The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Babylon (2)

And He said to man, Look, fear the Master, that is wisdom, and the shunning of evil is insight.  Job 28:28  Robert Alter

Look – Don’t overlook “Look”!  If you do, you’ll miss something quite unusual.  The NASB translates this verse, “And to mankind He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to turn away from evil is understanding.’”  In this translation, the word we want to examine is “Behold.”  Seems easy enough.  The Hebrew word is הֵן (hēn) behold, if, lo, though.^[1]  Alter and the NASB follow the usual translation: “An interjection demanding attention, “look!” “see!” and sometimes in context, ‘if.’  It is used one hundred times.”^[2]

But Luzzatto is a bit more clever.  He opts for an interpretation found in the midrash Sanhedrin 31b.

Ramchal [the rabbinic name for Luzzatto] quotes the Book of Job and translates the word hen not in its contextual meaning of ‘see’ or ‘behold,’ but following the Rabbis in the talmudic tractate Sanhedrin who translate it as though it were a Greek word meaning ‘one.’  That the actual verse in Job clearly equates yirat ha-Shem with wisdom is obvious.  But the midrash adds an additional element.  In its response to the question, ‘What does the exclamation hen add to the verse?’ the midrash takes the fact that hen is also a Greek word meaning ‘one’ to indicate that wisdom is one thing and one thing only and that is yirat ha-Shem.  It is an ingenious midrash and certainly an appropriate one for Ramchal’s purposes.  This invocation of Greek also seems to have an additional nuance: it is a way to reiterate the obligation to study yirat ha-Shem rather than philosophy or natural science.  Moreover, suggests Ramchal, Greek wisdom itself realizes that all but yirat ha-Shem are secondary pursuits of wisdom, and he admonishes those of his readers who may be attracted to philosophy and natural science that priority must be given to the pursuit of yirat ha-Shem.[3]

One thing matters.  Wisdom.  ḥākam.  And what is that?  “The essential idea of ḥākam represents a manner of thinking and attitude concerning life’s experiences; including matters of general interest and basic morality. These concerns relate to prudence in secular affairs, skills in the arts, moral sensitivity, and experience in the ways of the Lord.”^[4]  Luzzatto, via Sanhedrin 31b, tells us that wisdom all boils down to one thing, and one thing only, yirat ha-Shem, the fear of God.  Everything else is secondary, even in the Greek-speaking world.  As Stone comments: “It should by now be clear that the term yirat ha-Shem cannot simply be translated as ‘fear of God.’  Rather, yirat ha-Shem  is wisdom as expressed in worship . . . Nor is it any better understood simply as awe,  . . Instead, I understand yirat ha-Shem as the overwhelming weight we take on when we recognize the infinite nature of our responsibility for others; ahavah is the infinite potential for joy we experience by our choices to implement the yetzer ha-tov.”[5]

Do you agree?

Step 2: Acknowledge your debt.

Topical Index: hēn, behold, look, one, ḥākam, debt, be wise, ḥokmâ, wisdom, Job 28:28

^[1] Weber, C. P. (1999). 510 הֵן. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 220). Chicago: Moody Press.

^[2] Ibid.

[3] Ira F. Stone, in Moses Hayyim Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim: The Path of the Upright, p. 10.

^[4] Goldberg, L. (1999). 647 חָכַם. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 282). Chicago: Moody Press.

[5] Ira F. Stone, in Moses Hayyim Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim: The Path of the Upright, p. 10.