Dressing

 up  Lady  Wisdom  

Wisdom  Literature  and  its  principles  of  contextualization  

Daniel Santos
Andrew Jumper Graduate Center
Sao Paulo, Brazil

 
 

 
Introduction  
A dress code is a set of rules specifying the garb or type of clothing to be worn by a
group or by people under specific circumstances. The Scottish Highlanders, for example,
could identify themselves as part of a specific clan because the distinctive plaids of their
tartans. If I were to dress up like one of them, I’d definitely need to ask for some advice. In
this case, as the Scottish would say, “if one wants to know how to dress 'properly', one asks
Harry!” Harry Lindley was a legendary figure in the world of tartans and he would probably
say to me: “The most important thing to remember when wearing Highland evening dress is
that it represents a proud heritage and a proud people”. If I want to be sure that I am dressing
up like a Scottish Highlander instead of messing up the heritage, following Harry’s advice on
this matter is determining, because I want to be certain that I am sending the right message
wherever I go in that particular context.
Much of what I have just said can be adapted to the manner the so-called Lady
Wisdom is characterized in the book of Proverbs, along with other female characters: Lady
Folly, the Strange Woman, and the wife of one’s youth, in the first collection (Prov 1-9), and
the Virtuous Woman, at the end of the book (Cf. Aletti 1976: 25-37; 1977: 135; Apple 2011:
177; Hadley 1995: 237; Trible 1975: 512). For some reason, the author of the first collection
decided to dress her up (literarily speaking) as the personification of a divine quality, which
inevitably connected her with a Canaanite god such as El, the Babylonian love god Ishtar, or
the Egyptian Ma’at and Isis (Shupak 1996:34-35). Giving the fact that Lady Wisdom is
placed side-by-side with Lady Folly and the Strange Woman, and the fact that they three are
addressing the same audience (Waltke 2005: 130), it seems appropriate to assume that the
author of this collection wants us to listen to her speech while paying close attention to the
plaids of her tartan. If that is the case, then one must ask about the real impact that her garb
has on the message she sends out. This raises the central question of this paper: why would
the final author of the book of Proverbs dress her up like this? Didn’t he know the dress
codes were much too similar as to avoiding sending the wrong message? Was he dressing up
or messing up with other religious traditions? It is my conviction that the characterization of
Lady Wisdom is by no means an accident, but rather an example of the effort of the Israelite
sage to contextualize his message.
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In the following paragraphs I argue that there are at least four elements comprising
the contextualization approach of Old Testament wisdom (henceforth OTW): 1) OTW
learned to select and adapt its questions, 2) OTW learned to play different roles cross-
culturally, 3) OTW learned to look for God’s wisdom watching creation, and 4) OTW
learned to recycle folk wisdom.

I.  OTW  learn  to  select  and  adapt  its  questions  

Most of our theological endeavor hinges on the type and nature of questions we
decided to spend our effort on. One can think of and speak about Asian theology, African
theology, Latin American theology, and all sort of theologies primarily because of the
questions driving their theological quest. According to the narrative of 1 Kings, the
Solomonic tradition left valuable examples on how to play this trick. As demonstrated in
Example 1, the character played by the Queen of Sheba felt confortable enough to come
before Solomon and test his wisdom with her own questions/riddles.

Example 1: 1 Kings 10:1-3

THE ALLEGED REASON OF HER VISIT

‫שׁ ָ֗בא‬
ְ ‫וּמַ ֽ ְלכַּת־‬ 1 Now when the queen of Sheba

‫ְהו֑ה‬
ָ ‫ֹלמ ֹה ל ֵ ְ֣שׁם י‬
֖ ‫שׁ‬ְ ‫ת־שׁ ַמע‬
֥ ֵ ‫שׁ ֹמַ ֛ עַת ֶא‬ heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of YHWH,

‫וַתָּ ֥ב ֹא ְלנַסּ ֹתוֹ֖ ְבּחִידֽ וֹת׃‬ (a) she came to test him with riddles.

