I am Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Durham, specializing in biblical wisdom literature and text criticism of the Book of Tobit. I am currently working on the Ecclesiastes volume for the International Critical Commentary series.
My departmental website is at:
https://www.dur.ac.uk/theology.religion/staff/profile/?id=675 Address: Department of Theology & Religion, Durham University, Abbey House, Palace Green, Durham DH1 3RS United Kingdom
The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, ... more The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full DRO policy for further details.
The post-exilic concept of Israel can usefully be understood as analogous to the modern concept o... more The post-exilic concept of Israel can usefully be understood as analogous to the modern concept of a nation, and the conclusions of modern nationalist studies applied to the study of its emergence. By providing an account of the past and authoritative delineations of the community, the existing biblical texts may have provided the focus for a new sense of identity, whatever their original purpose and relationship with historical events.
Moers G Widmaier K Giewekemeyer a Lumers a Ernst R Dating Egyptian Literary Texts Hamburg Widmaier Verlag Pp 599 616 Lingua Aegyptia Studia Monographica, Dec 1, 2013
The relationships between the many different versions of Tobit present a famous and important pro... more The relationships between the many different versions of Tobit present a famous and important problem for text-critics and historians of Judaism; however, study of the subject has been hindered by the lack of any single, reliable collection. This book brings together, for the first time, a wide range of texts (Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac), some previously overlooked or virtually inaccessible, based in many cases on new readings. A single system of verse numeration is applied to all, and the key versions are presented synoptically, to facilitate comparison. Introductions and critical notes are provided for each text, along with succinct observations on the relationships between them in each passage, and concordances to assist stylistic and linguistic study.
study of the so-called "Third Greek" version of Tobit, which explores its relationships... more study of the so-called "Third Greek" version of Tobit, which explores its relationships with the texts of Sinaiticus and the Old Latin versions, and concludes both that the Third Greek is an attempt to re-write and improve the original "Long Greek" and that it offers potentially important witness to the early Greek text.
Proverbs 1-9 is often characterized as an anthology of materials, loosely related to the ‘instruc... more Proverbs 1-9 is often characterized as an anthology of materials, loosely related to the ‘instructions’ composed in Egypt and elsewhere, and possibly originating in an educational setting. This book argues that it is, instead, a sophisticated poetic work, with a basic unity of composition and message. Beginning with an examination of the Egyptian instructions, which are themselves poetic and testamentary rather than pedagogical, the study explores the way in which Proverbs 1-9 combines conventions of the instruction genre with a figurative representation of the reasons for instruction. Drawing on a traditional association of foreign women with the corruption and apostasy of Jewish youths-which was given added impetus by the post-exilic controversy over mixed marriages-Proverbs 1-9 sets a foreign seductress in opposition to a personified figure of Wisdom. The two compete for those youths who are uncommitted, and who can only hope to recognize which invitation they should accept if th...
The modern consensus that the “Long” text of Tobit is earlier than the “Short” has brought about ... more The modern consensus that the “Long” text of Tobit is earlier than the “Short” has brought about a paralysis in attempts to restore the Greek, with the very unsatisfactory text in Sinaiticus coming to serve as our de facto best effort. It is important to appreciate that the Long witnesses do not constitute a specific and coherent recension, capable of reconstruction in its own right, but are potentially miscellaneous texts, that happened individually to elude the two major revisions of the tradition. Original readings are preserved in both the revised and unrevised witnesses, and if we are to progress then we need to employ and evaluate all those witnesses. The paper ends with an attempt to reconstruct the original form of 4:7-19, which is lacking in Sinaiticus, as an illustration of the scope for such progress.
Page 1. T8tT CLARK APPROACHES TO BIBLICAL STUDIES An Introduction to the Study of Wisdom Literatu... more Page 1. T8tT CLARK APPROACHES TO BIBLICAL STUDIES An Introduction to the Study of Wisdom Literature Stuart Weeks t&t dark Page 2. T£tT CLARK APPROACHES TO BIBLICAL STUDIES An Introduction to the Study of Wisdom Literature Stuart Weeks t&t dark Page 3. ...
