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 THE CAMBRIDGE BIBLE
FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
General Editor for the Old Testament
AND Ap(^crypha: —

A. F. KIRKPATRICK, D.D.
DEAN OF ELY

THE

WISDOM OF SOLOMON
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY TRESS WAREHOUSE,
C. F. CLAY, Manager.
aontion : FETTER LANE, E.G.
eoinfaurgl]: iod. PRINCES STREET.

Cerlm: A. ASHER AND CO.

1Lfip?ig: F. A. BROCK HAUS
i^tfa gork: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS.
ISombag anU Calcutta: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd.

[A// ri^^hts reserved^

%pf^y> THE
wisdom' of SOLOiMON
by
In the Revised Version

With Introduction and Notes

The Rev. J. A. F. GREGG, M.A,

LATE SCHOLAR OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

Cambridge :
at the University Pres:
1909
 Cambridge :
PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A.
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

&7
BS
 PREFACE
BY THE

GENERAL EDITOR FOR THE OLD TESTAMENT.

The present General Editor for the Old Testament

in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
desires to say that, in accordance with the policy of
his predecessor the Bishop of Worcester, he does not
hold himself responsible for the particular interpreta-
tions adopted or for the opinions expressed by the
editors of the several Books, nor has he endeavoured
to bring them into agreement with one another. It
is inevitable that there should be differences of
opinion in regard to many questions of criticism and
interpretation, and it seems best that these differences
should find free expression in different volumes. He
has endeavoured to secure, as far as possible, that
the general scope and character of the series should
be observed, and that views which have a reasonable
claim* to consideration should not be ignored, but he
has felt it best that the final responsibility should, in
general, rest with the individual contributors.
A. F. KIRKPATRICK.
FROM YOUTH TO OLD AGE TAKE WISDOM
FOR THY SUSTENANCE: OF ALL POSSESSIONS
IT ALONE ABIDETH.
BIAS.
 CONTENTS.
Introduction PAGES
1 Title
2 Date X ix
— —xiiiX

3 Language of the original xiii — xvi

4 Place of writing xvi — xviii
5 The Author xviii — xxi
6 Purpose of the book xxi — xxvi
7 Unity of the book xxvi — X xviii
8 Wisdom-literalure xxviii — xxxi
9 The Divine Wisdom xxxi — xxxvi
10 xxxvi — xxxix
The Logos
II Doctrine of God ... xxxix — xiii
1213 Doctrine of Man xiii — xlv
14 xlv — xlviii
Death and Lrnnortality
15
Eschatology ... xlviii — xlix
Analysis of Contents xlix— lii
I? MSS. and Text lii— liii
i6
Wisdom and the New Testament liii— Ix
i8 Literature IIx-lxi
— 189
Text . ^ND Notes

Index 190—192
 Wisdom is a breath of the power of God, and a clear
effluence of the glory of the .Almighty; therefore can nothing
defiled find entrance into her. For she is an effulgence from
everlasting light, and an unspotted mirror of the working of
God, and an image of his goodness. And she, being one, hath
power to do all things; and remaining in herself, reneweth all
things: and from generation to generation passing into holy
souls she maketh men friends of God and prophets.

Wisdom vii. 23 — 27.

 INTRODUCTION.

? I. Title.
The book is known as the Wisdom of Solomon in the three
oldest extant Gk. MSS., XAB, and in each case occupies the
same position relatively to the other Wisdom-books, i.e. it
follows Proverbs, Ecclesiastes (and Song of Solomon), and pre-
cedes Ecclesiasticus, the position of Job being variable ^
In the Syriac Version, it is known as the " Book of the Great
Wisdom of Solomon, son of David," and in the Arabic, as the
"Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, son of King David, who
ruled over the children of Israel."
Cyprian (d. 258) quotes W^isdom frequently, and habitually
refers to it as Solovion., or the Wisdo?n of Solo7non : Tertullian
{J)raescr. haer. vii.) had cited it under the latter title. Jerome
{praef. in libr. Salo7n.) unhesitatingly describes it as pseudepi-
graphic, and, doubtless under his influence, the title given to it
in the Vulgate was simply Liber Sapieiitiae: while St Augustine
{Civ. Dei xvii. 20), though aware of the tradition of the Solo-
monic authorship, acknowledged that the best writers denied its
truth, although an early ecclesiastical custom in the West had
lent authority to it (see also Aug. de doct. Chr. ii. 13).
The reference in the Western " Muratorian Canon '' (about
220 A.D. ?) to "Wisdom, written by the friends of Solomon in
his honour," is very obscure ; but cp. Intr. p. xx, n. i.
Among the Greek fathers, Clement of Alexandria {Strom, iv.

^ The title varies thus: — 1,o(pia 'ZaKojfxwpos B. S. 2aXo/.ttDi'Tos N.

2. SoXoyLcwj/ros A and Cod. Yen. For the names given to IVisdofii in
Patristic and Synodical lists of the Eastern and Western Church, see
Dr Swete's Introd. to 0.7'. in Greek, pp. 203 — 214.
 INTRODUCTION.

i6) and Origen {Ep. ad Rom. vii. 14) both call it the Divine
Wisdom^ although the former also knows it as the Wisdom of
Solomon {Str. vi.), and the latter refers to it as the "Wisdom
named that of Solomon" {adv. Cels. v. 29). The Wisdom
mentioned by Melito (Eus. H. E. iv. 26) is almost certainly the
Book of Proverbs, the canon to which he refers being Palestinian
(cp. that of Origen, Eus. H. E. vi. 25). Epiphanius {de mens, et
pond. §4) and John of Damascus {de fid. orth. iv. 17) call it
T] 7ravdp€Tos, "The Wisdom which comprises all virtues^" This
title was probably given in connection with the series of attri-
butes ascribed to Wisdom in ch. vii. 22 f, and is also accorded to
Proverbs by Clement of Rome {Ep. ad Cor. § 57), and by Hege-
sippus and Irenaeus (Eus. H. E. iv. 22), and to Ecclesiasticus
by Jerome {praef. in libr. Salom.).
§ 2. Date.
As will be seen below, the Solomonic date for the Book of
Wisdom is impossible. Some writers have placed it as early as
the end of the 3rd cent. B.C., others as late as the middle of the
1st cent. A.D.
Wisdom could not have been written before the beginning of
the 2nd cent. B.C. This is proved by its relation to the Greek
version of the prophets and hagiographa. Undoubted use is
made of the Greek version of Isaiah (ii. 12, cp. Is. iii. 10; xv. 10,
cp. Is. xliv. 20), the author quoting from the Greek where it
differs from the Hebrew; and of Job (xii. 12, cp. Job ix. 12, 19) :
accordingly Wisdom was written after these books were trans-
lated. But, inasmuch as the LXX. version of the Pentateuch
was not made until the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (284 —
246 B.C.), it is unlikely that the canon of the prophetic and his-
torical books which was not fixed until about 300 — 250 B.C. (see
Hastings, D. B. iii. 612), and still less the canon of the hagio-
grapha, would call for translation into Greek, either in whole
or in part, until some considerable time later. Therefore, the

^ navd^eros is the alternative title given to Wisdom in the list of

books prefixed to Cod. A. Epiphanius calls it "The Wisdom of
Solomon called t] vaudpeTos" ; John of Damascus "^ iravdpeTos, that
is, the Wisdom of Solomon."
 DATE. xi

earliest approximate date for a book which made use of these

translations is the beginning" of the 2nd century B.C.
On the other hand, Wisdom might have been written before
132 B.C. By that date, a Greek version of the prophets and
possibly of the hagiographa was known to the translator of the
Wisdom of the Son of Siracli (SwtiQ, Introd. to O.T. pp. 23, 24),
and was apparently not quite new.

If any definite indebtedness to the Greek version of Ecclesi-

asticus could be established. Wisdom could be dated with
certainty after 132 B.C. But although there is some similarity
of tone between such Wisdom-passages in Ecclus. as iv. 11 — 15;
vi. 18 — 28 ; XV. I — 8, and Wisd. vi., viii. (cp. also W^isd. iv. 3
and Ecclus. xxiii. 25 ; Wisd. vi. 18 and Ecclus. i. 26 ; Wisd. xv.
7, 8 and Ecclus. xxxiii. 10 — 13), the relation is too general to
warrant any conclusion upon which an argument might with
safety be based.
Two considerations however lend strong support to a date
within the last quarter of the 2nd century B.C.
(A) The references to the relations between Egypt a?td the
chosen people.
Under the early Ptolemies, the Jews had received great
consideration. Whatever may have been the feelings of their
native subjects, these kings had treated the Jews with marked
favour, and it was not till the reign of Ptolemy VII. (Euer-
getes II., surnamed Physcon, 145 — 117 B.C.), that any official
action was taken against them. Josephus {contr. Ap. ii. 5) re-
cords the vengeance of Physcon upon the Alexandrian Jews for
their loyalty to Cleopatra, in words which preserve an older
version of the tradition adapted by the writer of 3 Mace, (see
W. Fairweather, in Hastings' D. B. vol. iii. p. 193 b).
Wisdom xi. and xvi. — xix. display a strong national antipathy
to the Egyptians, while iii. i ; v. i ; vi. 5 — 9 were evidently
written by way of consolation to sufferers. But such passages
could not have been written, had there been no other collision
between the Egyptians and the Jews than that at the time of the
Exodus : besides, they would have been impolitic as well as
gratuitous under the gracious rule of the earlier Ptolemies.
 INTRODUCTION.

They point to almost contemporary' circumstances the memory

of which yet rankled in the Jewish mind.
On the other hand, the literary treatment of the subject-
matter is too passionless and academic to belong to a period of
actual persecution : the writing is dictated by calm and reasoned
prejudice rather than by the vehement indignation that is
provoked by personal suffering. These conditions point to a
time (about 120 — 100 B.C.) when the persecution under Physcon
was a thing of the past, while its memxory had not yet faded
from the minds of the older generation of Jews.
(B) The author is evidently unacquainted with the Philonic
doctrine of the Logos.
In spite of the remarkable similarity (in some cases amount-
ing almost to identity) of the language of Philo and that of
Wisdom, there is one vital difference which points to a con-
siderably earlier date for the latter.
The Logos-idea is the leading feature of Philo's system, and
there is in Wisdom no trace of the Philonian Logos, nor is the
Divine Wisdom ever even identified with the Logos. In Philo's
time the Logos-doctrine must have belonged to current Alex-
andrian thought : had Philo been its originator, he would have
asserted it in a more polemical manner.
Accordingly, time must be allowed for the development of a
doctrine which Philo found ready to his hand, and that length
of time must have separated the composition of Wisdom from
the writings of Philo. The inference (see Grimm, Intr. p. 34)
is that Wisdom was composed a considerable time, perhaps a
century-, before Philo, who was born about 20 B.C., began to

If this argument is valid, it is unnecessary to discuss whether

the persecutions of ihe Jews hinted at in Wisdom could have
been those under Nero, or Caligula, or Cleopatra. Gratz and
Noack saw in ch. xiv. 16 — 20 a reference to the command of
Caligula that bis statue should be placed in the Temple at
Jerusalem, and to the erection of his effigy in the Synagogues
of Alexandria. Grimm however points out that the reference
in ch. xiv. would be very mild in view of such an outrage upon
 DATE. xlll

the Jewish conscience, while divine honours had long previously

been paid to the Seleucidae and to Ptolemy Lagi and his wife.
P^or the same reason, those writers who, like Plumptre {Ex-
positor, vol. i. "The Writings of Apollos"), place its composition
after Christ on the ground of its similarity with, and indebtedness
to, the writings of Philo, fail to sustain their case. Without
doubt, a superficial comparison of Wisdom and Philo brings to
light remarkable resemblances of language and expression. The
numerous cases of similarity in the interpretation or amplifi-
cation of O.T. passages between Philo and the latter half of
Wisdom might be urged as indicating the dependence of the
latter (note especially the interpretation of the garments of the
high priest in Wisd. xviii. 24).
But the writer is Jewish in spirit throughout, and although we
find in Wisdom Philonic turns of expression and even philo-
sophical terms, he is not an advanced Alexandrian like Philo.
but an orthodox Jew.
The explanation of this similarity of interpretation and amplifi-
cation must be sought not in the dependence of one writer upon
another, but in their common dependence on a third source, viz.
Palestinian Midrashim, or Commentaries. Many of these must
have been known to the Jews resident in Alexandria, and their
exegesis largely influenced Alexandrian writers.
Finally, although our knowledge of the formation of the Canon
of the Greek O.T. is exceedingly small, it is hard to understand
how a work composed about A.D. 45 should have found a place
in the Greek O.T., even taking precedence of Ecclesiasticus.
Origen quotes from it as the " Divine Word " {adv. Cels. iii. 72),
or as " the prophet" {in Levit. Horn. v. 2), while Eusebius {praep.
Evang. i. 11) describes a quotation from it in almost identical
terms.

The conclusion is that no date satisfies the general 're-

quirements ofthe book so well as about 125 — 100 B.C.
§3. Language of the original.
It was seen in the preceding section that in two cases at least^
the author used the Greek version of Isaiah. The strong pre-
^ ii. 12; XV. 10.
 INTRODUCTION.

sumption hereby raised that the original language of Wisdom

was Greek, is confirmed by a closer examination of the phrase-
ology of the book.
Although the writer is not a philosopher, he draws very
largely upon the vocabulary of Greek philosophy S and uses
terms for which it would be hopeless to find equivalents in
Hebrew. An ingenious attempt was made by D. S. Margoliouth
{Joiir7i. of the Royal Asiatic Soc. 1890) to prove a Hebrew-
original, but was refuted by Freudenthal {Jewish Quarterly
Review^ 1891). A very cursory survey will show the difference
between Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus : the retranslation of the
former into a Semitic language would be a tour de force. Such
passages as Wisd. vii. 22— viii. i, and xiii. i — 9 are altogether
Greek, while the references in vii. 17, 18, and xi. 17 are equally
decisive. Although the writer was at heart a Jew and He-
braistic expressions abound 2, his philosophical interests made
Hebrew or Aramaic an impossible medium.
Further, the Greek of Wisdom is spontaneous and altogether
free from the constraint which is inevitable in a translation.
The many reminiscences of O.T. language as rendered by the
LXX.2, have not been carefully fitted into the text by a translator,

^ viii. 7 the four cardinal vutues; ix. 15b a Platonic touch; xi. 17
f/X'7 a.fMop<f)os ; xiv. 3, xvii. 2 irpouoLa; xvi. 21 vwdaraais ', xvi. 24 iiri-
racrty, dfcais; xix. 18 aToix^Ta, and metabolism, cp. xvi. 21.
2 e.g. i. I singleness of heart, ii. 9 portion, lot. ii. 15 paths (in moral
sense), ii. 16 accounted as. iv. 13 fulfil time. iv. 15 God's holy
ones. vii. 29 ; viii. 1 1 to find (in sense of recognise), ix. 3 upright-
ness of soul. ix. 9 what is pleasing in the eyes of God. xi. i in the
hand of. viii. 21 with a whole heart, ix. 6 sons of men. (From
Grimm).
' i. I ; I Chr. xxix. 17. i. 2 ; Is. Ixv. i. i. 13 b, 14 a ; Is. liv. 16.
i. 16; Is. xxviii. 15. ii. 7; Is. xxv. 6, 7. iii. 8b; Ps. x. 16. iii. 9c;
Ps. Ixxxiv. II. iii. 11; Prov. i. 7. iv. 10; Gen. v. 24. iv. 18 b; Ps. ii. 4.
V. 2; Is. xiii. 8. v. 14 a; Job viii. 13; Is. xxix. 5. v. 14 d; Is. xxxviii.
12. v. 22 c; Song viii. 7. vi. i; Ps. ii. 10. vi. 7; Deut. i. 17. viii.
12; Job xxix. 9, 21. ix. i; Dan. ii. 23. ix. 5; Ps. cxvi. 16. xi. 4b;
Deut. viii. 15. xi. 23; Job xHi. 2. xii. 12; Job ix, 12, 19. xiii. 18;
Is. viii. 19. xvi. 13; i Sam. ii. 6. xix. 17; Gen. xix. 11.
 LANGUAGE OF ORIGINAL.

but fall involuntarily from the pen of a writer whose memory is

stored with expressions drawn from the Book of his daily
meditation.
But the writer was more than a student of philosophy : his
flexible style, "redolent of Greek eloquence^' (Jerome, /?7^t'/i in
libr. Salofn.)^ betrays the student of classical Greek literature ^
If his clauses are more often loosely bound together by the
conjunctions and, but, therefore, icherefore, he is nevertheless
able to construct sentences in true periodic style (xii. 27; xiii.
II— 15).
If again some of his utterances recall the studied parallelism
of Hebrew poetry 'cp. ch. i. passim;, he employs on the other
hand the Greek rhetorical figures of Chiasmus (cp. ch. i, i, 4, 8 ;
iii. 15) and Sorites (ch. vi. 17 — 20).
There are not a few indications that his taste had been formed
by hearing or reading the Greek poets. His fondness for
accumulated epithets (ch. vii. 22, 23) and for compound words^
(in the construction of which ^ he shows no small skill) is almost
Aeschylean. His manner has at times the freshness* or the
lightness of touch ^ of Greek lyric poetr}^, and occasionally his
words iall into an iambic or hexameter rhythm^.
Finally, it would be hard to account for the various examples

^ It is tnie that his writing contains two apparent solecisms,

iv. 12 /.leraWeveiv, cp. xvi. 25. xi, 26 <pi\6\pvxos.
^ i. 4 KaKOTexi'OS (Homeric), vii. 23 TravTeiriaKoiros. x. 3 ddeXcpoKTd-
vos. xii. 5 airXayxi'ocpdyos. xiii. 5 yeifecnovpyos. Cp. Swete, Ifi/r. to
O.T. pp. 269, 311, 312.
■'* vii. I trpwTOT\affTos. xi. 7 vriiTLOKTovos. xiii. 3 -ye^'ecndpx^J- xiv, 23
TeKvo<p6vo$. XV. 8 KaKo/j.oxi^'^s.
•* xvii. 17 — 19.
5 ii. 6—8.
* (a) X. 9 4k irovuu ippvaaro. xiv. 26 \pvx^^v /j.i.aafx6s, yevecreus iva\-
Xay>7. XV. 4 eldos (TiriXudeu xptJ^aacrij/. 5 irodel re veKpds eUovos...
u}v d'^is a(f>pocnv els oveidos epxercu. 6 KaKiov epaaral.
{b) X. 3 crvvaTTibXeTO dvfiols. xviii. 4 aiQvi didocrdai.
In this connection, the rhythmical tendency so frequently observ^able
through the book is of considerable importance. See an article by
H. St J. Thackeray xnjourn. of I'heol. Studies, vol. vi. pp. 232 — 237.
WISDOM b
 INTRODUCTION.

of alliteration \ assonance 2, and paronomasia^ in a work which

was only a translation. The occurrence of a few instances
might be put down to accident, but the occurrence of several
suggests the author's deliberate intention.
We need have little hesitation in concluding that Wisdom
has reached us in the language in which it was composed^ :
Jerome {praef. in libr. Salom.) actually writes that though he
had found Ecclus. in Hebrew, "Wisdom is nowhere among the
Hebrews."
§ 4. Place of writing.
It is a very reasonable inference from the evidence supplied
by the book, that Wisdom was written by one who was resident
in Egypt.
We have seen the close connection between the language of
Wisdom and of the Alexandrian (LXX.) Version of O.T., and a
similar connection may be traced between Wisdom and 3 and
4 Maccabees, both of which books show marks of Alexandrian
origin.
Although obviously a Jew (xii. 22), the writer could not have
been a Palestinian. He was a Hellenist, and among the Jews
of Palestine Hellenism was tantamount to unpatriotism. Jose-
phus {Ant. XX. II, 2) writes with reference to Greek learning,
" Our nation does not encourage those that learn the languages
of many nations." This prejudice was very natural, considering
the Hellenizing efforts of Jason the high priest under Antiochus

^ ii. ro 7rpe(7/3i'roi'...7roXtdj Trokvxpoviovi. ii. Ij{. ^apvs...Kai ft\eTi6(j.ei'os.

iii. 8 KpLvod(Tiv...KpaT7](Tovaiv. iii. 16 T^Kva...aTe\e(TTa. iv. 5 irepi-
KXacrdrjaoPTaL KXtbues. v. 12 /SeXous ^XrjdevTos. v. 18 Kbpvda Kpiaiv
avvirbKpLTov. Cp. ii. 23; vi. 10; xii. 15.
^ i. 10 ol>s...dpov$. iv. 2 TToOovaiv aireXOovcrav. v. 14 d(re/3oOs...x''OL)j.
vii. 13 d56\(jjs...d(f>d6i'(t}s. xiii. ri eviJ.a6i2s...evirpeTru}s.
3 V. 3 crTei'ox<^pi(H'...<TTevd^ovTaL. v. 10 drpairov rpoinos. v. 22 iroTa-
fMoi...dTroT6fjiu}s. xvii. 12, 13 irpoooaia, TrpoadoKia.
* Cp. Dr Westcott's remarks on Slj//e a fid Langtiage in Smith, B. D.
iii. 1780, "No existing work represents perhaps more completely the
style of composition which would be produced by the (Alexandrian)
sophistig school of rhetoric."
 PLACE OF WRITING.

Epiphanes (2 Mace. iv. 7 — 15), the effect of which was to lead

men " to make of no account the honours of their fathers, but to
think the glories of the Greeks best of all 1."
On the other hand, the author of Wisdom writes about the
old-time dwellers in Egypt with a warmth that has something
personal in it, and hardly tries to conceal his antipathy for the
Egyptians of his own day under a historical mask (chs. xi., xvi.
— xix.) ; and again, he writes of the gods of the Egyptians
(xii. 23 — 27; XV. 18, 19) from a first-hand experience. He has
looked upon them, and felt the loathing excited by their hideous
appearance.
At the same time, he makes no effort to disguise his sympathy
with Hellenic thought. He is a Euhemerist in his account of
the origin of idol-worship (ch. xiv.) : he is a Platonist in his
sense of the beauty of the world, and in his argument that its
beauty points to a supreme First Cause. He draws on Plato
for his doctrine of pre-existing matter (xi. 17), of the pre-existence
of the soul (viii. 19), and of the body as an obstacle in the path
to spiritual knowledge (ix. 15).
The teaching of the Stoics suggested to him the penetrating-
ness of Wisdom (vii. 24), and her quickness of understanding
(voepov, vii. 22). The doctrine of Providence (xiv. 3), and the
conception of the four cardinal virtues (viii. 7), were a loan
partly from Plato and partly from the Stoics.
This combination of knowledge of Egypt and sympathy with
Greek studies points plainly to Alexandria ; and the inference is
strengthened by a comparison of Wisdom with the writings of
the Alexandrian Philo. For the affinity between them is so
close, that the author has been styled a pre-Philonic Philonist.
Like Philo (but in a more uncompromising way), he is a Jew
loyal to the national religion ; and no centre offered the same
opportunities as did Alexandria for a Jew, who wished to unite
a liberal eclecticism with his traditional faith.
He displays the Alexandrian tendency which was Greek in its
origin, and is illustrated in Philo later, to allegorize Scripture

1 Heriot {Philon le Jiiif, p. 23) writes that about 64 B.C. a curse was
pronounced against any parents giving their children a Greek education,
cp. Baba Kamma, 826, 83 a; Menahoth, 64 b; Sota, 49 b. bz
 INTRODUCTION.

(x. 7 the pillar of salt; x. 17 the cloud; xvi. 5— 7 the brazen

serpent; 28 the manna; xvii. 21 the Egyptian darkness;.
He holds the Alexandrian belief in the transcendence of God,
which he endeavours Hike Philo later with the Logos-theory)
to balance with the doctrine of a vicarious intermediary, the
Wisdom of the many names and functions ; and in order to
reconcile the religious sentiment with the divine transcendence,
he applies the Greek philosophical idea of a world-soul, and
thus contrives (while neither dethroning God nor deifying
Wisdom) to elaborate a doctrine of immanence.
He shows no hesitation in placing the doctrines of Israel side
by side with the philosophy of Greece, thus leading where Philo
followed later. It would be possible to produce a very lengthy
catena of quotations to show the similarity that exists between
the language and thought of Wisdom and Philo, but it would be
out of place here.
What has been said makes the conclusion very reasonable
that the writer was a Jew of Alexandria^

§ 5. The Author.
From the conclusions reached in the preceding sections, it
will be seen that, although it is unlikely we shall ever know the
name of the author of Wisdom, certain points seem to be fairly
established. The writer lived about 100 B.C., and was an
Alexandrian Jew, possessing considerable acquaintance with
the poetry and philosophy of Greece.
He may have been a professional religious teacher : his words
in vi. 23 seem like a defence in advance against the charge of
cupidity levelled by Philo against his profession, and probably
not less unmerited at this period by the "sophists" of Alexandria
^ Grimm {Intr. p. 20) names as specifically Judaeo-Alexandrine the
doctrine of Love as the moving principle in God's activity as Creator
and Sustainer of the world (xi. 24), and the designation of God as "He
that is" (xiii. i).
It should be observed that the writer's doctrine of the life after
death is quite distinct from the Palestinian doctrine of the resurrection
of the body (see Hastings, D. B. v. 305, 306), nor does his eschato-
logical scheme contain any allusion to a personal Messiah.
 THE AUTHOR.

than by those of Athens in the time of Socrates. Although

inclined to eclecticism, as was only natural in a capital where
all religions met, he was an unfaltering adherent of the national
faith. He speaks of the law of Moses as "the incorruptible
light of the law" (xviii. 4); he is unsparing in his condemnation
of his renegade fellow-countr>'men (chs. i.— v.); with the in-
capacity for appreciation fostered by the Mosaic legislation, he
stands unmoved before the triumphs of art, regarding all visible
representations of natural objects as indications of impiety if
not insanity (xiv. 18 — 21 ; xv. 4—6).
Idolatry was for him the beginning and cause of every moral
and social evil (xiv. 27) : though he could view with tolerance
the nobler forms of nature-worship, his residence among the
votaries of less elevated cults had done nothing to blunt his ab-
horrence for those who "invested stones and stocks with the
incommunicable Name" (xiv. 21).
Again, he is a blind particularist in dealing with his own
nation. The Israelites are the holy people, the blameless seed
(x. 15), the just (xi. 14): their enemies the impious, the lavvless
(xvi. 16, xvii. 2). Not only does his desire to heighten the
contrast lead him into unfairness, but he occasionally colours
histor)' in stating the case for the Israelites. They cry to God
for water (xi. 4), when Exodus xvii. relates that they murmured
against God. The Scriptural account of the incidents that led
up to the Brazen Serpent is ignored, and Israel is viewed as the
object of Divine deliverance almost to the exclusion of the
thought of chastisement (xvi. 5—14). The loathing of the
people for the familiar manna is forgotten, in order that the
author may credit it with the miraculous property of gratifying
every taste (xvi. 21). Again, not a word is said as to the reason
why the plague fell upon Israel (xviii. 20 — 25).
But although we may say thus much about the circumstances
and prepossessions of the author, it is easier to say who he was
not than who he was. Many conjectures have been hazarded,
but he must remain nameless.
He was not Solo7non (see §§ 2 — 4). The Solomonic author-
ship is a purely literary artifice. For the same reason, he could
not have been Zenibbabel (Faber) ; or the ^on of Sirach (a
XX INTRODUCTION.

suggestion made by St Augustine but withdrawn later); or

the older Philo, who according to Josephus was a heathen.
Nor was he Aristobiilus (Lutterbeck) ; holding as he did a
privileged position in Egypt as friend of Ptolemy Philometor,
he could not have written the passages in which kings are
reproached for their abuse of authority, while under that king
the Jews enjoyed considerable advantages.
The celebrated Philo^ was held to be the author by Luther
among others, and there is more to be said for this hypothesis
than for any of the preceding.
But it was seen in § 2 that there are no traces in Wisdom of
the specitically Philonic Logos-doctrine. While this in itself
would seem almost conclusive, Grimm '\Intr. pp. 24, 25) adds
that the author seems, unlike Philo, to have been but a casual
student of Greek philosophy, knowing of it little more than
what filtered down into the popular mind. Again, there is no
trace in Wisdom of the Platonic tripartite psychology, and
doctrine of ideas, which played so important a part in Philo's
system. The fundamental dualism of Philo, if not unseen in
Wisdom, is at any rate only hesitatingly touched. Again, in
Wisdom the devil is represented as an active agent (ii. 24),
whereas the advance of speculation has banished him from the
writings of Philo.
Furthermore, the difference in style must not be overlooked.
Philo's sentences are periodic, and his thought abstract and
unemotional : the first nine chapters of Wisdom on the other
hand recall the short sententious style of the gnomic books of
the O.T., while in the latter half the author's manner is glowing
and picturesque. Philo thinks overmuch, the author of Wisdom
has no system and lacks precision of thought: the former is a
philosopher, the latter a rhetorician.
Grimm is therefore probably right in concluding that Wisdom
presents an earlier stage of development in the type of thought

^ The ingenious conjecture of Dr Tregelles (Canon Murat. p. 53)

may be mentioned. The words in which the book is described are
"^/ Sapientia ab aw ids in honorem ipsiiis scripta,'''' and he suggested
that **a(5 amicis''^ stands for viro ^iXui/os in the Greek original, which
was mistaken for i/iro <pi\o}v.
 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK. xxi

whose ripened fruit appears in Philo. This conclusion miHtates

against the theory of Noack, warmly supported by Dean
Plumptre {Expositor, vol. ii. "The Writings of ApoUos")? that
Wisdom was written by the Alexandrian Apollos before he
became a Christian, being the precursor of the Epistle to the
Hebrews written by him after his conversion : Apollos would
hardly revert to a pre-Philonic stage of thought.
The further suggestion that Wisdom is by a Christian hand'is
met by the reply that there is not in the book one characteristi-
cally Christian conception.

§ 6. Purpose of the Book.

(A) The book opens with an address to rulers (i. i ; vi. i — 1 1),
but except in those passages, and vi. 20 — 25, there is no other
reference to them. But Wisdom is far from being a treatise
on statesmanship, the first section (which contains the only
mention of rulers) dealing almost entirely with moral and
spiritual considerations, in a personal rather than a social
connection. Accordingly, the address to rulers would seem to
be a purely rhetorical artifice, screening the real purpose of the
book, which is to give warning and encouragement to faithful
Jews.
But even supposing, as we may (cp. the connection between
i. 16 and ii. i), that the writer has in view "not heathen rulers
but powerful personages in the Jewish environment who... had
apostatized... and attached themselves to the heathen govern-
ment" (Siegfried, Art. " Bk of Wisdom," Hastings' D. B.), he
only addresses them for the benefit of his readers, not expecting
that his words will penetrate to high places, in the same manner
as the O.T. prophets addressed warnings and prophecies to
absent foreign princes and peoples with a direct view to the
consolation of Israel.
At the same time, a criticism of the lives of those powerful
Jews who had fallen from the faith provided him with the
opportunity of exposing the worst consequences of a hberalizing
tendency prevalent among all Alexandrian Jews, which although
by no means harmful in its earlier stages needed careful guiding
if it was not to issue in open hostility.
xxii IXTRODUCTIO^^

(B; The readers contemplated are plainly Jews.

{a) The book teems with allusions to historical events and
characters, and yet not a single proper name (either of person
or of place) occurs throughout. The allusive character of the
writing makes it plain that the readers are expected to be
capable of interpreting the half concealed references for them-
selves, through familiarity with the O.T. Scriptures.

{b) Certain characteristic O.T. conceptions are carefully

placed in the light of a more inward philosophy of life.
This world is no longer to be regarded as the sole theatre for
rewards and punishments; while again the outward must be
interpreted in connection with the inward, so that the short
lived man may be seen to have been spiritually long lived, and
the childless to have hnd a portion better than sons or daughters.

(C) Wisdom was written by a Jew who was pained to see

that, as a body, his countrymen in Egypt were weakened by
unfaithfulness within and harassed by oppression from without.
He aimed at consoling and strengthening his people, negatively,
by showing them the bankruptcy of materialism and the futility
of idolatry, and positively, by commending to them the pursuit
of the Almighty Wisdom.
{a) Materialism was always a snare to the Jews, in view of
their doctrine of a future life.
If the only prospect after death was that of a non-moral exist-
ence in Sheol, there was to grosser natures no reason why the
cup of pleasure should not be drunk inordinately : and further,
there was no satisfying solution of the problem of the prosperity
of the wicked and the sufferings of the righteous. Few but
those who are possessed by an overwhelming sense of the
presence of God (like the Psalmists), or of the claims of man
(like the Comtists), can regard their life as limited to the present
world, without giving way to a fatalistic sensuality.
Very few men are idealists ; and with the breakdown of the
theocratic system, and on the one hand the Hellenizing of
{Palestine in the early years of the second century B.C., and on
the other the solvent influence of philosophic thought and
 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK.

heathen morals upon the religion of the Jews resident in Egypt,

the standard of life in all but the most spiritually minded
declined rapidly. When further, those who were Jews by
heredity and not by conviction found themselves exposed to the
ridicule of foreigners who scorned the rigorisms of the Hebrew
system, and were also (like Tiberius Alexander, Philo's nephew,
in later days) made aware of the advantages to be derived from
a politic change of creed, a serious leakage from Judaism
manifested itself. And when in addition the apostates, not
content with their infidelity, not only mocked those who re-
mained faithful, but even persecuted them for their loyalty, the
outlook was black indeed. (For an account of the apostasy in
Palestine under Antiochus Epiphanes, cp. i Mace. i. ii — 16,
43 — 64; 2 Mace. iv. 10; and for that in Egypt under Physcon,
cp. 3 Mace. ii. 31, and generally, Philo, Mcs. i. 6, "They despise
countrymen and friends, they transgress the laws under which
they were born and brought up, they change their national
customs against which no fault can be alleged, and they live
under an alien rule and for the sake of present advantages
forget all their old associations" ; see also id. Conf. I. § 2.) It is
against apostates of this type apparently that chs. i.— v. were
directed, although the author had in view in this section the
further object of spiritualising the ideas of the still faithful Jews,
who found as much bewilderment as the apostates found security
in the difficulties arising out of their traditional doctrines of the
Sheol-existence and earthly retribution. He revised some of
their inherited conceptions, teaching that death opened a gate
of blessedness for the righteous, that posterity and length of
days were not the criterion of a successful life, and that per-^
secution was only one side of a picture, the other (and strangely
unexpected) side of which would be revealed afcer death.
{b) But if Judaism was torn with inner dissensions, it suffered
no less from pressure from without. Nothing else will account
for the intensity of the writer's hatred of Egypt, which he
gratifies as he lingers over the bondage of the Israelites, and
labours the contrast between the fortunes of oppressors and
oppressed (x. 16 ff. ; xi. i fi. ; xvi.— xix.\
History repeats itself, and he regards the study of history as
 INTRODUCTION.

the best remedy for national depression. If it was in respect of its

divinities that Egypt was smitten in the time of Moses, and if
idolatry is not only folly but the cause of all social and civic
decadence (xiii. — xv.), the suppressed conclusion is that the
Egypt which still harries the resident Jews and has not yet
repented of its beast-worship, will once again bend before Israel.
It should be noted that the section on false cults starts from
Egypt fxii. 24, cp. xi. 15) and leads back to Egypt (xv. 18).
{c) In face of internal weakness and external pressure, the
author propounds his positive teaching. His most orthodox
readers had been coming unconsciously to be affected by
Hellenic speculation, and in the Wisdom of the Book of
Proverbs he found a means of reconciling traditional Hebrew
thought with the cosmic ideas of Stoicism. Alexandrian Jews
were looking for a philosophy of experience, and they failed to
find such in any truly speculative sense, except in the later
Sapiential books.
Accordingly, he propounds his doctrine of Wisdom as a funda-
mental unifying principle, which coordinates Greek thought
with Hebrew revelation, and correlates (as functions of the same
being) the various operations of creative activity, guidance of
histor}', advancement of science and philosophy, moral elevation
of mankind, and mediation between God and man.
In this way he hopes, while never passing the bounds of
orthodoxy, to show that Judaism is not merely an insulated
national creed, but one standing in relation with truth wherever
found. Further, nothing but the Wisdom revealed to the
Hebrews can avert the doom threatening those rulers who have
wrongly administered God's kingdom on earth.
(D) It has been maintained that Wisdom was written with a
" definite polemical aim in opposition '"' to Ecclesiastes (Siegfried,
"Bk of Wisdom" in Hastings'/). B., and Plumptre, Ecclesiastes^
p. 70), but such a view is based on ver)^ insecure evidence.
Ecclesiastes was apparently composed about B.C. 200, and was
Palestinian in origin. We do not know when it reached Egypt,
or when it was translated : but it can have been only in its
Greek form that it was studied at Alexandria. It was probably
 PURPOSE OF THE BOOK. xxv

one of the latest O.T. books to be translated, as its canonicity

was long in dispute, and continued so to be for many years after
Wisdom was composed (if lOo B.C. is accepted as the date of
Wisdom). It may therefore have not been yet translated, when
Wisdom was written ^
Further, it is hard to see why a book with so little authority
should require so strenuous a refutation. For it probably
began its career in Egypt with little, if any, precedence over
Ecclesiasticus, with which it is about contemporar}- in com-
position and from which it is equally impossible to prove that
Wisdom made any borrowings 2.
If the aim of Wisdom is to denounce renegade Jews, it is
hardly a reasonable suggestion that such men had found a
champion for their principles of life in Solomon, and that there-
fore a counter-standard of a pious and orthodox Solomon needed
to be erected. Apostates would not look for a justification of
their life to the Scriptures ot a religion they derided and re-
nounced and persecuted.
But besides this, the resemblances between Wisdom and the
Gk. version of Eccl. are very few and doubtful. There is not in
Wisdom a single expression which can be decisively shown to
be drawn from Eccl. There is no part of the Greek Bible that
bears more clearly or crudely the marks of a translation from
Hebrew than Eccl, but any of the few Hebraisms common to
both books (such as /if/Jts, ii. 9 ; Eccl. iii. 22) can be traced else-
where in LXX.
Again, of isolated thoughts there are only a few for which
even distant and general parallels (such as may be found any-
where) are seen in Eccl. (cp. ii. 3, 9; Wisd. vii. 11 a. iv. 14;
Wisd. vi. 20. vii. 12; Wisd. viii. 17. vii. 19; Wisd. xvi. 17, 24.
viii. 8; Wisd. ii. 5. x. 8 ; Wisd. xi. 16, but cp. Ecclus. xxvii. 27.
xii. 7; Wisd. xv, 8, 16). Further, in the Stoic and Epicurean
philosophy of life (in which the main resemblance is held to lie),

^ Barton (Ecclesiastes, p. 9, in Int. Crit. Comm.) concludes that the

earliest Gk. version of Ecclesiastes was that of Aquila at the end of the
first century a.d.
^ Plumptre even suggests that the "copy, affording no small instruc-
tion "referred to in the Prologue to Ecclus. was Ecclesiastes.
 INTRODUCTION.

Eccl. finds a parallel only in Wisd. i. i6— ii. lo. And even here,
there is no further relation between Eccl. and Wisdom than
might be expected between the reflective writings of any two
Jews acquainted with Job and Proverbs. Epicureanism is a
fault of the heart as much as of the head, and can be accounted
for without the hypothesis of a literary dependence. Finally,
the standpoint of the hedonist in Eccl. is altogether different
from that of the voluptuaries of Wisd. ii. Koheleth never re-
jects his religion : he summarizes the whole matter with " Fear
God and keep His commandments." They, on the other hand,
praise unbridled licence as the supreme goal of life, and above
all become persecutors of their faithful fellow countrymen. In
short, what Wisdom refutes is something not contemplated by
Eccl.
For these reasons, the theory that Wisdom was prompted by
opposition to Eccl. may be confidently rejected.
(E) The name of Solomon was probably chosen for two
reasons, (ij because Wisdom-literature was traditionally asso-
ciated with his name, as psalmody with that of David, and
(ii) because of the address to rulers. Although it is hard to
imagine that Wisdom would be read by any heathen rulers, and
by more than a few (if any) ex-Jewish rulers, yet dramatically
it would be fitting that the Hebrew king famed above all
others for his administrative wisdom should be the writer's
mouthpiece.
It should be noted that the writer brings Solomon upon the
stage in his youth, ignoring the moral declension of his later
life.

§7. Unity of the book.

The principal attacks upon the unity of Wisdom were made
by Houbigant, Eichhorn, and Bretschneider.
Houbigafif, struck by the difference between the earlier and
later parts of the book, divided it into two sections, suggest-
ing that Solomon himself wrote chs. i.— ix. in Hebrew, while
chs. X. — xix. were added in Greek, possibly by the translator
of chs. i.— ix.
Eichhorn divided the book differently, and conjectured that
 UNITY OF THE BOOK.

chs. i,— xi. I were the work of a different author from chs. xi. 2 —
xix., or of the same author at a different period of his Hfe.
Br'etschneider divided the book into three parts, i.— vi. 8 ;
vi. 9 — X. ; xii. — xix. According to him, the first part was a
fragment of a larger Hebrew work written in the time of An-
tiochus Epiphanes by a cultivated Palestinian Hellenist. The
second part was the work of an Alexandrian Jew, a contemporary
of our Lord. The third part was composed by a Jew of crude
conceptions, writing about the same time. Ch. xi. served as a
ligature between parts ii. and iii.
Into the arguments on either side there is no need to enter.
Attacks upon the unity of the book have failed, and no serious
effort to dispute it has recently been made.
It cannot be denied that, from the point of view of style,
Wisdom divides itself into certain distinct sections, only loosely
bound together, and not marked by any pronounced uniformity
of treatment. But the author was a rhetorician, to whom "no
class of writings and no mode of combination appear to be
unfamiliar." Uniformity of style is not to be looked for, when
a man of wide reading and great imitative versatility handles a
variety of topics. As he passes from one class of subject to
another, the motif of the moment imposes upon him the style in
which he is accustomed to find it treated.
Too much importance may easily be assigned to superficial
differences^, while the underlying homogeneity of the book (as
to general tone and manner of thought) is ignored. The careful
study of Wisdom as a whole will reveal sufficient evidence of
unity of idea and relation between its parts to justify the belief
in its composition by a single author. Grimm, who combats in
detail {Intr. pp. 9 — 15) the arguments adduced in favour of the
disintegrating hypotheses, concludes by saying that "the unity
of the book is securely established by the consistent character
of the language, as well as by the unity of the Hterary situation

^ Eg., the eschatological interest is confined to the first part, and

the ha^gadistic interpretation to the second. Part i. is concerned with
the life of the individual, part ii. with a philosophy of national history.
Wisdbm is the central figure in chs. i.— ix.: she is almost ignored in
chs. xi. — xix.
 xxviii INTRODUCTION.

and tendency." The two objects of attack, apostasy and idolatry,

represent the two great enemies of later Judaism. (See also
Dr Westcott, in Smith's D. B. iii. p. 1780.)
It may be added that a love of extended antitheses is a feature
of the book throughout. Chs. i.— v. contain three lengthy com-
parisons of the fortunes of the godly and the ungodly, while
chs. xvi. — xix. are devoted to five laboured contrasts between
the experiences of the Israelites and the Egyptians (cp. also
chs. xi. and xii.).
§ 8. Wisdofn-literature.
\ Wisdom-literature represents a definite direction of the Hebrew
mind, parallel to that which it took in prophecy. Three classes
of men are spoken of in Jer. xviii. \Z^ prophets^ priests^ and wise
7nen\ and from this passage amongst others it seems clear that
the wise [hakdmim) formed, if not a school, at any rate a class
among the Jews, whose activities took their place as a recognised
department of Jewish national life.
The wise men probably rendered a quiet but solid assistance
to the prophets, whose message was delivered in more general
terms and with uncompromising vehemence : being the casuists
and moral advisers of the day the hakdinhn were in a position
to individualize the prophetic message and to present it in a
more conciliatory manner.
The earliest form which Wisdom took was the elaboration of
riddles (Jdg. xiv. 14), fables (Jdg. ix. 8 — 15), parables (2 Sam. xii.
1 — 6), and proverbs (Ez. xviii. 2), the proverb {inashdr) being a
terse generalisation based upon human experience, or upon the
observation of nature.
The reflective tendency produced famous wise men from the
days of Solomon downwards (i Kings iv. 30), but Wisdom was
not confined to the Israelites: the men of Edom were famed for
their sagacity (cp. Jer. xlix. 7 ; Obad. 8).
Wisdom-literature began with the formation of collections of
the sayings of the wise, the most famous being, of course, that
known as the Book of Proverbs.
But it was after the Exile, that Wisdom-literature attained its
highest development. "Wisdom" served as a corrective, of
legalism, when, after the religious reorganisation under Ezra,
 WISDOM-LITERATURE.

the intellectual life of the people was gradually " confined by

the priests within the limits of rigid law." The wise men were
no longer represented in literature by collections of detached
aphorisms, but they appeared as writers on popular morals,
handling ethical subjects at length in narrative style. The
canonical examples of their work are seen in Job arid Eccl.,
and perhaps Ps. Ixxiii.
But the unofficial work of the wise men was an unspoken
criticism of that of prophets and priests, who accordingly re-
garded them with some jealousy and suspicion. They were the
"humanists" of Israel, and made their influence felt against a
too rigid institutionalism.
Their teaching was, it is true, directed to the establishment of
morality, but its practical aim made them indifferent to that
insistence upon national topics which marked the prophet, and
that attention to ceremonial considerations which marked the
priest. The wise men were not concerned with the central
prophetic ideas of the Kingdom of God, the Chosen People, or
the Messiah, or with the priestly ritual connected with sacrifice
and Temple-service. Occupied as they were with the analysis
of human conduct, and the observation of the sequences of cause
and effect in connection with it, they studied experience chiefly
in a subjective light. They were the first among the Israelites
to begin to allow for the action of general laws. They were so
occupied with the contemplation of nature and man, that they
assigned increasing importance to laws of action and reaction
which worked themselves out automatically without calling for
any direct intervention on the part of God.
Thus the operation of spiritual laws plays a larger part in the
Wisdom-books than in the prophetic writings : " Thus saith the
Lord " tends to disappear, and psychological analysis becomes
more prominent.
But God is not banished from the writings of the wise: it is
only that greater room is allowed for that power divinely planted
in men and things, of obeying the laws written in their consti-
tution. Experience is stated in terms of man. Far from being
atheists, the wise men represent a tendency altogether opposite
to that of the Greek speculators. In fact, it might even be
 INTRODUCTION.

said that the Jewish Wisdom {Hokinah) was no philosophy

at all. The wise men of Israel never approached their enouiries
without theological presuppositions. They had no desire to
investigate final causes ; they started from a fundamental axiom
"In the beginning God...." This postulate indicates the
character of their studies, which were not so much speculative
as practical: their desire was not so much to understand the
works of God, as to acquaint themselves with their harmonies,
beauties, and adaptations, and all this with the final object of
knowing and doing the will of God.
But while the basis of Hebrew enquin,- was thus provided by
Revelation, and the only atheists were the immoral who said
in their heart " There is no God," there were no bounds to its
range. The entire field ,of practical life came within its pur\iew :
kings, husbandmen and traders alike were governed by the
moral principles which formed the study of the wise.
To the class of Wisdom-literature belong the Palestinian
Ecclesiasticus^ and the Alexandrian Wisdom (and 4 Mace).
The former, owing to its relation to the law and the prophets,
shows traces of having not altogether thrown off the legalistic
tendency, while Wisdom, as we saw earlier, lays Greek philo-
sophical terms under contribution, although hardly deviating
(cp. xi. 17) from the strictest Jewish orthodoxy. It should be
noted that, in the latter half of Wisdom, the writer deserts one
of the most characteristic canons of Wisdom-Hterature, and
exhibits a violent national prejudice (cp. also Ecclus. xxiv. 8).
It may be, however, that in passing from the more strictly
gnomic to the descriptive part of the book, a change in the tone
of his thought effected itself spontaneously upon a change in the
mode of literary treatment.
Perhaps the main contribution of the Book of Wisdom to
Sapiential literature is the clearness of its witness to life beyond
the grave. Prof. A. B. Davidson {Expositor^ xi. pp. 335 ff.) has
noted three phases of Wisdom-literature : (i) That of Prov. x. ff.
in which occurrences never violate the O.T. principles of earthly
reward and retribution. This world supplies a broad enough
platform upon which to complete the entire drama of human
life: the righteous live long, the wicked are not delivered.
 THE DIVINE WISDOM.

(ii) That in which exceptions occur, cp. Ps. Ixxiii. and Job, and
the godly are perplexed by the prosperity of the wicked and the
sufferings of the righteous, (iii) That in which difficulties no
longer perplex, e.g. Eccl., but are acquiesced in as a permanent
and useful element of experience.
Wisdom puts forward unhesitatingly as a solution of the
difficulty that eschatological hope which was tentatively held
by the thinkers of the second phase. The life beyond the grave
(in the form of the Greek doctrine of the immortality of the soul)
was perhaps the greatest spiritual consolation that could have
been offered in days when the promises to the chosen people
seemed to be irretrievably falsified by a bitter experience of
oppression without and faithlessness within.

§ 9. The Divine Wisdom.

Wisdom-literature is so called because it contains the practical
wisdom of \h% hakatnhn^ and not because it reveals the Divine
Wisdom.
But in Prov. and Job, as well as in Ecclus. and Wisdom, a
personified, almost hypostatised, Wisdom is introduced, a con-
ception the development of which must be traced, if we are to
grasp the leading idea of the Book of Wisdom.
It may be said at once that Wisdom, as it appears in the
Book of Job, will hardly concern us, except as an arrested
phase of a development exhibited in greater completeness in
Prov., Ecclus. and Wisdom. In Job Wisdom is "the idea or
principle lying under the order of the universe," the world-plan.
It is the moral constitution of the world, comprising not only
physical phenomena, but also the life and destinies of men.
This "world-order with all its occurrences is nothing but God
fulfilling Himself in many ways, but these ways may be reduced
to one conception, and this is Wisdom, which is thus conceived
as a thing having objective existence of its own.'^ This Wisdom
is a possession of God alone. When therefore to the question,
"Where shall Wisdom be found?" the answer is returned "The
fear of the Lord that is Wisdom," there is no identification of
Wisdom with the fear of the Lord, nor even explanation of it in
those terms. The meaning is that a man cannot attain to the
WISDOM c
 INTRODUCTION.

intellectual apprehension of the underlying principle of the

universe, but that God has given him a substitute^ viz. the
fear of the Lord (see A. B. Davidson, Job^ pp. 198—201, and
\V. R. Inge, Faith and Knowledge, p. 29).
In Proverbs (chs. i.— ix.) the system of the universe, moral
and physical, is regarded as a unity pervaded by an immanent
God. Then the Divine principles which manifest themselves
in the life of the world are abstracted from God their source,
and these principles are viewed " as an articulated, organised
whole, outside of God Himself, the expression of His mind, but
having an existence of its own alongside of God." To this
system of principles consciousness is attributed ; it is personified
as Wisdom, in whom are summed up the principal attributes of
God : Wisdom even becomes the child of God, " playing'" (Prov.
viii. 30) before Him in the days of creation.
But though personified, the function of Wisdom is mainly
humanitarian : her delights are with the sons of men (Prov.
viii. 31, 32). Her work is that of a pubhc teacher: the
picture of her in Prov. viii. "could only have been drawn by
combining many materials together, such as the public teaching
of the prophets, the more private conversational instruction of
the wise, the judicial procedure of the public law at the gates,
and the many lessons of social order and well-being which the
thronging thoroughfares presented.... She is the personification
of everything that had a voice to speak to men, and impress
upon them the principles of Divine order in the world" (A. B.
Davidson, Expositor, xii. p. 456).
The conception of Wisdom in Ecclus. is clearly borrowed
from Proverbs, and (although slightly expanding the earlier
teaching) makes no real advance upon it. Wisdom was created
before the world (xxiv. 9) ; she came forth from the mouth of
the Most High {v. 3). She has a possession in every people
and nation {v. 6), but her special portion is with Israel {v. 8),
and upon Mount Sion {v. 10). The picture is free from all traces
of Hellenism, and shows Wisdom as a purely moral agent (as
in Prov.), and not employed as intermediary in creation. Wisdom
is still a personification, and not a person.
But it is when we come to the Book of Wisdom, tliat we find
 THE DIVINE WISDOM.

the most complete development of the conception. But even

there the last thing we must look for is a definite, clear-cut
presentment of Wisdom. The writer breathes an atmosphere
charged with vague and indeterminate conceptions, some Greek
and others Hebrew, which seem to approach one another, but
never quite to meet. Possessed of little precision of thought, he
fails to produce a logically perfect synthesis : but he makes a
remarkable advance upon his predecessors in effecting the
fusion of Greek and Hebrew ideas.
If we desire to arrive at the author's conception, we must
consider first (i) the synonyms, (ii; the attributes, (iii) the
functions, of Wisdom.

(i) Synonyms for Wisdom. The writer was acquainted with

the Stoical theory of an all-penetrating Logos, which took
shape in the universe as rational order, and in man as reason.
Round this Divine principle gathered, and with it were identified,
such varied ideas as providence, destiny, justice, truth, cause,
nature, necessity.
The author could not introduce the Logos into his philosophy,
but he could take the authorised Hebrew conception of the
Wisdom, and handle it in a manner altogether analogous to
that of the Stoic Logos. To the potentialities of such a cosmic
figure as the Wisdom of Prov. and Ecclus., practically no limits
could be set. Accordingly, he identifies Wisdom with
(a) The spirit of the Lord (ix. 17). If the spirit of the Lord
fills all things, and is in all the world (i. 7 ; xii. i), so is Wisdom
(vii. 24; viii. i). Not only does a holy spirit of discipline behave
in the same manner in face of sin as does Wisdom (i. 4, 5), but
we learn that Wisdom is herself a spirit (i. 6; perh. vii. 22).
Further, the same functions are ascribed to Wisdom in*
chs. vii. — ix., as in O.T. to the spirit of God, which leads man
in the right way (Job xxxii. 8; Ps. li. 12; cxliii. 10), and gives
wisdom to kings (Is. xi. 2), inspiration to artists (Ex. xxxi. 3),
and vision to prophets (i Sam. x. 6;.
ib) The Logos, or Word, in O.T. sense. What the Word of
the Lord does, that Wisdom does. They are instruments of
creation (ix. i, cp. viii. 6; ix. 2, 9). They are remedies against
C2
 INTRODUCTION.

evil (xvi. 12, cp. ix. i8 and x.). They are used to chastise Egypt
(xviii. 15, cp. X. 19). They are both all-powerful (xviii. 15, cp. vii.
23); both sit on God's throne (xviii. 15, cp. ix. 4). It should be
obsened, however, that although the functions of the Word are
all conceded to Wisdom, the converse is not true in this book.
{c) Power^ i. 3, cp. x. 8.
{d) Providence^ xiv. 3, cp. x. 4.
{e) Hand of Go d^ xiv. 6, cp. x. 4.
(/) Justice^ i. 8; xiv. 31, cp. x. 14, 16.
{g) Angel of the Lord. The destroying angel of O.T. is
represented by the Logos in xviii. 15; but in Wisd. x. 17
Wisdom controls the pillar of cloud, being thus identified with
the "angel of God" in Ex. xiv. 19.
Thus Wisdom unites in herself a number of floating con-
ceptions: though alone in kind, she is manifold (vii. 22), see
H. Bois, Origifies^ pp. 233 — 241.

(ii) Attributes. From ch. vii. 22 — 24 we learn the nature

of Wisdom. She possesses inteUigence, holiness, beneficence,
omnipotence, omniscience (ix. 11). She is mobile, enjoying
such rarity of being that she can penetrate into every place and
discern ever\- pure spirit. These qualities belong to her because
of her ineffably close relation to God, whence come her stainless
beauty and indefeasible securit}' (vi. 12; vii. 25, 29, 30).
(iii) Functions. Wisdom, being a cosmic figure, is concerned
with the two great departments of creation, nature and man,
but as in Proverbs, her chief interest is man.
{a) Nature. She fills the world (i. 7) ; holds all things to-
gether (i.7) ; renews all things (vii. 27) ; orders all things (viii. i) ;
works all things (viii. 5). She was an instrument in God's
creating work (ix. 2); was therefore present at creation (ix. 9);
knows God's works (ix. 9), and chooses them out (viii. 4).
{b) Man. She convicts him of unrighteous words (i. 8) ; she
forestalls those who seek her (vi. 13 — 16); she promotes to a
kingdom (vi. 20); brings good things with her, of which she is
the mother (vii. 11, 12); helps to the Divine friendship (vii. 14,
 THE DIVINE WISDOM.

27) ; makes men prophets (vii. 27) ; teaches the sciences (vii. 16—
22), the four virtues (viii. 7), experience and foresight and intui-
tion (viii. 8) ; gives man counsel and encouragement (viii. 9), glory
and honour (viii. 10), immortality (viii. 13), power to govern
(viii. 14), knowledge of the Divine counsel (ix. 17). She alone
makes man to be held in account (ix. 6) ; corrects the ways of
earth-dwellers (ix. 18) ; is a saviour (ix. 18) ; and was the director
and deliverer of the heroes of antiquity (chs. x., xi).

We come now to the discussion of the nature of Wisdom.

