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The word wisdom (חכם) is mentioned 222 times in the Hebrew Bible. It was regarded as one of the highest virtues among the Israelites along with kindness (חסד) and justice (צדק). Both the books of Proverbs and Psalms urge readers to obtain and to increase in wisdom.
The Old Testament conceptions of wisdom come mainly from Proverbs and from the less optimistic view of Providence in Job and Ecclesiastes. In the post-canonical writings, Ben Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon follow each respectively. Wisdom’s complexity leads to 12 types of aphorisms in Proverbs, including the gnomic, educational and metaphorical.
What Is Chokhmah? Chokmâh (חָכְמָה ,חכמה, ḥoḵmah or khok-maw’) is the Biblical Hebrew word rendered as “wisdom” in English Bible versions (LXX σοφία sophia, Vulgate sapientia). The word occurs 149 times in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible The Talmud (Shabbat 31a) describes knowledge of the Talmudic order of Kodshim as a high level of wisdom, chokhmah. It is cognate with the Arabic word...
Passages From The Psalms And The Proverbs Psalms Blessed is the man who does not go in the company of the wicked, or take his place in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and whose...
Yeshua, Torah and the Tree of Life Torah is also called the “Tree of Life,” as it points us to God as He reveals Himself in the Sephirot, and thus His salvation. Going back to the time of Moses, God Himself states that His Torah is the way of “life.”...
“Finding Wisdom, Faith and Comfort in the Tanach” The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle Written by Dr. Larry Hurwitz The following is one in a series of columns in which local community members write about their favorite Jewish books. This week’s column is by Larry Hurwitz, M.D., a senior editor for Torah...
Old Testament Wisdom The didactic books constitute the third group of writings in the Old Testament. They teach man to organize his personal, earthly life in such a way that it will be blessed by God and by men, and may give him prosperity and peace of soul. The wisdom...
The Wisdom of the Talmud A Thousand Years of Jewish Thought By Rabbi BEN ZION BOKSER New York: Philosophical Library [1951] TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION THE TALMUD AS LITERATURE The Bible Requires Supplementation; The Sanctions for Biblical Supplementation; The Method of Midrash Halakah; The Method of Midrash Haggadah; The Midrash as Literature; The...
The Wisdom of Israel by Edwin Collins, [1910] Title Page Contents Editorial Note Introduction Why God Permits Idolatry The Lamp that Goes Out when its Light is Done, and the Figs that are Gathered in their Due Season The Labourers in the Vineyard The Likeness of a Palm-Tree The Tutor and...
WISDOM Practical intelligence; the mental grasp which observes and penetrates into the nature of things, and also the ability skilfully to perform difficult tasks. The former faculty is intuitive, the latter creative. Hence the word connotes both deep understanding and artistic skill. Wisdom is at once a human and a...
Jewish Wisdom and Apocalyptic in Gnostic Apocalypses “Jewish wisdom and apocalypticism cannot be cleanly separated from one another.” This statement by George Nickelsburg inaugurating the SBL section on “Jewish Wisdom and Apocalypticism in Early Judaism and Early Christianity”1 has certainly been borne out by the work of that section since...
