In the beginning was wisdom, the handmaiden of Yhwh in the story of creation. She is personified in the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible, but the authors (translators) stop short of calling her Sophia. Their description of her, parallels the description in pagan literature of any particular deity, but more about that later.
Israelite wisdom literature belongs to a much wider and broad wisdom legacy or tradition in the Ancient Near East. There’s very little in Biblical wisdom literature that is not paralleled in the wisdom literature of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Canaan. Egyptian influence on Israel and Judah was particularly strong during the reign of Solomon and Hezekiah; as a result, Hebrew literature is permeated with ideas and figures derived from Egyptian literature.
A very good example of this is “The Wisdom of Amenemope” which was written in Egypt, in 1300–1075 BCE by the scribe Amenemope, son of Kanakht. It contains thirty chapters of advice for a happy life. A typical New Kingdom product, the text (known as the 'Age of Personal Piety') ponders the personal qualities, attitudes, and conduct that lead to a happy life. It is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of Ancient Near Eastern wisdom literature and has been of particular interest to modern scholars because of its relationship to the Biblical Book of Proverbs.
Early in the 1900s scholars noted its obvious resemblance to the Biblical wisdom books. From the specific parallels between Amenemope and texts in Proverbs, Psalms, and Deuteronomy, it was obvious that the religious morality of Amenemope closely resembles the precepts of the Hebrew Bible.
There has been a near consensus among scholars that there exists a literary connection between the two works. The majority of scholars has concluded that Proverbs 22:17-23:10 was dependent on Amenemope. By the 1960s after the discovery of the editorial and structural mechanisms by which the Egyptian original was adapted by the biblical author, there was a virtual consensus among scholars in support of the priority of Amenemope and its influence on Proverbs. The translators of the Catholic New American Bible went so far as to consider emending the obscure Hebrew phrasing of Proverbs 22:19, which traditionally is translated as "I have made known to you this day, even to you" and translating it to read "I make known to you the words of Amenemope." A minority of scholars views both works as dependent on a now lost Semitic source.
Examples of Parallels:
A number of passages in the Instruction of Amenemope have been compared with the Book of Proverbs, including:
"Incline your ear; and hear the words of the wise; and apply your heart to my doctrine; for it is pleasant if you keep them in your belly, that they may be established together on your lips." (Prov 22:17-18)
"Give your ear, and hear what I say; and apply your heart to apprehend. It is good for you to place them in your heart, let them rest in the casket of your belly that they may act as a peg upon your tongue." (Amenemope, ch. 1)
"Toil not to become rich; and cease from dishonest gain; for wealth makes to itself wings like an eagle that flies heavenwards." (Prov 23:4-5)
"Toil not after riches. If stolen goods are brought to you, they remain not over night with you. They have made themselves wings like geese. And have flown into the heavens." (Amenemope, ch. 7)
"Remove not the widow’s landmark; and enter not into the field of the fatherless." (Prov 23:10)
"Remove not the landmark from the bounds of the field...and violate not the widow’s boundary." (Amenemope, ch. 6)
"Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to the words of knowledge." (Prov 23:12)
"Give your ears, hear the words that are said, give your heart to interpret them." (Amenemope, ch. 1)
"Rob not the poor, for he is poor, nor oppress the lowly in the gate." (Prov 22:22)
"Beware of robbing the poor, and oppressing the afflicted." (Amenemope, ch. 2)
Direction of Influence:
A major factor in determining the direction of influence is the date at which Amenemope was composed. Jaroslav Černý, the authority on New Kingdom paleography, dated it to the late 21st dynasty. Since a 21st-dynasty date inevitably makes Amenemope chronologically prior to the earliest possible date for Proverbs, this would definitively establish the priority of Amenemope over Proverbs and make influence in the other direction impossible.
Other evidence for Egyptian priority includes:
(1) the discovery of the editorial and structural mechanisms by which the Egyptian original was adapted by the biblical author
(2) the close literary relationship between Amenemope and earlier Ancient Egyptian works, dated to the 12th dynasty
(3) the demonstrably native Egyptian character of the genre, themes, and vocabulary of Amenemope
John A. Wilson has concluded that there is a direct connection between these two pieces of wisdom literature, and that Amenemope was the ancestor text. The secondary nature of the Hebrew seems established. Many study Bibles and commentaries followed suit, including the Jerusalem Bible, introductions to the Old Testament by Pfeiffer and Eissfeldt, and others.
