I. Introduction: Wisdom Harvested for Capitalist Theocracy
The Book of Proverbs—מִשְׁלֵי (Mishlei, "proverbs/parables"), attributed primarily to שְׁלֹמֹה (Shelomo, Solomon)—represents ancient Israel's participation in the broader Ancient Near Eastern wisdom tradition: a collection of pithy sayings, extended poems, and instructional discourses aimed at cultivating חָכְמָה (chokhmah, wisdom) through observation of creation, social patterns, and covenant living. Compiled over several centuries (tenth-fifth centuries BCE) and rooted in the יִרְאַת יְהוָה (yir'at YHWH, "fear/awe of the Lord"), Proverbs offers sophisticated reflection on how to navigate life's complexities while maintaining covenant fidelity, social justice, and humility before the Creator. Yet Christian theology—particularly in its prosperity gospel and Dominionist manifestations—has performed breathtaking hermeneutical violence on this text, transforming wisdom literature grounded in Torah justice and communal well-being into a fucking manual for individual wealth accumulation, patriarchal family structures, and Christian cultural conquest through "biblical principles" of success.
The Seven Mountain Mandate has particularly brutalized Proverbs' business and governance sayings, ripping them from their communal-justice context and weaponizing them as divine authorization for Christians to dominate economic and governmental spheres through "godly wisdom." Meanwhile, prosperity gospel theology has colonized Proverbs' observations about diligence and wealth, transforming descriptive wisdom about general patterns into prescriptive promises that God will make faithful Christians wealthy—utterly erasing the text's profound concern for the poor, its warnings against wealth accumulation through exploitation, and its insistence that צְדָקָה (tzedakah, righteousness/justice) matters more than riches. Conservative Christian movements have weaponized Proverbs 31's אֵשֶׁת־חַיִל (eshet chayil, "woman of valor") into an oppressive "biblical womanhood" ideology that would make the actual entrepreneurial, economically powerful woman described in that text vomit.
What makes this theological colonization especially grotesque is how systematically it obliterates Proverbs' location within Torah's justice framework and Israel's covenant community. Wisdom in Proverbs isn't abstract "biblical principles" for individual success—it's the skill of living righteously within covenant obligations, treating the poor justly (because YHWH created and defends them), governing with equity, conducting business honestly, and recognizing that true security comes from YHWH, not accumulated wealth. Christian appropriation, serving capitalist ideology and Christian nationalist politics, has gutted this communal-justice content and replaced it with individualistic success theology and conquest principles for dominating culture. This represents supersessionist hermeneutics serving theocratic capitalism while brutalizing some of the Hebrew Bible's most sophisticated ethical and theological reflection.
II. "The Fear of the Lord" and the Weaponization of Divine Authority
Proverbs' foundational principle has been grotesquely distorted to serve authoritarian theology:
מִשְׁלֵי א:ז - יִרְאַת יְהוָה רֵאשִׁית דָּעַת חָכְמָה וּמוּסָר אֱוִילִים בָּזוּ
Proverbs 1:7 - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."
The phrase יִרְאַת יְהוָה (yir'at YHWH) appears throughout Proverbs as the foundation of wisdom (1:7, 9:10, 15:33). The noun יִרְאָה (yir'ah) encompasses both fear and awe—not terror of arbitrary divine violence, but profound reverence for YHWH's character, recognition of divine sovereignty, and the humility to align one's life with covenant obligations. This is דַּעַת (da'at, knowledge) and חָכְמָה (chokhmah, wisdom) grounded in covenantal relationship, not abstract philosophical principles.
The Talmud (Shabbat 31a) famously declares that when a person comes before divine judgment, the first question asked is "Did you conduct your business affairs with integrity?" followed by questions about Torah study, but ultimately: "Did you have awe/fear of heaven?" This connects yir'at YHWH to ethical business conduct and Torah observance—wisdom expressed through just economic practice and covenant fidelity. The Mishnah (Avot 3:17) states: "If there is no fear of heaven, there is no wisdom; if there is no wisdom, there is no fear of heaven"—demonstrating how Jewish tradition understands these as mutually reinforcing within Torah framework.
