nted much, if anj', ad-
(n) Litci-anj Form. — There is no attempt at meta- physical analysis or philosophical argumentation. This .Jewish philosophy is not elucidated by reason- ing, or based on logical grounds. It is regarded as intuitive in origin and the treatment of it is didactic. Thus we have nothing like a philo- sophical or ethical treatise. Much of the Avriting is directly liortatory, and wliere the third person is used we liave descriptions and reflections, accounts of the nature and function of wisdom, and illustrations of its operations in life and historj'.
(6) Unity of WMom. — \n Sirach, as in Pr., Wisdom is described from two points of view : a.s found in God and His administration of the world, and as attainable by man in his own char- acter and life. But it is not that God's wisdom is merely the model or the source of our wisdom. Wisdom throughout, though seen in such ditt'erent relations, is taken as essentially one entity. It is wisdom, absolute wisdom, that God uses in the administration of the universe, and that man also is exhorted to pursue. This realism in dealing with an abstract notion is the first step towards personification.
(c) Personification. — As in Proverbs, wisdom is here personified. Wisdom is supposed to act, e.g. ' How exceeding harsh is she to the unlearned ' (6=°). In a fine passage she celebrates her own praises, glorying in the midst of her people, saying —
' I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, And covered the earth as a mist. I dwelt in high places,
' -• throne is in the pillar of the cloud' (243- *) ;
And I
and, further, after a rich description of the scenes of nature that she influences— ' In three things I was beautified, And stood up beautiful before the Lord and men,' etc. (251). But there is nothinj; in this personification beyond a free use of the Oriental imagination. No doubt to this vivid imagination such writing presents wisdom as in some way a concrete entity, and more, as a gracious, queenly presence. But all alon^ there are expressions which admit the imaginary character of the whole picture. For instance, the opening passage, describing how Wisdom stood up in the congregation of the Most High to celebrate her own praises, would lose all its force of appeal if it were taken in prosaic literalness. It is just because this is no actual person posing for admiration, but a truth set forth before us, that the whole picture appears to be sublime, and serves its purpose in leading to a high appreciation of wisdom. Then wisdom is identi- fied ^vith understanding : ' AVhoso is wise, cleave thou unto him ' (6**) . . . ' If thou seest a man of understanding, get thee betimes unto him ' (v.*'). Thus cultivation of friendship with a man of wisdom or understanding is part of the pursuit of wisdom itself. Even Philo's much more explicit personification of the Logos does not mean that he held the Logos to be an actual person in our sense of the term. Here all we can say of the subject is that the allegorizing is very vivid, so vivid as to be on the verge of the mythopicic, but still in tlie original intention of the writer not meant to be more than the glorification of a great quality found primarily in God, impressed on nature, and commended to mankind as a highly desirable attainment.
The difficulty of the question mind would not clearly fare tt imagination would so \iviHli- that the idea would st< im i to an apparently conrr. ■
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APOCRYPHA
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in ita original character purely as a mode of thought or action. To apply to the product of such a process the logic of the West, or to attempt to bring it into harmony, say, with Locke's theory of ideas, is unreasonable. The atmosphere does not allow of so hard a definition of personality as that which may be either affirmed or denied.
{d) Source. — Wisdom originates in God. She 'came forth from tlie mouth of the Most High' (24'). ' Wisdom was created together with the faith- ful in the womb' (1'^). She exclaims, ' He created me from the beginning, before the world' (24"). As with Pr 8--, tlie Arian controversy has given a factitious imiiortance to this sentence. Wisdom is identified with Clirist ; and thus the Arian doctrine that Christ is a creature, that He was created, not begotten by God and not eternal, appears to have clear support. It is probable that Sirach is dependent on Proverbs, and the rendering of LXX (&Ti(7e) is doubtful.* But the much debated point is of little real Importance ; indeed, it is of no value till we grant that Wisdom in Proverbs and Sirach is (1) personal, and (2) identical with Clirist. The denial of (I) in the previous paragraph carries with it the exclusion of (2). Nevertheless, apart from the Arian concep- tion, we still have the idea of the creation of to account for. This, however, is but a
consequence of the allegorical personilication in conjunction with the thought that wisdom pro- ceeds from God. That has a twofold signification, corresponding to the two aspects of wisdom. First, God is the source of His own wisdom. He has not to learn ; all His plans and purposes spring from His own mind. Secondly, mankind learns \visdom from God ; it is His gift to His children. Wisdom is with all flesh according to God's