Journey Through Kings & Chronicles Part 2Намуна

Wisdom Literature: Behind the Text

It may surprise you that proverbs were quite common in the ancient world. Solomon was not unusual in pursuing wisdom and in accumulating proverbs.

The International Flavor of Wisdom Literature

Wisdom Literature was a type of literature utilized by many civilizations across the ancient Near East. From Egypt, to Edom, to Mesopotamia—all of these cultures adopted a unique way of understanding their world using Wisdom Literature.

Egyptian Wisdom Literature

In Acts 7:22 we are told that, “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds” (NASB). Ancient Egypt had a well-developed tradition of Wisdom Literature. Here are a just a few examples that have survived:

Instructions of Kagemni (c. 27th–26th century): Kagemni was a vizier to two pharaohs. The majority of this work has been lost; only a fragment from the end survives. The following is an excerpt from that fragment:

The humble man flourishes, and he who deals uprightly is praised.

The innermost chamber is opened to the man of silence.

Maxims of Ptahhotep (c. 25th–24th century): Also a vizier to a pharaoh, Ptahhotep reputedly wrote down this work as instructions to his son who was to succeed him. Here are a few lines:

Guard against the vice of greed:

A grievous sickness without cure,

There is no treatment of it.

Amenemope (c. 14th–11th century): It is believed that this 30-chapter work was produced by an Egyptian official. (We will return to this in a later lesson on Proverbs.) Here’s a small sample:

Give thine ears, hear (the words) that are said,

give thine mind to interpret them;

to put them in thy heart is good,

(but there is) woe to him who neglecteth them ….

Source: Henry J. Cadbury, “Egyptian Influence in the Book of Proverbs,” in Journal of Religion, 9:1, 1929, p. 101; Joseph Kaster, The Literature and Mythology of Ancient Egypt, 1970, p. 174; Peter Lacovara, The World of Ancient Egypt: A Daily Life Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, 2017, p. 353.