The Apocrypha’s “Wisdom of Solomon” I– Be Good, Mainly from Seeking, Obtaining, and Listening to Wisdom

Posted on July 5, 2014 by virgowriter

The Apocrypha’s “Wisdom of Solomon” I– Be Good, Mainly from Seeking, Obtaining, and Listening to Wisdom

In June, as every June in Philadelphia, I joined thousands of my fellow LGBT residents in celebrating Gay Pride. I will enjoy a similar celebration in October for National Coming Out Day, whose street fair closes four blocks in our Gayborhood. Both events have numerous street food vendors, crafts, info tables (for gay organizations), free mobile HIV testing, pets to adopt, and, of course, outdoor drinking in the typically lovely weather that tends to put most people in a good mood.

Except the religious protesters. These people seem to wear perpetual scowls behind their sad signs scrawled with scripture that announces how “wrong” we all are. As if that weren’t bad enough, their scratchy and droning voices, hiding behind their bullhorn, shout the same few recycled Old Testament verses plucked from books Jesus invalidated (according to the Gospels). Maybe, just maybe, their actions suggest, their repetition will sink in and compel all of us gays to “see the error of our ways.”

Although brainwashing does produce results, these people fail to realize that the advice they are trying to impart only works if it’s worth listening to. Fortunately for them, there are other, more worthwhile messages in books associated with (and formerly a part of) the Bible, such as The Apocrypha’s “Wisdom of Solomon.”

This former Bible book, which unfolds without the benefit of a narrative, is a collection of pieces of advice about how to live a better life. According to my edition, this book is the best example of the fusion of Greek and Hebrew ideas. Reading this, I questioned why then this book would have been excised from the Bible. Perhaps this combination of philosophies is too off-message from the rest of the Old Testament? But what is the message in this book?

Much of the book concerns itself with how to be a better person; the bulk of the advice handles seeking wisdom to accomplish this goal. First, the author suggests that wisdom cannot enter a deceitful soul (1), which would compel a person then to not be deceitful. But aren’t people who mis-represent the Bible being deceitful? (And by pulling ideas out of context, that’s what they do.) Hmm.

Perhaps even more interesting is what else the author advocates: Test upright men of God with insults and torture so that we may learn his patience (2:19). What constitutes torture is likely open to interpretation, for I can’t imagine he wants believers to be chained to a stake and burned. I could be wrong. But if you are righteous, God will grant you wisdom, which teaches self-control and understanding (8:7). Perhaps this is what compels the restraint that so many gay people exhibit when they encounter these protesters at gay events.

But maybe these protesters are only following the guideline that people with wisdom are to remind people of their sins (12:2) so that they can escape their wickedness and be given an opportunity to repent (12:10). Perhaps these protesters have it backwards: perhaps it’s our job as members of the LGBT community to pass on our wisdom and that these judgmental protesters are schooled, providing them with the chance to escape the wickedness of their hate and finally repent, for as the author here tells us, God loves all things and abhors none (11:24).

Anti-gay protesters—using the Bible as justification—seem to overlook or forget this idea, which is repeated throughout the Bible and, as “The Wisdom of Solomon” demonstrates, even in the books that have been cut.

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The Apocrypha – The Additions to the Book of Esther: The Cut Parts Add Little

Posted on June 30, 2014 by virgowriter

The Apocrypha – The Additions to the Book of Esther: The Cut Parts Add Little

One of the best presents I ever received was a battery operated radio (with a cassette player) when I was in second grade. I loved this present because I no longer had to borrow mom’s—the one with the 4 inch black and white TV screen she kept in the kitchen.

Back then, radio played more variety and less commercials—or at least it felt that way, for it seemed that I had to wait hours to hear the Duran Duran or Police song I was craving. Even better—the songs, at around 3 minutes, allowed for more songs in the station’s rotation. As I aged, I broadened my musical horizons, eventually discovering Metallica, U2, Cheap Trick, Tracy Chapman, INXS, and Crowded House (to name a few). On the radio, these artists’ songs conformed to the short length I‘d accepted as the standard. How was it that songwriters always ended up with songs of this length?

Well of course they don’t, but I didn’t realize this until I actually started buying—and listening to—full albums. Wow, Guns n’ Roses and Aerosmith songs had longer and more interesting bridges and solos; Metallica had entire sections excised for the radio (and video) while U2 had a few longer intro and outros.

But which versions are better? The short, edited ones or the as-intended album versions?

It’s impossible to make a blanket statement about this approach to editing, but I will say that sometimes the edited version is tighter yet still manages to convey the heft and intent of the artist simply by trimming parts of the song that offer little emotional relevance or are merely indulgent. As The Apocrypha’s “The Additions to the Book of Esther” demonstrates, the same can be said for Bible books.

Included in the Old Testament, the Book of Esther tells the story of a woman who, in a position of influence, places herself in mortal danger in order to persuade the king to spare the Israelites. Since this is one of my favorite Bible books, I was looking forward to reading more about this story—what additional angles existed? What depth of character had been excised? As it turns out, not much (if any).

Really, the only differences handle in more detail how Esther humbles her appearance before God (14:1-2), begs forgiveness on behalf of the Jews (6), and asks for help swaying the king (14:13). Once swayed, King Artaxerxes does have a new letter here, and although in it he admits to rash, rushed judgment with regards to his actions against the Jewish people (16:9), this idea is covered in the “edited” version. The ending, which covers an unrelated Purim letter being brought to Egypt, is also confusing, for it seems to be unrelated to Esther’s story (or what she accomplished).

