OLD TESTAMENT POETIC BOOKS

OLD TESTAMENT POETIC BOOKS by Robert V. McCabe, Th.D. Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary 4801 Allen Road Allen Park, Michigan 48101 Spring Semester, 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY...1 PART II: INTRODUCTION... 14 I. CHARACTERISTICS OF POETIC BOOKS...14 II. GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE POETIC BOOKS...14 A. Place in the Hebrew Canon...14 B. Place in Greek Canon...15 C. Poetic Books as Wisdom Literature...15 III. WISDOM IN THE OLD TESTAMENT...15 A. Wisdom as Skills and Arts...15 B. Literary wisdom...16 1. Characteristics of wisdom literature...16 2. Forms of wisdom literature...18 C. The Addressees of Wisdom...20 D. Wisdom and the Scribe...21 E. Wisdom and the Temple Cult...21 F. Wisdom and the Prophets...21 IV. THE POETIC BOOKS AND WISDOM...21 A. Contemplative Wisdom...22 B. Practical Wisdom...22 C. Song of Songs...22 D. Lamentations...22 V. THEOLOGY IN THE POETIC BOOKS...22 A. The Mitte of Biblical Theology...22 B. God...23 C. Man...30 PART III: JOB... 32 I. INTRODUCTION...32 A. Title...32 B. Authorship and Date...32 1. Authorship...32 2. Date...32 C. Location...34 D. Literary Composition...34 1. Language of Job...34 2. Authenticity of Job...35 3. The Literary Structure...38 4. Literary Genre...39 E. Message...40 1. Various suggestions...40 2. Development of the Message of Job...41 F. Canonicity...47 II. ANALYSIS...47 A. The Preliminary Conflict Generates Man s Questioning of God s Administration of Justice, 1:1 2:13...47 1. The Setting, 1:1 5...47 2. Preliminary Incidents, 1:6 2:13...47 B. The Conflicting Debate Reflects Man s Misunderstanding about God s Administration of Justice, 3:1 37:24....48

1. The Occasioning Incident, 3:1 26...48 2. The Complications, 4:1 27:23...48 3. The Climax, 28:1 37:24...48 C. The Divine Response Encourages Man s Submitting to God s Administration of Justice, 38:1 42:17....49 PART IV: PSALMS... 50 I. INTRODUCTION...50 A. Title...50 B. Authorship and Date...50 C. The Development of the Book of Psalms...50 1. A collection of five collections of psalms...50 2. The historical development of the Psalter...51 D. Editorial notes in the Psalms...57 1. The superscriptions in the Psalms...58 2. The use of Selah in the Psalms...66 E. The Nature of the Psalms...66 1. Religious lyric poetry...66 2. Evocative language...67 3. Meter...69 4. Parallelism...69 5. The historical setting of a psalm...71 6. Three- part structure of lyric poetry...71 7. Literary structures in psalms...73 F. The Classification of the Psalms...74 1. Form criticism...74 2. Cautions about Form Criticism...74 II. ANALYSIS OF KEY PSALMS ACCORDING TO GENRE...75 A. Lament...75 B. Praise hymns...76 C. Thanksgiving psalms...77 D. Kingship and covenant psalms...78 E. Songs of Trust...79 F. Psalms of Wisdom...80 PART V: PROVERBS... 84 I. INTRODUCTION...84 A. Title...84 B. Authorship and Date...84 1. Tradition...84 2. Critical...84 3. Internal evidence...85 4. Date...86 C. Growth of the Book of Proverbs...87 D. Canonicity...87 1. Position...87 2. Citations in NT...87 3. Jewish questions about the canonicity of Proverbs...87 E. The Relationship Between Proverbs 22:17 24:22 and The Instruction of Amenemope...88 1. Various views concerning the date of this Egyptian literature...88 2. Parallels between Proverbs and Amenemope...88 3. There are a number of problems with understanding that this section in Proverbs has been borrowed from The Instruction of Amenemope....89 F. Characteristics of Proverbs...89 G. Literary Form...92 1. Wisdom literature has two main categories of form...92

