The Lord by Wisdom Founded the Earth: Creation and Covenant in Old Testament Theology
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
In Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a woman who is with God at the creation of the world, delighting in what God has made. In Job, God appears in theophany and describes the wonders of the earth and heavens. There are thus revealed detailed descriptions of God’s work in creation in the wisdom literature. Key themes that emerge from these passages are the foundation of the earth, its division from the heavens and the waters, God’s provision of all of nature as well as human and animal life, God’s relationship to the world, and the ethics and morality of our human response. There is also a wealth of covenant language that includes creation and links up with wisdom texts as well. This is epitomized in Noah’s covenant with God and the sign of the rainbow.
In The Lord by Wisdom Founded the Earth, Katharine J. Dell illuminates the Old Testament theological themes of creation and covenant, interpreting them through the lens of wisdom. Dell shifts attention from the Genesis accounts of creation to allow for a fresh reading from texts in Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. She subsequently assesses Genesis and certain “creation” Psalms for similarities and differences. This approach allows the creation theme to be prioritized in new ways and then brought into dialogue with covenant ideas, leading to a reconsideration of Genesis 9, with its profound image of the rainbow as a sign within creation of the covenant between God and the world, and various prophetic texts―passages wherein the close symbiosis of covenant with creation has been overlooked. Furthermore, a “cosmic covenant” emerges over time, a covenant of peace that will characterize the eschatological age, as found in some later prophetic literature.
Dell contends that wisdom literature is often misrepresented for its lack of reference to covenant, demonstrating key relations through intertextual parallels from the Psalms and Deuteronomy. The figure of Wisdom in Proverbs 3 and 8, in the emphases on relationship and communication, anticipates the ultimate merging of themes of wisdom, creation, covenant, and torah in later apocryphal texts. Likewise, Dell also suggests that Solomon emerges as the canonical figurehead of wisdom’s “covenant” with humanity and the world.
- Illuminates the Old Testament theological themes of creation and covenant
- Interprets themes of creation and covenant through the lens of wisdom
- Demonstrates key relations through intertextual parallels from the Psalms and Deuteronomy
Dell's integrative approach to creation, covenant, and wisdom is a welcome corrective to a discipline that has too long relied on imposing false taxonomic boundaries on texts and concepts. Her 'wisdom lens' focuses our attention on new and long-forgotten features of Israel's Scriptures, creating a rich and rewarding synthesis. This threefold cord will not be quickly broken.
—Will Kynes, Professor of Biblical Studies, Samford University
The wisdom traditions of the Old Testament have not always been as appreciated as they should be among biblical theologians. Given the ever more audible groaning of all creation that surrounds us, Dell's learned and compelling reconsideration of creation (and its connection to covenant) within wisdom literature is all the more timely. Dell unmuffles our ears to the voice of Wisdom, which we have never needed to hear more than we do today.
—Jacqueline Lapsley, Professor of Old Testament, Princeton Theological Seminary
With clarity and insight, Katharine J. Dell guides readers through the key issues involved in the interplay of wisdom, creation, and covenant. Dell's deep awareness of the sources shines through, as does her judicious assessment of the main debates. Anyone interested in biblical theology will treasure this book because it provides an in-depth and readable guide that connects biblical wisdom books such as Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes with the main theological traditions of the Hebrew Bible.
—Bernd U. Schipper, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, Humboldt University of Berlin
- Title: The Lord by Wisdom Founded the Earth: Creation and Covenant in Old Testament Theology
- Author: Katharine Dell
- Publisher: Baylor University Press
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Pages: 252
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- ISBNs: 9781481317047, 9781481317078, 1481317040, 1481317075
- Resource ID: LLS:LRDWSDMTSTMNTTH
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-09-26T15:16:33Z