Wisdom in Israel

by Gerhard von Rad

This classic text, the last major work by the great Hebrew Bible scholar Gerhard von Rad, has long been unavailable in North America. It is now being reissued in paperback from to satisfy the continuing demand for copies of the book. In brief, the subject of von Rad's study of Hebrew wisdom is Israel's willingness to ground faith in encounter with the world as the creation of God. Those familiar with the author's Old Testament Theology will recall how he identified two great watersheds in the history of Israel's thought. The first was the rise of the prophetic movement, which occasioned a radical reinterpretation of Israel's religious traditions as expressed in the earliest creedal formulations found in the Pentateuch. The second watershed, which preceded the prophetic movement and was a basically different assessment of Israel's relation to Yahweh, was achieved by wisdom teachers at the start of the monarchy. This book studies this first and somewhat novel break with Israel's older sacral traditions. Von Rad bases the study on a wide range of literary materials principally concerned with the books of Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Wisdom of Ben Sirach. No finer introduction to the fundamental theological questions raised by the wisdom literature of Israel is available. Theology Today Gerhard von Rad was for many years Professor of Old Testament at the University of Heidelberg.

Genres: Biblical Studies, Theology, Philosophy, Religion, Christian

Paperback

First published January 28, 1972

About the author

Gerhard von Rad was Professor of Old Testament at the University of Heidelberg in Germany until his death in 1971. He is the author of several books, including Wisdom in Israel and Holy War in Ancient Israel.

Reviews

[John Pawlik · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most well written books I’ve read… ever. Von Rad’s writing is immaculate, even translated from German it was really fantastic. The book itself is a culmination of his lifetime steeped in the Old Testament. So many scholars now writing Kynes said have their beginning in Von Rad’s ideas that others took and ran with! Perhaps the best example of a critical scholar who provides enormously beneficial ideas to be reappropriated for the edifying purpose of better understanding the Scriptures!

This book focuses mostly on Proverbs but also on Ecclesiastes, Job, and a few other books and tries to get at exactly how a society like Israel comes up with its various wisdom sayings and concepts, and it takes a hard look at different ideas to identify how they show the Israelite worldview differs from ours, and how the texts reflect the way they thought about God and creation.

Really dense read, but if you find yourself with some spare time this summer and a love of wisdom, I deeply recommend diving into some Von Rad.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is written in a highly academic style that is not accessible to average readers. The pages are filled with wordy, complicated sentences. Many sentences are sixty to seventy-five words long! Paragraphs must be read numerous times to even begin to comprehend what the author is trying to communicate.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing.

[Maer]

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