An Introduction to the Study of Wisdom Literature (T&T Clark Approaches to Biblical Studies) - Softcover

Weeks, Stuart

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0567184439 ISBN 13: 9780567184436

Publisher: T & T Clark International, 2010

Synopsis

In contrast to much of the other literature in the Hebrew Bible, the wisdom books – Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes – have little interest in Israel’s national history and worship, but focus instead on the needs of each individual, struggling to survive and prosper in a world that can be dangerous and confusing.
This introduction to the study of Wisdom Literature is geared to questions of method and approach. The introduction and first chapter examine the basic questions central to the literature. Subsequent chapters outline the content, characteristics, and thought of each book, and discuss the problems involved in approaching and interpreting them. Examination of the biblical wisdom books is followed by a survey and discussion of other Jewish literature with a claim to be called ‘wisdom literature’, including psalms, and works from the apocrypha and from Qumran. The final chapters turn to more general issues of thought, place, and definition, concluding that wisdom literature must be understood not in terms of a shared origin, theology, or ideology, but as a type of literary discourse.

About this title

About the Author

<div><span style="font-family: AGaramond;">Dr Stuart Weeks MA (Oxon.) MPhil DPhil, Senior Lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew, Durham University, UK.<span> </span></span>He is the author of Early Israelite Wisdom (OUP, 1994) and Instructions & Imagery in Proverbs 1-9 (OUP, 2007).<span style="font-family: AGaramond;"><span> </span>He is writing the ICC volume on Ecclesiastes for T&T Clark.<o:p /></span> <br /></div>

Edition details

• Publisher: T & T Clark International
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0567184439
• ISBN 13: 9780567184436
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176