Her functions and attributes mark her out as being very near to
God Himself, and the writer accumulates such expressions as
breath, effluence, effulgence, mirror, image (vii. 25, 26), in order
to assert her divineness without attributing to her deity. She is
p^'ciuredas a "solar energy, emanating from the focus of power,
and though exerting characteristic influences on ever>' variety
of object, yet never breaking loose into separate existence, or
violating the indissoluble unity of her source." With this
central source she is one : yet, though possessing all that God
has to give, she does so only by derivation.
This aspect of her being is carefully emphasised. She sits by
God on His throne (ix. 4) ; she is initiated into His knowledge,
and actually chooses out His works (viii. 3, 4); she is with God,
and was present with Him when he was making the world (ix. 9) :
and yet, she is God's servant, completely at His disposal. He
is her guide (vii. 15) ; He gives her (ix. 4), and sends her from on
high (ix. 17); He bids her go from the throne of His glory to
dwell with men {id.).
Nevertheless, Wisdom is not hypostatised. Drummond writes
{Phil. Jud. i. p. 226) that she is personal, but not a person. If the
distinction is valid, it expresses well the nature of a Being which
is allowed to possess all the moral qualities of God without His
self-determination. She is holy, and possesses intelligence;
God loves her: and yet she does not exist out of Him. She is-
rather the result of God's being and the reflection of His vo-
litional movements, than a Being standing over against Him.
She is a channel of His will, rather than a voluntary agent on
its behalf. She personifies the train of causal sequences that
 IXTRODUCTIOX,

connect the act of will in the mind of God with the object upon
which He wills to act. And yet the writer regards her as far
more than a merely literary personification : in view of viii. i6 —
1 8 it must be granted that he conceded to her a refined, super-
sensuous personality. But psychological analysis had not
reached its present development, and the differentia of person-
ality would be stated now in very different terms from those
w^hich he would have employed. No modern psychologist
would allow personality to Wisdom, on the data advanced in
the book.
In conclusion, it is plain that Wisdom is a creation of thought
(not of necessity consciously so to the writer), representing the
answer to the question, how to bring a transcendent God into
relation with phenomena. W^isdom is not an attribute, nor the
sum of the attributes, of God : such an explanation would not
take account of all the properties postulated of Wisdom, nor
would it allow for the completeness of the Divine transcendence.
Wisdom again is not God in manifestation : she is too distinct
from Him to be merely a theoretical aspect of Himself Lastly,
she is not a Being, personal and distinct from God : she
emanates from Him, but emanation has not terminated. No
birth-severance has taken place, giving her independent life.
No better summary could be offered than the words of
;Druramond {Phil. Jiid. i. p. 225) "Wisdom is a self-adaptation
of the inviolable spirituality of God to material conditions,
an assumption of the necessary community of nature, in order
to bring the infinite and eternal into those relations of space
and time which are implied in the creation and government of
the w^orld of sense."

§ 10. The Logos.

The Philonic doctrine of the Logos, or Word, is not found in
this book : the author advances nowhere beyond the Jewish use
of the word. But Philo's doctrine of the Wisdom is almost
identical with that of Pseudo-Solomon, and any anticipations
in this book of Philo's doctrine of the Logos are to be found
in connection with it rather than with the term Logos.
The Philonic Logos, owing to its Greek philosophical implica-
 THE LOGOS.

tions, has the meaning of "reason," or the rational thought and

ideal of God: but of the six passages in which the word is
used in Wisdom, in one only can the Logos have the sense of
"reason," and then not in a cosmic sense, but with reference to
human nature (ii. 2, "reason is a spark").
In ch. ix. I, 2 we read ''who madest all things by Thy Logos,
and by Thy Wisdom Thou formedst man." Here Logos is
rightly rendered "Word." The passage is Hebrew in tone,
recalling Ps. xxxiii. 5, 6, and no contrast is intended between
the two clauses. They are parallel, and "wisdom" is used in
the second as a poetic variant for "word" in the first. Wisdom
here is not the Divine semi-hypostatised Being, but the Divine
attribute of Wise-ness, as in Ps. civ. 24 " in Wisdom hast Thou
made them all." There is no contrast suggested between the
functions of Wisdom and of the Logos, as if the former were the
agent in the making of man, and the latter in the making of
things: for Wisdom is the "artificer of all things" (vii. 22,
cp. viii. 6).
Again, as far as the Book of Wisdom is concerned, a dis-
tinction between the Wisdom as representing the immanence
of God, and the W^ord as representing His activity, cannot be
maintained. Wisdom is consistently presented as an agent
throughout ch. x.
Ch. xii. 9 and xviii. 22 present no difficulty, as Logos in these
passages plainly has the meaning of "word," while xvi. 12 is
based upon Ps. cvii. 20, " He sent His word and healed them."
But the celebrated passage in xviii. 15 has been claimed as an
example of the Philonic use of the Logos. This, however, is
not the case. The use of Logos in this passage must be
determined both by its use elsewhere in Wisdom and by the
character of the chapter.
(i) We have seen that the Divine Logos has no Greek
philosophical associations in any other passage in this book.
See ix. i ; xii. 9; xvi. 12, cp. Ps. cxlvii. 15, 18. In each of these
passages, it is the expression of the will of God in action, cp. the
parallel use in xviii. 22.
(ii) This ch. is Hebraic in thought, and not Greek, v. 24 is
undoubtedly borrowed from Hebrew commentaries, to which
 INTRODUCTION.

Philo and Josephus later had access. It is probable that vv. 9,

15 are drawn from a similar source.
The Logos is treated in this verse in a highly rhetorical way :
there is a great advance upon such a passage as Is. xi. 4 LXX.
" He shall smite the earth with the Logos of His mouth," or
Hos. vi. 5 LXX. " I slew them by the word (p77/xart) of My
mouth," or even upon Ps. cxlvii. 15 LXX. "His Logos shall
run." Not only is independent action attributed to it, "It
leaped," but it is personified as " a stern warrior."
Now Wisd. xviii. 15 seems to be based upon i Chr. xxi. 15,
where the agent is the angel of the Lord. But the ministry of
angels has no place in Wisdom; accordingly, the change to
Logos is accounted for: and the presence of the angel in the
source-passage tells at first sight in favour of the independent
personality of the Logos here.
But the writer may have drawn upon the passage in i Chr.
xxi. without necessarily identifying the Logos in Egypt with the
angel of the plague. Moreover, the Logos in Wisd. xviii. 15
corresponds exactly with the "punisher" of xviii. 22, and the
"destroyer" of xviii. 25 ; and it is curious to note that the latter
expression is not taken from the account in Numbers from which
the rest of the narrative {^vv. 20 — 25) is drawn, but is introduced
from Ex. xii. 23, which relates to the death of the firstborn.
Now, although in Wisd. xviii. 15 the Logos is the agent in the
destruction of the firstborn, and although in the Jerusalem
Targtcm (Etheridge, p. 477) it is the "Word of the Lord" that
slew all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, yet in the source-
passages, Ex. xi. 4 and xii. 29 (LXX.), God Himself is spoken of
as the agent. Hence it seems plain that the writer had no
intention of .hypostatising the Logos, but had in mind only the
customary Jewish periphrasis for the Lord, i.e. the " Memra of
Jehovah." This expression means "the Divine Being in self-
manifestation" (see Etheridge, Targuins^ Introd. pp. 14 — 20).
The inference that the personification of the Logos is purely
poetical is supported by those Biblical narratives, in which the
agent is now spoken of as God, and again as the angel of the
Lord (cp. Gen. xxxi. 11 and 13; xxxii. 24 and 30; Ex. xiv. 19
and xiii. 21). The same tendency may be observed in later
 THE LOGOS.

versions of an earlier account (cp. Acts vii. 30 and 32^; also Acts
vii. 38, 53;Gal. iii. 19; Heb. ii. 2, as compared with Ex. xix. 19;
XX. i). In these passages we see how strongly the Jews felt
that what in God is capable of manifestation must be dis-
tinguishable from His transcendent existence, and yet that they
only ventured to provide themselves with a formula to express
God in self-manifestation : they were very far from postulating
a second " eternal." And similarly, in Wisd. xviii. 1 5, no valid
reason exists for regarding the Logos as more than a rhetorico-
poetical personification of the Divine will and energy.

It has been argued that the Logos in xviii. 15 is to be

identified with the Wisdom, cp. Ecclus. xxiv. 3, and perhaps
Wisd. ix. I, 2. The same epithet "all powerful" is applied to
both (vii. 23); Wisdom sits beside God on His throne (ix. 4);
Wisdom possesses unlimited mobility, and her power reaches
from one end of the world to the other (vii. 24; viii. i). That
Wisdom like the Logos is not associated with creative acts only
may be seen from her destructive actions in x. 19.
But the preceding argument shows that the Logos is not con-
ceived of in this book as a personal intermediary in the same
rank with Wisdom, and either coequal or identical with her,
but as merely a rhetorical personification. The writer would
not identify a substance with a shadow.

§11. Doctrine of God.

The Book of Wisdom does not ask, "Does God exist?" His
existence is taken for granted. But there is another question
"What is His nature?" and to it no definite answer is given,
although many hints are furnished as to the writer's view.
God is supreme, and His supremacy is seen in His work as
Creator (xi. 17) and Upholder (xii. 15). But what are His
relations to His world? Is He immanent or transcendent? Is
He rightly described as its Creator, or only as its Organiser?
Wisdom emphasises, as might be expected in an Alexandrine
work, the distance of God from His world. Even omnipresence

^ Cp. the Alexandrian Jewish poet, Ezekiel, in Eus. {Pracp. Ev.

441 a) " The Divine Lo^os shincth upon thee out of the bush."
xl INTRODUCTION.

is only indirectly attributed to God: it is the spirit of God, or

Wisdom, that fills the World. And if God searches hearts and
reins, and hears the secret words of men, it is because His
deputy lays them open to His mind (i. 6—10;.
It is as a transcendent God that the book presents Him. He
is indeed Creator, Artificer, Author of the world's beauty (i. 14;
ix. 9 ; xiii. i ; id. 3), but not directly ; His creative action was
mediated through Wisdom : and similarly, though He might be
said to order the course of the world (xii. 15), yet Wisdom is
JHis appointed agent (viii. i). All things were made through
' Wisdom, and without her was not anything made.
God is more rightly named Organiser than Creator. His
hand did not make the world out of nothing, but out of form-
less matter (xi. 17). No explanation is offered as to the source
of this pre-existing material, and the hypothesis of a double
creation (i.e. first, the production of matter, and later, its
arrangement) may be discarded, because, as Grimm well says,
the production of the elemental substance is a far greater
marvel than the reduction of it to order, and when the writer
could have spoken of the more marvellous, he would hardly
have confined himself to the less. Accordingly the verb kt'i^u^
(create) used in xi. 17 (cp. /carao-xreva^a), ix. 2 ; xiii. 4) indicates
that "to create" as used in i. 14, ii. 23 er.jphasises not so much
the manner of creation as the personal action of the Creator.
Besides this dualism of God and matter, the author incident-
ally mentions another. God made the world for life (i. 14), but
• His creation has been intruded upon by death (i. 16). Now
'.death is not God's handiwork (i. 13), but what the source is from
s which death springs, the writer does not discuss : through the
en\^' of the devil it entered into the world, but the devil is not
viewed as its author, only as its channel (ii. 24). But even if
death does not hold the rank of a rival eternal principle, it is
nevertheless a terrible fact thwarting God's purposes for men.
The giving of the name of Wisdom to His supreme inter-
mediar)', indicates the aspect under which the author found his
chief pleasure in contemplating the transcendent God.
: We have seen what are the attributes of Wisdom : what the
servant is, that, and more, must the Master be (vii. 16 — 26).
 DOCTRINE OF GOD. xl!

Next to His wisdom, the omnipotence of God as qualified by

His goodness, appeals to him. God has to answer to no
overlord for His conduct (xii. I2 — 14); He is the self-existent
(n cov, xiii. i); the eternal light (vii. 26); He has all power
(xi. 21, 23; xii. 18); and yet He does not employ His might
capriciously or irresponsibly (xi. 23; xii. 16, 18). Nothing but \
love can explain His self-restraint (xi. 24, 26). Nothing could '
have come into being and continued in being without His will
(xi. 25), and He could never have called into existence a thing
that He hated (xi. 24). Love therefore must be viewed as His I
motive in creation: and this principle is demonstrated in His
patient forbearance towards sinners (xi. 26; xii. i). The world
is so minute in His sight (xi. 22), that in very pity He seeks to
make it possible for sinners to repent (xi. 23 ; xii. 10, 20).
And yet, if God exercises a beneficent providence caring for
all alike (vi. 7), He has His moral prepossessions. He detests
idolaters (xiv. 9) ; He detested the Canaanites for their abomi-
nations (xii. 3); He will laugh at the wicked (iv. 18). But the
souls of the righteous are in His hand (iii. i); He loves those
who dwell with Wisdom (vii. 14, 28), and He will visit His saints
(iv. 15).
Again, to the Jews He was a Father, disciplining them with
an educative purpose, but to the Egyptians a stern King,
chastening them in displeasure and in token of condemnation
(xi. 9, 10).
May God be known? Does the fact that He manifests
Himself through Wisdom prove that He must do so, because
otherwise He is hidden, incomprehensible, unknowable? Care-
fully as His transcendence is emphasised, still greater care is
taken to prove His revelation of Himself. The external world
cannot indeed give an adequate knowledge of God, but it can
prove His existence (xiii. i). And it can do more: by its power
and beauty, it can symbolise (as Plato and the Stoics had seen)
the moral force and loveliness of its author (xiii. 3 — 5). But
there can be a direct self-manifestation of God to the soul that
prepares itself for Him (i. i, 2; xv. i — 3); men may be His
fiiends (vii. 27); incorruption brings them near to Him (vi. 19);
He inspires them with right words and thoughts (vii. 15, 16).
 xlii INTRODUCTION.

And yet, even here the mediation of Wisdom is asserted

(vii. 28; ix. 17).
The truth is that no statement of the theology of Wisdom can
be made without quaHfications. The writer felt the influence of
two types of thought, without giving a complete adhesion to
either. He acknowledged the direct action of God upon the
^ world, and yet his Alexandrine sympathies forced upon him
the doctrine of an intermediary. At first sight, the anthropo-
morphisms ofthe book might seem to bear witness to the direct
action of God; because, if the writer had been completely
possessed by the Judaeo-Alexandrine doctrine of God's aloof-
ness, he would have written of the Divine powers rather than as
in iii. i ; v. 16; vii. 16, of God's hand and arm. On the other
hand, the later Judaeo-Alexandrine writers had ceased to be
afraid of anthropomorphisms. The LXX. translators tried to
eliminate them (cp. Josh. iv. 24, where "hand of God" becomes
I "power"), but the growth of the allegorical method was seen
to rob them of all dangerousness. The work of Aristobulus re-
presented adeliberate effort to explain them away by treating
them as formulae standing for some divine attribute, and to
show that the hands, arm, face, and feet of God were to be
interpreted as divine powers (see Eus. Praep. Ev. viii. 9, 10).
Accordingly, it is easy and very possibly correct to view some
of the anthropomorphisms in this book as merely synonyms of
Wisdom (see x. 20; xi. 17, 21; xvi. 15; xix. 8). Again such a
passage as v. 16 is so clearly poetical that it does nothing to
prove that the author thought anthropomorphically, or did not
hold exaggerated views of divine transcendence.

§ 12. Doctrine of Man.

Man is composed of body and soul (i. 4 ; viii. 19, 20). This is
the only analysis accepted by the writer, although xv. 1 1 seems
at first to distinguish between soul and spirit. But the distinc-
tion isonly superficial : the contrast really suggested is between
the two epithets applied to the one principle.
The seat of personality is not clearly defined. In the earlier
part of the book the writer identifies the blessed dead with their
souls which are in the hand of God (iii. i — 9), but he is not
 DOCTRINE OF MAN. xliii

consistent. In viii. 19 Solomon says that he received a good

soul, thus seeming to imply that personality is to a certain
extent independent of the soul : but immediately afterwards he
corrects himself, and personality is identified with the soul
"I came into a body undefiled" (viii. 20). In ch. xv. however
it is not clear whether that which receives the soul or spirit
{v. 11) is the man, or merely his body : nor again in zk 8 whether
that which surrenders the soul-loan is the man himself,
or merely his mortal body (cp. v. 16, and St Luke xii. 20. Is
the soul the man and does he go wi.h his soul? Or does he
continue to exist apart from his soul ?) This spiritual endow-
ment comes from God (xv. 11), and joins the body at birth.
Hence a certain pre-existence is taught, which is due doubtless
to Greek influence, but not pre-existence of the developed Pla-
tonic type {Phacdr. 245 C, D ; Meno 86 a). The writer leans, if
anything, to the Greek position, bu. he has no consistent view:
in viii. 19 he takes the Greek view, while xv. 11 plainly recalls
Gen. ii. 7. However, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul
which he adopts unreservedly, follows upon the doctrine of pre-
existence more logically than upon the O. T. doctrine. See
Hastings' D. B. iv. 63, 164; v. 291.
Pre-existence involves a measure of predestination (cp. Ecclus.
xxxiii. 10 — 13), which theoretically is only towards goodness,
although practically experience produces many exceptions.
But the writer makes no attempt to effect a reconciliation. On
the one hand he writes that God created man for incorruption,
making him in His own image (ii. 23); Solomon, who was
ex hypothesi like any other man, received a good soul and an
undefiled body. On the other hand, the children of ungodly
parents are destined to an evil end (iii. 12, 16 — 19 ; iv. 3 — 6).
Whatever may constitute the bias towards evil, men possess
free will and are responsible agents. Thus they brought King
Hades into God's world and made terms with him (i. 16);
Adam's transgression was his own ; Cain revolted from Wisdom
and so fell into sin (x. i, 3, cp. v. 8). But equally, men may
seek God in such a spirit as to find Him (i. i, 2); kings must
honour Wisdom if they would reign securely (vi. 21); men may
obtain Wisdom by asking for her (viii. 21).
xliv INTRODUCTION.

The writer does not place the principle of sin in the body,
although the tendency to depreciate the body has begun (ix. 15).
The mere fact that Solomon came into an undefiled body proves
that the writer was aware of no law that the body is inherently
sinful : similarly, when he says that Wisdom will not dwell in a
sin-enslaved body (i. 4), the inference is that inasmuch as
Wisdom does dwell with some men, all bodies are not held in
pledge by sin. It would seem that theoretically the body shares
the ethical quality of the soul, and that " the soul's tenement is
in itself morally neutral, reflecting the hues of virtue or guilt
which belong to the animating spirit" (Drummond, Ph. Jud. i.
202). This may be seen from viii. 19, 20, and from i. 4 which
is its counterpart, the reference in the two clauses of the latter 7/.
being not to two individuals so much as to the one evildoer in
his twofold aspect of body and soul. Ch. ix. 1 5 illustrates the
Platonic duahsm, to which Philo yielded a complete assent, but
which is only an incipient tendency in Wisdom. The body is
not an active agent of evil, it is rather a passive check upon the
soul : if the soul is not always on God's side, neither is the body
invariably His enemy in man.
It is a mistake to urge, as has been done, that the writer gives
evidence of a duahstic tendency by an advocacy of asceticism
and celibacy (see iii. 13, 14). He views childlessness not as a
merit, but as a misfortune, for which spiritual compensations
are promised to the sinless.
But however perfect the natural man may be, he will be held
in no account apart from Wisdom (ix. 6) ; but in kinship unto
her lies immortality (viii. 17). For the wise man is the righteous
man (compare iv. 17 with ii. 12), and righteousness is immortal
(i. 15). Righteousness is shown to be closely related to spiritual
intuition (cp. x. 10 b). The righteous man's boast is his know-
ledge of God (ii. 13): inadequate knowledge is the misfortune of
men which Wisdom alone remedies, while right knowledge is
the path to the pleasing of God ix. 13 — 19). Again, the supreme
righteousness is the knowledge of God, and in the knowledge
of His might lies the root of immortality (xv. 3), but ignorance
of God is sin entaihng condign punishment (xii. 27, cp. x. 8,
xiii. 6 — 9, XV. 11).
 DEATH AND IMMORTALITY. xlv

But although righteousness is thus seen to depend on know-

ledge, the content of piety is not thereby exhausted. The duty
of prayer and thanksgiving is prescribed (xvi. 28, cp. viii. 21),
while trust in God, which issues in temporal benefits (xvi. 24,
26), leads to the understanding of truth and to lasting fellowship
with Him (iii. 9).

§ 13. Death and Imino-taliiy.

By nature, man is immortal, in a spiritual though not in a
physical sense. Physical death is viewed in an altogether non-
moral hght, and the author displays no acquaintance with the
penal doctrine of Ecclus. xxv. 24 " Because of her [Eve] we all
die." This is clear from i. 15 "Righteousness is immortal":
the righteous are subject to physical death, and yet their death
has not even remotely a moral significance (cp, iii. i fF.). Death
is a universal and purely physical contingency, and the word
"death" is used in this sense in various passages, ii. 20, 24;
xvi. 13; xviii. 12, 16, 20; xix. 5.
But there are some passages where "death" cannot denote
merely physical death. In i. 13 we read "God made not death" ;
but the writer accepts physical death as part of the normal
economy of nature (cp. xvi. 13). We find ourselves therefore in
presence of a moral death which stands related to moral action
(cp. i. II "A lying mouth destroyeth a soul";. This death ro^n
" riHirt in the error of their life'' {\. \i\\ Gnd did not makp if^
but they draw it upon them.selves by their voluntary action i. 12,
13). Men cannot blame their circumstances for it, for there is
no moral evil in nature (i. 14). In fact, as long as he remains
true to righteousness, man is free from spiritual death : it is
only those who deliberately bring into their moral world an
intruding rival to God, King Hades, who are subject to it (i. 16.
Bois identifies Pluto, the king of the lower world, with the devil,
Ori^ines^ p. 295).
The path to moral death is specified in ch. ii. as sensuality,-
apostasy, and oppression of the faithful. The view of life .
present and to come, held by those who tread it, is seen in ii.
I — 5. Being materialists in practice and philosophy, they view
physical death as extinction : they have discarded even the old
xlvi INTRODUCTION.

Sheol-conception, and rCj^ard death as the end. Led astray

by the blindness of their view and by their spiteful jealousy,
they think to punish the righteous man by killing him (ii. 20, 21).
But they forget the reward of holy souls : the immortality for
which God destined all, but the enjoyment of which has now been
restricted to the faithful (ii. 22), will cheat them of their desired
vengeance. The righteous man cannot be killed except in
body : his spirit retains God's image with the incorruption of
life that he has preserved. But envy will have its way. Envy
introduced murder into the world, when Cain killed his brother,
and env}' will repeat that first crime to the end (ii. 23, 24, see
notes ad loc). The devil's party habitually resort to murder as
the final means of clinching their argument with the righteous
(ii. 24).
But physical death is the revelation of the meaning of immor-
tality and spiritual death. No doubt these have been in process
of development during the earthly life, and death (far from
causing any interruption in them) is only a signal for a more
rapidly advancing maturity. Immortality lies in obedience to,
and fellowship with. Wisdom (vi. 18; viii. 17), and its root is the
knowledge of God's power (xv. 3 ; cp. i. i, 2 and St John xvii. 3),
while on the other hand spiritual death is the state of those
whose thoughts are crooked, whose souls devise evil, and whose
bodies are pawned to sin (i. 3 — 5). But death confirms and
consummates the righteous : perhaps they have even been
snatched away in the best interest of their soul (iv. 1 1 — 13).
Their souls are in the hand of God (iii. i) : they themselves are
in peace (iii. 3) and rest (iv. 7). They died full of hope, and
their hope was strong because they carried immortality within
them (iii. 4). In the eternal world they receive a crown (iv. 2),
and God Himself is their defence and reward (v. 15).
In contrast with this immortality consisting in union with
God ^the scene of which is not specified), the real meaning of
spiritual death comes to light. The souls of the wicked persist,
but 7netaphorically they are 'and were) dead. They have
forfeited the holy immortality of the righteous, and their own
condition deserves no other name than death. In fulfilment of
their earthly choice, they pay an appropriate penalty (iii. 10).
 DEATH AND IMMORTALITY. xlvii

They have no hope or consolation (iii. ii, i8; v. 14): they lie in
the darkness of their own hearts (xvii. 21). They suffer spiritual
pain (iv. 19), being tortured with foreboding fears (v. 2) and the
tardy but desperate discovery of the falseness of the principles
of their earthly life (v. i — 141.
The " day of judgment " is conceived of somewhat vaguely.
Wisdom is not a Palestinian book, and therefore the thought
of the dead returning to earth (whether without bodies or re-
incarnate) to take their part in it, does not necessarily belong to
the writers conception.
This day (of searching out, i. 9; of visitation of souls, iii. 13;
of decision, iii. 18 ; of reckoning up of sins, iv. 20} is spoken of in
terms borrowed from current Jewish eschatological belief, but
nothing is said as to the scene of the judgment. This judgment
declares itself immediately after death, and, without waiting
for a resurrection, the souls pass by a kind of selective affinity
to reward or retribution^.
Wisdom contains no doctrine of the annihilation of the
wicked. They shall be "a perpetual desolation" in that they
have lost their truest life, but no period is stated as being put
to their suffering (iv. 19). The continued existence of all is
assumed.
It will be seen that all conceptions are spiritualised. Immor-
tality isof a purely ethical kind. The resurrection of the body
is notthesuggested.
and Stoics. The writer's doctrine is influenced by Plato
The persistence of the soul as a separate entity was not a
Hebrew conception (Sheol being not a place of departed spirits^
but of shadow-like personalities), but its individual survival
is a salient doctrine of Wisdom. The Stoics who viewed the
soul as a fiery current diffused through the body and awaiting
ultimate re-absorption into the primal fire, were (like the Jews)
vague as to details : they were unable to say, e.g. whether the

^ That the condemnation of the wicked by the righteous (iv. 16) is

ideal and inward, may be inferre<l from the tone of reflection and self-
reproach prevailing in v. i — 14. Grimm, however, holds that iii. 13,
iv. 6, 20 point to an external and local final judgment (IVeishcit, p. no).
WISDOM d
xlviii INTRODUCTION

soul was re-absorbed immediately after death, or whether it pre-

sented its distinctness until the great conflagration. But there
can be no doubt that in Greek thought upon this subject the
author tended to find matter more to his mind than in Jewish
speculation.
§ 14. Eschatology.
Strictly speaking, there is no Messianic hope in Wisdom,
although there are two passages with an outlook over a glorious
'future, which in a wider sense might be so described. These
are iii. 7 — 9 and v. 16 — 23, which are both capable of interpre-
tation in three ways.
They may be viewed :
{a) as vivid and pictorial descriptions of an ethical and
spiritual future, the concrete being the only way of presenting
the inward reality.
{b) as definite and literal promises concerning a concrete
earthly future, when the Jews shall be restored to their theocratic
preeminence.
{c) as representations of the popular Jewish eschatology,
which looked forward to a universal Messianic world-sovereignty
for Israel, in which the dead would partake, having been restored
to earth by a bodily resurrection.
The view adopted in this commentary is {a\ which is most
consonant with the Alexandrine tone of Wisdom, and allows
for many discrepancies in detail which cannot be harmonized.
Drummond writes " His thoughts evidently stray to the ultimate
victory of righteousness in the world ; but the language is so
highly figurative that it would be hazardous to fix upon him
any defined eschatology. His deliberate convictions we may
sura up in a single pregnant phrase, ' Incorruption causes to be
near to God'" {Philo Judaeus^ i. p. 212).
It is only right however to mention that Grimm deliberately
adopts ijb). In his interpretation of iii. 7 — 9, he views "they
shall shine forth " as referring to a restitution of power, dignity,
and happiness to God's people in this world, after their long
night of miser)' and subjection. Further, he regards the
 ESCHATOLOGY. xlix

destruction of the stubble by the sparks as a picture of a future

extermination of the wicked by the righteous which can have
place nowhere except in this world. He anticipates the objec-
tion that there is too sudden a leap from the eternal world to
the present in iii. 7 by claiming that in a passage where all
belongs to the realm of behef the transition is natural and not
violent.
The victory of v. 7 is followed by the Messianic rule oiv. 8,
which, although exercised upon earth, will be wise and righteous,
being carried on by the wise who through association with
Wisdom are trained for kingship (vi. 9, 20). He claims that it
gives too attenuated a meaning to v. 8 to interpret it in the
purely spiritual sense of the attainment of freedom and blessed-
ness in the life to come. He clinches his argument by pointing
to the latter half of v. 23, which has obvious reference to the
accompaniments of an earthly misrule.

§ 15. Analysis of Contents.

Part I. Chs. i.— ix.
A. The praise of Wisdom, as the source of true happiness
and immortality. Contrast between the estimates, ideals, hopes,
and destinies of the godly and the ungodly (chs. i.— v.).
Ch. i. I— 5 Wisdom will dwell only with the upright in
thought,
6 — 1 1 and in word.
12 — 15 Life, through righteousness, is the destiny for
which God created men.

Three comparisons between materialists and spiritualists, i.e.

those who despise and those who follow Wisdom.
I {a) Ch. i. 16 — ii. 24 Sensuality, and the consequent
false estimates of life and death.
{b) Ch. iii. I — 9 The meaning of death for the righteous
man.

II {a) Ch. iii. 10 — iv. 6 Earthly immortality is discounted,

when the sins of parents are \'isited on their
children,

d2
 INTRODUCTION.

{b) Ch. iv. 7 — 14 The true immortality is moral and

spiritual.
Ill {a) Ch. iv. 15 — V. 14 The reversal after death of the
opinions entertained by the wicked during
life.
{b) Ch. V. 15 — 23 The final vindication of the righteous.

B. The praise of Wisdom. Her origin, activities, and bless-

ings detailed in connection with the search for her by Solomon
(chs. vi.— ix.).
Ch. vi. I — II Rulers cannot discharge their responsibilities
without Wisdom.
12 — 16 Wisdom meets those who seek her,
17 — 21 and leads men to the true kingship and im-
mortality.
22 — 25 The origin and nature of Wisdom.
Ch. vii. I — 6 Solomon began Hfe like any other man.
7 — 14 But with his choice of Wisdom all good
things came to him,
1 5 — 22 a and knowledge of every kind.
22 b — viii. I The nature and attributes of Wisdom.
Ch. viii. 2 — 8 The knowledge and efficiency of Wisdom as
a teacher.
9 — 16 Solomon anticipates that Wisdom will win
for him fame and happiness.
17 — 21 He prays to receive her.
Ch. ix. I — 19 Solomon's prayer.

Part II. How Wisdom blesses the worshippers of the true

God, and how false worshippers are punished (x. — xix.).
{a) Ch. X. The dealings of Wisdom with the heroes of anti-
quity and the children of Israel.
I, 2 Adam. 3, 4 Cain ; Noah.
5 Abraham. 6— 9 Lot and the men of Sodom
10—12 Jacob. 13, 14 Joseph.
15 — 21 Muses and the Israelites at the Exodus.
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. li

{b) Chs. xi., xii. Contrast between God's treatment of the

Israelites, and (i) the Egyptians, (ii) the Canaan-
ites, who were false worshippers.

(i)
Egypt, ch. xi. i— xii. 2.
xi. I—
3 Wisdom guided and protected Israel.
4—
10 Thirst, and its consequences for Israel and Egypt.
II —
14 An aggravation of the vexation of the Egyptians.
15 —
20 The animal-plagues were sent to punish the Egyp-
tians for their animal-worship.
21 — xii. 2 An acknowledgment of God's mercy, love, and
desire that sinners should repent.

(ii) Canaan, ch. xii. 3 — 27.

xii. 3 — 1 1 The abominations of the Canaanite worship ; God's
patience.
12 — 18 God's righteousness the check upon His power.
19 — 22 Lessons therefrom.
23 — 27 God's punishments were directed to leading the
Egyptians to confess the true God.
{c) Chs, xiii. — xv. The origin of idolatry, its folly and its sin.
Its demoralising influence uf)on life.
Ch. xiii. I— 9 Nature-worship. Its culpable failure to
recognise God in nature.
10 — 19 Idol-worship. Its contemptible folly, and
perversion of the good gifts of God.
Ch. xiv. I — II Digression. Idols and idolaters are odious
to God.
12 — 21 The origin of image- worship.
22 — 31 Its results in the utter debasement of social
life.
Ch. xv. 1—6 The chosen people had been preserved
from falling into idolatry.
7 — 13 The maker of clay idols was conscious of
his folly.
14 — 17 But the worst offenders of all are the
Egyptians,
18, 19 who worship loathsome animals.
lii INTRODUCTION.

{d) Chs. xvi. — xix. 21 A series of five contrasts between the

fortunes of Israel and Egypt, in respect of
(i) animals^ ch. xvi. i — 14 :
{a) quails vv. i — 4,
{b) fiery serpents vv. 5— 14.
(ii) fire and water, heat and cold, ch. xvi. 15 — 29.
(iii) light and darkness, ch. xvii. i — xviii. 4.
(iv) death, ch. xviii. 5 — 25.
(v) passage of the Red Sea, ch. xix. i — 21.
Nature generally was made subservient to the purposes of
God for His people, and against their enemies.
{e) Ch. xix. 22 Conclusion.

§ 16. MSS. and Text.

The chief uncial Greek MSS. which contain Wisdom are Cod.
Sinaiticus (X), Vaticanus (B), Alexandrinus (A), Cod. Ephremi
Syri (C, paHmpsest) containing viii. 5— xii. 10, xiv, 19 — xvii. 18,
xviii. 24 — end, and Venetus (V). For a description, see Swete,
Intr. to O.T. in Greek, pp. 125 — 132.
There are numerous cursives, the best being 68 (Holmes and
Parsons).
The Authorised Version of 161 1 was based chiefly on the text
of the famous Complutensian Polyglott Bible, 15 14 (see Swete,
Introd. pp. 171, 2). The Revised Version, which is used in this
volume, mainly follows the text of B, which is taken as the
standard in Dr Swete's Old Testajnent in Greek, the variant
readings of 5^, A, and C being given in an apparatus criticus at
the foot of each page. The work of revising the English transla-
tion of Wisdom and 2 Maccabees was entrusted to the Cam-
bridge Committee, consisting finally of Dr Hort, Dr Westcott,
and Dr Moulton, who began their work in 1881, and completed
it in 1892. "The singular difficulty and importance of the Book
of Wisdom led the revisers to review the version a third time"
(Pref to Apocr. R.V., cp. also Life and Letters of F.f. A. Hort,
vol. ii., pp. 233, 386, 450).
The Greek text is, on the whole, in a good condition : there
are, as might be expected, a number of minor variations, but
 MSS. AND TEXT.

there are ven.' few passages (such as xii. 5, 6) in which it seems

hopeless, with the materials extant, to arrive at a true reading.
B gives the best text, but it can not infrequently be corrected
by XA, while C (with one brilliant exception, xvi. 3) seems less
trustworthy than A.
The version found in the Latin Bible is the old Latin Version.
Jerome expressly states that he did not revise the translation of
Wisdom (praef. in Libr. Sal.). It is possible that in chs. i. 15,
ii. 8 it preserves lines which have dropped out of Greek MSS.,
but for the most part the translation agrees closely with the
existing text.
A collation of the Florentine Codex Amiati7uis may be found
in Lagarde, Mitiheil. i. pp. 241—282. See Hastings, D. B. iv.
886.

§ 17. Wisdom and the New Testament.

There is no direct quotation from the Book of Wisdom in
the N.T., but there is little doubt that its influence was felt by
some of the N.T. writers.
(a) In St Luke xi. 49 our Lord says " Therefore said the
wisdom of God," but the words which follow are not from the
Book of Wisdom (see Plummer ad loc.). In a few cases the
langxiage of St Luke may possibly be a reminiscence of expres-
sions in the book. Lk. ii. 7 recalls Wisd. vii. 4, where the
homely detail of the royal child being wrapped in swaddling
clothes is recorded. Lk. xii. 20 Tr]v yj/'vxrjv aov alroto-iv re-
sembles Wisd. XV. 8 TO TTjs yj/^vxiis anaiTT)6e\s XP^"^- Lk. ix. 31
has the unusual word for decease {e^o8os) found in Wisd. iii. 2,
while Lk. xix. 44 has the same phrase "time of visitation" as
Wisd. iii. 7. But these similarities may be purely accidental, or
may be due to the influence of St Paul on the mind of the
Evangelist.
{j3) In the Fourth Gospel, a more definite connection may
be traced. Not only does the Logos-doctrine of the Prologue
exhibit close affinities with the Wisdom-doctrine of our book,
but many thoughts in the discourses are closely parallel to
thoughts in Wisdom.
(a) St John's Logos-doctrine difters from Wisdom-doctrine
liv INTRODUCTION.

in only one point, but that is the vital one, which marks the dis-
tinction between two dispensations, viz. " The Word was God."
The similarity of the two doctrines may be seen when we con-
sider that it is possible to substitute the name of Christ for that
of Wisdom in the doctrinal parts of Wisdom, and to find a
fairly complete anticipation (except in the one particular) of
Johannine Logos-doctrine. One reason why in N.T. "Word"
not " Wisdom " is employed, is probably that the feminine asso-
ciations of the latter conception as developed in the Book of
Wisdom would make the name (though not the doctrine for
which it stood) unsuitable for application to the God-Man.
John i. I. In the beginning Wisd. ix. 9. Cp. Prov. viii. 23
The Word was with God viii. 3 ; ix. 4
i. 3. All things... made by him (Sta) vii. 12 b, 22 a; viii. 6
i. 5. The light shineth vi. 12
Darkness overcame it not vii. 29, 30
i. 9. The true light vii. 10
i. 12. As many as received him vii. 27 b
i. 14. Gloiy as of the only be- vii. 25, 26 (cp. v. 22
gotten \xovoy^vk^)
i. 16. Of his fulness vii. 11, 12
Grace for grace iii. 14
i. 18. He hath declared him ix. 17

Pauline Logos-doctrine is naturally anticipated, cp. Col. i. 13

tJie son of his love (Wisd. viii. 3), while the redemptive work of
Christ is foreshadowed by that of Wisdom (i) at the Exodus, x.
15, (ii) in the moral sphere, ix. 18; x. 8, 9. If Christ is the
eiKOiv (image). Col. i. 15, so is Wisdom (Wisd. vii. 26, cp. anav-
yao-^ in same v. with Hebr. i. 3). Col. i. 16 In him were all
things created recalls Wisd. ix. i, 2 ; Col. i. i"] In him all things
cotisist recalls Wisd. i. 7 ; and i Cor. i. 24 The power of God
recalls Wisd. i. 3.
Bp Westcott has shown {Gospel of St fohn, Intr. p. xviii) that
Johannine Logos-doctrine is "not intelligible as an application
or continuation of the teaching of Philo": is it unreasonable
to argue that, since in the Book of Wisdom was to be found the
most highly developed pre-Christian orthodox speculation on
 Iv

WISDOM AND THE NEW TESTAMENT.

the subject of an intermediary between God and the world,

either St Paul, or the writer of the Fourth Gospel, or the un-
named pioneer in Christian Logos-doctrine, availed himself of
what he found there ? When so great a resemblance between
earlier and later writers is observable, it is more natural to
explain it by the influence of one upon the other, than to regard
it as purely fortuitous. The writings of the Christian Church
do not represent an unrelated new beginning : they are grounded
in those of the Jewish Church.

{b) A few parallelisms of thought and expression are selected

from a much larger list.
John iii. 5, XV. 5, 6 Wisd. ix. 6
iii. 13. That came down from ix. 10
heaven ix. 9
The wrath... abideth XVI. XVlll.
20.36. Loveth the Son, and viii.
sheweth
V. 23. Honour the Son vii. 27
VI. 21
V. 26. To have life in himself viii. 13
vi. 57. He shall live by me
6^0) 5l' avTTjv
(^J7frft bC €fMi), cp. ddavacriav (cp. 7/. 1 7)
xiv. 19 IX. 4
vi. 63. The words XVI. 12

vi. 65. viii 21

Except it were given
vii. 7. Me it hateth, because 111. ]9
ii. 2
I testify of it
viii. 3^ 32. If ye continue...,
ye shall know (cp.
vii. 17)
vni. 44. A murderer, cp. i J ohn ii. 24 (see note)
iii. 8, 12
viii. 46. vii. 25, nothing defiled
can find entrance in-
to her
vni. 51. If a man keep..., he vi. 18 b
shall never see death
IX. 2.
Ivi INTRODUCTION.

John xii. 35. Darkness come Wisd. xvii. 21

upon you xii. 19
xiii. 15. An example
xiv. 15. If ye love me, keep vi. 18 a
xiv. 21. Will manifest myself vi. 16
xiv. 26. The Holy Ghost, whom ix. 17 b
the Father will send
xiv. 27. Peace, not as the world xiv. 22
giveth vii. 28
xvi. 27. Loveth you, because
ye have loved me XV. 3
(cp. xiv. 6 b)
xvii. 3. Life eternal, that they
may know thee
xvii. 15. Not that thou should- vi.10,
iv. 3 II
est take them out of
the world
xix. II. No power at all, ex-
cept... from above

(y) The question has been frequently debated whether

St Paul owed any of his thought to the author of Wisdom.
Grimm {hitr. p. 36) holds that any apparent likeness must be
traced to the common circle of ideas in which both writers
moved. But E. Grafe {Theol. Abhandl. Freiburg i. B. 1892),
who examines the question in minute detail, is firmly convinced
of the debt of St Paul to Wisdom, while Sanday and Headlam
{Romans^ pp. 51, 52, 267 — 9) print certain passages in Rom. i.
and ix. in parallel columns with the related passages in Wisdom.
An illustration of the similarity of thought may be seen in St
Paul's doctrine of predestination.
Rom. ix. 19, 20. Thou wilt Wisd. xi. 21. The might of
say then unto me, Why doth he thine arm who shall withstand?
still find fault ? For who with- Wisd. xii. 12. For who shall
standeth his will ? say. What hast thou done ? Or
Shall the thing formed say who shall withstand thy judge-
to him that formed it, W^hy ment .'' And who shall accuse
didst thou make me thus? thee for the perishing of nations
 WISDOM AND THE NEW TESTAMENT. Ivii

which thou didst make? Or

who shall come and stand
before thee as an avenger for
unrighteous men ?
Rom. ix. 21. Or hath not Wisd. XV. 7. A potter,...,
the ■potter a right over the clay, mouldeth each several vessel
from the same lump to make for our service : nay, out of the
one part a vessel unto honour, same clay doth he fashion both
and another unto dishonour ? the vessels that minister to
clean uses, and those of a con-
trary sort, all in like manner;
but what shall be the use of
each..., the craftsman himself
is the judge.
Rom. ix. 22, 23. What if Wisd. xii. 10. But judging
God, willing to shew his wrath, them by little and little thou
and to make his power known, gavest them a place of repent-
ance.
endured with much longsuffer-
xii. 20. For if on them that
ing vessels of wx^.'Oii fitted unto
destruction : and that he might were enemies of thy servants
make known the riches of his and due to death thou didst
glory upon vessels of mercy...? take vengeance with so great
heedfulness and indulgence,
giving them times and place
whereby they might escape
from their wickedness; with
how great carefulness didst
thou judge thy sons,...l
Grafe notes three common thoughts (i) the irresistible power
of God, (ii) His longsuffering towards His enemies, although
He knows it will be of no avail, (iii) the contrast between the
fortunes of the enemies and the sons of God.
Further, the use in similar passages of the same image of the
potter points towards the dependence of St Paul upon Wisdom,
and even Grimm admits that he knows no literary parallel for
the idea of the potter making of the same clay vessels for
ditierent purposes. There is again a remarkable similarity of
expression between Rom. ix. 22 vessels, fitted unto destruction
Iviii INTRODUCTION.

and Wisd. xii. 20 due to death. At the same time the words of
S. and H. (p. 269) should be borne in mind " If St Paul learnt
from the Book of Wisdom some expressions illustrating the
Divine power, and a general aspect of the question, he obtained
nothing further. His broad views and deep insight are his own.
And it is interesting to contrast a Jew who has learnt many
maxims which conflict with his nationalism but yet retains all his
narrow sympathies, with the Christian Apostle, full of broad

sympathy and deep insight."

Grafe also observes (pp. 271 ff.)a similarity between St Paul's
treatment of idolatry (Rom. i. 20—29) and that of Wisdom
(chs. xii. — xiv.). In Wisdom a distinction is recognised between
the cruder (xii. 24; xiii. 10) and the more refined forms of
idolatry (xiii. I — 5): while a twofold verdict is given, making
allowance for the ignorance of men (xiii. i), and yet condemning
them for not drawdng the inference from the glory of the
creation that it was meant to suggest (xiii. i, 9).
The same distinction appears in St Paul's writings. He deals
mildly with the nature-worship of the Galatians (Gal. iv. 8 — 10),
but is unsparing (Rom. i. 20 without excuse) in his condemnation
of image-worship. The Galatians were allowed to have erred
because they "knew not God " : image-worshippers " knew God,"
but denied Him (Rom. i. 19, 21).
But the leading point of resemblance between St Paul and
Wisdom is that both give a long catalogue of the social evils
resulting from false worship (Rom. i. 24 — 32 ; Wisd. xiv. 23 — 27).
The details are not the same, but the important thing is that
both writers, after a disquisition on the nature and wickedness
of idolatr}', emphasise its consequences, laying special stress on
the unchastity and unnatural vices which it engenders.
Among other Pauline passages which possibly contain points
of contact are : iL 24
Rom. V. 12 Wisd.
xvi. 17
Rom. viii. 28 ix. 13
I Cor. ii. 16
I Cor. vi. 2 ix. 815
iii.
2 Cor. V. I — 5
Phil. i. 23 iii. 1—3
 WISDOM AND THE NEW TESTAMENT. lix

A passage that calls for special notice is Eph. vi. 13 — 17.

There is an undoubted connection between these irv. and Wisd.
V. 17 — 19; but the question of dependence is complicated by
the fact that the source-passage for Wisd. v. 17 is Is. lix. 17
(cp. in the same way i Cor. ii. 16 above, with Is. xl. 13). Grafe
is satisfied that St Paul borrows from Wisdom, on the ground
\.\\^\. panoply occurs in both, but not in Isaiah, and also^that
shield and sword are found in Wisd. and Eph., but are missing
from Isaiah.
On the other hand, it may be urged that St Paul borrows the
phrase helmet of salvation from Isaiah, and uses Greek words for
helmet, shield, and sword different in each case from those in
Wisdom. It is plain also that when the same image is used in
I Thess. V. 8, St Paul is borrowing direct from Isaiah. Isaiah
however had not the picture of the classical panoply before his
eyes, but the writer of Wisdom developed Isaiah's idea by
introducing the familiar word, and with it two important parts of
the full equipment, viz. sword and shield^ all of which St Paul
employs. Accordingly, in spite of the fact that St Paul applies
the picture to the Christian while Wisdom (like Isaiah) applies
it to God, and uses different Greek words to denote the various
pieces of armour, it is hard not to conclude from the presence of
pa7ioply and shield and swo?-d^ that the Apostle was conscious
of the influence of Wisdom when elaborating his picture.

(5) A few other passages which seem to show traces of the

influence of the Book of14 Wisdom are appended :
10,
5 131,7 Wisd. viii. 21
James ii. 7, 8
19 II i. 12—14
14
i.
^•
13
i. II
11. 6 ii. 10
11. vi. 6
• 17, vii. 19
vi. 22, 23
HI
iv . 8
V. 5 ii. 6 — 9
v. 6 ii. 12, 20
'
, I
Ix INTRODUCTION,
17
Heb. Wisd. vii. 26
iv. 12 xviii. 15, 16
]'
xii.3 xii. 10
See also Plumptre in Expositor^
16 vol. ii. " The Writings of Apollos."
Rev. V. 20
ii. 21 iii.
xvi. 14
xii. 10, 20
9
iii. 12
xvi . 6 xviii, 15
• 13
xix
It will thus be seen that the Book of Wisdom exercised no
small influence upon N.T. Though not directly quoted, it
belonged to the mental furniture of the N.T. writers. The
extent to which such influence operated must remain indeter-
minate, but we should not be dealing fairly with the evidence,
if we refused to allow that, out of the many coincidences be-
tween N.T. and Wisdom, some are due to a reminiscence,
whether conscious or unconscious, of the earlier book.
§ 18. Literature.
The most important commentaries are those of
Grimm, C. L. W., Das Buch der Weisheit (Kurzgefasstes
exegetisches Handbuch zu den Apokryphcn des A.T.),
Leipzig, i860.
Deane, W. J., The Book of Wisdom, The Greek Text, The
Latin Vulgate, and the Authorised English Version with
Intr., Crit. App., and a Commentary, Oxford, 1881.
Farrar, F. W., in the Speaker's Commentary.
For lists of other commentaries, see Grimm, pp. 45, 46, Deane,
pp. 42, 43 and Schiirer,/!:?^^/^/^ People i?i the time of Jesus Christy
§ 33 (E.T., div. II. vol. iii. pp. 236, 237 : 3rd German ed. 1898,
vol. iii. pp. 382, 383).
Among other books which may be consulted with advantage
are
SwETE, H. B., The O. T. in Greek, 3 vols., Cambridge, 1891.
COHN AND Wekdland, Philonis Alexandrini opera quae
supersunt, 4 vols., Berlin, 1 896-1902.
 LITERATURE. Ixi

Etheridge, J. W., The Targums on the Pentateuch, 2 vols.,

London, 1862.
Drummond, J., Philo Judaeus, or the Jewish-Alexandrian
Philosophy in its development and completion, London,
1888.
Heriot, Philon le Juif.
BoiS, Henri, Essai sm* les origines de la philosophie Jud^o-
Alexandrine, Toulouse, 1890.
Menzel, Paul, Der Griechische Einfluss auf Prediger und
Weisheit Salomos, Halle a S., 18S9.
Andre, L. E. T., Les Apocryphes de I'ancien testament,
Florence, 1903.
Westcott, B. F., Art. " Wisdom of Solomon ''■ in Smith's
D.B., vol. iii.
Siegfried, C, Art. "Wisdom," and "Book of Wisdom" in
Hastmgs' D.B., vol. iv.
Toy, C. H., Art. "Wisdom (Book)" in Enc. BibL, vol. iv.
(edd. Cheyne and Black).
Kautzsch, Die Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des Alten
Testaments, vol. i. (C. Siegfried).
N.B. The references to Philo follow (except where otherwise
stated) the sectional divisions as marked in Colin and Wend-
land's smaller edition.
 THE
WISDOM OF SOLOMON.

Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth,

Think ye of the Lord ^ with a good mind,
^ Gr. in goodness.

Part I. A.
Ch. I.— Ch. V.
The character of Wisdom : how she is found, and how forfeited.
Contrast between the worldly fortunes of the righteous and the wicked,
and between their experiences after death.
Ch. I. The pure in heart find Wisdom : death is the
REWARD OF IMMORALITY.

Ch. I. 1—5. GOD CANNOT DWELL WITH EVIL: WiSDOM CAN

ASSOCIATE ONLY WITH THOSE WHO RESEMBLE HER.

1. The book opens without a preface : neither its author nor its
destination are known. T\lq. judges of the earth (cp. ch. vi. i) who are
addressed in this v. are rulers in general, an address in keeping with the
ex hypothesi Solomonic authorship : to none would a king appeal more
fitly than to kings. It is hardly conceivable that if (as has been supposed
by some commentators) the book was a protest to the Roman authorities
against injustices perpetrated upon the Jews at Alexandria, it should be
so devoid of feeling and savour so consistently of the study.
Love righteousmss'\ Cp. Ps. xlv. 7. Righteousness in its widest
sense, not merely for purposes of right government, but as conformity of
thought and deed to the will of God.
judges of the earthy from Ps. ii. 10, and again in ch. vi. i. Judges
means rulers, one principal function of rulers being to dispense justice,
cp. Ps. Ixvii. 4, I K. iii. 9. Vulg. Diligite iustitiam qui iudicatis
terram. Dante {Par, xviii. 91) sees a band of spirits group themselves
into the form of the 35 letters, representing them successively.
Think ye of the Lord with a good mind] lit. in goodness. Men's
concepiiuns of God vary with iheir characters. " Pectus facit theo-
logum." Marg. makes the writer's meanmg more clear. Knowledge
WISDOM I
 2 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON I. 1—3.
And in singleness of heart seek ye him ;
2 Because he is found of them that tempt him not,
And is manifested to them that do not distrust him.
3 For crooked thoughts separate from God ;
And the snpre7ne Power, when it is brought to the proof,
^putteth to confusion the foolish :
1 Gr. convicteth.

of God is moral rather than intellectual, cp. Heb. xii. 14; for the
sense, cp. Dt. xxviii. 47 LXX.
sifigleness of heart] from i Chr. xxix. 17, where also God is said to
"love righteousness." For the Greek word, see Sanday and Headlam,
on Rom. xii. 8. Cp. Coi. iii. 22. The "single-minded" man has no
private ends to serve: there is no reservation or arriere-pensee in his
allegiance. See Charles, Test, xii Pair., note on Iss. iii. i.
seek ye him] i.e. covet fellowship with God, cp. Dt. iv. 29. Grimm
quotes Philo (de Mon. § 5) "There is nothing better than to seek the
true God, even though it be beyond the power of man to find Him."
2. he is found] The doctrine of spiritual affinity pervades the book.
Cp. ch. vi. 12, 16. See Prov. viii. 17; St John vi. 37, xviii. 37.
tempt him not] Men tempt God by immoral lives. These words
correspond to " with a good mind " vav. i.
is manifested] Cp. Is. Ixv. i ; St John xiv. 21.
do not distrust him] i.e. God's will to bless. This clause answers to
"in singleness of heart" in v. i. The single-minded throw themselves
upon God, and (like Browning's grammarian) "unperplexed, seeking
shall find Him." Cp. James i. 6 — 8.
3. For] vv. 3 — 5 stand in contrast with v. 2. God is as inaccessible
to the perverse, as He is approachable for the upright.
crooked thoughts separate] Cp. Is. lix. 2, 7 — 9. For crooked^ cp.
Prov. xxi. 8; Dt. xxxii. 5.
thoughts] The Gk. word {Xoyia/ioi) has generally a bad sense, cp.
ch. xi. 15, and James ii. 4 (8ia\oy.)y but cp. 4 Mace, xviii. 2. For the
sense, cp. Philo, J/ut. Novi. § 46 "God standeth afar off from sinners,
but He walketh within the souls of the upright."
the supreme Power] R.V. plainly points to God as the power in
question. This is no doubt possible, but the power is more likely to
be a synonym for Wisdom (cp. a holy spirit, v. 5). Wisdom is seen
being "brought to the proof" in w. 4, 5. Thus she is spoken of in
v^- 3. 4. 5) but (for literary reasons) under a different name in each
case. Bois [Essai sur les origines de la phil. Jud.-Alex. p. 237) recalls
Philo's use oi power, and prefers this interpretation.
brought to the proof] applicable either to God or to Wisdom, when
challenged by man's unbelief, cp. Ps. xcv. 9 " Your fathers proved me "
(edoKLfiaffav LXX.).
putteth to confusion] by increasing their blindness (Grimm). The
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON I. 4, 5- 3
Because wisdom will not enter into a soul that deviseth 4
evil,
Nor dwell in a body that is held in pledge by sin.
For a holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit, 5
And will start away from thoughts that are without under-
standing,
Andcome
willin.be 'put to confusion when unrighteousness hath
^ Gr. convicted.

