provide a corroboration of the biblical statements as to
the international character of wisdom (1 Kgs 4:30f. [MT
5:10f.]).1 No attempt will be made to reanalyze these
sources; rather, the goal will be to select samples which
are characteristic of the two-thousand-year history of
this form of literature in Egypt.2 The following
rather jejune list of the most well known Egyptian wisdom
____________________
1 Perhaps the most convenient list and analysis of
this material is found in William McKane's, Proverbs: A
New Approach. The Old Testament Library (Philadelphia: The
Westminster Press, 1970), pp. 51-201. Another fine
overview is James L. Crenshaw's, Old Testament Wisdom: An
Introduction (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1981), pp. 212-35.
A very exhaustive list, which includes the location of the
materials, is found in K. A. Kitchen's, "Proverbs and
Wisdom Books of the Ancient Near East: The Factual History
of a Literary Form," TB 28 (1977):111-14. R. J. Williams
provides a thorough synopsis of Egyptian wisdom studies
between 1960 and 1981 in "The Sages of Ancient Egypt in the
Light of Recent Scholarship," JAOS 101 (1981):1-19.
Finally, an excellent chart may be found in E. E. Heaton's,
Solomon's New Men: The Emergence of Ancient Israel as a
National State (New York: Pica, 1974), pp. 203-4.
2 English translations of Egyptian wisdom texts are
easily accessible in James B. Pritchard's, ANET, pp. 412-24
or in Miriam Lichtheim's, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 3
vols. (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1980),
1:58-82, 97-112, 134-92; 2:135-80; 3:159-217. Other
translations are: William Simpson, The Literature of
Ancient Egypt (reprint ed., New Haven: Yale University,
1973) and K. A. Kitchen, "Studies in Egyptian Wisdom
Literature--1," OrAnt 7 (1969):189-208 and "Studies in
Egyptian Wisdom Literature--2," OrAnt 8 (1970):203-9.
Kitchen translates the Instruction by a "Man for His Son"
and the "Counsels of Discretion." An older collection, but
still of value, is Adolf Erman, The Literature of the
Ancient Egyptians, trans. A. M. Blackman (reprint ed., New
York: Benjamin Blom, Inc., 1971), pp. 54-85.
texts provides a chronological sequence demonstrating the
antiquity and continuity of this type of literature in
Egypt.
OLD KINGDOM (DYNASTIES 1-7)
The Instruction of Prince Hardjedef (ca. 2400 B.C.)
The Instruction Addressed to Kagemni (ca. 2200 B.C.)
The Instruction of Ptahhotep (ca. 2200 B.C.)
MIDDLE KINGDOM (DYNASTIES 11-14)
The Instruction of King Amenemhet (ca. 1985 B.C.)
NEW KINGDOM (DYNASTIES 18-20)
The Instruction of Any (ca. 1500-1300 B.C.)
The Instruction of Amenemope (ca. 1100-600 B.C.)
THE LATE PERIOD
The Instruction of 'Onchsheshonqy (Ptolemaic?)
The Instruction of Papyrus Insinger (Ptolemaic?)1
There are two genres of Egyptian wisdom
literature: (l) sebayit (instructions), and
(2) onomasticon. The sebayit are instructions given by an
authority, often a father or teacher, to his son/pupil.
They structure their advice in an admonition form
(Mahnspruch), which is hortatory, and a statement or
saying form (Aussage) which makes empirical remarks about
the realities of life.2 So in "The Instruction Addressed
____________________
1 The dates are generally taken from Lichtheim's
Ancient Egyptian Literature.
2 Brian Kovacs, "Is there a Class-Ethic in
Proverbs?" Essays in Old Testament Ethics, ed. James L.
Crenshaw (New York: KTAV Publishing House, 1974), p. 173.
to Kagemni" one reads an admonition concerning table
etiquette:
When you sit with company,
Shun the food you love.1
"The Instructions of Any" gives the following admonition
from a familial setting.
Do not control your wife in her house,
When you know she is efficient; . . .
