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100 articles found for “Wisdom literature; God-fearers”
Wisdom Literature
[Bible]Wisdom literature is the body of biblical writings that addresses the principles governing life, suffering, and the meaning of human existence within a faith grounded in the fear of God. In the Old Testament the term refers chiefly to Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.
The Fear of the Lord
[Bible]The fear of the Lord is a central Old Testament expression for an attitude of reverence and awe toward God. It is presented especially in the wisdom literature, including Proverbs, Psalms, and Job, as the foundation of wisdom and knowledge.
Wisdom
[Bible]In the Bible, wisdom (Hebrew chokmah) is the ability to judge rightly and live well, an ability that begins with the fear of God. The New Testament connects wisdom with Christ and with the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Fear of the Lord
[Bible]The fear of the Lord is a biblical expression for an attitude of fearing, revering, and obeying God. Old Testament wisdom literature calls it the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.
Hokmah
[Bible]Hokmah is the Hebrew word for "wisdom." In the Old Testament it covers a wide range of meanings, from a craftsman's skill to the wisdom of a life lived in the fear of God. It is a central concept of the wisdom literature, including Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes.
Proverbs
[Bible]Proverbs is an Old Testament book of wisdom literature whose 31 chapters contain short instructions and maxims gathered chiefly under the name of Solomon. It presents the fear of God as the beginning of wisdom.
Ecclesiastes
[Bible]Ecclesiastes is a book of Old Testament wisdom literature. It reflects on the transience, or "vanity," of all things in the world and concludes that fearing God is the whole duty of man.
Sirach
[Bible]Sirach is a book of wisdom literature generally attributed to Jesus ben Sira, a teacher of the law in Jerusalem in the early second century BC. The Catholic and Orthodox churches regard it as canonical, while most Protestants classify it among the Apocrypha.
Book of Job
[Bible]A book of the Old Testament belonging to the wisdom literature. It tells the story of Job, a righteous man who suffers for reasons unknown to him, debates with his friends, and encounters God, and it addresses the question of why the righteous suffer.
Fool
[Bible]The fool is a biblical figure who does not fear God and refuses to heed teaching and instruction. The term appears frequently in the wisdom literature, especially Proverbs, and carries over into the New Testament.
Abaddon
[Bible]Abaddon is a Hebrew word meaning "destruction" or "place of destruction." In the Old Testament it appears alongside Sheol as a designation for the realm of the dead, and in Revelation 9:11 it is the name of the angel of the bottomless pit.
Proverbs 11:26
[Bible Verses]A proverb teaching that whoever hoards grain in a time of famine and refuses to release it will be cursed by the people, while whoever sells it will be blessed. The verse rebukes the hoarding of goods for profit and is cited in discussions of sharing and the social responsibility of wealth.
Proverbs 10
[Bible]Proverbs 10 opens the collection titled "The proverbs of Solomon" (10:1–22:16). Its 32 verses are brief sayings that contrast the righteous and the wicked, the wise and the foolish, diligence and laziness, and restraint in speech.
Wisdom of Solomon
[Bible]The Wisdom of Solomon is a Greek work, written in the voice of Solomon, that addresses wisdom, the immortality of the righteous, and the history of the Exodus. The Catholic and Orthodox churches include it in the Old Testament canon as a deuterocanonical book, while Protestants classify it among the Apocrypha.
Word of Wisdom
[Bible]The word of wisdom is the first of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Paul lists in 1 Corinthians 12:8. It refers to the gift of communicating in speech the wisdom the Holy Spirit gives. Its precise content is understood differently across traditions and denominations.
Job 28
[Bible]Job 28 is a "wisdom poem" declaring that although human beings can find gold and precious stones deep within the earth, they do not know where wisdom is found; only God knows the way to wisdom. The final verse concludes that the fear of the Lord is wisdom.
Job 28:28
[Bible Verses]Job 28:28 is the final verse of the "Hymn to Wisdom" in Job 28. It declares that God makes known to humanity the wisdom that people cannot find for themselves, identifying it as "the fear of the Lord" and "to depart from evil." It is frequently cited alongside the wisdom motto of Proverbs.
James 1:5–6
[Bible Verses]James 1:5–6 urges anyone who lacks wisdom to ask in faith, without doubting, of God, who gives generously. The passage is often cited in discussions of praying for discernment amid trials and of what it means to pray "nothing wavering."
Proverbs 9:10
[Bible Verses]Proverbs 9:10 declares that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and that the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. As a key verse that brings Proverbs 1–9 to a close, it is frequently cited in discussions of the relationship between faith and knowledge.
Hagia Sophia
[History]Hagia Sophia is a building in Istanbul, Türkiye (formerly Constantinople). Dedicated in 537 as the cathedral of the Eastern Roman Empire, it became a mosque in 1453 and a museum in 1934, and was converted back into a mosque in 2020.