Gezer Calendar which may be a school exercise tablet;3
(4) the use of cuneiform in Palestine (e.g., El Amarna
letters and copies of Gilgamesh found at Megiddo);4
(5) the town name Kiriath-Sepher (Josh 15:15) implies a
scribal center where training could be obtained;5 (6) the
administrational complexity of the monarchy would suggest
that there was a school to prepare persons for
governmental positions, as well as to train the children
____________________
1W. F. Albright, "A Teacher to a Man of Shechem
about 1400 B.C.," BASOR 86 (1942):31; and Thompson, The
Form and Function, pp. 82-83.
2Landsberger, "Scribal Concepts of Education," pp.
105-6.
3W. F. Albright, "The Gezer Calendar,"
BASOR 92 (1943):16-26. Cf. Gaspar, Social Ideas in the Wisdom
Literature of the Old Testament, p. 146; and Kaster,
"Education, Old Testament," p. 30.
4Landsberger ("Scribal Concepts of Education," pp.
120-21) states that anywhere Gilgamesh was found implies
the presence of a school also. Gaspar, Social Ideas in the
Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament, p. 145; and
Olivier, "Schools and Wisdom Literature," p. 59.
5W. O. E. Oesterley, The Book of Proverbs (London:
Methuen and Co., Ltd., 1929), p. lxix; cf. Humphrey, "The
Motif of the Wise Courtier in the Old Testament," p. 115.
Whybray objects to this interpretation, suggesting instead
that Kiriath-Sepher merely implies a scribal guild, rather
than a school setting (Whybray, The Intellectual Tradition,
p. 36).
of the royal harem;1 (7) the use of the technical terms
"father" and "mother" in wisdom literature may reflect a
school setting, as elsewhere in the ancient Near East;2
(8) the mentioning of the Levitical teachers (2 Chr
17:8-9; 35:3; Mic 3:11; Mal 2:6-7);3 and (9) specific
references hint at a school setting (Isa 28:9-10, 26).4
The first explicit reference to Israelite schools is found
in Sirach 51:23. Thus, with schools having been found in
Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Ugarit, and with the above
evidences suggesting the existence of a school in Israel,
it seems most probable that there was, in fact, a school
in Israel, at least by the time of the monarchy.
Numerous scholars have accepted a school setting
for the book of Proverbs. Indeed, recent paroemiological
studies confirm the didactic nature of proverbial
materials. The proverbial form has been utilized almost
universally in a didactic setting.5 Hermisson is usually
____________________
1Olivier, "Schools and Wisdom Literature," p. 59;
and Halvorsen, "Scribes and Scribal Schools," p. 167.
Certainly the tightening of international ties during the
Solomonic enlightenment would also suggest such.
2Kovacs, "Is There a Class-Ethic in Proverbs?" p.
173.
3Kaster, "Education, Old Testament," p. 31; cf.
Aelfred Cody, A History of the Old Testament Priesthood,
Analecta Biblica 35 (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute,
1969), pp. 118, 187.
4Scott, The Way of Wisdom, p. 16.
5Fontaine, "The Use of the Traditional Saying in
credited with demonstrating the school-like character of
the Proverbs.1 Other scholars have consented to this
setting as well.2 Scott proposes that Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes and Sirach were the three textbooks of the
schools in Israel.3 Gordis is too speculative when
he proposes that there were two types of schools--a
conservative one, reflected in Proverbs, and a more
____________________
the Old Testament," p. 89; Alexander H. Krappe, The Science
of Folklore (London: Methuen Co., 1930), pp. 143, 147-48;
and L. A. Boadi, "The Language of the Proverb in Akan," in
African Folklore, ed. Richard M. Dorson (Garden City:
Anchor Books, 1972), p. 186. One can see the didactic
character of the Akan proverb in the following (which is
appropriate to this dissertation): "The child should take
a morsel small enough to fit his mouth." Rosalyn Saltz
("Children's Interpretations of Proverbs," Language Arts
56.5 (1979):508-21) does an experiment on the effectiveness
of proverbs in teaching children.
