Description
Book SynopsisAncient cultures, such as that of the Hebrews, commonly associated wisdom with advanced years. In
A Biblical Theology of Gerassapience the author investigates the validity of this correlation through an eclectic approach including linguistic semantic, tradition-historical, and socio-anthropological methods to pertinent biblical and extra-biblical texts. There are significant variations in the estimation of gerassapience (or old-age wisdom) in each period of ancient Israel's life that is, in pre-monarchical, monarchical, and post-monarchical Israel. Throughout this study, appropriate cross-cultural parallels are drawn from the cultures of ancient Israel's neighbors and of modern societies, such as the West African Yoruba tribe.
The overall results are bi-dimensional. On the one hand, there are semantic elements of gerassapience, such as the elusiveness of wisdom and the mild fluidity of old age. Both terms have strong contextual affinity with minimal exceptions. Thus, the
Trade Review«Joel A. A. Ajayi has done us all a great service by bringing together the Old Testament understanding of wisdom and the Old Testament understanding of old age. He treats this Old Testament thematic pairwith linguistic, tradition-historical and socio-anthropological approaches in three historical periods: pre-monarchy, monarchy, and postmonarchy. With this approach, he is able to articulate the diversity of Old Testament views of the wisdom of old age. In a society already grapplingwith issues tied to aging, this probing biblical study will richly repay its readers.» (W. H. Bellinger Jr., Chair, Department of Religion, and W. Marshall and Lulie Craig Professor of Bible, Baylor University, Waco, Texas)
