The book of Proverbs is more than the sum of its parts. Even if some individual proverbs and collections could be older, the overall composition stems from the late Persian or early Hellenistic period. In its present form, the book of Proverbs introduces the scribal student to the foundations of sapiential knowledge and its critical reflection. By discussing different worldviews and contrasting concepts on the relationship between God, the world, and humanity, the book of Proverbs paves th...

The history of biblical Israel, as it is told in the Hebrew Bible, differs substantially from the history of ancient Israel as it can be reconstructed using ancient Near Eastern texts and archaeological evidence. In A Concise History of Ancient Israel, Bernd U. Schipper uses this evidence to present a critical revision of the history of Israel and Judah from the late second millennium BCE to the beginning of the Roman period.Considering archaeological material as well as b...