Now observe the grotesque violence Christian theology—particularly Dominionism—perpetrates:
They weaponize "fear of the Lord" for authoritarian church structures, claiming it mandates unquestioning submission to pastoral authority and Christian leadership—transforming covenantal awe into hierarchical control mechanisms that serve institutional power.
They abstract "fear of the Lord" from Torah obligations, creating a spiritualized "reverence" disconnected from the concrete justice requirements (honest business, care for the poor, equitable governance) that actually constitute biblical yir'ah in practice.
Christian Dominionism weaponizes this for political authority, claiming Christians with "fear of the Lord" should occupy positions of power in the Seven Mountains, and that secular leaders lacking this "fear" are illegitimate—transforming covenantal reverence into Christian supremacist political theology.
They use it to justify prosperity theology, claiming that "fearing the Lord" leads to wealth and success, stripping away Proverbs' warnings that wealth gained through exploitation brings divine judgment regardless of religious performance.
They deploy "fear of the Lord" for patriarchal family structures, claiming it mandates children's absolute obedience to fathers and wives' submission to husbands—weaponizing covenantal awe for authoritarian domestic hierarchies.
The connection to מוּסָר (musar, "instruction/discipline") in verse 7 is critical. The Musar movement in Jewish tradition developed musar as ethical-spiritual discipline focused on character refinement through Torah study and observance. Christian appropriation has colonized musar and transformed it into punitive discipline disconnected from Torah's justice framework, serving authoritarian parenting and church discipline rather than covenant formation.
III. Woman Wisdom vs. Prosperity Gospel's Masculine Conquest Theology
Proverbs 1-9 features חָכְמָה (Chokhmah, Wisdom) personified as a woman who calls from the city gates, inviting people to learn from her. This is one of the text's most sophisticated theological moves, brutally erased by Christian theology:
מִשְׁלֵי א:כ-כא - חָכְמוֹת בַּחוּץ תָּרֹנָּה בָּרְחֹבוֹת תִּתֵּן קוֹלָהּ׃ בְּרֹאשׁ הֹמִיּוֹת תִּקְרָא בְּפִתְחֵי שְׁעָרִים בָּעִיר אֲמָרֶיהָ תֹאמֵר
Proverbs 1:20-21 - "Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. At the busiest corner she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks."
The plural form חָכְמוֹת (chakhmot) emphasizes Wisdom's multifaceted nature. She's public, vocal, authoritative—crying out in רְחֹבוֹת (rechovot, streets/squares) and שְׁעָרִים (she'arim, city gates, where legal and commercial transactions occurred). This is female divine representation with teaching authority in the public, masculine sphere of business and governance.
Proverbs 8 intensifies this, presenting Woman Wisdom as present at creation:
מִשְׁלֵי ח:כב-כג - יְהוָה קָנָנִי רֵאשִׁית דַּרְכּוֹ קֶדֶם מִפְעָלָיו מֵאָז׃ מֵעוֹלָם נִסַּכְתִּי מֵרֹאשׁ מִקַּדְמֵי־אָרֶץ
Proverbs 8:22-23 - "The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth."
The verb קָנָנִי (kanani, "created/possessed me") and נִסַּכְתִּי (nisakhti, "I was set up/woven/poured out") describe Wisdom's primordial existence. She was רֵאשִׁית דַּרְכּוֹ (reshit darko, "the beginning/first of his way")—present before creation as YHWH's companion and delight:
מִשְׁלֵי ח:ל-לא - וָאֶהְיֶה אֶצְלוֹ אָמוֹן וָאֶהְיֶה שַׁעֲשֻׁעִים יוֹם יוֹם מְשַׂחֶקֶת לְפָנָיו בְּכָל־עֵת׃ מְשַׂחֶקֶת בְּתֵבֵל אַרְצוֹ וְשַׁעֲשֻׁעַי אֶת־בְּנֵי אָדָם
Proverbs 8:30-31 - "Then I was beside him, like a master worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race."