Greek word indicates punishment and final loss rather than the lighter
meaning of "convicting and putting to shame." The writer thinks of
the wicked as ungodly by nature, and incapable of restoration : there-
. fore remedial discipline would be futile.
the foolish^ Morally foolish. The word is euphemistically used in
O.T. to express the practical foolishness of immoral living which
ignores God. Cp. Ps. xiv. i "The fool hath said."
4. Because^ v. 4 supports the assertions of v. 3, the truth of which
rests on the essential nature of Wisdom.

notwisdof/i'l
whether See Introduction
a soul § 9, and
that devises evil cp. w. can
things 3, 5.ever
Thebe question
wise, butis
whether it can have affinity with the Wisdom of God.
a soul that deviseth evil] The adj. [KaKOT^xvos:) is poetic, occurring
in Homer, //. xv. 14, and is found again ch. xv. 4. Cp. 4 Mace. vi. 25.
For the friends of Wisdom, see ch. vi. 12 — 16.
Nor dwell] Cp. Philo, Somn. I. 23 "Strive to be a house of God, a
holy temple, a fair dwelling-place for Him."
held in pledge] i.e. wilfully surrendered to sin. The Greek word
denotes "one mortgaged to sin." Cp. Rom. vii. 14, and St John viii. 34.
In this V. the writer views soul as well as body as liable to sin : else-
where he traces temptation to the body, cp. ch. ix. 15. He is not
hov.ever a thorough-going dualist like Philo, who writes {Migr. § 2)
of "that loathsome piison-house, the body." On the other hand, like
Philo, he regards the human personality as twofold, soul (or spirit) and
body^ cp. ch. ii. 3 and Philo, I\Ios. iii. 39 "man being twofold, body
and soul." See Introd. § 12.
6. holy spirit of discipline] Bois {op. cit. p. 234) urges that this
expression is a paraphrase for Wisdom, see Introd. § 9. For Wisdom
as a spirit of discipline, cp. ch. vi. 11. She is a spirit, v. 6; there is a
holy spirit in her, ch. vii, 22. This is the first use of i:v. ar^iov in the
Gk. Bible, cp. ch. ix. 17.
will flee deceit] Her hatred of deceit may be inferred from the
description of her origin in ch. vii. 25, 26.
thoughts .. .without understanding] in a moral sense, see v. 3.
put to confusion] like modesty m the presence of the obscene. Or
"will be scared away" (Grimm).
 4 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON I. 6, 7.
6 For Visdom is a spirit that loveth man,
And she will not hold a ^blasphemer guiltless for his lips;
Because God beareth witness of his reins,
And is a true overseer of his heart,
And a hearer of his tongue :
7 Because the spirit of the Lord hath filled ^the world,
^ Some authorities read the spirit of wisdom is loving to man.
2 Or, revile}- ^ Gr. the inhabited earth.
w. 6— 11. God not only refuses Wisdom to the impure {w.
3—5), BUT He actively punishes them. If He can search
HEARTS, SINFUL WORDS CANNOT ESCAPE DETECTION.
6. wisdom is a spirif^ Text follows KB, and is preferable to the
reading of A and Vulg. See marg.
that loveth man] lit. philanthropic, cp. ch. vii. 23. See Prov. viu.
for this humanitarian aspect of Wisdom (Introd. § 9). She is indeed
humane, but exacts punishment when deserved, so loving is she towards
the souls of men. Cp. Ps. Ixii. 12. Wisdom reflects the mind of God
who created all things but loves men best of all, as being the noblest
product of Wisdom's work. Cp. ch. ix. 2, 3 ; Prov. viii. 31. ^tXavOpojiros
is very frequent in Class, lit., but is not found in O.T. (except Apocr.)
or N.T. ; N.T. however has its corresponding adv. and subst. Acts
xxvii. 3 ; xxviii. 2.
a blasphemer] Marg. reviler. "Blasphemy" is not confined to
words directed against God, but includes all slander and calumny, see
Eph. iv. 31. The writer probably has in view such utterances as those
in ch. ii. 1 — 20.
beareth witness] Cp. Ps. xxxiii. 15; cxxxix. i — 5. The reins are
viewed as the seat of the feelings, and the heart as the source of
thoughts and ideas.
Grimm sees in the sequence rei7is, hearty tongue an inverted climax:
God knows men"s feelings, their unexpressed thoughts, their spoken
words. For hearts and reins, cp. Ps. vii. 9; Jer. xi. 20.
a true overseer of his heart] Cp. Job xx. 29, LXX.; Ecclus. xlii. 20.
The Greek word is generally used in LXX. in an official sense, "task-
master," or "captain," but here in the same sense as in Philo, Somn.
i. 15 "God is the overseer of all, to whom all things are open, even all
that is done invisibly in the depths of the heart." Cp. Clem. Rom. lix.
3 "Creator and overseer of all spirits." True, in that God fulfils the
highest functions of overseer. He cannot be deceived, or biassed ; He
cannot forget : there is no human shortcoming in the scrutiny He exer-
cises.
a hearer of his tongue] Cp. Epict. ii. 8 "If an image of your God
was in the room, you would not behave as you do, and yet when God
is within you and oversees and overhears everything, you are not
ashamed to think and act in this way." Cp. Philo, Jos. § 43.
7. the spirit of the Lord Jiaih filled] The proof of the preceding
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON I. 7, 8. 5
And that which holdeth all things together hath knowledge
of every voice.
Therefore no man that uttereth unrighteous things shall be
unseen ;
' Neither shall Justice, when it convicteth, pass him by.
^ Some authorities read Nor indeed.
assertions. Either mediately or in person God fills the universe. It is
not clear whether the spirit of the Lord stands for God or the Wisdom
of God. Wisdom in ch. viii. i is given the attributes of omnipresence,
while in this book there is no mention of divine omnipresence. The
Alexandrine idea was that God acted upon the world through the Logos,
while the Wisdom mediated His immanence. And so here, it seems
more in keeping with the author's view of the universal activity of
Wisdom, to i^ee in her the medium whereby knowledge of the words
of men is brought to God: Wisdom is the "ear of jealousy" {v. 10).
On the other hand for O.T. writers, the spirit of God denotes God in
His activity in the world, and we have in Ps. cxxxix. 7 and Jer. xxiii. 24
the more characteristically Jewish conception of God's immediate
presence, which is to be found also in Philo, Leg. All. iii. 2 "God hath
filled all things, and hath passed through all things, and hath left nothing
void or unoccupied by Himself." Cp. ibid. i. 14, Sacr. 18, Moses ii. 31.
Farrar quotes Pope :—
"All are but parts of one stupendous whole
Whose body nature is and God the soul;
That...
Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
Spreads undivided, operates unspent."
the world'] oUovixivT] (see marg. ) cp. Prov. viii. 31; no limitation of
the sphere of Wisdom is intended, but her activity in this passage is
directed towards human objects.
holdeth all things together] Cp. Ecclus. xliii. 26 "By his word all
things consist" ; Col. i. 17 ; Heb. i. 3 ; and ch. vii. 17 " tlie constitution
(lit. consistence) of the world." The idea of a world-principle holding
the sum of things together appears in Aristotle [de Alundo 6) " the all-
containing cause." I'he author is employing what is a Stoic and by no
means a Jewish conception, which was adopted by the Alexandrian
Jews, and appears constantly in Philo, cp. Q. R. D. H. § 38 " The
Logos is the universal chain, who has filled all things with his being " ;
id. plant. § 2 ; Clem. Rom. § 27.
Cicero [de Nat. Deor. i. 15, 39) writes of the Stoic deity "holding
together nature and all things." The Stoic God was soul, spirit, reason
of the world, providence, destiny, universal law.
8. Thet'efore no man] Cp. Jer. xxiii. 24 of false prophets, "Can any
hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? " and Job xxxiv.
21—23.
Neither shall] Text follows XA {ovU /xi]).
justice] Personified, cp. Acts xxviii. 4 R.V. In ch. xiv. 31 occurs
 6 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON I. 9—11.
9 For in the ??iidst of his counsels the ungodly shall be
searched out;
And the sound of his words shall come unto the Lord
To bring to conviction his lawless deeds :
10 Because there is an ear of jealousy that listeneth to all
things,
And the noise of murmurings is not hid.
11 Beware then of unprofitable murmuring,
And refrain your tongue from backbiting ;
•' the Justice of them that sin," which answers to the inner law of moral
compensation which cannot be evaded even by successful sin. Philo,
Post. C. § 4 tells of the J ustice that punishes the ungodly waiting for
Cain, cp. id. de conf. I. §-24 "an avenging and incorruptible Justice."
pass hifu byl Justice is no casual wayfarer : she is the inevitable
reaction upon wrong-doing.
9. his counsels'] The Gk. word (5ta/3o(5Xia) , cp. v. 3, is used in a
bad sense, implying craftiness. Cp. Ps. x. 2 ; Hos. iv. 9. For the
sense, cp. Epict. ii. 14 " Philosophers say that men should learn before
anything else that God exists and governs the world, and that it is
impossible to hide from Him our deeds or even our thoughts."
Perhaps the rendering of this line should be "There shall be exami-
nation into the counsels of the ungodly." Cp. forensic use of i^^raais in
3 Mace. vii. 5.
To bring to conviction his lazvless deeds'] rather lawlessnesses, cp.
Dt. XV. 9, i.e. the counsels and the words referred to in the pre-
ceding lines. Philo, Dec. § 17 writes "the conviction that is innate
in and inhabits each man, at once his accuser and his judge, wages a
truceless war with the disobedient."
Although the writer has in mind an exposure of the sinner by
Wisdom, and Philo rather the stings of conscience, psychologically
the inner reality is one and the same.
10. an ear of Jealousy'] Philo, evidently recalling the teaching of
Zeno (cp. Diog. Laert. Zeno § 79) writes dc Somn. i. § 22 "the highest
and purest spirits do not enter into human bodies, but act as eyes and
ears of the great King, overseeing and hearing everjnhing." For the
genitive of quality, cp. Num. v. 14 LXX. "a spirit of jealousy."
God's jealousy is shown in O.T. (i) on behalf of the chosen people,
(2) for His own honour. It is in the latter sense that God is spoken of
here as jealous, as He watches the words and thoughts of men.
iwise of murmurings] An intentional resemblance in the Gk.
between ous (ear) and throus (noise). Even the unspoken murmurings
of the heart are overheard. Cp. Ex. xvi. 7, 8, 9, 12, where God hears
the murmuring of the people.
11. unprofitable murmuring] "unprofitable" is a softened ex-
pression for soul-destroying. For ?nurmurers, cp. Jude w. 14 — 16.
backbititig] Better blasphemy. The Gk. word (/caraXaXid) has in
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON I. 11—13. 7
Because no secret utterance shall go on its way void,
And a mouth that belieth destroyeth a soul.
Court not death in the error of your life ; 12
Neither draw upon yourselves destruction by the works of
your hands :
Because God made not death ; 13

N.T. the same sense of speaking evil of men. But the corresp. vb.
is used in LXX. to denote speaking against God (Numb. xxi. 5;
Ps. Ixxviii. 19); and this is the meaning here. There may be a
reference to those apostate or wavering Jews of Alexandria who did not
hesitate to express their despair of the theocracy openly.
go on its way void] For this use of void [k^vov), cp. Is. Iv. ii, where
Cod. Marchal. has "So shall my word be; it shall not return to me
void."
has The moral
concrete whispered
effects.word may be physically unsubstantial, but it
a month that belieth] lit. that speaketh falsely against {God). Philo,
f^S'^ § 15 writes " It leaves an incurable stain upon the soul when one
says that God is the author of evil."
destroyeth a soul] This expression is used of physical death in
Ecclus. xxi. 2. Here it refers to the loss of spiritual life (Introd. § 13).
Physical death as the penalty of sin is not in question : the writer is
thinking of that soulless existence of the wicked (present and future)
which, metaphorically speaking, is death.

w. 12—15. God's will for men is that their soul

SHOULD LIVE.

12. Court not death] The last words oi v. 11 introduce the subject
of vv. 12 — 15. For courting death cp. next /., and v. 16. The per-
sistence of the wicked in their evil ways seems explicable on no other
hypothesis than that they desire spiritual death. Cp. Prov. viii. 36,
xxi. 6.

in the error of your life'] Generally, for "any ways of life that go
astray." Your life supplies a rhetorical antithesis to cotirt not death.
tuither draw tipon yourselves] Both court and drag are strong
Avords, the former implying violent desire and the latter violent effort.
LXX. uses the same Gk. word in Is. v. 18, cp. ch. xix. 3.
works of your hands] Philo {det. pot. § 32) writes "Moses says it
is not God who is the author of our evils, but our own hands, by which
he intends the voluntary preference of our minds for the worse course."
Cp. Enoch xcviii. 4 " Sin has not been sent upon the earth, but man of
himself has created it."
13. Because God made not death] Nothing evil can have its origin in
God, who is altogether good. Such is the doctrine of Philo, reiterated
consistently through his writings, and anticipated here. Philo's
inference is interesting, if not (on account of its somewhat unworthy
 8 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON I. 13, 14.
Neither delighteth he when the living perish :
14 For he created all things that they might have being :
And Hhe generative powers of the world are healthsome,
^ Or, all the races of creatures in the -vorld

view of God's motives) convincing. Cp. de rmit. § 4, and especially

de conf. ling. § 35, 36. " ' Let us make man.' Why is the plural used ?
In order that men's successes may be attributed to God, but their
failures may be laid upon others. For it did not seem right to God to
fashion with His own hand the downward inclination in man, wherefore
He entrusted this portion of the work to His subordinate agents. God
is the author of good things alone, and of nothing at all that is evil,
since He is Himself the highest of all things that exist and the most

There good."
perfect is no solution here of the problem of evil and death. If Philo
refuses to charge God with being Creator of evil, he takes away with
one hand what he gives with the other. For his position is essentially
dualistic, and he makes evil to be something standing over against
God and independent of Him. An evil that is co-eternal with God is a
more terrible problem than an e\"il permitted by God.
Neither delighteth he'] Cp. Ezek. xxxiii. 11 "I have no pleasure in
the death of the wicked." The living may be either living men or
things that have life.
The passage seems to contain a reminiscence of Is. liv. i6 LXX.
*'But I created thee not for destruction, to cause thee to perish."
14. created all things .. .being] "All things" includes the irrational
part of creation, and the various stages of growth and decay through
which the brutes and the plants pass. God created all things to partake
in some real degree of His own nature, which is fundamentally Being.
Cp. Ex. iii. 14 (LXX.) " I am He that is." Epict. iii. 24 writes "God
created all men for happiness, for stability." Cp. Philo, Moses ii. 8
"For seeing that God alone hath existence of a truth, He is Maker,
since he bringeth into existence things that are not."
The gift of positive being to the creation by the Creator here
suggested, involves something of the same intimateness of relation as
was perhaps expressed in St John i. 3, 4 " That which hath been
made was life in him."
a7td the geturative pcrdoers] Marg. "all the races of creatures in the
world."' The rendering of text is hardly possible. The alternative
rendering in marg. indicates a doubt in the mind of the translators
whether the Gk. word can have an active sense. There are four uses
of yiveais in LXX. and Apocrypha : (a) birth, (d) the process of
coming into being, (c) a generation, {d) a tribe, or species. If the
author meant generative powers, a subst. with a different termination
would be demanded. The "process of coming into being" passes
readily into the "things which have come to be," but not into "that
which brings things into being." Marg. must accordingly be followed,
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON I. 14, 15.
And there is no poison of destruction in them :
Nor hath Hades ' royal dominion upon earth,
For righteousness is immortal : 15
^ Or, a royal hotcse

which has the support of Vulg. nationes ter/ae, i.e. the products of the
earth. The meaning is that herbs are not by nature poisonous, nor
wild beasts destructive, but human sin has caused a general marring of
the divine scheme. Gk. might be rendered nattcral processes, in which
case there would be an antithesis between this line and the preceding,
the originating decree of the Creator being distinguished from those
subsequent processes whereby things seem to make themselves. With
yev^creLi cp. the designations of God in ch. xiii. 3, 5, yepeaidpxv^,
yeveaiovpyo^.
healthsoine\ The Gk. word is frequently found in Philo in an active
sense, cp. ehr. § 3, Moses i. § 17.
poison of destruciioriX Vulg. 7nedicainentum extn-minii. The sound-
ness of the physical world in which men are placed is contrasted with
the moral evil that works within them. It is not from God's world that
men derive the poison that inflames their souls.
Nor hath Hades royal dommion'] Marg. a royal house. Text gives
the better sense, though both renderings are permissible. If the Gk.
word /ScwtXetoj' be translated as in marg., ' a royal house ' stands for the
external symbol of the royal dominion, the part for the whole. But
text is simpler, and presents a more solid antithesis to God made not...
neither delighteth he... for he created, etc. Emphasis is laid on the rival
sovereignties. For Gk. in the sense of dominion see i K. xiv. 8;
2 Mace. ii. 17; and oi palace Prov. xviii. 19. In ch. v. 16 it
means royal crown. Hades is here personified, and practically cor-
responds to the Greek Pluto, the God of the lower regions.
15. righteousness is ifnmortal] Either righteousness leads its
followers to immortality, or (abstr. for concr., in contrast with
ungodly men, v. 16) the righteous are immortal, i.e. possess the life
spiritual.
Righteousness is introduced somewhat abruptly. We should expect
a link between w. 14 and 15, such as "For [God destined His
creation for righteousness, and] righteousness is..." The nature of
God as revealed in O.T. points to a fundamental identity between the
Good and the Existent. Contrast with Philo's " Folly is an undying
evil" {det. pot. § 48). Vulg. supplies a new line iniustitia autcni
mortis acquisitio est: no Greek MSB. have this line, which was probably
introduced to complete the parallelism. Grimm however is in favour
of it. For the life-giving power of Wisdom, cp. Prov. iii. 18. Philo,
plant. § 27 has "The nature of the Good is incorruptible." Cp.
Antisthenes in Diog. Laert. vi. i, 4 "Those who would be immortal
luubt live piously and righteously."
 10 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON I. i6.

i6 But ungodly men by their hands and their words called

Meath unto them :
Deeming him a friend they ^consumed away,
And they made a covenant with him,
1 Or, Hades Gr. him. ^ Or, were constimed \v\ih. love of him
Ch. I. 16— Ch. V. 23.
At this point begins a series of three comparisons between the
thoughts, character, and destiny of the righteous and the wicked. The
distinctions are fairly clearly marked, five out of the six sections
beginning with a keyword distinctive of the section, while the sixth
begins with what is certainly a false reading and with a word that is
readily emended into the necessary distinctive word. It will be
noticed that the sections devoted to the wicked are much longer than
the others, two of them being occupied with rather tedious monologues.
The sections are as follows :—
J jl. i6 — II. 24, aaeSd^ U. (But ungodly men...)
|III. 1 — 9, 5i.Kaiwv oe. (But. ..of the righteous...)
jj jIII. 10 — IV. 6, ol 5e da-e^eh. (But the ungodly...)
|lV. 7 — 14, SiVatos Be. (But a righteous man...)
jy-r ilV. 15 — V. 14, ol 5e *a,vofjt.oi*. (But the lawless...)
" ' (V. 15 — 23, diKaLoi 5e. (But the righteous...)
The sections devoted to the righteous are all of an eschatological
character, but those which deal with the ungodly present a distinct
time-sequence.
Comparison I. (a) Ch. I. 16— Ch. II. 20. The materialist —
HIS HOPELESSNESS, HIS SENSUALITY, HIS INTOLERANCE.
16. Bui u7igodly 77ieti\ This v. repeats v. l^ with emphatic irony.
by their hands] i.e. by their works, see v. 12. The writer pictures
the words and deeds of wicked men as constituting an invitation to
God's rival.
death] Marg. Hades. Gk. has hiffi.
a friend] Cp. ch. xv. 6 "lovers of evil things," and Prov. viii. 36
"They that hate me love death."
consumed away] either lit., in consequence of their misplaced friend-
ship, or metaph. as in marg. The latter use is seen in Ps. cxxxix. 21,
and is to be preferred. The lit. use appears in Lev. xxvi. 39 LXX.
If the vb. {iTdKrjcrau) is taken metaphorically, there is a fine climax in
which men's frantic love for self-destruction is vigorously pictured.
First, they invite the guest; next, they pine with love for him; and
finally they pledge themselves in covenant with him.
made a covenant] perhaps drawn from Is. xxviii. 15 LXX. "We
made a covenant with Hades, and a bond with Death." Cp. Philo,
Quod Deus § 11 "who made a treaty and agreement with their body,"
and Migr. § 3.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON I. i6— II. i. n
Because they are worthy to be of his portion.

For they said 'within themselves, reasoning not aright, 1

Short and sorrowful is our life ;
And there is no healing when a man cometh to his end,
^ Or, among

they are worthy] A leading doctrine in this book is that of a spiritual

selective affinity, similar to that traceable in the Fourth Gospel. Cp. in
a good and bad sense, Rev. iii. 4 and xvi. 6 "They are worthy."
The wicked are "worthy" of Hades because by a kind of fate
like always gravitates to like.
of his portion] the words reappear in eh. ii. 24. Gk. means a posses-
sion, esp. by inheritance. The wicked are made over to their natural
king and become his property by their own choice, and yet a choice
that was inevitable. They have given themselves to sin, and are
prisoners of their own limitations. Y ox portion, cp. Col. i. 12, and
4 Mace, xviii. 3.
In connection with this v., Pfleiderer holds that Wisdom was written
by one who desired to attack the Pagan mysteries, and that this v. was
specially directed against the initiated. The Greeks had come to
identify the god of death (Hades) with the god of life (Dionysus), and
this identification the author accepts. But he denies that this conflate
divinity is a god of life. The God of life is the God of the Jews.
Their God is not Hades, the true God stands in no relation whatever
to death (Bois, op. cit. p. 295).
ii. 1. Speculative materialism is not in question, rather a practical
materialism like that of Ps. xiv. i. Cp. "Every one that doeth evil hateth
the light." The anti-social effects of a life of sensuality are pointed
out ; in v. 10 the selfish lawlessness which gives pain for the sheer
delight of exercising brute force, and in vv. 12 — 20 the spite which
wreaks itself on those whose religious profession and conduct are a
galling condemnation of the hedonist.
For] The charges in v. 16 are made explicit.
they said within theinselves] A.V. For the ungodly said, reasoning
with themselves, follows Vulg. which has cogitantes apud se, but for reasons
of rhythm the division of the words adopted by the text is the better.
For saying xvithin oneself, cp. St Luke vii. 39, xvi. 3 : for reasoning
within oneself, cp. St Matt. xvi. 7, 8, xxi. 25. Marg. offers the alterna-
tive among thefnselves, but that would suggest rather the deliberations
of a council {vv. 10 — 20) than the reflections which arise in periods of
reaction and depression {pv. 1—9). Perhaps however a double entendre
was intended.
Short and sorroivful] Cp. Eccl. ii. 23, v. 17 LXX. Job x. 20
**Is not the life of my time short?" LXX. ; id. xiv. i ; Gen. xlvii. 9.
no healing] Vulg. refrigerinm, possibly under the influence of
theological conceptions. But the Gk. is common in LXX., and bears
 12 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON II. i, 2.

And none was ever known that ^gave release from Hades.
2 Because by mere chance were we born,
^ Or, rettirjied out of Hades

its usual meaning here, no remedy. Cp. Nab. iii. 19; Jer. xiv. 19; Ps.
xxxviii. 3, 7. The words express either a cheerless fatalism, or else a
positive disbelief in the power or will of God to postpone the evil day.
They take no account of such testimonies as Ps. xxx. 2 "Thou hast
healed ra^^'' or Is. xxxviii. 17.
that gave release'] This rendering gives only a repetition of the prec.
line: — "there is no remedy, and none to administer one." Further,
instead of the aor. we should have expected the pres. or fut. participle
for the transitive sense. Marg. that 7-e(iinied is preferable, as offering
a wider variation of sense: — "there is no remedy, and there is no ex-
ception to the fatal law."
But is the Gk. vb. transitive here? It is used trans, in ch. xvi. 14 in a
somewhat similar connection, and it appears in the passive in ch. v. 12,
but in all the six other passages in Apocr. where it is found in the
active, it is intransitive, in the sense of return, cp. Eccl. viii. 8. The
negative is much stronger, and the despair more pronounced, when it is
denied that any human soul has ever returned from the grave, than
when the achievements of Elijah and Elisha, and the legends of
Heracles and Orpheus, are merely ignored.
Hades] For the O.T. conception, cp. in this series, Kirkpatrick,
Psalms Vol. I. pp. xciii — xcvii, and Davidson, fob^ note on
pp. 103, 4.
There is a touch of irony in the involuntary confession on the part of
those who are making terms with Hades, that there are uestigia nulla
retrorsum.
The regret here expressed finds no place in the philosophy of Epi-
curus. Epicureanism proper made light of death. It argued that death
is not terrible when present but only when expected. For while we
live, death is non-existent for us; when we are dead, we are uncon-
scious that we are so. And so, for the living as well as for the dead,
there is no such thing as death. Diog. Laert. x. § 125. Cp. Epict. ii.
5 § 12 "What is bom, must be again resolved. I am not an age, only
a man; a part of the whole, even as an hour is part of the day. I
must be present like the hour, and I must become past like the hour.
What
2. does it concern
Because by meremechance
how I were
pass we
?" born]
Cp. Lucr.
Vulg. iii. 830 ft". ex nihilo.
wrongly
There is a flavour of Epicureanism about the passage, and Epicurus
taught that nothing is made out of nothing (Diog. Laert. x. § 38). He
held that as the atoms fell through the void of space, slight accidental
deviations occurred, and by this means there ensued a continual process
of combination between the atoms. By this process of fortuitous
amalgamation, the world of things as we see it was to be accounted
for. Contrast Cic. Tusc. i. 49 " Non temere nee fortuito...creati sumus."
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON II. 2—4. 13
And hereafter we shall be as though we had never been :
Because the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
And ' while our heart beateth reason is a spark,
Which being extinguished, the body shall be turned into 3
ashes,
And the spirit shall be dispersed as thin air ;
And our name shall be forgotten in time, 4
■^ Or, reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our heart

haswetheshall be as virdpxovTe%,
variant though we had never been']
probably Cp. Obadiah
a reminiscence 16 LXX. X
of Obadiah.
Because the breath in our ttostrils is smoke] Cp. Job xxvii. 3 LXX.
There is a different use of the same simile in Job xli. 20. For smoke,
as a symbol of unsubstantialness, cp. Ps. cii. 3.
and while our heart beateth reason is a spark] The superficial mean-
ing of these words is that our best life is little better than a spark, so
precarious is our position. But it is hard to avoid the conclusion that
there is a half-concealed c)'nical allusion to the speculations of Greek
philosophy. Heraclitus held that fire was the origin of all things, and
Zeno developed the idea further. He held that the soul was a fiery
principle with which we are inspired and by which we move (Diog.
Laert. vii. § 157). If this theory is treated sarcastically, by a process of
reductio ad absurdum, its followers are landed in the cheering thought,
that our soul is a spark, and our breath the smoke of its smouldering.
The Logos, or reason, in a man, was supposed to reside in the governing
part of his being which was closely connected with the heart {ibid. § 159) :
the ancient philosophers had not grasped the secret of the functions of
the brain. For this reason the marginal reading is to be preferred,
reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our heart. The Greek
philosophers "supposed that the beating of the heart produced thought
in the form of gleams or sparks from the fire-substance of the soul.
'Breath' and 'thoughts' to them are merely the results of mechanism"
(Farrar). There is something singularly modern in this early specula-
tion. Modern materialists hold that thought is produced by molecular
change; cp. Cabanis "The brain secretes thought as the liver bile."
For 6 X670S (reason) one cursive has 0X170? (little), following which A.V.
renders a little spark.
3. the body... into ashes] Life is a spark of fire which gradually
consumes the body and leaves only ashes (Deane). Probably, however,
the words are only an adaptation of Job xiii. 12 LXX. "Your boasting
shall become like ashes, and your body clay."
dispersed] For the Gk., cp. ch. v. 14, where the word is used of
smoke.
thin air] lit. gaping. Air is fugitive and unsubstantial.
4. our name shall be forgotten] The greatest calamity that could
befall a man. In earlier ages, when the idea of personal immortality had
 14 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON II. 4 5-
And no man shall remember our works ;
And our life shall pass away as the traces of a cloud,
And shall be scattered as is a mist,
When it is chased by the beams of the sun,
And 'overcome by the heat thereof.
5 For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,
And "our end retreateth not;
^ Gr. '•.veighed down. ^ Or, t/iere is no putting back of our end

not emerged, future life meant no more than remembrance by future gene-
rations. Cp. 2 Sam.xviii. 18; Ps. xlix. II. In the Egyptian Book of the
Dead, several chapters are devoted to the preservation of the name in
the next world. The Hebrew and Egyptian ideas, though not identical,
agree in this, that unless an object had a name it could not exist, and if
the name were lost, it perished. For the perishing of the name, cp.
Dt. ix. 14; Ps. cix. 13 (note in this series); Job xviii. 17, 19.
shall retnetHber\ Cp. Eccl. i. 11.
pass away'] For the Gk. word, cp. i John ii. 17.
as... a cloud] Cp. Philo, Quod Deus % 36 "Like a cloud, her great
good fortune has passed away." Cp. Hos. xiii. 3 ; Job vii. 9.
a mist] Cp. Job xxiv. 20 LXX.
chased] Farrar quotes Ov. Trist.'ii. 142: —
" Nube solet pulsa candidus ire dies."
overcome] ^apwdeiaa, lit. weighed down, Vulg. aggrauata. The
word does not seem very appropriate. One cursive has napavdeiaa
(lit. 7oithered, metaph.). The LXX. of Job vii. 9 {airoKadapdiv)
makes Kadapdeiaa possible : as a mist is cleaned away from the sky
by the sun's heat, so the name perishes. This has the advantage of
being true to physical science, although the point may not be pressed
in dealing with an ancient writer: heat causes vapour to evanesce, but
what condenses it and precipitates it as rain is cold. If mg. weighed
down is retained (text does not face the difficulty), the idea is oi weari-
ness :the cloud, chased by the sun's rays, is worn down with exertion.
Cp. St Matt. XX. 12 "the burden of the day."
6. our allotted time] Text follows t^, Kaipos, Vulg. tempus nostrum.
For shadow, cp. i Chr. xxix. 15 ; Job viii. 9, xiv. 2 ; Eccl. vi. 12, viii. 13.
Probably the shadow is that of a sun-dial ; cp. Ecclus. xlvi. 4, xlviii. 23
(dj'CTrjSicrei', returned. Is. xxxviii. 8). di'aTroSicrynos occurs in the next /.,
and may help to determine the reference oi shadow here.
retreateth not] Vulg. non est reuersio, so marg. which is preferable,
no putting back of our end (see prec note).
The line does not mean that there is no recurrence of death, because
man can only die once and one death exhausts his store; but that our'
death cannot be put back, any mere than under normal conditions the
shadow on the dial.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON II. 5—7. 15

Because it is fast sealed, and none 'turneth it back.

Come
are; therefore and let us enjoy the good things "that noiv 6

And let us use the creation ^with all our soul ^as youth's
possess mi.
Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes ; 7
^ Or, Cometh agahi ^ Or, fAa^ are ^ Gr. earnestly,
* Some authorities read even as otir youth.

sealed'\ The end of man's life is sealed in the sense of certainty and
irreversible destiny, cp. Dan. vi. 17, xii. 9, as a document is sealed for
authentication.
tnrneth it back] better than marg. The Gk. verb is transitive in
ch. xvi. 14; cp. the parallel use in Is. xxxviii. 8 LXX. (dTroo-r/).). But
a.va(rrp. is intr. in 2 Sam. xii. 23, and Ecchis. xl. 11. For the sense,
cp. Ecclus. xxxviii. 21.
6. Come therefore] vv. 6 — 9 are an expansion of Is. xxii. 13 (cp.
I Cor. XV. 32); cp. Is. Ivi. 12, and Eccl. iii. 12, ix. 7. These verses
exemplify "the dregs of Epicurean theory" (Farrar). Epicurus him-
self could say (Diog. Laert. x. 140) "It is impossible to live pleasur-
ably, without living wisely and honourably and justly"; but pleasure,
however highly it may be conceived, when viewed as the chief good,
gives a false direction to the moral system.
that now are] mg. that are, i.e. that have real being. Either render-
ing is permissible : if the latter is adopted, it expresses the materialist's
sneer that spiritual blessings are either future or unseen and therefore
possibly imaginary, as contrasted with the pleasures of sense which at
least belong to the present and can be seen, handled, and tested. With
this as his standard of reality, the hedonist views sensual pleasures as
the things that really are, and thus falls under the condemnation of ch.
xiii. I.
the creation] frequently in Wisdom and Ecclus. for the aggregate of
created things. Cp. Rom. viii. xg.
as youth's possession] So KA {vebT-qro^), Vulg. agrees with B cJj
veoTT/Ti, tanquam in iuuentute, i.e. as in youth when pleasure is keenest,
or energy is most abounding. A. H. M'^Xeile suggests ws vedr-rjs with
the same meaning. Neither text, nor marg. which follows B, provides
a satisfactory sense ; an early error seems probable. I suggest a very
simple change, to read Kriaeojs for Kriaet ws, and to follow B and keep
veoTTjTi; the sense will be "Let us use the youth of creation." This
is expanded in w. 7, 8 "Let no flower of spring pass us by... rosebuds
before they be unthered.'''' Then, this call to enjoy the youthful elements
in creation is wilfully supplemented by the call to abuse that in it which
is past youth, v. 10, and the picture is complete. Self-indulgence tends
always to issue in intolerance towards the untit.
7. fill ourselves] Text, by zeugma, makes the Gk. verb do doul'e
 i6 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON II. 7—10.

And let no flower of ^spring pass us by :

8 Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds, before they be
withered :
9 Let none of us go without his share in our proud revelry :
Everywhere let us leave tokens of our mirth :
Because this is our portion, and our lot is this.
' 10 Let us oppress the rigliteous poor ;
^ Some authorities read air.

duty ^^fill ourselves with wine, and anoint ourselves with unguents.** For
wine and perfutnes, cp. Prov. xxvii. 9 LXX; Is. xxv. 6, 7; Amos vi. 6.
But (by hendiadys) ■wi7te and per/times may stand iox perfumed wine ^
cp. Song viii. 2 LXX.
fiowcr of sp'ing] Text follows A, ^apos, cp. Vulg. flos temporis,
which is preferable to aApo% of KB "flower that scents the air."
For flowers at feasts, cp. Philo, Somn. i. § 20 in a similar passage
"couches strewn with flowers."
8. rosebuds, before they be withered] and we with them. For the
idea, cp. Lam. v. 16; Judith xv. 13. Farrar quotes Anacreon "while
life lasts pour unguents over me, and crown my head with roses. For
life is like a swift revolving chariot wheel." Cp. Hor. Od. I. xxxvi.
15 "Neu desint epulis rosae. " Cp. Becker, Charicles, vi. n. 10.
After this v. Vulg. adds nullum prntiim sit quod non pertranseai
luxii7'ia nostra: "let there be no meadow untrodden by our riot." An
old glossary (in Cod. Coislin. 394, Paris) states that Xeifiibv (meadow)
occurs in Wisdom, and therefore some would accept this line as authen-
tic. But it does not seem to have been noticed that Vulg. is simply a
rendering of the first /. of v. 9, with Xeifxtav substituted for -qtiQiv. Either
this /. was introduced to complete the apparently unfinished v. 8, or it
is the original reading, and z/. 9 a is the interpolation, v. 9 a as it
stands is somewhat pointless, and adds nothing to the sense.
9. our proud revelr)'] The Gk. word [ayepiax'-'^) is found nowhere
else in Gk. Bible except in 2 Mace ix. 7 and 3 Mace. ii. 3, where it has
the meaning of arrogant dissoluteness. It represents a temper that
cannot live and let live : it must tyrannize over others.
tokens'] the plundered gardens, the trampled fields, the fading gar-
lands, and the oppressed poor.
our portion, and our lot] Cp. Is. \vi\. 6 LXX. "That is thy portion,
this is thy lot," and Eccl. iii. 22, ix. 9; Jer. xiii. 25. Let us enjoy
life while it lasts: we have nothing else to do, and nothing more to
expect (Grimm).
10. w. 10 — 21 contain a protracted tirade against the righteous
man. Like ch. v. 3 — 14, this passage betrays the literary rather than
the circumstantial character of the book. If Wisdom had been pro-
duced under the influence of very deep patriotic or religious feeling,
these passages could not have appeared in their present form. Besides
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON II. 10—12. 17
Let us not spare the widow,
Nor reverence the hairs of the old man gray for length of
years.
But let our strength be to us a law of righteousness ; ir
For that which is weak is ^ found to be of no service.
But let us lie in wait for the righteous man, 12
Because he is of disservice to us,
And is contrary to our works,
And upbraideth us with sins against Hhe law,
^ Gr. convicted. ^ Or, laiu

being dramatically inartistic, they are cold and tedious: it would be

impossible to say of them /o^// indignatio uersus.
Let us oppress the righteous poor] Here a second result of unbelief
exhibits itself, in the form of tyrannical intolerance. For the oppression
of the just, cp. Hab. i. 4 ; and of the poor, cp. Zech. vii. 10 ; Ezek. xviii.
12] St James ii. 6. We may see in these verses a reference to wealthy
and apostate Jews, who persecuted their humbler fellow-countrymen
who would not deny their faith. There is no doubt that both in Egypt
and in Palestine, apostasy for interested reasons was not uncommon :
Philo's nephew was among those who attained to high position as the
reward of embracing Paganism, and became procurator of Judaea, cp.
Philo, Con/, l. § 23 "Let us make laws to banish righteousness, that
cause of poverty and disgrace."
the widow] Cp. Is. x. 2; Mai. iii. 5. The widow, the orphan, and
the poor were particularly exposed to injustice. Cp. Ps. x. 8, 9; Jer.
xxii. 3.
11. our strength] i.e. let might be right.
of no service] The reason why strength should be the law : before it
weakness is convicted (A^Yxerat) of being ineffective. It is futile, and
deserves only to exist on sufferance : superior strength is needed to
reduce it to its proper condition.
12. lie in wait] Cp. Ps. x. 8, 9 LXX. The source of this /. and
the next is the LXX. of Is. iii. 10, with which it is identical except for
lie in wait which replaces bind. This is a passage that indicates Greek
as the original language of this book. Is. iii. 10 (Hebrew) is altogether
different from LXX., and the agreement between the latter ("Let us
bind the righteous man, for he is of disservice to us") and this passage
points to a Greek source for the writer's quotations. Clem. Alex. {Str.
V. 4) quoting this passage with reference to Christ has " let us remove."
of disservice] Positively baneful. A much stronger word than the
negative cognate word in z'. 1 1 .
the law] Marg. law. Grimm points out that in Jewish writings law
without the article stands always for the law of Moses, and urges that
this /. proves that the enemies of the righteous man are apostate Jews.
WISDOM 2
 iS THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON 11. 12—15.
And layeth to our charge sins against our discipline.
13 He professeth to have knowledge of God,
And nameth himself ^servant of the Lord.
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts.
15 He is grievous unto us even to behold,
1 Or, child

But the argument is not conclusive : there were many professing Jews
who were disobedient to the law.
— I'fet riyXv aixaprrffiaTa occurs both in this and the next /. It is
unlikely that this repetition is the work of the author, who had suffi-
cient literary sense to vary his phrases with almost ostentatious care.
Some early corruption probably lies hidden under these lines which
repeat one another in sound and sense.
sins against our discipline] This tr. makes the best of a difficulty,
although it is not clear that the Gk. verb can bear the sense here given
to it (see Liddell and Scott). Cyprian, quoting this passage {Testim.
ii. 14) omits this line altogether. Nothing is lost by its absence:
besides, sins against our discipline is a very clumsy way of expressing
the idea suggested.
13. knowledge of God] of His will and requirements, what He
rewards and what He punishes (Deane). Contrast Gk. with i Cor.
XV. 34 "to have no-knowledge (ar^vwala.) of God." professeth^ Vulg.
promittit, cp. i Tim. vi. 21.
servant of the Lord] Marg. child, VxAg.filium. But text is probably
right, irah and vlbs are interchangeable, cp. ch. ix. 4, 7, xii. 19, 20.
But as troLS is the regular LXX. rendering for '^ servant oi the Lord" in
Is. xli. 8, 9 and often, and as w. 16, 18 deal with- the sonship of the
righteous man, irats here probably points to the less intimate relation.
If Wisdom is a protest on behalf of the persecuted Egyptian Jews,
the righteous man and the servant of the Lord \z.% in Isaiah), might
be a collective formula standing for the whole community. Some see
here a definite reference to the sufferings of Christ. Some of the
Fathers regard it as a prophecy: cp. Cyprian, Testim. ii. § 14; Augus-
tine, de Civ. Dei 17, 20 § r "In one of these books, known as the
Wisdom of Solomon, the Passion of Christ is most definitely pro-
phesied. His wicked murderers are even represented as sapng ' Let
us lie in wait.'" There is, no doubt, an extraordinary resemblance to
the charges brought against Christ; and this has led some to treat the
passage as a Christian interpolation, and others to argue that the whole
book was the work of a Christian. But the truth seems to be that the
picture is ideal, and that there will be a likeness between the charges
levelled in all ages against men of God by men of evil life.
14. a reproof of our thoughts] Cp. St John vii. 7, and Ep. to Diog-
netus vi. 4 "The world hateth Christians, though it receiveth no
wrong from them, because they set themselves against its pleasures."
15. grievous unto ui] Cp. Prov. xxi. 15, xxix. 27 LXX.; Is. liii. 3.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON II. 15—18. 19

Because his life is unlike other men's,

And his paths are of strange fashion.
We were accounted of him as base metal, 16
And he abstaineth from our ways as from uncleannesses.
The latter end of the righteous he calleth happy ;
And he vaunteth that God is his father.
Let us see if his words be true, 17
And let us try what shall befall in the ending of his life.
For ifhethewillrighteous
And man out
deliver him is God's
of the son,
handhe ofwill
his uphold him,
adversaries. 18

Philo quotes Antisthenes (^w^^ <?;««. lib. § 5) "The sober man is in-
tolerable."
unlike other'] lit. other men. For the comparatio compendiaria,
cp. ch. vii. 3.
of strange fashion] inntatae Cyprian. Gk. literally means changed^
i.e. "abnormal" or "affected." The sense probably is mad. Cp.
Dan. iv. 15 (dXXoioOi') and i Sam. xxi. 13. See also ch. v. 4, madness.
16. as base metal] A.V. counterfeits. For the Gk., cp. Is. i. 22
LXX. They are not hypocrites, for they make no pretences. The
righteous man assays their metal, and refuses to pass it for the currency.
uncleannesses] Cp. Is. Hi. 11.
the latter end] Vulg. nouissima. The righteous man's view of the
latter things is unfolded in ch. iii. Cp. Numb, xxiii. 10.
But the latter end may belong to this life, and not to the next. Cp.
Job xlii. 12 LXX., and James v. 11 (Mayor's note). The Book of Job
has many points of contact with Wisdom, and Job's prosperous end
may be before the writer's mind.
In favour of this, note that the enemies of the righteous man chal-
lenge a visible interposition by God in his defence, if indeed he is what
he claims to be {vv. 17, 18). No divine judgment would convince
them but one that operated on this side of the grave.
vaunteth that God is his father] Fervent prayers convey a sound of
unwarranted presumption to undevout ears. Cp. Ecclus. xxiii. r, 4;
St John V. iS; and see W. C. Allen, note on St Matt. v. 16.
17. if his -ivords be true] Cp. Jer. xx. lo LXX.; St Matt, xxvii. 49.
ending of his life] Vulg. quae uentura sunt illi, i.e. the accompani-
ments of his end. They are no longer punishing the righteous man out
of spite, but in order that God may have opportunity to vindicate his
claim. They are bent now on experiment, not vengeance. There is a
curious parallel in Jer. xviii. 18.
18. The likeness of this v. to St Matt, xxvii. 43 has led some to
suspect a Christian interpolation here, but that v. is couched in O.T.
language (Ps. xxii. 8 LXX.). For this v. cp. Is. xlii. i "Jacob, my
servant, I will help him," LXX.; 3 Mace. vi. 11. This line of argu-
ment on the part of the oppressors (if..., he will uphold him) points to
an interpretation oi latter end v. 16 in terms of earthly life.
2— 3
 20 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON II. 19—21.
19 With outrage and torture let us put him to the test,
That we may learn his gentleness,
And may prove his patience under wrong.
20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death ;
For ^he shall be visited according to his words.
21 Thus reasoned they, and they were led astray;
1 Gr. there shall be a visitation of him out of his words.

19. with
writer outragetheandchange
delineates torttire'] Withmotives
in the a certain subtle
of the cynicism from
oppressors the
vindictive spite to a considerate anxiety that their victim should have
opportunity to draw succour from heaven and exercise his own noblest
qualities. They offer him outrage that he may respond with gentleness,
and by torture they hope to elicit patience.
put to the test"] a somewhat euphemistic expression, cp. Acts xxii. 24.
learn his gentleness] Perhaps the source of St Paul's injunction,
Phil. iv. 5. The Gk. word (Vulg. reuerentia) means self-restraint in
relation to others. In 2 Cor. x. i it is used in conjunction with
"meekness," of our Lord.
may prove] Text rightly adopts reading of i^A doKifj.dcroifj.ev. Vulg.
probemus.
For patiefzce under [physical] wrong, cp. 2 Tim. ii. 24 and Epict.
Ench. § 10 "If insult be offered you, you will find patience a defence
against it."
20. a shameful death] Cp. James v. 6. It has been suggested that
Hegesippus had this passage in mind when he wrote the account of the
death of James the Just (Eus. H. E. ii. 23). But there the just man is
the victim of a sudden outburst of fanaticism. Further, Hegesippus
takes direct from Isaiah the passage which is found here {v. 12), as he
quotes the second half of the v. which does not appear in Wisdom.
For the just man's shameful death, cp. the famous passage in Plato,
Rep. ii. 5- . .
shall be visited] by God. This is made quite clear by v. 18. God
is so close to him, he affirms, that He will protect him (cp. Ps. cix. 31),
and therefore his oppressors need feel no compunction. For itnaKoir-f},
cp. Job X. 12 LXX.
shall be visited may also be interpreted in a bad sense, and marg.
allows for this, cp. ch. xiv. 11. "Let us condemn him, and he shall be
punished for his prating," cp. Gen. xxxvii. 20. But Gk. (lit. otit of his
words) is best rendered as in text.

Comparison I. (a, cont.) vv. 21 — 24. The materialist — his

BLINDNESS AND SPIRITUAL DEADNESS.

21. reasoned they, and] Cp. Jer. xviii. 18. Text suggests that the
being led astray was consequent upon their false reasoning. Rather,
 THE WISDOiM OF SOLOMON II. 21—23. 21
For their ^wickedness blinded them,
And they knew not the mysteries of God, 22
Neither hoped they for wages of holiness,
Nor did they judge thai there is a prize for blameless souls.
Because God created man for incorruption, 23
^ Or, malice

the verbs express simultaneous action "thus reasoned they in their

error." Their false reasoning was the outcome of their evil deeds.
They were not wicked because they were blind; they were blind
because they were wicked. Cp. ch. v. 6.
blmded theffi'\ Throui^h evil living they had lost the eye for spiritual
things, cp. Is. Ivi. 10. They could not conceive of a fellowship between
God and man which could overleap death. This v. presents one of
the
and leading ideas of
are burdened withWisdom: the wicked
the reaction of their are~their own punishment,
own misdoings, cp. ch. xvi.
I, xvii. 21, xviii. 4.
Farrar quotes :—
*' For when we in our viciousness grow hard.
Oh ! misery on't ! the wise gods seal our eyes,
In our own filth drop our clear judgments, make us
Adore our errors, laugh at us, while we strut
To our confusion."
22. mysteries of God'] Cp. ch. vi. 22 "The mysteries of Wisdom."
What are God's mysteries? The truths which can be revealed to
those alone who have the mind of God, and which bear upon God's
prospective dealings with the righteous, cp. ch. iv. 17. The subjects of
this revelation are God's triumph over the devil and death, and His
inflexible pursuit of the great purpose of Creation, viz. life. God
destined man for immortality, but seeing that many have chosen death,
immortality has become the reward of sanctity, and the prize of blame-
less souls fcp. Bois, p. 297).
wages of holiness] Described in ch. iii. ocrtorr;? leads some writers to
see here a reference to the Hasidaeans, a religious body in Palestine,
which took its name from Chasidim, the pious (6'criot)- This body is
referred to in i Mace. ii. 42 ; vii. 13. But an allusion to them in a
strictly Alexandrian work is improbable.
23. for incorruption] Vulg. inexterminabilem. " Incorruption "
is primarily neither the life present nor the life to come, but that
elevated life of the spirit for which man was created. It is the reward
and the result of obedience to Wisdom. But inasmuch as wicked men
have brought physical death into God's world, and have made it
impossible for the righieous to live out the life of the spirit therein,
death ushers the latter into a blissful immortality for which all were
created, but which is now the reward for the faithful servants of God.
See Introd. § 13.
 22 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON II. 23, 24.

And made him an image of his own ^proper being;

24 But by the envy of the devil death entered into the world,
^ Some authorities read everlasiingness.

an ima^e of his own pi'oper being] The awkwardness of ttjj lUa$

lOidTTjTos has caused suspicion to fail on this line, ahhough XAB and
Clem. Alex. Sir. vi. 12 agree. They are unobjectionable on the ground
of sense, being a variation of Gen. i. 26. On the other hand Cod. 248,
Methodius, Epiphanius, and Athanasius, read dLdto-njTos, ez'erlastingness,
which though not theologically more true is more pleasing to the ear,
and defines the particular point of likeness that the author wishes to
impress, viz. immortality. Cp. Philo, Opif. § 13 "God gave them a
share in His rcerlastitigness" ; Dec. § 25.
It is impossible to decide finally between the two readings ; if it
were not however for the strong MS. authority behind IdtdTrjTos there
would be little room for hesitation. It evidently was suspected early,
as Syr. and Vulg. similiiudinis presuppose a gloss ofMoidTTjTos.
24. Bt{l by the envy of the devil] Quoted in Clem. Rom. ad
Cor. iii., in illustration of the havock wrought by envy. This passage
is there clearly interpreted of the murder of Abel by Cain : the words
immediately succeeding the quotation are "For thus it is wTitten,"
followed by Gen. iv. 3 — 8, and the excerpt is summarized in the words
"Ye see, jealousy and envy wrought a brother's murder." This, the
earliest known interpretation of the words, is preferable to that which
interprets them of the serpent in the garden. (For the latter, see Jos.
Ant. I. i. 4.) Death, as a physical fact, entered into the world (accord-
ing to Genesis) not with Eve, but with Cain, who was the first to take
human life. It is true that Ecclus. xxv. 24 has "From a woman was
the beginning of sin; and because of her we all die." But she was
only the ultimate and indirect cause of the first physical death, however
responsible she may have been for the entrance of spiritual death.
Further, the murder of Abel by Cain was unquestionably prompted
by jealousy, the same motive which was at work in those who con-
demned and slew the righteous man (12 — 20). It is their action that is
traced to its source in this line, which would be pointless if referring
to Gen. iii.
This view is supported by i John iii. 12, which connects the act of
Cain with the prompting of Satan, a connection not definitely made
elsewhere in Scripture than in these two passages (and probably
St John viii. 44), which would thus seem to have a more than acci-
dental mutual dependence. Theophilus {ad Autol. ii. 29) takes the
same view in a passage based on this : " Satan, being ver>' jealous, when
he saw that Abel pleased God, worked in Cain his brother and caused
him to kill Abel, and thus the beginning of death came into this world."
Again, the identification of the serpent with the devil is not known
to Alexandrian literature of this date. Philo writing a century later
throws out no hint of it, nor does he treat the serpent as a type of
jealousy. In Opif. § 56 he handles the subject in his usual allegorizing
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON II. 24— III. i. 23
And they that are of his portion make trial thereof.
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
manner, but the serpent is for him a type of pleasure, because it goes
on its belly, eats dust, and lias a poisonous bite. It is important to
observe that the author in ch. x. i — 4 makes the sin of Adam of small
importance, while Cain is the first "unrighteous man," the ancestor and
symbol of all who afterwards deserted Wisdom, v. 24 then is a return
to first principles. The tragedy of Cain and Abel is being reenacted in
every age: Cain inflicts physical death and chooses for himself spiritual
death, while Abel is the type of the just who suffer in the body, but are
heirs of immortality.
envy of the devil} 5id^o\os is the regular LXX. rendering of the Hebr.
Satan, Both words originally mean enemy with no metaphysical sense,
cp. Ps. cix. 6; I Mace, i. 36 (for 5i.6l^. see Hatch, Bibl. Greek, 1889,
pp. 46, 7). Satan is used as a proper name only five times in O.T.,
Job i. 6, 12, ii. I ; i Chr. xxi. i ; Zech. iii. i ; and in each case LXX.
renders 5:a,3o\oj {but cp. Ecclus. xxi. 27 o-arava).
" The name and conception of Satan belong to the post-exilic age of
Hebrew development " (Whitehouse, Art. Satan in Hastings, D. B. iv.).
For the Palestinian Jews, with their strong sense of the supremacy of
God, sin and misfortune, and even the work of Satan and evil spirits,
could not be viewed as being outside the Divine causality. Satan is
regarded in O.T. as a subordinate agent of God, although not reflecting
the mind of God (see Whitehouse, loc. cit.).
This conception did not satisfy the Alexandrian mind. If on the
one hand God could not be supreme without being the ultimate cause
of evil, on the other hand the transcendence of God seemed .violated if
He were conceived of as having any part in evil. Hence in Wisd. ii. 24
the devil is made the sole author of physical death, which according to
ch. i. 12 — 14 is neither God's creation nor according to the will of God.
Death and its agents are intruders.
death entered] i.e. physical death, the death inflicted upon Abel.
Death points back to v. 20 as well as to Gen. iv. 8, but there is a side-
reference to King Hades (i. 14, 16), the intruder into the world of men
designated for immortality.
entered into the world] Cp. Rom. v. 12. To be understood literally,
of death entering from without.
?nake trial thereof '\ " They that are of (the devil's) portion," like
Cain who "was of that wicked one" (i John iii. 12), are goaded by
their envy to kill the righteous man.
Comparison I. (b) Ch. HI. 1—9. The hope of the righteous.
Immortality is now the prerogative of the righteous
ONLY.
The writer does not teach a resurrection ot the body, only an
immortality of the soul. But whether he has pious Gentiles in
view, or Israelites exclusively, it is impossible to say. There is a
24 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON III. i.
And no torment shall touch them.

resemblance between this section and Enoch cii., ciii. (ed. Charles).
' ' Fear ye not, ye souls of the righteous, and be hopeful ye that
die in righteousness. And grieve not if your soul descends in grief
into Sheol, and that in your life your body has not fared as your
goodness deserved, but truly as on a day on which ye became like the
sinners, and on a day of cursing and chastisement. And when ye die
the sinners speak over you ; ' As we die, so die the righteous, and what
benefit do they reap from their deeds? Behold, even as we, so do they
die in grief and darkness, and what advantage have they over us?
from henceforth we are equal. '...I swear to you, the righteous,... that
all goodness and joy and glory are prepared for them and are written
down for the spirits of those who have died in righteousness, and that
manifold good will be given to you in recompense for your labours....
And your spirits, (the spirits) of you who die in righteousness, will
live... and their spirits will not perish, but their memorial will be... unto
all generations
difference between : wherefore then fear notdoctrine
the Alexandrine their contumely."
in Wisdom The
and main
the
Palestinian doctrine of the Book of Enoch is the absence of circum-
stantial detail in Wisdom, which is the natural outcome of a view
wholly spiritual. Spiritual conceptions need only a soul as their
theatre ; an external judgment requires that time, place, actors, and
surroundings be definitely and vividly draAvn.
iii. 1. the
delivered fromsouls
the of the righteous']
pains Freed from
that are inevitable in a the body,world.
material the soulCp.is
Philo, yos. § 43 " There is not one good man, but shall live hereafter
ageless and deathless, with a soul constrained no longer by the fetters of
the body" ; and Moses iii. 39. The Alexandrine doctrine falls short ofl
the Christian doctrine of the immortality of the whole man.
in the haftd of God] Under His protection. For the use of hatid,
cp. Ps. Ixxxviii. 5 ; Is. li. 16 ; St John x. 28. Contrast Hos. xiii. 14,
marg. This line furnished mediaeval art with one of its most striking
symbols.
And no torment shall touch them] Such as had touched their bodies,
ch. ii. 19. The introduction of torment here means nothing more than
this. It is more natural to regard the contrast as between the bliss of
the future life and the anguish of the earthly life, than as between future
bliss and future anguish (cp. ch. iv. 19). The latter contrast might be
called for if the writer was addressing an audience accustomed to all the
developments of the N.T. doctrine as elaborated in later ages. The
idea is very different from that in Is. Ixvi. 24, where the indignities
inflicted on unburied corpses are in view. Shall not touch occurs in
Job v. 19 in a similar sense. Cp. ch. xviii. 20 marg.
them] The righteous, or their souls? Probably the latter, as the
emphasis is on the advantage possessed by the soul over the body. For
although this section deals mainly wiih the future life, v. i stands at a
transition point, and might refer to earthly life.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON III. 2—4. 25
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died ;
And their departure was accounted to be their hurt,
And their journeying away from us to be their ruin : ;
But they are in peace.
For even if in the sight of men they be punished,

2. Inlifethehave
vicious eyes forfeited
of the foolish'] i.e. theformorally
the capacity foolish
spiritual who by They
judgment. their
can judge only by the eye.
thfy seemed to have died] Seemed... was accounted... {^) in the sight
of vien. The writer emphasizes the paradox that in truth the visible is
only that which seems. The sensual man thinks that he touches reality
when he takes his stand on the visible, but he is the sport of shadows.
Cp. Philo, Fuga § 10 " Enquiry taught me that some living men are
dead and some dead men are alive : the wicked who live to be old men
are mere corpses devoid of the life of virtue, but the good, though they
are parted from the body, live for ever, enjoying an immortal destiny."
Cp. ibid. Det. pot. § 14 and Ep. to Diognetus x. (tr. Lightfoot, Apost.
Fathers) " the true life which is in heaven — the apparent death which
is here on earth — the real death reserved for those that shall be
condemned."
their depart ure...i\iQ\x hurt] Hurt (KtiKioais) indicates a process,
while departure means not merely death, but manner of dying, cp.
ch.
{v. ii.
3),17.
the Departure,
loss of thethefamiliar
quittinghuman
of life,surroundings.
is contrasted w'lih.
Forjourneying
departure
(l^oSos), cp. St Luke ix. 31.
3. And their journeying] Cp. Eccl. xii. 5 ; St Luke xxii. 22.
ift peace] Cp. Is. Ivii. 2. This may mean nothing more than is
intended in Isaiah, or in Job iii. 17, 18, where peace is purely negative,
implying rest from toil, and freedom from harassing care. There may
even be an unconscious identification of the self with the body instead
of with the soul, through a reminiscence of Ecclus. xliv. 14 "Their
bodies were buried in peace, and their name liveth to all generations."
But if the reference is to the souls of the upright, their peace lies in their
confident hope, v. 4.
4. w. 4 — 10 have something of the character of Apocalyptic, the
object of which was " to solve the difficulties connected with the
righteousness of God and the suffering condition of His righteous
servants upon earth." (Charles, Enoch, p. ■22.)
Apocalyptic was the refuge of those who found that the traditional
view of God's dealings with His people was unsatisfying. Earthly life
did not provide a full opportunity for justice and vengeance. It is not
to be wondered at that the inevitable rebound from a conception of life
limited to the earthly lives of a man and his descendants, to one in
wliich physical death was merely an incident, was accompanied by
wildly exaggerated promises and hopes. This passage exhibits unusual
reticence. It dismisses in one line the old view that suffering was an
indication of God's wrath and punishment. It is only " in the sight of
 26 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON III. 4—6.
Their hope is full of immortality;
5 And having borne a little chastening, they shall receive
great good ;
Because God made trial of them, and found them worthy
of himself
6 As gold in the furnace he proved them,
And as a whole burnt offering he accepted them.