The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, ... more The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full DRO policy for further details.
The post-exilic concept of Israel can usefully be understood as analogous to the modern concept o... more The post-exilic concept of Israel can usefully be understood as analogous to the modern concept of a nation, and the conclusions of modern nationalist studies applied to the study of its emergence. By providing an account of the past and authoritative delineations of the community, the existing biblical texts may have provided the focus for a new sense of identity, whatever their original purpose and relationship with historical events.
Moers G Widmaier K Giewekemeyer a Lumers a Ernst R Dating Egyptian Literary Texts Hamburg Widmaier Verlag Pp 599 616 Lingua Aegyptia Studia Monographica, Dec 1, 2013
The relationships between the many different versions of Tobit present a famous and important pro... more The relationships between the many different versions of Tobit present a famous and important problem for text-critics and historians of Judaism; however, study of the subject has been hindered by the lack of any single, reliable collection. This book brings together, for the first time, a wide range of texts (Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac), some previously overlooked or virtually inaccessible, based in many cases on new readings. A single system of verse numeration is applied to all, and the key versions are presented synoptically, to facilitate comparison. Introductions and critical notes are provided for each text, along with succinct observations on the relationships between them in each passage, and concordances to assist stylistic and linguistic study.
study of the so-called "Third Greek" version of Tobit, which explores its relationships... more study of the so-called "Third Greek" version of Tobit, which explores its relationships with the texts of Sinaiticus and the Old Latin versions, and concludes both that the Third Greek is an attempt to re-write and improve the original "Long Greek" and that it offers potentially important witness to the early Greek text.
Proverbs 1-9 is often characterized as an anthology of materials, loosely related to the ‘instruc... more Proverbs 1-9 is often characterized as an anthology of materials, loosely related to the ‘instructions’ composed in Egypt and elsewhere, and possibly originating in an educational setting. This book argues that it is, instead, a sophisticated poetic work, with a basic unity of composition and message. Beginning with an examination of the Egyptian instructions, which are themselves poetic and testamentary rather than pedagogical, the study explores the way in which Proverbs 1-9 combines conventions of the instruction genre with a figurative representation of the reasons for instruction. Drawing on a traditional association of foreign women with the corruption and apostasy of Jewish youths-which was given added impetus by the post-exilic controversy over mixed marriages-Proverbs 1-9 sets a foreign seductress in opposition to a personified figure of Wisdom. The two compete for those youths who are uncommitted, and who can only hope to recognize which invitation they should accept if th...
The modern consensus that the “Long” text of Tobit is earlier than the “Short” has brought about ... more The modern consensus that the “Long” text of Tobit is earlier than the “Short” has brought about a paralysis in attempts to restore the Greek, with the very unsatisfactory text in Sinaiticus coming to serve as our de facto best effort. It is important to appreciate that the Long witnesses do not constitute a specific and coherent recension, capable of reconstruction in its own right, but are potentially miscellaneous texts, that happened individually to elude the two major revisions of the tradition. Original readings are preserved in both the revised and unrevised witnesses, and if we are to progress then we need to employ and evaluate all those witnesses. The paper ends with an attempt to reconstruct the original form of 4:7-19, which is lacking in Sinaiticus, as an illustration of the scope for such progress.
Page 1. T8tT CLARK APPROACHES TO BIBLICAL STUDIES An Introduction to the Study of Wisdom Literatu... more Page 1. T8tT CLARK APPROACHES TO BIBLICAL STUDIES An Introduction to the Study of Wisdom Literature Stuart Weeks t&t dark Page 2. T£tT CLARK APPROACHES TO BIBLICAL STUDIES An Introduction to the Study of Wisdom Literature Stuart Weeks t&t dark Page 3. ...
