michael Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a helpful overview of what wisdom means in the Bible, in other associated literature, and in the modern world. The first appendix is especially helpful as regards modern relevance and use of wisdom. Longman also has a helpful discussion on the association of Jesus with wisdom in the New Testament.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremper Longman III is Distinguished Scholar of Biblical Studies and Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Longman is no stranger to the world of ancient wisdom literature. He received a PhD in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from Yale University and has authored numerous related books and articles, including widely used commentaries on Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Psalms. Most recently, Longman has brought together his over three decades of reflection and academic rigor on biblical wisdom into a theological introduction that synchronically traces the theme both inside and out of the Old Testament.

The Fear of the Lord is Wisdom: A Theological Introduction to Wisdom in Israel establishes the genre of wisdom literature as more than mere practical or ethical sayings that arose amid cultural challenges of the ancient world. Longman meticulously surveys the literature and demonstrates a consistent and coherent theological category that threads the redemptive-historical narrative. It is a thrilling and comprehensive study that does much to add value to the genre for contemporary audiences.

Longman divides the book into five parts: (1) the heart of wisdom: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job, (2) wisdom elsewhere in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy, Psalms, Song of Songs, etc.), (3) Israel’s wisdom: cosmopolitan or unique?, (4) further refining our understanding of wisdom, and (5) the afterlife of Israel’s wisdom (Apocrypha, Dead Sea Scrolls, and New Testament). As Longman opens The Fear of the Lord is Wisdom, a survey of the most forward presenting Old Testament wisdom books commence with the establishment of a theological foundation— “that the fear of the Lord is the proper response to God’s wisdom . . . [and] is fundamentally the result of a relationship with God” (p. 62). Longman does acknowledge the practical and ethical side of wisdom as a theme in these books, but uses the section to uncover the theological emphasis that undergirds each of them for the forthcoming pages.

In part two, Longman carefully looks at wisdom observable elsewhere in the Old Testament. For Longman, this does not necessarily mean that such should be considered as “wisdom” literature (see appendix 2), but it does mean that “they contribute to our understanding of the nature of wisdom” (p. 64). The reader is guided through wisdom found in Deuteronomy, Psalms, Song of Songs, and a few prophets. Longman also examines four pivotal Old Testament figures, including Joseph, Daniel, Adam, and Solomon. In part three and four, Longman further establishes his theological premise as he addresses the nature and understanding of wisdom in general. For Longman, the source of true wisdom is God according to the books that speak of wisdom (p. 126). Longman does well to address the consequence of wise and foolish behavior, and helpfully guides readers away from a rigid understanding of retribution theology.

Lastly, in part five, Longman engages both the Second Temple period and the New Testament. There is significant continuity demonstrated between the Old Testament and the New, and Longman rightly identifies Jesus as “the epitome of God’s wisdom, or, perhaps better, the very incarnation of God’s wisdom” (p. 256). Thus, much of the theological notions that were found in the wisdom core (part one) are not only present in the New Testament, but they are incarnate. Longman concludes, “the church is called to relationship with him and to inculcate and demonstrate the same fear that is the beginning of wisdom . . . Christians are God-fearers who submit to the instruction of Christ . . . in all of life” (p. 256).

Longman has provided a much-needed theological engagement with the wisdom of the Old Testament. I appreciated that Longman sought to balance the practical and ethical aspects of wisdom within an underlying theological framework. Longman has done much to detail and demonstrate the theological significance of biblical wisdom, and thus, has removed the prior misunderstandings concerning its origin and use in ancient Israel. It would have been interesting to see how wisdom penetrates pseudepigraphical works of the Second Temple period, or possibly other noncanoical work subsequent to the New Testament. That said, the comprehensive scope of The Fear of the Lord is Wisdom demonstrates a strange familiarity with biblical wisdom that few scholars apart from Longman could exhibit.

The Fear of the Lord is Wisdom: A Theological Introduction to Wisdom in Israel by Tremper Longman III is a fascinating display of biblical theology that uncovers a life-giving aspect of biblical wisdom, bringing a fresh sense of relevance to a seemingly stagnate body of literature. Longman is exhaustive and comprehensive, but readable and accessible. There are few books on the market that provide the level of breadth and depth regarding biblical wisdom as Longman has demonstrated here. This is an important book that should be used and read widely. It comes highly recommended.

[Sanjuro · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the whole, this is a fantastic book. In fact, I've read many books on wisdom from biblical and second temple traditions, and among the more accessible works available, I would recommend this one above all others. Longman is fair in his assessments, sober in his judgments, and is willing to properly assess traditions in ways that many more conservative interpreters will not allow (and in fact Longman has courted controversy for this very reason). For example, In my view, Longman is right to give a significant spotlight to ANE material and to assess second temple literature along with biblical sources. He does this only for comparative analysis, while I'd take such study even further than that, but the limits of his study are fair and understandable. I also think Longman is right to date books such as Ecclesiastes as late as he does. The book is structured well and his exegetical and theological insights are helpful at multiple points.

