The study of royal wisdom in the Old Testament should be based on the relevant texts. Attention is here drawn to such texts. A better understanding of the phenomenon of royal wisdom in the Old Testament calls for an investigation of Israel's neighbours. This book deals also with the ancient Near East (i.e. Egypt, Babylon, Assyria and the west-Semitic region). The concept wisdom recurs in ancient Near Eastern languages; the study of these terms and their semantic fields is valuable in such a work therefore it has been dealt with.