Poetry or Wisdom

Wisdom literature in the Bible include the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. Anglicans also consider Wisdom, and Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), found in the Apocrypha, as Wisdom literature.

Wisdom Literature explores the question of how to live well in God's world.

• • Job: One of the most famous characters in the Bible, Job is the archetype of the “suffering saint”—a God-fearing man who experiences terrible trials and sufferings, and calls out to God for an explanation. The book does not offer an easy or simplistic answer to the problem of suffering, but finds solace in God’s sovereignty. Famous passage: God’s strongly-worded answer to Job in chapter 40.
  • Psalms: An oft-quoted collection of prayers, songs, and poetry, many of them written by King David. The psalms cover almost the entirety of human emotion, including praise, doubt, repentance, and joy. Almost everyone who’s read the Psalms can point to at least one or two that stood out as “favorites,” but Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd…”) is one of the most recognizable.
  • Proverbs: What does a wisely-lived life look like? Through hundreds of short pieces of insight, the book of Proverbs distinguishes wisdom from foolishness. Like the other wisdom books, Proverbs employs several interesting rhetorical techniques, most notably parallelism, in which two phrases are matched or contrasted: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge / but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
  • Ecclesiastes: is a challenging book that can seem out-of-place in the Bible—it’s an extended reflection on the meaning of life that sometimes feels fatalistic and cynical, as exemplified in its famous opening stanzas: “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.'” Nevertheless, its message is ultimately the positive one that living in obedience to God provides a grounding for human life.
  • Song of Songs: Another unique book, Song of Songs is a poetic dialogue about love, celebrating marriage and the gift of sexuality. Many Christians also find in it an allegorical message about the love of Christ for His church.

The wisdom books contain some of the most beautifully-written sections of the entire Bible, although they can be a challenge to read straight-through in the way one might approach the clear narratives of the Bible’s historical books. While many books of the Old Testament give us a historian’s view of God’s people and their experiences, the wisdom books provide us with a more pastoral glimpse at the state of their hearts. We see that despite the gap of time that separates us from ancient Israel, the Israelites grappled with the same faith issues that we do today: they asked tough questions about sin and suffering; they experienced joy and confidence in God’s love; they looked for God in life’s pleasures and trials alike; they sometimes entertained doubts and they looked to God for help both physical and spiritual. Bible Gateway Blog

Resources

https://thebibleproject.com/explore/wisdom-series/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom_literature

https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2011/03/tour-of-the-bible-part-3-the-wisdom-books/