1

“The Wisdom of Solomon”

~ Ginneo Haokip

INTRODUCTION

Wisdom sayings or proverbs are inevitable distinctive characteristic of a community or

society from the other. The Wisdom of Solomon is also an exhortatory discourse written
in Greek supposedly by a learned and thoroughly Hellenized Jew of Alexandria, after that
city’s conquest by Rome in 30 BCE to represent a powerful example of the Jewish
people’s struggle to maintain their distinct culture, tradition and religion against the
andcultural and economic domination of the Hellenistic and Roman rule. This paper
therefore attempt to bring out the content, theology, purpose and intention, and authorship
of the book of the Wisdom of Solomon in the light of its historical context and struggles.

TITLE
The book is known as the Wisdom of Solomon in the Septuagint and occupies the position
relatively to the other Wisdom-books, i.e. it follows Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of
Solomon, and precedes Ecclesiasticus, the position of Job being variable. In the Syriac
Version, it is known as the “Book of the Great Wisdom of Solomon, son of David,” and
in the Arabic, as the “Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, son of King David, who ruled
over the children of Israel.”1

AUTHORSHIP & UNITY OF THE BOOK

Neither the language nor the content of the book provides any hint to the date and
authorship, except in broadest terms. However, in chapter 7, the author of the Wisdom of
Solomon identifies himself indirectly as King Solomon; referring that he is a king (Wis
7:5; see also 8:14-15; 9:7), who valued and prayed for Wisdom over power and wealth
(Wis 7:7-12; see 1 Kgs 3:4-15). The implicit identification is made clearer in Wis 9:8

1
J.A.F. Gregg, The Wisdom of Solomon (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1909), ix.
 2

when the author claims that he is the one who built the Temple (see 1 Kgs 7:13–8:21; 2
Chronicles 3–7).2

Despite such indications, it is not assuredly possible that the work was composed by
Solomon, largely because the Hellenistic thought and culture that permeate it are grossly
anachronistic for Palestine of the early first millennium BCE. In fact, Solomonic
authorship was doubted even in premodern times. On the other hand, it is well-known that
pseudepigraphic writing is a familiar genre of the ancient world, to authenticate their
work as acceptable rather than popularity. Wisdom of Solomon is one celebrated example
of this phenomenon. The author of this book, therefore, is conventionally referred to as
Pseudo-Solomon, likely an Alexandrian Jew who wrote this work in Greek some-time
between 100 B.C. and A.D. 50.3 Thus, the Wisdom of Solomon is clearly a
pseudepigraphical work, with the author trying to gain authority for his sapiential
composition by attributing it to the traditionally wise King Solomon.

However, there has been much debate concerning the book’s original language of
composition. Most scholars consider the question of the book’s original language of
composition and unity of authorship in tandem. The first to attack its unity was Charles F.
Houbigant, a priest at the Paris Oratory. Chapters 1 – 9, he argued were of authentic
Solomonic origin, whereas the rest was added by a Greek writer. In 1795, J.G. Eichhorn,
J.F. Kleucker, C.G. Bretschneider and others suggested that the oldest part (1:1 – 6:8)
was the fragment of a work composed by a Palestinian Jew of the Maccabean age, that
chaps. 6:9 – 10:21 were composed in Greek about the time of Christ by an Alexandrian
Jew, and that the third part (12 – 19) also came from the period. A few years later, J.C.C.
Nachtigal presented his bizarre view that Wisdom was a Mosiac, to which seventy-nine
wise men had contributed.4 While it is plausible that the book was written by a school of
Jewish Hellenists who jointly composed and edited the work. Yet this cannot be known

2
See Gregg, The Wisdom of Solomon …, ix, x. Also see W. O. E. Oesterley, “The Wisdom of
Solomon,” in An Introduction to the Books of the Apocrypha (London: SPCK, 1958) 196.
3
Peter Enns, “Wisdom of Solomon and Biblical Interpretation in the Second Temple Period,” The
Way of Wisdom: Essays in Honor of Bruce K. Waltke, J.I. Packer and Sven K. Soderlund, eds. (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, n.d.), 213.
4
David Winston, The Anchor Bible: The Wisdom of Solomon: A New Translation with
Introduction and Commentary (New York: Doubleday, 1979), 12.
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with certainty. Therefore, in the light of the book’s overall style, structure, language5 and
theology, the supposition of single authorship may best be accounted.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND DATING

