Bro.

Andre Mercado,RCJ August 1, 2022

The Ancient Near Eastern Civilization and its surroundings share many commonalities.
One of these commonalities is the idea of Wisdom Writings. These writings differ from one place
to another. But one reality can be said is that these wisdom literature/writings even coming from
different places shared a common idea of universality. Thus, wisdom literature does not point only
to one group of people but it can be applied or related to different races. I relate wisdom literature
to a chameleon that can turn its color based on its surrounding. In short, wisdom literature is
common during that time and is universal in nature.

Even if it is universal, the question of the authorship of this literature still arises. Who is/are
the author/s of these especially the biblical wisdom literature? The answer to this question is that
no one knows or better say no one can pinpoint the exact author. Nonetheless, the literature can
give us a hint on the social strata to which these writers do belong. The writer of the biblical
wisdom literature probably is on the level of Retainers. This stratum occupies the middle part of
the social classes of the Israelites. This stratum serves the need of the governing class. The
identification of social stratum of the writers was identified based on how the way and the content
of the biblical wisdom literature. The literature does not point to people who belong to the
governing class with the reference to some writings that gives the impression that the writers don't
belong to the governing class. An example was in the book of Qoheleth where the writers value
more wisdom over wealth. On the other hand, they also don't belong to the lowest class for the
reason of how they refer or address to the poor. In this case, the readers of the biblical wisdom
literature will have a glimpse of the social status of the author. The next question would be, why
wisdom movement was born?

The probable situation that I see why this movement was born is due to the development
of the life situation of the people and social status. I say the life situation of a progressing
community or an established community because there will be no reference to different classes if
this is still a community that is starting. The social status would not be a prime purpose for me to
teach to the community. The second is the social status for I see that the theme emphasizes the
retaining of this social status. It seems that the literature despises the lower class or the poor but
does not the upper class. They also despise the practices of the governing class either because it is
true or the fact that they cannot rise from their retainer status to a governing class. The last reason
I see is why this movement rise is because the wisdom movement is common to the ancient near
east civilization.
The biblical wisdom literature more or less encompasses the life of the people especially
the retainer class. The common themes of their work are ethics, aesthetics, honor, prestige, the
doctrine of retribution, mores, and the cross-to-life struggles of the people. The problem with this
biblical wisdom literature is the authenticity of the authorship, the undefined purpose, the problem
in the audience, and for me its universality. Authenticity on the authorship for no one knows who
is the author in which we can at least know the purpose of the literature and its background. Though
many agree on the male audience that it pertains it still gives rise to an indefinite or undefine
audience which will affect the understanding of the literature. Lastly universality, this is a problem
for me as to know if this is unique or just a repetition coming from the other nations. In the end,
biblical wisdom literature had been part of the life of the people of Israel.