How the term “wisdom” is used and what it means is fraught with controversy. As a term of convenience we may speak of “wisdom literature” while highlighting that we are not marking out a form-critical category. In this study “wisdom” (of Old English derivation) is used synonymously with “sapiential” (of Latin derivation) mainly as adjectives to describe compositions and variegated groupings of literature while recognizing that it may not always be precise.