men " that the righteous are forsaken : what looks like punishment is
education.
Their hope] Not only when their bodies are in the grave, but even
during their earthly sufferings.
full of ivww7tality'\
personal life, and not The succeedingresurrection
a subjective ttv. make itinplain
the that this is ofa
memory
descendants, cp. ch. iv. i. Such an objective hope is found in
2 Mace. vii. 9; cp. Philo, fuga § 11 "This is the truest immortal
life, to be consumed with love and friendship for God, free from the
flesh and from the body." The word "immortality" {kBavaaio.) appears
several times in Wisdom, but in no other book of the Greek O.T.
St Paul uses it three times.
5. chastenijig. . .good] The thought recurs frequently, cp. Ps. cxix. 75 ;
Prov. iii. 11, 12; Rom. viii. 18 ; Heb. xii. 5 — 12 ; James i. 12.
God 77iade trial of them] The Gk. word is used in the simple sense
of testing, cp. Ps. xxvi. 2. The idea of education through testing can
never be entirely absent, but in this line the thought is concentrated
upon the examination, while in the preceding line the preparation for it
is emphasized.
and fou7id them] God's verdict. Again, God is viewed as testing
the righteous and passing judgment upon them, rather than training
them.
worthy] Cp. ch. \\. 16 "Wisdom goeth about seeking them that
are worthy of her." The idea suggested is of affinity rather than of
positive merit. Those who are worthy to be of the portion of Hades
make terms with him (i. 16), while God finds out those who belong to
llimself. This predetermined bias is one of the mysteries of the moral
world.
6. As gold iti the furnace] Here again the thought is centred upon
the testing, and not the preparation to meet the test. The test {hoK'i\xiQv)
is applied to see if they are genuine (56/ct/ioi) : if they are not, they are
rejected (d56/ci,uot). Cp. 2 Cor. xiii. 5 ; James i. 12. God proves that
they are not base metal, like the persecutors in ch. ii. 16. Mai. iii. 3
contains the metaphor of purifying the sons of Levi in the furnace, that
their offering may be acceptable.
as a whole burfit offe?-ing] The Gk. word (oXova/jTrw/io) has lost
entirely its etymological connection with fruits of the earth. It, and
its kindred word, are used of flesh offerings, cp. Is. xliii. 23. With the
sacrificial idea, cp. 2 Tim. iv. 6.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON III. 7—9. 27
And in the time of their visitation they shall shine forth, 7
And as sparks among stubble they shall run to and fro.
They shall judge nations, and have dominion over peoples ; 8
And the Lord shall reign over them for evermore.
They that trust on him shall understand truth, 9
7. in the titfie] Vulg. in tempore erit respectiis illoriim. Fulgebtmt
iusti. The break seems to have been made deliberately, with the view
of emphasizing both visitation and shine. Visitation in a good sense
here, cp. v. 13, and ch. iv. 15. The impression that the writer wishes to
convey is intentionally vague and indeterminate. He is not elaborating
any systematized eschatological scheme such as appears in the Book of
Enoch : the time and place of the fulfilment of his prophecies, whether
he looks for a golden age on earth, or for purely spiritual joys hereafter,
are left to the reader's imagination. (Introd. § 14.)
shine forth} Cp. Dan. xii. 3 ; St Matt. xiii. 43. For Gk., cp.
Is. xlii. 4 LXX.
sparks among stiibble'\ The effective vitality of the disembodied
spirits of the just is suggested : brightness, swiftness, victorious power
are theirs. The comparison \vith fire suggests not vengeance, but over-
mastering energy; while the reversal of the relative positions of the
righteous one and his many oppressors is indicated by the terrible
power of a few sparks to consume a store of straw. Philo, 7nigr. § 21,
writes " Even the smallest spark,... kindles a vast conflagration :
similarly the smallest fragment of virtue, when it has been nourished
on good hopes and has been made to shine forth (di'aXdM'Al?), gives
sight to the blind, and causes the dry stock to flourish again. The
tiny good, directed by the Divine counsel, becomes great, assimilating
other things to itself." Sparks and stubble appear together in
Is. i. 31 LXX., from which the simile is probably drawn. Cp.
Jer. V. 14; Zech. xii. 6; Mai. iv. i.
8. They isshall
vengeance, judge nations'}
the prospect To the
held out by judge is toCp.govern
verse. Prov. :xxix.
kingship,
9 LXX.not;
Ecclus. iv. 15.
the Lord shall reign over them for evermore} Except for the added
them, 2l verbatim transcript from Ps. x. 16 LXX.
9. They that trust on him} Cp. Prov. xxviii. 5 LXX. ''they that
seek the Lord shall have understanding in everything "and St John vii. 17.
Spiritual perception is closely associated with moral character and
conduct, cp. Ps. cxi. 10. Contrast with this ch. i. 3. See Dr Pusey in
{Life of) Frederick Temple, Vol. ii. p. 443, " The true way to study
Divinity would be... to add to your duties a life of prayer and practical
holiness."
But the truth here is more than intellectual truth. It may even be
synonymous with Wisdom, and would certainly include some mystical
knowledge of the God of truth. The understanding of truth suggests a
heightening of the inmost moral faculties corresponding to the outward
authority to be exercised hereafter by the just {v. 8).
 28 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON III. 9— ii.
And Hhe faithful shall abide with hioi in love;
Because grace and mercy are to his chosen.
10 But the ungodly shall be requited even as they reasoned,
They which lightly regarded ^the righteous mari, and revolted
from the Lord ;
11 (For he that setteth at nought wisdom and discipline is
miserable ;)
^ Or, they that are faithful through love shall abide with him
2 Or, that which is righteous
abide with hii7i in lave] i.e. shall be loved by God. The force of
in love is passive. The best, though not a complete parallel to this use
is in St John xv. 9, which means " Continue to be loved by Me," and 10
"I continue to be loved by Him." The faithful shall attain to fuller
perception, and shall be conscious of the Divine love embracing them.

addBecause grace
here the and half
second mercy']
of thatThis /. is the
v. , but the words
same are
as ch.
not iv. 15.in NAV
found B or
Vulg. They are doubtless an early interpolation. Y ox grace atid mercy
(Vuig. donum ei pax\, cp. the salutations in the two Epistles to Timothy.
Grace signifies the pleasure God takes in the just, and the bestowal of
His gifts upon them : mercy. His consideration towards their frailty,
and His pity for their sufferings.
Comparison II. (a) Ch. III. 10— Ch. IV. 6.
This section stands over against ch. iv. 7 — 14, in which tne happier
lot of the righteous is set forth. Length of days and numerous posterity,
although possessed abundantly by the ungodly, are blessings certain to
be succeeded by an unhonoured age and a degenerate seed.
10. requited even as they reasoned] No arbitrary penalty : they
receive what belongs to them. Cp. Prov. i. 31 "the fruit of their own
way"; Ps. cix. 17 — 19; Job xxxiv. 11, for self-determined punishment.
For Gk. (^TrtTt^tai/), cp. 2 Cor. ii. 6. as they reasoned, cp. ch. ii. i.
lightly regarded] Contempt led to contumely. Not only did they
stop their ears to his crying, but they heaped indignities upon him.
the righteous man] Vulg. iustum, Aug. iustitiam. Cp. St Luke
xii. 57; Col. iv. i; Job xxxiv. 10. Text is preferable, although the
adj. {tov 5.) may be taken as masc. or neut. (marg.). The righteous
man has been the leading thought of ch. ii., to which this verse recalls
attention. Further, to make light of the righteous man is a more serious
charge to lay against the ungodly than to neglect abstract righteousness.
Again, it is more reasonable to couple the sin against God with sin
against man (cp. St Luke xviii. 4) than with neglect of the moral law.
revolted] Cp. ch. x. 3. Here not of apostasy from Judaism so
much as of the moral aposta'^y of sensuality, cp. ii. 10.
11. setleth at nought] This /. is an adaptation of Prov. L 7.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON III. n— 13. 29
And void is their hope and their toils unprofitable,
And useless are their works :
Their wives are foolish, and wicked are their children; 12
Accursed is their begetting. 13
Because happy is the barren that is undefiled,

Wisdofn is the quality of practical righteousness, discipline the path by

which it is attained. The reasonings of the ungodly were a virtual
repudiation of both. The personified Wisdom is called a spirit of
discipline in ch. i. 5, but the meaning of the words here is determined
by the quotation from Proverbs.
mise7'able'] In a moral sense, in spite of outward circumstances.
Used again in ch. xiii. 10, in connection with false hopes.
their hope'] The prec. clause is rightly treated as a parenthesis, so
that their refers directly to "those who revolted." hope, either
absolutely in the conventional sense of "hope of posterity," or else
the first term in a series hope, toils, works, which declares the futility of
the wicked in respect of projects, labours, and results.
12. foolishl \\x\g. insensatae. Probably as A.V. marg. "unchaste."
Gk. bears its usual moral significance, cp. 2 Sam. xiii. 12, 13; Prov. v. 5
" The feet of foolishness, " LXX. For the type, cp. Ecclus. xxiii. 26.
their children} In his effort to be logical, the writer embarks on
a perilous generalisation. Hereditary taint is an undoubted fact, but
not so its universality. Every new birth has the potentiality of a new
beginning. If Ezekiel quotes in xvi. 44 the proverb " as is the mother,
so is the daughter," in xviii. i — 18 he protests vehemently against any
inflexible law of heredity. Ecclus. xvi. i — 4 is wiser, and argues that
children /^r se are not a blessing : all depends on their character.
13. Accursed'\ Cp. Ecclus. xli. 5 *' The children of sinners are
abominable," and Philo, Post. Cain § 51 of the daughters of Lot
"Cursed shall be their child-bearing." For the converse of this, cp.
Is, Ixv, 23 LXX. "They shall not labour in vain [v. 11), nor bear
children for cursing; for they are a seed blessed by God, and their
offspring with them." Modern teaching emphasizes environment as
against heredity. Though it is true to speak of a "bad stock," bad
upbringing is a still more powerful factor.
Because] The argument is. Cursed is their sinful begetting, because
blessing belongs to the sinless barren: "more are the (spiritual)
children of the desolate than the children ot the married wife." But
the late Pss. cxxvii., cxxviii. show that the spiritual teaching of Is. liv. 4
and Ivi. i did not command universal acceptance.
the barren']
woman To the
(Gen. xxx. 23 ;Hebrew
Is. iv. Imind, childlessness
; St Luke i. 25). was
Somea reproach to a
editors have
seen in this and the next v. a praise of asceticism as practised by the
Therapeutae, based on the theory of the evil of the body. But if celibacy
were in itself desirable, there would be no occasion to emphasize the
compensations God offers. Further, areipa does not mean "an un-
 30 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON III. 13, 14.
She who hath not conceived in transgression ;
She shall have fruit when God visiteth souls.
14 And happy is the eunuch which hath wrought no lawless
deed with his hands,
Nor imagined wicked things against the Lord ;
married woman " : see St Luke i. 6, 7. The gist of the passage is that
sterility, if pure, is redeemed by a spiritual fertility. This v. and the
next are based on Is. liv. r and Ivi. 4, which teach that parentage is not
to be treated as the criterion of human well-being. Such criterion must
be spiritual: "no list of cvriutistances can make a Paradise."
undejiled] The word is defined by the succeeding clause "she who
hath not conceived in transgression." She is contrasted with the
false wife in Ecclus. xxiii. 22. The thought is not the same as in
Ps. li. 5. There the infection of all human nature with sin is thought
of, here an act of unfaithfulness, which might take away the reproach
of barrenness at the cost of a secret and worse reproach.
fruit'] The issue of a righteous life is fruit, a product enjoying
vitality; that of an ungodly life is "unserviceable works^ The
contrast is (perhaps unintentionally) the same as in Eph. v. 9 — 11
between the "/r«?V of light" and the "unfruitful 7vorks of darkness."
-Luhen God visiteth souls] No very clear conception probably existed
in the writer's mind as to when and where there should be \'isitation.
Cp. Jobxxxiv. 9 LXX. " Say not, there shall not be visitation of a man :
he shall have visitation from the Lord." Cp. i Sam. ii. 21 ; as there
was an earthly visitation of the childless Hannah, so there shall be a
spiritual visitation of those who preferred childlessness to sin. The
visitation may take place here or hereafter : it is a visitation of the soul,
the material aspects of which an Alexandrian writer was content to
ignore. See ch. iii. 7.
14. Atid happy is the eunuch] This is drawn from Is. Ivi. 4, 5. The
eunuch was doubly unfortunate : he could leave no descendants, and so
his memory died with himself; and under the old covenant he was not
allowed within the congregation (Dt. xxiii. i).
There is no advocacy here of voluntary celibacy (cp. Philo, de Uita
Contempl. § 8) ; the words refer to those who from natural causes find
themselves childless. Such men, if blameless in deed and thought
(cp. V. 13, undefled), shall receive inner consolation.
which hath wrought no lawless deed] Physical infirmity is not, in
itself, a pledge of future Divine visitation : it must be accompanied by
clean hands, and a loyal heart. This qualification is very necessar>',
since even under the Christian dispensation, it is often mistakenly
thought that poverty of circumstances e.g. is pronounced to be per se
blessed, and furnishes a claim upon material compensation hereafter.
But the soul that makes material poverty an excuse for spiritual
poverty is as far from the Kingdom of Heaven a.s they that trust in
riches. Philo, det. pot. § 48 writes " It is belter to become an eunuch
than to indulge in lawless unions."
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON III. 14—16. 31

For there shall be given him for his faithfulness ^a pecuhar

favour,
And a lot in the sanctuary of the Lord more delightsome
than wife or children.
For good labours have fruit of great renown ; 15
And the root of understanding cannot fail.
But children of adulterers shall not come to maturity, 16
* Or, the grace of God's chosen Gr. a chosen grace.

A. given hi77i gift

V. special for of
hisfaith.
faithfulness
Tr/oreajsa peculiar favour"]
is no doubt unusual,Much bettergen.than
perhaps of
price. The idea ot acquiring merit with God was very familiar to the
Jews: cp. ch. vii. 14; Phllo, Abr. § 46 ** Loving the man for his faith
in Him, God gives him faith in return"; and id. Post C. § 43, a passage
which it is difficult not to connect with St John i. 16 "grace for grace."
a lot in the sanctuary] Cp. Is. Ivi. 5. To be interpreted in a
spiritual sense, cp. Ecclus. xlv. 22 "[Aaron] hath no portion among the
people : for [God] is thy portion and inheritance." Physical exclusion
from the congregation may even stimulate the pure soul to thirst after
God Himself, cp. Ps. Ixxxiv. 5 R.V.
than wife or children] The added words are supplied by analogy
with Is. Ivi. 5. Gic. for delightsome {dvfxrjprjs) is poetical, and not found
elsewhere in the Gk. Bible.
15. have fruit] Fruit, cp. v. 13.
of great renorvn] The thought of a subjective immortality cannot be
quite dismissed by the Jewish mind. It is not enough that his soul
should survive ; his name and memory must obtain recognition. The
genitive in this line is objective, *' the fruit which good labours have^' :
in the next line it is subjective, "the root which understanding is."
root of understanding] Subj. gen., with a different sense from root of
wisdom in Ecclus. i. 6, where the gen. is objective. Understanding is
merely a poetical variation for the abstract quality of wisdom. For the
root, as an indication of permanence, cp. Prov. xii. 3, 12 ; and contrast
with Is. v. 24 "Their root shall be as rottenness."
16. children of adulterers] The writer has v. 13 in his mind, and
singles out adultery as a typical sin, so that adulterers\s almost identical
with "sinners." The expression recalls Is. Ivii. 3 — 5: "adultery" is
often used metaphorically to express the unfaithfulness which leaves God
for the attractions of sin.
shall not come to maturity] For the writer's wholesale condemnation,
cp. the malignant expressions in Jer. xviii. 21, 22. ar^Xeara (Vulg.
inconsummati) must not be translated in its secondary classical sense
of "uninitiated," as suggested by margin of A.V. "[shall not] be par-
takers of holy things." Such a rendering would be in this connection
superficial, and to support it by Dt. xxiii. 2 would be to confuse local
rules with universal principles. The writer may have the Mosaic rule
in his mind, but he is not reaffirming it.
 32 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON III. 16—19.
And the seed of an unlawful bed shall vanish away.
17 For if they live long, they shall be held in no account,
And at the last their old age shall be without honour.
18 And if they die quickly, they ^ shall have no hope,
Nor in the day of decision shall they have consolation.
19 For ^the end of an unrighteous generation is alway grievous.
^ Some authorities read /ia?y^. ^ Qx. the ends... are grievous.

Text renders rightly itmnaiure, i.e. they shall die before reproducing
themselves. Unlike the godly, their life is limited to this world; there-
fore the judgment upon them is in terms of time and not of eternity.
seed of an ttnlawfid bed} Cp. Is, Ivii. 4 "a lawless seed" LXX. ;
and Ecclus. xxiii. 24 — 26 "The children (of the unfaithful wife) shall
not spread into roots, and her branches shall bear no fruit. She shall
leave her memory for a curse."
vanish awaj] Cp. Bathsheba's child, 2 Sam. xii. 14. The judgment
upon the ungodly belongs to the writer's wish rather than to experience.
The tone is that of Pss. xxxvii., Ixix. and cix., a retrogression from the
teaching of Ezek. xviii. 14 — 20.
17. if they live long] Lit. de long-lived {/xaKpo^ioi). The adj.
(masc.) refers by a sense construction to children and seed (neut.) in
V. 16. They, i.e. the children of adulterers, who shall die, either early
and without hope, or in old age and without honour.
at the last] Old age, usually reckoned an honour, shall in their case
be held in contempt. This lot will befall them in this world, a long
life in which is their desire, cp. Is. Ixv. 20.

ch.18.
xvi. quickly'l Vulg.
11; Is. viii. celerius, either early, or suddenly. For Gk., cp.
3 LXX.
shall have no hope] Text follows XA, which in view of next /. is
probably right: but if this /, stood alone, the reading of B they have
would be preferable. The meaning is, " If they die early, they have no
hope," hope i.e. of posterity. They are immature; their early death
precludes the possibility. Such is the earthly lot (side by side with
that of those who grow old only to find dishonour) of the children of
the ungodly who die young.
day of decision] For day as judgment-day, cp. i Cor. iv. 3. Gk. for
decision {hia.'yvbiai.^) is not used elsewhere in Greek O.T. , and once
only in N.T., Acts xxv. 21, where it refers to the decision of the Roman
Emperor. Here it is used of the day of visitation of the righteous, cp.
v. 15 — 22, when the ungodly shall be winnowed with the storm. Gk.
word for consolation {rrapafjLvdiov) is found in Phil. ii. i ; for the sense,
cp. St Luke vi. 24.
19. For the end] Marg. renders the Gk. better than text, The ends...
are grievous. Gk. word (tAt;) means more than "conclusion " ; it denotes
finality, and includes the idea of completion. riXri points back to
drAeo-TO v. 16, and suggests the paradox " their consummation which is
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IV. i. 33
Better than this is childlessness with virtue ;
For in the memory ^of virtue is immortality :
1 Gr. of it.

no consummation." Every life-history may be conceived as leading up

to a certain fulfilment: the death of the wicked is grievous, because
they can say "It is ended," but not "It is finished." This v. is
expanded in ch. iv. i — 6.
iv. 1. childlessness with mrtue] such as is spoken of in iii. j 3 , 1 4 . Virtue
may mean general excellence, including manliness, cp. 2 Mace. vi. 31,
But it probably is only a variation for "wisdom," cp. Philo, Cong. § 3,
where they are convertible terms. Vulg. has by its translation, 0 quain
pulcra est casta generatio cum claritate, turned these words into a praise
of celibacy, and Philo, de Uit. Cont. § 8 has been adduced in support.
But the version in Cypr. de Sing. Cler. § 40 "melius est esse sine filiis "
gives the true rendering, showing that childlessness from natural or
accidental causes is intended, cp. Epict. iii. 22 "Were the Thebans
more advantaged by all their citizens who left children, than by Epami-
nondas who died childless (a-eK-vos)? Did Priam with his fifty scourges
of sons, or Danaus, or Aeolus, contribute more to the public good than
Homer? Will a man refuse family life and the hope of children for
military service, and allow himself to be turned from his childlessness by
no hope of advantage or pleasure, and shall not Diogenes the Cynic
be equally applauded?" Cp. Ecclus. x^4. 4.
m the niemoiy of virtue is imtnortality^ i.e. of childless virtue. This
is the characteristic earlier Jewish conception of immortality, which,
side by side with the desire for physical immortalisation through an
unbroken line of descendants, preceded hopes which sprang up as
individualism developed. The Jew of O.T. was a part of a whole : his
conception of life hardly allowed him to ask, "What will become of
me?" A subjective immortality (such as in Ps. cxii. 6) was what he had
been taught to desire. It is strange how this doctrine has again come
to the front, with the revival of the corporate consciousness through the
teachings of Comte ; cp. the lines of his English disciple, George Ehot :—
" Oh may I join the choir invisible
Of those immortal dead who live again
In minds made better by their presence :...
So to live is heaven:
To make undying music in the world,
This is life to come
Which martyred men have made more glorious
For us who strive to follow. May I reach
That purest heaven."
So too, Campbell :—
"And is he dead, whose glorious mind
Raised thine on high?
To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die."
WISDOM -a
 34 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IV. i, 2.
Because it is recognised both before God and before men.
2 When it is present, men imitate it ;
And they long after it when it is departed :
And throughout all time it marcheth crowned in triumph,
Victorious in the strife for the prizes that are undefiled.
^ Gr. in the age.

recognised both before God and before me7i\ Cp. Ps. i. 6 "The Lord
knoweth the way of the righteous," and note in this series, "Divine
knowledge cannot be abstract or ineffectual. It involves approval,
care, guidance." Cp. i Cor. viii. 3. Although here recognition is
before men as well as God, this positive, effectual sense of "being
known" by God is also present. To be "known" by God carries
• -with it a measure of undyingness: a thing that has existed in the mind
of God and has evoked His approval can never become as though it
had not been. The argument is similar to that which our Lord used
with the Sadducees, to prove the continued life of the patriarchs
(cp. St Luke XX. 38). Forgetfulness, however, is possible to God,
according to the old Jewish conception ; see Ps. Ixxxviii. 5. For
God and man, cp. Prov. iii. 4; St Luke ii. 52; Rom. xiv. 18.
The two subjects of long life and posterity, and their inferiority to
spiritual attainments, are dealt with in this passage very fully. The
treatment would appeal to Greeks as well as Jews : posterity and long
life appear in Zeno's system as good, though not so simply good as
knowledge, Diog. Laert. vii, 58.
2. When it is present, men imitate it] This describes how virtue is
recognised before men (see v. i). Virtue reproduces itself, whether
consciously as men set about to imitate it, or unconsciously as the
inevitable law works itself out that men become like what they admire.
when it is departed] Grimm quotes Hor. Od. iii. 24, 31: —
"Uirtutem.-.sublatam ex oculis quaerimus inuidL"
throtighout all time] See marg. But (xlliv (cp. Vulg. in perpetuum)
has no meaning apart from that of indefinite duration, which it possesses
when used in this and similar phrases.
it marcheth] For the Gk. word, of a festival procession, cp. 1 Mace,
vi. 7. The procession of Virtue is always along a Uia Sacra. Being
immortal, she needs no slave to stand behind her in her progress and
remind the conqueror that death must come (cp. Epict. iii. 24, 85).
The conception is not Jewish, but Greek.
crowned] For the Greek crown of victory, cp. 4 Mace. xvii. 15;
I Cor. ix. 25. The picture is very frequently found in Philo; (TT€<pa-
v7)(popelv occurs in fos. § 4, cp. Quod Deus § 29 "She is acclaimed as
victor, and carries a palm in token of conquest."
Victorious in the strife] A common metaphor, cp. i Cor. ix. 25. Philo,
Somn. ii. 21, speaks of the "conflict of life," cp. also All. ii. 26, and
Epict. iii. 25 "The supreme conflict."
prize s..,undtfi led] a6\a, cp. 4 Mace. ix. 8 "the prizes of virtue,"
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IV. 3—5. 35
But the multiplying brood of the ungodly shall be of no 3
profit,
And ^with bastard ^ slips they shall not strike deep root,
Nor shall they establish a sure hold.
For even if these ^put forth boughs and flourish for a 4
season,
Yet, standing unsure, they shall be shaken by the wind,
And by the violence of winds they shall be rooted out.
Their branches shall be broken off before they come to 5
maturity,

1 Qx.from. 2 Or, offshoots ^ Gr. in houghs flourish.

and XV. 29; Philo, Migi: § 6 "Thou hast proved thyself an invincible
athlete: thou hast won rewards and crowns in the conflict ordered by
virtue, who holds out to thee the prizes {a.d\a) of victory."
undflled] Philo, in writing of mundane rivalry, says it is a battle
in which the (moral) victor seems the loser. "Be slow" he says "to
enter upon it; if you can, run away; if you are compelled to stand and
deliver, then make haste to be beaten : the winner is the loser, and the
victors are the vanquished" {Agric. §§ 24, 25).
The prizes in the text are, of course, the moral prizes of enhanced
capacity and purified life which are the reward of moral effort. If man
is his own punishment, he is his own reward.
3. shall be of 110 proflt] Cp. ch. iii. 12.
with bastard slips'X Cp. ch. iii. 16. For the picture, cp. Philo, Sobr.
§ 8, where the process of planting is described. Vulg. renders ij.o<xx^v-
fiara, uitulamina, evidently connecting with ixbaxos, tdtulus, for which
Augustine, Doctr. Christ, ii. 12 censures it (Grimm).
shall not strike deep root] Cp. Ecclus. xxiii. 25 "Her children shall
not spread into roots," and .Mai. iv. i.
establish a sure hold] Cp. St Luke viii. 13. and contrast with
Ecclus. xxiv. 12.
4. put forth boughs'] The picture of the tree with all its develop-
ment above ground resembles in its meaning two of the N.T. parables,
the seed sown on stony ground (which, like the tree, had no root and
endured for a season), and the fig-tree, which had leaves but no fruit.
A false stock must develop falsely. Even though the large families of
evildoers deceive the eye, yet there is beneath them a hidden funda-
mental insecurity, which must betray them when the storm of God
arises.
standing unsure] This z'. does not refer to outward prosperity, but
to apparently hopeful moral tendencies. Even the better dispositions
of the children of evildoers are insecure and will give way before
temptation (Grimm).
5. shall be broken off] The figure is slightly changed : the storm is
 2,6 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IV. 5—8.
And their fruit shall be useless,
Never ripe to eat, and fit for nothing.
6 For children unlawfully begotten are witnesses of wickedness
Against parents when God searcheth them out.

7 But a righteous man, though he die before his time, shall

be at rest.
8 (For honourable old age is not that which standeth in
length of time,
now conceived of, not as uprooting the tree, but as breaking off the
branches. For the language, cp. Rom. xi. 17.
before they come to 7iiaturity\ Cp. ch. iv. 18, and for "immature"
(dreXeo-TOi), ch. iii. 16.
their fndt... useless] Cp. Prov. xv. 6 LXX. ; Ecclus. xxiii. 25; and
contrast Ps. Iii. 8 "a fruitful olive" LXX.
Never ripe to eat] The Gk. word {&wpos) is used of untimely death,
Job xxii. 16 ; Prov. xi. 30.
fit for nothing] Contrast Prov. xi. 30 LXX. "Out of the fruit of
righteousness groweth a tree of life." See also Ps. cxxix. 6—8.
6. For children unlauifidly begotten are witnesses of wickedness]
The sense is determined by "For": v. 6 is the corollary of w. 3 — 5,
and the emphasis lies on when God searcheth them out. It is when
children suffer misfortune, that they prove wickedness in their parents.
Cp. St John ix. 2 "Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he should
be bom blind? " and 34 "Thou wast altogether born in sins." It is not
that the existence of the children is a reproof of the parents' lust, (for
the denunciation is directed neither exclusively nor chiefly against the
children of adulterous unions) ; but the misfortunes of children argue a
parental sin, cp. Ecclus. xli. 5 — 7. This verse is without point, if it
does not lay stress upon the misfortunes threatened in w. 3 — 5.
when God searcheth thcfu out] i.e. the children ; cp., in connection
with the children of the wicked, ch. iii. 18 "the day of decision."
Searching out {i^eracr/Jibs) is a word somewhat like visitation [eiriaKoirii),
whose meaning (for good or ill) must be determined by the context.
The word as used here connotes punishment.
Comparison II. {b) Ch. IV. 7—14.
This section is complementary to the preceding one, contrasting the
hope of the righteous man with the destiny of the wicked. As the
apparent prosperity of the wicked is no proof of stability, so the
premature death of the righteous is no proof of God's displeasure.
7. though he die before his tivie] The compensation of the righteous
man is the profound rest he enjoys : the wicked live on, although their
life is threatened for all its seeming prosperity, but the righteous man
has passed beyond the reach of care, cp. Job iii. 17; Is. Ivii. 2.
8. old age... length of tifne] Cp. George Macdonald, Within and
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IV. 8— ii. 37
Nor is its measure given by number of years :
But understanding is gray hairs unto men, 9
And an unspotted life is ripe old age.)
Being found well-pleasing unto God he was beloved of him ^ 10
And while living among sinners he was translated :
He was caught away, lest ^ wickedness should change his 11
understandmg,
1 Or, malice

Without, Pt. II., Sc. 10 "Life is measured by intensity, not by the 'how
much' of the crawling clock." Illustrations might be cited from the
literature of all ages: cp. Seneca " Uita non quamdiu sed quam bene
acta refert," and "Exigua est pars uitae quam uiuimus." Epicurus in
Diog. Laert. x. § 126 "Men do not choose food for its quantity but for
its quality; so time is not reckoned by its length, but by its fulness."
Philo, Quis rerum § 58 uses words almost ideuiical with the text. Cp.
Abr. § 46. Contrast Ecclus. xxxvii. -25.
its measure] Cp. Job xxxii. 7 — 9 LXX.; and
"We live in deeds not years; in thoughts, not breaths;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial :
We should couni time by heart-throbs."
Bailey, Festus.
9. But jinderstanding is gray hairs unto men] Cp. "The character
of some is aged by nature" (Menander), and Philo, plant. § 40
"Those who are gray, not through time, but in goodness of counsel."
Cp. Dt. XXX. 20.
an unspotted life...oldage] Cp. Is. Ixv. 20, which must be interpreted
in a moral sense, "The child shall die (lorat LXX.) an hundred years
old." Duration is not the measure of life, but inward character. For
a similar idea, cp. Ps. Ixxxiv. 10.

of 10. Being
Enoch foundcp.well-pleasing']
is cited, Commentators
Gen. v. 24 LXX. holdxliv.
Cp. Ecclus. that 16;
the Heb.
case
xi. 5. But the "righteous man" of v. 7 is still the subject, his death
being spoken of in terms used to recount the translation of Enoch, a
typical instance.
while living among sinners] Cp. Is. Ivii. i LXX. "The righteous
is taken away from the presence of iniquity."
he was translated] Text renders as if Enoch was the subject. But
"transferred" would be more true to the sense of the passage than
translated. The righteous man of ch. ii. was not translated ; he was
[ex hypothesi) killed. The writer is not concerned to say anything
about the righteous man, except that he was taken away (cp. Is. Ivii.
i): accordingly he uses /xeTere^?;, which originally is a colourless word,
signifying "to change the place 01." To render it " was translated "
is to bring in the idea of destination which is not in the writer's mind,
and lose sight of his main thought, viz. removal.
11. He was caught away] Cp. Acts viii. 39, Vulg. raptus est. The
 3S THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IV. ii, 12.

Or guile deceive his soul.

[2 (For the bewitching of naughtiness bedimmeth the things
which are good,

Gk. word shows that more than merely natural causes were at work in
his death. For although the words might be applied to any righteous
man who dies prematurely, the special reference is to the righteous man
who is murdered. In ch. ii. 20 the wicked say "Let us condemn him to
a shameful death"; here the winter points to the Divine interposition
which they had mockingly challenged the righteous man to invoke. If
in its physical aspect death is man's work, it has a spiritual and Divine
aspect as well.
wickediiess\ The context suggests that the marginal alternative
malice is the right rendering. If wickedness were in his heart, to
remove him from temptation would be ineffectual : God takes him away
lest he be chatiged, or deceived, both operations being the work of
external agents.
change his understanding\ Cyprian plainly does not interpret this
passage of Enoch: for, having quoted Gen. v. 24, he adds (de Mort.
§ 23) "Sed et per Salomonem docet Spiritus sanctus eos qui Deo
placeant maturiiis istinc eximi, ne...polluantur : raptus est (inquit) ne
malitia mutaret." The idea is the exact reverse of St John xvii. 15.
change\ sc. for the worse. Cp. use of oXKolovv in Dan. iii. 94 {27), see
ch. ii. 15- .
under standi7ig\ His moral insight.
Or guile deceive his soul] Cp. Eph. iv. 14. The writer only sees the
peril of temptation : cp. The Christian Year, 8th Sunday after Trinity,
" Death only binds us fast
To the bright shore of love."
But a higher truth is well stated by Browning: —
"Why comes temptation, but for man to meet
And master and make crouch beneath his feet,
And so be pedesialled in triumph? Pray,
'Lead us into no such temptation, Lord'!
Yea, but, O Thou whose servants are the bold,
Lead such temptations by the head and hair,
Reluctant dragons, up to who dares fight.
That so he may do battle and have praise."
The Ring and the Book. The Pope, 1 1 85 — 92.
12. This V. is an expansion of v. 11. There are influences in the
world which are too strong for even the innocent of heart.
For the bewitching of naughtiness] In his note on Gal. iii. i, Bishop
Lightfoot points out that ^aa-Kaiyeiy in that passage involves two ideas;
(i) the baleful influence on the recipient, and (2) the envious spirit of
the agent. Both ideas are present here: naughtiness may overcome the
righteous man in spite of himself; it is jealousy which prompts the
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOxMON IV. 12, 13. 39

And the giddy whirl of desire perverteth an innocent mind.)

Being made perfect in a little while, he fulfilled long ^ years ; 13
^ Gr. times.

assault upon his fidelity. For (i) cp. Theocr. vi. 39, and for (2) Ecclus.
xiv. 3 — 10, and "envy of the devil" in ch. ii. 24.
naughtiness'] Vulg. nugacitas. Plato makes the 0aOXos (the bad man)
the opposite of the crTroi/Saros (the good), and (fiav\6TT}s is probably used
in this sense here. Lightfuot mentions that bewitchment was held to
be especially potent in the case of children, and this idea is present
here. The righteous man is caught away early in life.
bedim f?ieth the things which are good] Among these things are the
innocent heart. The jealous influence of evil impairs and dulls the
spiritual vision. The good things are not those outside him : the in-
fluence ofevil cannot spoil them, it can only spoil him for them.
And the giddy whirl 0/ desire] The best commentary on these words
is Prov. vii. 12. pefxfieadai. is there used of the roaming and prowling
habits of the strange woman, peix^evei-v occurs with the same meaning
in Is. xxiii. 16. pe/x^aa/xos then points to the insidious and persistent
solicitations of desire, which can make the flesh too strong for the inno-
cent mind. Translate "the wandering allurements of desire."
If the text had linguistic authority for its rendering, the idea would
be that even the simple are liable to be fired by the sensuous dance of
desire, cp. Seneca, de V. B. 28. But the word denotes roving rather
than rapid movement.
Giddy is somewhat speciously used ; there is in English a secondary use
in a moral connection of "giddy," but there is no such use in Greek.
The word-play is inadmissible as a translation.
perverteth] /ieraXXeiJei (which in class. Gk. means "to mine") is used
for /j.€TaWd(X(T€i or /ieraXXoto?, recalling dWd^rj in preceding verse.
Possibly the writer supposed that it was derived from dWos "other."
The meaning is plain, and the effort of A. V. to unite the sense intended
with the literal translation of the Greek in the rendering undermine, by
what Farrar calls a happy analogy, is, to say the least, unscholarly.
The mistake occurs again in ch. xvi. 25, and is due to a want of perfect
familiarity with classical Greek forms on the part of the writer. How-
sver, papyri yet to be discovered may prove this to have been a popular
Alexandrian use.
13. Being made perfect] In ecclesiastical Greek reXetoOa^ai, "to
be made perfect," has the regular meaning of "attaining martyrdom."
fulfilled lotig years] For the vb., cp. 4 Mace xii. 14, and Is. Ixv. 20
"an old man who shall not fill his time" LXX. For the idea, cp.
Philo, Post C § 17 "judging of old age rather by its worth than by its
length of years," and
** Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife.
To all the sensual world proclaim,
One crowded hour of glorious life
ia worth an age without a name,"
 40 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IV. 14—16.
14 For his soul was pleasing unto the Lord :
Therefore ^hasted he out of the midst of wickedness.
15 But as for the peoples, seeing and understanding not,
Neither laying ^this to heart,
That grace and mercy are with his chosen,
And that ^he visiteth his holy ones :—
16 But a righteous man that is dead shall condemn the
ungodly that are living,
1 Or, he hastened him away ^ Gr. such a thing as this.
^ Gr. his visitation is with.

Prof. Jowett has a sermon (Sermons, Biogr. and Misc. p. 86 ff.) on

this text, crowded with illustrations, and Disraeli {Coningsby) writes in
a passage copiously illustrated " The history of heroes is the history
of youth."
14. For his soul was pleasing"] Plaut. Bacch. iv. 7, 18 writes ** whom
the gods love die young," translating from the Greek of Menander.
Therefore hasted he] R.V, marg. follows Vulg. properaiiit educere
ilium, but text is probably right, as ^airevaev is followed by no ace.
For this intr. use of cnrevdco, cp. Jer. xxxviii. 20 LXX. and Diog.
Laert. ii. 12, 7. See Ep. Barn. iv. 3 "that His loved one may make

speed.''
Comparison III. (a) Ch. IV. 15 — Ch. V. 14. The reversal
OF OPINION.

15. Btd as for the peoples] So the text of B, o\ de \aol. But it can
hardly be right ; z^. 17 of the text shows the word that is required, "the
ungodly." A has the variant reading aWoi, which probably conceals
duofMoi "lawless," a very simple uncial confusion, dvo/iot. serves as a
substitute for dae^eh, the key-word required for the beginning of the
new section, avofioi is found in ch. iv. 6, and in this section it is echoed
in dvo/xTj/xaTa (iv. 20) and dvofiias (v. 7).
seeing and tcnderstanding not] These participles are held in suspense
over V. 16, which contains a comment of the same kind as w. 8, 9,
and should perhaps follow v. I4; v. 17 is a parenthesis, and in it seeing
and U7iderstanditig not (v. 15) are taken up and emphasised by the
corresponding shall see... shall not understand. Finally, shall see {v. 18)
takes up seeing (z'. 15) and shall see [v. 17), and coordinates them with
shall despise, the main verb of the paragraph. There is thus no
anacoluthon, although the sentence is long and involved.
laying this to heart] For the phrase, cp. i Sam. xxi. 12 LXX.
grace and ?nei'cy] This line is almost identical with ch. iii. 9 c
he visiteth] "Visitation " here in a good sense. See ch. ii. 20, iii. 7.
16. This V. would be more appropriate after v. 14. Where it
stands in the text, it interrupts sense and grammar.
a riguteous man that is dead] By death his righteousness is sealed,
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IV. i6— 18. 41
And youth that is quickly perfected the many years of an
unrighteous man's old age ;
For the ungodly shall see a wise man's end, 17
And shall not understand what the Lord purposed concern-
ing him,
And for what he safely kept him :—
They shall see, and they shall despise ; 18
But them the Lord shall laugh to scorn.
And after this they shall become a dishonoured carcase,
and placed beyond the possibility of being falsified by surrender to
temptation. The death which they rejoice over will establish his
witness, and the picture of his life will be a standing reproof to them.
condemn the ungodly] Not with final judgment, but by the daily
moral contrast between his life which they count as death, and their
moral death which they mis-call life. For the Gk. word, "to put in
the wrong," cp. Heb. xi. 7.
the many years'] A touch of scorn. An old age that can boast of
nothing except that it has passed time, is an old age in name only.
17. This V. should be read in close connection with v. 15. The
italics of the text, by supplying a subject to the verbs, show what ought
to be the subj, of v. 15. Instead of "the ungodly" in this v. read
they, and in z/. 15 for the peoples read the lawless. See n. on v. 15.
For... shall see] shall see takes up and expands seeing, in v. 15.
They shall see the wise man's early death, told of in v. 7. "Wise'*
and "righteous" are interchangeable, just as are "wisdom" and
" virtue."
shall not understand] expands u7tder standing not in v. 15. They
did not realise that God had any purpose concerning him.
safely kept him] Vulg. qziare miinierit illufu. For the Gk. cp. Is.
xli. 10. God's method of safe-keeping is seen in w. 11, 12.
18. shall see. . .shall despise] shall see takes up seeing oiv. 15, and shall
see oiv. 17. But the emphatic word of the paragraph is shall despise,
which is used absolutely, with no object expressed, and fixes attention
on the temper indulged in by the wicked.
But them the Lord] The pronoun is emphatic at the beginning of
the sentence, them, in their ttirn. With dramatic suddenness, another
scorn supervenes (cp. Hab. i. 5 "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and
perish" LXX.), and the despisers find themselves mocked. This /. is
an adaptation of Ps. xxxvii. 13 a.
after this] If Trrw/ia is translated "carcase" as in text, after this
will mean "after this contempt of the righteous," or, "after the wicked
have ceased to despise" (Grimm). The verse evidently points to a
retribution beginning on earth.
dishonoured carcase] Cp. Ez. vi. 4 for the Greek word. Dishonoured
(driuos) has reference to the primitive idea (see Soph. Ant. 450 ff.) that
to be unburied involved dishonour, cp. Is. xiv. 19 *' Thou shalt be cast
 42 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IV. i8, 19.

And ^a reproach among the dead for ever :

19 Because he shall dash them speechless to the ground,
And shall shake them from the foundations,
And they shall 'lie utterly waste, and they shall be in
anguish,
^ Or, be for outrage ^ Or, be a perpetual desolation

out on the mountains, like a corpse accurst" LXX. ; Is. Ixvi. ■24;
Jer. xxii. 19. This /. tells of the dishonour done to the memory of the
wicked in the eyes of their sur\'ivors, cp. Jer. ix. 22, xvi. 4.
reproach
LXX. ; the among the d-ead indefinite
phrase indicates for ever']duration.
For di aiQvos, cp. Dt. v. 29
The thought is Greek. Burial conferred a kind of franchise upon
the souls of the dead ; the unburied were repudiated by those who
had predeceased them and had obtained burial. Cp. Verg. Aen. vi.
325 " inops
Od. i. 28. inhumataque turba," and Conington's note; also Hor.

The writer's meaning is vague, as no doubt was his intention.

Sufficient is said, however, to indicate his idea that in their death the
\s4cked would be dishonoured among both living and dead, and that
conscious retribution in some fonn would be their lot.
19. Because he shall dash thefji] The wicked are compared to the
children of a conquered city, cp. Ps. cxxxvii. 9; Is. xiii. 16. The
picture is drawn fiercely and mercilessly, and recalls the tone of
Job xviii., or of the imprecatory Psalms. No contemporary allusion
need be sought in the words : they are too vague and rhetorical, pij^et
seems to stand for pd|ei, cp. Ps. cii. 10; Is. ix. 11 ; Jer. xxiii. 39 LXX.
speechless] Cp. the account of the Divine dealing -vWth Heliodorus,
2 Mace. iii. 27, 29. Contrast the dumbness induced by terror with the
previous expressions of their arrogance.
shake thetn] The writer seems to have in mind Job ix. 6 LXX.
"who shaketh the earth from its foundations, and the pillars of it
tremble," thus comparing the judgments of God to an earthquake.
lie utterly waste] The Greek words recall Nahum i. 10 LXX. " it
shall be wasted to the foundation." The wicked are compared to a
parched land, cp. Is. xix. 5 — 10. That these three judgments do not
refer to final annihilation is seen from the following clause " they shall
be in anguish." Cp. Ps. Ixxiii. 19.
be in atiguish] The phrase is found in Is. xix. 10 LXX. "The
workers in them shall be in anguish." Direct speech takes the place
of metaphor : the plain fact is terrible enough.
memory shall perish] After the three vigorous metaphors drawn
from the destruction of captive children, the shaking of a city by an
earthquake, and the parching of a land by the failure of its rivers,
comes the final condemnation, "they shall be forgotten." The same
thought clinches the similar denunciation in Job xviii. 17. After all, it
is only what they liad foreseen, ch. ii, 4 and Pss. Sol. xiii. 10.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOxMON IV. 19— V. i. 43
And their memory shall perish.

They shall come, 'when their sins are reckoned up, with 20
coward fear;
And their law^less deeds shall convict them to their face.
Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness 5

^ Or, when they reckon up their sins

20. They shall come] After the vehement vagueness of w. 18, 19,
the definite picture is suggested of the wicked being confronted after
death with their righteous victim of days gone by, now at length openly
justified for his manner of life.
sins are reckorud up] The majority of commentators hold (though
Grimm disagrees) that this passage, though containing a vivid and
definite picture, is not meant to teach an objective judgment in time
and place, but only to suggest the reflections that follow upon the
clearer vision that death permits. See Introd. § 13.
with coward fear] p'ear, partly of the unknown and partly of the
divine holiness. Cp. Prov. xiii. 5 LXX. " The wicked is ashamed, and
shall have no confidence" ; Pss. Sol. xiii. 4, 5.
shall convict] Their conscience is awakened, and they seem to meet
their sins once more. Their sins, i.e. their sinful character, had always
been living with them, but the torpidness of their conscience had
enabled them to ignore their presence. But now, the hideous truth of
the corruption of their own selves is apparent.
to their face] Vulg. ex aduerso. Cp. Ps. 1. 21 ; St Luke xix. 22.
Although the writer is careful to abstain from any doctrine of a final
judgment, it is probable that he was not unfamiUar with such specula-
tions as those of the Book of Enoch. For the reckoni^ig- up of sins,
cp. Enoch 81, 4 "Blessed is the man who dies in righteousness,
concerning whom there is no book of unrighteousness written, and
(against whom) no day of judgment is found." id, 98, 8 "All your
oppression wherewith ye oppressed is written down every day till the
day of your judgment." id. 104, 7 "Ye sinners, though ye say 'Ye
cannot ascertain it, and all our sins are not written down,' still they
will write down your sins continually every day." Cp. Daniel vii. 10.
V. 1. Augustine [Ep. 185, 41 ; Contr. Gaud. 1,51; Serm. 58, 7) treats
this passage as referring to the Day of Judgment. But neither this
conception, nor that of a final triumph for the ideal Israel, and the
vindication of righteousness upon a renovated earth, seems to belong to
the book (Farrar). The writer dislikes the local and definite, and
views the individual consciousness as the theatre of all rewards and
punishments. Cp. Milton's
" The mind is its own place, and it can make
A heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
 44 • THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. i, 2.
Before the face of them that afflicted him,
And them that make his labours of no account.
2 When they see ^it, they shall be troubled with terrible fear,
And shall be amazed at the marvel of God's salvation.
1 Or, him

He postulates a continued consciousness after death (to be dis-

tinguished from immortaUty) in the wicked, who will be rendered
capable of seeing both themselves and the righteous man as they had
never done before, apart from the prepossessions of spite and sensuality.
The writer is impelled by a strong moral purpose : either he lacks
the imagination of the writer of Enoch, or else he writes for a different
public, and resolutely controls his inventive faculty. He is much more
at his ease amiong abstract ideas, and prefers to dispense with the vivid
colouring and movement ordinarily to be found in Apocalyptic. The
victory of Truth is his confident teaching, and he is indifferent as to
place and time. He is concerned with principles, which are timeless.
Then] The triumphant then finds an echo in St Matt. xiii. 43.
stand] The posture denotes coutidence, cp. St Luke xxi. 36. With
doldness cp. i John ii. 28, iv. 17. The boldness of the righteous stands
in sharp contrast with the speechlessness (iv. 19) and the fear (iv. 20) of
the wicked. The wicked cannot have boldness before God, cp. Prov. xiii.
5 LXX.
afflicted] Vulg. angiistiatiernnt. The aor. part, points to the past
acts of cruelty which culminated in murder, while the pres. par tic. that
jnake...of no account indicates an habitual attitude. The meaning of
the latter Gk. verb stands midway between Vulg. abstulerwit (plun-
dered) and Eng. despise; cp. Heb. x. 28, of "disregarding" the law.
The wicked did not merely mentally despise his efforts after life (ch. ii.
15); they tried to negative his achievements by causing him to fall before
their temptations (ch. ii. 17, 19).
2. When they see it] Omit it; see is used absolutely (cp. despise,
iv. 18) and loses in suggestiveness if it or him (marg.) is supplied.
The ungodly "see" at last: they see the truth concerning the
righteous, they see his confidence, they see the contrast presented by
themselves. Their self-confident challenge in ch. ii. 17 let us see is
dramatically recalled.
shall be troubled] This passage recalls Is. xiii. 7, 8 LXX. where
shall be troubled, shall be amazed are found, while v. ^b ii suggested by
Is. xiv. 16. Cp. also Is. Ix. 5 LXX.
God's salvation] ^ has his salvation, i.e. either God's, or that
granted to the righteous man. For the former, cp. Gen. xlix. 18,
although "salvation from the Lord" is the more natural expression
found in Ex. xiv. 13 ; for the latter, cp. LXX. frequently. As however
the phrase is like that in 3 Mace. vi. 33 " their unexpected salvation,"
where there can be no doubt as to the meaning of their, it is better to
translate "the righteous man's salvation." His salvation is his un-
expected happiness, and the boldness of his bearing.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 3—5. 45
They shall say hvithin themselves repenting,
And for distress of spirit shall they groan,
This was he whom aforetime we had in derision,
And made a parable of ^reproach :
We fools accounted his life madness,
And his end without honour :
How was he numbered among sons of Godf
^ Or, among ^ Qr, reproach^ we fools : we accounted
vv. 3 — 14 contain the confession of the wicked. The section forms a
tragic counterpart to their earlier utterance (ch. ii. i — 20), and by its refusal
to appeal to the emotions of readers, is marked by a dignified gravity.
3. zuithm themselves] Marg. among, which is better, cp. Is. xiii. 8
"they shall complain one to another," and Vulg. dicentes inter se.
repenting] In a non-religious sense, i.e. " changing their mind" ; cp.
"repented himself," of Judas, St Matt, xxvii. 3.
distress of spirit] The Gk. word, meaning lit. "torturing confinement"
(Sanday and H. Rom. ii. 9), occurs four times in LXX. and in St Paul.
Cp. 4 ]\Iacc. xi. II.
This was he] For this, cp. Is. xiv. 16. There may be a reminis-
cence of these words in Ep. Barn. vii. 9 "Is not this he whom once we
mocked and spat upon?"
in derision] lit. for derision. For the phrase, cp. Jer. xx. 7,
xlviii. 26, 39 LXX.
a parable^ The word is coupled with "proverb" or "byword"
(cp. Yiox . fabula fies) in Dt. xxviii. 37 ; 2 Chr. vii. 20; cp. Ps. Ixix. ir.
It is found, as here, with "reproach" in Jer. xxiv. 9. The righteous
man is a "taunt-song of reproach."
4. We fools] fools, in the literal sense of intellectual incapacity.
Vulg. insensati ; the irony is then seen of fools accusing others of
madness. But the words go with v. 3, as the rhythm of the Gk. shows;
whom. ..we had in derision, fools that we were.
madness] A strong word, denoting frenzy. Perhaps a reference to
ch. ii. 15, where see note.
withotit honour] Cp. ch. ii. 20, iii. 2, 3. Farrar recalls how Savo«
narola, Huss, Cranmer died amidst the execrations of their enemies,
and yet accepted with perfect faith their apparently final failure.
5. How was he] Exclamatoiy, rather than interrogative, cp.
Is. xiv. 12.
numbered] For the word, cp. Is. xiv. 10. There is a word-play in
Gk. between numbered and accounted {v. 4). For the sense, cp.
St Luke x. 20. Just as there was a register of the citizens of the
theocratic community, entitling those enrolled to temporal blessings
(Ps. Ixix. 28), so an analogous register is pictured as existing in tlie
eternal world. This conversation among the dead may have been
suggested by Is. xiv.
 46 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 5—7.
And how is his lot among saints ?
6 Verily we went astray from the way of truth,
And the light of righteousness shined not for us,
And the sun rose not for us.
7 We took our fill of the paths of lawlessness and destruction,

sons of God] The expression conveys no metaphysical meaning, but

has the same moral bearing as "sons of God" in Hos. i. 10. The
phrase here is purely a variant for "saints": it is not "angels" as in Job
i. 6, ii. I. They recognise that the claim of ii. 13, 18 is justified.
his lot among saints'] The lot of Israel was the Promised Land, so
called with allusion to its division by lot. 'Lot' {KXrjpos) is then used
(and /c\77poi'o/ita " inheritance"') metaphorically, as the inheritance in God
which ttie saints enjoy, cp. ch. iii. 14 ; Ps. xvi. 5 ; Ecclus. xlv. 22. See
Acts xxvi. 18 and Col. i. 12. Here the scene of the /ot is placed among
saints; in Col. i. 12 the inheritance of the saints is placed in the king-
dom of light.
6. Veri/y] &pa, Vulgate ergo. The inferential particle marks the
conclusion drawn. "We counted him mad ; we find him among sons
of God : therefore we went astray.' The inference is not "Therefore
(we can now see that) we went astray," but "Therefore, because we
judged so falsely, we went astray." If it had been the former, the
wicked would be seen struck \v\ih surprise that they had, after all,
missed the way of truth and had been wandering in darkness. But in
their most confident moments they had never been hypocrites ; they
had never posed as searchers after truth : they were frankly materialistic,
and now they see why they were so ; they had misjudged the righteous
life.
the ivay of truth] Either, the true way, as opposed to the false way,
i.e. 'our own' way, cp. Is. liii. 6, and Ep. Barnabas xviii., "There
are two ways, the one of light and the other of darkness," or, the way
which leads to truth, moral and spiritual. Way of truth is found in
Ps. cxix. 30, cp. James v. 19; 2 Pet. ii. 2.
the light of righteousness] Cp. Ps. cxix. 105. Righteousness is
compared to lii;ht. Is. Ixii. i.
the sioi rose not for iis] For the picture cp. Mai. iv. 2 "The sun
of righteousness shall arise." More is intended than the subjective
"our eyes were blinded with sin" : the objective " God hid His face,
and in His disfavour is death " is meant. For this v. cp. Is. lix. 9.
7. We took our fill] Paths used in a metaph. sense can go with took
our fill \ there is no need to see here a mixture of two constructions.
A similar use is found in Prov. xiv. 14 LXX. " He shall be filled with his
own ways," and in a more expanded form in Prov. i. 31. Vulg. goes
slightly beyond the Greek, in rendering lassati sumus.
paths] For the paths of lawlessness contrasted with the way of truth
cp. Ps. cxix. 29 LXX., where "way of iniquity" provides the same
contrast. Paths of destruction^ cp. Job xxx. 12, and St Matt. vii. 13.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 7—10. 47
And we journeyed through trackless deserts,
But the way of the Lord we knew not.
What did our arrogancy profit us ? 8
And what good have riches ^and vaunting brought us ?
Those things all passed away as a shadow, 9
And as a message that runneth by :
As a ship passing through the billowy water, 10
^ Gr. with.

liketrackless deserts']in Their

the wanderer life had
the dark, they no moralin purpose,
moved a circle. and
The led nowhere:
Greek words
occur in Jer. xii. 10 and Ps. Ixiii. i. trackless is explained in next /.
way of the Lord] Cp. Bamch iii. 20, 23 "The way of knowledge,
of wisdom, they knew not," and Job xxiv. 13, Cp. Ps. xcv. ro LXX.
" They knew not my ways." With the whole v., cp. Is. lix. 7, 8, 9.
8. our arrogancy] vwep-rjcpavia, a very strong word implying pride of
self and contempt for others. It is twice attributed in Apocr. to the
people of Sodom, Ecclus. xvi. 8 ; 3 Mace ii. 5.
riches and vaunting] dimtiarum iactmitia, Vulg. ' Vaunting '
[aka^Qv^La) is the ostentatious display of the materialist, who knows no
measure of value except money In 4 Mace. i. 26 it is ranked with
covetousness, vain-glory, factiousness, and envy, as a sin of the soul.
J. B. Mayor {Ep. of St James^ iv. 6, 16) distinguishes between inr€pr]<p.
defiant wickedness, and d\a^. confidence in one's cleverness, luck,
strength, skill, etc. Cp. Clem. Rom. ad Cor. Ivii. 2.
zrv. 9 — 12 contain a series of similes, gathered largely from O.T.,
expressing the elusive fugitiveness of life. The world moves on, and
things are as though men had never been.
9. Those things a ii passed away] In the Gk. the vb. iraprjXdev stands
em.phatically at the beginning of the sentence, "Past are all those
things." Cp. I John ii. 17. Their self-conceit, their wealth, and the
masterfulness that rested on it are gone, and so identified with them
were they {v. 13), that the passing of their possessions is tantamount to
the passing of themselves.
as a shadow] Cp. ch. ii. 5 ; i Chr. xxix. 15 ; Job viii. 9. The
idea is not merely the unsubstantialness of a shadow: it is that a
shadow cast by a cloud sweeps across the land, and is gone, and leaves
no mark by which its passage can be traced.
as a message that rumieth by] For the Greek verb, cp. Philo, Quod
Deus § 37 "a shadow or a breeze that runneth by and will not stay."
Vulgate tanquafu nuntius percurrens, cp. Job ix. 25 ; 2 Sam. xviii. 22 — 24.
10. a ship] The picture would not be true of a modem steamer,
whose wake is traceable for miles, but the writer is thinking of the
light skiffs, mentioned in the source-passage, Job ix. 26 ; cp. note in
this series, "These skiffs, constructed of a wooden keel and the rest of
reeds are the 'vessels of bulrushes' of Is. xviii. 2. They carried but
one or two persons, and being light were extremely swift." The swift-
48 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 10—12.