Draft of an article that has now appeared in Mark Sneed (ed.), Was There a Wisdom Tradition? New ... more Draft of an article that has now appeared in Mark Sneed (ed.), Was There a Wisdom Tradition? New Prospects in Israelite Wisdom Studies (SBL: Atlanta, 2015), 161-77. Although it has not dominated the study of wisdom literature to the same extent as other parts of the Hebrew Bible, form criticism has played a significant role in the classification and understanding of wisdom texts, and in recent years scholars have often also employed ideas about specific literary genres (Royal Instructions, Fictional Autobiographies and others). This article sets out to question some of the assumptions that underpin such approaches, and to examine their limitations. In particular, it will point out the deficiencies of any attempt to understand genres in terms of fixed compositional types, and the difficulties involved both in identifying genres and in comprehending the significance of generic allusions. More positively, though, it will argue that a proper understanding of genre can help us better to understand the relationships between the wisdom books, and between the wisdom books and other literature.
Taking advantage of the unprecedented access to books and information that has become available i... more Taking advantage of the unprecedented access to books and information that has become available in the last few years, this bibliography identifies and traces the history of hundreds of books and articles on Ecclesiastes, published in many different languages before 1875. It includes not just scholarly literature, but exegetical sermons, homiletic works, and poetic paraphrases of the text, to offer significantly more comprehensive coverage than in any earlier work. The publication history of each is outlined in detail, with brief discussions of the background or content where appropriate, cross-references are given to major bibliographies and bibliographical databases, and indexes of authors, publishers, and biblical references are provided. Intended to serve as an important resource not only for students of Ecclesiastes and for bibliographers, but for all who are interested in the history of reception or interpretation of the Bible, this bibliography also includes coverage of many more general works on the Megillot, on the Old Testament, and on the Bible as a whole in this period.
Proverbs 1-9 is often characterized as an anthology of materials, loosely related to the ‘instruc... more Proverbs 1-9 is often characterized as an anthology of materials, loosely related to the ‘instructions’ composed in Egypt and elsewhere, and possibly originating in an educational setting. This book argues that it is, instead, a sophisticated poetic work, with a basic unity of composition and message. Beginning with an examination of the Egyptian instructions, which are themselves poetic and testamentary rather than pedagogical, the study explores the way in which Proverbs 1-9 combines conventions of the instruction genre with a figurative representation of the reasons for instruction. Drawing on a traditional association of foreign women with the corruption and apostasy of Jewish youths-which was given added impetus by the post-exilic controversy over mixed marriages-Proverbs 1-9 sets a foreign seductress in opposition to a personified figure of Wisdom. The two compete for those youths who are uncommitted, and who can only hope to recognize which invitation they should accept if they have already received and internalized instruction. In this context, instruction is associated with the Torah, and is the prerequisite for the wisdom by which God's will can be recognized. These ideas, and elements of the imagery, persist into later Jewish literature, but the linking of wisdom with traditional concepts in Jewish piety goes back to Proverbs 1-9 itself.
Fontes et Subsidia ad Bibliam pertinentes 3. The relationships between the many different version... more Fontes et Subsidia ad Bibliam pertinentes 3. The relationships between the many different versions of Tobit present a famous and important problem for text-critics and historians of Judaism; however, study of the subject has been hindered by the lack of any single, reliable collection. This book brings together, for the first time, a wide range of texts (Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac), some previously overlooked or virtually inaccessible, based in many cases on new readings. A single system of verse numeration is applied to all, and the key versions are presented synoptically, to facilitate comparison. Introductions and critical notes are provided for each text, along with succinct observations on the relationships between them in each passage, and concordances to assist stylistic and linguistic study.
This is a new and ground-breaking study of the nature and origins of the earliest material in the... more This is a new and ground-breaking study of the nature and origins of the earliest material in the book of Proverbs, drawing on evidence from Israel and neighbouring countries in the ancient Near East. This literature has widely been believed to have originated as pedagogical material, designed for the education of future administrators in the royal bureaucracy from the time of Solomon. That belief has played an important part not only in the interpretation of the texts, but in reconstructions of Israelite society and history. This book challenges this view, arguing that it is largely founded on assumptions which are now widely discredited, and sets out to re-evaluate the evidence in the light of more recent research. The conclusions drawn here will have important implications for the future study of this material from both a Christian and Jewish perspective, and for our understanding of ancient Israel's society and history.
