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23 - The Wisdom Literature and Virtue Ethics

from Part IV - Themes in the Wisdom Literature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2022

By
Arthur Jan Keefer
Edited by
Katherine J. Dell
Edited in association with
Suzanna R. Millar  and
Arthur Jan Keefer
Katherine J. Dell
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Suzanna R. Millar
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Arthur Jan Keefer
Affiliation:
Eton College
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Summary

Arthur Jan Keefer discusses the relationship of wisdom literature and virtue ethics. Posing questions of both method and substance, the chapter proposes how interpreters might make use of virtue theories for reading biblical wisdom literature. Of foremost importance are precise definitions for concepts of ‘virtue’, a selection of particular texts that set out an understanding of virtue, and an appreciation of traditional methods of biblical interpretation, all of which guards against vague conclusions and artificial comparison. Within the last decade, several scholars have pioneered the study of virtue ethics and wisdom literature, most notably through Proverbs and Job. Keefer presents this work and then suggests some inroads for similar studies of Ecclesiastes and Ben Sira, which have received less attention with respect to virtue. Lastly, he considers how the possibilities of virtue within each of these books link up with notions of ‘the good’ and a teleological orientation for ethics.

Keywords

virtue ethicsAristotleProverbsvirtuesmethodologyphilosophyJobEcclesiastesBen Sirathe goodteleology
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Wisdom Literature , pp. 455 - 474
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

Further Reading

Ansberry, Christopher B. ‘What Does Jerusalem Have to Do with Athens?: The Moral Vision of the Book of Proverbs and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics’. Hebrew Studies 51 (2010): 157–173.Google Scholar
Aristotle, . Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by H. Rackham. LCL 73. London: 1934.Google Scholar
Barton, John. Ethics in Ancient Israel. Oxford: 2014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birch, Bruce C. Let Justice Roll Down: The Old Testament, Ethics, and Christian Life. Louisville: 1991.Google Scholar
Brown, William P. Wisdom’s Wonder: Character, Creation, and Crisis in the Bible’s Wisdom Literature. Grand Rapids: 2014.Google Scholar
Fox, Michael V. ‘Ethics and Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs’. Hebrew Studies 48 (2009): 75–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gericke, Jaco. ‘Axiological Assumptions in Qohelet: A Historical-Philosophical Clarification’. Verbum et Ecclesia 33 (2012): 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keefer, Arthur J. The Book of Proverbs and Virtue Ethics: Integrating the Biblical and Philosophical Traditions. Cambridge: 2021.Google Scholar
Lichtheim, Miriam. Moral Values in Ancient Egypt. OBO 155. Göttingen: 1997.Google Scholar
MacIntyre, Alasdair. A Short History of Ethics: A History of Moral Philosophy from the Homeric Age to the Twentieth Century. London: 1966.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacIntyre, Alasdair. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. 3rd ed. London: 2007.Google Scholar
Nasuti, Harry. ‘Called into Character: Aesthetic and Ascetic Aspects of Biblical Ethics’. CBQ 80 (2018): 1–24.Google Scholar
Otto, Eckart. Theologische Ethik des Alten Testaments. Stuttgart: 1994.Google Scholar
Schellenberg, Annette. Erkenntnis als Problem: Qohelet und die alttestamentliche Diskussion um das menschliche Erkennen. Göttingen: 2002.Google Scholar
Vesely, Patricia. Friendship and Virtue Ethics in the Book of Job. Cambridge: 2019.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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