Old Testament Wisdom in Discourse

The shift from questions about the original «Sitz im Leben» to questions about the «Sitz in der Literatur», which is noticeable in Old Testament scholarship in general, can also be observed in research on the Old Testament wisdom literature. Studies of intertextual relationships and those focused on the practice of «inner-biblical exegesis» have brought out stronger connections between what are generally regarded as «wisdom books» and the narrative, poetic, cultic, prophetic and legal traditions. What in pre-modern exegesis went under the name of the «unity of Scripture» (unitas scripturae) and was then largely lost during the dominance of an exegesis that was mainly shaped by form-criticism has, under changed methodological and hermeneutical presuppositions, come back into view as a space in which a polyphony of voices can be heard.