TY - CHAP

T1 - 'Dancer in the Dark?'

T2 - Visdommen i GT mellem tilgængelighed og skjulthed

AU - Høgenhaven, Jesper

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Two famous Old Testament texts – Proverbs 8 and Job 28 - contain descriptions of wisdom as a pre-existent being with a special relationship to God before the world was created. However, these texts present pre-existent wisdom in two very different contexts and perspectives: In Proverbs 8 the context is concerned with wisdom as the teacher and benefactor of humans, providing them with knowledge, life, and blessing. Wisdom portrayed as a female figure – Lady Wisdom – communicates with humans, tells them of her ways and gifts, and informs them how she was present before God before the creating and ordering of the universe and enjoyed a special and privileged relationship with him, dancing in his presence, and how she continues to dance and take pleasure in the presence of humans in God’s world. The reference to wisdom’s pre-existence in this context serves to emphasize her deep roots in primeval time and her intimate connection with God and with the established order of the universe. This embedment in the divine order guarantees the validity of her teaching to the humans. In Job 28 the point is the inaccessibility of wisdom which is and remains out of reach for humans. Here wisdom does not speak to or engage in any direct dealing with humans who are unable to see or locate wisdom at any place within their world of experience. In this context, the reference to the pre-existence of wisdom underlines the notion of inaccessibility by emphasizing wisdom’s unique and exclusive relation to God, the creator, as opposed to the absence of any direct relation between wisdom and human beings. Pre-existent wisdom interacts with God in a closed “room” before the beginning of time, and wisdom does not communicate with humans. Instead, humans are instructed by God to regard “fear of the Lord” and the shunning of evil as the (only accessible) equivalent of wisdom. The double testimony to wisdom as a communicative and educating entity rooted in the world order established since creation and to wisdom as an entity hidden and ultimately inaccessible to humans since the beginning of time is evaluated in the light of the more general discussion regarding wisdom’s place in an Old Testament theology.

AB - Two famous Old Testament texts – Proverbs 8 and Job 28 - contain descriptions of wisdom as a pre-existent being with a special relationship to God before the world was created. However, these texts present pre-existent wisdom in two very different contexts and perspectives: In Proverbs 8 the context is concerned with wisdom as the teacher and benefactor of humans, providing them with knowledge, life, and blessing. Wisdom portrayed as a female figure – Lady Wisdom – communicates with humans, tells them of her ways and gifts, and informs them how she was present before God before the creating and ordering of the universe and enjoyed a special and privileged relationship with him, dancing in his presence, and how she continues to dance and take pleasure in the presence of humans in God’s world. The reference to wisdom’s pre-existence in this context serves to emphasize her deep roots in primeval time and her intimate connection with God and with the established order of the universe. This embedment in the divine order guarantees the validity of her teaching to the humans. In Job 28 the point is the inaccessibility of wisdom which is and remains out of reach for humans. Here wisdom does not speak to or engage in any direct dealing with humans who are unable to see or locate wisdom at any place within their world of experience. In this context, the reference to the pre-existence of wisdom underlines the notion of inaccessibility by emphasizing wisdom’s unique and exclusive relation to God, the creator, as opposed to the absence of any direct relation between wisdom and human beings. Pre-existent wisdom interacts with God in a closed “room” before the beginning of time, and wisdom does not communicate with humans. Instead, humans are instructed by God to regard “fear of the Lord” and the shunning of evil as the (only accessible) equivalent of wisdom. The double testimony to wisdom as a communicative and educating entity rooted in the world order established since creation and to wisdom as an entity hidden and ultimately inaccessible to humans since the beginning of time is evaluated in the light of the more general discussion regarding wisdom’s place in an Old Testament theology.

M3 - Bidrag til bog/antologi

SN - 978 87 635 4145 9

T3 - Forum for Bibelsk Eksegese

SP - 333

EP - 355

BT - Præeksistens

A2 - Mejrup, Kristian

A2 - Holst, Søren

A2 - Thomsen, Søren Feldtfos

PB - Museum Tusculanum

CY - København

ER -