What is the source of wisdom? What is the biblical understanding of it, and how is it revealed? In this book, T. A. Perry brings his creative impulse and critical mind to some of the most enigmatic passages of the Hebrew Bible. Perry provides serious students with an insightful and incisive lens through which to interpret, among other biblical passages, the story of Judah and Tamar, the riddle proposed by Samson, and the words of Qohelet (Ecclesiastes) reflecting on the advancing years of life.

The revelation of God found in Wisdom Literature is reminiscent of the shadowy 'twilight zone' of dreams, visions and narratives evoked by the light of early sunrise or late sunset. This exploration demonstrates that wisdom transcends Scripture's so-called Wisdom Literature and is found throughout the Bible.

Wisdom Literature is that divine revelation which occurs neither in a straightforward divine/human confrontation where God appears and just spells it out, nor in a human conjuring of knowledge, experience, or reasoning. Rather, the revelation of God found in Wisdom Literature occurs in ways that make the revelation trickier, in dreams, visions, but also narratives and the like which are a kind of murky, gray area similar to the light of early sunrise or late after sunset when things are not entirely clear-the ?twilight zone.' T. A. Perry, author of "The Honeymoon is Over, has once again brought both the creative impulse and a critical mind to the study of some of the most enigmatic passages of the Hebrew Bible. What is the source of Wisdom? What, in fact, is the Biblical understanding of Wisdom? And how is wisdom revealed and understood? Wisdom is not limited to the so-called Wisdom Literature of the Bible. It is found throughout, but too often in poorly understood passages that seem out-of-place within the wider context in which they are found. Perry provides fresh insight into stories often avoided for their difficulty.

In popular perception, Wisdom literature is a "self-help" or "philosophy" section of the Old Testament library—the odd and interesting bits of canonical mortar between History and Prophets. Themes that are prominent elsewhere in the Old Testament receive only scant attention in the wisdom books. Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes focus on everyday life rather than on God's special dealings with the nation of Israel. But Old Testament scholarship has come to see the wisdom of the wise as reflecting an aspect of the Israelite worldview, not something totally foreign. The covenant beliefs are presupposed, even if rarely rising to the surface. Wisdom must be learned from parents, teachers, and friends, but it is ultimately a gift from God—not primarily intellectual but intensely practical. The issues addressed—justice, faith, wealth, suffering, meaning, sexuality—are highly relevant today. The focus of this volume is on both wisdom books and wisdom ideas. The first section surveys recent developments in the field of Old Testament wisdom, and the second section discusses some issues that have arisen in Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, and examines the Song of Songs as a wisdom text. The final section explores wisdom in Ruth, in some Psalms, and in the broader field of Old Testament narrative (from Joshua to Esther), while also examining wisdom, biblical theology, the concept of retribution in wisdom, and the vexed issue of divine absence. The following contributors are featured: Christopher B. Ansberry Craig G. Bartholomew Lennart Boström Ros Clarke Katharine J. Dell David G. Firth Gregory Goswell Ernest C. Lucas Brittany N. Melton Simon Stocks Lindsay Wilson

Since the middle of the twentieth century, one of biblical scholarship's chief assumptions has been that ancient Israel evolved out of the polytheism of surrounding cultures into an ethical monotheism. However, this consensus has fallen apart in recent years. Scholars now know that early Israel was surrounded by a very polytheistic culture and that many Israelites thought of Yahweh as the chief God among many gods. Furthermore, archaeology has shown that Yahweh was worshiped along with other gods throughout the period after the exile, when many shrines were in honor of "Yahweh and his Asherah." David Penchansky's Twilight of the Gods is the first accessible book that shows a historical Israel where polytheism and monotheism existed simultaneously in great conflict. He provides a historical introduction, followed by close readings of key Old Testament passages, where he demonstrates how to interpret difficult biblical texts that depict other gods or claim Yahweh is the only God within this new understanding of Israelite religion.

The relationship between Paul and Torah is often discussed in terms of Paul's theology of salvation. However it is also important in Pauline ethics. Whilst some scholars dismiss this because of a paucity of Old Testament quotations in Paul, others hint at the consensus between Paul and early Jewish tradition concerning the content of single commands. Each of these positions holds consequences for describing the relationship between Paul and Judaism in general. In order to clarify the discussion the contributors to this volume distinguish strictly between various levels of Pauline theology: the correspondence of single demands within Pauline and early Jewish ethics concerning the content, the rationale of these single demands in comparison, and the general hermeneutic basis of ethics. This is done in the context of essays on the key Pauline passages pertaining to the debate. As such this volume presents an up-to-date window into the current European debate surrounding Paul, Torah and Ethics - and into the state of discussion surrounding Paul's place within Judaism.

The biblical story is about more than sin and salvation. It is about the creator's purposes and the fulfillment of those purposes in the climactic revelation of God's glory in Sabbath with creation. Christ Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the one through whom all things are created and all things are fulfilled. We are creatures made in God's image, called to develop and govern the earth in service to God. The exercise of human responsibility in this age plays a major part in the revelation of God's glory. Every vocation matters for creation's seventh-day fulfillment: family, friendships, worship, civic responsibility, and our work in every sphere of life. The Son of God became one with us. He died for sinners while they still rebelled, and he was raised to life as the last Adam--the life-giving Spirit of the age to come. Christ is reconciling all things to God, including all that belongs to the responsibility of God's sixth-day royal priesthood. That is why God's promise in Christ is that those who die in the Lord will rest from their labors and their deeds will follow them.