The books of the Hebrew Bible known as "wisdom literature" — Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes — are a strange fit for the biblical canon. They're ahistorical (not interested in Israel's history) and areligious (not interested in God, covenants, the temple or any other pillars of Israelite religion). So where did these funky books come from and how did they find their way into the Bible? 

Our guest Stuart Weeks is here with some answers! Stuart is a scholar of ancient Israelite wisdom literature and recently published an impressive, two-volume study of Ecclesiastes. 

• Ecclesiastes 1-5: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary
• Ecclesiastes 5-12: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary

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Theme music written and performed by Dave Roos, creator of Biblical Time Machine. Season 4 produced by John Nelson.