Let your eye observe in silence,
then you recognize her skill.2
An illustration of the sentence or saying form may also be
found in "The Instructions of Any," describing the
empirical realities of life in a non-hortatory fashion.
One man is rich, another is poor,
But food remains for him [who shares it].3
Both of these forms are attested to in Proverbs, as will
be shown later. Disputation literature and scribal texts
are also found in Egypt, but, since they are not
particularly germane to the discussion, they have not been
included.
A few examples from the Instruction literature may
be cited to illustrate the correspondence of both form and
content between Egyptian and Israelite sources. In
Ptah-hotep is written this instruction:
____________________
1Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature,
1:59.
2Ibid., 2:143.
3Ibid., 2:142.
If you are one among guests
At the table of one greater than you,
Take what he gives as it is set before you.1
A similar note is struck in Proverbs 23:1:
When you sit to dine with a ruler.
Note well what is before you.
Though manifesting several differences from the
book of Proverbs--for example, 'Onchsheshonqy's slender
use of antithetical parallelism and its employment of
single line proverbs--'Onchsheshonqy does have some points
in common with Proverbs. The idea that "man proposes but
God disposes" is found in both Proverbs and
'Onchsheshonqy:
In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps (Prov 16:9).
This may be compared with 'Onchsheshonqy 26,l.14:
The plans of the god are one thing, the thoughts of
[men] are another.
Gemser further cites eight common motifs between the two
texts. Themes such as the condemnation of laziness, the
warning against wayward married women, the end of a man's
way determining the course he should take, and even the
advice that one's fear of god be great, will be easily
recognized by students of Proverbs.2 While, surely, no
one
____________________
1Ibid., 1:65.
2B. Gemser, "The Instructions of 'Onchsheshonqy
and Biblical Wisdom Literature," in Studies in Ancient
Israelite Wisdom (New York: KTAV, 1976), pp. 142-43, 156.
Hereafter cited as SAIW.
would suggest borrowing between 'Onchsheshonqy and
Proverbs, the comparison does show a common ethos
prevalent in this type of literature, both in Egypt and in
Israel.
Amenemope and Proverbs
A matter which demands special attention is the
debate concerning the viability and direction of borrowing
between Amenemope and Proverbs. The text of Amenemope
suggests a very strong nexus between Egypt and Israel.1 A
scrutiny of this problem will not be attempted here since
pertinent literature is abundant.
Amenemope is dated by some as early as 1000 B.C.
and by others as late as 600 B.C. The usual triad of
solutions is forwarded:2 (1) Israel borrowed;3
____________________
1Ludwig Keimer, "The Wisdom of Amen-em-ope and
the Proverbs of Solomon," AJSL 43 (1926):8-9 surveys the early
discovery and analysis of this "Instruction."
2Bryce, A Legacy of Wisdom, pp. 33-39 surveys
the three views, as do Martin R. Johnson, "An Investigation of
the Fear of God as a Central Concept in the Theology of
the Wisdom Literature" (M.A. thesis, Trinity Evangelical
Divinity School, 1974), p. 7 and Brian Kovacs,
"Sociological-Structural Constraints upon Wisdom: The
Spatial and Temporal Matrix of Proverbs 15:28-22:16"
(Ph.D. dissertation, Vanderbilt University, 1978), p. 167.
3This is the view held by the majority of
scholars. Bryce, A Legacy of Wisdom, pp. 74-75, 158, 212
gives the most recent and well-stated exposition of this
position, in which he allows for adaptive, assimilative
and integrative stages to account for differences in the
texts. James L. Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom: An
Introduction (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1981), p. 220.
