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Document Details : Title: Die Adressaten des Weisheitsbuches Author(s): VOLGGER, David Journal: Biblica Volume: 82 Issue: 2 Date: 2001 Pages: 153-177 DOI: 10.2143/BIB.82.2.3200381 Abstract : This article examines the positions of scholars with regard to the addressees of the Book of Wisdom. It turns out that, generally speaking, neither ‘Pagans’ nor ‘Jews’ are the recipients of the Book of Wisdom. If Wisdom cannot be considered primarily a political work, the Book’s instruction to its addressees, ‘Kings and Rulers’, seems rather to point to a literary model in ancient Jewish texts from the 1st century B.C. to the 1st century A.D. Our knowledge of the primary recipients of the writings of Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus confirms this. The themes of ‘conversion’ and ‘changing one’s approach’ give these texts, especially the Book of Wisdom, a very particular orientation. Appropriate addressees are above all pagans who are well-off and culturally involved, and who show an interest in Jewish traditions. |
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