"This collection of leading scholars presents reflections on both wisdom as a general concept throughout history and cultures, as well as the contested nature of the category of Wisdom Literature. The first half of the collection explores wisdom more generally with essays on its relationship to skill, epistemology, virtue, theology, and order. Wisdom is examined in a number of different contexts, such as historically in the Hebrew Bible and its related cultures, in Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as in Patristic and Rabbinic interpretation. Additionally, wisdom is examined in its continuing relevance in Islamic, Jewish, and Christian thought, as well as from feminist, environmental, and other contextual perspectives. The second half of the volume considers ""Wisdom Literature"" as a category. Scholars address its relation to the Solomonic Collection, its social setting, literary genres, chronological development, and theology. Wisdom Literature's relation to other biblical literature (law, history, prophecy, apocalyptic, and the broad question of ""Wisdom influence"") is then discussed before separate chapters on the texts commonly associated with the category. Contributors take a variety of approaches to the current debates surrounding the viability and value of Wisdom Literature as a category and its proper relationship to the concept of wisdom in the Hebrew Bible. Though the organization of the volume highlights the independence of wisdom as concept from ""Wisdom Literature"" as a category, seeking to counter the lack of attention given to this question in the traditional approach, the inclusion of both topics together in the same volume reflects their continued interconnection. As such, this handbook both represents the current state of Wisdom scholarship and sets the stage for future developments."
1. Wisdom and Wisdom Literature: Past, Present, and Future Will Kynes (Samford University) PART I. THE CONCEPT OF WISDOM IN THE HEBREW BIBLE 2. Advice: Wisdom, Skill, and Success Jacqueline Vayntrub (Yale Divinity School) 3. Epistemology: Wisdom, Knowledge, and Revelation Annette Schellenberg (University of Vienna) 4. Virtue and Its Limits in the Wisdom Corpus: Character Formation, Disruption, and Transformation William P. Brown (Columbia Theological Seminary) 5. Theology: Creation, Wisdom, and Covenant Raymond C. Van Leeuwen (Eastern University) 6. Order: Wisdom, Retribution, and Skepticism Ludger Schwienhorst-Schönberger (University of Vienna) PART II. THE CONCEPT OF WISDOM IN RELATED CULTURES 7. Wisdom in Egypt Joachim Quack (Heidelberg University) 8. Mesopotamian Wisdom Literature Yoram Cohen (Tel Aviv University) and Nathan Wasserman (Hebrew University) 9. Wisdom in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Jewish Interpretation Arjen Bakker (University of Oxford) 10. Wisdom in Dialogue with Greek Civilization Michael C. Legaspi (Penn State University) 11. Wisdom in the New Testament Mariam Kamell Kovalishyn (Regent College) 12. Wisdom in Patristic Interpretation: Scriptural and Cosmic Unity in Athanasius' Exegesis of Proverbs 8:22 Susannah Ticciati (King's College London) 13. Wisdom in Rabbinic Interpretation Amram Tropper (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) PART III. THE CONCEPT OF WISDOM IN THE MODERN WORLD 14. Wisdom in the Qur'an and the Islamic Tradition U. Isra Yazicioglu (St. Joseph's University) 15. Wisdom in Jewish Theology Jonathan Schofer (University of Texas-Austin) 16. Wisdom in Christian Theology Paul S. Fiddes (University of Oxford) 17. Personified Wisdom and Feminist Theologies Christine Roy Yoder (Columbia Theological Seminary) 18. Wisdom in Nature Norman Habel 19. The Pervasiveness of Wisdom in (Con)texts John Ahn (Howard University School of Divinity) PART IV. THE CATEGORY OF WISDOM LITERATURE 20. Solomon and the Solomonic Collection Katharine J. Dell (University of Cambridge) 21. The Social Setting of Wisdom Literature Mark Sneed (Lubbock Christian College) 22. Literary Genres of Old Testament Wisdom Markus Witte (Humboldt-University in Berlin) 23. The Chronological Development of Wisdom Literature Markus Saur (University of Kiel) 24. Theology of Wisdom Tremper Longman III (Westmont College) PART V. WISDOM LITERATURE AND OTHER LITERATURE 25. Wisdom Influence John L. McLaughlin (University of St. Michael's College) 26. Law and Wisdom Literature Jonathan P. Burnside (Bristol University) 27. History and Wisdom Literature Suzanna R. Millar (University of Edinburgh) 28. Prophecy and Wisdom Literature Mark J. Boda (McMaster Divinity College) 29. Apocalyptic and Wisdom Literature Bennie H. Reynolds III (Milsaps College) PART VI. TEXTS 30. Proverbs Samuel E. Balentine (Union Presbyterian Seminary) 31. Ecclesiastes Tova L. Forti (Ben Gurion University of the Negev) 32. Job Scott C. Jones (Covenant College) 33. Song of Songs Anselm C. Hagedorn (University of Osnabrück) 34. Wisdom Psalms W. H. Bellinger, Jr. (Baylor University) 35. Ben Sira Benjamin G. Wright (Lehigh University) 36. Wisdom of Solomon James Aitken (University of Cambridge) and Ekaterina Matusova (University of Tübingen) 37. The Pursuit of Wisdom at Qumran: Assessing the Classification
"Will Kynes is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Samford University. He is the author of An Obituary for ""Wisdom Literature"": The Birth, Death, and Intertextual Reintegration of a Biblical Corpus and My Psalm Has Turned into Weeping: Job's Dialogue with the Psalms, which received the Manfred Lautenschläger Award for Theological Promise in 2015. He has also edited, with Katharine Dell, Reading Job Intertextually, Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually, and Reading Proverbs Intertextually."
Reviews for The Oxford Handbook of Wisdom and the Bible
This volume of the Oxford Handbook series serves as an excellent entry into current conversations and debates surrounding wisdom and the wisdom tradition in the Hebrew Bible. Contributors come from a variety of vantage points, ranging from those who defend the traditional designation of wisdom as a genre to those who view this as an artificial designation imposed on disparate texts by modern scholarship. But the chapters are of consistently high quality while also still being highly readable. Scholars will come away from these chapters with much to debate, and students will gain a solid understanding of both the history and the current state of wisdom scholarship. * Brandon R. Grafius, Review of Biblical Literature *