The term אָמוֹן (amon) is debated—possibly "master worker/artisan," possibly "nursling/child," possibly "confidant." Regardless, Wisdom delights (שַׁעֲשֻׁעִים, sha'ashu'im) in creation and humanity. This is profound theological imagery: divine Wisdom as feminine, creative, public, authoritative, and intimately connected to both YHWH and humanity.
The Talmud (Berachot 17a) discusses Torah as pre-existing creation, connecting it to Woman Wisdom imagery. Kabbalah develops this extensively, with the Sefirah חָכְמָה (Chokhmah) as the second emanation and בִינָה (Binah, Understanding) as the third—both often gendered feminine in mystical texts. This is sophisticated Jewish theological reflection on divine wisdom.
Christian theology—particularly prosperity gospel and Dominionism—commits grotesque erasure:
They masculinize wisdom, ignoring the feminine personification and transforming it into abstract "biblical principles" or masculine business acumen for conquering economic mountains—erasing the text's deliberate feminine divine representation.
They privatize wisdom, transforming Woman Wisdom's public teaching at city gates into individualistic "quiet time" devotionals and personal Bible study disconnected from communal justice and public ethics.
They strip wisdom of relational content, erasing Woman Wisdom's delight in humanity and her invitation to relationship, replacing it with mechanical principles for individual success and wealth accumulation.
Christian Dominionism weaponizes "wisdom" for conquest, claiming Christians with "biblical wisdom" should dominate business, government, and culture—transforming an invitation to learn into an authorization to conquer.
They cannot tolerate feminine divine imagery, preferring to ignore Proverbs 1-9's sophisticated Woman Wisdom theology rather than confronting how it challenges masculine-only divine representation.
The contrast with אִשָּׁה זָרָה (ishah zarah, "strange/foreign woman") and נָכְרִיָּה (nokhriyah, "foreign woman") in Proverbs 2, 5, 7—representing folly, sexual danger, and covenant abandonment—creates a choice between two feminine figures. Christian interpretation often fixates on the "dangerous woman" warnings to serve purity culture while erasing Woman Wisdom's invitation to public ethical life. This serves patriarchal ideology by presenting women as either dangerous temptresses or absent altogether, rather than as authoritative teachers of divine wisdom in the public sphere.
IV. Wealth, Poverty, and Prosperity Gospel's Brutal Distortion
Proverbs contains numerous sayings about wealth and poverty that prosperity theology has weaponized while systematically erasing their justice content:
מִשְׁלֵי י:ד - חָכְמִים יִצְפְּנוּ־דָעַת וּפִי־אֱוִיל מְחִתָּה קְרֹבָה
Proverbs 10:4 - "A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich."
Prosperity gospel seizes this and similar verses (10:22, 13:11, 14:23) to claim that poverty results from laziness while wealth comes from diligence—therefore wealthy people deserve their wealth and poor people deserve poverty. This is obscene distortion that ignores Proverbs' extensive warnings about wealth gained through injustice:
מִשְׁלֵי ו:ל-לא - לֹא־יָבוּזוּ לַגַּנָּב כִּי יִגְנוֹב לְמַלֵּא נַפְשׁוֹ כִּי יִרְעָב׃ וְנִמְצָא יְשַׁלֵּם שִׁבְעָתָיִם אֶת־כָּל־הוֹן בֵּיתוֹ יִתֵּן
Proverbs 6:30-31 - "Thieves are not despised who steal only to satisfy their appetite when they are hungry. Yet if they are caught, they will pay sevenfold; they will forfeit all the goods of their house."
Even a thief stealing for רָעֵב (ra'ev, hunger) must restore sevenfold—but the text acknowledges the desperation driving such theft, showing more compassion than prosperity gospel shows toward systemic poverty.
Multiple proverbs explicitly condemn wealth gained through oppression:
מִשְׁלֵי יג:כג - רָב־אֹכֶל נִיר רָאשִׁים וְיֵשׁ נִסְפֶּה בְּלֹא מִשְׁפָּט
Proverbs 13:23 - "The field of the poor may yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice [lo mishpat]."
The phrase בְּלֹא מִשְׁפָּט (belo mishpat, "without justice") indicates that poverty often results from systemic עָוֶל (avel, injustice/wrongdoing), not individual laziness. The poor's field could produce abundance but is stolen through unjust systems.
