HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  WISDOM OF SOLOMON 1

  Exhortation to Uprightness

  1Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth,

  think of the Lord in goodness

  and seek him with sincerity of heart;

  2because he is found by those who do not put him to the test,

  and manifests himself to those who do not distrust him.

  3For perverse thoughts separate people from God,

  and when his power is tested, it exposes the foolish;

  4because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul,

  or dwell in a body enslaved to sin.

  5For a holy and disciplined spirit will flee from deceit,

  and will leave foolish thoughts behind, and

  will be ashamed at the approach of unrighteousness.

  6For wisdom is a kindly spirit,

  but will not free blasphemers from the guilt of their words;

  because God is witness of their inmost feelings,

  and a true observer of their hearts, and a hearer of their tongues.

  7Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world,

  and that which holds all things together knows what is said,

  8therefore those who utter unrighteous things will not escape notice,

  and justice, when it punishes, will not pass them by.

  9For inquiry will be made into the counsels of the ungodly,

  and a report of their words will come to the Lord,

  to convict them of their lawless deeds;

  10because a jealous ear hears all things,

  and the sound of grumbling does not go unheard.

  11Beware then of useless grumbling,

  and keep your tongue from slander;

  because no secret word is without result,a

  and a lying mouth destroys the soul.

  12Do not invite death by the error of your life,

  or bring on destruction by the works of your hands;

  13because God did not make death,

  and he does not delight in the death of the living.

  14For he created all things so that they might exist;

  the generative forcesb of the world are wholesome,

  and there is no destructive poison in them,

  and the dominionc of Hades is not on earth.

  15For righteousness is immortal.

  Life as the Ungodly See It

  16But the ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death;d

  considering him a friend, they pined away

  and made a covenant with him,

  because they are fit to belong to his company.

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  a Or will go unpunished

  b Or the creatures

  c Or palace

  d Gk him

  1.1–6.21 The first part of the book has a chiastic, or concentric, structure: 1.1–15 (A) and 6.1–21 (Á) are exhortations to rulers to seek uprightness (A) and wisdom (Á); 1.16–2.24 (B) and 4.20–5.23 ($$$$$) contain the defense by the ungodly of their decision to persecute the just (B) and their confession of their error in doing this ($$$$); 3.1–4.19 (C) is the central section and contains disproof of that defense and proof of the integrity of the just. It draws heavily on the scriptural motif of the persecution and vindication of the just person (Pss 27; 35; 37; 38; 86; 109; Isa 52.13–53.12; Dan 12.1–3).

  1.1–15 This exhortation (A; see note on 1.1–6.21) introduces many of the key themes and motifs of the book: righteousness assures wisdom and immortality; wickedness leads to death.

  1.1 The author writes as if he were King Solomon (9.7–8, 12) addressing fellow kings, you rulers of the earth; in fact, the book is addressed to the author’s Jewish audience.

  1.3–10 Power (v. 3), wisdom (v. 4), holy…spirit, the divine tutor (v. 5), spirit of the Lord (v. 7), justice (v. 8), and jealous ear (v. 10) all speak of differing aspects of God.

  1.6 Kindly spirit, lit. “lover of humanity,” a Greek expression.

  1.7 That which holds all things together, a Stoic expression adopted here to describe the spirit that holds the cosmos in existence (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.148).

  1.10 Grumbling recalls the rebellion of Israel in the desert (Ex 15–17; Num 17.5–10), which epitomizes all rebellion against God.

  1.12–13 Death, the lot of the sinner, is eternal separation from God; the author of Wisdom pays little attention to the reality of physical death.

  1.14 Hades is personified (Job 38.17; Rev 6.8; 20.14).

  1.15 Immortality is not a natural quality, but dependent on living in conformity with God’s will, i.e., according to righteousness (v. 1).

  1.16–2.24 In this section (B; see note on 1.1–6.21), the author allows the wicked to speak for themselves in the manner of the Hellenistic diatribe, a popular philosophical discourse often making use of an imaginary adversary. The pessimistic tone is a frequent feature of the popular thought and poetry of Hellenistic and Imperial times.

  1.16 The wicked covenant with Death (Isa 28.15). Their pining for Death is exemplified in Apocalypse of Abraham 13, 23, and in the Dead Sea Scrolls War Scroll (1QM) it is repeatedly stated that the wicked are attached to Belial (Satan) because their desire is for him (13.12; 15.9; 17.4).

  WISDOM OF SOLOMON 2

  1For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,

  “Short and sorrowful is our life,

  and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end,

  and no one has been known to return from Hades.

