Literary Prophecy

Job 21-31
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Job 21-31

The Hebrew Bible 21Job said in reply- 2Listen well to what I say, And let that be your consolation. 3Bear with me while I speak, And after I have spoken, you may mock. 4Is my complaint directed toward a man? Why should I not lose my patience? 5Look at me and be appalled, And clap […]

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Job 1-11
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Job 1-11

The Hebrew Bible 1There was a man in the land of Uz named Job. That man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2Seven sons and three daughters were born to him; 3his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she-asses, and a […]

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Proverbs 1-13
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Proverbs 1-13

The Hebrew Bible 1The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel- 2For learning wisdom and discipline; For understanding words of discernment; 3For acquiring the discipline for success, Righteousness, justice, and equity; 4For endowing the simple with shrewdness, The young with knowledge and foresight. 5—The wise man, hearing them, will gain more wisdom; The […]

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Ecclesiastes 1-12
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Ecclesiastes 1-12

The Hebrew Bible 1The words of Koheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2Utter futility!—said Koheleth— Utter futility! All is futile! 3What real value is there for a man In all the gains he makes beneath the sun? 4One generation goes, another comes, But the earth remains the same forever. 5The sun rises, and the […]

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Lamentations 1-5
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Lamentations 1-5

The Hebrew Bible 1Alas! Lonely sits the city Once great with people! She that was great among nations Is become like a widow; The princess among states Is become a thrall. 2Bitterly she weeps in the night, Her cheek wet with tears. There is none to comfort her Of all her friends. All her allies […]

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Proverbs 31
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Proverbs 31

The Hebrew Bible 31The words of Lemuel, king of Massa, with which his mother admonished him- 2No, my son! No, O son of my womb! No, O son of my vows! 3Do not give your strength to women, Your vigor, to those who destroy kings. 4Wine is not for kings, O Lemuel; Not for kings […]

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Proverbs 8: The Character of Wisdom, Texts and Traditions, ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken NJ, 1998.
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Proverbs 8: The Character of Wisdom, Texts and Traditions, ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken NJ, 1998.

The Book of Proverbs draws much of its inspiration .from the ancient Near Eastern wisdom tradition. Whereas wisdom was understood in the ancient Near East in a universalistic manner, Jewish tradition came to understand it as an equivalent to Torah, itself perceived as a reflection of the divine intellect This passage, like many others, personifies […]

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Job 38: God’s Infinite Powers, Texts and Traditions, ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken NJ, 1998.
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Job 38: God’s Infinite Powers, Texts and Traditions, ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken NJ, 1998.

The Hebrew Bible Another wisdom tract is the Book of Job. Set in the mythical land of Oz, it pictures a pious man tried at the hands of a divine adversary sent by God to test his righteous follower. After all of Job’s protestations, and the attempts of his friends to comfort him in his […]

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Ecclesiastes 3: The Nature of Man in Time, Texts and Traditions, ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken NJ, 1998.
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Ecclesiastes 3: The Nature of Man in Time, Texts and Traditions, ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ktav Publishing House, Hoboken NJ, 1998.

The Hebrew Bible The Book of Ecclesiastes, Hebrew Kohelet, like Job and Proverbs, is a wisdom text. Ecclesiastes and Proverbs were taken by later Rabbinic tradition to have been composed by King Solomon. Modern scholars, however, see Hellenistic influence on this book. In the passage that follows, often quoted in Western literature, the author muses […]

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Lamentations and Wisdom Literature, Christine Hayes, Open Yale Courses (Transcription), 2006.
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Lamentations and Wisdom Literature, Christine Hayes, Open Yale Courses (Transcription), 2006.

The Hebrew Bible When Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon burned the temple and destroyed Jerusalem, the initial reaction was one of overwhelming grief and sadness, and that’s represented primarily in the Book of Lamentations. It’s a very short book of dirges that laments the loss of Jerusalem as the death of a beloved person. And it’s traditionally […]

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