The Beasts of Wisdom: Ecological Hermeneutics of the Wild
The role of beasts in the Hebrew Bible’s wisdom literature differs from that in the Torah and Prophets. Rather than the often-plural and domesticated animals of the latter, wild animals represented in the singular and with greater diversity characterize the wisdom material. Wild animals in the Torah...
| Published in: | Biblical interpretation |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2017
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| In: |
Biblical interpretation
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| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament NBD Doctrine of Creation NBE Anthropology |
| Further subjects: | B
Wisdom
theophany
animal life
Job
environment
creation
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | The role of beasts in the Hebrew Bible’s wisdom literature differs from that in the Torah and Prophets. Rather than the often-plural and domesticated animals of the latter, wild animals represented in the singular and with greater diversity characterize the wisdom material. Wild animals in the Torah and Prophets typically signify potential danger outside the inhabited domain or divine wrath and punishment. In wisdom literature, however, they become sources for human guidance (Job 5:22). In Proverbs, they are enlisted to address a lack in human understanding. But in later wisdom texts, the use of animals to illustrate beneficial behaviors gives way to a more radical theme, that of human incomprehension of the world. The otherness of animal presence is deconstructive of wisdom and human knowledge more generally. In biblical wisdom, beastly, silent faces expose the limits of human comprehension.
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| ISSN: | 1568-5152 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Biblical interpretation
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685152-00250A03 |