2. The proverbial literature of Proverbs may be placed into more precise literary forms....93 H. Theme and Purpose...95 I. Theological Emphases...96 J. Interpreting Proverbs...98 II. ANALYSIS... 103 A. Prologue, 1:1 7... 103 B. Exhortations to embrace wisdom, 1:8 9:18... 103 C. The Main Section of the Book: the Proverbs of Solomon, 10:1 22:16... 106 D. The Sayings of the Wise Men, 22:17 24:34... 106 E. More Proverbs of Solomon (Hezekiah s Collection), 25:1 29:27... 106 F. The Sayings of Agur, 30:1 33... 106 G. The Sayings of King Lemuel, 31:1 9... 106 H. Epilogue: The wife of noble character, 31:10 31... 106 PART VI: ECCLESIASTES...107 I. INTRODUCTION... 107 A. Title... 107 B. Authorship and Date... 107 1. Late in Solomonic Reign... 107 2. Postexilic Date: 350 250 B.C.... 107 C. Canonicity... 110 D. Integrity... 110 E. Literary Structure... 112 F. Message... 112 1. Unsympathetic Interpretations... 113 2. Sympathetic Interpretations... 115 3. The Message of Ecclesiastes... 115 II. ANALYSIS... 129 A. Introduction: A Contrast Between Finite Man and a Cyclical, Enduring Cosmos, 1:1 11... 129 1. Introductory Title, v. 1... 129 2. Introductory Poem, vv. 2 11... 129 B. First Discourse: Observations on Various Areas of Life in Order to Demonstrate Finite Man s Lack of Ultimate Gain, 1:12 6:9... 129 1. Finite Man s Lack of Ultimate Gain in This Life Is Reflected by Personal Observations on Various Life Situations, 1:12 3:22.... 129 2. Finite Man s Lack of Ultimate Gain in This Life Is Reflected During the Difficult Times of Life, 4:1 16... 131 3. Finite Man s Lack of Ultimate Gain in This Life Is Reflected by the Relative Value of Riches, 5:1 6:9... 131 C. Second Discourse: Exhortations to Godly Living in Spite of Finite Man s Inability to Understand God s Past or Future Work, 6:10 11:6... 133 1. Introduction, 6:10 12... 133 2. Man s Inability to Understand God s Plan, 7:1 8:17... 133 3. Man s Inability to Understand the Future, 9:1 11:6... 135 D. Conclusion: Final Exhortation to Enjoy Life in a God-fearing Manner for God Will Judge Man, 11:7 12:14... 136 1. Concluding Poem, 11:7 12:8... 136 2. Epilogue, 12:9 14... 137 PART VII: SONG OF SOLOMON...138 I. INTRODUCTION... 138 A. Title... 138 B. Date and Authorship... 138 1. Postexilic or from the Hellenistic period... 138 2. Solomonic... 138 C. Unity... 138

1. An anthology... 138 2. A didactic unity... 139 D. Canonicity... 139 1. Place in the canon... 139 2. Antilegomenon: Questions about Its Canonicity... 140 E. Hermeneutical Considerations... 140 1. Allegorical... 140 2. Typical... 142 3. Parabolic... 142 5. Literal: lyrical or love song... 143 6. Literal or Dramatic: Three part view... 143 7. Literal or Dramatic: Two part view... 144 F. Purpose... 144 II. ANALYSIS... 144 A. The Superscription, 1:1... 144 B. The Courtship, 1:2 3:5... 144 1. Introduction: The expressions of longing, insecurity, and praise, 1:2-11... 144 2. The growth of love and its intensity, 1:12 3:5... 145 C. The Wedding, 3:6 5:1... 145 1. The wedding procession, 3:6 11... 145 2. The wedding night, 4:1 5:1... 145 D. The Maturation of the Marriage, 5:2 8:4... 145 1. Indifference and its resolution, 5:2 6:13... 145 2. Praise of the beloved and her love, 7:1 10... 145 3. An invitation from the beloved, 7:11 13... 145 4. The beloved s desire for a greater intimacy, 8:1 4... 145 E. The Conclusion: The Nature and Power of Love, 8:5 7... 145 1. A picture of love, v. 5... 145 2. An explanation of love, vv. 6 7... 145 F. The Epilogue: How Love Began, 8:8 14... 145 PART VIII: LAMENTATIONS...146 I. INTRODUCTION... 146 A. Title... 146 B. Authorship and Date... 146 1. Arguments against Jeremianic Authorship of Lamentations... 147 2. Arguments for Jeremianic Authorship of Lamentations... 148 3. Conclusion... 149 C. Literary Features... 149 1. Acrostic Arrangement... 149 2. Dirges... 151 3. Overall Structure... 151 4. Genre... 152 D. Canonicity... 152 1. In the Hebrew Canon... 153 2. In the Protestant Canon... 153 E. Purpose... 153 II. ANALYSIS... 153 A. First Dirge: The Desolation and Misery of Jerusalem Because of Her Sin, 1:1 22... 153 B. Second Dirge: Yahweh s Anger Expressed by His Punishment of Jerusalem, 2:1 22... 153 C. Third Dirge: Jeremiah s Encouraging Response in the Midst of Affliction, 3:1 66... 153 D. Fourth Dirge: Yahweh s Anger Expressed Because of Jerusalem s Sin, 4:1 22... 153 E. Fifth Dirge: Jerusalem s Prayer to Yahweh, 5:1 22... 154