Professor Maurice Gilbert SJ is widely acknowledged as one of the leading authorities on biblical wisdom literature, in particular the Book of Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon, on which he has produced many publications.

This Festschrift, the third one in his honor, brings together twenty-four essays written by both established scholars who are friends and colleagues of Professor Gilbert and younger members of the field who wrote their doctoral dissertation under his guidance at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. There he was rector (1978–1984) and full professor until his retirement (1975–2011).

The volume is divided into six main sections, focusing respectively on Proverbs, Job, Qoheleth, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, and Psalms. Some essays display rigorous attention to textual and linguistic issues, whereas others deal with more theological questions (fear before God, joy in Qoheleth, arguments for justice in Wisdom of Solomon) or focus on the comparison between two books (for instance, Qoheleth and Sirach, Sirach and Genesis, Sirach and Tobit).