Talk Like an Egyptian

Karel van der Toorn, in the accompanying article, discusses various cultural influences on the Book of Ecclesiastes. This is not a unique phenomenon: Portions of the Book of Proverbs, for example, have long been noted to mirror passages from the Instructions of Amenemope, an Egyptian work dating to the seventh or sixth century B.C.E. Written on papyrus in hieratic characters (a cursive script, more simple than hieroglyphics), the Instructions of Amenemope consists of admonitions intended to prepare young men for prosperous, upright lives. The striking similarities between it and Proverbs—particularly 22:17–24:22—have led many scholars to conclude that the latter was directly influenced by the former. The strong parallels in both vocabulary and idiom lend credence to the view that the similarities are too close to be a matter of coincidence.