1Hermisson, Studien zur israelitischen
Spruchweisheit, pp. 94-96; also Richter, Recht und Ethos,
pp. 183-92; and Kovacs, "Sociological-Structural
Constraints," p. 87.
2Olivier, "Schools and Wisdom Literature," p. 49;
U. Skladny, Die altesten Spruchsammlungen in Israel
(Gottingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1962), pp. 44-45;
Oesterley, The Book of Proverbs, p. lxi; Crenshaw,
"Wisdom," p. 228; Murphy, Wisdom Literature, p. 6; Nel, The
Structure and Ethos, p. 136; Craigie, "Biblical Wisdom in
the Modern World," p. 7; Kovacs, "Is There a Class-Ethic in
Proverbs?" p. 173; R. J. Williams, "Some Egyptianisms in
the Old Testament," in Studies in Honor of John A. Wilson,
September 12, 1969, Studies in Ancient Oriental
Civilization 35 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,
1969), p. 145; Emerton, "Wisdom," p. 226; von Rad, Old
Testament Theology, pp. 430-31; Humphreys, "The Motif of
the Wise Courtier in the Old Testament," p. 120; and
Murphy, "Form Criticism and Wisdom Literature," p. 482.
3Scott, The Way of Wisdom, p. 52.
radical one, whose tendenz is manifest in
Ecclesiastes.1
The physical discipline encouraged in Proverbs may well
reflect an ancient school milieu (Prov 10:13; 13:24;
15:32; 19:18).2 von Rad proffers that the proverbial use
of questions also favors a didactic setting (Prov 6:27;
23:29-30; 30:4).3
The school ethos may be displayed in the contrasts
between the wise and foolish men (Prov 12:15-16; 13:1),
the wicked and ideal women (Prov 12:4; 14:1; ch. 9
contrast ch. 31), and the willing worker and the otiose
sluggard (Prov 6:9-11; 19:15). Nel further notes that the
school ethos does not contrast with the parental ethos;
rather, it stands in loco parentis.4 The pedagogical
purpose is strong in Proverbs, not in the sense of
patching up a bad life, but in the avoidance of the bad
life by the acceptance of good counsel.5 From the
continual warning against immorality, it may be deduced
____________________
1R. Gordis, "Quotations in Wisdom Literature," JQR
30 (1939):123 (also in SAIW, p. 220).
2Beaucamp, Man's Destiny in the Books of
Wisdom,
pp. 9-10.
3von Rad, Wisdom in Israel, p. 18.
4Nel, The Structure and Ethos, p. 80.
5John L. McKenzie, The Two-Edged Sword: An
Interpretation of the Old Testament (London: Geoffrey
Chapman, 1959), p. 218.
that the students were young men rather than children.1
It may also be suggested that their curriculum involved
the memorization of a few lines every day (cf. Isa
28:9-10, 23-30; possibly reflected in the sentences of
Prov 10-22).2
The school hypothesis has not gone unchallenged.
Whybray has scrutinized the arguments in favor of a
pre-exilic Israelite school and has found them wanting.3
His analysis cautions one about exclusively taking a
school setting for Proverbs; yet his position seems to
raise as many problems as it solves. He portrays the
wisdom teachers as open-air lecturers in an informal
setting--more akin to the "sons of the prophets." He opts
more for scribal families than for a school per se and
suggests that there is no evidence of an organized school
system prior to Sirach's comment (Sir 51:23). Crenshaw
and Gladson acquiesce to Whybray's analysis which
demonstrated the tentativeness of the pre-exilic school
and that one should be careful about identifying Proverbs
____________________
1Gordis, "The Social Background of Wisdom
Literature," p. 84.
2Kovacs, "Is There a Class-Ethic in Proverbs?" p.
173; Christa B. Kayatz, Studien zu Proverbien 1-9, p. 4.
3Whybray, The Intellectual Tradition, pp.
