The Social World of the Sages

Download or read book The Social World of the Sages written by Mark s. Sneed and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2015-06-01 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is there evidence for a distinct "wisdom tradition" in ancient Israel? Mark R. Sneed redefines the wisdom literature as a loosely cohering collection of books that educated scribal apprentices in moral instruction. Sneed discusses the data for scribal culture and pedagogy in the ancient Near East, suggesting that wisdom literature was meant to complement, not to compete with, other modes of literature in the Hebrew Bible. The result is a surprising new picture of the authors and tradents of the wisdom literature. Maps and illustrations included.