• Introduction John Day, Robert P. Gordon, and H. G. M. Williamson; Part I. The Ancient Near Eastern Setting: 1. Egyptian wisdom literature J. D. Ray; 2. Some new Babylonian wisdom literature W. G. Lambert; 3. The wisdom of Ahiqar Jonas C. Greenfield; Part II. Old Testament and Apocryphal Texts: 4. Foreign semitic influence on the wisdom of Israel and its appropriation in the book of Proverbs John Day; 5. The limits of theodicy as a theme of the book of Job E. W. Nicholson; 6. Qoheleth Otto Kaiser; 7. A house divided: wisdom in Old Testament narrative traditions Robert P. Gordon; 8. Wisdom in Solomonic historiography André Lemaire; 9. Amos and wisdom J. A. Soggin; 10. Hosea and the wisdom tradition: dependence and independence A. A. Macintosh; 11. Isaiah and the wise H. G. M. Williamson; 12. Jeremiah and the wise William McKane; 13. The wisdom psalms R. N. Whybray; 14. Wisdom and Daniel B. A. Mastin; 15. Ecclesiasticus: a tract for the times John G. Snaith; 16. The Christian use and the Jewish origins of the Wisdom of Solomon William Horbury; 17. Were there schools in ancient Israel? G. I. Davies; 18. The trees, the beasts and the birds: fables, parables and allegories in the Old Testament Kevin J. Cathcart; 19. The personification of Wisdom Roland E. Murphy; 20. Wisdom and the goddess Judith M. Hadley; 21. Wisdom at Qumran A. S. van der Woude; 22. The interpretation of wisdom in nineteenth-century scholarship Rudopf Smend; 23. Wisdom and Old Testament theology R. E. Clements; Biographical note: John Adney Emerton; Bibliography of the works of John Adney Emerton Karen K. Miticich; Indexes.

'This collection immediately becomes mandatory reading for students of the Old Testament because of its breadth, erudition, and state-of-the-art currency. Anyone wishing to encounter more closely and intelligently the riches of the Old Testament's wisdom writings should spend time with it.' Regent's Reviews