I. Religious Studies

Words for wisdom display a great range of meanings, which need to be taken into account in discussing Wisdom literature. Etymologically the words wise and wisdom ¶ (also Ger. Wissen, “knowledge”) derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *weid- (cf. Sanskrit vid- with its derivatives veda, “[religious] knowledge,” and vidya, “knowledge”; also Lat. videre, “see”). Gk γνῶσις/gnṓsis, “knowledge” (including the technical term …