ABSTRACT
In that part of the Hebrew Bible known traditionally as the “Writings” there are three wisdom books-Proverbs, Qohelet (its Hebrew name) or Ecclesiastes (its Greek name), and Job, as well as some “wisdom psalms.” The wider canon represented by the Greek Septuagint version contains two more wisdom books-Sirach or Ecclesiasticus (the Greek version of the Hebrew wisdom book by Ben Sira of Jerusalem that was translated by his grandson in Egypt), and the Wisdom of Solomon (which was composed in Greek). To appreciate the tradition in which the Qumran wisdom texts stand and to understand their distinctive or particular character, it is important at the outset to give a brief survey of Israel’s wisdom tradition as it is expressed in these writings and as it relates to the Qumran wisdom texts.