35-43.
too closely with a school setting.1 Crenshaw properly
rejects the tendency to account for the shift from
sentence forms to the admonition form in Proverbs as a
result of a school influence.2 The presence of clan and
family wisdom elements, reflecting settings prior to the
school, points to a multiplex setting and to the schools
more in terms of use than of origin.3
This writer favors the view that a pre-exilic
school existed in Israel. However, because of the limited
data available, one should be cautious about viewing the
Israelite school as the primary setting for Proverbs.
Rather, the school setting should be seen as one more
component of the proverbial Sitz im Leben. The school
setting, like the scribal background of the proverbs, adds
another hue to the tapestry of a full appreciation of
Proverbs.
The King and Wisdom
The relationship between the king and Proverbs is
explicitly and repeatedly made in the biblical text (Prov
1:1; 10:1; 25:1). This is interesting in light of the
____________________
1Crenshaw, "Prolegomenon," p. 16; cf. also Gladson,
"Retributive Paradoxes in Proverbs 10-29," p. 147.
2Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom, p. 78.
3Ibid., p. 236; and Nel, The Structure and Ethos,
p. 138. Vid. Murphy (Wisdom Literature, pp. 7-8) for a
balanced development of the various settings of the family
and the school.
ancient Near Eastern sources, particularly in Egypt, in
which the king and wisdom literature are also coupled.
Hence, the kingship will be surveyed, noting its
connection with wisdom.1
The King and Wisdom in Egypt
It is well-known that in Egypt the king was
considered, not only as the son of the sun god Re, but was
also thought to be a god incarnate. He was identified
with Horus and at death became Osiris. Re himself was
held to be the first king of Egypt.2 As a god, he was
required to maintain "justice" and the order of the
____________________
1For excellent studies in the areas of kingship
and wisdom, one should examine the following standard works on
kingship: Henri Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods: A Study
of Ancient Near Eastern Religion as the Integration of
Society and Nature (Chicago: The University of Chicago
Press, 1978); Ivan Engnell, Studies in Divine Kingship in
the Ancient Near East (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1967); S.
Hooke, ed., Myth Ritual and Kingship: Essays on the Theory
and Practice of Kingship in the Ancient Near East and in
Israel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958); and Bruce V.
Malchow, "The Roots of Israel's Wisdom in Sacral Kingship."
For a recent discussion of this matter, vid. Gary Smith,
"The Concept of God/the Gods as King in the Ancient Near
East and the Bible," Trinity Journal 3.1 (1982):18-38.
2Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 33-35,
46-47; C. J. Gadd, Ideas of Divine Rule in the Ancient Near
East (London: Oxford University Press, 1948), p. 33;
Humphrey, "The Motif of the Wise Courtier in the Old
Testament," p. 10; Khanjian, "Wisdom in Ugarit," p. 82; and
Harvey, "Wisdom Literature and Biblical Theology," p. 312.
For texts, vid. ANET, p. 234. Note the titles given to
Thutmose III; or, in the "Tale of Sinuhe," observe its
praise of Sesostris I (ANET, p. 20). Finally, the title
"The Divine Attributes of Pharaoh," in ANET, p. 431,
indicates how Pharaoh was viewed.
cosmos, and "to make the country flourish as in primeval
times by means of the designs of Maat." Frankfort further
notes the following text referring to the king's
brilliance: "Authoritative Utterance [hu] is in thy
mouth. Understanding [sia] is in thy heart. Thy speech
is the shrine of truth [maat]."1 Kitchen also notes
that hu and sia are personified in Egyptian literature (cf. the
personification of wisdom in Proverbs 8).2 Malchow
correctly elucidates the strong identification of sia
(wisdom) with the king. Interestingly enough, the king
was portrayed as the scribe of Re. Re himself was
assisted in the act of creation by Hu and Sia.3 The king
was also identified with Thoth and of Rekhmire it was
said, "Behold his Majesty knew all that had happened:
there was nothing that he did not know, he was Thoth in
all things. There was no word that he did not discern."4
Likewise, Rameses II is said to possess wisdom from the
god Re:
I [Re] make your heart divine like me, I choose you! I
____________________
1Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, p. 51.
