

On Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to read and reflect on a passage from the book of Proverbs (9:1-18) entitled “Wisdom and Foolishness”. Our treasure, which follows, is from a commentary on the Book of Proverbs by Procopius of Gaza, bishop.
Procopius of Gaza was a paid teacher of rhetoric and philosophy who lived in Gaza (465 – 530). He wrote numerous works dedicated to pupils of the famous school of his native city, which was run by himself, or addressed to a wider public and rendered on festivals or important political-cultural events. He was highly valued because of the elegance and finesse of his style during the Byzantine period, and he was one of the last voices of Greek sophistry.
The book of Proverbs is an anthology of collections of sayings and instructions. Many of the sayings and perhaps some instructions were composed in the monarchic period (late eleventh to the early sixth centuries). Folk wisdom and observations could surely have been elaborated and re-expressed by learned scribes: “What oft was thought but ne’er so well expressed” (Alexander Pope). There can be no doubt, however, that Proverbs is sophisticated literature by talented writers, winning readers with its compelling portrait of wisdom and inviting them to see life afresh, “wisely,” through its wit, originality, and shrewd observation.
The primary purpose of the book is to teach wisdom, not only to the young and inexperienced but also to the advanced. Wisdom in the ancient Near East was not theoretical knowledge but practical expertise. Jewelers who cut precious stones were wise; kings who made their dominion peaceful and prosperous were wise. One could be wise in daily life, too, in knowing how to live successfully (having a prosperous household and living a long and healthy life) and without trouble in God’s universe. Ultimately wisdom, or “sound guidance”, aims at the formation of character.
Despite its enormous popularity and influence, no copy of the original text has survived, and reconstructions have necessarily drawn on translations, commentaries, and quotations. Among the most important of these was a commentary written by Ephrem of Edessa (ca. 306-373), a theologian who settled in this important center of Christianity (now Urfa in eastern Turkey).
366 episoder
On Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time our Church invites us to read and reflect on a passage from the book of Proverbs (9:1-18) entitled “Wisdom and Foolishness”. Our treasure, which follows, is from a commentary on the Book of Proverbs by Procopius of Gaza, bishop.
Procopius of Gaza was a paid teacher of rhetoric and philosophy who lived in Gaza (465 – 530). He wrote numerous works dedicated to pupils of the famous school of his native city, which was run by himself, or addressed to a wider public and rendered on festivals or important political-cultural events. He was highly valued because of the elegance and finesse of his style during the Byzantine period, and he was one of the last voices of Greek sophistry.
The book of Proverbs is an anthology of collections of sayings and instructions. Many of the sayings and perhaps some instructions were composed in the monarchic period (late eleventh to the early sixth centuries). Folk wisdom and observations could surely have been elaborated and re-expressed by learned scribes: “What oft was thought but ne’er so well expressed” (Alexander Pope). There can be no doubt, however, that Proverbs is sophisticated literature by talented writers, winning readers with its compelling portrait of wisdom and inviting them to see life afresh, “wisely,” through its wit, originality, and shrewd observation.
The primary purpose of the book is to teach wisdom, not only to the young and inexperienced but also to the advanced. Wisdom in the ancient Near East was not theoretical knowledge but practical expertise. Jewelers who cut precious stones were wise; kings who made their dominion peaceful and prosperous were wise. One could be wise in daily life, too, in knowing how to live successfully (having a prosperous household and living a long and healthy life) and without trouble in God’s universe. Ultimately wisdom, or “sound guidance”, aims at the formation of character.
Despite its enormous popularity and influence, no copy of the original text has survived, and reconstructions have necessarily drawn on translations, commentaries, and quotations. Among the most important of these was a commentary written by Ephrem of Edessa (ca. 306-373), a theologian who settled in this important center of Christianity (now Urfa in eastern Turkey).
366 episoder
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