\Vhereof, when it is gone by, there is no trace to be found,

Neither pathway of its keel in the billows :
Or as when a bird flieth through the air,
No token of her passage is found,
But the light wind, lashed with the stroke of her pinions.
And rent asunder ^with the violent rush of the moving
wings, is passed through,
And afterwards no sign of her coming is found therein :
Or as when an arrow is shot at a mark,
The air disparted closeth up again immediately,
^ Or, -with the violent rush,heris Tvings
passed through by the motion of

ness is not in question here, but the lightness : the skiffs glide over the
surface, and leave no impression.
pathway of its keel] An example of the author's poetic language.
See Introd. p. xvi., note 3.
11. a bird] Cp. again, Job ix. 26 and Prov. xxiv. 54 LXX. (xxx.
19 A.V.) " the track of a flying eagle, and the path of a sea-faring ship."
Again, the wonder of things which pass and leave no trace is pointed to.
lashed... rent asunder] The use of these vigorous words emphasizes
the complete absence of any corresponding visible impression.
pinions] rapaoi, either feathers, or the flat of the wing.
rent asunder] Cp.
**Illa leuem fugiens raptim secat aethera pennis."
Verg. Georg. i. 410.
with the violent rush] Lit. \vith the force of the rush of the beating
wings. Gk. word denotes impetus, and not noise, cp. 2 Mace. ix. 7.
is passed througK] The passive is well used, to illustrate the complete
absence of reaction on the part of the medium m which the violent
agitation takes place. What means so much to the actors is matter of
indifference to their surroundings. Similarly, the world "is passed
through" by men who are "such stuff as dreams are made of," and
•who leave not even the phantom of a trace of their passage. For reasons
of rhythm, the rendering of the marg. is to be preferred to that in the text.
is found] The three aorists is passed through^ is found, closeth up
possess a gnomic force, the particular actions recurring continually,
with a suggestion of rapid instantaneous movement.
12. The air... closeth up a^ain] The meaning of the line is quite
clear, but it is doubtful if the reading is right, avakveuv in xvi. 14
means to release or restore, but it is questionable if "the air is released
(or restored) upon itself" would be Greek. Again, it is used in Philo
for "resolving" a compound into its elements {Quis Rerum § 57), but,
"the air is immediately resolved into itself" (Bissell and Farrar) does
not even give sense. Of the two renderings, is released is the better.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 12—14. 49
So that men know not where it passed through :
So we also, as soon as we were born, ^ceased to be; 13
And of virtue we had no sign to shew.
But in our wickedness we were utterly consumed.
Because the hope of the ungodly man is as chaff carried by 14
the wind,

1 Gr. failed.

So that men know not] ws ayuoijaai has no subject ; it is therefore

gratuitous to supply men. Rather, " the air cut through by the arrow,
closes
air is up
as again, so thatofz'tthe
unconscious (the flight
air) knows
of the not whereonce
arrow it passed." The
it has passed,
as the world is of the lives of men who leave no mark in the moral
sphere.
13. So we also... ceased to be] In this line the similes of w. 9— i^
are applied, and the life history of the sensualist is seen to be "we were
bom, Ave died." The time between the two points of appearance and
disappearance when viewed in a moral light, is foreshortened till it
becomes negligible. The argument is that righteousness alone possesses
vitality, and therefore non-moral life is non-existent. Accordingly, the
instantaneous rebound of the air when the arrow has flown through it is
analogous to the death of the wicked succeeding instantaneously (morally
speaking) to their birth.
For the Gk. word died, \\t. failed (Vulgate dcsiuimtis esse), cp. Ps.
xc. 9 LXX.
of virtue we had no sign to s/ie:o] For sign, cp. v. 11 "no sign of
her coming." Virtue is the sole reality, and therefore it is the only
thing in a life which can leave a sign of itself. Evil is negative, and
its traces, like the passage of the bird, are negation. Their only
"signs" were the tokens of their mirth, ch. ii. 9.
But in our wickedness] The particles ixh...5e show that there is a
contrast intended between this line and the preceding "while we had
no virtue to shew, we had wickedness enough to destroy us." A little
of that which they refused could have given them an element of
positiveness : that upon which they spent their lives reduced them to a
sheer nonentity.
14. It is not plain whether this v. is the writer's summary, or the
final words of the speakers of the previous verses.
Because] Four similes illustrate the principle which establishes the
truth of all that has been said.
the hope of the ttngodly mafi] abstr. for concr. "that on which he
rests his hope," i.e his wealth, pleasure, etc.
as chaff] A picture of the solidity of his achievements. For chaff
carried by the wind, cp. Is. xxix. 5 ; also Ps. i. 4, xxxiv. 5. x^o^^'
\ulgate lanugo, denotes properly dust of chaff.
WISDOM A
 5© THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 14, 15.

And ^as *foam vanishing before a tempest ;

And is scattered as smoke is scattered by the wind,
And passeth by as the remembrance of a guest that tarrieth
but a day.

15 But the righteous live for ever,

And in the Lord is their reward,

^ Gr. as foa7n chased to thinness : or, as thin foam chased.

^ Most Greek authorities read hoarfrost : some authorities, perhaps
rightly, a spider's web.
as foam vanishing] XAB read irdx^r], hoar-frost, but hoar-frost is
not
Gk. blown
MSB. by the and
OLXvrj, wind. Thespjima.
Vulg. R.V. "foam'" follows the reading of a few
RcV. marg. has "some authorities (read) perhaps rightly, a spidei's
web.^'' dpdxfr) is very likely to be right, cp. Job viii. 14 LXX. , where
it is found in the verse immediately succeeding "the hope of the ungodly
shall perish." Cp. note in this series "The flimsiness of the spider's
house is proverbial in the East. Mohammed compares idolaters to the
spider: 'The likeness of those who take to themselves patrons beside
God is as the likeness of the spider who taketh to herself a house ; and
verily the frailest of houses is the spider's house.'" Koran xxix. 40,
cp. Job xxvii. 1 8 LXX. ; Ps. xc. 9 LXX.
smoke] Cp. Ps. xxxvii. 20 ; Is. li. 6.
a guest that tarrieth but a day] No picture could represent more
pathetically the unabidingness of the hold upon life of the wicked.
He is like the "lodger" at the wayside inn, cp. Jer. xiv. 8, and is
forgotten by the next night when a new traveller claims the attention of
the host. Cp. also Is. xxxviii. 12.

Comparison III. {b) Ch. V. 15—23. The righteous live in

God's care, but God who exalts them manifests His
WRATH against THE WICKED.

15. live for ever] For ever {els top alu>va) is almost a qualitative
phrase, indicating an eternalness of character as much as of time, cp.
St John xvii. 3, The writer has got beyond the stage at which mere
extension of time counts as immortality, cp. ch. viii. 17. Here he
argues that the righteous live eternally, i.e. on the eternal plane, their
reward and the care for them being with God, cp. 2 Mace. viL 9;
Ecclus. xli. 13; and Philo, yos. § 43 "In my judgment no good man
dies, but will live for ever an ageless life with an immortal nature."
their reward] A continued spiritualisation of material conceptions.
Fellowship with God is their reward; He is their portion, cp. Pss.
Ixxiii. 26, cxix. 57. Or, in the Lord may mean "in His keeping,"
cp. Is. Ixii. II, a rendering made more possible by next line.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 15—17. 5i
And the care for them with the Most High.
Therefore shall they receive the crown of royal dignity 16
And the diadem of beauty from the Lord's hand ;
Because with his right hand shall he cover them,
And with his arm shall he shield them.
He shall take his jealousy as complete armour, 17

the care for them'] Cp. Pss. xl. 17, Iv. 22.
with the Most High\ Cp. Is. xlix. 4 "My judgment is with the
Lord."
16. Therefore] Because God cares for them.
crown] The Gk. word ^aaiXeiov is not necessarily a crown, the
meaning being determined by the context. It sometimes means /a/ar^,
sometimes kingdom, cp. ch. i. 14. Here, with dignity {evTrp^ireia), it
should be "the royal rode," cp. Ps. xciii. i LXX. {einrp. evedvaaTo)
and Bar. v. i, where the comeliness [dignity] of the glory of God is to be
put on in place of the robe of mourning.
diadem of beauty] The idea is borrowed from Is. Ixii. 3 " A crown
of beauty, and a diadem of royalty in the hand of thy God." The
diadeyn was a "band of purple silk sown with pearls, the symbol of
oriental royalty" (Farrar). The conception is purely figurative, and is
explained in the following lines.
cover them] Cp. ch. xix. 8 ; Is. xlix. 2, li. 16.
shield them] The Greek word means to cha7npion, to throw one's
shield over another, cp. Zech. ix. 15 ; 3 Mace. vii. 6. Farrar quotes
Browning, Instans Tyranniis, vii. :
..."From marge to blue marge
The w^hole sky grew his targe
With the sun's self for visible boss,
While an Arm ran across
Which the earth heaved beneath like a breast
Where the wretch was safe prest ! "
17. The defence of the righteous brings the writer to the punish-
ment of the wicked, a theme which he seems able to handle only in
terms of the concrete, and which gives free scope to the fierce Hebrew
vindictiveness which all his philosophy could not tame. This vivid
and eloquent passage is based on Is. lix. i6 — 18 (cp. Ps. vii. 11— 13), and
is intended to suggest wonder and terror, rather than any definite
scherne of final judgment. The only means that the prophets found
effective for arousing worldly men to spiritual realities was to picture
the world they knew overwhelmed by physical catastrophes ; they were
compelled to speak in the only language that their hearers could under-
stand. Cp. the connection between the phenomena prophesied in
Joel ii. 30, 31 and the Day of Pentecost, Acts ii.
jea!o7i$y as complete armour] Yov jealousy (f^Xos) see Is. xlii. 13; it
is the jealousy of love that is provoked by the oppression of the loved one.
 52 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 17—20.
And shall make the whole creation his weapons ^for ven-
geance on his enemies :
18 He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And shall array himself with judgement unfeigned as with a
helmet ;
19 He shall take holiness as an invincible shield,
20 And he shall sharpen stem wrath for a sword :
^ Or, to repel his enemies

The full soldier's equipment consisted of helmet, breast-plate, sword,

shield, greaves, and lance. For the connection of Eph. vi. 13 — 17 with
this passage, see Introd. § 17. A similar passage occurs in Ign. Polyc. § 6.
make the whole creation his weapons] This is a favourite thought of
the writer's. See v. 20 and ch. xvi. 17, 24 ; xix. 6. Cp. Judg. v. 20
"The stars in their courses fought against Sisera," and Ecclus. xxxLx. 29.
Philo, Moses i. 17, of the plagues of Egypt, writes "God determined
that the land of tlie wicked should be devastated with the four elements
of which the world is composed ; for He fashions the same things in
health-giving ways, and turns them when He wills to the destruction of
the wicked."
Thefor alternative
vefigeance rendering
on his enemies'] Mg. better,
is perhaps to repel
as his
the enemies, cp. xi. 3.
idea of vengeance
does not for certain belong to the passage.
18. shall put on righteousness] Cp. Job xxix. 14; Is. xi. 5. There
are two similar metaphors relating to moral qualities in 1 Pet. iv. i
"Arm yourselves with the same mind," and i Pet. v. 5.
■ivith judgement unfeigned as with a helmet] Kpiais dvvirOKpLTos
presents the same kind of verbal oxymoron as 2 Cor. vii. 10 /ierdj'ota
dixeTan^X-qros. The meaning is "judgement without respect of persons."
Unfeigned occurs in ch. xviii. i()\ Rom. xii. 9; i Tim. i. 5. There
does not seem to be any definite connection between the symbol and
the thing symbolized; the breast-plate and the helmet, armour of
defence, represent righteousness and judgement, both of which are
capable of offensive action.
19. holiness as an invincible shield] " That holiness of God against
which all reproaches and opposition are hurled in vain" (Farrar).
6aio% in O.T. is almost exclusively used of piety towards God, but it is
used of God Himself in Ps. cxlv. 17 and Deut. xxxii. 4. The shield,
which in Eph. vi. symbolizes unassailable faith, stands here for the
impregnableness of the pure life.
20. And he shall sharpen] And (Be) introduces the weapons of
offence. Cp. Ez. xxi. 9 for a like simile.
stern wrath for a sword] The word for "stem" (dTrAro/ios) is used
five times in this book, meaning " stern to inexorableness." Here there
is a word-play between it and sword, which suggests that the passive
dirWofj-ov (abscisus) should have almost an active value (i.e. scathing).
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 20—22. 53
And the world shall go forth with him to fight against his
insensate y^^j.
Shafts of lightning shall fly with true aim, 21
And from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they
leap to the mark.
And as from an engine of war shall be hurled hailstones 22
full of wrath ;
The water of the sea shall be angered against them,
shall go forth with him to Jightl Cp. v. 17 and ch. xi. 15 — 20. A
further illustration of a fact repeatedly noticed in this book that all
God's good things may be turned into agents of punishment. For
the Gk. verb, cp. Rev, vi. 8.
against his insensate foes] A stronger word {wapacppoves) than that
used hitherto (acppoves), meaning perverse, distraught. This line marks
a transition. Not only will God arm Himself with His own virtues, but
His created world shall take up arms for Him, the lightning, the clouds,
the hail, the waters, w. 21, 22 are based upon Hab. iii., which
suggests this line also.
21. Shafts of lightning shall fy'] From Hab. iii. 11 ets 0cDs
^oXides crov iropevaovTai, "Thy shafts shall go forth as light." For
shafts of lightnings cp. Zech. ix. 14, and for the picture (sword, bow,
shafts in God's hand) cp. Ps. vii. 12, 13. "Shafts of lightning,"
gen. of apposition, i.e. shafts which are lightning.
from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow] So A.V., but Vulgate
has a bene curuato arcu tiubiu/n, and Farrar writes " the figure is more
startling and more in accordance with the writer's style if we render
'from the well-dra^\-n bow of the clouds.'" For God's bow, cp.
Zech. ix. 13 ; Hab. iii. 9. But does not the writer mean more than
this ? Does he not mean that the rainbow, previously set in the clouds
as a token of Divine mercy (Gen. ix. 14) and always turned away from
the earth, shall now become an engine of wrath and be seen pointed
against the earth? If so, the picture is still more starthng.
shall they leap] Grimm notes that leap is used of an arrow as early
as in Hom. //. iv. 125.
22. For this verse cp. Is. xxviii. 2 ; Ez. xxxviii. 22.
as frotn an engine of war] The irerpo^oXos was a siege-engine
used for hurling stones, differing from the catapult, which was a large
cross-bow. The Vulgate mistakenly treats it as an adjective, and
taking Ov/xoO with it translates a petrosa ira. Farrar is somewhat
misled by this rendering, and forgets that Trerp. is found as a subst. in
Job xli. 19, and that /«// of wrath is a phrase found in ch. xi. 18 and
Is. li. 20.
hailstones full of wrath] The elements are made to share the anger
of God who wields them. Deane compares Jos. x. 11; Rev. viii. 7.
He sees here a reference back to the Egyptian plague, Ex. ix. 23 — 25.
The water of the sea] Cp. Ps. xviii. 15; the whole Psalm is some-
 54 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 22, 23.
And rivers shall sternly overwhelm them ;
23 A mighty blast shall encounter them,
And as a tempest shall it winnow them away :
And so shall lawlessness make all the land desolate,
what similar in tone to this passage, Grimm sees here a possible
allusion to Pharaoh and his host at the Red Sea.

rivers shall sternly overwhelm them'\ For the word-play in the Greek,
see Introd. p. xvi., note 3. God's wrath is compared to an angry river,
Is. lix. 19 LXX. The combination rivers shall overwhelm occurs in
two other places, Song viii. 7 ; Is. xhii. 2 LXX.
23. A mighty blast shall encounter them'] Vulg. spiritus uirtutis.
It is best to translate as in the text, since "the spirit of His power"
would require the pron. ai^roO, cp. ch. xi. 20. dfTjp Swd/iews, vlh^ 5w.
are common in LXX.
as a tempest shall it wifinow them] Cp. Is. xli. 16. Cp. again
ch. xi. 20, the idea in which corresponds to that here. The winnowing
out may be meant to suggest nothing more than the action of a high
wind ; or some catastrophe may be indicated such as in Is. xxxvii. 36.
And so] KoX ver}' rightly rendered as in the text. The two last lines
of the chapter stand altogether apart in sense and style from those
preceding. They clinch with a somewhat obvious aphorism all the
eloquent denunciation that has gone before, and bring the reader back
with some suddenness from cosmic and timeless flights to concrete
moralisings. They serve the purpose, however, of a connecting-link
between the three comparisons which have occupied chs. ii. — v. and
ch. vi. I — 1 1, which is a reaffirmation of ch. i., more directly and forcibly
pointed in view of the considerations brought forward.
7nake all the land desolate] In w. ij — 23 God's wrath has been seen
in operation, and yet when all is summed up the ultimate cause is not
God's wrath, but man's lawlessness. Cp. ch. i. 12, 13 " God made not
death : draw not upon yourselves destruction." This truth is recognised
to-day. "A large part of the physical evil in the world is simply the
result of moral evil, and therefore to be regarded as part of the human
foreground, not the divane background of the picture which the world
presents" (J. R. Illingworth, Christian Character, p. 135); cp.
Is. xiii. 9. The significance of " all the land " must not be pressed :
the words merely carry on the imagery oi w. 21, 22, and are equally
in place whether the whole picture tells of earthly retribution or of a
final Judgement.
overturfi the thrones of princes] Cp. Job xii. 18, 19, 21 LXX. The
writer passes from the general to the particular, from the land to its
rulers, and so prepares the way for beginning ch. vi. with an address to
rulers and kings similar to that with which he began ch. i.
Part I. B.
Chs. vi. — ix. incl. form the core of the book : here its Sapiential and
proiessedly Solomonic character aiy 111^11! !y"?W!"^ProillUll WU luiLli
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON V. 23— VI. 4. 55
And their evil-doing shall overturn the thrones of princes.
Hear therefore, ye kings, and understand ; 6
Learn, ye judges of the ends of the earth :
Give ear, ye that have dominion over much people, 2
And make your boast ^in multitudes of nations.
Because your dominion was given you from the Lord, 3
And your sovereignty from the Most High ;
Who shall search out your works,
And shall make inquisition of your counsels :
Because being officers of his kingdom ye did not judge aright, 4
^ Or, in the multitudes o/your nations
the essential nature of Wisdom and acknowledges his complete depen-
dence upon her. This portion opens (vi. i — 11) with an appeal to the
great men of the earth to recognise their responsibility for the power
they have received; and closes (ix.) with a prayer by him for the gift of
the Heavenly Wisdom. In clis. i.— v. there was no allusion, direct or
indirect, to the professed Solomonic origin of the book.

Ch. VI. 1 — 11. An appeal to rulers to learn wisdom.

1. Hear therefore, ye kings'] Solomon speaks with authority to his

peers, cp. v. ir. The book opened with a similar address: the inter-
vening digressions were rather abruptly closed by ch. v. 23 d, which
prepared the way for a return to the onginal subject.
Learji^ ye judgesi To judge was to. rule, and therefore kings are still
in the writer's view. The v. is a reminiscence of Ps. ii. 10 ''and now,
ye kings, understand" LXX.
the ends of the earth] sc. the earth in all its extent, cp. Ps. ii. 8,
xxii. 27. For the phrase, cp. i Sam. ii. 10.
Farrar writes "The long sufferings of the Jews under heathen
autocrats made them feel a special interest in ideal warnings to kings.
The writer could not really expect that his book would be read by
heathen rulers : his appeal to kings as his special auditors belongs only
to the rhetorical form of the book, and his assumption of the r&le
of -Solomon."
3. Because] The reason why Solomon demands their attention.
yoiir dominion., from the Lord] This derivation of sovereignty is
clearly taught in the Bible. Cp. i Chron. xxix. 12 ; Prov. viii. 15, 16;
Dan. V. 18; St John xix. 11. See also 4 Mace. xii. 11; Enoch xlvi. 5
"He will put down the kings from their thrones... because they do
not...
Clem. acknowledge
Rom. ad Cor.whence Ixi. i. the kingdom was bestowed upon them";
shall search out] Cp. Ps. xi. 4, 5, and notes on ch. i. 6 b, 8, 9.
4. Because] The ground of the charge laid against them.
 56 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VI. 4—6.
Neither kept ye Maw, nor walked after the counsel of God.
5 Awfully and swiftly shall he come upon you ;
Because a stern judgement befalleth them that be in high
place :
6 For the man of low estate may be pardoned in mercy,
1 Or, the law

being officers] Although merely administrators and stewards, they

had acted with the caprice of irresponsible despots.
judge aright] Cp. Ps. Ixxxii. 2. They did more than give unfair
judgements : they debased the moral currency, falsified the weights and
gave evil the validity of good. The king's precedents have a terrible
cogency, almost divine because of his borrowed divinity.
Neither kept ye law] The law of right and wrong, cp. Rom. i. 19;
ii. 14, and Philo, Abr. § i. The Divine Law is to some extent a
matter of intuition. "Those who will may without difficulty live
according to the prescribed laws, since the laws that the patriarchs
easily obser\'ed were unwritten, not one of them having been formu-
lated :in fact we ought to say that the laws are nothing else than the
chronicled lives of the men of old."
nor walked] For the phrase, cp. Ps. i. i, "walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly."
5. Awfully] They shall experience the terror they (cp. ch. viii. 15,
dread prijices) had inspired in others.
swiftly] Cp. Prov. i. 27. Shall he come iipofi you, cp. r Thess. v. 3.
Because... befalleth] Because gives the reason for the prec. line.
There is an eternal principle that most shall be required from those
who have received most. Befalleth, the present tense shows the appli-
cation of a law of unfailing validity.
For " stern " {air broixos), cp. ch. xi. 10. In high place, the Greek
word is the same as in Rom. xiii. t; i Pet. ii. 13.
6. The sense of this v. is plain, but the Greek is difficult. It is
impossible to translate avyyvuffrbs iXeovs "for pity's sake," taking iXeovs
(with Deane) as gen. of cause. The contemporary use of axryyvbiaTo^
with the genitive may be seen in Philo, Jos. § 10 0-1^77. T77S d-yav
a-rraLdevaias, where the genitive is that of the thing in respect of which
pardon is given; but this is plainly not the use here. Vulg. reads
" exiguo conceditur miserico?'dia," thus suggesting the translation "is
pardoned of mercy," i.e. receives the pardon which mercy gives. Cp.
the bold gen. in i Cor. ix. 21. An easy correction would be /xer
eX^oi'S (substituting /xer' for ecrriv) ; /jLer' eX^oys is found in Is. liv. 7.
For God's simultaneous mercy and judgement, cp. Ecclus. xvi. ji, 12.
The thought is not that the poor man is compensated for his low
estate by a corresponding laxity on God's part, but that necessity presses
on the humble with an insistence special to their case, cp. Prov. vi. 30,
for which the Judge makes allowance.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VI. 6—9. 57

But mighty men shall be ^searched out mightily.

For the Sovereign Lord of all will not refrain himself for 7
any man's person,
Neither will he reverence greatness ;
Because it is he that made both small and great,
And alike he taketh thought for all ;
But ^strict is the scrutiny that cometh upon the powerful. 8
Unto you therefore, O princes, are my words, 9
That ye may learn wisdom and ^fall not from the right way.
1 Gr. put to the test. ^ Gr. strong. ^ Gr. fall not aside.

mighty men... mightily] For the assonance, cp, Zech. xi. 2; Prov.
viii. 16 LXX.
searched otit] For the Gk. verb, cp. Gen. xii. 17 LXX. Deane
adduces examples of great men being severely punished for apparently
light faults, e.g. Moses (Num. xx. 12); David (2 Sam. xxiv. 12);
Hezekiah (2 K. xx. 17).
7. This V. contains a reminiscence of Dt. i. 17 ; cp. also Job xxxiv. 19
and Ps. Ixxxii. 2.
the Sovereign Lord of all] For the title, cp. ch. viii, 3; Job v. 8
LXX. For refrain himself, cp. Dt. i. 17 ; Ex. xxiii. 21 LXX.
reverence
small andgreatness']
great] Cp.Cp.Dt.Is.i.xl.
17.15,The
17. Sovereign Judge observes the
rules He lays down for earthly judges. He, who made the small as
truly as the great, will not pay heed to the great things He has made any
more than to the small. Furthermore, they all depend on Him; is He,
to whom even the greatest must look, likely to quail before any creature
of His hand? Cp. Ps. 1. 10 — 12 ; Prov. xxii. 2.
alike] In God's sight there is no distinction between great and small,
important and unimportant : whatever is from Him is sacred for Him,
Rev. xi. 18. For God's universal care, cp. Ps. civ. 27, cxlv. 9. -rrpopoely
" provideth," is used here (as in xiii. r6j without any reference to the
philosophical doctrine of Providence (Pythagoras, Plato, the Stoics), cp.
Dan. vi. 18 LXX. There is a similar passage in Jubilees v. 15, 16.
8. strict is the scrntiny] A verbally varied expression of 6 b : the
strong shall feel the strength of the searching God, cp. St Mark xii. 40.
This re- affirmation of vv. 5, 6 gives the writer one more opportunity of
introducing an appeal to kings to obey Wisdom.
9. Cp. the call ot Wisdom in Prov. viii. 4.
O princes] rvpavvoi in LXX. means simply kings. For their de-
pendence on Wisdom, cp. Prov. viii. 15, 16.
my words] Solomon is the speaker.
fall not from the right 7vay] as in v. 4, by unjust judgements and
personal lawlessness. The Gk. vb., TrapaTrlTTeiy, implies deviation
from the ordained path, cp. Ps. ii. 12.
 58 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VI. 10—12.
10 For they that have kept holily the things that are holy
shall themselves be ^ hallowed ;
And they that have been taught them shall find what to
answer ;
1 1 Set your desire therefore on my words ;
Long for thein^ and ye shall be ^trained by their discipline.
12 Wisdom is radiant and fadeth not away;
And easily is she beheld of them that love her,
^ Or, accounted holy ^ Gr. disciplined.

10. shall themselves be hallowed'\ Nothing will satisfy the divine

requirements save character, but character will stand where mere rank
counts for nothing. The rule is exemplified that men become like the
things they contemplate : " those who have observed the eternal
sanctities shall be sanctified."
they that have been taught them'\ To have kept the sanctities with
pious intention (ocrt'ws) results in having been taught them, a state
implpng not merely an intellectual acquaintance, but a vital inner
correspondence.
that he has become.The king's truest defence when on his trial is the man

10,11.
20, 071
V. niy
I. words'] Cp. the invitations of Wisdom in Prov. iv.
Long for them, and ye shall be trained] The same sequence appears
in Prov. iv. 6 " Love [Wisdom], and she shall keep thee." Ye shall
learn true wisdom, which is the daily practice of virtue (Deane).

Ch. VI. 12 — 16. The accessibility of wisdom : she

LOVES THOSE THAT LOVE HER.

12. Wisdom, the semi-personal being, is here spoken of, and not the
abstract quality of wiseness. See Introd. § 9. The praise of Wisdom
occupies the following chapters, and begins here wdth a tribute to her
luminosity and the imperishableness of her nature.
radiant] Cp. Philo, Alleg. iii. 59, " \Miat could be more radiant or
more conspicuous than the Divine Logos?" The source of the radiance
of Wisdom is given in ch. vii. 25, 26.
fadeth 7tot away] As righteousness is immortal, so is Wisdom. They
belong to the kingdom of God, two characteristics of which are light
and life. For the word, cp. i Pet. i. 4.
easily is she beheld] The law of affinity dominates this and the
succeeding w. Virtue is to men as they are to her : they can only see
what they bring. Cp. Prov. iii. 15 "She is easily discerned by them
that draw near to her " LXX., and viii. 21 ; Ecclus. vi. 22 "not unto
many is she manifest," and xxvii. 8. The thought appears repeatedly
in St John's Gospel, x. 3, 14, xiv. 21, xviii. 37. Cp. St Matt. v. 8«
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VI. 12—16. 59
And found of them that seek her.
She forestalleth them that desire to know her, making herself 13
first known.
He that riseth up early to seek her shall have no toil, 14
For he shall find her sitting at his gates.
For to think upon her is perfectness of understanding, 15
And he that watcheth for her sake shall quickly be free
from care.
Because she goeth about, herself seeking them that are 16
worthy of her,
And fcniJtd of them that seek her] There is overwhelming MS.
authority (B marg. 5^A) for the insertion of this /. which is a variant
of Prov. viii. 17b. Cp. Ecclus. vi. 27 "seek and she shall be made
known unto thee.'"
13. into
enter forestalleth']
men withoutWisdom is ever making
their invitation, but she isadvances.
ever seekingShe cannot
to dispose
them to welcome her. Cp. Is. Ixv. 2, 24. Cp. Philo, Cong. § 22, of
knowledge, "she goeth out, putting envy away from her, and draweth
unto her them that are well disposed" ; id. Ftiga § 25 " God goeth out to
meet them, and showeth Himself unto them that desire to see Him."
For the Gk. verb w^th infin., cp. ch. iv. 7.
14. riseth up early] The verb occurs commonly in LXX. both in its
literal and metaphorical significance, cp. Ps. cxxvii. 2 ; Ecclus. iv. 12 ;
vi. 36.
sitting at his gates] For TrdpeSpos (lit. assessor), cp. ch. ix. 4, and
Prov. i. 21, viii. 3. The man who rises early to seek for Wisdom will
find his task easy. Wisdom was seeking for him, and waiting for him
as he left his house.
15. to think upon her...understandiftg] Understanding {<pp'wT}<xi.%) is
not identical with Wisdom, as in iii. 15, iv. 9, nor is it one of the four
cardinal virtues mentioned in viii. 7 as one of the activities of Wisdom.
It is rather a moral than an intellectual quality, being the "insight into
the relations of life, and the power to turn circumstances to its own
profit" (Grimm). Through the contemplation of Wisdom, a man
perfects that moral understanding which enables him to make the most
of life, in the highest sense.
watcheth for her sake] Cp. Prov. viii. 34. -watcheth in its old sense
of 7uaketh, and so, metaphorically, of vigilance. There is a reminiscence
in this V. of Ps. cxxvii. i, 2, where also rise tip early, labour, wake occur.
free from care] Like Wisdom herself (vii. 23). Eus. [Praep. Ev.
667 b) records a saying of the Alexandrian Peripatetic, Aristobulus
(c. 150 B.C.). "They that follow Wisdom consistently shall be free
from trouble (drdpaxot) all their lives." For care, cp. St. Matt. xiii. 22.
16. she goeth about ,.. .seeking] Cp. ch. viii. 18; Acts xiii. 11.
them that are worthy of her] worthy is one of the characteristic words
6o THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VI. i6.

And in their paths she appeareth unto them graciously,

And in every purpose she meeteth them.

of this Book, cp. ch. i. i6, xviii. 4. Each human being determines his
own destiny. He goes through the world finding that which belongs to
him, and never getting what he does not deserve. " Our stars are in
ourselves." Cp. Ecclus. xiii. 15, 16. Philo elaborates this doctrine
in Somn. ii. §§ 5, 6 " Every man lays hold of his own " ; cp. id. Migr.
§§ 10, II "God drav.'s near to give help to those who are worthy to
be helped. And who are they who are worthy to be so blessed ?
Clearly all who love wisdom and knowledge."
in their paths] Cp. Prov. viii. 2. Deane thinks that this /. refers to
the experiences of outer life, while the next /. points to the inner life of
thought and purpose. Cp. Philo, Soimi. i. § 19 "The Logos that waits
upon the seeking soul anticipates it with welcomes when it despairs of
itself and awaits his invisible approach."
in every purpose] Vulg. by its translation in omni prouideniia
assigns the words to Wisdom, but the balance of the lines is best
preserved by making purpose refer to human purpose.
she meeteth thef?i\ Cp. Philo, Alleg. iii. § 76 " Some souls God goes
out to meet. What grace it is that He should anticipate our slowness
and lead our soul forth into perfect well-doing ! " With meeteth^ cp.
Prov. xxiv. 8 "death meeteth the simple" LXX. Only they can meet
who belong to one another : for such, meeting is inevitable, cp.
Amos iii. 3.

Ch. VI. 17—21. Wisdom is the truest teacher of kingship.

w. 17 — 20 contain a famous example of the logical figure, Sorites.

Sorites is a cumulative series of syllogisms, in which the conclusion of
each becomes the premiss of the next, until the main conclusion's
reached. It is essential to the validity of the figure that each new
premiss
example slu^ffll^
howeverbethere
identicaT
is an with the preceding
apparent violation ofConclusion
the rule, :since
in this
the
writer with his habitual desire to avoid wearisome repetitions varies the
wording of the premiss from its form as conclusion. The variation how-
ever is purely verbal. The series is : —
[Desire for Wisdom is] the beginning of Wisdom.
The beginning of Wisdom is care for discipline.
Care for discipHne is love of her.
Love of her is the keeping of her laws.
The keeping of her laws is incorruption.
Incorruption brings near to God.
To be near to God is [to be a king].
Conclusion. Desire for wisdom makes men kings.
The nearest approach to Sorites in the Bible seems to be Hos. ii.
21—23 ; Rom. iv. 3—5, x. 13—15 ; 2 Pet. i. 5—7.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VJ. 17—20. 61

For ^her "true beginning is desire of discipline; 17

And the care for discipline is love of her)
And love of her is observance of her laws ; 18
And to give heed to her laws confirmeth incorruption ;
And incorruption ^bringeth near unto God; 19
So then desire of wisdom promoteth to a kingdom. 20
^ Or, her beginning is the true desire ^ Gr. truest.
^ Gr. niaketh to be 7iear.

17. true begxuning\ Cp. Ps. cxi. 10 ; Prov. i. 7, ix. 10. The re-
quirements ofthe Sorites decide that true goes with beginning. For
discipline, cp. Clem. Rom. § 56, which deals with the blessings which
flow from the Divine discipline.
care'\ Care is merely a verbal variant for desire. The virile moral
sense which welcomes correction answers, in the spiritual sphere, to the
passion for Wisdom.
18. observance of her laws~\ This seems to be based on Ex. xx. 6 :
cp. Ecclus. ii. 15 "They that love [the Lord] will keep his ways,"
cp. id. vi. 26. The idea is reproduced in St John xiv. 15 "If ye love
me ye will keep my commandments,'"' and vz>. 21, 24 and i John v. 3.
to give heed
observance. Forto the
her idea,
laws'\cp.ToStgive heedxix.
Matt. is 17;
a poetic variation
St John viii. for
12.
Philo, Cong. § 16 " He lives the true life who walks in the... command-
ment of God, so that the practices of the ungodly would be death."
Those who would have the assurance of incorruption must rest not on
feeling which is often either absent or deceptive, but on the solid ground
of moral fact. The validity of this argument is admitted in i John i. 9
and iii. 14, in both of which cases it is employed.
19.of incorruption
used bringeth near
moral incorruption. The unto God'\of The
argument the word acpOapala
preceding line is
is
not that obedience to Wisdom confers incorruption, but that it gives
assurance of its possession, showing the obedient to which Kingdom
they belong, that of righteousness and the living God, as distinguished
from that of sin and Hades. The Book of Wisdom postulates that men
are born for life, and that only wilful sin brings them into the power of
death. Similarly, in this line incorruption makes men near to God, not
by making them what they were not by birth, but by realising itself
naturally in them. Cp. Philo, Fuga § 11 "This is the glorious goal of
a deathless life, to be held in a bodiless, fleshless passion and love for
God."
One step in the Sorites must be understood, viz. to be near God is to
be a king. Spiritual kingship involves such lordship over outward
things as liberates the spirit permanently from the passions of fear,
desire, regret, pride, which outward things arouse in hearts that are in
subjection to them.
20. So then'] The main conclusion of the Sorites is the premiss of
the first syllogism combined with the conclusion of the last The
 62 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VI. 21, 22.
21 If therefore ye delight in thrones and sceptres, ye princes of
peoples,
Honour wisdom, that ye may reign for ever.
22 But what wisdom is, and how she came into being, I will
declare.
And I will not hide mysteries from you ;
kingship here in question is spiritual. Cp. Eccl. iv. 13, 14, and Philo,
Agr. § 10 " Moses gives the name of shepherd to the wise, who alone
are really kings," and Post. C § 41 " The wise man is alone free and a
ruler, though his body may acknowledge a thousand lords." Cp. Zeno,
in Diog. La. ii. 7, 122 "'The wise are not only free, but kings; their
kingship is an irresponsible rule, which could stand in no other case
than in that of the wise."
promoieth'] Wisdom is called the path to God in Philo, Qitod D.
§§ .^o. 34-
21. If with
kingship therefore ye delight']
its symbols Solomon :argues,
of authority honour "You love then,
Wisdom your external
and you
shall enter upon a higher kingship." Ps. -Solomon is not urging the
cult of Wisdom, in order that kings may find their power consolidated,
but that they may covet a difi'erent class of power.
Honour wisdom'] Cp. Prov. viii. 15, 16, and Philo, All. iii. § 58
" This is the Divine law, to honour virtue for her own sake."
for ever] With a moral rather than a temporal significance. Cp.
**way everlasting," Ps. cxxxix. 24.
Ch. VI. 22 — 25. Solomon will unfold to his readers
THE WHOLE TRUTH CONCERNING WiSDOM.

It is uncertain what is the range of the writer's undertaking. Is he

pledging himself to a revelation of the nature and origin of Wisdom
absolutely, or is he concerned merely to show how Wisdom has
manifested herself in connection with him?
The promise of these verses sounds unconditional, but the perform-
ance is very limited. The difficulty has been Avidely felt, and variously
explained. Considering how little is said about the origin of Wisdom
(nothing except in ch. vii. 25, 26), attention being fixed upon the
secondary effects of her dealings with man ; and seeing that Solomon
is occupied throughout chs. vii. — ix. with his own experiences and his
personal petitions, it is not impossible that rw. 22 — 25 contain a promise
by Solomon to disclose what Wisdom has been for him. But more
probably, ch. vii. 22 — 27 is a sufficient fulfilment of the undertaking of
V. 22 a.
22. what wisdom is] See vii. 22 — 27.
how she came into being] Vulg. quomodo facta est. Ewald would
understand /tot, how she began for me, thus accounting for the personal
history of vii. — ix. But see ch. vii. 25 ; cp. Prov. viii. 24.
mysteries] sc. the mysteries of Wisdom, cp. " the mysteries of God,"
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VI. 22—24. 63

But I will trace her out ^from the beginning of creation,

And bring the knowledge of her into clear light,
And I will not pass by the truth;
Neither
in the indeed
way, will I take Opining envy for my companion 23

Because ^envy shall have no fellowship with wisdom.

But a multitude of wise men is salvation to the world, 24
And an understanding king is tranquillity to his people.
^ Ox, from her first beginning ^ Gr. wasted. ^ Gr. this.
ii. 22. The mysteries of Wisdom mean all the knowledge of her that
may be communicated to her initiated votaries (vii. 22 — 27) ; all the
teachings she possesses and imparts (vii. 17 — 22); all the blessings
including. immortality which she mediates.
from the
Wisdom beginnijig
from the dawnof of
creation'] See ch. x. for the operations of
human history.
the knowledge of her'] Cp. ch. viii.
23. take. . for my companion] Note the assonance between avvodevau)
and wapodevau} in z'. 22.
pining envy] Envy (or griidgingness) is here personified, and is
depicted as suffering from the wasting complaint which attacks the
envious man. Solomon will not associate himself with the niggardly
spirit which withholds knowledge to the detriment of the hearer. In
this and the prec. v. there is a reference to the sophists, or paid
teachers who had recourse to obscurantism in order to safeguard their
prospective profits. For the practice of the sophists, cp. Philo, Post. C.
§ 44 "The sophists under the influence of greed and envy stunt the
natures of their pupils by keeping back much of what they ought to tell
them, and refusing to surrender their prospects of future gain : but
virtue is generous and open-handed, and would use every faculty she
possesses to give help."
envy shall have no fellowship with wisdof?i] Solomon is the com-
panion ofWisdom : her nature is so opposed to greed, that if he would
continue with her, he must be free from even the suspicion of it. This
V. makes the nearest approach to a personal touch, the author, else-
where veiled effectually behind the person of Solomon, stepping forward
to defend himself against charges such as those of Philo.
24. The writer has the public welfare at heart, and accordingly
refuses to regard himself as holding any private monopoly of truth.
If the world is better in proportion to the number of its wise men, and
a wise king is the security of his people, he will impart his knowledge
as widely as possible.
salvation to the world] A familiar idea with Philo, cp. Sacr. § 37
"the wise man is the ransom of the foolish"; id. Aligr. § 21 "the
righteous man is the prop of the human race." Cp. St Matt. v. 13, 14.
tranquillity] Cp. Prov. xxix. 4 ; Ecclus. x. 2, 3. The Gk. word is
 64 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VI. 25— VII. 2.

25 "Wherefore be disciplined by my words, and thereby shall ye

profit.

I 7 I myself also am 'mortal, like to all,

■: And am sprung from one born of the earth, the man first
formed,
2 And in the womb of a mother was I moulded into flesh in
the time of ten months,
1 Many authorities read a mortal man.
commonly used of stable conditions of government, cp. 2 Mace. xiv. 6 ;
Clem. Rom. Ixi. i. Grimm quotes Plato's dictum {Rep. v. 473) that
philosophers should be kings and kings philosophers.
25. be discipli)ied\ Cp. w. 9, 11. The final appeal in what is
practically the introduction to the central division of the book.

Ch. VII. 1 — 6. Solomon, the proverbially wise man, might

HAVE BEEN THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN SPECIALLY DISPOSED BY
NATURE TOWARDS WiSDOM. BUT HE WAS OF COMMON FLESH
AND BLOOD. He WAS THUS RICHLY ENDOWED ONLY BECAUSE
HE PRAYED FOR WiSDOM.

1. Solomon encourages his hearers by the thought that he started

from precisely the same point as they do. He shows firstly that his
place in the scale of creation was identical with theirs, and secondly
that the circumstances attending his birth were completely normal.
mortal] If marg. a mortal 7?ian (following B^^ and A) is right,
Solomon declares himself to be (i) mortal, (2) man, (3) hke to all,
(4) child of Adam. It is interesting to note the contrast between the
insistence upon Solomon's human origin and normal birth, and the
teaching of the Gospels concerning the Divine origin yet normal birth
of Jesus Christ.
sprung fro7H.. .the mzxi first formed] The term protoplast (found also
in ch. X. i) seems to have been coined by the writer from Gen. ii. 7,
*• the Lord God formed . . . (eTrXacrev)," and was \ised of Adam and Eve by
Irenaeus and Clem. Alex., cp. i Tim. ii. 13.
bor7i of the earth] Adam is called " the first man, the earth-bom "
in Philo, Opif § 47.
2. in the womb... was I monlded] Cp. Ps. cxxxix. 15 ; Eccl. xL 5.
Solomon was flesh, i.e. material rather than sinful. See Davidson,
Theol. of O.T. pp. 191, 192. The man is here identified with his body,
which when formed in the w^omb, received the " loan" (ch. xv. 8) of an
already existing soul.
in the time of ten months] i.e. lunar months. Cp. Verg. Ed. iv. 61
"Matri longa decem tulerant fastidia menses," and 4 Mace. xvi. 7,
though in 2 Mace. vii. 27 the period is the more usual one of nine
months. x\ine calendar months are about equal to ten lunar months.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 2—6. 65
Being compacted in blood of the seed of man and pleasure
that came with sleep.
And I also, when I was born, drew in the common air, 3
And fell upon the 'kindred earth.
Uttering, like all, for my first voice, the selfsame wail :
In swaddling clothes was I nursed, and Vith watchful QB.xes. 4
For no king had any other first beginning ; 5
But all men have one entrance into life, and a like de- 6
parture.
^ Gr. of like qualities. 2 q^ ^-^^
in blood] Cp. Job x. ro, ir; 4 Mace. xiii. rp, and St John i. 13
" born, not of blood." The blood stands for all the material substance
contributed by the mother to the growth of the embryo.
3. when. ..born'] The circumstances of his first moments were com-
pletely normal, born covers only v. 3, i.e. not in infancy and youth,
but first experiences only. Issuing from the womb, he drank in every
man's air, he "fell" upon every man's earth, he uttered every man's
panting cry.
fell jipon] Cp. Is. xxvi. 18 (G. A. Smith in Exp. Bible) ''neither
have inhabitants of the world been born" R.V. marg. (have fallen,
R.V. text).
the kindred earth] If kindred is right, Solomon means that Earth
was his mother no less than of others, and that he was only common
clay. But the sense of the prec. and succeeding clauses requires that
ofjLoio-rrad'qs should mean something like "that sufters the same thing
at the hands of all her children." The point of the adjective is not
to show that Solomon and the earth were related, but Solomon and
other men. ofi. occurs twice in N.T. Acts xiv. 15; James v. 17,
meaning '"of like passions": the word is used here in a very strained
sense. Grimm's suggestion that it means " aequa tellus" (Hor. Od. ii. 18)
will not do, as the word must have a passive significance. " Impartial "
would require a different compound of ofMOLOS.
Uttering, like all,] Text reads with B, ■ko.clv l<ja KKoXiiiv. For la a, cp.
Phil. ii. 6.
Farrar quotes Sir Wm Jones (from the Persian) :
*' On mother's knee, a naked new-born child
Sad thou didst weep, while all around thee smiled."
4. Note the quaint collocation of swaddling-clothes and cares.
Solomon in his infant years experienced the ordinary homely needs (cp.
St Luke ii. 7). The touch of humour recalls the famous speech of the
nurse in the Choephori of Aeschylus. Cp. 4 Mace. xvi. 8.
6. no king] i.e. no man however great.
frst beginning] Vulg. natiuitatis initium, cp. ch. vi. 22, lit. "be-
ginning of birth." There is a reference to v. 2.
6. a like departure] Cp. Eccl. ix. 3.
WISDOM 5
 66 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 7—10.
7 For this cause I prayed, and understanding was given me :
I called upon God, and there came to me a spirit of v;isdom.
8 I preferred her before sceptres and thrones,
And riches I esteemed nothing in comparison of her.
9 Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem.
Because all the gold of the earth in her presence is a little
sand,
And silver shall be accounted as clay before her.
10 Above health and comeliness I loved her.
And I chose to have her rather than light,
Ch. VII. 7 — 14. Solomon's estimate of Wisdom.
7. Having no natural advantage over other men, he took the course
open to all alike, and prayed, see ch. viii. 21, and ix. Cp. James i. 5,
understanding\ See i Kings iii. 11, 12. The Gk^ word ((ppovrjaii)
is here merely a poetical variant for wisdom, cp. i Kings iv. -29 : the
parallelism of the clauses does not contrast the ideas but repeats them.
IVas £wen, came to nu show how completely Solomon depended on
inspiration for his wisdom. Was given, cp. ch. viii. 21.
called upon God] For the Gk. verb without object expressed, cp.
Acts vii. 59.
spirit of wisdom^ Cp. Ex. xxxi. 3; Lk. xi. 13; Eph. i. 17. Rightly
"a spirit of w.," wisdom being the subjective wisdom, answering to
understanding in prec. /.
8. sceptres']
Wisdom Solomon
will brook contrasts
no rivals himself
: she must with thefirst.
be placed kings of ch. vi. 11.
riches] Cp. i Kings iii. 11. See also Job xxviii. 15 — 19; Prov.
iii. 14, 15, viii. 10, 11; Ps. xix. 10, cxix. 72, 127.
9. priceless gem] lit. unpriced, 3 Mace. iii. 23 ; cp. Prov. iii. 15,
viii. II. Farrar quotes Richard J II. i. 2.
"I thought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels."
all the gold of the earth] Cp. Philo, Cong. § 20 " Every deed wrought
according to wisdom is more precious than gold."
ifi her presence] iv oxj/ei. avTTJs, cp. ch. iii. 4, xv. 19. Vulgate has
in comparatione, not quite accurately.
silver... as clay] The comparison recalls the depreciation in the value
of silver in Solomon's reign, i Kings x. 21; 2 Chron. i. 15.
10. Above health and comeliness] 1 would rather be wise than well.
The sentiment has a flavour of asceticism hardly true in the mouth
of the real Solomon. On the importance attached to health, see Ecclus.
xxx. 15 "Health and a good constitution are better than all gold, and
a stroiig body than wealth without measure. There is no riches better
than health of body-"
/ chose] The Gk. verb is the classical word for deliberate moral
choice.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 10—13. 67
Because her bright shining is never laid to sleep.
But with her there came to me all good things together, 11
And in her hands innumerable riches :
And I rejoiced over the)Ji all because wisdom leadeth them; 12
Though I knew not that she was the ^mother of them.
As I learned without guile, I impart without grudging ; 13
I do not hide her riches.

- Some authorities x^z-d^ first origin.

rather The
taken. thannext
light~\ Again shows
/., however, an exaggerated
the meaningprofession,
to be thatif heliterally
could
find nothing so stable and unvarying as Wisdom, not even the light of
day.
nez'er laid to slecp\ Cp. w. 29, 30. There is no night that alternates
with Wisdom, as with the day. Wisdom needs no sleep as does the
wearied sun. Philo, Migr. §8 "Wisdom is the archetypal light of God,
whose image and copy is the sun." (pds in 10 b is the light-source,
contrasted with 0^7705 in 10 c. the light-rays.
11. with her there came] Prov. viii. 21, x. 22. For the historical
reference, cp. 2 Chron. i. 12 ; Ecclus. xlvii. 18.
in her hands... riches] Cp. Prov. iii. 16.
12. What he sacrificed for Wisdom's sake, he received back with joy
in Wisdom's name. He loved what she brought him, and he had her
to direct him in the use of it. The ideal Solomon is seen here, but the
real appears in Ecclus. xlvii. 19, 20.
Though I kneii' not] i.e. when he prayed. There was no ulterior
motive in his cry for Wisdom : his sole desire was for spiritual benefits.
the mother of them] Text reads with A yeueriv, while XB have
y€ve<XLv, as Tna.rg. first origin. The original may even have been the
masc. form yevirriu, which was changed by some over-sensitive scribe.
For Philo {Fuga § 9) has "Let us not pay too much heed to words, but
say that wisdom, the daughter of God, is male and a father, begetting
in
cp.souls learning,
Philo, £br. §education,
8, where fair deeds.'"
Wisdom If yevenv
is called the ("mother') is read,
bride of God, and
spiritual mother of all things, and of God's first-born son, the world.
Wisdom comes to Solomon, leading {riyelTon) her children-blessings,
and giving them their value by letting them accompany her train.
13. learned] learned is in direct contrast with knew not, v. 12.
What he learnt was what he had been ignorant of, viz. that Wisdom
was the All-mother. Without guile. What he attained in this way, he
will count no robber's prize, but will transmit without grudging. He
will not exploit his spiritual privileges.
without griidging] Cp. ch. vi. 23, and i Pet. iv. 10. Philo {Gig. § 9)
writes " Is not their disgrace obvious, who call themselves wise, and
yet barter wisdom, like auctioneers in the market?"
do not hide] Cp. ch. vi. 22, and Ps. xl. 9, 10.
 68 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 14, 15.
14 For she is unto men a treasure that faileth not,
And they that use it ^ obtain friendship with God,
Commended io him 'by the gifts which they through disci-
pline present to hi7?i.

15 But to me may God give to speak ^with judgement,

1 Gr. prepare for themselves. ^ Gr. for the sake of the presents that
comt of discipline. ^ Qi, according to \{\s ?nind Ox, according to
my mind
14. Wisdom belongs to the spiritual sphere, and can purchase for
men the friendship of God, by the result.s she enables them to achieve.
There is a singular likeness of tone and language between this passage
and St Luke xvi. 9.
that faileth not] Cp. St Luke xii. 33 aveKkeiirTOV.
they that use it] For the unusual ace. with xP'n<^^°-^^ cp. i Cor. vii. 31,
and for the sense, cp. i Tim. iii. 13.
obtain friendship] The Gk. verb (gnomic aor.) is a colourless word,
cp. ch. xiv. I. For friendship with God, see v. 27 ; Is. xli. 8 ; James
ii. 23. Philo {Abr. § 46) has " God, loving a man for his faith in Him,
gives him a pledge in return, confirming by an oath His promise of
gifts, no longer speaking as God to man, but conversing with him as a
friend with an acquaintance."
Co77nncnded] For the Gk. verb, cp. 1 Mace. xii. 43 ; Rom. xvi. i.
by the gifts which they throtigh discipline present to him] lit. gifts
fro7n discipline. Cp. ch. iii. 14. They commend themselves to God by
deeds so prompted by discipline that they are God-like in character,
and accordingly are offerings to God well-pleasing to Him. Such
spiritual
an Eastern gifts are compared to those which recommend a \-isitor to
monarch.
This seems to be the sense required by the prec. words, but the
more lit. translation of marg. offers another possibility. ^^ Men are com-
mended lo God for the sake of (\.q. that they, not God, may receive) the
presents that come of discipline.''' This rendering is more true to the
Gk., and emphasizes the bounty of God, cp. Philo, Post. C § 43 " God
practises a certain economy with His gifts, withdrawing the earlier ones
before men can become surfeited with them, and substituting continually
new gifts for old. He measures His gifts to suit the capacity of the
receivers." For discipline, which is one aspect of Wisdom, cp. ch. i. 5.

Ch. vn. 15— 22a. Solomon's ENCYCLOP.iDic wisdom, and the

ACKNOWLEDGED SOURCE OF IT.
15. to me may God give] So the best MSS. (6^77)- A.V. hath
granted follows an inferior reading. As Solomon approaches the climax
of his task, in true classical style he invokes the aid of heaven. Cp.
" Musa, mihi memora causas."
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 15—17. 69

Andme\ to conceive thoughts worthy of what ^hath been given

Because himself is one that guideth even wisdom and that
correcteth the wise.
For in his hand are both w-e and our words ; 16
All understanding, and all acquaintance with divers crafts.
For himself gave me an unerring knowledge of the things 17
that are,
To know the constitution of the world, and the operation
of the elements \
^ Some authorities read is said.

to speak with jiidg'e7nenf\ The Gk. Karo. -^/voju-qv can in this con-
nection bear several meanings, but the first marginal alternative is to be
preferred, according to his mind, i.e. God's.
thoughts worthy\ Text does not quite represent the Greek, which is
"to think
talents in a manner
faithfully. Theworthy
theme ofdeserves
what hath
to been
find agiven. '" i.e. adequately
prophet to u?e my
prepared; an uniit- medium can misrepresent the divinest subject. Text
follows B and Vulgate in reading oeooueuojv : miarg. is said gives the
reading of 5^A Xeyoaevcjv, which (though supported by the Syr., Arm.
and Ar. versions) Grimm shows to be a gloss.
Because himself is one] The reason why he appeals to God. God
is the ultimate source, even for Wisdom.
that guideth even -wisdom] Cp. St John viii. 28, ig. For 651776s
"guide" used literally, see ch. xviii. 3 ; i Mace. iv. 2 ; 2 Mace. v. 15.
that correcteth] Vulg. emendator. Wisdom only needs direction ;
wise men make mistakes, which require correction.
16. in his hand] Derived from God and dependent on Him,
cp. I Chr. xxix. 12; Job xii, 10; Ecclus. x. 4, 5.
and our words] Cp. Ex. iv. ir.
All understanding] i.e. practical wisdom.
acquaintance with divers crafts] Ability to design and skill to
execute. Cp. Ex. xxxi. 3 — 5, of Bezaleel.
17. For himself gave me] A reiteration with special reference to
Solomon of the general truth enunciated in v. 15. Himself \s again the
emphatic word.
knowledge of the things that are] i.e. of "the sum of things." "A
knowledge of nature" is roughly what is intended.
the constitution of the world] The Gk. (crutrracris) means the composition
of the world, i.e. the principles of its harmonious self-consistence (Plato,
Timcutis 32 E), or the organisation of the elements, cp. Philo, Q. R. D. H.
§57 "The tour principles and powers of which the world is composed
{a\]vk<jr7]K€v\."
the elements] i.e. earth, air, lire, water (cp. ch. xiii. 2, xix. 18), the
four elements into which substance was first resolved by Empedocles,
 70 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 18—20.
18 The beginning and end and middle of times,
The alternations of the solstices and the changes of seasons,
19 The circuits of years and the ^positions of stars ;
20 The natures of living creatures and the ragings of wild
beasts,
^ Or, constellations

who styled them "roots of all," see Zeller, Outlines, p. 72. Plato
was the first to suggest the name aroLx^la {Theaet. 201 E, Tifn. 48 b),
which passed down through the Stoics into Judaeo-Alexandrinism
and the system of Philo. So familiar were all literati at Alexandria
with Greek philosophical terms, that the writer of Wisdom may have
used them freely, even if possessed of no first-hand acquaintance with
Greek philosophy.
18. Chronology and astronomy. Times does not refer either to
historical periods or to eschatology, but to "days, months, and years,"'
see Philo, Opif. § 19. Beginning, j?iiddle, and end occur together in
Philo, Q. R. D. H. § 25 in connection with the perfect number. The
study of the mystic properties of numbers was keenly pursued at
Alexandria, and accordingly a reference may be seen here to the relation
between the regulation of the calendar and mathematical calculations.
Philo points to this in Opif. § 19 " Time teaches the nature of number.'"
solstices... seasons'] The words for solstices (Tpoirai, lit. turnings) and
changes of seasons {/xera^oXal) occur together frequently in Philo {de Cong.
% 19 ; Somn. i. § 3 ; Q.R.D. H. § 50). The former is the classical
word for the solstices : Philo writes of the summer and winter solstices
in Q.R.D.H. § 27: for his explanation of the phenomenon, see § 29.
19. circuits of years] The expression is used by Philo [Somn. i. § 3)
for the succession of seasons which complete the year. Grimm renders
by the \ndtitxm\r\diit/ahrercuechsc'L Perhaps we should render "cycles."
positions of stars'] Probably as marg., their relative positions, i.e. as
constellations, cp. Philo, Cong. § 24 " the company of stars moving
round in their ordered ranks," although "their positions at various
times of the year" (as in text) is possible. Deane sees a reference to
solar and lunar cycles and methods of intercalation, whereby sacred
and civil reckonings were determined. Possibly there is a reference to
astrology, or to the
20. Zoology, predictionsbotany.
psychology, of eclipses (Cic(Q.de R.N^at.
Philo D. Deor. ii. speaks
H. § 22) 61).
of plants and animals, as the natures which lie midway between heaven
and earth. Josephus writes "Solomon spoke parables about all sorts
of living creatures ; for he was not unacquainted with any of their
natures."
The natures of living creatures] He knew the habits and ways of
animals generally. Deane notes allusions to the life and habits of
animals in Prov. vi. 6 — 8, xxvi. 2, 11, xxx. 15, 19, 25 — 31.
the ragings of ivild beasts] Ragmgs plur. partly because of the plural
subject " wild beasts," partly to indicate the varying expressions of their
courage and ferocity.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 20—22. 71

The violences of ^ winds and the thoughts of men,

The diversities of plants and the virtues of roots :
All things that are either secret or manifest I learned, 21
For she that is the artificer of all things taught me, eveti 22
wisdom.
^ Or, spirits

The violences of7i<inds\ Vulgate iiim uentorum. There can be little

doubt that text and Vulgate are right. Cp. ch. iv. 4 and a similar passage
in Diog. Laert. Heraclitus ix. 1, 6. The phrase itself occurs in Philo,
Opif. § 19, which suggests that the meaning here is that Solomon
could predict storms and tides.
Grimm makes an interesting suggestion that as Solomon is taking
various objects in pairs, iri>€vfj.dTu}v ^tas should go with ihou^^hts of
men, and mean (see marg. ) j//riVj whether good or evil, including human
spirits. He quotes Jos. Atit. 8. 2. 5 " God enabled S. to learn that
skill which expels demons, a science useful and sanative to men."
Cp. R. Browning's Abt Vogler, which reflects the power over spirits
ascribed to Solomon by Eastern legends. But 8ia% would be an
unlikely word in combination with irv. in this sense.
thoughts of men'] His intuition enabled him to forecast the working
of men's minds. Something less abstract than psychology (Deane) is
intended, viz. that sensitiveness of perception which enabled him to
decide perplexing cases (i Kings iii. 16 — 28), or to tell the Queen of
Sheba "all her questions," i Kings x. 3.
Thediversities
various of plants']
species The phrase
of plants, occurs
and their usesin inPhilo, Somn. i. § 35.
medicine.
the virtues of roots] Josephus [Ant. 8. 2. 5) tells of a root (known
to Solomon) with which he saw a Jewish exorcist, in presence of
Vespasian and Titus, draw out an evil spirit through the nostrils of
a demoniac. For the virtues inherent in herbs, cp. Ecclus. xxxviii.
4 — 6, and for Solomon's legendary lore in botany and natural history,
cp. I Kings iv. 33.
21. secret or manifest] Facts and the true deductions from them ;
natural objects and their laws, properties and uses ; the sequences of
cause and effect ; portents and their obscure significance : Solomon
was made master of these, in all their subtle complexities.
22. she that is the artificer of all things] Cp. ch. viii. 6, xiv. 2 ;
Philo, Det. Pot. § 16 " Wisdom, through whom the sum of things was
completed." Two points should be noted, (i) God is represented as
making nothing directly : the agent of His creative will was Wisdom
(ch. ix. 1, 2), who is therefore called universal artificer. (2) In line
with this aloofness of God, this verse tells that Wisdom was Solomon's
teacher, although in v. 15 he writes "may God give me... for Himself
is guide," and in v. 17 "Himself gave me an unerring knowledge."
God thus is the teacher because quifacitper alimn facit per se ; but the
writer rarely attributes unmediated action to God. A similar identifica-
tion is seen in Acts vii. 30, 33. For Wisdom as teacher, see ch.ix. 17.
72 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 22.
For there is in her a spirit quick of understanding, holy,

Ch. VII. 22 b— Ch. VIII. 1. The nature of Wisdom.