מִשְׁלֵי כב:טז - עֹשֵׁק דָּל לְהַרְבּוֹת לוֹ נֹתֵן לְעָשִׁיר אַךְ־לְמַחְסוֹר
Proverbs 22:16 - "Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, leads only to loss."
The verb עֹשֵׁק (osheq, "oppressing/exploiting") describes active exploitation. Wealth gained through oppressing דָּל (dal, the poor/weak) brings ultimate loss, not divine blessing.
מִשְׁלֵי כב:כב-כג - אַל־תִּגְזָל־דָל כִּי דַל־הוּא וְאַל־תְּדַכֵּא עָנִי בַשָּׁעַר׃ כִּי־יְהוָה יָרִיב רִיבָם וְקָבַע אֶת־קֹבְעֵיהֶם נָפֶשׁ
Proverbs 22:22-23 - "Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them."
YHWH explicitly יָרִיב רִיבָם (yariv rivam, "pleads their case")—defending the poor in legal proceedings. The verb וְקָבַע (vekava, "despoils/robs") indicates YHWH will rob the life of those who rob the poor. This is covenant justice: YHWH takes the side of the exploited against exploiters.
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 7a) discusses these verses in terms of judges' obligations to defend the poor in legal proceedings, connecting Proverbs to Torah's justice requirements. The Mishnah (Avot 2:7) warns against increasing wealth through unjust means.
Christian prosperity gospel and Dominionist appropriation commits multiple levels of violence:
They weaponize diligence verses to blame poverty on individual failure, claiming poor people are lazy and therefore deserve poverty—erasing Proverbs' extensive discussion of systemic injustice causing poverty.
They claim wealth demonstrates God's blessing and approval, using verses about the diligent becoming rich to assert that wealthy Christians are blessed for their faithfulness—ignoring warnings that wealth gained through oppression brings divine judgment.
They strip economic sayings from Torah's justice framework, ignoring that "diligence" in Proverbs means conducting business within covenant obligations (honest weights, fair wages, not moving boundary stones, not charging interest to the poor, leaving gleaning rights, etc.), not capitalist wealth accumulation through exploitation.
Christian Dominionism weaponizes business success as qualification for cultural leadership, claiming Christians who achieve wealth through "biblical principles" should occupy business and government mountains—transforming warnings against exploitation into prosperity mandates.
They erase YHWH's advocacy for the poor, ignoring that Proverbs repeatedly states YHWH defends the vulnerable against their oppressors and judges those who gain wealth through exploitation.
They ignore Proverbs' warnings about wealth's dangers:
מִשְׁלֵי כח:ו - טוֹב־רָשׁ הוֹלֵךְ בְּתֻמּוֹ מֵעִקֵּשׁ דְּרָכַיִם וְהוּא עָשִׁיר
Proverbs 28:6 - "Better to be poor and walk in integrity than to be crooked in one's ways even though rich."
This explicitly states poverty with תֹּם (tom, integrity) is better than wealth gained through עִקֵּשׁ (ikesh, crookedness). Prosperity gospel cannot tolerate this because it undermines the entire theology.
V. Proverbs 31 and the Patriarchal Colonization of Eshet Chayil
Proverbs 31:10-31's portrait of אֵשֶׁת־חַיִל (eshet chayil, "woman of valor/strength") has suffered perhaps the most extensive feminist erasure and patriarchal weaponization:
מִשְׁלֵי לא:י - אֵשֶׁת־חַיִל מִי יִמְצָא וְרָחֹק מִפְּנִינִים מִכְרָהּ
Proverbs 31:10 - "A capable wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels."
The term חַיִל (chayil) means strength, might, valor, capability, wealth—the same word used for warriors and armies. This woman isn't praised for domestic submission but for her עֹז (oz, strength) and competence. The poem proceeds to describe her activities:
She engages in textile production and trade (verses 13, 18-19, 21-22, 24): וַתִּדְרֹשׁ צֶמֶר וּפִשְׁתִּים (vattidrosh tzemer ufishtim, "she seeks wool and flax"), כִּיסוֹר וָפֶלֶךְ שִׁלְּחָה כַפֶּיהָ (kisor vafelekh shilchah kapeha, "she puts her hands to the distaff and spindle"), סָדִין עָשְׂתָה וַתִּמְכֹּר (sadin astah vatimkor, "she makes linen garments and sells them"). She's producing and selling in the marketplace—engaged in commerce.
