JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

EDUCATION, JEWISH
In addition to diplomacy and the exact sciences, the
court bureaucracy developed what might be termed a “scribal
ethic.” Wisdom literature, more specifically the collections
now found in the Book of Proverbs, served as a primary text
for character education: they focused on the individual’s rather
than on the national interest.
Like the comparative Egyptian material, and the Book of
*Ahikar (Aramaic), the Book of Proverbs was an outstanding
example of court literature. The book was meant to serve in
educating king and courtier (8:15–18) but especially the bureaucracy
(22:29). The virtues stressed by these pedagogues
were, among others, religious piety, proper family relations,
honesty, industry, sagacity, responsibility, social virtues, and
loyalty to the king.
Various literary methods were used as memory aids for
the student. Key words (Prov. 25:4–5; 30:11–14) and common
ideas (25:2–3, 5–6) tied together independent statements. Similarly
alliteration (rash, rashaʿ, raʿ, 28:3–5) and repetition of the
same or similar roots (25:18–20) served as learning devices.
Other units might be formed as number series (30:15–33). Another
mnemonic device was the alphabet acrostic (31:10–31).
Foreign material was freely borrowed: Proverbs 22:17–
24:22 bears a great resemblance to the “Thirty Sayings of
Amen-em-Opet,” a famous Egyptian wisdom text (Pritchard,
Texts, 421ff.).
The Book of Proverbs may be the closest thing to an actual
school text from the biblical period. Its explicit pedagogic
goal, as well as its employment of mnemonic devices, supports
this contention. The centrality of secular, royal figures (Solomon,
Hezekiah, King Lemuel of Massa, “The Wise”) and its
affinities to non-Israelite wisdom literature further argue for
its role in the education of the officialdom.
EDUCATION OF PRIEST AND PROPHET. The nature of the
priest’s education can be determined through an inductive
analysis of his manifold functions in biblical society.
Foremost were the cultic duties centered on the elaborate
and complicated sacrificial rites. Later, the sacrifice was
accompanied by music and song, performed by levitic families,
versed in liturgical composition (I Chron. 25).
Giving rulings on questions of ritual law and ritual purity
was intrinsic to the priest’s responsibilities (Lev. 10:8–11; 12–15;
Jer. 18:18; Haggai 2:11ff.; Mal. 1:4–8). The necessary knowledge
for these decisions was no doubt acquired by training and
study, including the study of the body and its diseases. Professional
secular physicians are mentioned in II Chronicles 16:12
(cf. Ecclus. 38:7; Pes. 4:9, a “book of medicines”).
It was to the priests that Moses delivered the official copy
of the Torah (Deut. 31:24–26; Jer. 2:8). They authenticated and
supervised the writing of subsequent copies (Deut. 17:18–19;
II Kings 22:8) and became the authoritative teachers of the
Torah (Deut. 31:10–13; II Kings 17:28; II Chron. 17:8–9; Ezra
the Scribe was a priest).
The priesthood, though ultimately subject to the king
administratively, supervised the Temple finances (II Kings
12:8–17). (The Chronicler even has the priests assume trusted
positions in the centralized government system of David and
Solomon, I Chron. 26:30–32.) Their religious and secular functions
demanded that they be literate. This is apparent also in
the centrality of the written word in the cult (Ex. 34:27–28;
Num. 5–23) and upon the sacred vestments (Ex. 28:21, 36).
Though there are no actual records, the clergy must have
received formal training. As was the case elsewhere, schools
probably were part of the Temple complex.
The clerical census counted priests only from the age of
30 (Num. 4:3) and levites from the age of 25 (8:24), when they
began to assume their cultic functions. This relatively late age
indicated a long period of apprenticeship necessitated by their
complex duties.
Unlike the priesthood, there were no qualifications for
joining the prophetic orders. Even women achieved renown
as prophetesses (Miriam, Deborah, Huldah).
The prophets attracted a following known as bene hanevi’im,
“sons (i.e., disciples) of the prophets.” Some encouraged
only a selected group of disciples (Isa. 8:18) or only a single
protégé (Moses-Joshua; Elijah-Elisha; Jeremiah-Baruch). The
disciple did not always succeed the master since true prophecy
was not a skill to be learned but rather a result of divine
election (II Kings 2:9–10).
The disciple’s education was acquired through his ministering
to the needs of the prophet. This type of training resembled
the rabbinic concept of shimmush, attendance upon
a master (Avot 1:3). This, of course, is not to say that there was
no formal or literary side to the novices’ education. Several
prophets may have been trained in the court schools (Isaiah
and possibly Zephaniah); others had a priestly education
(Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and possibly Malachi). Both schools provided
a thorough knowledge of the national-religious literature
and more.
The prophetic order no doubt preserved and studied
the words and deeds of their illustrious predecessors (Elijah
and Elisha cycles; cf. II Kings 8:4; Jer. 26:17–18). The writings
of the prophets show unmistakable signs of their acquaintance
with the writings of their predecessors (Isaiah of Amos’,
Zephaniah of Isaiah’s, Deutero-Isaiah with those of Isaiah,
Zephaniah, and Jeremiah) as well as with the older psalms
and other literature.
There must have been some training in prophetic oration,
and musical accompaniment (II Kings 3:15). An enlightening
passage, reflecting prophetic training, in addition to the
general popularity of the prophets’ presentation, is found in
Ezekiel 33:30–33: “… the children of thy people that talk of thee
by the walls and in the doors of the houses and speak one to
another … Come, I pray you and hear what is the word that
cometh forth from the Lord … and, lo, thou art unto them
as a love song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play
well on an instrument ….”
THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN. Women’s education was conditioned
by several cultural factors which limited and set the
168 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6