Guide
Biblical and Hellenistic Wisdom
By Carol Bakhos
The wisdom tradition found in the Hebrew Bible likely has ancient roots that were further developed in the Persian and Hellenistic periods. Some wisdom writings dating to the Hellenistic period became part of the traditional Hebrew biblical canon, while others were adopted by and preserved in the Christian tradition and are found in the Apocrypha and other noncanonical collections. See also Torah as Wisdom.
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
Vanity of Vanities
The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem:
Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under…
Primary Source
Life, Old Age, and Death
Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon…
Primary Source
Writing the Truth Plainly
Besides being wise, the Teacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs. The Teacher sought to find pleasing words, and he wrote words of truth plainly.…
Primary Source
Preexistent Wisdom as Torah
Wisdom praises herself,
and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.
In the assembly of the Most High she opens her…
Primary Source
Afterlife of the Righteous
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they…
Primary Source
The Origins of Idolatry
For the idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication,
and the invention of them was the corruption of life;
for…