Understanding Wisdom Literature in the Bible

Spirit and Truth Fellowship International

As Christians, we want to read the Bible and believe it. But that is more tricky than it sounds. The Bible employs many figures of speech that are not literal; it also contains poetry and wisdom literature that are written in a non-literal way. In the biblical culture wisdom statements were well-understood, but in our much more straightforward and factual writing of today, those statements can be confusing. For example, how are we to understand Psalm 1:3, that for the righteous person, “whatever he does prospers,” when it is not factually correct?

In this teaching, John Schoenheit explains wisdom statements in the Bible and goes over four characteristics as outlined by Dr. Bruce Waltke. Then he shows how wisdom statements can be interpreted in light of the scope of Scripture. We hope that this teaching will help you to gain clarity and confidence in your reading of the Word of God.