She purchases real estate independently (verse 16): זָמְמָה שָׂדֶה וַתִּקָּחֵהוּ מִפְּרִי כַפֶּיהָ נָטְעָה כָּרֶם (zamemah sadeh vatikkachehu mipri kapeha nat'ah karem, "she considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard"). The verb וַתִּקָּחֵהוּ (vatikkachehu, "she buys it") indicates independent property acquisition—she's making major financial decisions and conducting agricultural business.
She provides for her household (verses 15, 21, 27): וַתָּקָם בְּעוֹד לַיְלָה וַתִּתֵּן טֶרֶף לְבֵיתָהּ (vattakam be'od lailah vatiten teref leveita, "she rises while it is still night and provides food for her household"). But this isn't praised as domestic confinement—it's part of her overall economic management.
She's known in the city gates (verse 23): נוֹדָע בַּשְּׁעָרִים בַּעְלָהּ (noda bash'arim ba'alah, "her husband is known in the gates")—because she has enabled his public role through her economic productivity. The gates are where she also has presence through her commercial activities.
She speaks with wisdom and teaches (verse 26): פִּיהָ פָּתְחָה בְחָכְמָה וְתוֹרַת־חֶסֶד עַל־לְשׁוֹנָהּ (piha fat'chah vechokhmah vetorat-chesed al-leshonah, "she opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue"). The term תוֹרַת־חֶסֶד (torat chesed, "instruction/torah of kindness") indicates she's a teacher—she doesn't just practice chesed but instructs others in it.
The Talmud (Sotah 11b) discusses eshet chayil in terms of praiseworthy women who enabled Israel's redemption. The tradition of singing Eshet Chayil Friday nights before Shabbat meals celebrates women's strength, competence, and economic contributions. This is affirmation of women's capability, not confinement to domestic submission.
Christian patriarchal colonization commits breathtaking violence:
They domesticate the eshet chayil into a submissive housewife, claiming Proverbs 31 teaches "biblical womanhood" through domestic service to husband and children—when the text describes an economically powerful businesswoman engaged in commerce, real estate, and public teaching.
They erase her economic agency, focusing exclusively on verses about providing for her household while ignoring that she purchases land, conducts trade, sells products in markets, and manages substantial business operations.
They weaponize this for complementarian ideology, claiming the passage teaches wives should submit to husbands' authority—when the text never mentions submission and portrays the woman making independent financial decisions.
They strip her teaching authority, either ignoring verse 26 or claiming her "teaching" is limited to instructing children at home—when פָּתְחָה (fat'chah, "she opens") her mouth with חָכְמָה (chokhmah, wisdom) suggests public teaching authority.
Christian homeschooling movements weaponize this for their "biblical family" ideology, claiming the eshet chayil models homeschooling mothers—when the text describes a woman with servants managing her household while she conducts business.
They ignore that this woman's activities place her in the public, masculine sphere—purchasing property, engaging in commerce, known at the city gates through her business dealings. Patriarchal interpretation confines her to private domestic space, directly contradicting the text.
The acrostic structure (each verse beginning with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet, א through ת) indicates this is idealized portrait, not historical description—but it reveals what Israel's wisdom tradition valued: women's strength, economic competence, business acumen, teaching authority, and public presence. Christian patriarchy has colonized this and weaponized it for the opposite: confining women to domestic submission.
Proverbs' child-rearing sayings have been brutalized to serve authoritarian parenting:
מִשְׁלֵי כב:ו - חֲנֹךְ לַנַּעַר עַל־פִּי דַרְכּוֹ גַּם כִּי־יַזְקִין לֹא־יָסוּר מִמֶּנָּה
Proverbs 22:6 - "Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray."