As this Apocrypha book demonstrates, sometimes the edited version is just as good because it captures all the important elements of the work. Therefore, this book is really for only the right audience: a completest who wants to study every available resource in order to form as complete a picture as possible. Other readers should be fine without.it.

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The Apocrypha – The Book of Judith: Another Strong, Capable Woman Takes Matters into Her Own Hands (with Fantastic Results)

Posted on June 25, 2014 by virgowriter

The Apocrypha – The Book of Judith: Another Strong, Capable Woman Takes Matters into Her Own Hands (with Fantastic Results)

When I was in 8th grade, I worked at a comic book and movie rental store for $3.50 an hour. This funded my comic collection. Beyond enabling me to amass a sizable collection, the best part of the job was what I learned from my co-workers, namely the three managers. Taking me under their wings, they spent a lot of time educating me about comic books, music and movies. Needless to say, at my young age, I had much to learn, and like most kids, I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

That Fall of 1987, as the Oscar-bait slate of movies hit theaters, I was invited to tag along for late showings of films (at 10 pm on a Friday night, well past my usual curfew) and I was allowed, in part because of whom I was with. One of my favorites was John Boorman’s Hope and Glory, a “small” film about a boy growing up in Britain during World War II.

I could not stop talking about this film, and one night, while the store was slow, Julian, the manager that night, engaged my opinion: what about the film did I like? He wasn’t writing off my opinion because of my age; rather, he wanted to understand my thinking so he could turn me on to other films that might also interest me and would, in turn, deepen my film knowledge. Couldn’t I just react? Why did I need a reason (or several reasons) for liking something? Well, sure, but it helps to understand your interest if you really want to broaden them.

After replaying the film over and over in my head, I eventually hit upon my relating to the boy trying to find himself in a turbulent world even with a supportive, though at times distracted, family. I would later come to understand that I also appreciated the innocent tone that permeated the heavy, war-ravaged environment of the film’s setting. Julian used this information to recommend 1973’s Paper Moon, a film with family drama paired with con games. Having liked that, Julian recommended another con game film, David Mamet’s House of Games. By being open minded as well as clear about what I liked in a film, I was able to discover more and more interesting films.

Films don’t require an expert to recommend choices based on your interests, but not all films are well-known in the mainstream, so it helps to have someone handy who can locate a lesser-known gem.

By having its chapters excised from the Bible, the Apocrypha is really a series of marginalized stories that may or may not be of interest to Bible readers. Some of these stories are stronger than others. This opinion is based on the parts of the Bible I find appealing as well as the parts I don’t.

Although I enjoyed a lot of what I read in the Old and New Testament, the stories that resonated with me the most were the lesser-known stories. Among these is the story of Esther. This particular story held my interest, in particular because of how it depicts such a strong, capable woman. It’s also the lone story driven by an active female protagonist. So when I encountered the Book of Judith in the Apocrypha, I was looking forward to enjoying another story about a woman who appears to be not only the only person who can fix a situation but also willing to undertake the challenge.

Why this interesting story was excised from the Old Testament is strange. Perhaps the reason is, as Goodspeed point out, this is clearly a work of fiction, as the misinformation that opens this book makes clear to any literate person of that era would know immediately: the king at the center of the conflict, Nebuchadnezzar ruled over the Babylonians, not, as the opening lines suggest, the Assyrians. Fiction or no, this story offers much to enjoy.

So here’s the story: King Nebuchadnezzar wants to start a war and issues a call for neighboring peoples to join him—most refuse. He eventually conquers his enemy and decides to punish those who ignored his call. When the recently-back-from-Babylonian captivity Israelites hear of the plundering of neighbors, they start preparing for conflict. Nebuchadnezzar’s main general, Holofernes hears of Judea’s plans and asks Judea’s neighbors for some intel on these people. He learns of their history (parts of Genesis, Exodus, etc.) and how God protects them as long as they obey God (5:17). One lone advisor suggests Holofernes heed this warning while every other person of influence disagrees. So of course Holofernes opts for war.

Meanwhile, in the mountain pass area that leads to Judea, the Jews are concerned, and the prominent widow Judith hatches a plan. A devout believer, she prays to God to allow a woman’s hand to break down the enemy’s state (9:10) and to empower her deceitful words (9:13). She finds her way to the enemy’s camp, convinces them that she has fled her people because they have sinned, and will help this army punish them (11:19). After earning their trust, she gets Holofernes drunk, convinces him (through her beauty) that he can have her, and then, while alone with him in his tent, she beheads him and flees.

Back home, she relays what she did and shows the town council his head. She is blessed for her mission.

The enemy camp, discovers the beheaded body and the soldiers flee. The Israelites then plunder the rich camp and bestow the general’s riches on Judith. She’s fine to take the money, but she makes sure to give the glory to God and points out that a lone woman defeated an army (16:7-8). Now famous and rich, she refuses to give herself to another man, even though she has been a widow for more than three years. She has no use (or need) for another husband.

Lesson: Fear the lord, don’t just make an offering.

So aside from my appreciation of a strong female driven story, I enjoyed how one person can put herself in danger for the sake of her community because it was the right thing to do. It’s a shame that this story is not included alongside Esther in the Old Testament. The story can be found on its own (as I found it); however, a casual Bible reader might not make the effort, and how many Bible experts would take the time to recommend this story as supplemental reading? Thankfully, the Apocrypha has collected a handful of these worthy stories. But how many stories exist that haven’t?

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