The Roots of Solomonic ‘Wisdom’ in the Pre-exilic Period (Focusing on Proverbs)

The concern of this chapter is to explore the possibility of a vibrant and living wisdom tradition in the pre-exilic period. Whilst this used to be a ‘given’ of scholarship, the tendency towards later and later dating in recent scholarship has led to the need to reaffirm such ideas. Three approaches are taken—first a literary-historical one; second a theological one, and finally a comparative one. The focus is on the book of Proverbs, since it is arguments on the relative dating of parts of Proverbs that are of major concern, as well as the wider issue of whether the thought-world of wisdom was in the consciousness of early Israelites. It is found that there is a closer relationship of ‘wisdom literature’ to mainstream Yahwism than has often been thought with the key theological theme of God as creator providing an essential link. Links of the theological outlook of Proverbs with other parts of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and with the ancient cultures of the ancient Near East confirm these conclusions.