Proverbial Sayings

Abstract

Abstract Scribes learned many sayings, wisdom sayings and proverbial sayings, that could be used for and adapted to a variety of contexts. From the comparative cuneiform evidence in “lentil” texts, proverbs were copied and memorized individually. To be sure, there are also collections of proverbs, but the individual sayings were their primary context. We then have evidence that these individual sayings were employed in letters, narratives, and liturgy. All these literary contexts provide parallels for the one example of this is a reciprocity statement used at Kuntillet ʿAjrud. This one example finds parallels in Ugarit, the Amarna letters, Aramaic inscriptions, and even Papyrus Amherst 63. This variety is also paralleled in biblical literature where the reciprocality formula appears in both biblical narratives and liturgy. More generally, the concept of individual sayings (as opposed to larger collections) that were memorized and used by scribes in different contexts is also evident in biblical literature.