Wisdom and Law in the Old Testament The Ordering of Life in Israel and Early Judaism

by Blenkinsopp, Joseph

• ISBN13: 9780198755043
• ISBN10: 019875504X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-09-14
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This is a completely revised and expanded edition of a classic text. Drawing on recent work on legal and didactic material and including more literary interpretation, Blenkinsopp traces the course of two related key traditions--law and wisdom--throughout the history of Israel in the biblical period. He demonstrates their essential lines of continuity with classical Jewish thought and early Christian theology.

Table of Contents

Sages, Scribes, and Counsellors	p. 1
The Writings: the third section of the Hebrew Bible	p. 1
The many faces of wisdom	p. 5
The professional sage	p. 9
Education in Israel	p. 12
Education for Life	p. 18
Proverbs: the book	p. 18
The proverb	p. 20
The religious dimension	p. 24
The ethic of the sages	p. 29
The instruction	p. 31
Acrostics, numerical sayings, riddles	p. 35
Sapiential narrative	p. 39
God and the Moral Order	p. 46
The link between act and consequence	p. 46
Political disaster and religious crisis	p. 51
Job	p. 57
Qoheleth	p. 68
The problem remains	p. 79
The Growth of Israel's Legal Tradition	p. 84
Ordering life by law	p. 84
Law in early Israel	p. 90
The Covenant Code: Exodus 20:23-23:19	p. 94
The Decalogue	p. 102
The Second Law: Deuteronomy, religious programme and civil constitution	p. 107
Law in Early Judaism: Temple Community and Sect	p. 120
The Priestly History	p. 120
Cultic and ritual laws	p. 126
Wisdom and law in the Chronicler's work	p. 133
Law and legal exposition in Jewish sectarianism	p. 140
Theological Wisdom	p. 151
The confluence of wisdom and law	p. 151
Job 28: inaccessible wisdom	p. 153
Proverbs 8:22-31: Wisdom, first-born of creation	p. 157
Ecclesiasticus 24:1-29: Torah assimilated to Wisdom	p. 162
The Wisdom of Solomon: towards a new synthesis	p. 167
Apocalyptic wisdom	p. 173
Wisdom in transition: some further developments	p. 179
Select Bibliography	p. 183
Index of Passages Cited	p. 187
General Index	p. 193
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