22 — 24, The qualities of Wisdom: 25, 26, her derivation;

27 — viii. 1, her activities.

Wisdom is described in a series of twenty-one epithets. The number

is no doubt intentional, 7 and 3 being sacred numbers : 7 symbolised
completeness, while 3 was the Divine number. Similar series may
be seen in St James iii. 17, 18, of the "Wisdom from above'';
and in Philo, Sacr. § 5 where 11 companions of pleasure and 34 of
virtue are named, and as many as 147 epithets are lavished upon the
lover of pleasure. Cleanthes named 26 characteristics of "the good,"
Clem. Alex. Protr. 6. 72. It may be that this passage, which is the
heart of the book, won for it the name of Ilavdperos Zo(pLa, ''the
Wisdom which comprises all virtues" (Introd. § i). Is Wisdom with her
many names to be identified with the " Logos of the many names" of
the Stoics? Philo calls W. the "many-named" {A//, i. § 14), but if there
is to be an identification, it must be for a different reason. Bois,
0}-igines, pp. 230 — 260, argues that, although in the flux of Alexandrian
thought it is difficult to arrive at any definiteness, nevertheless Wisdom
is identified by Pseudo-Solomon with so many of the concepts (Justice,
Providence, Power) with which the Logos was identified by the Stoics,
that their provinces overlap and almost coincide. But there is probably
no conscious identification : for the writer of Wisdom, Wisdom was the
rallying-point around which the floating concep'.ions gathered which in
Greek philosophy had made the Logos their centre (Introd. § 9).
22. For there is ift her a spirit] For explains how it was that
Wisdom taught him. The reading of text in her is that of XB, sup-
ported byfour versions. A reads omtti ("For she is a spirit"), but the old
Latin, which supports SB, shows that iv ai/ry is at least very early. The
MS. evidence requires that iv should be retained, iy avry may either
be rendered as in text, the spirit being the essential life-principle of
Wisdom (cp. Job xxxii. 8) and therefore identical with her ; or it may be
read as iv ain-y " Wisdom is in herself a spirit," cp. v. 27. The former
rendering is to be preferred,
^uick of u7iderstanding\ The word voepo% is a technical Stoic term,
denoting " possessed of mind." It indicates (not degree of mental
capacity, but) the possession of mental faculty in distinction from non-
possession of it. The Stoics taught that there was a " rational" world-
soul, the Logos, of which men are emanations
holy\ For holy spirit as synonym of Wisdom, see ch. ix. 17. In
neither case is there any thought of the Third Person of the Trinity.
The original significance of holy was not ethical so much as meta-
physical or ceremonial, so that anything divine was " holy." But later,
as the ethical side of the Being of God became more clearly realized,
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 22. 73

* Alone in kind, manifold,

Subtil, freely moving,
Clear in utterance, unpolluted,
Distinct, unharmed.
Loving what is good, keen, unhindered,
^ Gr. Sole-born.

holy gained in moral content until it came to denote especially the

morally good. See Davidson. TheoL of O.T. p. 148. Holy has a
moral significance here, cp. Philo, Fuga § 35. Holy spirit occurs only
three times in O.T. (Ps. li. 11; Is. Ixiii. 10, 11).
Alone in kind'] The meaning of fwvoyevks must be determined by
its contrast with ma7iifold. Just as the Stoics believed in one world-
soul with countless manifestations, so the author teaches that Wisdom
is unique yet manifold. For the Greek word, cp. St John i. 14; and
Clem. Rom. xxv. of the phoenix. Grimm renders "sole in its kind,
existing only in one example,'' and cites the analogous antithesis of the
One Spirit and His diverse gifts, in i Cor. xii. 11.
For 77ianifold, cp. Heb. i. i and Philo, All. iii. 59, where the Logos
is compared to a coriander seed, of which "gardeners say it can be cut
into minute fragments, every one of which can be sown as successfully
as if it were the original seed : so is the Logos, beneficial all through
and in every part."
S7ibtil\ The Gk. 'XeTrhv is used of the manna in Ex. xvi. 14 ff.,
meaning ihi7t, fiite. Philo {All. iii. 59) applies it to the Logos in the
sense of minuteness, transparency, purity. The thought here is of a
being altogether spiritual in essence.
freely 77iovi7ig\ Cp. d^vKiurjTos "swiftly moving" (of the Logos) in
Philo, CAer. §9; and v. 24. Farrar cites an old gloss, which makes it
mean almost udi'jnitous.

Is.clear
xxxv. i7i6.uttera7ice'\
Wisdom, whoVulg.makes
diserius. For isrpavbs,
eloquent, herself cp. ch. x. 21,
eloquent. and
Others
render penetrati7tg.
ti7ipoll7ited'\ Being possessed of creative purity, she cannot contract
impurity.
distinct] Giving no uncertain sound, as a moral guide.
U7iharmed] i.e. not liable to suffering or injury, cp. Zeno, in Diog.
Laert. vii. 72, 147, "God can be touched by no harm,"' in contrast with
Matter, which the Stoics called " passible," cp. Philo, Opif. § 2 irad-qTov.
lovi7ig 7vhat is ^ood] In Philo, Sacr. § 5, goodness is one of thirty-
four qualities attending upon Virtue, who describes herself as a " hater
of evil."
keen] Cp. Heb. iv. 12. Philo, Q. R. D. H. § 26, has "God cuts...
with His Logos which acts upon all things like a knife."
Wisdom is keen like a knife, and therefore penetrating, and in her
activities is unhi/tdered. She divides, arranges, and unites Matter.
 74 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 22—24.
Beneficent, 23 loving toward man,
Stedfast, sure, free from care,
All-powerful, all-surveying,
And penetrating through all spirits
That are quick of understanding, pure, most subtil :
24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion ;
Yea, she pervadeth and penetrateth all things by reason of
her pureness.

Beneficent']
benefactor See ch. x. 10. Clem. R. § lix. calls God the one
of spirits.
23. loving toward niati] Cp. ch. i. 6, xii. 19. This quality is one
of those named by Philo {Sacr. § 5), as attending on Virtue.
This and the preceding word form a pair : philanthropic denotes the
inward disposition of good will, of which beneficent implies the practical
manifestation.
free from care] Cp. ch. vi. r;. Wisdom is self-contained and self-
sufficing, and is therefore free from worldly care. Her lofty interests
make her sure and steadfast, leaving her uiidistracted by the appeal
of created things. For a commentary on the word, cp. M. Arnold's
lyric "Self-dependence."
all-poiverful] Cp. ch. xi. 17, xviii. 15. The rest of w. 23, 24
emphasize the universality of Wisdom.
all-siirveying\ Cp. ch. i. 6 — 10 and Prov. xv. 3. A similar word is
applied to God in 2 Mace. ix. 5; Ep. Polyc. vii. ; Clem. Rom. Ixiv.
Cp. Philo, All. iii. § 59 " The word of God is very keen of vision, so
that he can survey all things."
andallthespirits'] spirits inincarnate
latter whether the wddest sense, whether angelic or human,
or discarnate.
Penetratitig thi'ough indicates a very close spiritual intimacy: but
Wisdom cannot enter into all spirits, but into those only which have
the necessary affinity with her, viz. those which are quick of under-
standing (men, as self-determining and self-conscious agents), pure
(angels, as immaterial beings), subtil (men, in so far as they are
refined through purity).
24. tnore mobile] This clause is closely connected with the pre-
ceding, and explains the penetrating power of Wisdom.
She is like the air, whose omnipresence explained or suggested to
the Stoics the Divine omnipresence. To pervade and to penetrate
were technical words in Stoic philosophy for describing the diffusion
of the world-soul, cp. Diog. La. vii. 70, 138, 139, 147. The reason
for all this is htr pureness, the simple uncompoundedness of her essence :
there is in her nothing gross or of the earth. Her puretiess is meta-
physical rather than moral. For mobile, cp. Philo's description of the
Logos in Cher. § 9, and Thales in Diog. La. i. 9, 35 "Mind is the
speediest thing there is: it courses through all things."
 THE WISDOxM OF SOLOMON VII. 25, 26. 75

For she is a ^breath of the power of God, 25

And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty;
Therefore can nothing defiled find entrance into her.
For she is an effulgence from everlasting light, 26
^ Gr. vapour.

vv. 25, 26. The derivation of Wisdom.

The emphasis in these vv. lies not so much upon breath, effluence,
effulge)ice, mirror^ image, as upon power, glory, light, tuorking, good-
ness. As that which is born of spirit is spirit, so Wisdom as emanating
from the Divine possessor of these attributes, possesses them herself by
inherent right. Poruer, glory, light, ivoj-king, goodness are part of her
very essence. Her origin only emphasizes her personal prerogatives :
her derivation is of little importance, unless derivation connotes identity.
25. aWisdom
power. breath'] isCp.
andEcclus. xxiv. 3.
has Divine As ancp.exhalation
power, ch. i. 3. of the Divine
ejffluence\ Cp. Philo, Fuga § 9 "Wisdom is the virgin daughter of
God, of inviolate and stainless nature because of her own nobleness and
of the honour of him who begat her." Ejffluence denotes the outflow
of either water or light. For the former, cp. Ecclus. i. 9; Enoch
xlix. I " Wisdom... poured out like water"; Philo, All. i. 19, of a
stream flowing out of a river : for the latter, which is to be preferred
(see Grimm, p. 160), cp. Ez. i. 13 (Aquila), and Athenag. [Apol. x.),
who calls the Holy Spirit the "effluence of God," being to Him as its
rays are to the sun. The word clear is used here, like pure above, to
emphasize the immateriality of Wisdom, cp. Philo, Opif. § 8 "No
sensible object is clear.'" There is nothing in her to mar lh.e glory (i.e.
glory of light, cp. next v.) which she inherits. Wisdom has a glory of
her own, cp. ch. ix. ir.
nothi^ig defiled] Being immaterial, and also partaker of the divine
glory, she has nothing in her that can contract stain. The Gk. verb
denotes an insidious approach on the part of defilement : what cannot
conquer her might seek to beguile her. But her nature, and not her
mere habit is U7ipolluied, z^. 22. Cp. Philo, Fuga § 9 on prec. /.
26. effulgence] It is natural to see here the source of the expres-
sions applied to the Son in Heb. i. 3. But both effulgence and
image [xo-paKT-qp), cp. Philo, Plant. § 5, are words of common
occurrence in Philo, and consequently the borrowing is hardly more
certain in this case than in ch. v. 17 — 19. The meaning of airavyaafxa
here is disputed. It means either the light emitted from a luminary,
or the reflection of the luminary. Philo, Opif. § 51, Plant. § 12, uses
airavy. as "reflection," and the context makes this rendering the more
probable. In this v. it is coupled with mirror and image, with both
of which "reflection" is more allied than "eff"ulgence." Again, there
is a contrast between z'. 25 and v. 26, the former emphasizing a relation
to God by emanation, the latter by reflection.
 76 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 26, 27.
And an unspotted mirror of the working of God,
And an image of his goodness.
27 And she, being one, hatli power to do all things ;
And remaining in herself, reneweth all things :
And from generation to generation passing into holy souls
everlasting light] For God as light, see Is. Ix. 19, 20, and i John i. 5.
Everlasting in its original sense of "unbeginning and unending," cp.
ch. ii. 23. Wisdom was, before the world was created: accordingly
her light is superior to created light, v. 29.
an imspotted mirror] Vulg. speculum sine macula. If Wisdom is
in her essence an emanation from the Divine power, v. 25, she is a
faithful representation of that power in its concrete manifestation.
Her operations do not belie her origin.
image of his goodmss] According to Philo, power and goodness are
the greatest attributes of God, and Wisdom shares the latter as well as
the former, v. 25. She is the means of its manifestation, being its
image : through her God reveals His character as lover of men and
good. Image [elKu/u) is frequently used of the Logos by Philo, Fuga § 19,
Con/. I. § 28. For image as expressing representation and manifesta-
tion, see Lightfoot on Col. i. 15. God's goodness was His motive in
creation, cp. ch. xi. 24 — xii. i, and accordingly His intermediary is
.shown to exhibit the same characteristic.

V. 27 — Ch. VIII. 1. The activity of Wisdom in the

PHYSICAL AND MORAL WORLD.

27. she, deing one. ..all things] The same contrast as in v. 22

"alone in kind, manifold." Wisdom is one in essence, yet manifold in
effective operation. The universality of her domain, dwelt on in 23 b
and 24, is again referred to : though she is but one, her influence is
felt everywhere.
remaining in hej'self, renexveth] Wisdom is unchanging and un-
changeable, yet the agent of all change. She is the vital force by
which the world lives: she suffers no decrease, needs no increase, but
the world with its deaths and resurrections lives by her life. Cp. Ps.
civ. 30. Philo, Q. R.D. H. § 31, writes "God's art (Wisdoni), wherewith
He fashioned all things, admits of neither tension nor siackenmg, but
abiding the same (/x€vov<ra 7? air-^j has fashioned perfectly each thing in
its degree." Anaxagoras (Arist. Phys. 8. 5) taught that Mind (vovs) was
the cause of all change and movement in the universe : while producing
variation all around, itself remamed constant and stable. But the idea
is found in O.T. See Ps. cii. 27, 28.
passing into holy souls] As with things, so with men. Her mobility
is exercised in all ages and on the spiritual no less than on the material
plane, see v. 23 b. But her operations are limited by the worthiness of
men, see ch. i. 4, 5, vi. 16 : where there is no affinity, there can be no
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 27—29. -]-]
She maketh men friends of God and prophets.
For nothing doth God love save him that dwelleth with 28
wisdom.
For she is fairer than the sun, 29

inspiration, Cp. St John xiv. 21, 23, and Prov. xxii. 11 LXX. "The
Lord loveth holy hearts."
friends of God] The phrase is practically without LXX. precedent:
it occurs in A.V. twice, where it is used of Abraham, 2 Chron. xx. 7
and Is. xli. 8, but in neither case is the phrase represented in LXX. by
'friend' (0iXos). But Philo, Sobr. § 11 quotes Gen. xviii, 17, with the
addition of the words "my friend." From St James ii. 23 the expression
passed into Christian literature, while a similar use is found in St John
XV. 14, 15. The origin of the phrase is perhaps to be sought in Greek
philosophy. In his note on St James ii. 23, J. B. Mayor quotes
examples from Xenophon, Plato (twice) and Epictetus. Philo,
Q. R. D. H. % ^ has "All wise men are friends of God," and "friend of
God" appears also in Epict. ii. 17; while Diogenes (Diog. Laert.
vi. 2, 37j playfully argued: "All things belong to the gods: the wise
zxt friends of the gods: the property of friends is common: therefore
all things belong to the wise.''
maketh... prophets'] The Gk. verb is the same as in ch. ix, 2 (R.V.
formedst). Wisdom has a creative effect upon holy souls: she adopts
them into the Divine relation which she herself has inherited. Probably
the writer has in mind not the ordinary prophet who fell into a trance or
experienced moments of half-frenzied inspiration, but the prophet of a
rare type such as Moses, who is (Numb. xii. 7) expressly differentiated
from the ecstatic prophet. It is perhaps from Moses and not from
Abraham (although the latter is currently known in the East as EI
Khalil "the friend") that the phrase "friend of God" is drawn; see
Ex. xxxiii. II. The prophet (e.g. Abraham, Gen. xx. 7, and Moses) not
only spoke from God to men, Ex. xx. 19, but to God for men, Ex. v.
22, 23, xxxii. 32. Philo, Q. R. D. H. % ^ has an interesting paragraph
on the boldness of Moses' speech with God, who "dared to speak to God
in a way that men would not speak to a king. But it was not insolence,
it was confident trust. Freedom of speech is the sign o{ friendship', to
whom might a man speak his heart if not to his fjiend ?"
28. save him that dwelleth with wisdom] The metaphor is from
marriage, cp. ch. viii. 2, 9, 16. The thought is more strong and unqualified
than the writer allows elsewhere, cp. ch. xi. 24, although Philo, Quod
Dens § 34, writes of Wisdom "through her alone can suppliant souls
escape for refuge to the Unbeginning One." This v. is one of those
that seem to anticipate, if not suggest, teachings in the Fourth Gospel,
cp. St John xiv. 6 b, xvi. 27.
29. For she is fairer] Cp. Song vi. 9. Philo, Ebr. § 11 writes
"When the knowledge of Him who is shines forth, it illuminates all
around it till it darkens the things that seem to be most bright in
themselves." The sun as a single object of radiant glory, the stars in
 7Z THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VII. 29— VIII. 2.
And above ^all the constellations of the stars:
Being compared with light, she is found to be before it;
30 For -to the light of day succeedeth night,
But against wisdom evil doth not prevail;
8 But she "reacheth from one end of the world to the other
with full strength,
And ordereth all things ^graciously.
2 Her I loved and sought out from my youth,
And I sought to take her for my bride,
^ Gr. every arrangement of stars. ^ Gr. to this. ^ Or, reacheth
frofti etid onward unto end mightily ^ Ox ^ unto good use
their manifold groupings, cannot vie ^^^th her in beauty : while for
steadfastness the daylight is not to be compared with her.
30.a fabricated
that doth not preiail'\ Philo,
tale should Mos. so
quench iii.bright
37 writes "He ofwas
a beam thatgrieved
truth,
upon which the eclipse neither of sun nor of all the army of stars could
cast a shadow. For it shines \vith an immaterial light of its own, in
comparison with which physical light would be as night to day."
With this faith in the invincibleness of Wisdom, cp. St John i. 5 "The
light shineth in darkness, and the darkness overcame it not." Cp. also
R. Browning "One who. ..never dream'd, though right were worsted,
wrong would triumph."
viii. 1. reacheth] Grimm points out that the Divine activities were
viewed by Philo as an extension (or out-reaching) of the Being of God.
This V. therefore points to the function of Wisdom as an emanation from
Him. Cp. Philo, Migr. § 32 "This universe is held together by
unseen powers, which the demiurge stretched irora the ends of the earth
to the uttermost part of heaven. Now these powers are chains that
cannot be broken." Plato, Tim. 34 B speaks of God making a kind of
world ->oul. which He spread (or stretched) throughout the whole {h-ewe
5ia iravTos).
ordereth] The prec. clause points to the support of the world, this
to its go%-emment, by Wisdom. The Gk. word was in common use
among the Stoics, who debated the question, "Is the world ordered
{5t,oiK€iTaL) by providence?"
Ch. VIII. 2— 21. Solomon desires to take Wisdom for
HIS BRIDE.
w. 2— 8. Her moral and intellectual supremacy.
2. from 7?iy youth] Cp. Ecclus. vi. 18, li. 13.
??iy bride] Solomon is compelled to resort to the use of this image,
if he is to express adequately the intimacy and the fruitfulness of his
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VIII. 2-4. 79
And I became enamoured of her beauty.
She glorifieth her noble birth in that it is given her to live 3
with God,
And the Sovereign Lord of all loved her.
For she is initiated into the knowledge of God, 4

relation to Wisdom. The picture is one which reverence Avould forbid

any but a mystic to employ, but it is to be found also in Philo, Cong.
§ 14, where it is extended, and Wisdom is seen as mother as well as wife.
Philo also describes himself as having in his youth loved one of the
handmaids of Wisdom, Grammar, who bore children to him, writing,
reading, and history. Philo's language shows clearly the danger of un-
seemliness, which always threatens the mystical use of sensuous images.
became enamoured} Cp. Plato, Pkaedrus 250 D " O what marvellous
love would Wisdom cause to spring up in the hearts of men, if she sent
forth a clear likeness of herself also, even as Beauty doth ! " (tr. J. A.
Stewart).
3. her noble birth'] Does a man look for noble birth in his bride ?
Who fulfils his requirements more truly than Wisdom? she is the
offspring of God. Cp. vii. 25, 26, and Philo, Ftiga § 9, where she is
called "daughter of God."
to live with God] Image is piled on image without regard to incon-
gruity, and Wisdom is called the Bride of God. The Greek word (V^ulg.
contuberniujn) suggests this meaning unreservedly, and a similar idea is
found in Philo, Ebr. § 8 " We shall be justified in calling the Creator the
Father of the world, and His knowledge its Mother, with whom God
dwelt and whom He made mother of the Creation, yet not after the
manner of a man." In the O.T. the closeness of Jehovah's relation to
His people Israel is often expressed by the figure of marriage, cp.
Is. 1. I, Ixii. 4, 5 ; Hos. ii. 19, 20. vv. 2, 3 illustrate the limitations of
symbolism. Symbolism, can never view a situation as a whole, only in
detail: as one point after another catches its eye, it throws off a rapid
picture of each. Taken singly and without relation to each other, these
pictures are suggestive : in combination, they are grotesque and im-
possible. E.g. the characterisations of Wisdom as Bride of Solomon,
Daughter of God and Bride of God are mutually exclusive: taken
together, they present the reductio ad absurdum of symbolism.
And] Vulg. j-^i/^/, "yea, and."
loved her] Cp. Prov. viii. 30.
the Sovereign Lord of all] The same phrase is found in Job v. 8
LXX. and is expanded in Job v. 9 ff.
4. For] Considering her relation to the knowledge and the works
of God, she must be loved by Him.
she is initiated] This is the usual meaning of the Gk. word (fxiaris),
but it sometimes has an active meaning "one who initiates," and so
Vulg. doctrix. The context however, which touches on the relations of
God and Wisdom alone, seems to show that the word refers to the
 8o THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VIII. 4—7.

And she ^chooseth qmX. for hi?n his works.

5 But if riches are a desired possession in life,
What is richer than wisdom, which worketh all things?
6 -And if understanding worketh.
Who more than ^wisdom is an artificer of the things that are?
7 And if a man loveth righteousness,
^The fruits of wisdom's labour are virtues,
^ Some authorities read deviseth for him. ^ The Greek text of
this clause is perhaps corrupt. ^ Gr. she. * Gr. Her labours are.
exceptional prerogative of Wisdom. The knowledge of God is the
knowledge which God possesses, and wherewith He searches out His
creation. Into the secret mysteries of this knowledge it pleased God to
initiate Wisdom.
chooseth out] Vulg. eledrix. The idea seems to be that God allowed
her a voice in deciding the order in which His works should proceed.
" Through His Wisdom God knows what is best, and through the same
Wisdom He performs it " (Grimm).
6. Besides nobility, wealth is desirable in a bride. This Wisdom
possesses in preeminent degree.
worketh all things'] She "chooses out God's works" for Him.
Possibly there is a play on the Greek word {epyd^eadai) which means
(1) to work at a trade, (2) to gain by trading. Wisdom accordingly
is rich, because she possesses the secret of all work and therefore of
all profit.
6. It is possible that there is a corruption in this verse. As it stands,
it does not add appreciable strength to z*. 5 : Vulg. however translates
it literally. The sense seems to be that Wisdom, if a worker at all, must
be supreme in any thing to which she puts her hand.
tmdersta7iding\ This is a variant for "Wisdom" in v. 5, but the
writer uses it with the deliberate intention of emphasizing the intel-
lectual aspect of Wisdom. Can any thing be conceived, he asks, more
skilful in creative work than Wisdom in her aspect as Mind? cp. vii. 22.
If objection is taken to the identification between " Wisdom " in
V. 5 and "understanding" in v. 6, another rendering is possible, which
contrasts them. " If human wisdom is a worker, who more than she
(the heavenly Wisdom; is artificer of the things that are?" Human
wisdom can produce results, but only the heavenly Wisdom can call
into being things having in themselves the quality of permanence and
self-existence. Philo, Det. Pot. § 16 speaks of Wisdom as the "mother
of the world, through whom the universe was brought to completion."
7. Nobility, Wealth, Intellect belong to Wisdom : she possesses
also Righteousness.
the fruits of wisdom's labour] lit. her labours, Vulg. labor es, abstr.
for concr., cp. x. 10.
are virtues] Cp. Epicurus, " Prudence is the most honourable
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VIII. 7, 8. 81
For she teacheth soberness and understanding, righteousness
and courage;
And there is nothing in life for men more profitable than
these.
And if a man longeth even for much experience,

part of philosophy, because from it spring all the virtues : they teach
that it is impossible to live happily without also living prudently,
and righteously" (Diog. Laert. x. 132). Wisdom is shown to be the
parent of the four cardinal virtues of Greek philosophy ; the same
teaching is given in Philo, Al/eg. i. 19, where the garden of Eden is
made to represent Wisdom (which is identified with the Divine Logos);
the river stands for Virtue, and the four heads into which it parts are
Prudence, Justice, Temperance, Fortitude. Aristobulus had written
(c. 150 B.C.) "The whole constitution of our Law was arranged with
reference to piety, righteousness, temperance, and all other truly good
things" (Eus. Praep. Ev. 667 a).
For she teacheth etc.] This passage is one of the obvious points of
contact between the Book of Wisdom and Greek philosophy. Plato
was the first to establish and explain the principal virtues, which he
enumerated as four : (i) Wisdom, which consists in the right quality of
the reason, (2) Courage, when the spirit supports the reason against
desire for pleasure and fear of pain, (3) Self-control, when the soul is
conscious of harmony in all its parts on the question which is to com-
mand and which is to obey, (4) Justice, when every part of the soul
fulfils its mission (Plato, Rep. iv. 441 cff.), cp. Zeller, Outlines of
Greek Philosophy, p. 157, and Diog. Laert. iii. 80, 91, where Prudence
takes the place of Wisdom, a change which was adopted by the Stoics
and which found general acceptance. These four virtues appear in
4 Mace. i. 6, 18, being called in the latter place the forms {loeai) of
Wisdom : in 4 Mace v. 22, 23 Piety is substituted for Prudence. Piety
was counted as a cardinal virtue by Socrates, from whom Plato drew
his theory of virtue. " Righteousness" appears twice in this z/. : in the
first case meaning the sum of human moral rectitude, as in ch. i. i,
and in the second in a more restricted sense, although it is impossible
to say how far that sense is identical with the Platonic. Plato's
cardinal virtues are closely connected with his analysis of human nature
into reason, courage, and desire (Diog. Laert. iii. 67), but this tricho-
tomy is not recognised by the author of Wisdom.
nothing... more profitable\ This line seems to be recalled in Hennas,
Mand. viii. 9 "Faith, fear of the Lord, love, concord, works of right-
eousness,...nothing is better than these in the life of men."
the future, asexperience']
8. much well as of experienceThe Greek ofword
past isevents
used :loosely
Vulg. of insight into
is therefore to
be preferred multitudinem scientiae. Wisdom possesses that mental
vigour which places all past experience at the service of the constructivvi
imagination, and enables her to anticipate the future.
WISDOM 6
82 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VIII. 8.

She knoweth Uhe things of old, and ^divineth the things to

come:
She understandeth subtilties of speeches and interpretations
of dark sayings :
She foreseeth signs and wonders, and the issues of seasons
and times.

^ Some authorities read how to divine the things of old and the things
to come. ^ Gr. conjectureth.

the things of old'] For knowledge of the past and future as a Divine
possession, cp. Ps. cxxxix. 5 LXX. ; Prov. viii. 21a; Is. xli. ■22, 23,
xlv. 21 ; Ecclus. xxxix. i ; Ep. Barn. v. 3 " The Lord hath both revealed
unto us the past, and made us wise in the present, and as regards the
future we are not without understanding.' Philo [JHos. ii. 39) argues
that past and future do not exist for God.
divineth] Foreknowledge is not claimed for Wisdom, nor is it
stated that God communicates to her His own prevision. God knows,
but Wisdom conjectures. There is considerable MS. authority for the
marginal reading [eUd^eLv), which is found in BC.
subtilties of speeches'] Cp. Ecclus. xxxix. 2, 3. The wise man will be
a student of the past and of the future : "he will enter in amidst the
subtilties {(TTpo(pai) of parables. He will seek out the hidden meaning
of proverbs, and be conversant in the dark sayings (alviyfrnTa) of
parables." The phrase appears in Prov. i. 3 LXX. The Gk. word
[arpoipr]) is originally used of the twistings and turnings of the wrestler
in his effort to elude his opponent : the word was naturally applied to
the elaborated efforts of the wise men to mystify their rivals and outdo
them in the conflict of wits.
interpretations of dark sayings] Cp. Prov. i. 6. The "dark saying"
{aXvL-^\xix) is properly a veiled, allusive, oracular utterance, cp. Num.
xii.' 8; I Cor. xiii. 12. The propounding of parables and riddles
and sphinx-like questions is not uncommonly alluded to in O.T., Judg.
xiv. 12 ; I Kings x. i ; Ezek. xvii. 3. For Solomon's lame, cp. i Kings
iv. 32, and Ecclus. xlvii. 17 ; for Daniel's, Dan. v. 12.
signs and -wonders] These words are frequently found in combina-
tion both in O.T. and N.T., cp. St John iv. 48, and they appear also in
Dan. iv. 34 LXX. in conjunction with "seasons and times." Wonders
are natural phenomena in their aspect as marvels, signs in their aspect as
witnesses to something not yet clearly manifested. Philo in Opif § 19
tells how the stars were used by men for foretelling storms and calms,
clear weather and cloudy, drought and plentiful rams, earthquakes and
thunder. That this kind of fore-calculation is pointed to here is shown
by ch. vii. 17 — 19, and by seasons and titnes in the following line,
which probably has the same reference as in ch. vii. 18. The normal
meaning of "seasons and times" is: — seasons are climatic periods of
uncertain length, ti/nes are fixed periods depending on the measured
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VIII. 9—12. 83
I determined therefore to take her unto me to live with me, 9
Knowing that she is one who would ^give me good thoughts
for counsel,
And ^encourage me in cares and grief.
Because of her I shall have glory among multitudes, 10
And honour in the sight of elders, though I be young.
I shall be found of a quick conceit when I give judgement^ 11
And in the presence of "princes I shall be admired.
When I am silent, they shall wait for me; 12

^ Or, hold counsel with me for good things, and... against cares and
grief - Or, exhort Or, advise ^ Or, mighty men

movements of sun and moon (Philo, op. cit.). Wisdom can foretell the
issues of the year in respect of harvests, etc., and no doubt some
prevision of human concerns is included.

w. 9—16. The benefits that Solomon's bride will confer

UPON HIM.

9. to live with me] i.e. to be my wife. The Greek word is the

same as in v. 3. Cp. Philo, Cain § 23 "The knowledge that dwells
with {(xOfMdLOP) the wise."
give me good thoughts for counsel] av,u3ov\o5 with the gen. of the
counsel given is found in 2 Chron. xxii. 3 LXX.
encotirage me] irapaipecris (Vulg. allocutio) is usually taken here in
this sense, though there is no other example of such a use.
10. I shall have glory] Cp. Prov. xxxi. 23 LXX. The people will
admire the king for his wise judgments (i Kings iii. 28), and the eiders
will applaud his wisdom in the council, mnltitudes, i.e. assemblies.
though I be young] Cp. i Kings iii. 7 "I am but a little child";
I Chr. xxix. i. Josephus says that Solomon died at ninety- four, having
reigned eighty years : this would make his age, on his accession, to be
fourteen. Grimm, arguing from i Kings xi. 4 suggests about twenty-
five. The writer has in view the ideal Solomon, and ignores throughout
the book the darker side of the later picture which is alluded to in
Ecclus. xlvii. £9, 20.
11. of a quick conceit] i.e. intelligence. The allusion is doubtless to
I Kings iii. 16 ff. For "conceit," an archaism retained from A.V.,
Deane compares Merchant of Venice i. i :
" With purpose to be dressed in an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit."
in the presence of princes] Either the chief men of his own people,
or the kings of other nations. For the latter, cp. i Kings iv. 34, v. 7
Hiram, x. 5 — 9 the (^ueen of Sheba.
6—2
 84 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VIII. 12—15.
And when I open my lips, they shall give heed unto me;
And if I continue speaking, they shall lay their hand upon
their mouth.
13 Because of her I shall have immortality,
And leave behind an eternal memory to them that come
after me.
14 I shall govern peoples,
And nations shall be subjected to me.
15 Dread princes shall fear me when they hear of me:
Among my ^people I shall shew myself a good ruler, and in
war courageous.
1 Gr. multitude.
12. they shall give heed] The passage recalls Job xxix. 21, 22.
thei',' hand upon their mouth] A gesture expressive of respectful silence.
Cp. Job xxi. 5, xxix. 9, xl. 4; Ecclus. v. 12.
13. Because of her] For Std with ace. in this connection, cp. St John
vi. 57 "He shall live by Me" {^i)<ju 5i' ^/ze).
ivimortality] Clearly of the subjective kind, i.e. undying fame, as
the context shews.
an eternal 7?ief)iory] Cp. Ps. cxii. 6 " The righteous shall be had in
everlasting remembrance." This is a reversion to the strict Q.T. view
of the future life : the memory of his deeds and his name perpetuated
in his descendants, constituted the immortality that the early Hebrew
looked for.
14. / shall govern peoples] A reminiscence of the Messianic Psalm
Ixxii. 8 — I [, which contains obvious allusions to the empire of Solomon.
As Wisdom caused Solomon to be honoured in his own land {vv. 10 — 13),
so she would win him renown in foreign countries [vv. 14, 15). There
is no occasion to distinguish between peoples and nations^ the repetition
being due solely to the requirements of the poetic parallelism, cp. Ps.
Ivii. 9 LXX. Cp. I Kings iv. 21 "Solomon reigned over all kingdoms
from the river unto the land of the Philistines... : they brought presents,
and served Solomon all the days of his life." See Kirkpatrick, Psalms,
pp. 420, 421 in this series. For subjected, cp. Ps. Ix. 8 LXX.
15. Dread princes] Cp. Ps. Ixxii. 10, 11 "The kings of Tarshish
and of the isles... the kings of Sheba and Seba. Yea, all kings shall fall
down before him." See i Kings x. 23—25 "King Solomon exceeded
all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. And all the earth
(all kings of the earth LXX.) sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom...."
when they hear of me] Cp. Ps. xviii. 44.
a good xvXtx, and... courageous] An effective combination of royal
qualities, the king being seen to be strong in domestic an'airs as well as
brave on the field. Cp, Homer's description of Agamemnon, which
Plutarch says was frequently on the lips of Alexander :
OLfXipbTepov /SacriXeus r ayadbt Kparepos r aixfJ-V"'!^
(Both a noble king and a mighty man of war).
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VIII. i6— 18. 85
When I am come into my house, I shall find rest with her; 16
For converse with her hath no bitterness,
And to live with her hath no pain, but gladness and joy.
When I considered these things in myself, 17
And took thought in my heart how that in kinship unto
wisdom is immortality,
And in her friendship is good delight, iS
And in the labours of her hands is wealth that faileth not,
And in ^assiduous communing with her is understanding,
And great renown in having fellowship with her words,
^ Gr. practice of communion.

16. shall find rest ivith //er] Cp. Philo, A/io-r. § 6 " Wisdom is the
best dwelling-place of virtuous souls."
converse
word withmerely
denotes her']social
Yox the Greek word, cp. 3 Mace. ii. 31. The
intercourse.
to live with her] L^fe with her (crv/xlSicxxns, cp. w. 3, 9) means life
under one roof with her, while converse {crui'avaaTpo(prj) in the preceding
line refers to the intimacy of moral intercourse with her.
but gladness and joy] Philo {Quis reru?ii § 62) compares Wisdom to
a river full of gladness and joy and all other blessings ; again {Plant.
§ 40) he writes that ' ' her features are not sour and austere, but cheerful
and serene, full of mirth and joy."
This verse treats of the private life of Solomon with his bride, in
contradistinction to his public life {zrv. 10 — 15), in which she is the
secret of his success. The Greek word for "find rest with her" has
special reference to the intercourse of intimates, friend with friend,
brother with brother, father with son, cp. Epict. iii. 13.

vv. 17 — 21. Solomon, weighing all the advantages con-

ferred BY Wisdom, prays to God to grant her to him.
17. This and the succeeding verse are a recapitulation of the merits
of Wisdom.
in kinship unto wisdom] Cp. Prov, vii. 4 "Say unto Wisdom 'Thou
art my sister.'" For ifnmortality, see Eccl. vii. 12 LXX. "The
knowledge of Wisdom will give life to him that hath it." Kinship
(cru77e;'eta) is used here of the spiritual afiinity between himself and his
bride which Solomon anticipates.
18. in her friendship'] v. 16 end.
labours of her hands] w. 5, 6.
assiduous communing with her] The thought is of the mutual inter-
action of the characters of Solomon and his bride, not merely in speech
(as Vulg. in certamine loquellae), but in the exercise of mutual intercourse
generally.
great renown] vv. 10 — 12. Wisdom will be his monitor.
 86 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VIII. 18—20,
I went about seeking how to take her unto myself.
19 Now I was ^a child of parts, and a good soul fell to my lot;
20 Nay rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled.
^ Ox,, a goodly child

J went about seeki7ig\ Cp. vi. 16 where Wisdom is the seeker, and,
for the expression, Plato, S}'?)ip. 209 B.
19. a child of part s\ "of good natural disposition," Vulg. ingeniosus.
The Gk. eu<pvT}s is used of both spiritual and physical qualities, cp.
Plato, Rep. iii. 409 E.
fell to viy lot] The plain meaning of w. 19, 20, is this, "I was a
goodly child, well-endowed both in soul and body." But the writer, in
stating the fact that he was well-endowed in soul, expresses himself in
terms which do not altogether satisfy him, and he corrects himself. It
might be expected that the correction would not appear in the final
draft of his l^ook, but it does appear; and hence the debate which has
centred round this passage.
A good sottl, he says, fell to my lot: we should expect him to add,
"and a good body." But that would have suggested that he thought
(i) that body and soul both came into being at the time of conception,
and (ii) that his soul was something distinct from his E^o, and a
possession not pre-ordained but obtained by chance. Accordingly, as
a believer in the pre-existence of the soul, and in the identification of
the Ego with the soul, he corrects himself, nay rather, beiftg good {^\.e.
being a good soul), / caine into a body undefiled. He finds himself
unable to apply to the body a more generous epithet than undefiled.,
owing to his tendency as an Alexandrian towards dualism. This
tendency is however controlled, and the nearest approach the writer
makes to the extreme view of Philo is in ch. ix. 15 where he writes
"the corruptible body presseth down the soul." He is in fact true to
O.T. teaching in not asserting that the cause of man's moral frailty is to
be found in his physical nature, or that the flesh is in itself sinful, or the
seat of sin (Davidson, Theol. of O.T. p. 192). His body is unstained :
he starts life without prejudice. For the body as receptacle of the
soul, see ch. ix. 15; 2 Cor. v. 4; Barnabas, Ep. vii. 3; Lucr. iii. 441
** corpus quod uas quasi constitit eius."
If the question is asked, How does the doctrine of pre-existence
agree with O.T. teaching? it must be replied that O.T. hardly con-
siders the question. Gen. ii. 7 e.g. does not touch upon the endowment
of man with a soul, i.e. an immaterial self-consistent element, but only
with the granting of vitality to man. This vitality is not, even though
it now belongs to man, a spiritual substance or soul : it is simply a
spiritual principle, which God can withdraw and reabsorb into Himself.
It has no existence as anything in itself. The doctrine of the pre-
existence, like that of the immortality, of the soul, is not a Hebrew
idea : O.T. thought deals with different categories. It is only in later
books, when Jewish thought had begun to assimilate foreign elements,
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON VI 1 1. 21. 87

But perceiving that I could not otherwise ^possess tvisdom 21

except God gave her me
(Yea and to know ^by whom the grace is given, this too came
of understanding)^
I pleaded with the Lord and besought him,

This is the probable sense : the Greek text is perhaps defective.

- Gr. of IV horn is the grace.

that this spirit is spoken of more as if it had an independent exis^ence

of its own, Eccl. iii. 21, xii. 7 (Davidson, Thcol. of 0.7. p. 193 f.)- But
even Ecclesiastes had no conception of souls that had sinned before
birth. Weber {Altsyn. Pal. Theol. p. 217) quotes from Midrash
Tanchuma to shovr that it was held that God had created all souls,
and created them good from the first. They dwelt in a heavenly
region, and were united with a body at the time of conception.
Predestination was an accepted theory among the Alexandrian Jews, see
Philo, All. iii. 28 "Some there are whom even before birth God moulds
kindly and disposes well, and chooses for them a goodly lot" : but the
Divine method of effecting it was to give the individual a greater or less
inclination to the (invariably good) life of the soul. Even in Gig. § 3,
where Philo writes of the differing fortunes of souls after they have
become incarnate, although he acknowledges that some are enslaved by
the body, while others rise superior to it, he does not attempt to account
for this sensual tendency by any theory of pre-natal sin.
21. possess wisdom] This rendering is suggested by the entire
context, and a similar use of eyKoarris (without the genitive of the thing
obtained) is found in Ecclus. vi. 27. Vulgate translates eyKparris by
coHiinens, a perfectly legitimate rendering of the word, but with nothing
to commend it except the occurrence of "a body undefiled " in v. 20.
With except God gave, cp. Prov. ii. 6 ; Jer. x. 23.
this too came of 2cnderstanding'] He could not be seeking Wisdom, had
not Wisdom already found him. Cp. Tennyson, Lataueiot and Elaine^
" In me there dwells
No greatness, save it be some far-off touch
Of greatness to know well I am not great."
/ pleaded with the Lord} What are the limits of Solomon's prayer?
why should it be restricted to ch. ix. ? God is addressed in x. 20 and
from xi. 17 — xii. 27, and again in some portion of each succeeding
chapter (except xiii.) ot the book. The answer is that God is indeed
addressed, but is not supplicated : ch. ix. is the only one in which
Wisdom is asked for. In all the following chapters the use of the
second person is purely rhetorical, and the third ]->erson would suit
equally well. At the most, they might be described as a meditation.
 88 THE WISDOM Of SOLOMON VIII. 21— IX. 4.
And with my whole heart I said,

9 O God of the fathers, and ^Lord who keepest thy mercy,

Who madest all things ^ by thy word ;
2 And by thy wisdom thou formedst man.
That he should have dominion over the creatures that were
made by thee,
3 And rule the world in holiness and righteousness,
And execute judgement in uprightness of soul;
4 Give me wisdom, her that sitteth by thee on thy ^throne;
1 Gr. Lord of thy mercy. Compare 2 Sam. vii. 15; Ps. Ixxxix. 49.
- Gr. in. '^ Gr. thrones.

Ch. IX. Solomon's prayer.

w. 1 — 4. He appeals to God for the gift of Wisdom.
1. 0 God of the fathers] There are several reminiscences in this
chapter of i Chr. xxviii., xxix. LXX. This invocation (cp. Dan. ii. 23)
is based on i Chr. xxviii. 9 and xxix. 18, 20, the fathers being Abraham,
Isaac and Israel.
Lord. . . mercy] God's mercy is a leading thought in the prayer in i Kings
iii. 6f., and in the Messianic passage 2 Sam. vii. 15, the promises of which
are reafifirmed in Ps. Ixxxix. 28, cp. Ex. xxxiii. 19.
IVho made St... by thy word] There is no allusion hereto Greek Logos-
doctrine (see Introd. § 10). The tone of the passage is Hebrew, and
the combination of mercy and word recalls Ps. xxxiii. 5, 6 " The earth
is full of the mercy (margin and LXX.) of the Lord. By the word of
the Lord were the' heavens made,'" cp. id. v. 9 " He spake and it was
done."
2. thou formedst man] i.e. didst form and equip. For the Greek
word, which means to organize in relation to existing matter, cp.
4 Mace. ii. 21.
That he should have dominion] For the connection between the
creation of man and his supremacy over the animal world, cp. Gen.
i. 26, 28. See Ps. viii. 6 — S; Ecclus. xvii. 2 — 5.
3. holiness and righteousness are the aspects of man's life as he
maintains a* right relation to God and to man, cp. St Luke i. 75.
Man is not an irresponsible ruler ; he is the servant of the moral law.
in uprightness of soul] An almost identical expression is found in
I Kings iii. 6 ; Ps. cxix. 7. To judge in uprightness occurs in Ps. ix. 8,
xcvi. 10, xcviii. 9. Cp. Ps. Ixxv. 2. The idea is that clearness of vision
cannot be dissociated from integrity of character.
4. her that sitteth by thee] adsisiricem \\x\g., c^. Vro\. \\\\. 27 — 30,
and Ecclus. i. i.
Philo calls Justice the assessor {irdpeopot) of God {Mos. ii. 10), and
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IX. 4—6. 89

And reject me not from among thy ^servants:

Because I am thy bondman and the son of thy handmaid, 5
A man weak and short-Hved,
And of small power to understand judgement and laws.
For even if a man be perfect among the sons of men, 6
Yet if the wisdom that cometh from thee be not with him,
he shall be held in no account.
^ Or, children

Greek classical poets apply the same metaphor to Righteousness, and

Themis, op. Pindar, 01. 8, 22. Cp. Soph. Ant. 451,
throne] Gk. thrones, c^. v. 12, diXxdYs. c\xn. ^. The phiral of dignity.
and reject me not] A reminiscence of Ps. Ixxxix, 38 f., which depicts
the Messianic king rejected and forsaken by God. Solomon deprecates
a fate which he knows must befall him, if he thinks to dispense with
Divine aid.

zri'. 5 — 8. Solomon pleads his own weakness, and the

MAG^■ITUDE OF THE TASK ASSIGNED HIM.
5. bond man... handmaid] Taken from Ps. cxvi. 16 and (with a
slight variation) Ps. Ixxxvi. 16. The double expression indicates special
dependence. See note in this series on Ps. cxvi. 16, " ' The son of thine
handmaid ' is a synonym for ' thy servant,' denoting a closer relation-
ship, for servants 'born in the house' (Gen. xiv. 14) were the most
trusted dependents."
weak and short-lived] Epithets characteristic, not of Solomon in
particular, but of the human race to which he belonged. Cp. i Chr.
xxix. 15 " We are strangers before thee, and sojourners...; our days on
the earth are as a shadow." Cp. also, however, i Kings iii. 7 " I am
but a little child."
of small poiver to understand] Vulg. minor ad intellectumy cp.
T Kings iii. 9, 1 1.
Judgment points to political administration, laws to judicial equity.
6. perfect among the sons of men] The same contrast between the
natural and the spiritual man is intended, as is referred to by our Lord
in Si Matt. xi. xi. There may be a side-reference to the choice of
David in preference to the other sons of Jesse in i Sam. xvi. 6, 7.
Perfect, Vulg. constanmatus. The word denotes not so much moral
perfection, as the full possession of all natural qualities. " Sons of
men" may be compared with "born of women" in Job xi. 3 LXX.,
xiv. r, XV. 14, XXV. 4; both expressions emphasize the material side of
human nature.
if wisdom. ..be not ivith him] Cp. Philo, Post. C. § 41 " Whence can
the thirsty heart of man be filled save from the inexhaustible spring of
the Divine Wisdom ?" and Quis rerum % 12. See St John xv. 5.
 90 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IX. 7, 8.

7 Thou didst choose me before my b^-ethren to be king of thy

people,
And to do judgement for thy sons and daughters.
8 Thou gavest command to build a sanctuary in thy holy
mountain,
And 'an altar in the city of thy ^habitation,
A copy of the holy tabernacle which thou preparedst afore-
hand from the beginning.
^ Or, a place of sacrifice 2 q^ tabernacling.

noi7.lie TTiou didst choose']

with Solomon. Cp. Thou is emphatic.
i Chron. xxviii. 5 ; The responsibility
2 Chron. i. 9. does
before my brethren] Cp. 1 Sam. iii. 2 — 5, and i Kings i. ; and
28-3 1.
thy softs and daughters'] The expression is unusual, cp. Is. xliii. 6,
and "sons and daughters of Sion," Is. iv. 4. The rarity of the occur-
rence of "daughters of God" is due, it has been suggested, to the
depressed condition of Eastern womanhood. If the king is the son of
God (2 Sam. vii. 14), his people are, by a natural extension, called sons
and daughters of God.
8. command to builif] Cp. 2 Sam. vii. 13 ; i Chron. xxviii. 10;
Ecclus. xlvii. 13.
thy holy fnountain] Mount Moriah, traditionally associated with the
trial of Abraham's faith (Gen. xxii. 14) and with the vision of the angel
at the threshingfloor of Araunah (2 Chron. iii. i). The expression
occurs six times in the Psalms (LXX.) and in Is. Ivi. 7. "Holy, said
of things, cannot denote a moral attribute. It can only express a
relation ; and the relation is belonging to Jehovah, dedicated to God-
head.... Every thing belonging to Jehovah, whether as His by nature or
as dedicated to Him, is called holy.... In a wider way, the tabernacle,
the place of His abode, was holy ; Zion was the holy hill." (Davidson,
7:^^^/. ^/ 0.7". pp. 152, 153.)
the city of thy habitation] Lit. as marg. tabernacling {KaTacTK-qvuxns),
cp. I Chron. xxviii. 2 ; Ps. Ixxiv. a; 2 Mace. xiv. 35. For the "city of
God," cp. Ps. xlvi. 4, Ixxxvii. 3.
A copy] I Chron. xxviii. 11, 12, 18, 19. The word is in app. to
sanctuary and altar earlier in the same v. The Chronicler represents
David as having received from God a detailed account of the Temple
which he passed on to Solomon, thus imitating the account in Ex. xxv.
9, 40 of the instructions given by God to Moses with respect to the
Tabernacle. But the " holy Tabernacle " which Solomon was meant to
copy is not the Tabernacle ol Moses, but an ideal archetype which the
writer pictures as existing in heaven (see Westcott, Heb. viii. 5, addit.
note). This, as existing in the timeless mind of God. he describes as
"prepared aiorehand from the beginning." Cp. the Talmudic treatise
Pesachim, which affirms that seven things existed before the creation,
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IX. 9— ii. 91
And with thee is wisdom, which knoweth thy works, 9
And was present when thou wast making the world,
And which understandeth what is pleasing in thine eyes,
And what is right ^according to thy commandments.
Send her forth out of the holy heavens, 10
And from the throne of thy glory bid her come.
That being present with me she may toil with me^
And that I may learn what is well- pleasing before thee.
For she knoweth all things and hath understanding thereof, 11
And in my doings she shall guide me in ways of soberness,
1 Gr. in.

the law, hell, paradise, repentance, the throne of glory, the temple, and
the name of the Messiah (Etheridge, Tar^iims y>. ii). The writer is
possibly influenced by the Greek philosophical theory of ideas, which
was not without its influence upon Heb. viii., ix. : Plato argued that
ideas existed of all po.-sible things, and accordingly the Alexandrian
author of Wisdom may have inferred that there must be an archetypal
idea of the Ten:iiple, as of the Tabernacle (Ex. xxv. 40).

w. 9—12. Wisdom can inform and direct his public and

PRIVATE LIFE.

9. with thee is wisdom'] Ecclus. i. i, cp. St John i. i — 4.

present when thou luast making] See ch. viii. 3, 4, notes.
in thine eyes] is a Hebraism corresponding to ivwiriov aov in Dt.
xii. 8 ; Is. xxxviii. 3 ; i John iii. 22.
right according to thy cofninandi?ients] Right (evOk%) is regularly used
in LXX. in the expression " He did that which was right in the sight
of the Lord."
10. Send her forth... bid her come] Cp. the Greek verbs in St John
XX. 21. The distinction in sense between the two verbs, urged in
Westcott, St John, addit. note on xx. 21, does not apply here. The
sentences are parallel, and the second is the repetition rather than the
complement of the first.
holy heavens] Cp. Ps. xx. 6. For holy., see note on v. 8.
throne of thy glory] upon which she sits as God's assessor, v. 4. For
the expression, cp. Jer. xvii. la LXX.
being present withjiie] Cp. Prov. viii. 27. He desires that Wisdom,
who was present when God was creating {v. 9 a), should aid him in his
work.
11. she kno-ivdh all things] Cp. vii. 21, 22, viii. 8.
guide me. .guard nu] Cp. Ps. xxiii. 3, 4. The Gk. vb. (6577761*') is
used in this Psalm and in many others of moral guidance. See
Ps. Ixxiii. 24.
 92 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IX. 11-15.
And she shall guard me in her glory.
12 And so shall my works be acceptable,
And I shall judge thy people righteously,
And I shall be worthy of my father's throne.
13 For what man shall know the counsel of God?
Or who shall conceive what the Lord willeth?
14 For the thoughts of mortals are 'timorous.
And our devices are prone to fail.
15 For a corruptible body weighcth down the soul,

1 Gr. thrones. ^ -phg Greek text here is perhaps corrupt.

gttard me in her glory\ in sua potentia Vulg. If Vulg. is right, cp.
Rom. vi. 4, "raised... by the glory of the Father." But the glory of
Wisdom is probably the light which she possesses as an emanation from
the eternal Light, and with which she illuminates his path.
12. / shall Judged Vulg. disponam. The Greek word refers to the
general administration of the state.
throne\ The plural of dignity as in v. 4.

vz'. 13—19. Max is so closely impltc.a.ted with the material

WORLD THAT, APART FROM SPECIAL GRACE, HE CANNOT CON-
CEIVE SPIRITUAL THINGS.

