Is wisdom a mediatrix in Sirach? : a study of the wisdom poems

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The figure of Woman Wisdom appears in several key poems in Sirach, namely Sir1:1-10,1:11-30,4:11-19,6:18-37,14:20-15:10,24:1-34 and 51:13-30. WomanWisdom is a metaphor that employs feminine imagery to speak of the tradition astaught by the sages and contained within the sacred writings of Judaism. Ben Sira usesit to show that the Jewish tradition is the pathway to genuine piety. The metaphorfunctions to reinforce the implicit claim of conservative scribal circles to be thelegitimate interpreters of the tradition. The personification of wisdom is the basictrope underlying the presentations of Wisdom. This feminine personification is thenfilled out with a number of metaphors, rendering Woman Wisdom an easilyrecognisable entity in the text despite the wide range of imagery applied to her. Thewisdom personified includes both the content of the Jewish tradition and thedisposition to live in conformity with that tradition, summed up in the fear of theLord. This tradition is seen as the distillation of universal wisdom. The gender ofWoman Wisdom is rhetorically important in those poems where wisdom is presentedas a desirable goal to be passionately and zealously sought. But Ben Sira does notexploit the metaphor 'wisdom as woman' as a conceptual tool for reflection onwisdom in and of itself or in its relationship to God. In Sir 24 the feminine dimensionof the Wisdom figure recedes; Wisdom is personified as an angelic figure and hergender becomes simply a fact of grammar. The metaphor 'wisdom as angel' may bean attempt to picture wisdom in the closest possible association with the Lord and inthe most exalted position possible without compromising monotheism. Angels arealso portrayed as mediators in Second Temple writings. The movement and action ofWisdom, God and human beings relative to each other in the Wisdom poems provideshints that the Jewish tradition plays a vital role in the relationship between God andhumanity. God relates to human beings by revealing to them wisdom, which finds itsmost perfect expression in the Jewish written tradition. How a person relates to thistradition will determine how God relates to that person. Conversely, it is impossible tofind wisdom if one does not have the correct attitude toward God and if one does notlive according to the tradition. Since all wisdom is from God, there is no wisdomoutside of what God gives, and the wisdom God has given is embodied in thetraditions of Israel.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University