Proverbs 1-9 culminates in two contrasting scenes, where wisdom and folly issue dinner invitation... more Proverbs 1-9 culminates in two contrasting scenes, where wisdom and folly issue dinner invitations to the 'simple'. This paper explores the place of this contrast in the imagery of the work as a whole, and alongside the other invitations issued by various characters: What exactly is being offered, and what is the nature of the meals?
A paper presented at the themed session 'Wisdom in the Book of the Twelve' at the SBL annual meet... more A paper presented at the themed session 'Wisdom in the Book of the Twelve' at the SBL annual meeting in San Diego, 23rd November 2014. The paper contrasts the very slight evidence of direct influence by wisdom literature on other biblical texts with the substantial influence of that literature on later Jewish materials, and suggests that this is a matter of date: the wisdom books are part of a much broader interest in such texts during the Persian and Hellenistic periods.
Presented on 21st October 2014 at at the Third International Symposium on Jewish and Christian L... more Presented on 21st October 2014 at at the Third International Symposium on Jewish and Christian Literature from the Hellenistic and Roman Period, "Rethinking the boundaries of sapiential traditions in ancient judaism" in Metz (France), 21-23 October 2014.
A paper presented at a day-conference in honour of my former supervisor, Professor John Day, at L... more A paper presented at a day-conference in honour of my former supervisor, Professor John Day, at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, 24th July 2014.
Genesis and the wisdom books represent two very different ideas about humanity and about its relationships with God and creation, which probably co-existed in Judaism at least from the Persian period, but which did not remain distinct through the many subsequent processes of re-interpretation and harmonisation: the way in which we read the texts enables us to see, perhaps, differences and difficulties that were not so obvious to earlier readers, or that they were willing to overlook. In any case, what happens when we compare Genesis with the wisdom literature is that we find, not for the first time, a degree of diversity that belies any attempt to constrain early Judaism to some single path of development.
A paper presented at the conference: Matthew Henry: The Bible, Prayer, and Piety, The University ... more A paper presented at the conference: Matthew Henry: The Bible, Prayer, and Piety, The University of Chester 14th–16th July 2014. There are plans for eventual publication of a revised version.
Henry's commentaries began as an attempt to complement the successful New Testament commentaries of William Burkitt, drawing on his existing, already apparently very extensive notes on the Old Testament. They attracted a loyal following very quickly, and although they are remarkable for the duration rather than the immediacy of their popular appeal, they met a clear need in their day for accessible, English-language exegesis. A reading of Henry's notes on Ecclesiastes shows little originality or display of technical mastery in his understanding, but there is both deliberate attempt to link it with everyday life, and a striking humanity.
The recent rapid Growth of WorldCat, Google Books and other resources has given unprecedented acc... more The recent rapid Growth of WorldCat, Google Books and other resources has given unprecedented access to earlier literature. This paper argues that such engagement is important, but that the amount of material, and the limited experience of biblical scholars in dealing with early books, makes this a challenge to which we cannot respond simply by carrying on as before.
A paper presented to the Megilloth group at the SBL annual convention in Baltimore, 25th November... more A paper presented to the Megilloth group at the SBL annual convention in Baltimore, 25th November 2013.
Examines the history and significance of the attribution of Ecclesiastes to King Solomon, and suggests that even modern understandings of this association may lead to misreadings of the text.
A response given at a meeting of the IBR Wisdom and Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible Research Group, ... more A response given at a meeting of the IBR Wisdom and Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible Research Group, Baltimore, 22nd November 2013, to Russell L. Meek's paper, “Prophet and Sage in Dialogue: History and Methodology.”
Suggests that the pursuit of "wisdom influence" is a quest beset not by methodological problems so much as by a failure to ask meaningful questions about the significance of relationships between different works, or to discriminate between different sorts of similarity and allusion.
Presented at the 2011 annual meeting of SBL in San Francisco, 20th November 2011.
There is a dan... more Presented at the 2011 annual meeting of SBL in San Francisco, 20th November 2011.