In modern critical study of the Wisdom of Solomon, there has been a great range for the
dating of the book, from the late third century BCE to the middle of the first century CE.
However, though no consensus has thus far emerged, recent scholarship has narrowed the
terminus a quo for composition to the late first century BCE or the beginning of the
second century BCE, around the time of the Roman conquest of Egypt under Octavian
(later calledAugustus).6 Clarke argues that since the author used the Septuagint version of
the Old Testament books, such as Job and Isaiah, he must have composed his book some
time after those books were translated into Greek (200 BCE).7 However, this more
precise range for the book’s date of composition is based on specific vocabulary usage
and issues of content that better correspond to the socio-historical situation in Egypt
during the Imperial period.

From the late fourth to late first centuries B.C., many Jews made their home in the
Ptolemaic cultural and administrative capital of Alexandria named after Alexander the
Great in 331 BCE. Over the course of three centuries, the Ptolemies afforded these
diaspora Jews special privileges, including partial self-governance in religious and
cultural matters as a politeuma and exemption from certain forms of taxation. However,
with the Roman annexation of Egypt in 30 BCE the Jews as an ethnic group lost status
and certain rights which they previously enjoyed during the Ptolemaic period. The
Romans introduced stringent tax measures, which imposed heavy economic burden on the
Jewish population. The tolerance of Jewish distinctiveness by both Hellenistic and Roman
rulers varied from one regime to the next. Life for a Jew in Alexandria was vulnerable

5
The strongest argument for the unity of the book may be drawn from its language and style. In
spite of some Hebrew coloring, such as parallelismus membrrum, Hebraisms, the simple connection of
clauses by conjunctions such as kai, de, dia, touto, dio, gar, and h;oti as correctly
pointed out by Grimm, the author’s Greek was on the whole rich and spontaneous and that St. Jerome’s
judgement that his style was “redolent of Greek eloquence” was completely justified. Thus the author of
Wisdom is quite capable of constructing sentences in true periodic style, and his fondness for compound
words is almost Aeschylean (Aeschylus - Greek tragedian; the father of Greek tragic drama (525-456 BC).
His manner at times has the light touch of Greek lyric poetry (17:17-19; 2:6-9; 5:9-13). See Winston, The
Anchor Bible …,14 – 15.
6
Gregg, The Wisdom of Solomon …, x.
7
Ernest G. Clarke, The Wisdom of Solomon (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973), 2.
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and difficult. Many Jews were thus tempted to give up their Jewish identity and religion
and to adopt Greek ways and culture.8 It was thus at such context of social, economic and
religious crises the author of the book of Wisdom gave response towards it. Taking this
social, economic and religious context, most scholars like Winston, Goodrick, Engel, et
al., suggest the book to be most likely composed sometime during or between the reigns
of Augustus and Gaius Caesar (C.E. 37–41), better known as Caligula (probably before
the letter issued by Claudius in 41 C.E.).9 However, even this range of dating cannot be
known with certainty.

CANONICITY
The author composed his work in Greek, although in the first half (chaps. 1- 10) he
utilized the characteristic feature of Hebrew poetry i.e. parallelism. His choice to write in
Greek prevented his book from being incorporated into the Jewish canon scriptures. Thus,
Martin Luther did not accept it among the “inspired” books. He segregated it apart with
other writings like Ben Sira into an appendix to his German translation of the Bible.
Nonetheless, the book had been included in the Bible of the early Christian along with the
other writings in the Septuagint. In the Greek Bible it bears the name “The Wisdom of
Solomon”. But with St Jerome’s translation of the scriptures into Latin, it came to be
known simply as “The Book of Wisdom”.10 The book was used extensively by the early
Church, although its formal place in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Church canon was

