The following is from Gregory R. Lanier, Old Testament Conceptual Metaphors and the Christology of Luke’s Gospel (Library of New Testament Studies 591; London: T&T Clark, 2020), 140-41:
Motif 16—Bird/wings
imagery. Finally, the Wisdom-related texts are almost devoid of any positive
association of avian imagery with Wisdom/Sophia. In fact it is puzzling why so
many scholars assume that the “bird” is so self-evidently Wisdom/Sophia in the
first place, since many passages that do include bird-related figures very clearly
distinguish them from Wisdom/Sophia. Job 28:7 observes that birds do not know
the path to where wisdom can be found (61). In Prov. 1:17 the writer uses the
metaphor of trapping a bird to warn his son against foolishness. In Sirach 24,
numerous natural source domains—trees, mist on the earth, pillar of cloud,
waves of the sea, vine, plants taking root, canals of water, light—are mapped to
Wisdom/Sophia, but not birds. Baruch 3:15-17 includes “those who have sport
with the birds of the air” among those who cannot find Wisdom/Sophia. And
little support can be found in Philo (62) or Qumran (63).
Other texts to which
scholars appeal to defend this hypothesis are Sir. 1:15 (“[She] ενοσσευσεν among men an eternal
foundation”) and 14:26 (“He will place his children under her shelter [σκεπη αυτης],” RSV). While the
verb νεσσευω in 1:15 (cf. νοσσια in Luke 13:34) could suggest building a nest (as
NETS), the subject θεμελιος suggests “nesting” is less emphasized here (64). Moreover,
while the sheltering sense of 14:26 may at first place be evocative of a bird’s
caring for her children, the extended metaphor in Sir. 14:22-27 draws on the
source domain of a house, not a fowl, so the background of σκεπη is more likely to be
other OT “shelter”-metaphors . . . Taking stock of the preceding arguments, it
seems unavoidable to conclude that Luke 13:34 is simply not a metaphor for
Wisdom/Sophia . . . We might also add that Luke 13:35 further undermines
the Wisdom/Sophia argument. Contra Bultmann and others, there is simply no
Jewish textual support for the notion that Wisdom/Sophia will “be seen again”
(after her apparent reascent) with a future deliverer-figure.
Notes for the Above
(61) The treatment of
Wisdom here and in Job 38:36 shins light on the problem with the appeal some
have made to Lev. Rab. 25:5 as the background of Luke 13:34 (e.g., Dunn,
Christology in the Making 1980:203). The midrash takes Job 38:36 as its
lemma and interprets the hapax שכוי as a cock-hen. The midrash then reads, “The
hen, when its young are grubbing for them. But when they are grown up, if one
of them wants to get near her she pecks it on the head and says to it, ‘Go and
grub in your own dunghill’” While the allegory here may confirm the cultural
currency of metaphor in Luke 13:34, it militates against the Wisdom/Sophia connection,
just as with Job 28:7, for in the midrash “wisdom” (חכמה) is something that cannot be possessed by the hen and is, thus, not identified
with the hen.
(62) The lone example
is Rar. 125-27, where the “turtledove and pigeon” of Gen. 15:9 are
allegorically compared to “divine and human wisdom” (additionally, goat =
teachable soul; ram = perfect speech; etc.). Philo goes on to clarify that “divine
wisdom” is a “possession” of God while “human wisdom” is that which dwells
among men. Hence it lends little support to Wisdom/Sophia mythology.
(63) The closest
example, 4Q541 f2-5, is highly fragmentary. DSSSE reconstructs vv. 7-8
as follows: “The in[struction of wis]dom will come before you who has taken her
nest (קנה) and the bird
(ועופה), he has hunted it
and he has sought [it . . . ] to eat.” This requires numerous assumptions in
order to piece together several fragments (i.e. Wise/Abegg/Cook 2005, The
Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation, 313 provide an entirely different reconstruction).
Puech comments that קנה (the fragment breaks off before ק) could be a verb such as “acquérir” or a substantive
such as “un roseau” or “son nid” (its nest), admitting that the last option
might be supported by ועופה, perhaps akin to the eagle messenger in 2 Bar. 77:19-26 (2001, Qumrân
Grotte 4, XXII: Texts Araméens, Premiére Partie 4Q529-549, DJD 31, 235).
Whatever the case, it is highly speculative to connect “wisdom” to the “bird”
or “nest” here.