There is a danger in assuming that monotheistic discourse must reflect a monotheistic belief: it may represent, rather, a way of speaking about 'the divine' which avoids separation of divine roles and identities in a polytheistic context. This is visible in much of the Egyptian literature analogous to biblical wisdom literature, where 'the god', to whom divine actions are attributed, can even stand alongside named, individual deities. Comparable tendencies or techniques are visible elsewhere, and we must be wary of assuming, therefore, that the attribution of all divine action to a single God in biblical wisdom literature must signal a rejection of the existence or effectiveness of other deities (perhaps especially when the God of Job appears to have children ...). If it did not begin as an affirmation of monotheism, however, such discourse may have become a vehicle for the development of new ideas.
[Handout and paper presented at the annual meeting of SBL in Boston, 24th November 2008]
Ecc 1.2... more [Handout and paper presented at the annual meeting of SBL in Boston, 24th November 2008]
Ecc 1.2-11 is best read not as a series of separate points, or as a mere setting of the stage for what follows, but as an integrated prologue to the book, foreshadowing and summarizing some of its key concerns. The question about human gain in verse 3 qualifies the famous statement about "vanity" in verse 2, but is then itself elucidated in the subsequent verses. Here, the emphasis is not upon the cyclical nature of the world so much as on its constancy, reflected in the never-ending activity of natural phenomena. Humans, in the course of their brief lives, can snatch only a glimpse of the world's nature, and so cannot appreciate the repetitiveness and self-containment which makes each apparent end or consummation in fact a mere stage in an endless process. These characteristics themselves make it difficult for humans to add to the world, or to take anything away from it when they depart, so that there is no lasting gain in whatever they do, and so that all their activity is ultimately fruitless.
A paper delivered at the winter meeting of the Society for Old Testament Study, Birmingham, 4-6 J... more A paper delivered at the winter meeting of the Society for Old Testament Study, Birmingham, 4-6 January 2006. This formed the basis for a later paper, 'The limits of form criticism in the study of literature, with reflections on Psalm 34', but is itself a longer and more detailed examination of the topic.
Abstract: Increasingly, form criticism is being called on to serve as an interpretative, literary-critical tool, rather than as the essentially diachronic, historical method which it was originally designed to be. It is true that many of the presuppositions which informed early form criticism have been brought into question, especially with regard to assumptions about the relationship between oral and written materials. The approach has also faced practical difficulties, both in terms of faulty application and, more fundamentally, in dealing with the transfer of forms to secondary contexts. As an approach to historical questions, however, there is a theoretical legitimacy in the form-critical emphasis on extracting and delineating ‘basic forms’, even if it offers informed speculation more often than secure data. When transferred to the literary-critical sphere, however, this approach aligns form criticism with classic, Aristotelian assumptions, the serious limitations of which have long been recognised by literary theorists. The re-application of form criticism in this way involves a confusion of aims and categories which does few favours either to form criticism or to any serious study of genre and convention in the biblical texts.
A summary of the biblical wisdom books and questions that arise from them. Produced for group dis... more A summary of the biblical wisdom books and questions that arise from them. Produced for group discussions at the The British & Irish Association for Practical Theology conference "Being Human: Being Wise" 16 – 18 July 2013 at the University of York.
This is an export of my bibliographical database on Ecclesiastes, in BibTeX format. Change the fi... more This is an export of my bibliographical database on Ecclesiastes, in BibTeX format. Change the file extension from ".txt" to ".bib" and it can be imported by Zotero, Endnote, etc. I'm uploading this in the hope that it will save others time; no guarantees about accuracy, completeness etc. If you use it for a thesis or publication, an acknowledgment would be nice :-)
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Papers by Stuart Weeks
Although it has not dominated the study of wisdom literature to the same extent as other parts of the Hebrew Bible, form criticism has played a significant role in the classification and understanding of wisdom texts, and in recent years scholars have often also employed ideas about specific literary genres (Royal Instructions, Fictional Autobiographies and others). This article sets out to question some of the assumptions that underpin such approaches, and to examine their limitations. In particular, it will point out the deficiencies of any attempt to understand genres in terms of fixed compositional types, and the difficulties involved both in identifying genres and in comprehending the significance of generic allusions. More positively, though, it will argue that a proper understanding of genre can help us better to understand the relationships between the wisdom books, and between the wisdom books and other literature.
