Wisdom, Theodicy, Death, and the Evolution of Intellectual Traditions

Abstract

AbstractWhen one reads through the main Judaic wisdom texts chronologically, one sees the rise of the problem of theodicy and the resultant attempt to solve the problem. All the sages after the authors of Proverbs treat this problem in one way or another, and one can follow a course from the awareness of the problem in Job to its complete solution in the book of Wisdom and in 4QInstruction, where versions of a belief in an existence beyond death finally make their way into the tradition. Even this adaptation, however, did not ensure the survival of the wisdom tradition.