The Social World of the Sages: An Introduction to Israelite and Jewish Wisdom Literature

The notion of a distinct wisdom tradition in ancient Israel has a long historybut does it have a basis in the evidence? Mark R. Sneed argues for a redefinition of the wisdom literature as a loosely cohering collection of books aimed at educating scribal apprentices in moral instruction and the art of living. He presents archaeological and literary data illustrating scribal culture and pedagogy in the ancient Near East and draws a portrait of Israels scribal culture, on the basis of which he argues that Israels wisdom literature was meant to complement, not to compete with, other modes of literature in the Hebrew Bible.

The result is a surprising new picture of the authors and tradents of the wisdom materials alongside the rich mixture of other traditions in ancient Israel, a presentation carried out with regard to Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, Wisdom, and the wisdom writings in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Features include informational sidebars, photos, diagrams, and maps illustrating archaeological discoveries.

Mark R. Sneed is professor of Bible at Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas. He is the author of The Politics of Pessimism in Ecclesiastes: A Social-Scientific Perspective (2012) and the editor of Concepts of Class in Ancient Israel (1999).