Covenant and Wisdom: Arguing with a Premiss from Absence

The absence of covenant ideas from wisdom literature is a well-founded scholarly conclusion, but the time is ripe to question it. This article re-examines the evidence and looks at both sides of the debate. There are found to be connections of covenant with wisdom, especially when defined in terms of relationship, with Wisdom personified, and with Solomon. Crucially, it links up with the concept of God as creator, recalling the Noachic covenant. The discussion includes four key passages that mention the word ברית (Prov. 2:17; Job 5:22–3; Job 31:1, and Job 41:4).