they can be recognized because they are independent of the context: for example the words with which the book of Jeremiah begins (1:1ff.). These examples, though differing in quality, have in common the awareness that it is impossible to understand the attitude of persons and schools of thought, and therefore of the writings which derive from them, without knowing the events or the situations which shaped them wholly or in part. For example, ignorance of Canaanite religion would notably limit our