The wise king

the long version

The study of royal wisdom in the Old Testament should be based on the relevant texts. Attention is here drawn to such texts. A better understanding of the phenomenon of royal wisdom in the Old Testament calls for an investigation of Israel's neighbors. This book deals also with the ancient Near East (i.e. Egypt, Babylon, Assyria and the west-Semitic region). The concept "wisdom" recurs in ancient Near Eastern languages; the study of these terms and their semantic fields is valuable in such a work; therefore, it has been dealt with. The investigation demonstrates both similarities and differences between the Old Testament and contemporary literature. It may be right to say that Israel was to some extent influenced by her environment. However, in the Old Testament Yahweh is regarded as the only Source of wisdom -- manifested in judicial wisdom, in the building of the temple, in proverbial wisdom etc., and there is a development of ideas on the subject of royal wisdom, beginning with the wise kings David and Solomon, then in the "Messianic" oracles of Isaiah, the importance of the torah as expressed in the "King's Charter" in Deut. 17:18-20, in Deut. 4 and in later Wisdom literature, e.g. Prov. 1-9 and Ecclesiaticus (Ben Sirach). These documents make no mention of the king but Moses is considered an imparter of the torah. The investigation shows that royal wisdom was regarded as a divine prerogative. - Abstract.