The notion of the Divine ffokhma as a separate E.xistence outside of and over against Jahweh, is, how ever, as un - Israelitish as possible and abso- lutely opposed to the monotheism of the inx nirr (Dt 6^) that had become firmly established since the time of Deuteronoiuy. It can be e.vplained only as due to the influence of Greek philosophy, accord- ing to which the archetypes of things {apx^rviroi iS(ai, Plato, Timwtis, p. 29) or the powers of the Divine es-sence diH'used throughout the world (the xoaal lyrotat of the Stoics; cf. C. Wachsmuth, Die An- sichten dcr StoUccr iiber Mantik, etc. p. 21) are regarded as having a separate existence of their own, although in their relation to the world they are otherwise conceived of than in the Book of Proverbs.
4. The Jewish doctrine of retribution and the itrufjglcs of faith to which it qnve rise. — In other parts of the Book of Proverbs the questions of wisdom in the ordering of the life of a Jew are discussed. Pietj' appears here as the successful and most advantageous course (2"- "'• ^•~). Virtue is never unrewarded (S"-"-'"- '« lO-'"'- 1G="). Misfor- tune befalls only the ungodly (11"), for the pious it is only a passing chastisement (3"'"). — The actual experiences, which were diametrically opposed to eucli doctrines, led to a period of struggles of faith (Farrar in Speaker's Apocr. vol. i., London, 1877, 'The era of dilTiculties,' p. 416), whose deposit we have in several of the Psalms, in Job, and in Ecclesiastes.
(a) The Psnlms. — Ps 37 proceeds upon the idea that the good fortune of the wicked has no con- tinuance (vv.*-"'' "• 2>). »'■ 3"). In brilliant poetic lan- guage the sudden end of their prosperity is de- Bcribed, and this has the counter -description opposeil to it of the exaltation and happiness of the godly which always comes to pass after a transient period of woe (vv."- ""■'»• "'• »• «"•). Since, however, this was contradicted by other experiences which told of wicked men who were prosperous down to the end of their life (Job 21'-'»- '*'"■«•), the dilliculty was not solved. The expedient of declaring that in such CB-ses the punishment over- takes the children of the ungodly (Job 21'") was nothing more than a palliative, for this punish- ment extended, according to Ex 20^, only to the tliirtl or fourth generation ; and it gave no satis- faction at all to the later prophets (cf. .ler 3r-'"'-, Ezk 18-'*'), who insisted upon the personal re- Bpunsibility of the transgressor. — Ps 49 accordingly grappled with the problem afresh and otlered the solution that death at all events brings punishment
to the wrong-doer whom continued prosperitj' has made dclianl (v.'). Then can none deliver him (vv."""), he must leave behind him his ill-gotten wealth (vv.'-' "■™), and he himself becomes a prey to corruption (v.'*). The godly man, on the other hand, has the sure hope that God will deliver him from death (v.", cf. Ps 16'"), and he can enjoy his prosperity, while the wicked die away (v.''^). But, seeing that the stroke of death falls in any case at last upon the righteous as well, neither could this solution of the problem be regarded as satisfactory. — Ps 73, in which we can still detect tlie scars of the fierce conflict which faith had to sustain with doubt (vv. ''■"'), followed to some e.xtent the same path, arguing that the prosperity of the ungodly is but fleeting, whereas tliat of the godly is at last permanent (vv.""^--'). Along with this, it points to a solution which, from the Christian standpoint, indeed, would be perfectlv satisfying, namely, that the happiness of the rigliteous is purely inward, and that this, or in other words the blessedness produced by the fellowship of the heart with God, cannot be torn from them by any suflcring of an earthly kind (v.'-^'-). But this .solution was inade- quate from the standpoint of the OT, for the latter demanded outward prosperity for the righteous by way of reward, and outward sutl'ering for the wicked by way of punishment. Equally unsatis- factory as a full answer was the declaration that, in the case of the righteous, suffering is chastening, and, as such, an evidence of Divine love (Pr 3", He 12'"'), intended to warn tlu^m against going on further in sin (Job 33'°'- "■■"'), and, on the other hand, purifies them from stains and in this way perfects them (Ho 12""-). However correct and beautiful all this is, one does not see why in that case the ungodly, who surely in any case also deserve punishment, receive none. Again, from the OT jioint of view, the use of such a purifying of the godly could not be apprehended ; for if, as frequently hajipencd, the suttering continued till the death of the sufferer, the whole fruit of such purification was lost in Sheol, where godly and un- godly lead the same dreamy existence (Ps 49"- ", Job 3"-"' 7'-"' U~, Ezk 3'2'»-»-). There even the righteous have no more hope (Ps 6= .W, Is 38"'- '*'•, Job 7'"- H"'-'^ ; cf. esp. W. Schwally, Lebcn naih iIkiii Tode iinrh den Vorstelluvfjcn e/cs nlten Israels, li lessen, 18'J2, pp. 59-74). Nor could doubts be solved by the expedient of declaring that in the last resort all are sinners, that none is good but God alone (Job 4"-'« H* 15'<-'» 2')-", Mk lO'"), for this supjilied no answer to the question why it is, under these circumstances, that the nutoriously ungodly so often remain unpunished. l!ut, above all, these attempts at solving the problem all left the main question untouched, how the circumstance is to be explained that God does not fulfil His solemn promise to reward the righteous and to punish the wicked (Dt 28), but almost consistently docs the opposite. With loud comjilaints the godly addressed to God the bitter question why He looks so calmly on this course of things (Jer 12'- '') ; and a kind of desMiair took po.ssession of them (Jer 20'''""', Jobs'"'-). It appeared as if God were asleep (Ps 44'-^). The pros|ierous transgressor asked mock- ingly, 'Where is now thy God?' (Ps 42'-'") and triumphantly denied the alleged principle of a Divine government of the world (Ps 10" 14' 73").