Where Does Wisdom Come From?

Job 28:20

Lady Wisdom, the divine personification of deep insight, makes a comeback in today’s stunning and confusing chapter. But what is she doing here?

Almost near the end of the Book of Job, the rhetoric of the three friends who came to sooth and counsel has subsided and even Job is ready to give up the conversation. Where the third response of Zophar should be found, to match the literary and poetic structure up till now - this surprising soliloquy on the merit of wisdom and how hard it is to attain this quality shows up - with quotes that would enter the hall of fame.

Just as precious metals are mines from locations far beyond most human dwellings, Job pontificates, so does wisdom seemingly hide far beyond reach, the exclusive treasure that rewards diligent seekers. But what is actually, Job wonders, why is it so hard to attain the wisdom that can help us especially during difficult times?

וְהַחׇכְמָה מֵאַיִן תָּבוֹא וְאֵי זֶה מְקוֹם בִּינָה׃

Whence then does wisdom come? and where is the place of understanding?

Job 28:20

It’s great question, and scholars reading this chapter have also wondered - why is wisdom located here? What’s the point of this speech that is seemingly out of place?

Rabbi Harold Kushner comments and quotes a few opinions on this question in his The Book of Job: When Bad Things Happened to a Good Person:

“This discourse on wisdom is all very lovely and probably true, but what is it doing here? Its connection to the problems of Job seems tenuous at best, and it is hard to understand its serene, peaceful tone as coming from the mouth of Job.

Gordis offers the ingenious, if far-fetched, suggestion that it was written by the same gifted author as the rest of the book, was found among his papers, and “when by some scribal accident, the third cycle became gravely disorganized and a good part of the text was lost, the sheet containing the Hymn to Wisdom … was placed by some scribe in the concluding cycle.”

Joseph Koterski suggests that because we stand at a transitional moment in the book, chapter 28 might present an interlude, dropping a curtain between acts of the drama. Or perhaps it functions as a kind of Greek chorus, “a voice from the angelic council” mentioned in chapter 1, saying things beyond the capacity of any of the participants in the dialogue to say. It would be a moment of calm before the (literal) storm when God appears in a whirlwind, and its message would be that there is a source of wisdom in the universe beyond what even the finest human minds can comprehend. That would make it an appropriate preparation for God’s appearance a few chapters later.”

And indeed the chapter concludes with the dramatic declaration that it’s only faith that will enable wisdom, and the fear (or awe, depends on the translation) of the divine is the source of smart living:

וַיֹּאמֶר  לָאָדָם הֵן יִרְאַת אֲדֹנָי הִיא חׇכְמָה וְסוּר מֵרָע בִּינָה׃

And to the human God said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

Job 28:28

In other words, this chapter dedicated to Wisdom (but not naming Her directly) assumes that the response to Job’s rebuke of God’s injustice is by accepting the divine yoke with little room for questioning. Whether fear or awe - it is submission that is the wise choice for humans.

Robert Alter points out an interesting facet of this verse that is often lost in translation. His translates the verse and comments:

“‘And He said to man: Look, fear of the Master, that is wisdom, and the shunning of evil is insight.’”

“The Hebrew uses ‘adonai here, and only here, in the Book of Job, which has led some scholars to think it is textually suspect. Many manuscripts read YHWH, but that divine name is also not used in Job until the Voice from the Whirlwind. Since by the Late Biblical period YHWH was pronounced as though it were ‘adonai, that may have led to the switch here, though it is hard to know which term was the original one.”

Whatever wisdom is and wherever she is found - this chapter places it in the human choice of acceptance. Adonai - the name used most often in our liturgy and replacing the ineffable YHWH that is what’s actually written in our books is indeed a name that evoked mastery. Although it’s also important to remember that it may also be read not as singular ‘master’ but as the plural for ‘masters’ or ‘many sources of awe above’.

So where and who and what is wisdom? Follow the path of awe, we are advised here, beyond the familiar terrain, and there, hidden from all but ready to meet each one of us when truly seeking - the wise way unfolds, for each on our own terms.

Will this help Job come to terms with his lot? Will it wisely hold any of our hands during distress?

Job’s next speech, prepared to wrap it all up in a poetic climax, will go as far as it can to look the source of suffering, with awe, and truth-telling, right in the eye.

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