8
Anthony R. Ceresko, Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom: A Spirituality for Liberation
(Mumbai: ST PAULS, 1999), 183 – 184.
9
Emperor worship plays an important characteristic in the Roman Empire. The Jewish rejection of
recognising Emperor Caligula as god led Caligula to order a statue of him erected in the Temple of
Jerusalem, but he was assassinated before this atrocity was accomplished. Thus, the strife between
Alexandrian Greeks and Jews continued into the reign of Claudius, who eventually issued a declaration in
A.D. 41 which ultimately restricted Jewish rights in Alexandria and, at least formally, closed the Jewish
citizenship debate. See Andrew T. Glicksman, “Wisdom of Solomon 10: A Jewish Hellenistic
Reinterpretation of Early Israelite History through Sapiential Lenses,”
www.Glickman_cua_0043A_10055display.pdf (July 15, 2013). Engel makes a similar claim that the book
was probably not written much further into the Christian era because there are possible allusions to the
Wisdom of Solomon in the NT and other early Christian texts. Although most scholars look to the date of
the NT’s composition as a terminal point for dating the Wisdom of Solomon, there are some scholars who
affirm that there is no clear allusion to the Wisdom of Solomon in the NT. Despite the ambiguity of a
definite allusion, it is most probable that at least some of the NT authors were influenced by the Wisdom of
Solomon. Examples of NT passages that some scholars see as related to parts of the Wisdom of Solomon
include John 1:3 (Wis 9:1); Rom 1:18-32 (Wis 13:1-10); Eph 6:11-17 (Wis 5:17-20); Heb 1:3 (Wis 7:26);
Jas 4:14 (Wis 2:4); 1 Pet 1:6-7 (Wis 3:5-6). For an evaluation of these potential correspondences, see A. T.
S. Goodrick, The Book of Wisdom (Oxford Church Bible Commentary. New York: Macmillan, 1913), 8-10,
398-403.
10
Ceresko, Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom …, 186 – 187.
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not official until the Council of Trent (1545 – 1563) and the Synod of Jerusalem (1672).
Because it characterises Wisdom as emanation and closely connects it with the logos
concept, the book lends itself easily to Christological readings. 11 It is therefore both
deplorable and questionable as to why it was excluded in the Palestinian canon and
rejected by several early church fathers on the ground of Greek language against the
backdrop of its significance, theology, doctrine, authenticity and inspiration.

PURPOSE

The object of Wisdom is to embolden the pious by showing that the dominance of evil is
only apparent and transitory, to admonish backsliders by showing that the secular
philosophy which had relaxed their faith can in fact support it, to recover apostates and
perhaps covert Gentiles by showing the folly of heathenism. God is omnipresent and
aware of the good and evil in the world; each will receive due retribution, but rewards
need not be temporal. Death came into the world through the envy of the devil (2:24;
Diabolos translates the Hebrew Satan, who is thus first given this role in literature).12

STRUCTURE AND CONTENT

The Wisdom of Solomon may be divided into three parts: (i). Wisdom’s Gift of
Immortality (1-6:11 + 6:17-21); (ii). The Nature and Power of Wisdom and Solomon’s
Quest for Wisdom (6:12 – 16 + 6:22 – 10:21) (iii). Divine Wisdom history (11 – 19),
with two excurses, one on Divine Mercy (11:15 – 12:22), the other On Idolatry (13 –
15).13

Part I. Wisdom’s Gift of Immortality (1-6:11 + 6:17-21): the author begins by

addressing to the pagan rulers of the earth to an exhortation to justice, with the added
warning that those who pursue immoral ends will ultimately be exposed and convicted by
Divine Wisdom. It commends Wisdom and its attribute to the righteous. The author
points out that though God had indeed created man as an immortal image of his own
proper being, through the devil’s envy, Death has nevertheless entered into the cosmic

11
D.F. Morgan, “Wisdom of Solomon,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. 4,
Geoffrey W. Bromiley et al., eds. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 1084.
12
M. Hadas, “Wisdom of Solomon,” The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: An Illustrated
Encyclopedia, George Arthur Buttrick et al., eds. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962), 863.
13
Winston, The Anchor Bible …, 4. Also cf. Ceresko, Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom …,
192.
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order, to be experienced by his devotees (2:21 – 24). An attempt is now made to deal with
various facets of the problem of reward and retribution. The suffering and death of the
just, as told, are in reality only brief episodes of trial in the immortal destiny of righteous
souls which will bring them peace, future glorification, rulership over nations, and a
special divine illumination (3:1 – 12).14 Thus, it is characterized by the wisdom tradition’s
fundamental distinction between the righteous and the wicked and is coloured by an
eschatological hope for immortality in the light of present oppression.15

