For many, the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament—Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes—provides little more than pithy sayings—some profound, most practical—about the well-lived life. Compared to the Old Testament’s legal and prophetic texts (Deuteronomy and Isaiah, for example), the Wisdom Literature
seems at best philosophically provocative (think Job’s dilemma or Qohelet’s angst), at worst a bit cliché (think ‘iron sharpens iron’ of Proverbs 27).
