The Writings

Abstract

The Writings Fred W. Guyette, Christopher T. Begg, and Atilla Bodor 1616. [Wisdom Literature] Mark R. Sneed, The Social World of the Sages: An Introduction to Israelite and Jewish Wisdom Literature (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 2015). Pp. xvii + 450. Paper $44. ISBN 978-1-4514-7036-9. Here is a book designed especially for the undergraduate classroom. Chap. 1 considers various contexts in which wisdom is needed: family and personal relationships, social life, business transactions, political administration, and international diplomacy. Though we would like to know more about "who" these sages were, this, as noted in chap. 2, is a difficult question to answer, because the sages were not organized into a clearly defined group like Israel's priests and prophets. Moreover, many different people could assume the role of sage or counselor as the need arose, e.g., parents, neighbors, community leaders. Chaps. 3–5 compare Israel's traditions with those of other nations in the ANE, such as Egypt and Mesopotamia. Chap. 6 argues that the wisdom books do not compete with other forms of biblical literature, but rather complement them. Chap. 7 describes the poetics and the moral ethos of OT wisdom literature. The values of honor and shame in wisdom literature are discussed in Chap. 8. Chaps. 9–13 are devoted to individual ΟΤ wisdom books, including Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon, as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Twenty-six figures and twelve sidebars help shed light on the sages of Israel and those of other nations. A 23-page bibliography provides a useful guide for further research. 1617. [Job] Markus Witte, Hiobs viele Geschichter Studien zur Komposition, Tradition und frühen Rezeption des Hiobbuches (FRANT 267; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2018). Pp. 235. $113. ISBN 978-3-525-55265-0. This volume comprises a total of eight studies by W. on various aspects of the Book of Job, all but one of which have been previously published in some form during the years 2003–2016. The essays are: "Was die Hiobforschung bewegt—Eine historisch-kritische Übersicht über 300 Jahre literargeschichtliche Arbeit am Buch Hiob" (previously unpublished); "Die literarische Gattung des Buches Hiob—Robert Lowth (1710–1787) und seine Erben" (originally published 2007); "Der leidende Mensch im Spiegel des Buches Hiob" (2004); "Beobachtungen zum Verhaltnis von Zeit und Leid im Buch Hiob" (2003); "Hiobs 'Zeichen'—Traditions-und theologiegeschichtliche Anmerkungen zu Hiob 31,35-37" (2004); "Die Torah in den Augen Hiob" (2013); "Hiob und seine Frau in jüdischen Schriften aus hellenistisch-römischer Zeit" (2009); "Hiobs Sohn—Eine text-geschichtliche Notiz zu Hiob 42,17 (Septuaginta)" (2016); and "Hiob und die Väter Israels—Beobachtungen zum rabbinischen Hiob-Targum" (2012). The essays are preceded by W.'s "foreword" and followed by a general bibliography, publication credits for the previously published essays, and indexes of ancient and modern authors, names and topics, and (ancient) foreign-language words and passages. For an abstract of the one previously unpublished essay, see #1386. [End Page 562] 1618. [Psalms] Ulrich Berges, Johannes Bremer, and Till Magnus Steiner (eds.), Zur Theologie des Psalters und der Psalmen. Beiträge in Memoriam Frank-Lothar Hossfeld (BBB 189; Göttingen: V&R unipress/Bonn University Press, 2019). Pp. 495. €65. ISBN 978-3-8471-0997-6. This collective volume is conceived as a memorial tribute to a major figure in Psalms scholarship who died in 2015, and as an effort to build on and extend the foundations laid by him for the study of the individual psalms and their place and function within a Book of Psalms. The volume opens with a foreword by the three editors in which they provide further details concerning the research project of which the volume is an expression. It is followed by 18 essays, 7 in English, the remainder in German, each of which has its own bibliography and includes an English-language abstract. Portions of many of the essays have been previously published in some form in either German or English and are revised and updated for their inclusion here. The essays are organized under six headings, the titles of which are as follows...