identifiers are derived from characterization of wisdom literature (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job), resemblance to which is the determining factor. In this context, it is instructive to turn back to Gunkel’s pioneering work on form-critical classification of the psalms, to find that he did not identify ‘wisdom psalms’ as a specific Gattung. Rather he took a more nuanced approach in which he explored the various ways in which the wisdom poetry penetrated the Psalter over a period of time. He identified