Jewish biblical texts include what scholars call the sapiential tradition, or the wisdom writings. These include Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Job, and Ecclesiastes, among others. They are some of the most famous biblical texts in the world among both Jews and non-Jews. More universal in tone than other texts in the Jewish canon, they do not emphasize at all God's special covenant with the Jewish people. Instead, these texts deal with issues of wise and foolish living in the broadest of terms. The "wisdom texts" abound with exhortations to live a righteous life and "fear God," and thereby enjoy the blessings that God bestows upon the righteous and avoid the hardships that come to the wicked. Indeed, the moral logic of many of the wisdom texts is that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked.
The texts of Job and Ecclesiastes, however, challenge this notion and, in doing so, underline a theme in the Jewish tradition that runs contrary to the entire covenant tradition—God's otherness and the ultimate mystery as to why things happen the way they do in human life. The Book of Job calls into question the entire moral premise of the wisdom tradition that says God rewards the good and punishes the wicked. As the following passages attest, being good or being God's favorite as Job was can have tragic consequences. God's wager with the Adversary, or Satan,at faithful Job's expense calls into question every notion that God favors the good. Chapter after chapter, Job questions God as to what sin he has committed to draw such horrible suffering upon himself. Job wonders why God is so mindful of him—just one insignificant man among many—that he pours his entire wrath upon him. The "answer" to Job's questions finally comes at the end, when God reveals himself as a great whirlwind. God rebukes and sarcastically challenges Job to "stand up like a man" and judge God, if he thinks he can. God, the whirlwind reminds us, is not predictable, cannot be domesticated, and will not stand to be indicted by the likes of even a righteous man like Job. God—the Creator of all things including the mythical monsters Behemoth and Leviathan, the power of the universe, the ground of all being—will do what he wants when he wants. Bad things happen to good people, in short, because they can.
Ecclesiastes ruminates on a similar theme, pointing out time after time how the end of all people, righteous or not, is death. Everyone, no matter how they live, dies. Therefore, all human striving ultimately is vain and insignificant. This fact, however, does not force the speaker in the text into nihilism or pessimism. On the contrary, given the reality of everyone's eventual death, the speaker advises enjoying whatever blessings have come one's way. Life, health, friends and family, plentiful food and wine—all these things are good and should be enjoyed if one is fortunate enough to have them. The end comes soon enough for everyone.
Ecclesiastes, perhaps more than any other text, demonstrates the "this-world" nature of the Jewish tradition. Although various schools of thought within Judaism speak of a messianic age to come that will transcend the world as we know it, most of Judaism affirms this life and this existence. The blessings of God—and the curses—come in this life. We please God by focusing on our lives in the here and now, not just in some future heaven or paradise. Indeed, the Promised Land—or the kingdom of God—is not a heaven, but a place in this life. The entire Jewish law—the Torah—instructs Jews how to live in this life and please God in the most mundane of daily activities. Perhaps this is part of the secret to Judaism's incredible resilience through centuries of persecution of its believers across the globe. Even without a temple or a homeland, Jews can still be God's people by living their everyday lives in remembrance of his promise, his covenant, his law, and his almighty power.
The Beginning of Wisdom
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