Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 28:1 (NA 1977)
Article: The Teaching Of Amenemope And Its will Connection With The Book Of Proverbs
Author: John Ruffle

TynBul 28:1 (1977) p. 29

The Teaching Of Amenemope And Its will Connection With The Book Of Proverbs

John Ruffle

The Tyndale Biblical Archaeology Lecture, 1975*

* Delivered at Tyndale House, Cambridge, on 19th June, 1975.

A. Historical Introduction

It is a curious fact that the announcement of the discovery of the Teaching of Amenemope was in connection with an Old Testament crux. Renouf1 cited a passage as a possible clue to the meaning of אברך (Gen. 40:43) in the same year (1888) the Budge2 recorded the purchase of the Papyrus in Egypt and although Renouf’s use of it has not been accepted, the Teaching has remained of immense interest to Old Testament scholars ever since. After these two brief mentions, the papyrus received no more attention until 1922 when Budge3 published a description of its contents and considerable portions of the text in transcription and translation. In his publication of the complete manuscript a year later, he briefly noted4 one or two passages similar in thought to passages from the Book of Proverbs and a popular account of the Teaching, published two years later,5 contained speculation on how this similarity might be explained.

Another work6 appeared in 1924, claiming a closer connection than Budge had allowed and suggesting how it had

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originated. Erman demonstrated that the Teaching of Amenemope was closely parallel with the portion of Proverb sometimes subtitled “Words of the Wise” (22:17–24:22) and claimed that it was possible to use the Egyptian text to elucidate the crux in Proverbs 22:20. Budge believed that Amenemope contained ideas7 of Semitic origin but Erman reversed the direction of the connection and claimed that Proverbs 22:17–24:22, were the work of a Jewish scribe translating the Egyptian book with suitable adaptations to make it acceptable to his fellow Hebrews.

Erman’s article aroused great interest in the work throughout the world of Old Testament studies. Articles appeared in a multitude of journals, all following Erman’s t...