OF THE MILLENNIUM WISDOM OF ELDERLY PEOPLE TO SAPIENTIAL BOOKS

Abstract

The wisdom of people who have been graced with longevity has been highly valued in premodern cultures. The wisdom literature of the biblical tradition, which comes from the Middle
East, in the Fertile Crescent, for more than three thousand years, preserves in its sacred
writings this special deference to the elderly, conceived as living memories of history, told in
the light of faith in God, so that nothing falls into oblivion. This article aims to comment on some
selected texts from the wisdom books of the Bible (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastical
and Wisdom) that value the contribution of the ancient wisdom of the elderly, on topics relevant
to the sapiential culture. The methodology used is bibliographic research, in the area of biblical
and theological studies, through specific bibliography. The results achieved point to the fact that older people, literate or illiterate, from the family cycle in small villages (fathers, mothers
and grandparents), to the old sages of rabbinic schools, all made an important contribution not
only to culture wisdom of Judaism, but for all cultures that value knowledge.