Wisdom (International Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament | IECOT)

For the first time, the present commentary brings together all relevant aspects necessary to understand and appreciate this late portion of Old Testament Scripture: textual criticism; detailed philological and literary analysis; the text's two-fold historical context in its Hellenistic environment, on the one hand, and in the biblical tradition on the other; and ultimately the very innovative theology of the book of Wisdom. Aspects of the book's reception history as well as hermeneutical questions round off the commentary on the text.

The International Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament (IECOT) is designed to offer an international, ecumenical and contemporary interpretation of the Old Testament (including deutero-canonical books) to a broad audience of scholars, laypeople, and pastors.

IECOT is international: it has editorial board members and authors from North America, Europe and Israel and all volumes will appear in both English and German.

IECOT is ecumenical in bringing scholars of diverse Christian and Jewish perspectives into collaboration. Moreover, the series covers all of the books of the Hebrew and Greek Old Testament canons, including the Deutero-Canonical books of many Christian confessions.

A main way that IECOT is contemporary is in the way it brings together two, often opposed perspectives, perspectives often described as “synchronic” and “diachronic.” By “synchronic” is understood a focus on a text at one particular stage of its formation (especially its final stage). By “diachronic” is meant the study of a text’s growth over time through incorporation of earlier traditions, sources, etc. In addition, IECOT volumes include other contemporary perspectives such as gender-criticism, social history, and reception history.