Part II. The Nature and Power of Wisdom and Solomon’s Quest for Wisdom (6:12 –
16 + 6:22 – 10:21); This second section which constitute the core, highlights the figure of
Solomon as a seeker after and obtainer of Wisdom. In the opening section, the author
promises to reveal what Wisdom is, tracking her from her first beginnings. Identifying
himself now indirectly in a first-person address as King Solomon, he emphasizes that
kings too are mortal, and therefore in need of divine wisdom (7:1 – 6).16 The immortality
promised to the righteous in Part I is grounded in their right relationship with God. This
relationship consists in a loving union with God made possible by God’s gift of wisdom.
That wisdom, personified as the Wisdom Woman, forms the subject of Part II.17

The author’s strategy operates on two levels. On one level he directs his message to the
community, bringing down the attraction of worship of Isis, the Egyptian goddess of
wisdom. At another level he proposes a spirituality aimed at the individual and leading to
union with God. He bases this spirituality on his own experience of finding God through
wisdom. In the first section in Part II, the author introduces the Wisdom Woman (6: 12 –
14).18
Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
And she is easily discerned by those who love her,
And she is found by those who seek her.
She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
For she will be found sitting at the gate.

14
Winston, The Anchor Bible …, 4 – 5.
15
Hadas, “Wisdom of Solomon …, 1083.
16
Winston, The Anchor Bible …, 5.
17
Ceresko, Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom …, 195.
18
Ceresko, Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom …, 196.
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In the following sections of Part II, the author celebrates the praises of the Wisdom
Woman. The author makes use of the style and the vocabulary of popular Hellenistic
hymns to Isis, the Egyptian goddess of wisdom and employs it as a medium for Jewish
faith expression. The writer then moves his argument in favour of Jewish wisdom from
the community level to the personal level which he witnesses to an experience of union
with God through wisdom. He describes this “wisdom spirituality” intended to offer
assurance and hope to the individual who follow his lead. In this way he inspires
confidence and encourage perseverance in the struggle to live as a faithful Jew in the
midst of an often unfriendly, even hostile environment.19

Part III. Divine Wisdom in History (11 – 19): In Wis 11–19, the author begins to
recount Wisdom’s acts of deliverance throughout Israel’s history, focusing in particular on
Israel’s exodus from Egypt and subsequent wandering in the wilderness. The author is giving
encouragement to a people facing the possibility of death. Israel’s exodus, her passage from
death to life, as it were, is presented by the author as the prime biblical portrait of what
Wisdom is doing now in the lives of these persecuted Alexandrian Jews i.e. he
recontextualizes their own passage from death to life, as their own exodus.20 It focuses on the
role of Wisdom in the history of Israel, drawing contrasts and comparisons between the
fortunes of the Egyptians and those of the Israelites. Idolatry receives extended
treatment.21 God, who created the world through wisdom, now makes use of created
things to achieve his saving purpose on behalf of his people asserting the unity of God’s
activity; creation and salvation as both accomplished by means of wisdom:22
And thus the paths of those on earth were set right,
And the people were taught what pleases you,
And were saved by wisdom. (9:18)

The author proceeds with a series of antitheses in order to illustrate the theme that Egypt
was punished measure for measure, whereas Israel was benefited by those very things
whereby Egypt was punished. 23

19
Ceresko, Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom …, 197.
20
Enns, “Wisdom of Solomon ..., 215.
21
Hadas, “Wisdom of Solomon …, 1083.
22
Ceresko, Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom …, 202.
23
Winston, The Anchor Bible …, 6.
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THEOLOGY

