Finding Wisdom in Nature: An Eco-Wisdom Reading of the Book of Job
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Wisdom, where can she be found?’ This question, at the core of Job 28, is arguably the central question also of the entire book of Job.
Wisdom, where can she be found?’ This question, at the core of Job 28, is arguably the central question also of the entire book of Job.
Where is Wisdom found in Job 28? Habel’s answer may be surprising: in the domains and forces of nature, in the ecosystems of the cosmos! And who employs the ‘scientific approach’ of the ancient Wisdom School to discern this Wisdom? A Sage called God during the process of creation. This key chapter, Job 28, is therefore where Habel begins his ecological commentary, using an approach he designates an eco-wisdom reading.
In the preceding 27 chapters of the Book of Job, the focus had seemed to be on the question of where justice could be found. Job has been ready to take God to court in order to find justice. Yet, throughout these chapters there has also been a question about Wisdom, raised by Job and each of his friends, though it has remained churning in the background.
When God finally answers Job, God communicates —via nature —about the ‘design’ of the cosmos. During his journey through the cosmos with his divine mentor, depicted in the divine speeches of Job 38 —41, Job is challenged to discern the ‘way,’ the ‘place’ and the inter-relationship of the domains and forces of nature, which is to say, their dynamic innate Wisdom.
In his final speech, Job admits he does not know everything and dismisses his plan to take God to court, and the claim for justice lapses. In its place, Job declares he has ‘seen’ or ‘observed’ God —presumably in the ecosystems of the cosmos that God has shown him. So the Book of Job ends with his experience of what we may call an ‘ecological conversion’.
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| table of contents | Finding Wisdom in Nature An Eco-Wisdom Reading of the Book of Job Norman C. Habel ‘Wisdom, where can she be found?’ This question, at the core of Job 28, is arguably the central question also of the entire book of Job. Where is Wisdom found in Job 28? Habel’s answer may be surprising: in the domains and forces of nature, in the ecosystems of the cosmos! And who employs the ‘scientific approach’ of the ancient Wisdom School to discern this Wisdom? A Sage called God during the process of creation. This key chapter, Job 28, is therefore where Habel begins his ecological commentary, using an approach he designates an eco-wisdom reading. In the preceding 27 chapters of the Book of Job, the focus had seemed to be on the question of where justice could be found. Job has been ready to take God to court in order to find justice. Yet, throughout these chapters there has also been a question about Wisdom, raised by Job and each of his friends, though it has remained churning in the background. When God finally answers Job, God communicates—via nature—about the ‘design’ of the cosmos. During his journey through the cosmos with his divine mentor, depicted in the divine speeches of Job 38–41, Job is challenged to discern the ‘way,’ the ‘place’ and the inter-relationship of the domains and forces of nature, which is to say, their dynamic innate Wisdom. In his final speech, Job admits he does not know everything and dismisses his plan to take God to court, and the claim for justice lapses. In its place, Job declares he has ‘seen’ or ‘observed’ God—presumably in the ecosystems of the cosmos that God has shown him. So the Book of Job ends with his experience of what we may call an ‘ecological conversion’. Norman C. Habel is Professorial Fellow, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia. Series: Earth Bible Commentary, 4 978-1-909697-62-1 hardback Publication September 2014 Contents Chapter 1 INTRODUCING THE EARTH BIBLE COMMENTARY SERIES Chapter 2 AN ECO-WISDOM APPROACH TO READING JOB Chapter 3 JOB 28: SEARCHING FOR WISDOM IN NATURE Chapter 4 JOB 1-2: FROM MY MOTHER’S WOMB Chapter 5 JOB 3: A LIFE WITHOUT ‘PLACE’ OR ‘WAY’ Chapter 6 JOB 4-5: THE PROVERBIAL WISDOM OF ELIPHAZ Chapter 7 JOB 6: A WORLD WITHOUT FRIENDS Chapter 8 JOB 7: LIFE AS A HUMAN ON EARTH Chapter 9 Job 8, 18, 25, 26.5-14: THE COLD COUNSEL OF BILDAD Chapter 10 Job 9-10: TAKING GOD TO COURT Chapter 11 Job 11, 20, 27.13-23: ZOPHAR ON GOD’S INSCRUTABLE WISDOM Chapter 12 JOB 12-14: JOB ON WISDOM, JUSTICE AND HOPE Chapter 13 Job 15 & 22: ELIPHAZ ON WISDOM AND THE WICKED Chapter 14 JOB 16-17: JOB ON GOD AS ENEMY Chapter 15 JOB 29-31: JOB’S FINAL TESTIMONY Chapter 16 JOB 32-37: ELIHU’S ANTHROPOCENTRIC ANSWERS Chapter 17 JOB 38-39: JOB’S COSMIC WISDOM JOURNEY Chapter 18 JOB 40.6-41.26 (Eng. 41.34): BEHEMOTH AND LEVIATHAN Chapter 19 JOB 42: CLOSURE Chapter 20 CONCLUSION: TRIPLE RETRIEVAL |
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