Ronald J. Williams, "The Alleged Semitic Original of the
(2) Amenemope borrowed;1 or (3) they both referred to a
common setting or common original.2
____________________
'Wisdom of Amenemope,'" JEA 47 (1961):100-106 gives a
refutation of Drioton (vid. the next footnote for Drioton's
articles). R. B. Y. Scott, "Solomon and the Beginnings of
Wisdom in Israel," in Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient
Near East, ed. Martin Noth and D. W. Thomas, VTSup 3
(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1969), p. 278. Roland E. Murphy,
"Israel's Wisdom: a Biblical Model of Salvation," Studia
Missionalia 30 (1981):15. Note R. N. Whybray, The
Intellectual Tradition in the Old Testament, BZAW, 135 (New
York: Walter de Gruyter, 1974), p. 40, where Whybray says
Proverbs' dependence is "universally admitted." Scholars
who hold this position are: Zimmerli, Eissfeldt, Childs,
Rylaarsdam, Heaton, Skladny, Rankin, B. Andersen, Erman,
von Rad, Keimer, Gemser, McKane et al.
1Two older works are: Robert O. Kevin, "The Wisdom
of Amen-em-apt and its Possible Dependence upon the Book of
Proverbs," Journal of the Society of Oriental Research 14
(November 1930):115-56; and James M. McGlinchey, The
Teaching of Amen-em-ope and the Book of Proverbs
(Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America,
1939), pp.33-36. More recently the Egyptologist Drioton
has attempted to support a Semitic original. E. Drioton,
"Le Livre des Proverbes et la sagesse d'Amenemope," in
Sacra Pagina: Miscellanea biblica congressus
internationalis Catholici de re biblica 1, ed. J. Coppens,
A. Descamps, and E. Massux, Bibliotheca ephemeridum
theologicae Lovanienes, vol. 12 (Gembloux: J. Duculot,
1959), pp. 229-41. E. J. Young, An Introduction to the Old
Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.,
1964), p. 314. Finally, and perhaps the most interesting,
is: John Ruffle, "The Teaching of Amenemope and its
Connection with the Book of Proverbs," TB 28 (1977):29-68.
This is a reworking of his thesis: "The Teaching of
Amenemope and its connexion with the Book of Proverbs"
(M.A. thesis, University of Liverpool, 1965). Cf. also
Lorne A. McCune, "Wisdom Theology and Proverbs: A
Historical and Theological Evaluation" (Th.M. thesis, Grace
Theological Seminary, 1979), pp. 1-111.
2W. O. E. Oesterley, "The 'Teaching of
Amen-em-ope' and the Old Testament," ZAW 45 (1927):9-24;
While the majority of scholars hold to Proverbs'
dependence on Amenemope, there has been a steady and
substantial group that has held to the priority of
Proverbs. Ruffle's delightful article sardonically
compares parallels between Amenemope with the Precepts of
the Elders, which is an Aztec set of proverbs. This aptly
points out the problem of suggesting that "a common
proverb means common origin." Recent paroemiological
studies have also shown this deduction to be hazardous.
For example, who would suggest that the Swahili proverb,
"Where there is a will there is a way," was borrowed by
the English, alliteration and all (or vice versa)? Is one
to suppose that the Yemenite folk proverb, "When the cat
is absent the mice will dance," is really the original
form, with certain minor transformations of the English,
"While the cat's away the mice will play"? G. Neuman has
well said, "Apparently there is a common manner of thought
and presentation which--in spite of all differences--
unites them [proverbs] across national boundaries."1 It
____________________
also his, The Book of Proverbs with Introduction and Notes,
Westminster Commentaries (London: Methuen and Co., Ltd.,
1929), p. xxxvi; and The Wisdom of Egypt and the Old
Testament (London: Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge, 1927), pp. 36-74. Bruce K. Waltke, "The Book
of Proverbs and Ancient Wisdom Literature," BSac 136
(July-September 1979):235. R. K. Harrison, Introduction
to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1969), p. 1015.
1 Gerhard Neuman, Der Aphorismus: zur
Geschichte, zu der Formen und Moglichkeiten einer Literarischen
Gattung, in Wege der Forschung, vol. 356 (Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1976), p. 1. A
translation of this was generously received through
seems that a common universe, rather than borrowing, may
account for many proverbial similarities between cultures,
though by no means does this deprecate the fact that
proverbs often are transmitted trans-culturally.