The verb חֲנֹךְ (chanokh, "train/dedicate") and phrase עַל־פִּי דַרְכּוֹ (al-pi darko, literally "according to his way") has generated extensive interpretation. Some read this as training according to the child's individual nature/aptitude; others as training in "the way" of wisdom and Torah. The promise that when יַזְקִין (yazkin, "he grows old") he won't יָסוּר (yasur, "turn away") suggests lasting impact of early formation.
Christian authoritarian parenting movements (Focus on the Family, James Dobson, Pearl's To Train Up a Child, etc.) weaponize this:
They claim this mandates corporal punishment, connecting it to Proverbs 13:24, 23:13-14, 29:15's שֵׁבֶט (shevet, "rod") references, asserting physical punishment is biblically required child-rearing—transforming wisdom about formation into justification for hitting children.
They weaponize "the way" for indoctrination, claiming parents must train children in specific theological and political beliefs, with deviation indicating parental failure—ignoring that derech (way/path) in wisdom literature refers to wise living, not doctrinal conformity.
They use this for homeschooling ideology, claiming secular education represents parental failure to "train in the way"—weaponizing this verse for Christian separatist education.
Christian Dominionism weaponizes this for multigenerational conquest, claiming Christians must train children to take the seven mountains, viewing child-rearing as strategy for Christian cultural dominance.
The Talmud's discussion of education (Kiddushin 29a-30b) focuses on teaching Torah, trades, and life skills—emphasizing formation in covenant living, not authoritarian control. The rod passages likely reflect ancient Near Eastern educational practices but are understood in context of community formation in Torah, not isolated as mandates for corporal punishment.
VII. Governance Sayings and Dominionist Political Theology
Proverbs contains numerous sayings about kings and governance that Dominionism weaponizes:
מִשְׁלֵי כט:ב - בִּרְבוֹת צַדִּיקִים יִשְׂמַח הָעָם וּבִמְשֹׁל רָשָׁע יֵאָנַח עָם
Proverbs 29:2 - "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan."
This observation about צַדִּיקִים (tzaddikim, righteous) versus רָשָׁע (rasha, wicked) governance becomes weaponized for Christian political conquest, with Seven Mountain theology claiming Christians must occupy government mountains because only the "righteous" (Christians) should rule. This erases that biblical tzaddikim means those who practice mishpat and tzedakah—covenant justice—not religious identity markers.
Dominionist appropriation:
They claim this mandates Christian political dominance, asserting Christians must control government for people to flourish.
They weaponize "righteous" as Christian identity rather than just governance, ignoring Proverbs' concern is with leaders who practice justice, not leaders' religious affiliation.
They use this to demonize secular government, claiming non-Christian leadership equals "wicked rule" causing people to groan.
VIII. Conclusion: Wisdom Colonized for Prosperity Conquest
Christian appropriation of Proverbs—particularly prosperity gospel and Dominionist—represents wisdom literature colonized for capitalist theocracy. A sophisticated ethical text has been:
Stripped of Woman Wisdom's feminine divine representation—replaced with masculine conquest "wisdom" for dominating mountains.
Gutted of economic justice content—warnings against exploitation erased, prosperity through diligence weaponized for blaming poverty on laziness.
Weaponized for patriarchal gender ideology—eshet chayil's economic power domesticated into submissive "biblical womanhood."
Deployed for authoritarian structures—fear of the Lord weaponized for church/family hierarchy; child training colonized for corporal punishment theology.
Appropriated for political conquest—governance sayings weaponized for Christian Dominionist claims that only Christians should rule.
Proverbs deserved better than becoming a prosperity gospel and patriarchal conquest manual. Wisdom literature deserved better than having its justice content stripped for capitalist ideology. And Woman Wisdom herself—public, authoritative, economically competent, teaching with divine authority—deserved better than erasure by theology that can't tolerate feminine divine representation and female economic power.
References
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Charles, R.H., ed. The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913.
Robinson, James M., ed. The Nag Hammadi Library in English. 4th ed. Leiden: Brill, 1996.
Marshall, Alfred. The Interlinear Greek-English New Testament. 4th ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.
Kelly, J.N.D. Early Christian Doctrines. 5th ed. London: A&C Black, 1977.