13. For'\ The reason why Solomon was so earnest in the search for
Wisdom. The king is God's vice-gerent, and no king can interpret
the will of God who orders his life upon purely natural principles.
what man] Man is emphatic. What human being?
shall knoTv] The verse is based on Is. xl. 13, and is very similar to
I Cor. ii. II — 16, in which the same quotation appears.
conceive what the Lord willeth] Vulg. quid vclit deus. "WTiat"
introduces not a substantival clause, but an indirect question (ri not 6).
The Greek suggests not that he cannot receive God's will into his mind,
but that he cannot by searching find it out.
14. the thoughts of ??iortals'] A reminiscence of Ps. xciv. 11, which
is quoted with a slight change in i Cor. iii. 20, a passage similar in
tone to I Cor. ii. 1 1, 16.
timorous] Marg. suggests that the reading may be cornipt. But the
epithet timorous, properly applicable to men, is applied to their
thoughts.
our devices] Vulg. prouidentiae. Prone to fail through human short-
sightedness.
15. This famous passage has caused the writer to be charged with
dualistic views of which he is not guilty. There is in this verse none of
that dualism which pronounces matter evil : the writer goes no further
than the Psalmist when he says " He knoweth our frame : He remem-
bereth that we are dust," or St Paul in Gal. v. 17. It is a common-
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IX. 15. 93

And the earthy frame Heth heavy on a mind that ^is full of
cares.
^ Or, vinseth upon many things
place of experience that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is too weak
(or too strong): the writer does not go beyond this, either here, or in
ch. viii. 20. For one to whom classical literature was open either at
tirst hand or through Alexandrian teachers, it is remarkable how he has
avoided an error into which Philo fell : this passage presents a typical
example of the distinction between Philo with his speculative bent, and
Pseudo-Solomon with his inflexible religious purpose.
Philo accepted Heraclitus' epigram crwyua <sr\}xa "The body is a tomb,"
see All. i. 33, Quod D. 32, Migr. 3, Cong. 18, So7nn. i. 22. A charac-
teristic passage is de Gig. § 7 "The chief cause of ignorance is the flesh
and association with the flesh. Nothing presents such a hindrance to
the growth of the soul as the flesh, for it is a kind of foundation of
ignorance and stupidity, on which all the (abovementioned) evils are
built.... Souls that bear the burden of the flesh are weighed down
and oppressed till they cannot look up at the heavens, and have their
heads forcibly dragged downwards, being rooted to the earth like
cattle." In a more temperate passage {Q. R. D. H. § i8j he writes " It
is not easy to believe in God because of the mortal companion with
which we are yoked." The body is a prison {Migr. 2) ; a corpse {Agr.
5), cp. Epict. "You are a poor little soul carrying a corpse." Many
passages might be quoted from classical authors in this strain. One
whose language was not without influence on this passage is Plato,
Fhaedo xxx. 81 C "The body is burdensome, and heavy and earthy:
by the possession of it such a soul is oppressed." Cp. ^apovixevoi,
7 Cor. v. 4. See Hor. Sat. ii. 2. 77—79; ^erg. Aen. vi. 730 — 734.
Christian thought has not altogether escaped dualism : St" Francis
called his body "Brother ass," perhaps misunderstanding Rom. vii.
23, 24. Browning gives the thought intended by the author in its truest
form,
"What hand and brain went ever paired?
What heart alike conceived and dared?
What act proved all its thought had been?
What will but felt the fleshly screen?"
(The Last Ride together. )

corruptible'] Liable to change and decay, cp. i Cor. xv. 53. The
soul
but the ever strivingbody
is corruptible to soar
holds upwards
it bound toto it's source,
itself the chains.
as with Eternal God ;

saidtheinearthy fra7ne'\
the first The second
; the picture clausevaried.
is slightly adds nothing to what has been
frafne] Vulg. renders well inhabiiatio. The original meaning is
icnc, cp. 2 Cor. V. 1,4, and 2 Pet. i. 13 (o-ACT^i/w^ta) and Ep. w Diognetiis
§ 6 (which contains an extended contrast between body and soul). A
similar expression is found in Plato. Cp. Edmund Waller *' The souls
dark cottage^ battered and decayed."
 94 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IX. 16—18.
16 And hardly do we ^divine the things that are on earth,
And the things that are close at hand we find with labour;
But the things that are in the heavens who ever yet traced
out?
17 And who ever gained knowledge of thy counsel, except thou
-gavest wisdom,
And sentest thy holy spirit ^from on high?
18 And it was thus that the ways of them which are on earth
were corrected,
And men were taught the things that are pleasing unto thee ;

^ Gr. conjecture. - Or, hadst given... and sent

^ Gr. fro)n the higJiest.

andmind
sotil that
in theis preceding
full of cares']
line. There is no antithesis
The margin that musethbetween mind
upon many
things (Vulg. multa cogitaniem) suits the context better than text, but
is not an exact translation of Tro\v<ppovTis (full of care). The idea is that
the mind, in spite of its superiority, is incessantly hampered and de-
pressed bymatter.
16. This verse takes up v. 13, expatiating on the impossibility of
the natural fathoming the supernatural. The knowledge of the things
around him is largely conjecture for man ; acquaintance with the most
necessary things of daily life is only acquired with toil : how entirely
then beyond mortal reach must be the things of God, cp. Is. Iv. 9.
For TOL €v x^P'^'-^i ^he things that are close at ha)id, N reads Troaiv, "at
his feet," which causes a singular resemblance between this passage and
Diog. Laert. i. 8. 34 : Thales fell into a pit when he went out to look
at the stars, and an old woman cried out, " If Thales cannot see the
things at his feet, does he expect to learn the things in the heavens?"
17. Cp. Is. xl. 13. No distinction must be pressed between wisdom
and holy spirit, cp. vii. 22. The variation of terms is due to poetical
parallelism, and the third Person of the Trinity is not thought of.
" The holy spirit (in O.T.) is the name for all godly aspirations, as
well as for the cause of them ; it is that quickened human spirit which
strives after God, and it is that Divine moving which causes it to strive,
and it is that God even after whom there is the strife " (Davidson,
Theol. of O.T. p. 233).
sentest] Inspiration is spoken of in similar terms, Is. Ixiii. 14 LXX.
"a spirit came down from the Lord and guided them." Cp. Ps. civ. 30;
Bar. iii. 29, and Philo, Q. J^. D. H. § 13 "inspired from above."
18. the ways... were corrected] The same metaphor appears in Jer.
vii. 3, of the making straight of that which was morally crooked. For
the things that are pleasing to God, cp. Bar. iv. 4 LXX. The reference
is general, and not restricted to the illustrations in ch. x.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON IX. i8— X. i. 95
And through wisdom were they saved.

HVisdom guarded to the end the first formed father of the 10

world, that was created alone,
1 Gr. She.

were (hey saved] Saved, not in the theological sense, but in the
sense of '• preserved " from dangers spiritual and bodily. The manner
of the saving" is of course relative, varying with the needs of each case.
Vulg., apparently without any Greek authority, supplies as subject to
the verb ecxibdrjaav, as many as pleased Thee, O Lord, f)'om the be-
gi fining.

Part II.

Chapters x. — xix. form the second part of the book. The unifying
idea is the beneficent action of Wisdom in history. Attention is mainly
concentrated upon the contrast between the fortunes of Israel and their
heathen enemies whether in Egypt or in Canaan : idolatry is assigned as
the cause of the judgments of God upon heathenism. Emphasis is laid
upon the Fatherhood of God, and upon the position of Israel as the
chosen people, towards whom God's mercy is shown with a constancy
which the writers national sympathy enables him to justify while
exaggerating. This Jewish philosophy of Israelitish history requires
considerable licence in the interpretation of Scripture, and the writer
does not confine himself to the authoritative records, but avails himself
of amplifications and traditions provided by Jewish teachers in their
viidrashiui (commentaries). For the divisions of Part ii., see Introduc-
tion §15.

Ch. X. The operation of Wisdom in the history of Adam

1, 2 ; Cain 3 ; Noah 4; Abraham 5 ; Lot 6—9 ; Jacob 10—12;
Joseph 13, 14 ; Israel under Moses 15—21.
1, Wisdom] Marg. She, with reference to ix. 18, of which v. this
ch. is the expansion. The emphatic pronoun (outt?) is used throughout
this ch. in vv, 5, 6, 10, 13, 15. Wisdom in this ch. appears as an
active principle of good, leading, saving, protecting men, and for>aken
at their peril.
the first formed] See on vii. i.
father of the ruorld] In accordance with the custom of the book,
which, though largely occupied with history, does not mention by name
any historical character, indirect allusion is made to Adam. Since
familiarity with the Jewish Scriptures is thus presupposed on the part
of the reader, the book was evidently addressed to a Jewish circle.
that was created alotie] Vulg. cum solus esset creatus. There are
two possible interpretations of the Greek, of which text contains one,
almost certainly right, while the other is the alone-created, i.e. Adam
 96 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON X. 1—3.
And delivered him out of his own transgression,
2 And gave him strength to get dominion over all things.
3 But when an unrighteous man fell away from her in his
anger,
He perished himself in the rage wherewith he slew his
brother.

alone, of all the human race, can claim to have been created ; all others
were born, although they may be spoken of as created, in a derivative
sense, through him. But this interpretation is somewhat strained: the
thought does not seem natural to the writer, nor has it any relevancy
to the sense of the passage. In view of guarded to the ejid, it is plain
that the solitude of Adam is the writer's thought, and that he is telling
how, when the future of the race of men hung upon the single thread of
Adam's life, Wisdom watched over the destined father of mankind.
Grimm and others render fibvos unprotected, but it is better to take the
word literally. Cp. Etheridge, largums p. 169 "The word of the
Lord God said 'Behold, Adam... is sole in my world, as I am sole in
heavens above.' ''
thedelivered out o/.-.transgressiofi] The exact reference is not very clear,
but that any suggestion of Adam's final salvation is made, is out of the
question. Such a discussion, besides its irrelevancy, has no place in a
pre-Christian work, the Incarnation being the indispensable presup-
position for such a restoration (cp. Irenaeus' attack upon Tatian's
doctrine of the final loss of Adam, adv. Haer. iii. 23). Wisdom, the
writer suggests, gave him repentance, kept him humble, and caused the
curse to fall not upon Adam but upon the serpent and upon the earth.
The words probably allude to the penalty denounced upon disobedience
(Gen. ii. 17), which was not enforced at any rate literally. Irenaeus
held that God caused Adam ultimately to die, not in wrath but in pity,
lest he should continue a sinner for ever : Tertullian (de Paen. § 12)
held that Adam was restored to Paradise after confession of his sin.

to 2. And gave
mankind himliving
over all strength'] This(Gen.
creatures versei. 26,
refers
28, to
andtheagain
authority given
Gen. ix. 2).
Wisdom did not deny to Adam the aid which the Fall rendered more
than ever necessary.
3. an unrighteous man] i.e. Cain. His bearing is contrasted with
that of Adam.
fell away fr 0771 her] Cain rejected Wisdom both by his crime against
his brother, and by his insolent behaviour subsequently ("am I my
brother's keeper?"), which aggravated his offence (Irenaeus, JIaer. iii.
23- 4)-
perished himself in the rage] The Talmud has two legends with
regard to Cain's death (i) that he was the man killed by Lamech, Gen.
iv. 23, (2) that he was crushed by a falling house (Jubilees iv. 31).
But avvamJ^Xero {he perished with his rage) makes a spiritual interpreta-
tion of the passage more probable. Cain, in killing his brother, killed
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON X. 4, 5- 97
And when for his cause the earth was drowning with a flood, 4
\\'isdom again saved it,
Guiding the righteous man's course by a poor piece of wood.
Moreover, when nations consenting together in wickedness 5
had been confounded,
^Wisdom knew the righteous man, and preserved him blame-
less unto God, 1 Gr. She.

his own soul. This agrees with Philo's "Cain killed himself, not
Abel" [Det. Pot. § 14). With this use of the Greek verb, cp. Ep. of
Barnabas, xxi. (twice) and Prayer of Manasses, 13. Neither text nor
Vulgate recognise the force of avv (with) in the verb.
4. for his cause] The wickedness which brought the flood upon
the earth is laid at the door of Cain and not of Adam, cp. ch. ii. -24.
Josephus {Antiq. i. 2. 2) tells of the wickedness of Cain in the years
after the murder of Abel, and of the wickedness of his posterity. Cp.
Gen. vi. 4 — 6.
was drowning] Cp. Gen. vi. lyff.
again saved it\ . Cp. ch. xiv. 6, where Noah is called the hope of the
world. The "earth" was saved in an indirect sense although it was
drowned, its interests being identified with the human stock preserved
through Noah in the ark. Wisdom watched over the ark, as she had
watched over Adam, thus preserving the race a second time.
Guiding] lit. steering, Vulg. gubernatts.
the righteous matt] Noah is the first man. Gen. vi. 9, to be called
righteous in the Bible (Philo, Cong. § 17). It is not an accident
(Philo adds) that he is tenth from Adam, but righteousness stands to the
conduct of life as the number ten to the number one.
by a poor piece of wood] Cp. I Pet. iii. 20 in which the instrument of
safety is, not the ark, but the water which bore it ; see ch. xiv. 5. In
both passages the inadequacy of the means to the end is pointed to.
The ark is not disparaged, for it is the work of Wisdom; but viewed
from the point of view of the deluge, it is insignificant.
5. when nations... had been confounded] confounded {avyyyQkvrwv)
recalls "confusion" (o-iryxi^o'ts, LXX. for Babel) in the account of the
"confusion" of tongues (Gen. xi. i — 9). The "consenting together
in wickedness" was the concerted action in building the tower, or
(Grotius) universal idolatry. The writer makes a point of concord
(o/iivota) becoming confusion. The incident is introduced to bring out
by contrast the fact that there still existed a small righteous remnant.
knew] Text follows i<AC and Vulg. B reads found (evpev). The
reference is to Gen. xii. For the Divine knowledge of a man, cp. i Cor.
viii. 3.
blameless unto God] The same word is used in Gen. xvii. i LXX.
With this use of unto God, cp. Jon. iii. 3 LXX. ; Acts vii. 20. For
Abrahams character before God, see Gen. xviii. 18.
WISDOM 7
 98 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON X. 5—7.
And kept him strong when his heart yearned toward his
child.

6 While the ungodly were perishing, ^wisdom delivered a

righteous man,
When he fled from the fire that descended out of heaven
on ^Pentapolis.
7 To whose wickedness a smoking waste still witnesseth,
And plants bearing fair fruit that cometh not to ripeness;
^ Gr. she. ^ That is, t/ie region of the five cities.

forTvhen his heart

his child: see yearned'\
Gen. xxii.;lit. kept him
Ecclus. xliv. strong against
10. Heb. xi. his
17. compassion
Etheridge
{Targums p. 226) quotes a midrash "While Sarah was yet sleeping,
Abraham left in the early morning. Satana stood in his way as an aged
man, and said 'Whither goest thou?' 'To pray.' 'But why with
wood and knife?' 'I must needs prepare food.' 'Should a man
like you kill his son who was given him in old age?' 'God has com-
manded.'"
6. a righteous man] For the escape of Lot from Sodom, see
Gen. xix. ijff., cp. 2 Pet. ii. 7, 8, "righteous Lot."
Pentapolis'] The group of five "cities of the plain," of which only
Zoar was spared (cp. Gen. xiv. 2). "Provided it may be assumed that in
Abraham's time what is now the shallow S. part of the Dead Sea was
the 'Yale of Siddim,' and the morass es-Sebkha (on the S. of the Dead
Sea) a fertile plain, it may reasonably be supposed that the other four
cities were situated on this plain.... The evidence that the post-biblical
Zoar was at the S. end of the Dead Sea clearly cannot be resisted, and
in the case of... a well-known place, it seems scarcely likely that the
Zoar of Tosephus was on a different site from the biblical Zoar"
(Prof. Driver in Hastings, D. B. iv. Q86b).
7. a smoking
mentions waste still zviinesseth']
this phenomenon Philo {Abr. Smoke
as still in existence. § 27, Mos.
may ii.have
10)
issued from the bituminous soil as in the Lydian Catacecaumene, or
the notion may be due to the dense mist which rises from the basin
of the Dead Sea. In the Greek Acts of Pionius this passage occurs
" I myself, on crossing the Jordan saw a land which to this day
witnesseth to the wrath that fell from God upon it, because of the sins
wrought by its inhabitants. I saw smoke arising from it even till now,
and the land scorched with fire, destitute of all fruit and water."
fruit that cometh not to ripeness] Cp. Dt. xxxii. 32 and Josephus,
Wars iv. 8. 4 "There are still the remainders of that divine fire. ..the
ashes still grow in their fruits, which fruits have a colour as if they were
fit to be eaten; but if you pluck them with your hands, they dissolve
into smoke and ashes."
Cp. Tert. Apol. § 40; Tac. Hist. v. 7. See Curzon, Monasteries of
the Levant ^ p. 189, and Tristram, Nat. Hist, of Bible ^ p. 48a.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON X. 7, 8. 99

Yea and a ^disbelieving soul hath a memorial there, a pillar

of salt still standing.
For having passed wisdom by, 8
Not only were they disabled from recognising the things
which are good,
But they also left behind them ^for human life a monument
of their folly;
To the end that ^ where they ^went astray they might fail even
to be unseen:

1 Or, distrustful 2 Qr, by their life

' Gr. wherein, ■* Gr. sttunbled.

a disbelieving s(nil\ Cp. Gen. xix. 17, 26. In Clem. Rom. xi. Lot's
wife is called "otherwise-minded and not in accord (with Godj " : her
pillar exists to this day as " a warning to the double-minded and those
who doubt the power of God."
hath a memorial] The Gk. word probably contains a double mean-
ing (1) memorial, (2) tomb: according to the legend, her pillar was her
tomb. Cp. Heraclitus' <xCj^J.a arjixa. ip. 93).
Josephus {Ant.i. 11. 4) claims to have seen the very pillar: Irenaeus
{Haer. iv. 31. 3) sees in its continued existence a picture of the Church's
life. The story is readily accounted for by the remarkable rock forma-
tions in the /eb:'i Usdu?n, a range of cliffs at the south-west end of the
Dead Sea, consisting of crystaUised rock-salt. From the face of these
cliffs great fragments are occasionally detached by the rains, and appear
as "pillars of salt" (Sir G. Grove in Smith, D. B. iii. 1180). Prof.
Driver (Hastings, D. B. iii. 152) quotes an American irayeller who
described one such pillar, which was about 40 ft. high, cylindrical in
form, and rested on a kind of oval pedestal, some 50 ft. above the level
of the sea. Such pillars are constantly in process of formation and
destruction.
8. This verse contains the philosophy of v. 7, and is a variation
upon Prov. i. '29 — 31. Those who reject Wisdom (like the men of
Sodom and Lot's wife, a woman of Sodom) incur a double loss: they
become spiritually blind, and they are held up to the reproach of future
generations, with an unenviable immortality. Philo {Conf. I. § 8) speaks
of them as "sterile in wisdom and blind in heart."
for human life'] i.e. living men, Vulg. hominibus. Cp. 4 Mace,
xvii. 14 " The world and human lite were looking on." Marg. suggests
by their life, their memorial corresponding to and springing out of their
life, cp. the smoking land, the bitter fruit, the pillar of salt.
their foil)^ The opposite of wisdom, " godlessness."
they tnight fail even to be unseen] Their self-inflicted punishments,
see xi. 16, springing out of the sins that produced them, proclaim
publicly the misdeeds of those whom they overtook.
 loo THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON X. 9-12.
9 But wisdom delivered out of troubles those that waited on
her.

10 When a righteous man was a fugitive from a brother's

wrath, ^wisdom guided hmi in straight paths ;
She shewed him God's kingdom, and gave him knowledge
of holy things ;
She prospered him in his toils, and multiplied the fruits of
his labour;
1 1 When in their covetousness men dealt hardly with him,
She stood by him and made him rich;
12 She guarded him from enemies.
And from those that lay in wait she kept him safe,
And over his sore conflict she watched as judge,
^ Gr. she.

9. So much for the cities of the plain and their ungodly inhabitants.
Turn now to the examples of those who cultivated \Visdom, and see
what a deliverer she is.
10. When a righteous man] See Gen. xxvii. 41— :45. The writer
has applied the epithet righteous to Noah, Abraham, Lot, and un-
righteous toCain. Jacob here and Joseph {v. 13) are called righteous,
while the same epithet is given to Israel in v. 20, in contradistinction
to the Egyptians who are called ungodly (cp. v. 6 of the men of Sodom).
There is a touch of patriotic bias in the characterisation (cp. esp. v. 15),
which is very marked in the two succeeding chapters.
straight paths'] Cp. Gen. xxviii. 20; Prov. iii. 6.
God's kingdo77i\ Probably referring to Jacob's dream, Gen. xxviii.
ro — 17, in which God revealed to him some of the providential agencies
of the kingdom of God.
knowledge of holy things'] i.e. of supernatural mysteries. This may
refer to the wrestling with the angel, Gen. xxxii. 24 — 32 " I have seen
God face to face," and to the prophetic visions of Gen. xlviii., xlix.
prospered hint] This may include the reflected prosperity of Laban,
Gen. XXX. 30, as well as what accrued to himself, Gen. xxx. 43.
the fr-uits of his labour'] lit. his labours, cp. viii. 7 ; Ecclus. xiv. 15.
11. See Gen. xxxi. 38 — 42. Wisdom helped him to prosper in
spite of Laban's churlishness.
12. guarded him froTH enemies'] Such as Laban, who was warned in
a dream not to hurt Jacob (Gen. xxxi. 24, 29).
those that lay in wait] Esau (Gen. xxvii. 41, xxxii. 11, 20, xxxiii.).
Deane suggests also a reference to the Canaanite tribes on the way to
Bethel (Gen. xxxv. 5) upon which the "terror of God" had fallen.
over his sore conflict she watched as fudge] Gen. xxxii. 24 — 30; Hos.
xii. 3, 4. Vulg. certamen dedit ut uinceret. The Gk. verb has the
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON X. 12-14. loi

That he might know that godliness is more powerful than ^all.

When a righteous man was sold, "wisdom forsook him not, 13

But ^from sin she delivered him;
She Vv'ent down with him into a dungeon,
And in bonds she left him not, 14
Till she brought him the sceptre of a kingdom,
And authority over those that dealt tyrannously with him;
She shewed them also to be false that had mockingly
accused him,
^ Gr. every one. 2 Qj. ^j^g^
2 Ox,fro>?i the sin of his brethren... iw/i? a pit

general sense of "acting as arbitrator, or umpire," cp. Philo, Quis

rerum § 19 : Vulg. goes beyond the meaning of the word. The writer
suggests that not only has piety nothing to fear from men, but it actually
prevails with God (Grimm).
That he might know] The WTCstling with God was also a parable.
To the writer every historic event has its value as a symbol of spiritual
truth, cp. ch. xvi. 28. Like Robert Bro\sTiing, he might say "My
stress lay on the incidents in the development of a soul : little else is
worth study."
more p(r<.verfur\ Even than Jacob's own astuteness, cp. i Tim. iv. 8.
13. was sold] See Gen. xxxvii. 27, 28.
from sin] Vulg. a peccatoribus. This interpretation is accepted by
marg., which reads/'/rt^w the sin of his brethren," and renders Xolkkov
in next /. ///, this being the LXX. word for "pit" in Gen. xxxvii. 24.
But inasmuch as in the first /. Joseph was said to have been sold, it
seems almost contradictory to say later "but delivered him from his
brothers." The reference is more probably to the temptation of Joseph
and his answer (Gen. xx.xix. 9).
with him into a dztngeon] Either this or marg. is possible. But in
Gen. xl. 15 LXX. Xd/c/cos stands for the dungeon of Potiphar, and so
probably here. Cp. Dan. iii. 49 LXX. " The angel of the Lord went
down with them {crvvKaT^^r}) into the furnace."
14. And in do/ids] See Gen. xxxix. 2 iff. and xl. "It was not
needful for the captain of the prison to watch Joseph,... because he saw
that there was no fault in his hands; for the Word of the Lord was his
helper." Etheridge, Targiun of Palestine p. 296.
sceptre] Gk, sceptres. Plural of dignity, expressing the idea of power
generally, Gen. xli. 39 — 45. Philo, y<?j. § 21 writes "Pharaoh made
him second in the kingdom, or rather (to speak the truth) king."
authority over those that dealt tyrannously] i.e. the Egyptians
generally (Gen. xli. 44), whose representatives had imprisoned him,
shewed them also to be false] Potiphar's wife, Gen. xxxix. 17, 18.
had tnockingly accustd him^ Vulg. has maculauerunt^ "defamed";
 I02 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON X. 14—17-
And gave him eternal glory.

j^ 15 MVisdom delivered a holy people and a blameless seed from

a nation of oppressors.
16 She entered into the soul of a servant of the Lord,
And withstood terrible kings in wonders and signs.
17 She rendered unto holy men a reward of their toils;
1 Gr. SAe.

"mockingly" is not in the Greek. There may be a side-reference to

Gen. xxxvii. 8, cp. xlix. 23.
^ave hitn eternal glory] For the phrase, cp. Is. xxii. 22 LXX. "I
will give him the gloiy of David." "Eternal" indicates rather the
undying fame of Joseph, than his temporal reputation in Egypt and
lordship over his brothers.

V. 15—21. Wisdom as the helper of Israel.

15. holy people... blanieless seed] The writer assumes that Wisdom
was on the side of Israel, and designates the people accordingly. He
can only draw a convincing picture by isolating certain broad character-
istics of the Israelite people : artistically he is correct, as the qualifications
necessary for literal accuracy would weaken the impression he desires to
convey, and are allowed for mentally by the Jewish circle he addresses.
The Jews are the people of God, cp. Ex. xix. 6 ; ideally they take their
character from the Name by which they are called : similarly the heathen
as not knowing God are stigmatised as the reverse of all that is godly
[v. 20, xii. 11). Deane rightly remarks that the expression does not
point to any definite blamelessness in the Israelites, but is an official
designation. That there were even traditions of idolatry among the
Israelites in Egypt is plain from Jos. xxiv. 14; Ezek. xx. 8, xxiii. 3.
16. She enteredinto the soul] Cp. Ex. iv. 12, vii, i.
a servant of the Lord] Moses alone is known as the servant {Q^pattwy)
of the Lord in canonical books, although the word is applied to Aaron
in Wisd. xviii. 21. The word carries a more honourable significance
than "bondservant" (SoOXos). Cp. Heb. iii. 5.
terrible kings] Possibly refers only to Pharaoh, the plural being
employed in a general sense, cp. Ps. cv. 30 (but LXX. reading is not
certain). But the reference is almost certainly identical with that in
Ps. cxxxv. 9, 10, and includes kings outside Egypt, cp. Ps. cxxxv'i. 17, 18.
wonders atid signs] Cp. ch. viii. 8 and Ps. cxxxv. 9.
17. holy men] Again, the idealised Israel.
reward of their toils] The obvious reference seems to be Ex. xi. 2, 3,
xii- 35, 36, although the borrowed jewels could hardly have repaid the
people for their years of servitude. Liberty, and the catalogue of
mercies recorded in vv, 17 — 19 should be included, as well as the
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON X. 17—20. 103
She guided them along a marvellous way,
And became unto them a covering in the day-time,
And a flame of stars through the night.
She brought them over the Red sea, 18
And led them through much water;
But their enemies she drowned, 19
And out of the bottom of the deep she cast them up. ^^
Therefore the righteous spoiled the ungodly;
And they sang praise to thy holy name, O Lord,
"much substance" (Gen. xv. 14) gathered in Egypt which the people
took with them (Ex. xii. 32, 38).

24 a LXX.
marz'elhus
Philozuay'\
\Mos.Ex.ii. xiii.
34) 21, 12. ofWith
speaks the line
the path cp. Ps.
through the cxxxix.
sea as
"a mai~vellously wrought path" [fxeyaXovpyrjOeTa-a).
becatne unto them a covering] The cloud was thought of not only as
guide (Ex. xiii, 21), but as protection from the heat, see Num. x. 34;
Ps cv. 39 ; cp. Is. iv. 5, 6. See chs. xviii. 3, xix. 7. Wisdom is here
identified with the cloud. Such identification might easily spring from
the language of Ex. xiv. 19, cp. the identification of the rock with
Christ, borrowed from Jewish speculation, i Cor. x. 4. In Mas. i. 29
Philo writes of the cloud, in its aspect as guide, that possibly it concealed
some ministering angel.
flame
18. See of stars'] Cp. Philo
Ex. xiv. Ps. Ixxviii.
{Mos. 14.
ii. 34) amplifies the account of the
passage of the sea, but adds no important traditional details.
19. Ex. xiv. 26 — 28. Vulg. makes the second /. from the bottom of
the deep she brought them up refer to the Israelites, but Philo's use of
air € ^ pda 9 7] a av in connection with the casting up of the Egyptian coi-pses
(cp. avi^pacrev cast them up here) makes it almost certain that text is
right. The Pal. Targum has " The sea and the earth had controversy
one with the other. The sea said to the earth, Receive thy children ;
and the earth said to the sea, Receive thy murderers. But the earth
willed not to swallow them, and the sea willed not to overwhelm them....
Then God swore to the earth that He would not require them of her in
the world to come. Then did the earth open her mouth and swallow
them up." Etheridge, Tar^z/wj p. 494.
20. Therefore... spoiled the ungodly] Because the Egyptians were
dead on the sea-shore, the Israelites could take their spoil. The Greek
word is the same as that in Ex. xii. 36 of the spoiling of the Egyptians
before the departure, but no doubt the reference is to the tradition
mentioned by Josephus {Ant. ii. 16. 6 and iii. i. 4). " On the next day
Moses gathered the weapons of the Egyptians, which were brought to
the camp of the Hebrews by the current of the sea, and the force of
the wind assisting it; and he conjectured that this also happened by
Divine Providence, that so they might not be destitute of weapons."
sang praise] Ex. xv. i — 22.
 I04 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON X. 20— XL 2.
And extolled with one accord thy hand that fought for them:
21 Because wisdom opened the mouth of the dumb,
And made the tongues of babes to speak clearly.

^ ' 11 She prospered their works in the hand of a holy prophet.

2 They journeyed through a desert v/ithout inhabitant,
extolled] Cp. 3 Mace. ii. 8.
with one accord] Philo {Mos. ii. 34) \\Tites "Moses divided the
people into two bands of men and women, to sing in harmony to the
Creator- Father ; for men's deep voices, and the clear tones of women,
blend in a sweet and melodious strain. The many thousands of the
people he persuaded to join together in singing with concerted voices
of those marvellous works."
21. the rnouth of the dumb] A clear reminiscence of Ex. iv. 11, 12.
The plural, by a kind of poetic generalisation, first points to Moses, and
then includes all the people.
tongues of babes] Cp. Ps. viii. 1.
speak clearly] Cp. Is. xxxv. 6 LXX. Wisdom gave articulate utter-
ance to those who were but babes in eloquence. The language is
general and rhetorical : no definite allusion is intended, unless perhaps
to what Philo records {Mas. ii. 34), viz. that the two bodies of singers,
with no previous rehearsal, found themselves joining in the same words
of praise.

Ch. XI. 1 — Ch. XII. 2. Contrast between the fortunes of

Israel and Egypt in respect of water. Reflections on
THE purpose for WHICH THE PLAGUES OF EgYPT ASSUMED
THEIR PARTICULAR FORMS. God'S DEALINGS WITH ISRAEL FOR
ITS PRESERVATION AND WITH EgYPT FOR PUNISHMENT.

w. 1 — 3. Wisdom preserved Israel during the

WANDERINGS.

1. She p7-ospered their works] Wisdom is still the subject. For a

similar phrase, see Gen. xxxix. 23 LXX. In the hand is a common
Plebraism (cp. Ps. Ixxvii. 20; Neh. ix. 14), signifying "by the
agency of"
a holy prophet] Moses, cp. Dt. xviii. 15; Hos. xii. 13. For the
expression, cp. St Luke i. 70. Philo {Mos. ii. 23) writes of Moses,
that as he was the greatest king, lawgiver, and high priest, so he was
also the most famous prophet, cp. Dt. xxxiv. 10. vv. 2, 3 are an ex-
pansion of this V.
2. desert without inhabitant] Cp. Dt. xxxii. 10 ; Ps. cvii. 4. The
idea is not that they came upon no tribes inhabiting the desert, but that
the desert had no established city-life. For cloLktjtos (uninhabited) cp.
Hos. xiii. 5.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XI. 2—6. 105
And in trackless regions they pitched their tents.
They withstood enemies, and ^repelled foes. 3
They thirsted, and they called upon thee, 4
And there was given them water out of ^the ^flinty rock,
And healing of their thirst out of the hard stone.
For by what things their foes were punished, 5
By these they in their need were benefited.
^When the ene7ny\\eTQ troubled with clotted blood instead of 6
a river's ever-flowing fountain,
^ Or, took vengeance on foes ^ Or, the steep rock ^ See Deut.
viii. 15; Ps. cxiv. 8. "* The text of this verse is perhaps corrupt.

in trackless regions'] For d^Saros, cp. Ps. Ixiii. i LXX. Hobab was
their guide. Num. x. 20 — 32.
pitched their tents] Perhaps a reference to Succoth (Tents), the first
encampment of the Israelites after leaving Eg}'pt, Ex. xii. 37. Cp. the
institution of the feast of Tabernacles, Lev. xxiii. 43.
3. There is probably no distinction to be observ^ed between enemies
diXidfoes : poetical variation accounts for the reduplication. Among the
enemies in the wanderings were the Amalekites, Ex. xvii.; Arad, Sihon
and Og, Num. xxi. ; the Midianites, Num. xxxi.

W. 4 — 10. How WATER WAS USED TO BLESS THE ISRAELITES

AND TO PUNISH THE EGYPTIANS.

4. They thirsted] Ex. xvii. i — 7; see also Num. xx. 8 — ir. The
people could only be said to have called upon God for water indirectly,
through Moses, cp^ Ps. cvii. 5, 6. The writer ignores their mur-
murings.
water out of the fiinty rock] aKpordfiov, Vulg. a/tissima, marg. steep.
The Gk. word {aKporofios), properly "steep," "precipitous," is the
LXX. rendering of the Heb. word for "flinty" in Dt. viii. 15; Job
xxviii. 9; Ps. cxiv. 8. Philo (A/i. ii. 21) writes, "The 'rock of flint'
is the Wisdom of God, from which He feed^the souls that love Him " ;
cp. I Cor. X. 4.
healing of their thirst] For the phrase, cp. 4 Mace. iii. 10, and
Philo, Mos. i. 38, Post. Caifi 41, Somn. ii. 9.
6. Thus water was a boon to the Israelites, but to the Egyptians
it was the medium of great misery. Water was miraculously provided
to relieve the thirst of the Israelites, but water was transformed into a
plague for the Egyptians (Ex. vii. 19, xvii. 6). There is a certain,
resemblance between this contrast and that in i Pet. iii. 20, where;
the drowning of the world by water is contrasted with the saving of.
the ark by the water which carried it on its waves.
6. When the enemy were troubled] Text translates B. This rendering,
adopted by Vulg., causes an anacoluthon. AC read rapaxdevTOSt in
 io6 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XI. 7—9.
7 To rebuke the decree for the slaying of babes,
Thou gavest them abundant water beyond all hope,
8 Having shewn them by Hhe thirst which they had suffered
how thou didst punish the adversaries.
9 For when they were tried, albeit but in mercy chastened,
^ Gr. the then thirst.

which case the rendering is *' Instead of the ever-flowing fountain of

a river now troubled with clotted blood, Thou gavest to Israel abundant
water." The sense is unaffected in either case, although the clauses are
better balanced in text.
clotted bloody Cp. Ex. vii. 19 — 25. Philo {Mas. i. 17) writes that
God determined to plague the Egyptians by water before anything else,
because they exaggerated its worth, and viewed it as the source of
all creative power. Josephus {Aitt. ii. 14. i, iii. i. 4) writes that the
Nile water was sweet for the Irsaelites, all the time that it was blood
for the Egyptians.
7. mentlofor a rebuke
twofoldthesindecree"]
is here Ex. i. 15, 16,
set forth. 22. was
Pharaoh A double punish-
punished with
scarcity of water because he had sinned through water ; and, secondly,
the Nile was turned to blood because he had sinned by the blood of the
firstborn. Cp. Etheridge, Targufns p. 448 "The king of Mizraim was
struck (with disease), and he commanded to kill the firstborn of the
sons of Israel that he might bathe himself in their blood." This incident,
not recorded in Scripture, is held to have occurred while Moses was in
the land of Midian. Farrar points out that Scripture does not allude
to the notion that the plagues were related by any causal connection to
the sins of the Egj'ptians : they are set forth as signs of power, to urge
Pharaoh to obedience to God.
8. This V. shows that the writer has no thought of the tradition quoted
from Josephus (see v. 6), but is contrasting the gift of water to Israel in
the wilderness with the failure of water experienced by the Egyptians.
Confident in his thesis that what punished Egypt benefited Israel, he
argues that the Israelites were allowed to thirst for a little, in order
that they might be able to measure the proportionately worse suffer-
ings of the Egj'ptians when their water had been turned into blood.
According to the writer, no moral purpose was served by the scarcity of
water experienced by Israel : the main reason was that their imagination
might be whetted to appreciate the tortures endured by the Egyptians.
Needless to say this is not the Scriptural account, which for moral
sublimity is unsurpassed, Dt. viii. 2, 3.
9. whejt they were tried] The Israelites, though chastened by
mercy, could nevertheless argue from the known to the unknown, and
conceive what the chastenings of anger might be. The writer is hardly
consistent in these utterances with those humane sentiments at the end
of the chapter which are the beauty of the Book of Wisdom, i>v. 23 — 26.
God is represented here as arbitrarily restricting His mercy to Israel,
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XI. 9—12. 107
They learned how the ungodly were tormented, being
judged with wrath :
For these, as a father, admonishing them, thou didst prove; 10
But those, as a stern king, condemning them, thou didst
search out.
Yea and whether they were far o&frofn the righteous or near 1 1
them^ they were alike distressed;
For a double grief took hold on them, 12
And a groaning at the remembrance of things past

and His wrath to Egypt, but a truer version of the facts may be seen in
Ex. xxxii. 28 ; Num. xi. 33.
the ungodly] The writer's national particularism shows itself in his
use of tmgodly for the Eg}'ptians (cp. xii. 11) in contrast with the " holy
people and blameless seed," x. 15.
A.V. introduces here without any warrant from MSS. or versions
the third clause of v. 14. The change has nothing to recommend it,
and spoils the carefully arranged parallelism of the three consecutive
contrasts in vv. 8, 9, 10.
10. The writer affirms that God's purposes towards Israel were
educative, and towards Egypt retributive. The two contradictions of
God as avenger and as forgiver, and of God as God of Israel and
God of all, though reconciled in the Incarnation, were for the waiter
irreconcilable, and yet caused him but slight perplexity. This verse
belongs to the same dispensation that produced the imprecatory Psalms,
cp. Mai. i. 2,3"! loved Jacob, and I hated Esau."
as a father] Cp. Dt. viii. 5; 2 Sam. vii. 14. Contrast with this
verse Acts x. 35; Rom. ii. 9.

w. 11—14. The effect of the miracle of the water from

THE ROCK UPON THE EGYPTIANS.

11. far off... or near] When Israel was in Egypt and the Nile was
as blood, the Egyptians suffered : but when Israel was in the wilder-
ness, and the Nile was once more water, the Egyptians sutTered no
less. This time mentally: for it galled them to hear the report that
water, which had been so hostile to themselves, had befriended the
escaping Israelites.
12. a double grief] (i) The objective tortures of thirst, now past;
(2) the subjective annoyance at the good fortune of the Israelites.
and a groaning] The news from the wilderness revived the slum-
bering memories of the water-famine. To be reminded of Israel was
to be reminded of the stricken Nile. Vulg. gemitus cum niemoria prae-
teriformn supports text in following J^A irapeXddvTUV for irapeXdovaQu
of BC.
 io8 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XI. 13, 14.
13 For when they heard that through their own punishments
the others ^had been benefited,
They felt the presence <?/the Lord;
14 For him who long before was *cast forth and exposed they
left off mocking:
In the last issue of what came to pass ^they marvelled,
Having thirsted in another manner than the righteous.
^ Some authorities read were being. ^ Some authorities read cast
forth 171 hatred they. ^ Or, they mai-velled at him

13. For"] What made the aniioyance of the Egyptians more intoler-
able, and so doubled their grief, was the realisation that Jehovah, the
God of Moses whom they had despised, had triumphed over the gods
of Egypt, cp. Ex. xii. 12.
their own pimishmeiits\ i.e. the "medium of their own punishment,"
water. Perhaps the punishment of the Egyptians by water, when Israel
escaped and their own forces were destroyed, is also in the writer's mind.
had been benejitedl Marg. following B loere being; so Vulg. bene
seaim agi. It would be a worse blow to the Egyptians to know that
Israel was being continuously benefited by water.
They felt... the Lord] Cp. xii. 27; Ex. v. 2.
14. cast forth and exposed] Text adopts the reading of B ev
iKdeaei, which has the support of xviii. 5. Marg. cast forth in hatred
follows XAC kv ix^eaeL (cri) : for ^x^os in pi., cp. Hom. //. iii. 416. The
latter is to be preferred. The exposure of Moses in his infancy is not
germane to the topic in hand, nor has it any connection with the
"mocking" of the Egyptians: on the other hand, cast forth in hatred
refers plainly to Ex. x. 11, 28. TrdXai (long before) has a purely rela-
tive significance, and is as applicable to Pharaoh's rejection of Moses as
to Moses' exposure in infancy.
they left off mocking] The writer adds this touch from his own
fancy: there is no doubt that the attitude of the Egyptians towards
Moses must have been allied to mockery, when some of the plagues
were matched by the enchantments of the magicians. The attitude of
contempt for Moses the spokesman of Israel is not incompatible with
considerable regard for him as a man, Ex. xi. 3.
/« the last issue] The time to which this clause refers is fixed by
the succeeding one. The writer postulates that news reached Egypt
of the miracle of the smitten rock, and that the tidings caused Egypt to
marvel at the man whom for so long it had flouted. This clause rests
on as little Scriptural authority as the one before,
of what came to pass] ruiv iK^daeuv refers not to the ten plagues
(Grimm) but to the whole series of events which reached its climax at
Massah, Ex. xvii.
Having thirsted in another manner] A mild way of saying " with
sufferings far beyond those of the Israelites." This sentence, which
 THE WISDOxM OF SOLOMON XI. 15, 16. 109

But in requital of the senseless imaginings of their un- 15

righteousness,
Wherein they were led astray to worship irrational reptiles
and wretched vermin,
Thou didst send upon them a multitude of irrational
creatures for vengeance;
That they might learn, that by what things a man sinneth, 16
by these he is punished.
A.V. transferred to end of v. 9, is rightly kept in its place by Vulg.,
containing as it does the reason why the contempt of the Egyptians was
turned into respect.

z'v. 15 — 20. The plagues of frogs and lice.

16.unrighteous
were in requitalnotof...']
only inA their
new actions,
idea unfolds
but in itself. The Egyptians
their worship. If they
did not know God, they were to be blamed for not knowing Him.
Their ignorance was not intellectual, it was moral. Unrighteousness
was the character of their creed and cult. This unrighteousness gave
birth to "senseless imaginings" (again, moral rather than intellectual,
eh. i. 3), cp. Rom. i. 21 — 23. And as they thought in their hearts,
so did God visit them: as they loved the creature more than the
Creator, God gave them their desire.
irrational reptiles] Reptiles includes all creeping things. Not only
did Serpent-worship exist in Egypt, but also the worship of creatures of
all kinds from the crocodile to the beetle.
wretched vermiti] Kvw5a\a is as vague a word as our " creatures."
For wretched (lit. cheap), cp. Philo, AIos. i. 19 " If God desires
to employ instruments for His punishments, He does not use the
largest and strongest, for He thinks little of their prowess, but He
furnishes the small and wretched (ei/reX-^) with invincible powers and
punishes the wrongdoers by their means" (referring to the lice,
Ex. viii. 16 ff.).
irrational creatures] The plagues of frogs, lice, flies (Ex. viii.),
locusts (Ex. X.). For the flies, see Philo's imaginative description in
Mos. i. 23. With this use of the creatures venerated by the Egyptians,
for their punishment by God, should be contrasted their use by Him
for the benefit of Israel. As lice and flies were sent to plague the
Egyptians, so quails were sent to feed the Israelites, ch. xv. i8fif.
16. The Egyptians received punishment in the particular forms which
it took, in order that they might be forced to recognise a great moral
law "As a man sins, so is he punished." This law acts with unfailing
certainty in the spiritual sphere alone, where there is no exception to
the rule that a man reaps as he sows. The penalty for an untruth is
untruthfulness. If the writer had confined himself to the inward sphere,
his doctrine could not be challenged. For in the external world,
 no THE WISDOxM OF SOLOMON XI. 17.

[7 For thine all-powerful hand,

That created the world out of formless matter,
although physical sins often entail physical consequences, it is by no
means universally true that the sinner suffers by his o\\ti sin. There
are instances of dramatic justice, but it is their rarity which makes them
striking, cp. Adoni-bezek, Judg. i. 7 ; Saul, i Sam. xv. 23 ; see Rev.
xvi. 6. But these examples do not correspond completely to the idea
of "hoist with his own petard": the true illustration is Ps. vii. 15
"He is. ..fallen into the ditch which he made," cp. Ps. Ivii. 6. But
the application of the law to the plagues of frogs and lice and flies
is very artificial. There is no inevitable causal connection between
the Egyptian gods and the plagues. The most that can be said is that
the Egyptians saw the lesson of their folly emphasised when they were
plagued through their deities. See xii. 23, xvi. i, xviii. 4, xix. 13 ; Job
iv. 8; Ps. cix. 17; Prov. v. 22; Is. xxx. 3, 16; Ez. xxxv. 6; Obad. 15;
2 Mace. ix. 6; cp. Philo, Q. R. D. H. § 22; Jub. iv. 31; Test, xii
Patr. Gad v, and Etheridge, Targu77is p. 505.
17. thine all-powerful hand'\ Some would identify the hand of
God with Wisdom, cp. ch, xiv. 6. Deane observes that in Is, xlviii. 13
"hand" is rendered "word" by the Chaldee paraphrast : but cp. "the
finger of God" in connection with the plague of lice, Ex. viii. 19. For
the epithet, cp. x\nii. 15.
created... formless
expression, matter"]
belonging Formlessof matter
to a system is a Greek
speculation philosophical
altogether different
from that of the Jews. The Jews believed in a creation out of nothing ;
the Greeks believed in the eternity of matter [vK-q) and the arrangement
of matter by mind, cp. Anaxagoras, Diog. La. ii. 3. There was a
conflict, therefore, between philosophic dualism and religious monism ;
the Greeks conceived of two preexisting eternals, God and matter, while
the Jews held that God created all things either out of nothing or out
of Himself. It is impossible to say with certainty which view was held
by the writer of Wisdom : even Philo was not consistent, and oscillated
between the two positions, and the writer of Wisdom was far more of a
Hebraist than Philo. It is quite possible \hs,\. for f?i less matter {d/j.op(pos
(IXtj) stands as a convenient Greek sjTnbol for the Hebrew of Gen. i. 2,
which is rendered by LXX. doparos /cat dKaracTKevaaTos (invisible and
unorganised). Further the use of Kri^eiv (create) here is non-committal :
it leaves the origin of matter out of sight, and deals merely with the
arrangement of matter. Cp. xiii. 3, where ^KTcaev is equivalent to
KaraaKevdcras in xiii. 4.
The extreme fluidity of thought on this subject may be seen by
contrasting Philo, Somii. i. 13 "God not only brought the world into
visible manifestation, but He made things which before were not,
seeing that He is not only demiurge but creator" with his affirmation
of Aristotle's dictum, "It is impossible for anything to be made out of
that which is not," de Incorr. Mundi § 2. In Cher. § 35 he lays down
four causes of Creation, God the agent {y(p' ou), the Logos the instru-
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XI. 17—20. in
Lacked not means to send upon them a multitude of bears,
or fierce lions,
Or ^new-created wild beasts, full of rage, ^unknown kind^ 18
Either breathing out a blast of fiery breath,
Or blo\ving {oiX\\fro7?i their ?wstrils noisome smoke,
Or flashing dreadful sparkles from their eyes;
Which had power not only to consume them by their 19
^violence,
But to destroy them even by the terror of their sight.
Yea and without these might they have fallen by a single 20
breath,
Being pursued by Justice, and scattered abroad by the
breath of thy power.
^ Some authorities read unknown tvild beasts, full of new -created rage.
^ Gr. harmfulness.

ment (5t' o&), matter the source (e^ ov), and God's goodness the final
cause (5t* 6').
existence. For This
a veryanalysis plainly puts
clear statement matter
of the rival on a footing
theories of pre-
of Creation,
see P. N. "^ z.g^jt\\.. Scientific Temper in Religion pp. 165 — 169, 1 70, 171.
Bois the{Orig,J.
for writer A. Phil.
what pp. 265have
it would ft'.) concludes
meant for Xhzxforfnless matter means
a Greek philosopher, and
that he uses KTi^eiv (create) in the sense of "arrange." He admits
however that in a transition-document like Wisdom, it is quite possible
that both the Greek and Hebrew ideas are found with no attempt made to
reconcile them, and that Kri^eiv here might have the sense of " create."
theLacked
less. not means'^ Cp. xii. 9, God who can do the greater, can do
bears or...lio7i5\ Philo {Mos. i. 19) asks "Why did God visit the land
with such insignificant creatures, and omit to send bears or lions or
leopards or other kinds of fierce animals?" The noisome beast was
one of God's four sore judgments, Ezek. xiv. 21; cp. Lev. xxvi. 22;
2 Kings xvii. 26; Jer. viii. 17.
18. new-ch.
hailstorm, created...
v. 22. full
God ofwho
rage'\ The the
created epithet
world,apphed
might tohave
the created
divine
special instruments of punishment. Some would render /«// of poison
(dvfxos). Philo {Mos. i. 19) asks further "WTiy did not God send even
the Egyptian asps, whose bite is fatal?" cp. Dt. xxxii. 33 LXX.
19. God could have sent creatures the very sight of which might
have destroyed the Egyptians. The thought is hardly (as Farrar thinks)
of the basilisk which was reputed to kill with its glance.
20. by a single breath^ Cp. 2 Kings xix. 7 ; Job iv. 9 ; Is. xi. 4.
Justice']
factis Cp. Acts
suis suggests xxviii. 4.with Vulg.
comparison persectitionem
ch. xiv. 31. See v. passi
16. ab ipsis
scattered abroad by the breath of thy power] The figure is the same
as in ch. v. 23. Cp. Is. xl. 24.
 112 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XI. 20—22.
But by measure and number and weight thou didst order
all things.
21 For to be greatly strong is thine at all times;
And the might of thine arm who shall withstand?
22 Because the whole world before thee is as ^ a grain Mn a
balance,
1 Gr. that -which just turneth. ^ Gr. from,

is by
a measure
God of and ordernm?tber
: force and weight
is not Histhou didst order all
distinguishing things']
attribute Godto
{Ep.
Diogn. vii, 4) : inflexible purpose and unfailing mercy are His most
notable characteristics. Hence, the sins of the Egyptians did not divert
God from His settled will. In the beginning, God had imprinted on
the universe a uniform and harmonious order : by this He was Himself
bound as He estimated the offences of men, and dealt out their punish-
ments in proportion. For the collocation of measure, tiumber, and
weight, cp. Job xxviii. 25 ; Is. xl. 12, 26; Philo, Somn. ii. 29 "God and
not the mind of man measures, weighs and numbers all things, and
circumscribes them with bounds and limits"; and Charles, Enoch,
p. 132 "In apocryphal literature historical events are methodically
arranged under artificial categories of measure, number, weight (Wisdom
xi. 20; 4 Esdr. iv. 36, 37)." "He hath weighed the world in the
balance ; and by measure hath He measured the times, and by number
hath He numbered the seasons; and He shall not move nor stir them,
until the said measure be fulfilled," 4 Esdr. I.e. Cp. Philo, Mut. § 40 for
jjieasure and weight, and Test, xii Patr. Napht. ii, for weighty measure^
and rule.

V. 21 — xii. 2. God is love, and is merciful as well

AS MIGHTY.

21. Eor to be greatly strongi The reason why God might have
punished the Egyptians with the terrors set forth in w. 17 — 20. Cp.
I Chr. xxix. 11 and Philo {Mos. i. 19) "God is the highest and greatest
who shall withstand?] Cp. xii. 12. A conflation of these two
power."
passages appears in Clem. Rom. xxvii. "Who shall say unto Him,
What hast thou done? or who shall resist the might of His strength?"
This and ch. ii. 24 are the earliest known patristic quotations from
Wisdom.
22. There is a reminiscence in this v. of Is. xl. 12 — 24, in which the
insignificance of man by the side of God is set forth ; cp. 2 Mace. viii. 18.
grain in a balance] Vulg. movientum staterae, lit. (as marg.) that
which just turneth the balance, and so the tiniest atom that makes the
scale-pan dip. Cp. Is. xl. 15. The figure of weights and scales {v. 20)
is resumed, and enables the writer to combine the two thoughts of the
exceeding smallness of the world and the refined delicacy of God's equity.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XI. 22—24. ii3
And as a drop of dew that at morning cometh down upon
the earth.
But thou hast mercy on all men, because thou hast power 23
to do all things,
And thou overlookest the sins of men to the end they may
repent.
For thou lovest all things that are, 24
And abhorrest none of the things which thou didst make;
For never wouldest thou have formed anything if thou didst
hate it.

drop ofdeiv] A type of man's littleness and transitoriness. See Hos.

vi. 4, xiii. 3. Cp. Is. xl. 6. 7.
23. mercy on all'\ Ecclus. xviii. 13 "The mercy of the Lord is on
all flesh."
pcTduer to do all things] Job x. 1 3 LXX., xlii. i ; Philo, Opif. § 14. The
combination of mercy and power is brought out in xii. 16, 18, 20. The
summit of strength is self-control. For the two great attributes of God,
His goodness and His power, see Philo, Sacr. § 15. The Gelasian
Collect for the nth 8. after Trinity is founded on this z'. "O God, who
declarest Thy almighty power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity."
The combination is first seen in Ps. Ixii. 11, 12 "Power belongeth unto
God; also unto Thee, Lord, belongeth mercy," cp. Ex. xxxiii. 17 ff.
Farrar quotes Merchant of Venice, iv. i.
**It is an attribute to God Himself,
And earthly power doth then shew likest God's
When Mercy seasons Justice."
thou overlookest] Cp. Acts xvii. 30; Rom. iii. -25 RA^.
they }?iay repent] Rom. ii. 4 ; 2 Pet. iii. 9. Cp. Ecclus. xvii. 29 and
Philo, Mas. i. 19 "God willed rather to admonish the inhabitants of
Egypt than to destroy them," and id. Fug. § 18 "God is not inexorable,
but kind because of the gentleness of His nature; whoso knows this,
though he have sinned, may turn and repent with full hope of amnesty
(d/UJ' 77 cTTta)."

the24.
finalthou
causelovest all thiyigs]
of Creation, Ps. cxlv.
see Philo, 8, 9.
Cher. § 35.For Go(i"s goodness as
abhorrent none of the things] Cp. the Collect for Ash Wednesday,
and the third Collect for Good Friday, and Philo, Fug. § 18 "Mercy,
whereby the Creator hath pity upon His own work."
7iever ivouldest thou have formed] This utterance is hardly consistent
with xii. 1 1 a, but it is truer. For whatever may be said of the mercies
of a corrective discipline (xii. 10), it is hard to see how a seed "accursed
from the beginning," and "with wickedness inborn" (xii. 10, 11) is other
than the victim of pre-reprobation.
WISDOM 8
 114 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XI. 25— XII. i.
25 And how would anything have endured, except thou hadst
willed it ?
Or that which was not called by thee, how would it have
been preserved ?
26 But thou sparest all things, because they are thine,
O Sovereign Lord, thou lover of vieri's Mives;
12 For thine incorruptible spirit is in all things.
^ Or, souls

25. except thou hadst willed it] Ps. cxix. 91 LXX.

called by thee] i.e. into existence. Cp. Is. xli. 4 and Rom. iv. 17 (see
Sanday and Headlam in loc).
have been preserved] The word {5i€T7)prjdr]) is the LXX. word used
of Pharaoh in Ex. ix. 16, recalled here no doubt purposely.
26. because they are thifie] This Vf. and xii. i must be taken
together. They furnish an additional reason why God spares such as
the Eg}'ptians. God's mercy is the outcome of more than love : they
are in the world by His decree, v. 2^; they are His. The meaning of
"His" is explained in xii. i. To have God as Father, i.e. to have
been created by God, is to have God's spirit within. God's spirit is an
indissoluble link between God and them; a true immanence is a
principle of unity. That can never be beyond the help of God which
has
reed,God's
sparesspirit'
in within
hope. it: therefore,
Thou Godbecause,
sparest, who breaks not 16,
cp. xii. the bruised
xv. 2;
Ps. ciii. 13.
0 Sovereign Lord] This title follows naturally on the acknowledg-
nent of Gods ownership of the souls He has made. Cp. Ep. of Jer.
(Bar. vi.) 5; Clem. Rom. Ixi. r, 2.
thou lover of men's lives] Or as marg. lover of men's souls. The
author gives a new meaning to the word {(f)Ckb\pvxo^) which in class.
Gk. means "fond of life," "cowardly." Cp. i. 13; Ezek. xviii. 4;
St Matt, xviii. 14; St Luke ix. 56.
xii. 1. thine incorruptible spirit] All things, wicked men included,
live by the breath of the Divine. Even though they refuse the moral
indwelling, yet the physical dependence still survives, cp. Job xxxiii. 4 ;
Ps. civ. 30. The writer was no doubt aware of the Greek conception of
a "soul of the world," and was probably influenced by it in the expressions
he employs regarding Wisdom, i. 7, vii. 24, viii. i ; but there is nothing
to decide whether in this passage his thought is Hebrew or Greek. If
Greek, spirit must be identified with Wisdom, as the agent of the
immanence of God; if Hebrew, spirit stands not for a Being distinct
from God, but for the characteristic conception of " God in operation"
(Heb. ruach). On this see Davidson, Theol. of O.T. p. 193. "All
life, whether in man, or in the lower creatures, or in the world, is an
efifect of the ruach, the spirit of God. God's spirit is merely God
in His efhciency — God exercising power, communicating Himself, or
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XII. 2—4. 115

Wherefore thou convictest by little and little them that ^fall 2

from the right way,
And, putting them in remembrance by the 7'ery things
wherein they sin, dost thou admonish them,
That escaping from their wickedness they may believe on
thee, O Lord.

For verily the old inhabitants of thy holy land, 3

Hating them because they practised detestable works of 4
enchantments and unholy rites
^ Gv.fall aside.

operating. This power may be simply vital power, physical life ; or it

may be intellectual, moral, or religious life."
2. Wherefore] Because there is a germ of the Divine nature even
in the heathen.

convictest
them rather by
thanlittle and little']
by instant By letting their own sins recoil upon
destruction.
admonish] In v. 10 Israel was admonished, while Eg}'pt was
condemned; but here the writer agrees with Philo, AIos. i. 19 (see note
on V. 23), that God's purpose was educative. Plagues of animals were
sent that Egypt might learn that it had sinned through animals.
fnay believe on thee] The writer regards idolatry as due to moral
rather than intellectual deficiency, and holds that moral correction
would lead the heathen to the acknowledgment of the true God.

Ch. XII. 3—27.

God, though His power is absolute, was as forbearing in the use of it
towards the Canaanites as towards the Egyptians. His judgments are
altogether righteous. His bearing is a lesson to Israel.
w. 3—11. The Canaanites excited the wrath of God with
THEIR DEBASING CULTS, BUT He WAS PATIENT WITH THEM.
3. the old inhabitants] The writer passes from the Egyptians to
the Canaanites, and emphasizes the new topic by placing it at the
beginning of the long sentence which covers w. 3 — 6. The governing
verb is found at end of v. 6. {Thy) holy land is first found in Zech.
ii. 12, cp. 1 Mace. i. 7.
4. Hating them] Cp. Hos. ix. 15. This is not more than a formal
contradiction of ch. xi. 24; qua sinner, a man is bound up with the
sins which God detests, cp. xiv. 8, 9. The writer expressly says
hating them on the ground that, a qualification which limits hating moio
narrowly in the Greek than in the English.
worhs of enchantments] The enchanter, or sorcerer (Dt. xviii. 10),
was one who, by means of the superstitious use of drugs, herbs, spells,
8—2
 ii6 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XII. 5, 6.