A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE VISIT

‫שׁ ֗לְ ַ ָמה‬ָ ‫וַתָּ ֣ב ֹא י ְרוּ‬ 2 She came to Jerusalem

‫ְבּ ַחיִל֮ כּ ֵ ָ֣בד ְמא ֹ֒ד‬ with a very great retinue,

‫שׂ ִ ֧מים‬
ָ ‫שׂ ִ֨אים ְבּ‬ ְ ֹ ‫֠ ְגּ ַמלִּים נ‬ with camels bearing spices

‫ְוזָהָ ֛ב ַרב־ ְמ ֖א ֹד ו ֶ ְ֣אבֶן י ְ ָק ָ ֑רה‬ and with very much gold and precious stones.

‫ֹלמ ֹה‬ ֔ ‫שׁ‬ ְ ‫וַתָּ ב ֹ ֙א ֶאל־‬ And when she came to Solomon,

‫וַתְּ דַ ֵ ֣בּר ֵא ָ֔ליו‬ (b) she told him

‫אֵ ֛ת כָּל־ ֲא ֶ ֥שׁר ָה ָי֖ה עִם־ ְלבָבָ ֽהּ׃‬ all that was on her mind/her heart.

THE OUTCOME OF HER VISIT

‫ֹלמ ֹה ֶאת־כָּל־דְּ ב ֶ ָ֑רי ָה‬֖ ‫שׁ‬ ְ ‫ַויַּגֶּד־לָ ֥הּ‬ (c) 3 And Solomon answered all her questions;

‫ֹלֽא־ ָה ָי֤ה דָּ ָב ֙ר נֶע ְָל֣ם ִמן־ ַה ֶ֔מּלְֶך‬ there was nothing hidden from the king

‫ֲא ֶ ֧שׁר ֹל֦ א ִה ִגּ֖יד לָ ֽהּ׃‬ that he could not explain to her.

Notice that the sequence of actions (a) she came, (b) she told, (c) he answered seems
quite natural, but none of them would had happened if Solomon’s way of framing his wisdom
was not related to the name of Yahweh. The point I am trying to make is that the way OTW
approached its subject-matter, the way it selected its topics, the way it went about answering
its questions were in some mysterious ways encouraging cross-cultural interaction. What

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 DRESSING UP LADY WISDOM, Daniel Santos 3

captures the interest of those observing our scholarship is not so much the answers we can
come up with, as the attitude involved in such endeavor. If she was touched by the way
Solomon’s fame was related to the name of Yahweh, piety was probably the attitude involved
here (Carlston 1980: 91; Crenshaw 1980: 20-21). As I said, Solomon had a mysterious way
of encouraging cross-cultural interaction. The mystery in this case, is not only shown on the
list of selected topics but also on the long list of important topics that were left out, namely,
the life and deeds of the patriarchs, Mosaic Law, covenant at Sinai, exodus-conquest
narratives, questions related to the monarchy, the prophetic proclamation, to name but a few.
The fact that people from another culture were attracted by the fame of Solomon
regarding the name of Yahweh, is probably pointing at the element that caused either
fascination or disturbance with the way OTW treated the subject (Crenshaw 1985: 605; Foust
1997: 35). If a sage from Egypt, for example, who was very much familiar with the
association of religious elements to the wisdom discourse, becomes interested in the fame of
Solomon regarding the name of Yahweh, the emphasis is not on the fact that religion was
brought to bear on wisdom material, for they have been doing that for centuries. The
emphasis is rather on the reasons for connecting the name of Yahweh to wisdom material. It
must have been quite shocking for someone from Egypt, for example, to read (Prov. 1.1-6)
that the purpose of the book of Proverbs was to help the young and the simple to attain/to
know a content defined as “wisdom and instruction” (‫) ָח ְכ ָמה וּמוּ ָסר‬, acknowledging in advance
that not Yahweh himself but “the fear of Yahweh” is the foundational condition to attain that
content (Cf. Fox 1984: 238; Murphy 1998: 123).
Therefore, the long and complex process of contextualization begins with the
selection of topics that are already established in a given culture and, subsequently, with their
adaptation to the foundational principle of OTW - the fear of Yahweh. The legitimacy of
such adaptation, we must add, will not always be comprehended, but that is part of the
rhetoric implied in the mysterious way OTW selects its topics. In the case of the Queen of
Sheba, the relation between wisdom and Yahweh was not immediately comprehended and
that lack of comprehension was probably the reason that brought her to Jerusalem. Once
there, she ended up finding much more than was anticipated. This ability to select and adapt
is something very difficult to accomplish, because the more we progress in our research the
more we get caught in our own questions. We move faster than we think towards answering
our own dilemmas and, contrary to what OTW did, we tend to overlook the reason why we
were involved with that research in the first place.