Wisdom of Solomon and the Afterlife: One difference, however, between Wisdom of
Solomon and OT Wisdom literature is the prominence given to the afterlife. In fact,
through much of the first six chapters of the book, immortality is portrayed as the final
end of all those who follow the path of wisdom. There is really nothing comparable to
this in OT Wisdom literature, where the focus is more on mastery of this life rather than
on attainment of the next life. In fact, the canonical book of Ecclesiastes is extremely
skeptical about the existence of the afterlife (as can be seen, e.g., in Eccl 3:19–22 and
6:12). By contrast, it may be that Wis 1:16–2:11 was designed, at least in part, to counter
such skepticsm. For instance, Wis 2:1 appears to echo and critique the negative attitude of
Ecclesiastes by saying,
They reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
“Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end,
and no one knows to return from Hades.”
The likely reason that skepticism toward death and the afterlife will not do for Ps-
Solomon is that his readers were living in a context of persecution. In short, wisdom for
Ps-Solomon is not merely a means to attaining mastery of this life, but the proper means
to attaining the life to come. Those who do not share this perspective he calls “ungodly.”
The importance Ps-Solomon places on the afterlife can be seen in yet another way, and
this will help us to see more clearly the bold way in which Ps-Solomon represents a
tradition that transforms biblical wisdom. He twice refers to death by using the Greek
word exodos, in 3:2 and 7:6. The “exodus” mentioned in 3:2 refers to the faithful who
die at the hands of tormentors. In 7:6, the word is used to describe the death of all
people.24 Although it is generally ill-advised to load too much theological significance in
individual words, in this case the description of death as an “exodus” is very striking in
view of the life situation of the audience and the Wisdom of Solomon as a whole.

The Logos: One of the most striking feature of the author’s description of Wisdom is that
he depicts her as an effluence or emanation of God’s glory.25 Though Philonic doctrine of
the Logos, or word, is not found in the strict sense, Philo’s doctrine of the wisdom is

24
Enns, “Wisdom of Solomon ..., 214 – 215.
25
Most middle Platonists seem to have avoided such a conception, but it was apparently adopted
by some of the Neopythagoreans, and was clearly implied by Philo. See Winston, The Anchor Bible …, 38.
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almost identical in this book. The Philonic Logos, owing to its Greek philosophical
implications, has meaning of “reason,” or the rational thought and ideal of God. But of
the six passages in which the ‘word’ is used in Wisdom, in one only can the Logos have
the sense of “reason,” and then not in a cosmic sense, but with reference to human nature
- .... our reason is a mere spark within our throbbing heart.... (2:2). In chapter 9:1,2 we
read “God of my fathers and Lord of mercy, who by your word made all things, and
through your wisdom framed man....”. Here Logos is rightly rendered “word.” Wisdom
here is not the semi-hypostatised Being, but the Divine attribute of Wise-ness.26 Like
Philo too, the author of Wisdom evidently teaches that “God made all things by his word
(logos),” and through his “wisdom (Sophia) formed man.” The description of wisdom as
“Choser of God’s works” in chapter 8:4 clearly implies that wisdom is identical with the
Divine mind through which the Deity acts. In the light of this, the assertion that “with you
is Wisdom who knows your works and was present when you created the world” (9:9)
signifies that wisdom contains paradigmatic patterns of all things and serves as the
instrument of their creation.27

Doctrine of God: The book of Wisdom does not ask, “Does God exist?” His existence is
taken for granted. But there is the question “What is his nature?” Though no definite
answer is given, many hints are furnished as to the writer’s view. God is supreme, and his
supremacy is seen in his work as Creator (11:17) and Upholder (12:15). Wisdom also
emphasises, as might be expected in an Alexandrine work, the distance of God from his
world. Even omnipresence is only indirectly attributed to God: it is the spirit of God, or
Wisdom, that fills the world. And if God searches hearts and reins, and hears the secret
words of man, it is because his deputy lays them open to his mind (1:6 – 10). It is as a
transcendent God that the book presents. He is indeed Creator, Artificer, Author of the
world’s beauty (1:14; 9:9; 13:1 etc.), but not directly; his creative action was mediated
through Wisdom. God is more rightly named Organiser than Creator.28 It is evident that
the author was blown by two waves of thought without giving complete adherence to
either. He acknowledged the direct action and reign of God upon the world but at the
same time was forced by his Alexandrine sympathies to the doctrine of intermediary.

