Introduction to the Study of Wisdom Literature

<p>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. <br>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.</p>