II.  OTW  learned  to  play  different  roles  

OTW offers us an example of contextualization when it learned to play the roles of
long-standing ideas and concept of other cultures, aiming at establishing new avenues of
dialogue; it was willing to dress up and act like someone else in order to get its message
across. One example of this would be the way in which Lady wisdom was dressed up to look
like and act as a goddess, but speaking a characteristic message of Israelite theology.
Scholars have proposed various hypotheses about the models (human and divine, real
and mythological) underlying the portrayal of Lady Wisdom as she appears in one or more of
the interludes in Proverbs 1-9 (cf. Prov 1.20-33; 3.13-20; 8.1-36; 9.1-6, 13-18). The
mythological model proposed includes a Canaanite wisdom goddess (Lang 1986: 57-70), the
Egyptian goddess Ma’at (Kayatz 1966: 93-119), and the Hellenistic Isis (Fox 1995: 44-46).
One example of this role-playing is the personification of Lady Wisdom found in Proverbs 3.

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 DRESSING UP LADY WISDOM, Daniel Santos 4

Example 2: Proverbs 3.13-20

STEP 1: PLAYNG THE ROLE

‫שׁ ֵ ֣רי ֭ ָאדָ ם ָמ ָ ֣צא ָחכ ָ ְ֑מה‬ְ ‫ַא‬ 13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,

‫ְ֝ואָדָ֗ ם י ִָפ֥יק תְּ בוּנָ ֽה׃‬ and the one who gets understanding,

‫ַר־כּסֶף‬
֑ ָ ‫ִכּ֤י ֣טוֹב ֭ ַסח ְָרהּ ִמ ְסּח‬ 14 for the gain from her is better than gain from silver

‫בוּאָתֽהּ׃‬
ָ ְ‫וּ֝ ֵמח ָ֗רוּץ תּ‬ and her profit better than gold.

‫י ָ ְ֣ק ָרה ֭ ִהיא ִמ ְפּנִיּ ִים‬ 15 She is more precious than jewels,

‫ְוכָל־ ֝ ֲח ָפ ֶ֗ציָך ֹל֣ א ִיֽשְׁווּ־בָ ֽהּ׃‬ and nothing you desire can compare with her.

‫ִינ֑ה‬
ָ ‫֣א ֹ ֶרְך ֭ י ָמִים בִּ ֽימ‬ (a) 16 Long life is in her right hand;

‫שׁר ְו ָכבֽוֹד׃‬ ֶ ֹ ‫שׂמ ֹאו ָ֗להּ ֣ע‬ ְ ‫֝ ִבּ‬ in her left hand are riches and honor.

‫ֵי־נ ֹעַם‬
֑ ‫דְּ ָרכֶ ֥י ָה דַ ְרכ‬ 17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

‫שׁלֽוֹם׃‬ ָ ‫יבוֹתי ָה‬ ֣ ֶ ‫וְ ֽכָל־נ ִ ְ֖ת‬ and all her paths are peace.

‫עֵץ־ ַח ִיּ֣ים ֭ ִהיא ַל ַמּ ֲחז ִ ִ֣יקים ָ ֑בּהּ‬ (b) 18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;

‫וְ ֽת ֹ ְמכֶ ֥י ָה ְמ ֻא ָשּֽׁר׃ פ‬ those who hold her fast are called blessed.