My only gripe with the book, and therefore my only reason to give it 4 stars rather than 5, comes with his evaluation of the relationship between law and wisdom. Longman holds that the law can be traced, thought implicitly, in the biblical wisdom books, and then more explicitly in the later second temple (intertestimental) literature. This goes against the grain of most scholarship on wisdom material. Most interpreters recognize that the later material brings law into the discussion, but that the biblical wisdom material roots wisdom in creation theology, rather than the law. I have two concerns regarding Longman's treatment. First, though he is right that wisdom is tied to "The fear of the Lord," and therefore more particularistic than many scholars will allow, he doesn't seem to go far enough in recognizing that the overall tone of these texts is still far more universal than non wisdom texts. What's more, though the fear of the Lord established these texts as having concern for salvation-historical issues to a point, and though obedience is key in these texts, I still think he doesn't do enough to establish that these concerns are all that important to texts in the wisdom tradition. My second concern has to do with the particular way in which the law relates to wisdom. Longman never covers this, but it is more than germane to his discussion. There are three possibilities as to the relationship; is it that the law and wisdom run side by side, is it that they fold together into one, or is it that they are merely two terms used for essentially the same reality? Various scholars have taken each of these three stances, but Longman never even addresses this important debate. Discussing this may have strengthened his argument in terms of law/wisdom considerably.

My critique of the law/wisdom issue is not a large one, in that this topic only takes up small portions of the book. I enjoyed reading the book immensely, and as an introduction to these issues, I can think of no better book. Highly recommended.

[Daniel Supimpa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The product of decades of studies on the Wisdom of traditions. Longman is well aware of the current trends and discussions on the topic of biblical wisdom (cp. his response to the influential recent work by Will Keynes in the appendix), though in a “wise” fashion, Longman keeps the footnotes and academic discussion second to theological articulation of these books in canonical dialogue. Focusing primarily in the “core” wisdom books of the Hebrew Bible (Job, , Proverbs and Ecclesiastes), Longman moves in concentric circles towards wisdom psalms, narratives, parallels with ANE wisdom traditions, and even apocryphal and NT texts. Each chapter involves an overview and case studies within each text.

Although I disagree with a couple chapters (e.g. his attempt to read Songs exclusively as sexual ethics and rejecting altogether the dynamics with a notion of relationality between Yahweh and his people sounds too reactive to “allegorical” readings with not much textual argument for this position; or his proposition of investigating wisdom in a canonical perspective, although extending it to full chapters on apocryphal texts appear misleading and non-justified methodologically), as a whole it is probably the most thorough, didactic and updated theological introduction to ancient Israelite wisdom from a broadly evangelical perspective. Really enjoyed it.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extremely good book that covers so much when it comes to wisdom, but one star has to be taken off just because Tremper Longman is repeating himself so much - even within the same chapter sometime. Longman may have written it so that you can pick up any chapter by itself, and that is good and all, but when reading through all it felt a bit like reading the same over and over. Also, I found it a bit strange that when finally looking into Sophia, in modern theology, he only mentions a strange fringe group of believers who take Sopahia to be the feminine God somehow, and thus misread who Sophia is, but does not seem to be aware of the rich tradition of Sophilogy that came out after Jacob Boehme, and later flourished in the Russian Orthodox tradition with Solovyov and Bulgakov. Away from that, this book gave me a lot and is worth reading when investigating the wisdom tradition originating in the Old Testament.

[Tyler Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longman's inviting style and respect for readers makes the concept of Biblical wisdom fresh and relevant for students of the Bible at any level. The opening chapters on Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job survey Biblical wisdom as emanating from proper fear of the Lord. Subsequent chapters detail how passages in Psalms, Deuteronomy, and Song of Solomon, as well as the stories of Joseph and Daniel fit within this framework. Later chapters grow more technical, delving further into retribution theology, contemporary wisdom literature, and finally New Testament applications.

*One notable point of disagreement I had pertains to the nature of the Eden figure in Ezekiel 28. Longman sees the figure as Adamic, rather than Satanic. I firmly disagree, but again, his style is respectful and invites disagreement. One pleasantly surprising point of agreement, is Longman's absolute denial of any trinitarian proof-text in the "Woman Wisdom" figure.

[Mario J. Jiménez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shaped my understand of Wisdom literature in the Bible. The content was deep but clear. Plus, there are so many good nuggets useful for practical and ethical living. Most importantly, to fear the Lord and grow theologically.

[David Barnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Grant Sowter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful & helpful

Well written. Great survey of this subject. I found it very helpful. Will return it it again as a reference

[Geoff Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very solid book, a needed resource for every preacher. He lets the text work for itself while also connecting texts throughout the canon.

[John Pawlik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book! It has its flaws, reminiscent arguing about whether something belongs in a genre group when more study of the scripture could be done, but it does really well to sum up the field, and pass along the torch of biblical scholarship to the next generation