A brief history of Anthropology in India:
The ancient Israel immediate neighbours such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Canaan provide examples of the pattern for Wisdom in the royal court and also their day to day living. We shall trace briefly the importance of AWA Wisdom Literature on the basis of certain important documents. 1. Mesopotamia: In Mesopotamia Sumerian literature consists of a large numbers of proverbs collections arranged as school texts books. Those include practical suggestions for how to live in harmony with the universe, with human being, concern for animals/whole creation. Eg. Instruction of a father to his son in (how to avoid dispute): “Do not talk to tale bearer, do not consent with some ideal, let you lose your own work, let blasphemy be away from you, do not loiter where there is a dispute and they will involve you in it.” Such kind of instruction is also found in the book of Proverbs: Prov. 26:20: “For lack of wood the fire goes out; and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.” 2. Egypt: In Egypt the norm of conduct, which wisdom instruction is intended to secure, is described by the word ma’at, which is best translate “justice,” “righteousness,” and “”order of the universe.”
The purpose of the wisdom
doctrine is to prepare for this order by preserving the knowledge of this order
that comes from the gods and is valid for the whole world, transmitting this
knowledge, and applying it in a new situation. Without neglecting personal
experience which also plays an important role in wisdom instruction, the wise
of Egypt think of themselves as faithful transmitters of a righteousness that
has held throughout the ages. 3. Canaanite Documents: Ugaritic Poetic texts
employed parallel word pairs, some of which are identical to the parallel terms
of the Hebrew Poetry, at times these parallels appears in the form of the
biblical māśal (Proverb).
Ugaritic texts also contain challenges to traditional,
orthodox teaching regarding suffering such as those present in the book of Job.
4. Greek Documents: Vocabulary also provides an example of the corollaries
between Hebrew and Greek wisdom. Direct influence of Greek ideology on Hebrew
materials can only be maintained for two latest wisdom books: Sirach and the
Wisdom of Solomon. Israel’s wisdom, however, exercised strong influence on
Greek wisdom documents, as indicated by the nearby identical semantic ranges of
metis (Greek Wisdom). 2 Biblical wisdom/Proverbs and Indian-tribal Wisdom
Thought Indian-Tribal Wisdom thoughts have originated from the day-to-day
experiences of the common people in the society. In particular, the major Tamil
Wisdom literatures such as Thirukural, Kambaramayanam, Mahabharatham,
Tholkapiyam reveal Wisdom thoughts which are produced from the experiences of
the people. Indian-Tribal proverbs/wisdom stands parallel to the Wisdom in the
book of Proverbs. Few examples: Prov. 15:25: “The LORD tears down the house of
the proud, but maintains the widow’s boundaries. Tamil proverb: “Proud are
destroyed by their own pride.” Here the focus is to exalt the status of the
widow in the society against the proud. Another example of a common problem in
the societal life is mentioned in both the biblical proverbs and in the Tamil
proverbs: Prov. 21:17: “Whoever loves pleasure will suffer want; whoever loves
wine and oil will not be rich.” Tamil Proverb: “Drink no liquor; but let them
drink; whom with esteem the wise won't think.” These references highlight the
problem of alcoholism in the community and its negative impact on families and
communities. In the Bible, some groups of priests equate: Proverbs. 19:24:
"The lazy boy put his hand on the plate and refused to put it back in his
mouth." A group proverb: "The lazy wants to starve." Prov.13:4:
“The appetite of the lazy craves, and gets nothing.” Tribal proverb: “The
stomach of the lazy people will never be filled.” This kind of proverb points
to the dignity of human labour.
Hebrew Wisdom
The main collections of wisdom literature are found in the books of Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. We also find wisdom in other books, e.g. Gen. 37-50, German. 6:4-5, I kg. 3:5-14, II Chron. 1:7-12, Isa. 1-39; 19:11-15, 28:23-29, Ezek. 4:44 p.m.; 18:2, Amos 3:3-8, Ps. 19, 119. Definition: The word wisdom comes from the Hebrew word hm'k.h' (ḥokmah) and sojia (Sophia) in Greek. It is used to refer to various skills of a human being. These root words specifically mean several things: i) skill in war (Is 10:13), skill in technical work (Ex 20:3; 31:61). ii) Wisdom in administration (Deut 34:9; Isa 29:14): ability to rule without distinction; the ability to act as a judge in deciding what is right and what is wrong. iii) Wisdom is essential and religion: wisdom as a divine attribute The origin and development of the tradition of wisdom in ancient Israel 1. Wisdom developed in the family or folk tradition (Wisdom from below): 1. 1. Ordinary people from the street and the city gate Reference to the call of wisdom from the "street" and "gate of the city" (Proverbs 1:20, 21; 8:1, 2, 5; 3:13-15) is a sign of its relation to the common people and today. - the daily life of society.
1.2. Ordinary people in the family Parental advice in the context of the family is evidence of the everyday life situation of ordinary people (Proverbs 4:1-9). 1.3. Human Observation and Experience Claus Westermann says that the influence of ordinary people on wisdom is "the proverb of observation and experience". These observations and experiences are based on everyday human experience. There are a number of proverbs that are based on human observations and experiences (Prov. 27:20; 30:15-16; 20:5; 27:8; 27:21; 27:17; 14:10,13; 22:16; 27:9; 20:14; 16:26; 12:18; 13:12; 15:30; 17:22; 20:9). Westermann also says that few human experiences involve "contrasts" as a source of wisdom: "joy and sorrow" (Prov. 12:25; 15:13; 17:22; 15:15; 14:13; 18:14; 14:10; 20:17; 27:7, 9; 15:30; 13:12). The wisdom found in Proverbs 25:11-20 speaks of appropriate words taken at the right time to be prudent. They deal with the experiences of ordinary people. Similarly perverted and destructive speech found in Proverbs 12:8a; 18b; 25:23; 26:2; 30:14. 2 1.4. Agrarians and the Poor It is believed that the most important influences on common people come from proverbs that come from people who worked with their own hands. They are farmers, householders, craftsmen, housewives and servants. Elites such as priests, Levites, scribes, and civil servants are not mentioned in this collection of proverbs. The agrarian principle of life is "first the work and then the feast" comes from this (Prov. 24:27; 28:18,19; 10:5, 22; 12:4,11; 27:15, 23-27 ; 12:10; 14:12; 22:2; 15:15; 13:8; 18:23; 13:7). There are also proverbs dealing with the poor and the rich that describe the experiences of ordinary people. These proverbs talk about the life experiences of the poor and their relationship with the rich. Manual "work" is highly respected. Work is never idealized. These proverbs originated in the specific conditions of agricultural land. 2. Educational institution: Royal Court 2.1. Gerard von Rad in his book Wisdom in Israel (1972) talks about the Sitz em leben individual collection of Proverbs for the royal court. According to von Rad, the patriarchal religion was very sacred, but with the advent of Solomon, the whole religious and social setting changed and became more secular.
Solomon brought a breath of fresh air that dispelled the old sacred
institution by bringing a secular understanding of reality reflected in the
Wisdom Literature. 2.2. James L. Crenshaw, in his works Education in Ancient
Israel (1998), basically deals with the issue of the emergence of wisdom
literature and the place of the educational institution and the sages in early
Israelite society. 2.3. Nili Shupak (Where is wisdom to be found? 1993) Says
that the dictionary of the Wisdom Tradition in Israel contains a semantic
equivalent to that found in the writings of the Egyptian school. Support the
existence of the school in Israel.
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