It is fitting that several parallels between
Amenemope and Proverbs be noted, not in an effort to
demonstrate borrowing, but to show similarities in form
and, to some extent, content.1
Better a little with the fear of the Lord
than great wealth with turmoil.
Better a meal of vegetables where there is love
than a fattened calf with hatred.
(Prov 15:16-17)
Better is poverty at the hand of God
than riches in the storehouse.
Better is bread with happy heart
than riches with vexation.
(Amenemope 9:5-8)
Do not move the ancient boundary stone,
set up by your forefathers,
(Prov 22:28)
____________________
correspondence with Donald Morton of Syracuse University.
1Lists of comparisons may be found in any of the
following: Keimer, "Wisdom of Amenemope," pp. 14-18;
H. Ranston, The Old Testament Wisdom Books and Their
Teaching (London: Epworth Press, 1930), pp. 43-44;
Ruffle, "Amenemope," p. 58; Oesterley, Proverbs, pp.
xxxvii-lv; D. C. Simpson, "The Hebrew Book of Proverbs and
the Teaching of Amenophis," JEA 12 (1926):233-39 (gives a
very complete list relating it to all of Proverbs); Ronald
E. Parkhurst, "The Wisdom of Proverbs in the Context of
Ancient Near Eastern Cultures" (Th.M. thesis, Western
Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1975), pp. 100-104; Waltke,
"The Book of Proverbs and Ancient Wisdom Literature," pp.
234-35; and, of course, scattered throughout, Bryce,
A Legacy of Wisdom.
Do not carry off the landmark at the boundaries of
arable land,
Nor disturb the position of the measuring cord.
(Amenemope 7:12-13)
Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man,
do not associate with one easily angered,
or you may learn his ways
and get yourself ensnared.
(Prov 22:24-25)
Do not associate to thyself a passionate man,
nor approach him for conversation.
Leap not to cleave to that [fellow],
lest a terror carry thee away.
(Amenemope 11:13-15; 13:8-9)
These parallels should not seem odd, in light of Solomonic
connections with Egypt (1 Kgs 9:24). It should be
observed that the Egyptian texts parallel the biblical
material both in form (note the "better-than" proverb
above) and in content. Thus, the inspired writer utilized
aspects of ancient Near Eastern literary form and motifs
to express himself. Bullock is correct when he says,
"If, however, Erman and those who follow him are correct,
this should in no way undermine faith in the divine
inspiration of the Proverbs passage" (cf. Acts 17:28).1
Sumerian Proverbs
The epigraphic materials from Sumer have been
dealt with extensively by S. N. Kramer, and his student,
E. I. Gordon. Gordon, in an excellent survey, lists
____________________
1C. Hassell Bullock, An Introduction to the
Old Testament Poetic Books: The Wisdom and Songs of Israel
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), p. 172.
twenty-four Sumerian Proverb collections.1 Kramer adds
that the collections contain more than a thousand proverbs
which received their final form during the renaissance of
the Third Dynasty of Ur.2 These collections antedate the
earliest Egyptian instructions by several centuries.3
Gordon has noted the following five classes of
Sumerian proverbs: precept, maxim, truism, adage, and
byword.4 The precept is a moral rule, often specifying
conduct in the imperative. For example:
____________________
1E. I. Gordon, "A New Look at the Wisdom of Sumer
and Akkad," BO 17 (May-July 1960):121-38. This article
provides a valuable survey. It is more than a review of J.
A. van Dijk's, La Sagesse Sumero-Accadienne: Recherches
sur les Genres Litteraires des Textes Sapientiaux avec
Choix de Textes (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1953). More
recently Bendt Alster has cited where the various
collections have been published as well as publishing his
translation of collection seven (114 proverbs) 50 of which
are found in other Sumerian collections ("Sumerian Proverb
Collection Seven," Revue D'Assyriologie et D'Archeologie
Orientale 72.2 (1978):97-112.
2Samuel N. Kramer, The Sumerians: Their
History, Culture, and Character (Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press), pp. 224-25.
