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This volume brings together twenty four essays on biblical wisdom literature in honor of Professor Maurice Gilbert SJ, one of the leading authorities in this field. The book is divided into six main sections, focusing respectively on Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, and Psalms. Some essays display rigorous attention to textual and linguistic issues, whereas others deal with more theological questions or focus on the comparison between two books.
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Wisdom for Life Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Edited by John Barton, Reinhard G. Kratz and Markus Witte Volume 445 Wisdom for Life Essays Offered to Honor Prof. Maurice Gilbert, SJ on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday Edited by Nuria Calduch-Benages DE GRUYTER ISBN 978-3-11-030162-5 e-ISBN 978-3-11-030164-9 ISSN 0934-2575 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2014 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Printing: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Prof. Maurice Gilbert, SJ Preface Almost fifteen years have passed since 28 July 1998 when I had the pleasure of presenting at the University of Louvain Treasures of Wisdom, the first Festschrift dedicated to Prof. Maurice Gilbert on the occasion of his 65th birthday. It was a simple celebration, but a very special one because at the time he participated in the XLVIIIth «Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense» and was completely taken by surprise. For that occasion, Cardinal Carlo M. Martini had written a letter to unite himself with the celebration and this letter was later published in the said volume. From it I choose some passages that were and still are especially significant: “you have made a decisive contribution to our knowledge of the Wisdom texts and poetry of Israel. Your true concern, however, has been not only to deepen our scientific knowledge of the biblical pages, but also to open them up to the knowledge and use of the faithful […] When one reads your writings, one perceives that the basis of your searching is the search for the Lord, for his Wisdom and for his will. This is what is most important from an entire life devoted to Scripture and to the brethren, that grace which unites us even when our places and paths are different. It is in this sense that I greet you from afar”. The good wishes of Cardinal Martini have been fulfilled, and, 12 March 2014, Prof. Gilbert will celebrate his 80th birthday, his life marked by the search for and spreading of Wisdom. The contributors to this Festschrift are among a great number of people (friends, colleagues, students…) who have learned from and with him. That is why they wish to express their friendship and gratitude with the publication of the present volume, which is, in fact, the third Festschrift dedicated to him. The first Festschrift is devoted exclusively to Sirach and Wisdom (Nuria Calduch-Benages – Jacques Vermeylen, eds., Treasures of Wisdom. Studies on Ben Sira and the Book of Wisdom. Festschrift Maurice Gilbert [BETL 143], Leuven: University Press – Peeters, 1999). The second has a much broader range (Françoise Mies, ed., Toute la sagesse du monde – Hommage à Maurice Gilbert, pour le 65e anniversaire de l’exégète et du recteur [Le livre et le rouleau 7], Brussels: Lessius, 1999). This third Festschrift concentrates on all the books of the so-called “Sapiential Pentateuch” (Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth, Sirach and Wisdom) plus