If this is your first visit, please see my introduction to these Lenten readings.
5 March. Wisdom chapters 5-8
This book of Wisdom is traditionally read as if written by King Solomon (although it is widely acknowledged to have been written many centuries later). It is therefore in the voice of a king that other rulers are encouraged to be acknowledge God and rule justly (6:1-12). The Bible does not put forward any one form of government as inherently better than others. In its pages we find God’s people led by hereditary kings, high priests, judges (both male and female), military rulers, puppet governors of foreign empires, even reluctant shepherds who have greatness thrust upon them. Just about anything except a democratically elected president, in fact. But what matters to God is not how someone comes to be in leadership, nor whether they are free-marketeers or socialists, but whether they realise that God himself is greater than any human might and a higher legal authority than any judge. The good leader is a woman or man who knows their limitations, accepts that they have no more human rights than anyone else, and listens to wise counsel wherever it may be found.
The next couple of chapters consider the nature of wisdom before moving towards Solomon’s decision to make it (or her) his only guide. The consistent use of feminine language and personal pronouns for Wisdom throughout the book are a healthy balance against the tendency both to think of God as only masculine, and to limit “wisdom” to impersonal knowledge. In today’s “big data” society we need to be reminded more than ever that true wisdom is far removed from mere “information”, even “understanding” or “knowledge” in a limited scientific sense. Wisdom is personified as female because it is found in relationships not power, humility not strength, beauty not wealth – and these are traditionally thought of as feminine qualities.