3John M. Thompson, The Form and Function of
Proverbs in Ancient Israel (The Hague: Mouton and Co.,
1974), p. 43.
4Edmund I. Gordon, Sumerian Proverbs: Glimpses
of Every Day Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (Philadelphia: The
University Museum, 1959), p. 1. Gordon's work is also
extremely valuable for the cultural analysis he gives on
pp. 285-323. Samuel N. Kramer, "Sumerian Wisdom
Literature: A Preliminary Survey," BASOR 122 (April
1951):28-29 shows the five larger genres of Sumerian wisdom
literature: (1) proverbs; (2) miniature essays;
(3) instructions and precepts; (4) essays concerned with
the Mesopotamian school and scribe; and (5) disputes and
debates.
Accept your lot (and) make your mother happy!
Act promptly and make your (personal) god happy.
(1.145)1
A maxim is a rule dealing with more practical things than
the precept:
Do not cut off the neck of that which (already) has
had its neck cut off. (1.3)
A truism is a straightforward assertion of a truth--in
contrast to the precept and maxim which are often in
imperatival form, calling for action.
If food is left over, the mongoose consumes it;
If it leaves (any) food for me, the stranger consumes
it. (1.9)
The adage portrays its simple truth in metaphoric language
(it often employs: metaphor, irony, simile, hyperbole,
etc.).2
A boat bent on honest pursuits sailed downstream with
the wind;
Utu [the sun god] has sought out honest ports for it.
(1.86)
A byword is a declarative statement of sarcastic intent.
He who does not support either a wife or a child,
his nose has not borne a leash. (1.153)
This byword mocks a bachelor who thinks lightly of the
responsibilities of marriage. Perhaps more germane to
____________________
1These examples are taken from a useful summary
by John Khanjian, "Wisdom in Ugarit and in the Ancient Near
East with Particular Emphasis on Old Testament Wisdom
Literature" (Ph.D. dissertation, Claremont Graduate School,
1974), pp. 45-55. Cf. Gordon, Sumerian Proverbs, p. 18.
Similar Sumerian examples may be found in Gordon's "A New
Look at the Wisdom of Sumer and Akkad," pp. 132-33.
2Gordon, Sumerian Proverbs, p. 15.
biblical studies is Gordon's analysis that, of nearly 300
proverbs, 138 may be classified as exhibiting
parallelism.1 He cites numerous examples of antithetic
and synonymous parallelism. An example of antithetic
parallelism may be seen in the following:
Of what you have found you do not speak;
(Only) of what you have lost do you speak.
(1.11)
Other wisdom genres from Sumer include: fables2 and
parables, riddles,3 "Edubba" (School) compositions,
wisdom disputations, satirical dialogues and practical
instructions.4 Kramer also translates a wisdom text which
he calls "Man and his God," which appears to develop a
motif similar to that of Job.5 More recently, Bendt
Alster has meticulously analyzed "The Instructions of
Suruppak," which, interestingly enough, are the wise
counsels of a Sumerian royal father to his son Ziusudra.6
____________________
1Ibid., p. 16. Cf. also Gordon's, "A New Look at
the Wisdom of Sumer and Akkad," p. 132.
2Collection 21, for example, includes the fable
"The Fowler and His Wife." (vid. Alster, "Sumerian
Proverbs Collection Seven," p. 102).
3Bendt Alster, "A Sumerian Riddle Collection,"
JNES 35 (1976):263-67. Cf. also R. D. Biggs, "Pre-Sargonic
Riddles from Lagash," JNES 32 (1973):26-33.
4Gordon, "A New Look at the Wisdom of Sumer and
Akkad," p. 124.
5Samuel N. Kramer, "'Man and his God'. A
Sumerian Variation on the 'Job' Motif,"
VTSup 3 (1960):170-82.
6Bendt Alster, The Instructions of Suruppak: A
This is the oldest extant poem in the world. His work,
Studies in Sumerian Proverbs, analyzes these materials
from both syntactic and structuralist points of view. His
development of paradoxical proverbs and even wellerisms
are of interest to students of paroemiology. For example:
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