In this much-anticipated book, Claus Westermann argues that Israel's early wisdom literature grew out of an oral tradition that reflected an agrarian setting. Dealing primarily with Proverbs 10-31, Westermann demonstrates how the wisdom literature evolved into a form of poetry that had greater universal appeal as the people of Israel became more urbanized. A distinctive feature of Roots of Wisdom is Westermann's use of other wisdom sayings, particularly those from ancient Africa, to illustrate the logical progression of wisdom poetry from simply obseryational to being more universal in character.