Human Interaction with the Natural World in Wisdom Literature and Beyond

Created in honor of the work of Professor Tova Forti, this collection considers the natural world in key wisdom books - Proverbs, Job and Qoheleth/Ecclesiastes, Ben Sira and Song of Songs/Solomon - and also examines particular animal and plant imagery in other texts in the Hebrew Bible. It crucially involves ancient Near Eastern parallels and like texts from the classical world, but also draws on rabbinic tradition and broader interpretative works, as well as different textual traditions such as the LXX and Qumran scrolls. Whilst the natural world, notably plants and animals, is a key uniting element, the human aspect is also crucial. To explore this, contributors also treat the wider concerns within wisdom literature on human beings in relation to their social context, and in comparison with neighbouring nations. They emphasize that the human, animal and plant worlds act together in synthesis, all enhanced and imbued by the world-view of wisdom literature.

Mordechai Cogan is Professor Emeritus, Department of Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Laura Quick is Assistant Professor of Religion and Judaic Studies at Princeton University, USA.

Katharine Dell is Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University and Fellow of St. Catharine's College, Oxford.

Jacqueline Vayntrub is Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale University, USA

David A. Glatt-Gilad is Senior Lecturer, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel