Early Israelite WisdomThis is a new and ground-breaking study of the nature and origins of the earliest material in the book of Proverbs, drawing on evidence from Israel and neighboring countries in the ancient Near East. This literature has been widely believed to have originated as pedagogical material, designed for the education of future administrators in the royal bureaucracy from the time of Solomon. That belief has played an important part not only in the interpretation of the texts, but in reconstructions of Israelite society and history. In this book, Weeks challenges this belief, arguing that it is largely founded on assumptions which are now widely discredited, and he sets out to re-evaluate the evidence in the light of more recent research. Weeks's illuminating conclusions will have important implications for the future study of this material, and for our understanding of ancient Israel's society and history. |
Contents
Context in the Sayings Collections | 20 |
Proverbs and the Court | 41 |
Was Early Wisdom Secular? | 57 |
The Wise in the Old Testament | 74 |
Joseph | 92 |
Wisdom and the Reign of Solomon | 110 |
Schools in Israel | 132 |
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Common terms and phrases
abecedaries administration Aharoni Ahikar Akkadian alten Amenemope Ancient antithetical sayings appears Arad Aramaic argues association attributed biblical Book of Proverbs Canaanite Černy chapter claim clearly coll collections context counsellors David divine action Egypt Egyptian instructions evidence foreign Freiburg and Göttingen Hebrew Hieratic idea inscription interpretation Israel Israelite Israelite wisdom Izbet Şartah Joseph Narrative king sayings Kingdom Lachish Lemaire literary London material McKane Mesopotamian Mettinger non-Israelite officials Old Testament Onchsheshonqy original ostraca Ostracon Oxford Papyrus parallels passages probably prologue Prophets and Wise Prov Ptahhotep R. B. Y. Scott R. N. Whybray Ramesseum redaction redactor reference reinterpretation religious scholars scribal scribes script secular seems sentence literature similar Solomon specific story sub-collection Succession Narrative suggest Sumerian Šuruppak tablet theme verse Whybray Wiesbaden wisdom literature words writing Yahweh Yahweh sayings Yahwistic