Samuel Hildebrandt. Vast as the Sea: Hebrew Poetry and the Human Condition

In Vast as the Sea, Samuel Hildebrandt takes his readers to the shoreline of the sea of human experience, demonstrating how the Hebrew poets offer words for speaking the unspeakable from its troubled waters. As he explains, we can “face the vast sea with the comfort of knowing that it is all right to struggle with being human, that there are words for that experience, that something can be said, after all” (p. 17). One of the reasons that poetry is so appealing is “its way of speaking from the inside out” (p. 11). Poetry has a way of expressing those deeply felt emotions arising from the most difficult of human experience, but which are beyond the limits of narrative description.Hildebrandt outlines this thesis in the introduction and then proceeds to support it over the course of six chapters. He introduces each chapter with a brief foray into relevant insights from modern psychology, followed by an interpretive analysis of a given theme from within a defined text or corpus of texts.Chapter 1 tackles the themes of chaos and calm in Ps 46, considering the anxieties of human life. As has been similarly noted before, the psalms speak to God, not about God: rather than “talking to those who suffer from anxiety about God, the psalms portray anxiety talking to God and elevate the need for communication, naming, and expression” (pp. 36–37). Throughout this chapter he emphasizes the need to “normalize anxiety” (p. 37); though I am not so sure this is the best approach given the fact that the Bible often urges us not to worry (e.g., Ps 46:10; Matt 6:34; Phil 4:6). Perhaps these poems are simply meant to assist individuals in coping with anxiety but in a redemptive way.Chapter 2 addresses the problem of loneliness. In extreme cases of loneliness, individuals often avoid communicating their feelings of loneliness as a means of ignoring their own sense of isolation. In response to this human condition, the Bible gives words for the lonely to express their feelings to God. Hildebrandt also calls for normalizing loneliness, declaring that “this normalization of loneliness is good news” (p. 75), which might sound a bit defeating and even hopeless to some readers. It is nonetheless appropriate to remind people that the Hebrew poets offer authentic verbalization for the lonely heart. Hildebrandt strikes the right balance between recognizing the need for acknowledging loneliness while not glorifying it as something ultimately good: “The Bible does not portray the sorrow of Lady Jerusalem and the sufferings of Psalm 102 as an enjoyable experience or as a spiritual discipline” (p. 80).In chapter 3, Hildebrandt explores the topic of despair from the book of Jeremiah. As he admits, there is no Hebrew word serving as an appropriate semantic equivalent to the English word “despair,” which leads him to the series of “woes” from the book of Jeremiah in search of a thematic equivalent instead (pp. 89–90). Reading Jeremiah for insight on the nature of human despair is certainly helpful, not to mention illuminating. However, Jeremiah’s entire message is framed from within the context of covenant, which Hildebrandt unfortunately does not factor into his discussion, thus impeding the plausibility of his analysis.Chapter 4 on shattered assumptions in Job 1–3 is arguably the strongest contribution of the book. Hildebrandt draws upon insights from the pioneering work of Ronnie Janoff-Bulman regarding “our assumptive world”: our assumptions about the world only come to light when the world as we know it collapses around us, which leads to our rebuilding a new perception of reality (pp. 117–18). Herein lies the tension between “the assumed and actual worlds” (p. 123). Read in this light, Job 1–3 sets forth the assumptions of Job regarding his world, though they are not stated explicitly. These assumptions are entirely upended when tragedy strikes. Job’s lament in Job 3, Hildebrandt insists, “is not reversing creation, cursing God, or damning the human species. He is creating his own, honest version of reality, starting with his birthday and reaching up to his present day. His language constructs a world that is true to the shattered assumptions of his old world” (p. 128). Nevertheless, Job refuses to give up and expresses his lament “in the pursuit of a new perspective that restores, somehow, what he previously believed to be true about God, the world, and himself” (p. 138). God’s confrontation with Job at the end of the book does not condemn him as having sinned, nor does it rebuke him for his extended lament. Instead, God chides Job for having spoken “words without knowledge.” According to Hildebrandt, “God’s cosmic tour remains silent about Job’s situation and about human participation in general. The counterevidence of one person’s shattered assumptions does not suffice to overthrow the good and intricate order that continues to exist apart from them” (pp. 142–43).Chapter 5 focuses on Qohelet and the flow of time, particularly its frustrating limitations on human experience, leading the sage to conclude that all is hebel. The tendency for humans to think they are invincible is haltingly confronted by the inescapability of time. The book of Ecclesiastes, “rather than plainly calling for acceptance or chastising its readers . . . models a gentle journey of time-awareness” (p. 173). Interestingly, Hildebrandt does not deal with Qohelet’s “conclusion of the matter” at the end of the book—fear God and keep his commandments (Eccl 12:13). I would have appreciated some interaction with this statement and its place in Hildebrandt’s reading of Qohelet regarding “time-awareness.”The final chapter (6) engages the proverbial wisdom of Agur on the good life (Prov 30:1–33). The epilogue synthesizes the various components of the book’s discussion with a helpful summary (pp. 211–18).Hildebrandt makes a compelling case for the relevance of Hebrew poetry to the deepest of emotive experiences characteristic of the human condition, and he has done so in an accessible way. Largely absent from this volume are matters of philology or Hebrew poetic analysis. These criticisms aside, Vast as the Sea draws its reader into the manifold complexities of human emotional experience as expressed in the words of the Hebrew poets who give voice to the struggles of living the good life in a world of pain, sorrow, and disappointment.