2Kitchen, "Some Egyptian Background to the Old
Testament," Tyndale Bulletin 6-7 (1961):5.
3Malchow, "The Roots of Israel's Wisdom in Sacral
Kingship," pp. 61-62. Leonidas Kalugila, The Wise King.
Kalugila's book is a masterpiece on this subject.
4Kalugila, The Wise King, p. 22.
weigh you, I prepare you, that your heart may discern,
that your utterance may be profitable. There is
nothing whatever you do not know. . . .1
Kalugila further cites proof that Akhenaten considered
himself to have received wisdom from Re.2 Surely the
Egyptian concept of wisdom was not secularly empirical.
Rather, wisdom was viewed as a gift of the gods. The
king's duty was also connected with ma'at, which is one of
the major themes in Egyptian "wisdom" literature. As the
son of the creator, and as the shepherd who would defend
the cause of the poor, widows, and orphans, the Pharaoh
was the one to banish the forces of chaos and to renew
order (ma'at) in the land.3
Not only is the idea of the kingship interlaced
with wisdom motifs, but the king is also explicitly linked
to numerous instruction texts. Merikare, for example, is
a pharaoh who wrote instructions to his son, as is also
the case of "The Instruction of Amenemhet." Both are from
Middle Kingdom Egypt. "The Instruction of Prince
Hardjedef" is also addressed to the king's son.4 Other
____________________
1Ibid., p. 26.
2Ibid., pp. 20, 30.
3Humphrey, "The Motif of the Wise Courtier in the
Book of Proverbs," p. 180; Kovacs, "Sociological-
Structural Constraints," p. 136; and Kaligula, The Wise
King, pp. 35, 37. Cf. also Don Fowler, "The Context of the
Good Shepherd Discourses," (Th.D. dissertation, Grace
Theological Seminary, 1981).
4Bryce, A Legacy of Wisdom, p. 150; and Lichtheim,
Egyptian "wisdom" pieces advise support of the king
("Stela of Sehetep-ib-re") or are written by royal court
members (Ptahhotep and Amenemope).2 Williams points out
that some instruction literature was utilized as
propaganda favoring the king, having been written by his
scribes for that purpose (cf. "Instruction of
Amenemhet").3 Thus, if one is to develop properly a
matrix of the wisdom materials, kingship is one component
which must be taken into account in Egypt.
The King and Wisdom in Mesopotamia
The kingship was perceived somewhat differently in
Mesopotamia, where the king was viewed as "the great man."
The kingship was regarded as having descended from heaven;
hence, it was a divine institution. At Ugarit, the king
was the foster son of the deity.4 The king was a man
____________________
Ancient Egyptian Literature, 1:125-29.
1Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom, p. 218. For
the texts, see Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature 1:58-60,
135-38, or ANET, pp. 414-19.
2Bryce, A Legacy of Wisdom, p. 150;
Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 1:125-129.
3R. J. Williams, "The Literature as a Medium of
Political Propaganda in Ancient Egypt," in The Seed of
Wisdom: Essays in Honour of T. J. Meek, ed. W. S.
McCullough (Toronto: University of Toronto, 1964), p. 22;
and Halvorsen, "Scribes and Scribal Schools," p. 100.
4J. A. Soggin, "The Davidic-Solomonic Kingdom," in
Israelite and Judean History, ed. J. H. Hayes and J. M.
Miller, OTL (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1977), p.
371; and Malchow, "The Roots of Israel's Wisdom in Sacral
endowed with a divine office and he was chosen by the gods
to administer justice as their servant.1 The king was not
considered to be a god, but was "god's foreman among the
labourers."2 Like the Egyptian pharaoh, he was
commissioned to maintain harmonious relations between the
people and the gods, to restrain the power of chaos, and
to cultivate the cosmic order.3
What was the Mesopotamian king's relationship to
wisdom? Sulgi of Ur and Isme-Dagan of Isin boast of their
accomplishments in the edubba. Much later, Ashurbanipal's
zeal for learning was one of the great heritages received
from ancient Assyria.4 An interesting letter to
Ashurbanipal (ca. 650 B.C.) states:
In a dream the god Ashur said to (Sennacherib) the
grandfather of the king my lord, 'O sage!' You, the
king, lord of kings, are the offspring of the sage and
of Adapa. . . . You surpass in knowledge Apsu (the
____________________
Kingship," pp. 72-73.
1Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pp. 237-38; and
G. W. Ahlstrom, "Solomon, the Chosen One," p. 93. Cf.
also Norman W. Porteous, "Royal Wisdom," VTSup 3
(1969):247-61.
2Gadd, Ideas of Divine Rule in the Ancient Near
East, pp. 8-9; and Humphreys, "The Motif of the Wise
Courtier in the Old Testament," p. 59.
3Humphreys, "The Motif of the Wise Courtier in the
Old Testament," p. 58; and Kovacs, "Sociological-
Structural Constraints," p. 138.
4Sjoberg, "The Old Babylonian Eduba," pp. 160,
170, 172-75; and Halvorsen, "Scribes and Scribal Schools,"
p. 24.
abyss) and all craftsmen.1
Elsewhere Ashurbanipal writes: "I, Ashurbanipal, learned
the wisdom of Nabu, the entire art of writing on clay
tablets."2 He thus connects his wisdom to the gods and to
the ability to write. Wisdom was directly associated with
the kings of Mesopotamia and kings such as Samsu-iluna,
Esarhaddon, Nebuchadrezzar and Nabonidus associate wisdom
with their reigns.3 Wifall also notes a text where Sargon
II of Assyria requests "quick understanding and an open
mind" from the god Ea.4 Lipit-Ishtar and Enlil-bani of
Isin both claim to have received wisdom from the gods. Of
Enlil-bani it is written, "Asarilubi has bestowed on you
(wisdom) understanding, Nisaba, the lady, the goddess, the
great Nisaba. . . . The counsellor has called a revenger
for you, has given you wisdom. . . .5 Of Gudea, as he
began to build the temple, it was said: "The faithful
____________________
1Pritchard, ANET, p. 450. Nabonidus similarly
talks of his divinely-given wisdom, received in a vision by
the god, "[Even] if I do not know how to write (with the
stylus)" (ANET, p. 314). Cf. Hammurabi's statements where
Marduk allegedly endued him with wisdom (ANET, p. 270).
Cf. Malchow, "The Roots of Israel's Wisdom in Sacral
Kingship," pp. 67-68; and Perdue, Wisdom and Cult, p. 91.
2Kalugila, The Wise King, p. 52.
3Porteous, "Royal Wisdom," p. 252; and Engnell,
Studies in Divine Kingship in the Ancient Near East, pp.
189-91.
4Walter Wifall, "Israel's Covenant Wisdom," Bible
Today 64 (1973):1048.
5Kalugila, The Wise King, pp. 48-49.
shepherd, Gudea was very wise, he accomplished great
things."1 Much later Sargon proudly states: "In my
universal wisdom, I who at the command of Ea was endowed
with understanding and filled with skill. . . ."2
Hammurabi, Addad-Nirari, and Sennacherib make claims of
being endowed with divine wisdom from Ea, Marduk or
Shamash.3 Thus, in Mesopotamia as in Egypt, wisdom was
certainly not viewed as a secular phenomenon. Kalugila
also notes that the epithets denoting wisdom, by which the
gods were known, were also applied to the kings.4
Several direct connections may be made between
specific "wisdom" texts and the kings. The "Instructions
of Suruppak," an early Sumerian wisdom poem, is from the
mysterious person of Suruppak, who appears in some of the
Sumerian King Lists.5 Fontaine cites a proverb which was
given by King Samsi-Adad to his son, who was appointed
ruler of Mari.6 Finally, the Akkadian wisdom text "Advice
to a Prince," which was found in Ashurbanipal's library,
____________________
1Ibid., p. 49.
2Ibid., p. 51.
3Ibid., p. 56.
4Ibid., p. 47.
5Lambert, BWL, pp. 92-93; and Alster, Studies in
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