STEP 2: APPLYING MODEL

‫ַד־א ֶרץ‬
֑ ָ ‫ְי ֽה ֗ ָוה ְבּ ָחכְמָ ֥ה ָיֽס‬ (c) 19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;

‫שׁ ַ֗מי ִם בִּתְ בוּנָ ֽה׃‬

ָ ֝ ‫כּוֹנֵ ֥ן‬ by understanding he established the heavens;

‫הוֹמוֹת נִב ָ ְ֑קעוּ‬֣ ְ‫֭ ְבּדַ עְתּוֹ תּ‬ 20 by his knowledge the deeps broke open,

‫ֲפוּ־טֽל׃‬
ָ ‫שׁ ָח ִ֗קים י ְִרע‬ ְ ֝‫וּ‬ and the clouds drop down the dew.

Consider the following three aspects out of the chart above: (a) the description of
Lady Wisdom has been illustrated by representations that are undoubtedly related to the
Egyptian goddess Ma‘at with the sign for life in one hand and a scepter, a symbol of riches
and honor, in the other (cf. Murphy 1998: 22; Kayatz 1996: 104–5); (b) the tree of life is also
a common motif in tombs, starting with the Eighteenth Dynasty, where the deceased are
shown being nourished by the goddess of the sycamore. The point is that the idea of the tree
of life is perceived as belonging to the common culture of the ancient Near East, though, as
Fox alerts, “the term ‘tree of life’ in this sense is not common” (2008: 158). It is such a
perception that enables the sage of Israel to play along with these concepts and images until
the time when she is given the chance to speak for herself. (c) Finally, once the model is
selected, it is adapted so as to establish a legitimate relation to Yahweh. The argument is
constructed on this parallelism that displays this beautiful crescendo (by wisdom/by
understanding/by his knowledge), which characterizes Lady Wisdom initially as the means of
creation and finally identifies her as his knowledge.
Not everyone sees the role of an OT sage from this perspective. Perdue, for example,
who has worked extensively on this subject and has contributed significantly to the study of
OTW, says that
Sapiential imagination sets forth woman wisdom in Proverbs 8 – 9 as a goddess who was the patron of the
sages and possibly even worshiped by them until the official religion of the Jerusalem cultus in the second
Temple relegates her to the lower status of the hypothesis of a divine attributes and finally to a literary
metaphor. (Perdue 2005: 92)

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 DRESSING UP LADY WISDOM, Daniel Santos 5

I wish Perdue could’ve invested more on this concept of “sapiential imagination”, which
is a vital element for reading the lectures and instructions in Proverbs 1-9. Yet, his approach
seems to downplay the rhetorical skills of the sages, making the image of Lady Wisdom
become an actual goddess only to be relegated as a literary metaphor.
With respect to the model based on Ma’at, Fox (1995: 46) points out that none of the
features that Kayatz finds common to Lady Wisdom and Ma’at are exclusive to Ma’at. When
it comes to the content of her speech, the difference is even greater, for Ma’at nowhere gives
a speech such as Lady Wisdom does in the book of Proverbs. In fact, he says, “she never
seems to speak at all” (1995: 45). What is missing in Perdue’s analysis is the perception that
whatever Lady Wisdom’s model may be, that is not what she is now in our text. Lady
Wisdom is a figure representing a reality besides herself (cf. Fox 1997:15; Murphy
1998:120). Perhaps I have to agree with Weeks that the best we can do is to say that the
original audience of Proverbs 1-9 and its successors might have been less inclined to draw
such strong distinctions between literary and mythical figurations, and more inclined to
understand what they were reading in term of familiar religious imagery (Weeks 2010: 42).
Can our theological education for a brief moment step out of its tradition and play the
role of mythological figures of other cultures, without losing the true message of the gospel?
To what extant does our message depend on the role we play on our own context?