  2For we were born by mere chance,

  and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been,

  for the breath in our nostrils is smoke,

  and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts;

  3when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes,

  and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.

  4Our name will be forgotten in time,

  and no one will remember our works;

  our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,

  and be scattered like mist that is chased by the rays of the sun and overcome by its heat.

  5For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,

  and there is no return from our death,

  because it is sealed up and no one turns back.

  6“Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that exist,

  and make use of the creation to the full as in youth.

  7Let us take our fill of costly wine and perfumes,

  and let no flower of spring pass us by.

  8Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.

  9Let none of us fail to share in our revelry;

  everywhere let us leave signs of enjoyment,

  because this is our portion, and this our lot.

  10Let us oppress the righteous poor man;

  let us not spare the widow or regard the gray hairs of the aged.

  11But let our might be our law of right,

  for what is weak proves itself to be useless.

  12“Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,

  because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;

  he reproaches us for sins against the law,

  and accuses us of sins against our training.

  13He professes to have knowledge of God,

  and calls himself a childe of the Lord.

  14He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;

  15the very sight of him is a burden to us,

  because his manner of life is unlike that of others,

  and his ways are strange.

  16We are considered by him as something base,

  and he avoids our ways as unclean;

  he calls the last end of the righteous happy,

  and boasts that God is his father.

  17Let us see if his words are true,

  and let us test what will happen at the end of his life;

  18for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will
help him,

  and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.

  19Let us test him with insult and torture,

  so that we may find out how gentle he is,

  and make trial of his forbearance.

  20Let us condemn him to a shameful death,

  for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”

  Error of the Wicked

  21Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray,

  for their wickedness blinded them,

  22and they did not know the secret purposes of God,

  nor hoped for the wages of holiness,

  nor discerned the prize for blameless souls;

  23for God created us for incorruption,

  and made us in the image of his own eternity,f

  24but through the devil’s envy death entered the world,

  and those who belong to his company experience it.

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  e Or servant

  f Other ancient authorities read nature

  2.1 Short and sorrowful is our life, a commonplace human lament (Job 14.1–2; Lucretius, On the Nature of Things 3.914–15).

  2.2 Chance played an important role in Epicurean cosmology. In a Greek epitaph from the third century BCE we read, “Like animals we are pulled hither and thither by chance, in life as in death.” A similar thought is prominent in Ecclesiastes, where the Hebrew word miqreh (“fate”) refers to the common fate awaiting all, death, the timing of which is utterly concealed from human understanding (Eccl 2.14; 3.19; 9.2). The Stoics conceived of the soul as a spark, a fiery breath.

  2.4 Plato refers to the childish fear that, when the soul leaves the body, it will be blown away and scattered by the wind (Phaedo 77D).

  2.6 Let us enjoy, a popular motif (Isa 22.13; Eccl 9.7; Horace, Odes 1.11.8, carpe diem, Latin, “seize the day”).

  2.9 Our portion, a prominent motif in Ecclesiastes (2.10; 3.22; 9.9).

  2.12–20 The description of the suffering and vindication of the child of the Lord (v. 13) is based on the fourth servant song in Isaiah (52.13–53.12). The early church fathers saw in this description a prophecy of Christ’s Passion.

  2.17 When Joseph’s brothers plot his death, they similarly say, “Let us kill him…and we shall see what will become of his dreams” (Gen 37.20).

  2.22 The secret purposes of God. The doctrine of the afterlife is referred to as a mystery in 1 Cor 4.1–5; 15.51; 1 Enoch 103.2; and in the Dead Sea Scrolls Book of Mysteries (1Q27) 1.3–4.

  WISDOM OF SOLOMON 3

  The Destiny of the Righteous

  1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,

  and no torment will ever touch them.

  2In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,

  and their departure was thought to be a disaster,

  3and their going from us to be their destruction;

  but they are at peace.

  4For though in the sight of others they were punished,

  their hope is full of immortality.

  5Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,

  because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;

  6like gold in the furnace he tried them,

  and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.

  7In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,

  and will run like sparks through the stubble.

  8They will govern nations and rule over peoples,

  and the Lord will reign over them forever.

  9Those who trust in him will understand truth,

  and the faithful will abide with him in love,

  because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,

  and he watches over his elect.a

  The Destiny of the Ungodly

  10But the ungodly will be punished as their reasoning deserves,

  those who disregarded the righteousb

  and rebelled against the Lord;

  11for those who despise wisdom and instruction are miserable.

  Their hope is vain, their labors are unprofitable,

  and their works are useless.

  12Their wives are foolish, and their children evil;

  13their offspring are accursed.

  On Childlessness

  For blessed is the barren woman who is undefiled,

  who has not entered into a sinful union;

  she will have fruit when God examines souls.