Genesis and the wisdom books represent two very different ideas about humanity and about its relationships with God and creation, which probably co-existed in Judaism at least from the Persian period, but which did not remain distinct through the many subsequent processes of re-interpretation and harmonisation: the way in which we read the texts enables us to see, perhaps, differences and difficulties that were not so obvious to earlier readers, or that they were willing to overlook. In any case, what happens when we compare Genesis with the wisdom literature is that we find, not for the first time, a degree of diversity that belies any attempt to constrain early Judaism to some single path of development.
Henry's commentaries began as an attempt to complement the successful New Testament commentaries of William Burkitt, drawing on his existing, already apparently very extensive notes on the Old Testament. They attracted a loyal following very quickly, and although they are remarkable for the duration rather than the immediacy of their popular appeal, they met a clear need in their day for accessible, English-language exegesis. A reading of Henry's notes on Ecclesiastes shows little originality or display of technical mastery in his understanding, but there is both deliberate attempt to link it with everyday life, and a striking humanity.
Examines the history and significance of the attribution of Ecclesiastes to King Solomon, and suggests that even modern understandings of this association may lead to misreadings of the text.
Suggests that the pursuit of "wisdom influence" is a quest beset not by methodological problems so much as by a failure to ask meaningful questions about the significance of relationships between different works, or to discriminate between different sorts of similarity and allusion.
There is a danger in assuming that monotheistic discourse must reflect a monotheistic belief: it may represent, rather, a way of speaking about 'the divine' which avoids separation of divine roles and identities in a polytheistic context. This is visible in much of the Egyptian literature analogous to biblical wisdom literature, where 'the god', to whom divine actions are attributed, can even stand alongside named, individual deities. Comparable tendencies or techniques are visible elsewhere, and we must be wary of assuming, therefore, that the attribution of all divine action to a single God in biblical wisdom literature must signal a rejection of the existence or effectiveness of other deities (perhaps especially when the God of Job appears to have children ...). If it did not begin as an affirmation of monotheism, however, such discourse may have become a vehicle for the development of new ideas.
Ecc 1.2-11 is best read not as a series of separate points, or as a mere setting of the stage for what follows, but as an integrated prologue to the book, foreshadowing and summarizing some of its key concerns. The question about human gain in verse 3 qualifies the famous statement about "vanity" in verse 2, but is then itself elucidated in the subsequent verses. Here, the emphasis is not upon the cyclical nature of the world so much as on its constancy, reflected in the never-ending activity of natural phenomena. Humans, in the course of their brief lives, can snatch only a glimpse of the world's nature, and so cannot appreciate the repetitiveness and self-containment which makes each apparent end or consummation in fact a mere stage in an endless process. These characteristics themselves make it difficult for humans to add to the world, or to take anything away from it when they depart, so that there is no lasting gain in whatever they do, and so that all their activity is ultimately fruitless.
Abstract: Increasingly, form criticism is being called on to serve as an interpretative, literary-critical tool, rather than as the essentially diachronic, historical method which it was originally designed to be. It is true that many of the presuppositions which informed early form criticism have been brought into question, especially with regard to assumptions about the relationship between oral and written materials. The approach has also faced practical difficulties, both in terms of faulty application and, more fundamentally, in dealing with the transfer of forms to secondary contexts. As an approach to historical questions, however, there is a theoretical legitimacy in the form-critical emphasis on extracting and delineating ‘basic forms’, even if it offers informed speculation more often than secure data. When transferred to the literary-critical sphere, however, this approach aligns form criticism with classic, Aristotelian assumptions, the serious limitations of which have long been recognised by literary theorists. The re-application of form criticism in this way involves a confusion of aims and categories which does few favours either to form criticism or to any serious study of genre and convention in the biblical texts.