Among the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon were all thought by the early church fathers to have derived from the hand of Solomon. To their minds the finest wisdom about the deeper issues of life prior to the time of God's taking human form in Jesus Christ was to be found in these books. As in all the Old Testament, they were quick to find types and intimations of Christ and his church that would make the ancient Word relevant to the Christians of their day.

Of extant commentaries on Ecclesiastes none are so profound as the eight homilies of Gregory of Nyssa, even though they cover only the first three chapters of the book. Joining Gregory among those most frequently excerpted in this volume are Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory the Great, Origen, John Cassian, John Chrysostom, Athanasius, Bede the Venerable, and Jerome. Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, and Cyril of Jerusalem lead a cast of other less frequently cited fathers, and then there remains a large cast of supporting players, some of whose work is translated here into English for the first time.

This Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture volume offers a rich trove of wisdom on Wisdomfor the enrichment of the church today.



J. Robert Wright (DPhil, Oxford University) is St. Mark's Professor of Ecclesiastical History at General Theological Seminary in New York. He has written or edited several books focused on history and spirituality in the Episcopal Church, including Handbook of American Orthodoxy, Prayer Book Spirituality, A Communion of Communions, and Lift High the Cross.







Thomas C. Oden (1931–2016), was the general editor of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and the Ancient Christian Doctrine series as well as the author of Classic Christianity, a revision of his three-volume systematic theology. His books also include The African Memory of Mark, Early Libyan Christianity, and How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind. He was the director of the Center for Early African Christianity at Eastern University in Pennsylvania and he also served as the Henry Anson Buttz Professor of Theology at the Graduate School and The Theological School of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.



General Introduction

A Guide to Using This Commentary

Abbreviations

Introduction to Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon

Commentary on Proverbs

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Commentary on Song of Solomon

Appendix: Early Christian Writers and the Documents Cited

Timeline of Writers of the Patristic Period

Biographical Sketches

Bibliography of Works in Original Languages

Bibliogrpahy of Works in English Translation

Author/Writings Index

Subject Index

Scripture Index