  14Blessed also is the eunuch whose hands have done no lawless deed,

  and who has not devised wicked things against the Lord;

  for special favor will be shown him for his faithfulness,

  and a place of great delight in the temple of the Lord.

  15For the fruit of good labors is renowned,

  and the root of understanding does not fail.

  16But children of adulterers will not come to maturity,

  and the offspring of an unlawful union will perish.

  17Even if they live long they will be held of no account,

  and finally their old age will be without honor.

  18If they die young, they will have no hope

  and no consolation on the day of judgment.

  19For the end of an unrighteous generation is grievous.

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  a Text of this line uncertain; omitted by some ancient authorities. Compare 4.15

  b Or what is right

  3.1–4.19 The central section of this part of the book (C; see note on 1.1–6.21) contains three antithetical portraits, or diptychs, contrasting the righteous with the ungodly. The first diptych (3.1–13a) contrasts the destinies of the righteous and the ungodly; the second (3.13b–4.6) deals with the issue of sterility and progeny; and the third (4.7–19) deals with the issue of premature death. All three contrasts show the superiority of the righteous over the wicked.

  3.1–13a The first contrast (see note on 3.1–4.19) is between the destinies of the righteous (3.1–9) and the ungodly (3.10–13a). The author is deliberately vague about the precise timing and location of the postmortem events he describes. He may have envisaged the temporary abode of all souls in Sheol until the final judgment, as in 1 Enoch 22, or else thought that the judgment takes place immediately after death.

  3.1 The Greek doctrine of the immortality of the soul is already found in 1 Enoch 102–105; and later in 4 Macc 18.23; Philo, On Abraham 258; Josephus, War 3.372; 7.343–50.

  3.5 The notion of brief chastisement followed by great good (Isa 54.7–8) is elaborated by the author of 2 Maccabees (6.12) to justify the calamities of the persecution by Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

  3.7 Shine forth. The future starlike brilliance of the righteous and their judging and governing of the nations (v. 8) is a common conception in Jewish apocalyptic (Dan 7.22; 12.3; 2 Esd 9.97; 1 Enoch 104.2; Testament of Abraham 1–4; Dead Sea Scrolls Commentary on Habakkuk [1QpHab] 5.4; cf. Sifre Deuteronomy 10).

  3.13b–4.6 The second contrast (see note on 3.1–4.19) shows the paradoxical superiority of virtue with sterility (3.13b–15; 4.1–2) over wickedness with progeny (3.16–19; 4.3–6). Status in the ancient Near East was deeply affected by the number of one’s progeny. Sexual sin was believed to result in sterility (Gen 30.23; Ps 128; Lk 1.25; 1 Enoch 98.5; Ps.-Philo, Biblical Antiquities 50.5; Genesis Rabbah 45.4). The Wisdom of Solomon, however, emphatically denies any necessary connection between sin and sterility. Sterility, if pure, will be redeemed by spiritual fertility.

  3.14 The eunuch. See Isa 56.3–5, in which the prophet refers to the Jewish youth who were castrated at the hands of the Babylonians and consequently despaired of sharing in Israel’s future redemption (Deut 23.1). Isaiah gives them the divine assurance of a monument and a name better than sons or daughters.

  3.16 It was believed that illegitimate children would not live long (Sir 23.25; 1 Enoch 10.9; Babylonian Talmud Yebamot 78b).

  WISDOM OF SOLOMON 4

 
1Better than this is childlessness with virtue,

  for in the memory of virtuea is immortality,

  because it is known both by God and by mortals.

  2When it is present, people imitateb it,

  and they long for it when it has gone;

  throughout all time it marches, crowned in triumph,

  victor in the contest for prizes that are undefiled.

  3But the prolific brood of the ungodly will be of no use,

  and none of their illegitimate seedlings will strike a deep root or take a firm hold.

  4For even if they put forth boughs for a while,

  standing insecurely they will be shaken by the wind,

  and by the violence of the winds they will be uprooted.

  5The branches will be broken off before they come to maturity,

  and their fruit will be useless,

  not ripe enough to eat, and good for nothing.

  6For children born of unlawful unions are witnesses of evil against their parents when God examines them.c

  7But the righteous, though they die early, will be at rest.

  8For old age is not honored for length of time,

  or measured by number of years;

  9but understanding is gray hair for anyone,

  and a blameless life is ripe old age.

  10There were some who pleased God and were loved by him,

  and while living among sinners were taken up.

  11They were caught up so that evil might not change their understanding or guile deceive their souls.

  12For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good,

  and roving desire perverts the innocent mind.