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Counsels of Wisdom is a piece of Babylonian wisdom literature written in Akkadian^[1] containing moral exhortations.^[2] It is composed primarily of two-line units,^[3] without sections.^[4] A translation of extant portions of the text was published in Lambert 1996. Existing manuscripts are fragmentary, but the original was estimated to be about 160 lines.^[2]

Date of authorship

Scholars disagree on the date of the work. Gemser and Frans de Liagre Böhl placed it in the First Dynasty,^[5] but Lambert believes it should be dated to the Kassite period.^[6] The work is attested primarily by a stone tablet written in Late Babylonian script.^[6]

Comparison with other wisdom literature

The text is addressed to "my son", which may be a physical son, a student, a successor, or a trope of the genre, as it is in later wisdom literature.^[2] Scholars have observed several pieces of ancient wisdom literature to be similar, including the Instructions of Shuruppak, Counsels of a Pessimist, and the Hymn to Šamaš (See Shamash). Together these works were an ancient genre.^[6] Similarities have been noticed with the Book of Proverbs, but no literary dependence has been found.^[7] The Counsels of Wisdom is believed to have been somewhat popular in its time, since fragments of this passage are quoted in other extant works.^[2] The work may have influenced the Wisdom of Ahiqar.^[8]

Kindness to Evildoers

Biblical scholar John Nolland sees a passage in the Counsels of Wisdom as a possible precursor to Jesus' command to "love your enemies": "Do not return evil to the man who disputes with you; requite with kindness your evil-doer... smile on your adversary."^[9]

Notes

^ Kitchen 1977, p. 114.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lambert 1996, p. 96.
^ Kitchen 1977, p. 88.
^ Kitchen 1977, p. 86.
^ Böhl, Frans Marius Theodor de Liagre (1942). "De zonnegod als de beschermer der nooddruftigen" [The sun god as the protector of the poor]. Jaarbericht Ex Oriente Lux (in Dutch). 8. Leiden: Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Gezelschap: 665–680, at p. 670. ISSN 0075-2118. OCLC 643516029.^{[verification needed]}
^ ^a ^b ^c Lambert 1996, p. 97.
^ Whybray 2009, p. 51.
^ Greenstein 2022, p. 307.
^ Nolland 2005, p. 265.

References

Greenstein, Edward L. (2022). "Wisdom in Mesopotamia in relation to von Rad's Wisdom in Israel". In Sandoval, Timothy J.; Schipper, Bernd U. (eds.). Gerhard von Rad and the Study of Wisdom Literature. Ancient Israel and its literature. Atlanta: SBL Press. pp. 287–320. ISBN 978-1-62837-450-6.
Barré, Michael L. (1981). ""Fear of God" and the World View of Wisdom". Biblical Theology Bulletin. 11 (2). SAGE Publications: 41–43. doi:10.1177/014610798101100203. S2CID 170183050.
Kitchen, Kenneth A. (1977). "Proverbs and wisdom books of the ancient Near East: the factual history of a literary form" (PDF). Tyndale Bulletin. 28: 69–114. doi:10.53751/001c.30617. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
Lambert, Wilfred G. (1996) [1960]. Babylonian Wisdom Literature. Eisenbrauns. pp. 96–107. ISBN 978-0-931464-94-2.
Nolland, John (2005). The Gospel of Matthew: A commentary on the Greek text. The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-2389-2.
Whybray, R.N. (2009). Wisdom in Proverbs: The Concept of Wisdom in Proverbs 1-9. Studies in Biblical Theology, First Series. Wipf & Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-60899-019-1.

External links

II.3 Counsels of Wisdom Critical edition and translation of the text (electronic Babylonian Library).
Counsels of Wisdom (SAT translation).

[FOOTNOTEKitchen1977114-1] Kitchen 1977, p. 114.

[FOOTNOTELambert199696-2] Lambert 1996, p. 96.

[FOOTNOTEKitchen197788-3] Kitchen 1977, p. 88.

[FOOTNOTEKitchen197786-4] Kitchen 1977, p. 86.

[5] Böhl, Frans Marius Theodor de Liagre (1942). "De zonnegod als de beschermer der nooddruftigen" [The sun god as the protector of the poor]. Jaarbericht Ex Oriente Lux (in Dutch). 8. Leiden: Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Gezelschap: 665–680, at p. 670. ISSN 0075-2118. OCLC 643516029.^{[verification needed]}

[FOOTNOTELambert199697-6] Lambert 1996, p. 97.

[FOOTNOTEWhybray200951-7] Whybray 2009, p. 51.

[FOOTNOTEGreenstein2022307-8] Greenstein 2022, p. 307.

[FOOTNOTENolland2005265-9] Nolland 2005, p. 265.

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