Despite frequent consideration of the wisdom tradition in the Hebrew scriptures in recent years, there is still a redoubtable incertitude about the nature of wisdom writings as they relate to the larger intellectual traditions of the ancient near east cultures in general and about their influence on the Hebrew scriptures as a whole. In this festschrift for noted ancient near east Wisdom literature specialist John Adney Emerton, these problems are methodically promoted, assessed and appraised by an international assortment of specialists. In addition to full coverage of the wisdom books and other literature most frequently considered to have been affected by them, thematic studies also introduce the principal comparative sources among Israel's neighbors and discuss the place of wisdom in Israelite religion, theology and society. Each essay contains a useful survey of relevant recent studies, and the many fresh insights offered by the contributors will make this volume necessary to students and scholars alike. The essays include: Introduction by John Day, Robert P. Gordon, And H. G. M. Williamson Part I The ancient near eastern setting Egyptian wisdom literature, J. D. Ray, Reader in Egyptology, University of Cambridge Some new Babylonian wisdom literature, W G. Lambert, Emeritus Professor of Assyriology, University of Birmingham The Wisdom of Ahiqar, Jonas C. Greenfield, Late Professor of Ancient Semitic Languages, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Part 2: Old Testament and Apocryphal texts Foreign Semitic influence on the wisdom of Israel and its appropriation in the book of Proverbs, John Day, Lecturer in Old Testament, University of Oxford The limits of theodicy as a theme of the book of Job by E. W. Nicholson, Provost of Oriel College, Oxford Qoheleth, Otto Kaiser, Emeritus Professor of Old Testament, University of Marburg/Lahn A house divided: wisdom in Old Testament narrative traditions, Robert P. Gordon, Lecturer in Divinity, University of Cambridge Wisdom in Solomonic historiography, Andre Le Maire, Directeur d'etudes, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Histoire et Philologie, Paris-Sorbonne Amos and wisdom, I. A. Soggin, Emeritus Professor of Old Testament, Waldensian Faculty, Rome Hosea and the wisdom tradition: dependence and independence, A. A. MacIntosh, Dean of St. John's College, Cambridge Isaiah and the wise, H. G. M. Williamson, Regius Professor of Hebrew, University of Oxford Jeremiah and the wise. William McKane, Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages, University of St. Andrews The wisdom psalms, R. N. Whybray, Emeritus Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament, University of Hull Wisdom and Daniel, B. A. Mastin, Senior lecturer in Biblical Studies, University College of North Wales, Bangor Ecclesiasticus: a tract for the times, John C. Snaith, Lecturer in Hebrew and Aramaic, University of Cambridge The Christian use and the Jewish origins of the Wisdom of Solomon, William Horbury, Lecturer in Divinity, University of Cambridge Part 3 Themes Were there schools in ancient Israel? G. I . Davis, Reader in Old Testament Studies, University of Cambridge The trees, the beasts and the birds: fables, parables and allegories in the Old Testament, Kevin J. Cathcart, Professor of Near Eastern Languages, University College, Dublin The personification of Wisdom, Roland E. Murphy, George Washington Ivey Emeritus Professor of Biblical Studies, Duke University, North Carolina Wisdom and the goddess, Judith M. Hadley, Assistant Professor of Old Testament, University of Villanova, Pennsylvania Wisdom at Qumran, A. S. Van Der Woude, Emeritus Professor of Old Testament and Intertestamental Studies, University of' Groningen The interpretation of wisdom in nineteenth-century scholarship Rudolf Smend, Professor of Old Testament, University of Gottingen, R E. Clements, Emeritus Samuel Davidson Professor of Old Testament Studies, King's College, University of London Biographical note: John Adney Emerton Bibliography of the works of John Adney Emerton Karen K. Maticich Indexes