Character in Crisis: A Fresh Approach to the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament (review)

Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 162 Reviews Books of the Ancient Near East," Tyndale Bulletin 28 [1972] 75), and a date in the tenth century B.C.E. admirably fits on comparative grounds. He showed that there was no basis for believing that Proverbs 1-24 went through a secular-to-sacred evolution. Shupak's main comparative argument for believing that Hebrew wisdom literature so evolved is that such an evolution occured in Egypt. "The instruction of Amenemope," according to the author, marks the place where "faith assumes a major importance" (p. 42). Even if this development is the case in Egypt, "Amenemope" was written two to three centuries before the era of Solomon (cf. "The Alleged Semitic Original of the Wisdom of Amenemope," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 47 [1961] 100-106). Shupak accepts Assmann's analysis of Eighteenth Dynasty piety influencing wisdom literature, meaning that Egypt's evolution began in the fifteenth century and was complete by the twelfth. Hence by the time Egyptian influence would have impacted the Solomonic court, as Shupak believes, Egypt's evolution was already complete. The time gap between the evolution in Egypt and the alleged development in Israel seriously undermines the argument for a similar evolution in both literary traditions. The volume is very thorough, well-researched, and makes an important contribution to the study of Hebrew wisdom literature. But, as with any important work, it raises questions for others to answer. If wisdom literature in Egypt is a guide to life in accordance with m33t, is Hebrew wisdom a practical paradigm for living under lara? Shupak and others tend to see a connection between the goddess Maat and the personification of Wisdom in Proverbs I:20f. While this connection is intriguing, the possible correlation between tara and m33t also needs to be explored. James K. Hoffmeier Wheaton College Wheaton, lL 60817 CHARACTER IN CRISIS: A FRESH APPROACH TO THE WISDOM LITERATURE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. By William P. Brown. Pp. xi + 179. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996. Paper, $17.00. "In American society renewed interest in the value of character has recently galvanized public and political discussion" (p. vii). Now William P. Brown, associate professor of Old Testament at Union Theological Hebrew Siudies 38 (1997) 163 Reviews Seminary in Virginia, has written a volume which looks at Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, the three pillars of biblical wisdom literature, through the lens of character. The aim of his study is "to demonstrate that the idea of character constitutes the unifying theme or center of the wisdom literature, whose raison d'eire is to profile ethical character" (p. 21). The book is divided into six chapters. An introduction and a brief conclusion surround chapters on each of the biblical books; Job is treated in two separate chapters . The introduction, "The Ethics And Ethos Of Biblical Wisdom," sets up a problem which calls for a solution: the three wisdom books, literarily identifiable because they do not readily fit into the categories of narrative or law, nonetheless appear "to lack a readily identifiable theological center" (p. 1). Brown notes a tension between the focus on humanity (which he sees as clearly primary) and the focus on God, observing that the dialectic which Perdue finds in wisdom literature is not a solution, but merely a description of the problem. The solution is provided by the lens of character. "The appeal of suggesting character formation as the central framework and goal of biblical wisdom lies in the literature's focus on the developing self in relation to the perceived world, thus bridging the gulf between the anthropocentric and theocentric frames of reference that run throughout the wisdom corpus" (p. 4). Brown argues that insights gained from studies of character within narrative have value for other genres as well. Thus he will use "character" both descriptively and prescriptively. His analysis of each biblical book will address three issues: (1) the way in which the literary characters (the parent figures, Elihu, God, etc.) are profiled, (2) the community'S role in the formation of character, and (3) the character prescribed by each book. "The Formation Of Character In Proverbs; Or, Virtue And The Art Of Community Maintenance" plausibly takes Proverbs 1...