Deck 24: The Wisdom of the Sages: Preservation and Challenge

Question 1

What is wisdom literature? What are its major concerns and goals? How widely is this genre known? What manifestations of wisdom literature are preserved in the Hebrew Bible?

Answer 1

no answer

Question 2

Compare and contrast the strange woman with Woman Wisdom. What are our sources for them? How is each woman used in Proverbs? How do modern scholars interpret them?

Answer 2

no answer

Question 3

Compare the representations of God in the books of Job and Ecclesiastes. What are the similarities and differences? How do these differ from representations of God in the Deuteronomistic History and the prophets?

Answer 3

no answer

Question 4

Discuss ancient Israelite beliefs on the afterlife. How did these beliefs develop over time? What may have influenced these changes?

Question 5

The book of Job sufficiently answers why bad things happen to good people.

Question 6

The Song of Solomon was probably written as a secular, not a religious, book.

Question 7

The book of Ecclesiastes was not edited after its completion.

Question 8

Job's wife is named in the biblical text.

Question 9

Wisdom literature is concerned with the realities of human experience, from the mundane to the sublime, and with the relationship between that experience and the divine.

Question 10

The Hebrew word for wisdom is hebel.

Question 11

The Egyptian Instruction of Amenemope was familiar to the compilers or authors of the biblical book of Proverbs.

Question 12

The books of Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs both share a strong connection to the figure of David.

Question 13

The book of Job demonstrates a developed belief in reward and punishment after death.

Question 14

The Song of Solomon was originally a secular book.

Question 15

In the book of Ecclesiastes, the author is given the name:

A) David
B) Qoheleth
C) Sheol
D) Rabbi

Question 16

The "young man" who comes to talk to Job to provide a different point of view than Job's friends do was:

A) Zophar
B) Bildad
C) Eliphaz
D) Elihu

Question 17

The expression "vanity of vanities" occurs in the book of:

A) Job
B) Ecclesiastes
C) Song of Songs
D) Proverbs

Question 18

The Song of Solomon is also known as:

A) Qoheleth
B) Song of Songs
C) the Royal Psalm
D) Esther

Question 19

Proverbs encourages social justice for all except:

A) the poor
B) widows
C) orphans
D) resident aliens

Question 20

In the book of Job, the satan probably means something like:

A) bright one
B) the accuser
C) son
D) reason

Question 21

In the Septuagint, Job's wife is named:

A) Bathsherba
B) Michal
C) Miriam
D) Dinah

Question 22

In the Song of Solomon, the woman is compared to the cities of Jerusalem and:

A) Shechem
B) Babylon
C) Tirzah c. Tirzah
D) Tyre

Question 23

The book of Ecclesiastes can be summarized as a collection of the author's ideas concerning:

A) the meaning of life
B) social justice
C) Adam and Eve
D) prophecy

Question 24

A short saying that pithily expresses insight into experience is called a(n) _________:

A) proverb
B) wisdom
C) allegory
D) instruction

Question 25

Metaphors from nature are prevalent in:

A) Proverbs
B) Job
C) Ecclesiastes
D) Song of Solomon

Question 26

Proverbs and the Song of Solomon are both examples of (an):

A) anthology
B) extended psalm
C) love poetry
D) wisdom

Question 27

All are true of the satan in the book of Job except:

A) he is a member of the divine council
B) he is absent from epilogue
C) he is identified with the devil
D) he is a "son of God"

Question 28

Most scholars think that the book of Ecclesiastes dates to the _________ period.

A) exilic
B) Persian
C) Hellenistic
D) Roman

Question 29

God's first response to Job consists of:

A) a catalogue of marvels
B) the judgment and death of Job
C) immediate restoration for Job
D) expulsion of the satan

Question 30

Lemuel was king of ___________:

A) Israel
B) Judah
C) Aram
D) Massa

Question 31

The Song of Solomon consists of:

A) parodies
B) hymns
C) a catalogue
D) poetic speeches

Question 32

All are genres used in the book of Job except:

A) lament
B) hymn
C) catalogue
D) genealogy

Question 33

All are frequently mentioned in biblical wisdom literature except:

A) the Exodus
B) the conquest
C) covenants
D) none of the above

Question 34

All are representations of the primeval sea-monster except:

A) Leviathan
B) Tiamat
C) Behemoth
D) Apsu

Question 35

The most common word for the underworld in the Bible is ________________.

Question 36

____________ is a seven-headed serpent.

Question 37

Divine justice is called __________________.

Question 38

Job's wife is a major character in the postbiblical work _____________________.

Question 39

In the book of Job, Job and his friends rarely, if ever, refer to God by the name ____________.

Question 40

The idea of bodily resurrection of the dead apparently developed in Judaism during the ____________________ period.

Question 41

A targum is a translation of a biblical text into _________________.

Question 42

The book of Job is anonymous, but later rabbinic tradition attributed it to ____________.

Question 43

____________ is a hypostasis and the source of order in society and success in life.

Question 44

"The Protestation of Guiltlessness" is from the larger Egyptian work ___________________.