III.  OTW  learned  to  look  for  God  watching  creation  

As a result of Solomon’s investment on cataloging all plants, animals, birds and fish
(Cf. 1 Kings 4.30), OTW learned to look for God watching the creation. Fiddes argues that “a
significant point of distinction from prophetic and priestly groups in Israel is an emphasis
upon ‘seeing’ the world. The prophets characteristically bid their audience to ‘hear’ the word
of the Lord which they themselves have heard God speak to them, perhaps in a flight of
ecstasy, perhaps in a moment of intuition as they reflect upon their society. The priest bid
their worshipers to ‘hear’ the commandments of God (Torah) which they hold as guardians
from the past, on which they formulate in their own day as they reflect on their tradition. The
wise, however, bid their disciples to cultivate the art of ‘looking’ at the world around.”
(Fiddes 2013: 13) The world that a theological education envisaging global reach must meet
is not made of acid-free paper and ink only, but of women, children, men, animal, plants –
the entire creation of God.

IV.  OTW  learned  to  recycle  folk  wisdom  

Old Testament wisdom as it is found in the book of Proverbs is not of the same
nature. After the first collection of lectures and instructions (Proverbs 1-9), a vast array of
aphorism or sentence proverbs is put together under the category of “proverbs of Solomon”
(Proverbs 10.1 – 22.16) Following this collection, the final editor adds the “words of the
wise” (22.17 – 24.22) and once more “these also are sayings of the wise” (24.23 – 34). The
next section adds an additional section comprised of “proverbs of Solomon” (Prov 25 – 29),
followed again by contributions of sages from outside: Agur (Prov 30) and Lemuel (Prov
31.1-10). Consideration on the nature of each of these sections would take us out of track.
The point in view here is that OTW learned to recycle proverbs and instructions from other
sages and sometimes from other countries too, and in doing so it open the door to a natural
(and in some cases unnecessary) process of contextualization.
The historical process of collecting proverbs is attested in the Ancient Near East and
can be compared to the way in which God re-used laws from other nations around Israel in
Exodus 21-23. It was a process that fostered contextualization but it also could put in risk the
style and art of Solomon’s legacy. Someone, somewhere, might have said something about

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 DRESSING UP LADY WISDOM, Daniel Santos 6

the editor of Proverbs who was responsible for letting in such an obscure proverb from a
foreigner author that says “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry” (Prov
30.15).
The theological education that envisages global reach must learn to acknowledge
God’s wisdom coming from different modes of reasoning, to the point of leveling under the
same rubric the wisdom of Solomon, Agur, and the mother of Lemuel.

Conclusion  
How should we dress up Lady Wisdom today in our own context? I believe Harry’s
advice is a good starting point: we should never forget that Lady Wisdom represents a proud
heritage and a proud people (the people of God). Our theology, and consequently, our
theological education, has been the dress code informing us the way we choose the tartan for
Lady Wisdom in our context. For that reason, it is very likely that Lady Wisdom will look
differently around the world. It is likely that much of our disputes concerning theological
education will gravitate around the way Lady Wisdom should dress and the role she should
play amongst other cultures.
One important lesson to keep always in mind is that Lady Wisdom is not our lady but
God’s, and his dress code was not always pleasing to all. The way he decided to dress the
Messiah is a vivid testimony of that: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Is 53.2 NIV). If we are to follow the
progress of revelation reflected in Scripture as a whole, Jesus of Nazareth is our Lady
Wisdom.
If we are to follow the progress of the Lausanne Movement, the source of all our
mission is what God has done in Christ for the redemption of the whole world, as revealed in
the Bible. Our evangelistic task is to make that good news known to all nations. The context
of all our mission is the world in which we live, the world of sin, suffering, injustice, and
creational disorder, into which God sends us to love and serve for Christ’s sake. All our
mission must therefore reflect the integration of evangelism and committed engagement in
the world, both being ordered and driven by the whole biblical revelation of the gospel of
God. (CTC 2010: 34)

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