Attributes and Function of “Wisdom” in the Hebrew Holy Book (the Torah) and Qur’an

“Wisdom”, is an important key term with considerable and various semantic implications in religious texts, and, consequently, in the field of comparative studies of the Qur‟an and Torah. This concept has common implications in these texts, yet it has features which make its functions distinct in each text. Generally, in both holy texts, “wisdom” has a moral nature, and is in close relation with practical philosophy. “Wisdom” is regarded effective in human guidance and happiness and is a kind of internal vision and insight. However, in the Qur‟an, “wisdom” is not a personified and individual concept; rather, it is applied as a revealed thing (a revelation), an attribute of the Qur‟an and an adjective for" God" and some people such as Luqman, while in the Torah, "Wisdom" has is personified in the form of the feminine incarnation. Regarding the function of “Wisdom” in the Hebrew holy book (the Tanakh), “Wisdom” concerns the creation of the world and human guidance, while the most essential functions of this concept in the Qur‟an are judgment and resistance against sensuality. The present article studies wisdom in the Torah with an emphasis on some wisdom books such as Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and Solomon‟s Song of Songs, which have protected the oral tradition of “Wisdom” in the first Jewish Community. In the Qur‟anic application, taking into account the high frequency and derivations of the word “wisdom” based on the commentators‟ views, we have tried to examine the various semantic implications of wisdom.