26
Gregg, The Wisdom of Solomon …, xxxvi-xxxvii.
27
Winston, The Anchor Bible …, 38.
28
Gregg, The Wisdom of Solomon …, xi.
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Doctrine of Man and Sin: Man is composed of body and soul (1:4; 8:19, 20). This is the
only analysis accepted by the writer, although 15:11 seems at first to distinguish between
soul and spirit. The seat of personality is not clearly defined. In the earlier part of the
book the writer identifies the blessed dead with their souls which are in the hand of God
(3:1-9), but he is not consistent. In 8:19 it implies that personality is to a certain extent
independent of the soul, but immediately afterwards it implied that it is identified with the
soul (8:20). In ch. 15 again, it is not clear whether that which receives the soul or spirit is
the man, or merely his body. However, in 15:11 it is evident that this spiritual endowment
comes from God and joins the body at birth. Hence a certain pre-existence is taught.29

With regards to sin, whatever may constitute the bias towards evil, men posses free will
and are responsible agents. Adam’s transgression was his own; Cain revolted from
Wisdom and so fell into sin (10:1,3,; 5:8). But equally, men may seek God in such a spirit
as to find him (1:1,2); men may obtain Wisdom by asking for her (8:21). The writer does
not place the principle of sin in the body. It would therefore seem that theoretically the
body shares the ethical quality of the soul. The body is not an active agent of evil, it is
rather a passive check upon the soul. But however perfect the natural man may be, he will
be held in no account apart from wisdom (9:6); but in kinship unto her lies immortality
(8:17).30

LIBERATIVE DIMENSION IN WISDOM OF SOLOMON: A PERSPECTIVAL

READING

From this reading, two important liberative dimensions can be discerned:

(i). From the Tribals’ perspective, the book as a collection of tribal’s old sayings and
proverbs represents an example of resistance to the pressures of the dominant culture. It
serves as a liberative dimension to the Jewish community who are under pressure and
threatened with extinction against the hostility of the non-Jews. The author therefore
writes with great skill and creativity to defend the value and integrity ensuring the
survival and compatibility of his own faith and traditions. As against the Hellenistic
philosophies, the author insists the Jewish approach to wisdom that Wisdom is a gift from
God and not the achievement of human intelligence and reason. By doing so he counters

29
Gregg, The Wisdom of Solomon …, xlii – xliii.
30
Gregg, The Wisdom of Solomon …, xliii – xliv.
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the self-confidence of Hellenistic philosophers and their claim of the autonomy of human
reason – as a norm unto itself. Humans do not create their own destiny but are “saved by
wisdom” (9:18). That faith and trust in a God who loves and gives wisdom to those who
desire her are liberating. They free one from fear and anxiety about ultimate fate of
human beings. God loves human creatures and invites them to union with himself.

(ii). From the Feminist’s perspective, the personification of Wisdom as a woman is

striking and liberative in its context and in today’s context as well. This personification
also testifies the importance and role of woman in the ancient Israel, particularly their
presence in the wisdom movement. The personification of Wisdom as Woman who is the
breadth of the power of God (7:24-26), formed humankind (9:1-4), who comes down to
labour with human (9:9-10) is liberative in freeing one from the traditional patriarchal
perspective of using exclusively masculine language and images in describing God and
God’s activities. Thus, Kathleen O’ Connor argues that the Wisdom Woman “offers
biblical theology a symbol of God who breaks the boundaries of gender and nationality,
who relates to humans in intimacy and mutuality, and who joins them to the earth and to
one another at her banquet of life”.31

EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION

Form the above survey, it is evident that the book of the Wisdom of Solomon is rich in
meaning and invites, and even demands one to search for that meaning. It is also evident
that the presence of exegetical traditions in a Hellenistic philosophical and imagery style
which was the much appraised style of the context is not mere legends or artistic
embroidery. They are, rather, the fruit of sagely activity that treated the Bible as a gift
from God for a standard of faith and conduct as against the dominant culture and
traditions which threatened one’s faith and culture. It is wisdom that is contained, yet
hidden, in the text. It is to meet the challenge of bringing God’s wisdom to God’s people.

31
As cited by Ceresko, Introduction to Old Testament Wisdom …, 4.