5 (^ Merciless slaughters of children,

And sacrificial banquets of men's flesh and of blood),
6 Confederates in an impious fellowship,
And murderers of their own helpless babes,
It was thy counsel to destroy by the hands of our fathers;
^ The words rendered slaughters and impious in verses 5 and 6
differ but slightly from the readings of the Greek text, which here
yield no sense.

produced magical effects. See Driver, Deut. p. 225. For the super-
stitions ofthe CanaaniteSj see Dt. xii. 29 — 31, xviii. 9 — 14.
6. slaughters of childreti] Reading (pbvovs. This was the principal
enormity of the Canaanites, whose example Ahab followed (2 Kings
xvi. 3), cp. Ps. cvi. 34 — 38. The object of child-sacritice was for the
purpose of averting calamity or obtaining an oracle, see Lev. xviii. 21,
and Mesha's sacrifice, 2 Kings iii. 27.
sacrificial banquets'] Easier than MS. would be (nrXa'^^po^ayov, an
Aeschylean type of compound with gen- ; lit. "the banquet gorging itself
with human flesh and blood."' No corroboraiion seems forthcoming for
this charge against the Canaanites, but cp. Ezek. xvi. 20. Religious
feasts, in which the flesh of enemies is consumed, are not uncommon in
primitive tribes. How easily such charges obtain credence may be seen
from the accusations laid against the primitive Christians of "Thyestean
banquets," and those even in modem times brought against the Jews in
Russia.
6. Confederates] A discussion of the Greek reading which has baffled
all elucidators M'ould be out of place. Text follows Grimm (1837) in
reading eK/xvaovs /j-ijcTTas diaaov.
The phrase, which is in apposition to the subject of the sentence
{v. 4) beginning because they practised^ points to some associated act
of worship of an esoteric kind.
murderers] For the sacrifice of a child by its parent, as being the
most precious offering to be found, cp. Abraham, Jephthah, Mesha,
Ahab, Hiel the Bethelite (?), and in Greek literature, Agamemnon and
Iphigenia. On this subject very interesting light has been thrown by
the recent discoveries at Gezer, see Quarterly Statement of Pal. Expl.
Fund, Oct. 1903. The reference in i Kings xvi. 34 to the foundation
of the rebuilt Jericho seems to point to child-sacrifices, the traces of
which have been brought to light by Mr Macalister. When a house or
public structure was to be erected, an infant, probably alive, was laid
underneath the wall ; or else (later) the child was killed, and its body
placed in a jar which was then buried, either at the corner of the house,
or under the door. If the reference in the text is not to this particular
practice, it at least serves to throw light on the class of sacrifice enjoined
by Canaanitish religions. Cp. Jer. xix. 4, 5.
// was thy counsel to destroy] Two reasons are assigned in Dt.
for the expulsion of the Canaanites {a) because God loved Israel,
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XII. 7—9. 117
That the land which in thy sight is most precious of all larids 7
Might receive a worthy colony of God's ^servants.
Nevertheless even these thou didst spare as bei?ig men, 8
And thou sentest ^hornets as forerunners of thy host,
To cause them to perish by little and little;
Not that thou wast unable to subdue the ungodly under the 9
hand of the righteous in battle,
Or by terrible beasts or by o?ie stern word to make away
with them at once;

^ Or, children ' Or, wasps

Dt. iv. 37, 38 ; {b) because of the wickedness of the Canaanites,

Dt. ix. 5; cp. Gen. xv, 16. Israel was God's instrument, Ex. xxiii.
23; Dt. vii. 2.
7. the land... most precious'] Cp. Dt. xi. 12. Farrar quotes several
Jewish sayings in honour of the holy land : e.g. ''• He who traverses so
much as four ells in the land of Israel is sure of eternal life" {Kethtiboih,
f. iii. i).
a worthy from
proceeding colony'] Colony {aTroiKia)
the motherland was the inclassical
and settling a new word for a Here,
country. party
Egypt is viewed as the starting-point, while Canaan is being colonized
by the emigrants from Egypt. The more proper use of the word by Jews
is that found in 3 Mace. vi. 10 of the Dispersion in Egypt, and in
Jer. xxix. i and 2 Esdr. i. 11 of the captivity in Babylon. Worthy:
the land that was most precious in God's eyes did not possess in-
habitants worthy of their dwelling-place, as long as rites involving
human sacrifice endured.
8. as being men] Cp. Gen. vi. 3, and Ps. Ixxviii. 39, ciii. 14, 15.
hornets] Marg. (as Cii-eek) wasps, see Ex. xxiii. 28; Dt. vii. 20;
Josh. xxiv. 12. There have always been two views of the promise to
expel with the hornet. Metaphorical interpretations rely on the use of
the simile of bees in Dt. i. 44, and on Ex. xxiii. 27 " the terror."
Wisdom however takes the promise literally.
Driver {Deut. p. 104) writes that four species of hornet exist in
Palestine, two of which construct their nests underground or in
cavities of rocks: the combined attack of a swarm has been known
to be fatal.
by little and little] See Ex. xxiii. 29, 30.
9. Not that thou wast nnable] The same argument as in xi. 17 ff.
ijt battle] As in the case of Ai (Josh, viii.), and Amalek (Ex. xvii.).
beasts] Cp. Dt. xxxii. 24, and note on xi. 17.
by one stern zvord] Cp. xviii. 15, where the same epithet {aw 6x01^0$)
is applied to the Logos "a stern warrior." Cp. also Ex. xxiii. 27 "My
fear," and Is. xxxvii. 7 "a blast, a rumour."
at once] Vulg. simul^ in contrast with by little and little, next v.
 ii8 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XII. 10—12.
10 But judging them by little and little thou gavest them a
place of repentance,
Not being ignorant that their nature by birth was evil, and
their wickedness inborn,
And that their manner of thought would in no wise ever be
changed,
11 For they were a seed accursed from the beginning:
Neither was it through fear of any that thou didst leave
them then unpunished for their sins.
12 For who shall say, AVhat hast thou done?
10. Ju'fgin^ them'] In Ex. xxiii. 29, 30 the reason assigned for the
gradual expulsion of the Canaanites is not that given here, but the good
of the land : if uncultivated for any length of time, it would deteriorate,
and be overrun with pests.
flace of repentance] Cp. v. 10. The phrase is found in Heb. xii. 17
and Clem. Rom. vii. The verb in Greek is imperfect, not thou gavest,
but thou offeredst. For the idea, cp. Rom. ix. 22, 23.
their nature... evil] Cp. iii. 12 b.
wickedness inborn] The writer does not attempt to reconcile the con-
tradiction between this proposition and ch. i. 12 — 14. Again, contrast
this teaching of an innate bias towards evil with the self-determination
of ch. i. 16 " Ungodly men called death unto them."
manner of thought] Cp. Gen. vi. 5. For the word {\o-yL<xiJ.6i) in a
bad sense, cp. i. 3.
11. a seed accursed from the heginyiing] The reference is probably
to the curse of Canaan, Gen. ix. 25. Cp. iii. 13a; 2 Pet. ii. 14
"children of cursing" (R.V.). Writing on Gen. vi. 8, Philo {Quod. D.
§ 15) has " Evil men were made in the MTath of God, good men in His
favour Now anger is the fountain of sins: whatever we do under
the influence of any passion is faulty." Contrast Is. Ixv. 23 " My
elect... shall not bring forth children for a curse, for they are a seed
blessed by God, and their offspring with them" (LXX.).
Neither... throzigh fear] God was absolutely disinterested in His
patience. The Canaanite stock was doomed, but God hoped that
individuals would repent. Cp. the deliverance of Rahab and her
family, and the virtues of faith, hospitality and prophecy discovered
in her (Clem. Rom. xii.). Grimm places v. 11 b in the following section.
leave them then unpunishecT] Vulg. ueniam dabas, lit. offer freedom
from fear (aSeta, amnesty) in respect of their sins. The fact that God
did not cut them off precipitately might look as though He winked at
sin. Cp. Ex. xxxiv. 7.
w. 12 — 18. God's supreme power delights in benevolence.
12. For] It was not fear that dictated God's leniency; rather, it
was God's position of unassailable supremacy.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XII. 12—15. 119
Or who shall withstand thy judgement?
And who shall accuse thee for the perishing of nations
which thou didst make?
Or who shall come and stand before thee as an avenger for
unrighteous men?
For neither is there any God beside thee that careth for all, 13
That thou mightest shew unto him that thou didst not judge
unrighteously:
Neither shall king or prince be able to look thee in the face 14
to plead for those whom thou hast punished.
But being righteous thou rulest all things righteously, 15
Deeming it a thing alien from thy power
To condemn one that doth not himself deserve to be
punished.
who shall say... judgement r\ These two clauses are taken direct
from Job ix. 12, 19 LXX. A conflation of this line and of xi. 21
appears in Clem. Rom. xxvii. (see xi. 21). For similar questions, cp.
Eccl, viii. 4; Dan. iv. 35 ; Rom, ix. iQ.

forwho
fearshall accuse protests
of whose thee'] There
God isabated
no one the
in aseverity
position ofto the
criticize God,
judgments
which of Himself He would have inflicted, v. 11.
nationsand
€ome which thoubefore
stand didst thee]
make'] There
Ps. Ixxxvi.
may be9. some allusion to the
pursuit of a murderer by the avenger-kinsman (Num. xxxv.). There is
a word-play between ^kolkos (avenger) and aSt/cos (unrighteous).
God is an absolute irresponsible autocrat : He knows no check
upon His power, save His own nature. Nothing but revelation, which
affirms that the All-powerful is all-merciful, could make men accept
with submission and satisfaction the teaching that man is without
appeal in the hands of God.
13. any God beside thee] Deut. xxxii. 39. There is no God beside
Jehovah, to whom He might have to justify His actions.
14. look thee in the face to plead for] The Gk. verb is found in
Acts xxvii. 15 of a ship facing the wind, in Clem. Rom. xxxiv. of an
idle workman not looking his employer in the face, cp. Ep. Bam. v. 10.
15. There is no one to remonstrate with God who can require that
God shall listen to him. God is His own critic ; His standard is
within Himself. He is righteous. Man has no ground of confidence
to compare with this.
being righteous] Gen. xviii. 25; Ex. ix. 27.
a thing alien] The Greek phrase is found in Philo, Ahr. § 44,
Conf l. § 23.
To condemn] God possesses arbitrary power, but never uses it
arbitrarily. He does not make sport with His creatures. Condem-
 I20 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XII. i6— 18.
i6 For thy strength is the beginning of righteousness,
And thy sovereignty over all maketh thee to forbear all.
17 For when men believe not that thou art perfect in power,
thou shewest thy strength,
^And ^in dealing with them that know it thou puttest their
boldness to confusion.
18 But thou, being sovereign over thy strength, judgest in
gentleness,
And with great forbearance dost thou govern us;
^ The Greek text here is perhaps corrupt. ^ Or, in them
nation rests with men : they judge themselves, and are their own
penalty. Cp. Ps. Ixii. 12 "Unto thee belongeth mercy; for thou ren-
derest to every man according to his work." Browning's "Caliban
upon Setebos" provides an interesting study of the subject of arbitrary
power.
16. thy strength^ The context gives these words a singularly
different significance from that borne by the almost similar words in
ii. II. There, righteousness is to give way to power; here righteous-
ness and power are declared to be fundamentally an unity. The writer
suggests that there is a causal connection between God's justice and
His power. Because He is so strong, He is so just. It may be that
the temptation to men to use their strength tyrannically arises solely
from their limitations, which dictate a corresponding self-assertion :
where there is no challenge, there may be an undisturbed moral
equilibrium, which precludes all desire for misuse or display. Ante-
cedently, apart from human experience, why should power make for
wrong and confusion rather than right and order? Does not essential
power presuppose power over itself?
thy sovereignty'] A repetition of xi. cs, 26; cp. Ps. Ixii. 11, 12;
see Philo, Quod. D. § 16, for God's preference of mercy to judgment.
17. when men believe not] Ex. v. 2, Pharaoh had said " who is the
Lord? I know not the Lord."
shezvest thy strength] This expression is used with reference to
Pharaoh in Ex. ix. 16 LXX.; cp. Ps. cvi. 8.
them that knoiu] B probably retains the right reading, being sup-
ported by Cod. Amiatinus has qui sciunt.
Those who know God' s power are distinguished from those (in prec. /.)
who disbelieve in it. When men know God's power, but insolently
disregard it or even defy it, God puts them to confusion.
18. being sovereign] Vulg. finely translates as a title, Dominator
uirtutis, but text is probably right. For the sense, cp. Ps. Ixxviii. 38,
39 and Chilo (Diog. La. i. 3, 69) " The strong man should be gentle."
forbearaiue] The next /. shows that it is forbearance, and not in-
difference, or fear of reproach that dictates God's gentleness. The
power to strike is ready, though in reserve : the only law of God's
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XII. 18—20. 121
For the power is thine whensoever thou hast the will.
But thou didst teach thy people by such works as these, 19
How that the righteous must be a lover of men;
And thou didst make thy sons to be of good hope,
Because thou givest repentance when men have sinned.
For if on them that w^ere enemies of thy ^servants and due 20
to death
Thou didst take vengeance with so great heedfulness and
indulgence,
^ Or, childy-en
power is His good will. For gentleness (eTneiKia) used of Christ, cp.
2 Cor. X. I.
vv. 19 — 22. God's merciful forbearance was a lesson to
THE Israelites.

19. t^oti didst teach"] The writer sums up chs. xi., xii. — 18. God
sought to teach the chosen people two lessons: (i) that righteousness
is merciful, v. 22 b, (2) that repentance finds forgiveness, v. 21 c. If
mercy was shown to the Canaanites, v. 20, how much more mercy
was shown to Israel, and accordingly how merciful ought the Israelites
to be : again, if Israel was disciplined, and the Canaanites were chastised
a thousandfold more (but still chastised and not instantly annihilated),
the repentant may always hope for mercy. For the writer, the world
revolves round the chosen people : Egypt and Canaan are brought upon
the scene only to provide object-lessons for Israel. For other examples
of the writer's interpretations of history, see xvi. 11, 26, 28, and cp.
Philo, Fuga § 14.
by stick works'] See xi. 15, xii. 8.
righteous... a lover of men] One of the writer's truest anticipations
of N.T. teaching, see i Cor. xiii.; i John iv. 20. Cp. ch. i. 6, vii. 23
and Philo, A/ut. § 22 " It is the province of God to be a benefactor";
-^^^- § 37 " It belongs to the same nature to be pious and philan-
thropic"; Fi(ga § 6 " Be known first by your virtue among men, that
you may be commended for your virtue before God." That philanthropy
is part of righteousness in man is shov/n by the "philanthropy" (Tit.
iii. 4) of a righteous God.
to be of good hope] The writer makes no allusion to the sins of
Israel; in fact the "holy and blameless seed" has not once been
criticized for the sins in the wilderness which brought down heavy
chastisements upon the people. The sins whose forgiveness causes
them to be of good hope are those of the Canaanites.
20. due to death] lit. owed, on account of their wickedness and
impenitence.
and indulgence] So K 5i^(reajs. B reads "entreaty" (SeTjo-ews), cp.
Is. Ixv. 2. liberasti Cod. Am. represents the SieVcjcras of some MSS.
The last is quite inadmissible. For the idea, cp. Rom. ix. 22.
 122 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XII. 20—23.
Giving them times and place whereby they might escape
from their wickedness;
21 With how great carefulness didst thou judge thy sons,
To whose fathers thou gavest oaths and covenants of good
promises !
22 While therefore thou dost chasten us, thou scourgest our
enemies ten thousand times more,
To the intent that we may ponder thy goodness when we
judge,
And when we are judged may look for mercy.
23 Wherefore also the unrighteous that lived in folly of life

times and placel Y ox place, see v. 10. For times. Rev. ii. i\\ Philo,
All. iii. 34 "God will not proceed even against sinners immediately, but
gives time for repentance, and the healing and correcting of their error."
Cp. Rom. ii. 4. Philo, Mos. i. 24, writes of Egypt "God did not pro-
pose to devastate the land, but only to admonish it."
21. If God's vengeance on the heathen was so carefully tempered,
what must have been the attention He bestowed on the judging (i.e.
disciplining) of His sons !
To whose fathers'] Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, see Ex. xxxii. 13.
Caths and covenants, cp. ch. xviii. 22.
22. chasten zis] Cp. Dt. viii. 5.
scourgest otcr oiemies] The contrast between chasten [irai5eu€iv) and
scourge {/xacTiyovv) is not necessarily verj' strong, cp, Prov. iii. ri,
but it is intentionally emphasized here. For an interesting philosophy
of the calamities which befel the Jews of the Maccabaean age, see
2 Mace. vi. 12 — 17. God forbore to punish the heathen, till they had
filled up the measure of their sins ; the Jews, however, were corrected
for the slightest" sin, that a delayed vengeance m.ight not be necessary.
that we may ponder] That God while disciplining the Jews was
content to administer chastisement, however severe, to their enemies,
was for the writer a mark of God's mercy. The lesson of mercy, apart
from the way of reaching it, anticipates St Matt, xviii. 33, cp. James ii. 13.
whe7t we are judged] Cp. Ps. Ixxviii. 38.

vv. 23 — 27. The writer reverts to the Egyptians, and

REAFFIRMS THE LAW OF XI. l6.

23. Wherefore] The writer now views the sufferings of Egypt apart
from any moral teaching for Israel, and solely in the light of disci-
plinary chastisement. Wherefore takes up v. 22 a " Thou scourgest our
enemies."
folly of life] Cp. i. 3, xi. 15. The moral folly that issued in virtual
atheism, Ps. liii. i. By the unrighteous are meant the Egyptians, as is
clear from the reference to animal worship in v. 24.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XII. 23—26. 123
Thou didst torment through their own abominations.
For verily they went astray very far ^in the ways of error, 24
Taking as gods those * animals which even among their
enemies were held in dishonour,
Deceived like foolish babes.
Therefore, as unto unreasoning children, thou didst send 25
thy judgement to mock them.
But they that would not be admonished ^by a mocking 26
correction as of children
Shall have experience of a judgement worthy of God.
^ Or, even beyond ^ Gr. livhtg creatures : and so elsewhere in
this book. ^ Or, by a correction^ which was as children's play Gr.
by child-play of correction.

through their own abotninations'\ The reference is to the visitation

upon the sacred Nile, the murrain upon the cattle, the plagues of frogs,
lice, flies, cp. ch. xi. Abominations {^SeXvy/jLara) is of course a technical
use, and stands for a Hebrew word applied almost exclusively as a
contemptuous designation of an idol (Is. xliv. 19), or of heathen deities
(i Kings xi. 5). The argument of xi. 15 is recalled.

the24. veryeven
marg. farbeyond,
in the which
ways'\would
This be
rendering
somewhatis preferable
exaggerated.to that of
those atiimals which eien among their enejnies'] Philo [Dec. § 16), in a
description of Egyptian animal worship, writes that they worship oxen,
rams, and goats, which indeed might have some show of reason. But
then they worship wild animals like lions, crocodiles, and asps ; and he
adds dogs, cats, wolves, the ibis, hawks, and fishes or even parts of
fishes. Farrar recalls the scornful tirade against Egyptian worship in
Juv. Sat. xvi.
25. If they were children, they should be treated as such. If they
worshipped animals, their animals should make sport of them. The
writer does not speak of a mock-punishment, for he admi;? it was real
enough : but the character of the punishment was such that it made
both gods and people ridiculous. Cp. Ex. x. 2 R.V. marg. "how I
have mocked the Egyptians.'*
26. a fnocking correciion'\ Mocking imports an idea not in the
Greek, see marg. child-play of correction. There is similarity of sound
in Greek, but not of sense, between iixiraL-yfx6% (mockery) v. 25, and
iraL-)'vioLs (child-play) v. 26. The connection is with babes {v. 24) and
children {v. 25). As child's play is to men's work, so were the earlier
chastisements to God's real judgments. For "play" in connection
with God, see Philo, Mos. i. 38 " The miracle of the smitten rock
was God's play, compared with His creative works which are really
great."
Shall have experience] The writer throws himself back in imagination
to the time between the earlier plagues and the Exodus, and pictures
 124 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XII. 27— XIII. i.
27 For through the sufferings whereat they were indignant,
Being punished in these creatures which they supposed to
be gods,
They saw, and recognised as the true God him whom before
they ^refused to know:
Wherefore also the last end of condemnation came upon
them.

13 For verily all men by nature ^were but vain who had no
perception of God,
^ Or, denied that they kftew ^ Or, are
himself waiting with prophetic certainty for the death of the firstborn
and the destruction of the Egyptian hosts in the Red Sea.
27. For through'] lit. For being punished in respect of those things,
concerning which they suffered and were indignant — concerning those
creatures, I mean, which they supposed to be gods, they saw...
They saw, and recognised] They were grieved that their gods should
be touched ; but it was the verj' touching of their gods, which proved
the operation of a greater God, Ex. vii. 5.
refused] or, as marg., denied that. Cp. xvi. 16; Ex. v. 2.
the true God] Ex. ix. 28, x. 16.
Wherefore] supply " when they recognised the true God, and still
refused to let the people go."
the last end] The death of the firstborn, and the drowning in the
Red Sea. This is the "judgment worthy of God," cp. i Thess. ii. 16.
Chapter XIII.
The thought of the false gods of the Egyptians leads the writer on
to a disquisition on false worship in general, in chs. xiii. — xv. He
divides false worshippers under two heads — those who rest in nature
and deify it (f<v. i — 9), instead of looking through it to God ; and those
who make to themselves idols, or worship animals. For the former
class he can see some excuse ; for the latter he feels nothing but
contempt and abhorrence.
The argument in w. i — 9 would seem to be directed chiefly against
the Greeks. They were lovers of beauty, but they failed to infer from
the beauty around them the Author whose works they enjoyed. In so
far also as the Egj^ptians practised solar worship, the scope of the
argument includes them.
vv. 1 — 9. Nature-worship is the least reprehensible form
OF FALSE WORSHIP.
1. The V. begins with vain in Greek, which answers to miserable
at beginning of v. 10. For vaiti of idolatry, cp. Jer. ii. 5 LXX. ;
3 Mace. vi. 11; Rom. i. ai.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIII. i, 2. 125
And from the good things that are seen they gained not
power to know him that is,
Neither by giving heed to the works did they recognise the
artificer;
But either fire, or wind, or swift air, 2
no perception] They ought to have had knowledge, but had it not.
They were vain by nature (xii. 10), thus differing from those illuminated
by Wisdom, cp. ch. ix. 13, 17. Philo, Conf. l. § 28, writes of men
"who, like incapable archers, assigned countless causes (all of them
wrong) for the origin of things, but had no perception of the one Maker
and Father of all."
that are seen] Cp. Acts xiv. 17 ; Rom. i. 20. The argument from
the created world to the character of its Creator is found in Ps. xix. i ;
Is. xlii. 5 ; Job xxxvi. 22 ff. LXX. Liddon quotes, on Rom. i. 20, Arist.
de Mundo 6 "The unseen God is to be seen in His very works." Cp.
Kant "The starry sky above me and the moral law within me fill my
soul with ever increasing reverence."
him that is\ God is either "the Existent," in the sense that no
oiher quality than pure existence may be attributed to the Unconditioned
and Absolute One (cp. Philo, Quod Deus § 11 "Pure being without
attributes"; or the one, true, self-existent God, cp. Ex. iii. 14 LXX.
"/aw He that is" (6 wv, as here). Philo calls God "that which truly
is" [to Trpbs oiK-qdeLav 6V), "Him who really is" {rbv qutus ovTa). They
were too feeble to rise to the knowledge of the Absolute from the
phenomena of common observation.
the artificer] At least they might have taken the logical step of
inferring that a thing made postulated a maker. For God as artificer^
cp. Philo, Quod Deus § 6, and All. iii. 32 "Those who thus argue
apprehend God through a shadow, perceiving the artificer through his
works." See id. Ebr. § 22.
2. For the worship of the elements, cp. Philo, Dec. § 12 "Some
have deified the four elements, earth, water, air, and fire, and others the
sun and the moon and the stars ; others the heaven only, and some
the whole universe ; and the Creator, Governor, and Director they
have obscured behind their false ascriptions. For they call the earth
Demeter, the sea Poseidon, the air Hera, the sun Apollo, the moon
Artemis, and fire Hephaestus," and id. Co}if. I. § 34. Bois (p. 293)
suggests that not only is polytheism in the writer's mind, but certain
Greek philosophic conceptions. Heraclitus referred everything to fire,
Thales (Diog. La. i. r, 27) to water. Anaximenes (Diog. La. i. 2, 2)
suggested air, while Pythagoras, who regarded heat as the source of life,
reckoned sun, moon and stars as gods (Diog. La. ii. 8, 27).
fire] Diog. La. [proe/n. vi. 6) writes that the Wagi count fire, earth,
and water as gods, but condemn the worship of images. Cp. Herodotus
i. 131 for the Persians as worshippers of natural forces. Among the
Greeks Hephaestus was god of fire, and patron of all arts needing
the aid of fire.
 126 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIII. 2, 3.

1 Or ^circling stars, or raging water, or 'luminaries of heaven,

They thought to be gods that rule the world.
3 And if it was through delight in their beauty that they took
them to be gods.
Let them know how much better than these is their
Sovereign Lord;
For the first author of beauty created them :
^ Gr. circle of stars. ^ Or, liiniinaries of heaven^ rulers of the
worlds they thought to be gods
ivind] Cp. the Greek cult of Aeolus. The Egyptians worshipped
the winds in connection with the annual overflow of the Nile. The
Persians offered sacrifices to the winds, Hdt. i. 131.
swift air] Personified by the Greeks as Hera.
circling stars] Cp. Dt. iv. 19, xvii. 3. Diog. La. {proem, vi. 8)
writes that Zoroaster sacrificed to the stars. The circling stars are so
called because the stars seem to revolve in relation to the earth: the
expression almost means the vault in which the stars are set.
raging water] The Egyptians worshipped water, Philo, Mos. i. 17 ;
the Greeks personified it as Poseidon.
Iu7jiinaries of heaven] The Egyptians worshipped the sun and moon
(Isis and Osiris), Jer. xliii. 13. That the Israelites before the exile did
so is plain from Jer. vii. 18; xliv. 17 ; cp. Ezek. viii. 16. See Job xxxi.
26 — 28, and note in this series.
gods that rule the world] This is better than (as marg.) to isolate
rulers of the world and make it apply to sun and moon only. Gen. L 16
at first sight seems to support marg., but the balance of the sentence is
thereby destroyed.
3. their beaut}'] A Greek touch. Plutarch {Philos. 3) says that
the Stoics inferred the beauty of the divine character from the beauty of
creation. The aesthetic sense was repressed among the Israelites :
in the endeavour to throw them back on the spiritual sense, and to
deaden them to the attractions of nature-worship or the worship of
representations of natural objects, the Mosaic system rather turned their
eyes away from the external world in its aspect of beauty. Contact
with Greek thought was required before such a passage as Ecclus.
xliii. 9 — 12 could be written. The Israelite was conscious of the
majesty of nature and of its symbolism, but delight in beauty for its
own sake seemed dangerous to the non-Helleuized Jew. The passage
recalls the Sy7nposiiim myth concerning the discovery of the Absolute
Beauty (Plato, Symp. 211 B, C "'Tis when a man ascendeth from these
beautiful things by the Right Way of Love, and beginneth to have
sight of that Eternal Beauty— 'tis then, methinks, that he toucheth the
goal. For this is the right Way... beginning from the beautiful things
here, to mount up alway unto that Eternal Beauty, using these things
as the steps of a ladder" (tr. Stewart, 7he Myths of Plato).
first author of beauty] Cp. Philo, proem, et poen. % 7 " They con-
 THE WISDOiVI OF SOLOMON XIII. 4—6. 127
But if it was through astonishment at their power and 4
'influence,
Let them understand from them how much more powerful
is he that formed them;
For from the ^greatness of the beauty ^even of created things 5
•*Inmaker.
like proportion ^does man form the image of their first

But yet for these ®men there is but small blame, 6

For they too peradventure do but go astray
While they are seeking God and desiring to find him.
^ Gr. efficacy. ^ Some authorities read gj-catness and beauty of.
^ Some authorities omit even. ^ Or, CorresponcU-ntly ^ Gr. is
the first maker of them beheld. •* Or, things

eluded that all these beauties so admirably ordered did not come into
being of themselves, but are the work of some Maker, the Creator of
the world."
4. if it was throiigh'\ Supply ///(j/ they took them to be gods from v. 3.
Some who are not affected by the world's beauty are struck by its power
and vital resources. The artificer must be greater than his work, cp.
Philo, Dec. § 14.

ix.he2, that
and formed
cp. Heb.them'\ iii. 3. For the Greek word and the idea, see note on
5. from the greatness] Read with mg. and beatity of created things,
vv. 4 and 3 are united in the one argument from the phenomenal
manifestation to the hidden Reality. The word dj'aX67a;s, in like pro-
portion, marg. correspondently, does not occur in LXX., but the cognate
subst. is used in Rom. xii. 6. The limits of the inference from the
creation to the Creator are here seen. From it man can learn that
power and beauty may be ascribed to Him. But His possession of the
liigher moral qualities, righteousness and love, must be revealed,
does man form the image'] lit. as marg. is beheld. The Greek word
implies the use of the imaginative faculty (not necessarily, as Farrar,
"adoring vision"), whereby man sees the invisible. Shakespeare
speaks of "the soul's imaginary eye."
6. But nature- worshippers are in a measure, although not altogether
[v. 9), excusable. They are aroused by the world's beauty, and set out
to seek God : but they are arrested midv/ay and fail to attain to the end.
for these men] things marg. Either rendering is possible, but text is
preferable, as they {aijTQi) in next /. takes up these. The worshippers
of nature at least take what God has provided them ; they do not make
Gods.
seeking God] Cp. Acts xvii. 27. To the followers of the less
debasing and reprehensible nature-cults he extends the benefit of the
doubt: no doubt they are seekers after God, but have lost the way.
 128 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIII. 7—10.
7 For living among his works they make diligent search,
And they -yield themselves up to sight, because the things
that they look upon are beautiful.
8 But again even they are not to be excused.
9 For if they had power to know so much.
That they should be able to explore ^the course of things^
How is it that they did not sooner find the Sovereign Lord
of these his works ?

10 But miserable ^were they, and ^in dead things ^were their
hopes,
^ Or, being occupied with ^ Or, trust their sight that the things
^ Or, life Or, the world Gr. the age. ^ Or, are ^ Or, amongst

7. living
affairs of life among his works']
rather than, Thebei?tg
as inarg. Greek verb with,
occupied refers totoscrutiny
the daily
of
natural phenomena. While occupied with the duties of life, they make
diligent search after God. The thought is of practical men, who try to
find light upon their life, but by their very externality are liable to be
victims of sense-impressions.
8. not to be excused] Cp. vi. 6 ; Rom. i. 20. Whatever apology
may be found for them, they are really inexcusable : in the last resort,
they failed to use the faculties they had been endowed with.
9. if they had power] Recalls gaijied not power to know in v. i. This
V. returns to z'. i : there it was stated that men did not rise up to God
through His works; here the question is asked. If they could scrutinize
God's works, why did they not rise up to God?
be able to explore] Certain faculties, mental and moral, are required
for a reasoned attitude towards the world: these doubtless beckoned
nature-worshippers to go farther, but must have been disregarded.
Philo, Abr. § 15, writes of the Chaldaeans "They referred everything to
the movements of the stars, and conjectured that the world was
governed by powers connected with numbers ; and they magnified the
visible creation, taking no thought of the invisible : but making
numerical calculations with the help of the heavenly bodies... they
conjectured that the world itself was God, unwisely likening the
creation to its Creator."
the course of things] al^v is the sum of things in their time-aspect,
cp. xiv. 6; Eccl. iii. 11. On this word Westcott writes {Heb. i. 2,
note) "The universe may be regarded. ..as an order which exists
through time developed in various stages."
did not sooner find] There was a moral failure involved. Men who
had advanced so far as to conclude that the world was God, or that
natural forces were divinities, ought to have had insight enough to infer
that the works they saw around them postulated a Worker outside and
above them.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIII. lo, ii. 129

Who called them gods which are works of men's hands,

Gold and silver, wrought with careful art, and likenesses of
animals,
Or a useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.
Yea and if some hvoodcutter, having sawn down a ^tree that 11
is easily moved.
Skilfully strippeth away all its bark,
' Gr. carpenter who is a woodcutter. - Gr. plant. The Greek
word, slightly changed, would mean trunk.

w. 10—10. The folly of idolatry.

The writer displays no originality in this section. It recalls the
argument and phraseology of Is. xl. , xli., xliv., xlvi. ; Jer. ii. 26 — 28
(cp. Ps. cxv., cxxxv.), and resembles the apocryphal Epistle of Jeremiah
(Baruch vi.), written probably in Egj-pt in the 1st. cent. B.C.
10. miserable'] Answering to vaiti in 77. i.
theinLiving
dead things werewiththeir
God, but the hopes']
physicalThe
life contrast is not ofwith
of the forces Jehovah,
Nature, the
worshippers of which were the subject of the prec section. Nature is
at least alive. Vulg. renders amcng the dead. Cp. xv. 1 7 and Ep. Jer.
(Bar. vi.) 27 "They offer gifts to them as to (the) dead," id. 71 "Their
gods of wood are like a dead man cast into darkness."
works of men^s hands] Prec. by silver and gold, the words are taken
from Ps. cxv. 4, cxxxv. 15, cp. Dt. iv. 28; 2 Kings xix. 18; Dan.
V. 4 ; Ep. Jer. often.
•wrought with cai-eful art] lit. the product of the exercise of art. Cp.
Acts xvii. 29. The expression is in app. \\'\\\\ gold and silver .
likenesses of animals] Cp. the Golden Calf of Aaron and the calves
of Jeroboam, i Kings xii. 28, and the beast-headed gods of Egypt.
For the animal worship of Egypt, see Philo, Dec. § 16.
tiseless stone] Either a stone idol, or a sacred aerolite. Cp. W. M.
Ramsay (Art. Religion of Greece in Hastings, D.B. vol. v.) "A rude
and shapeless stone, which had fallen from heaven (oioTrerTjj), doubtless
a meteorite, existed originally at Pessinus, ... ; it is a type of many other
similar stones at Orchomenos, Thespiae, etc. Many of these stones
had some approximate regularity of shape, sometimes perhaps accidental,
in other cases distinctly due to human workmanship." Cp. Acts xix. 35.
work of an ancient hand] See prec. quotation.
11. Yea and if] This long condiiional sentence finds its apodosis in
the last clause oiv. 13. "Then he giveth it.'' For the whole passage,
cp. Is. xliv. 9—20; Jer. x. 3—5; Baruch vi.
a tree] Cp. Hor. Sat. i. 8. 1
"Glim truncus eram ficulnus, inutile lignum,
Cum faber incertus scamnum faceretne Priapum
Maluit esse deum."
WISDOM Q
 I30 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIII. ii— 14.
And fashioning it in comely form maketh a vessel useful for
the service of life:
12 And burning the refuse of his handywork to dress his food,
eateth his fill;
13 And taking the very refuse thereof which served to no use,
A crooked piece of wood and full of knots,
Carveth it with the diligence of his idleness.
And shapeth it by the skill of his 'indolence;
'^The?i he giveth it the semblance of the image of a man,
14 Or maketh it like some paltry animal,
Smearing it with vermilion, and with ^ paint colouring it red,
And smearing over every stain that is therein;

^ Or, leisure ^ Or, And ^ Gr. rouge.

fashioning it\ The workman first takes a handy piece of timber,

picks out the best part of it, and turns it to account. The household
vessel is the object of his effort, the image is an after thought.
useful for...] Cp. Baruch vi. 59 "a vessel useful in the house."
There is doubtless a reminiscence of this passage in £/<. to Diognetus c. 2
"Is not one idol bronze, no better than the vessels forged for our use,
is not another earthenware, not a whit more comely tlian that which is
supplied for the most dishonourable service (I'TrTjpeo-ta)?"
The12.workman
burning']turnsCp.hisIs.treexliv. 15, 16. account
to further Yor eateth his he
before fill,concerns
cp. ch. him-
v. 7.
self with the disposal of the remaining fragment.
13. the very refuse] lit. the refuse of the refuse. Which served to no
tise is in contrast with easily moved (evKiprjTos) in v. 11, which conveys
the impression of "ser\'iceable and handy."'
diligence of his idleness] So XB (dpyias). Vulg. />er uaadtatem
suafu. A has epyaaias labour; but this reading misses the sarcasm of
the paradoxical expression. Deane interprets "Such industry as a man
uses when enjoying his leisure."
skill of his indolence] So {<AB Ven. d;'ecrewy. Another contradictory
expression, the point of which, as a complement to the prec. line, is
lost if intelligence {cvviaewi) with some Gk. MSS. and Vulg. is read
instead. Deane interprets "Such skill as carelessness gives."
14. vertnilion] Farrar quotes Pliny, H. N. xxxv. 45, who speaks
of the statue of Jupiter as being coloured red on festal days, and Ovid,
Fasti i. 415, of the statue of Priapus "at ruber hortorum decus et
tutela Priapus " ; Pausanias says that the images of Dionysus, Hermes,
and Pan, were painted vermilion. Verg. Eel. x. 25 — 27, describes
Pan as red with vermilion. Not only was Bacchus painted red, but
(Tibullus ii. i. 55) his rustic worshipper painted himself with vermilion.
ci'cry stain] A touch of sarcasm : the blemishes are matter of
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIII. 15—18. 131
And having made for it a chamber worthy of it, 15
He setteth it in a wall, making it fast with iron.
While then he taketh thought for it that it may not fall 16
down,
Knowing that it is unable to help itself;
(For verily it is an image, and hath need of help ;)
When he maketh his prayer concerning goods and his 17
marriage and children,
He is not ashamed to speak to that which hath no life;
Yea for health he calleth upon that which is weak, 18
And for life he beseecheth that which is dead,
And for aid he supplicateth that which hath least experience,
indifference. They are covered over with paint, just as the marks on
white animals brought for sacrifice were chalked over.
15. a chamber] Either a small shrine, cp. TibuU. i. 10. 19 " Stabat
in exigua ligneus aede deus" ; or a niche in the wall.
making it fast\ For safety. Cp. Bar. vi. 18 " the priests make fast
their temples with doors, with locks, with bars, lest they (the images)
be carried off by robbers " ; Is. xli. 7, Jer. x. 4.
16. may not fall do-.un'] Cp. Bar. vi. 27 " If they fall to the ground
at any time they cannot rise up again of themselves." This sentence,
describing the helplessness of the image, in sarcastic contrast with the
universal Providence of God (vi. 7), is shown by the Greek particles to
be in antithesis to v. 17, which tells of the demands made upon it.
unable to help itself] Cp. Bar. vi. 49 "which can neither save
themselves from war, nor from plague," and 58 " neither shall they be
able to help themselves," and for the phrase Job iv. 20 LXX., and Philo,
All. iii. 9. Cp. the fall of Dagon, i Sam. v.
hath need of he If] Cp. Bar. vi. 27 "If they fall they cannot rise
up again of themselves ; neither, if they be set awry, can they make
themselves straight."
17. maketh his prayer] He will actually petition a dead thing to
give him a good marriage and a large family. See Is. xliv. 17 ; Jer. ii.
26 — 28. Philo [Dec. § 14) writes "I know that some who have made
images pray and sacrifice to tlie things they have themselves made,
when it would be much better to worship one of their hands, or even
their hammers or anvils or tools."
18. for health] Bar. vi. 36, 37 "They can save no man from
death... they cannot restore a blind man to his sight." Diog. La. (vi. 28)
writes that Diogenes was provoked at the idea of people offering sacri-
fices on behalf of their health, and then destroying their health by over-
eating at the sacrificial banquet.
for life... that which is dead] w. 18, 19 present a finely balanced
series of paradoxes, cp. 2 Cor. vi. 8 — 10.
■which hath least experience] Cp. 3 Mace. iv. 16 "praising gods
 And for d. good journey that which cannot so much as move
a step,
19 And for gaining and 'getting and good success of his hands
He asketh abiHty of that which with its hands is most
unable.

14 Again, one preparing to sail, and about to journey over

raging waves,
Calleth upon a piece of wood more rotten than the vessel
that carrieth him;
^ Or, handyivork

which were dumb, and could not speak to them or help them," and Is.
xlvi. 7 ; Jer. xiv. 22 ; Bar. vi. 13, 14.
caniiot . . jjwve a step] Cp. Bar. vi. 26 "Having no feet, they are
borne upon shoulders," and Ps. cxv. 7,
19. getting] A'ulg. de operando. The Greek word means lit. craft,
bicsiness, cp. Ecclus. xxxviii. 34 ; but in Acts xix. 24 gain. The two
senses seem to meet in the verb in ch. viii. 5.
xvith its hands... unable] Cp. Ps. cxv. 7, and Bar. vi. 15 "He hath
a dagger in his right hand and an axe : but cannot deliver himself from
war and robbers.'"

Chapter XIV. Idolatry — its folly, its origin, and its

DISASTROUS EFFECT UPON SOCIAL LIFE.

vv. 1 — 11. The folly of idolatry illustrated by the

SEAFARER, WHO TRUSTS IN HIS PIECE OF WOOD. ThE DiVINE
Providence alone preserves men from the perils of the
SEA. Idol and worshipper shall be punished together.
1. a piece of wood] An idol was carried at the prow or the stern of
ancient ships. In Acts xxviii. 1 1 the " sign " of the ship was Castor
and Pollux. Epict. (ii. 18) speaks of voyagers invoking the Dioscuri,
cp. Hor. Od. i. 3. 2 "sic fratres Helenae, lucida sidera (te, nauis,
regant)." Herodotus (iii-37) explains what the image of Hephaestus
was like, by comparing it to the dwarf images of the Pataeci (their
tutelary deities) which the Phoenicians carried on their warships.
7nore rotten] For the word, used in a secondary sense, meaning
"more worthless," cp. secondary use of cheap, xiii. 14. The sailor
secures sound wood for his ship ; any refuse will do for an idol. For
the practice of invoking the gods in a storm, cp. Jonah i. 5 and Bias
(Diog. La. i. =, 86). Bias was sailing once with certain wicked men,
when the ship was caught in a storm. 'Ihey all cried to the gods, and
Bias said " Be silent, else the gods will know you are sailing in this
ship."
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIV. 2—4. 133
For that vessel the hunger for gains devised,
And an artificer, eve7i wisdom, built it;
And thy providence, O Father, guideth it along,
Because even in the sea thou gavest a way,
And in the waves a sure path,
Shewing that thou canst save out of every danger^
That so even without art a man may put to sea;

2. the hunger for gains] The ship has two advantages over the
idol :— commercial enterprise called it into being, and it was made under
the guidance of the Divine Wisdom.
artificer, even wisdovi\ All the best MSS. give this reading, which
ch. vii. 22 shows must refer to the Divine Wisdom, But would the
author allow that the work of a heathen craftsman was produced under
the immediate direction of Wisdom? On the other hand, Vulg. has
artifex sapientia siia^ which represents Texv'ny]^ crocpia " the artificer,
by his intelHgence." ffo(pia KareaK. appears in ch. ix. 2. If (with
Vulg. and Grim.m) we accept the masc. Texvirrjs, a pointed antithesis is
suggested between the craftsman who builds the ship, and the mere
wood-cntter (ch. xiii. 11) who in an idle hour hacks a log into an idol.
In this case wisdom is the human quality.
3. thy providence] For the philosophic sense of thy care, cp. " O
God, whose never-failing providence ordereth all things" (8th S. after
Trinity). The word Providence {irpovoia.) occurs here for the first time
in the Gk. Bible, although of very early occurrence among class. Gk.
writers. Pythagoras taught the providence of God (Diog. La. ii. 8,
27), also Plato (id. i. 3, 24). Philo {Opif. § 61) writes "From the
Creation-story we learn fifthly that God exercises a providence over
the world. By the laws of nature the maker must always care for the
thing made, even as parents take thought for their offspring." Herodotus
(iii. ro8) says that Divine Providence displays, in certain physiological
matters, great wisdom. But if the word is new to the O.T. , the idea is
not, cp. Ps. cxlv. Q. Bois (pp. 238, 264) sees in irpdvoia only another
designation of Wisdom. He identifies it with the hand of God in v. 6,
with Wisdom the pilot in x. 4. Cp. ch. vi. 7 ; xvii. 2.
in the waves a sure path] Cp. Ps. Ixxvii. 19, cvii. 30 LXX. ; Is.
li. 10. Refers to the passage of the Red Sea, cp. Grimm, p. 242.
4. out of eveiy (\^x\g<tx] Contrast with xiii. 17 — 19.
without art] If God so desired, nautical skill would not be required
for the trader, any more than for the escaping Israelites. Some MSS.
of Vulg. (incl. Amiatinus) read sine rate " without a ship," which is no
doubt a felicitous false reading for sine arte. There is a Greek iambic
line, "With the will of God, you might go for a voyage on a mat."
But although the writer has in mind the sea-passage of Israel, he
suggests nothing so paradoxical as that God could carry men on the
sea without vessels.
 134 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIV. 5—7.
5 And it is thy will that the works of thy wisdom should not
be idle:
Therefore also do men intrust their lives to a little piece of
wood,
Andland.
passing through the surge ^on a raft are brought safe to

6 For -in the old time also, when proud giants were perishing,
The hope of the world, taking refuge on a raft,
Left to ^the race of men a seed of generations to come,
Thy hand guiding the helm.
7 For blessed ^hath been wood through which cometh
righteousness :
''■ Gr. by. - The Greek text here is perhaps corrupt.
3 Or, future time Gr. age. ■* Or, is

5. should tiot be idle'] The existence of ships makes commerce

possible : otherwise the fruits of the earth {wo7-ks of thy 7oisdom) would
accumulate in the countries of their origin, and be wasted for lack of
the means of distribution. There is a word-play in the Greek between
works and idle (lit. workless).
little piece of wood] Diog. La. (i. 8, 103) records how the Scythian
philosopher Anacharsis, having learnt that the thickness of a ship's
sides was four fingers' breadth, said "That is all the distance between
the passengers and death."
on a raft] Half depreciatingly of the ship that, compared to the
waves, is so frail. In v. 6 the word is used of the Ark. are drought
safe, the gnomic aorist in Greek.
6. proud giants] See Gen. vi. 4.
mere perishing] See Gen. vi. 17, cp. 3 Mace. ii. 4, "Thou didst
destroy the sinners of old time, among whom were giants."
hope of the world] Noah and his family. Deane quotes Verg. ^n.
xii. 168 " Ascanius magnae spes altera Romae."
to the race of 7nen] Rather, to the world {aldju). Cp. note on xiii. Q.
aiCjv is Creation as it unfolds itself in time.
a seed of generations to comel Cp. Philo, Mos. ii. 11 "Noah, counted
worthy to be the beginning of a new generation " : Migr. § 22 "Noah
having escaped put forth from himself strong and goodly roots, from
which the race of wisdom sprang up like a plant." The expression
properly means a seed of begetting, Vulg. semen iiatiiiitatis.
Thy hand guiding] Hand is perhaps synonymous with Providence,
V. 3. guiding, lit. steering. For the word applied to the Divine govern-
ment, cp. Epict. ii. 17. -25.
7. blessed hath been wood] Blessed stands forcibly contrasted with
accursed, v. 8 : for through a ship once the will of God was done, and
the human race preserved. This is probably the sense to be given to
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIV. 8— ii. 135
But the idol made with hands is accursed, itself and he that 8
made it;
Because his was the working, and the corruptible thing was
named a god :
For both the ungodly doer and his ungodliness are alike 9
hateful to God;
For verily the deed shall be punished together with him that ro
committed it.
Therefore also ^among the idols of the nations shall there be 11
a visitation.
Because, though formed of things which God created, they
were made an abomination,
And stumblingblocks to the souls of men,
^ Or, upoti Gr. in.

righteousness^ but cp. Heb. xi. 7 ; 2 Pet. ii. 5. It is not surprising that
these words were interpreted with reference to the Cross, which is often
calledon"wood"
note Ps. xcvi. or10 "tree"
in this [i^vKov)
series oninthe
N.T., cp. Acts
curious x. 39.
addition See verse
to that also

"The Lord hath reigned from the tree." Many Fathers quote this v.
as a prophecy of the Cross (see Deane).
8. the
LXX, idol tnade
to render ivithword
the Heb. hands'] The Is.Greek
for idol. ii. 18, adjective
x. it, xix.is i.
usedThis
in
sentence beginning with cursed stands in antithesis to v. 7 beginning
with blessed, while the idol is contrasted with the ship in v. 2 {kKelvo fxh).
accursed... and he that made it] Drawn from Dt. xxvii. 15. The
man is accursed for making the idol ; the idol because the name of
God is given to it (v. 21), cp. Uom. i. 23.
9. the zcngodly doer and his ungodliness'] The abstract word stands
almost for the concrete zV/^/, cp. "abomination" in xii. 23. For doer
and deed, cp. Hos. ix. 10 "They became abominable like that which
they loved." For God's hatred of sin, see Ps. v. 5.
10. the deed] Strictly speaking, a "thing done" cannot be
punished, neither can a sin. Punishment can only alight on a
personality. Hence ro irpaxBev (the thing done) must be interpreted
of the idol (the concrete result of human action) which is almost
personified.
11. Therefore] Explains prec. v. Cp. Ex. xii. 12 ; Jer. x. 15.
though formed of things] Cp. Rom. i. 25. The sense is that wood
and stone, v/hich exist in God's creation and by God's decree, are
turned into representations of beings (or rather non-entities) which
dispute God's supremacy with Him. An idol is a misapplication of
created (i.e. divine) things, and therefore must be destroyed.
an abomination] in the eyes of the Creator.
stumblingblocks... a snare] to men. The two words occur together in
 136 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIV. 11—15.
And a snare to the feet of the foolish.

12 For the devising of idols was the beginning of fornication,

And the invention of them the corruption of life:
13 For neither were they from the beginning, neither shall they
be for ever;
14 For by the vaingloriousness of men they entered into the
world,
And therefore was a speedy end devised for them.
15 For a father worn with untimely grief,
Making an image of the child quickly taken away,
Josh, xxiii. 13 and Ps. Ixix. 22, cp. Ps. cvi. 36. The things that have
perverted human souls cannot but be viewed with indignation by the
" Lover of souls."
w. 12 — 21. The origin of idolatry.
12. the beginning of fornicatiofi] i.e. as A.V. spiritual fornication.
This is a common O.T. figure for the spiritual levity which can forsake
Jehovah for another deity, cp. Ex. xxxiv. 15,16; Ps. cvi. 39 ; Hos. ii. 2.
the corruption of lifel Morally, see v. 27. Cp. 2 Pet. i. 4; ii. 19.
13. fro77i the beginning'\ Existence is not inherent in them, as in
God (Ex. iii. 14 ; Ps. xc. 2). Cp. Dt. xxxii. 17 "New gods that came
newly up, w^hom your fathers feared not." For neither shall they be
cp. Is. Ixv. 3 LXX. "They burn incense upon the bricks to gods
which are not " (will not be, A).
14. vaingloi'ious7iess'\ Rather, through the foolish fancy of men ^ cp.
4 Mace. v. 9. Grimm points out that there is no vaingloriousness in
"untimely grief" {v. 15).
they entered into the world'\ Idols, like death (ch. ii. 24), are in-
truders into God"s world. Like death, men brought them in (ch. i. r6).
" Coming into the world" is a phrase expressive of crossing the frontiers
of a kingdom : the idea is not so much metaphysical as moral : where
they came from is not so important as that they have been introduced
in violation of God's order of things.
7vas a speedy end devised^ If man can devise idols {v. 12), God can
devise a speedy ending of them. When the end shall be is left as
indefinite as in w. 10, 11.
15. untimely grief] i.e. grief for an untimely death. This trans-
ference ofadjectives is known as hypallage.
the child quickly taken away] The classical instance of this is to be
found in Cicero's memorial to his daughter. Lactantius {Inst. i. 15)
represents him as saying "With the approbation of the gods, I will
place you the best and m.ost learned of all women in their assembly,
and will consecrate you to the estimation of all men." But the more
natural process undoubtedly would be (as Mr Herbert Spencer argued)
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIV. 15—17. i37
Now honoured him as a god which was then a dead man,
And delivered to those that were under him mysteries and
solemn rites.
Afterward the ungodly custom, in process of time grown 16
strong, was kept as a law,
And by the commandments of princes the graven images
received worship.
And when men could not honour them in presence because 17
they dwelt far off,

for children to venerate their deceased ancestors (cp. 2 Mace. xi. ■23),
as is seen in China. Fulgentius (quoting from Diophantus) tells of an
Egyptian named Syrophanes, who, overcome with grief for the loss of
his son, erected a statue of him in his house. To please the master of
the house, the members of the family decked it with flowers, and slaves
even fled to it for sanctuaiy. And thus the statue gradually became an
idol.
Now honoured him as a god} The essential connection between death
and deity is well brought out by Prof. Ramsay in his Art. on Rel. of
Greece in Hastings, D.B. Vol. v. p. 131 (Burial). He writes "It was
probably on the worship of the dead that the worship of Divine personal
beings was built up. The dead parent links the family with the Divine
nature.... Among the Greeks the special sacrifice to the dead hero took
place on his birthday."
16. custom... gi'oivn strong] Cp. Philo, Dec. § 26 "Custom in
process of time becomes stronger than nature." Custom becomes
prescription, and prescription is almost stronger than law. V. 16 refers
to V. 15, to the child-worship now grown from custom into law: what
was begim by a father among his servants is now enforced by a tyrant
upon his subjects. There is no connection between v. 16 and v. ij :
the dictated worship is contrasted with the voluntary. Princes however
serves as a link between the verses.
17. The reference in this v. is to divine honours paid to kings in
their lifetime, not after death. W. M. Ramsay writes (Art. on Rel. of
Greece in Hastings, D.B. Vol. v. p. 154) "It was an easy step to
identify the man of surpassing excellence, physical or mental, with a
god either after his death or during his lifetime, when the perfection of
human nature was regarded as Divine.... According to Pkuarch, the
first man to whom worship was paid as a god during his lifetime was
Lysander {Lys. 18). ...The Thasians honoured Agesilaos in a similar
way. From the time of Alexander the deification of kings was cus-
tomary, as a mere recognition of 'divine right.' Roman generals
were often honoured by Greek cities with festivals and games, which
implied deification. Every Roman emperor in succession was wor-
ship ed ;and it was inscribed on the coins and the engraved decrees
of the greatest Greek cities as a special honour that they were temple-
 I3S THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIV. 17—20.
Imagining the likeness from afar,
They made a visible image of the king whom they honoured,
That by their zeal they might flatter the absent as if present.
18 But unto a yet higher pitch was worship raised even by
them that knew him not.
Urged forward by the ambition of the artificer:
19 For he, wishing peradventure to please one in authority,
Used his art to force the likeness toward a greater beauty;
20 And the multitude, allured by reason of the grace of his
handywork,

wardens of the emperors." Farrar mentions that Augustus was

hardly able to prevent the worship of himself in his lifetime : he could
only insist that temples in his honour should be associated with tem-
ples to Roma. On the rise of Emperor-worship, cp. Westcott, Epp. of
St John, pp. 268 if.
Itnaginnig the liketiess from afar] lit. the-from-afar-likeness. For
the flattery which elevates a living man into a god, cp. Acts xii. 22
"It is the voice of a god and not of a man."'
18. R.V. treats this v. as closely connected with the preceding, in
which case them that knew hwi not refers to the same people as those
"who dwelt afar off" {v. 17), while worship is the exaggerated form
of the flattery of the same v. But the v. may be viewed as altogether
distinct from v. 17, and the Gk. be rendered as A.V. "the ignorant"
(abs.), i.e. those who do not know what deception is being practised
upon them. But koX (''even") makes the R.V. rendering almost certain.
In that case, desire to flatter is seen passing into worship, on the part
of those who could only know the prince at second-hand. The work-
man, desiring to secure favour, produced so exquisite a statue, that he
captivated the hearts of a people ever ready to deify any surpassing
human excellence. And so those who began with grovelling subser-
vience were seduced by beauty into actual worship.
atHbitioti] The artificer's ambition is not that of the artist, but of the
place-seeker. A.V. renders singular diligence with Vulg.
19. For he] In z'. 17 distant subjects make a representation of a
distant king : in this v. the court-sculptor makes the statue.
wishing... to please] Painters and sculptors were not the only artists
who lived by pleasing. Cp. Plut. Lysander " L. always kept the
Spartan poet Choerilus in his retinue, that he might be ready to add
lustre to his actions by the power of verse." The story of the painter
who desired to depict Cromwell without the wart on his face illustrates
how painters "force the likeness to greater beauty."
20. allured by... the grace] Herodotus records (v. 47) that Philip of
Crotona was after his death worshipped as a hero and honoured with
sacrifices, because of his extraordinary beauty. The cases are not
exactly parallel, but in both beauty leads to deification.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIV. 20—22. 139
Now accounted as an object of devotion him that a little
before was honoured as a man.
And this became ^a hidden danger unto life, 21
Because men, in bondage either to calamity or to tyranny,
Invested stones and stocks with the incommunicable Name.

Afterward it was not enough for them to go astray as 22

touching the knowledge of God;
But also, while they live -in ^sore conflict through ignorance
of him,
1 Gr. a7i ambush. - Ox, for ^ Gr. a great war of ignorance.

him thai
between w. a17,little before'] in
18, assumed This
text.seems to point to the connection
21. And this] This looks back to all recounted in tn^. 15 — 20.
With the line cp. i Kings xii. 30, xiii. 34.
unto life] Either " the world " as Vulg. mundo, or "the life of man"
as Cod. Amiatinus uita€ hiimanae. The latter seems better, cp.
4 Mace. xvii. 14, but see x. 8.
?■« bondage] By syllepsis the same verb is used with two substantives
of dissimilar character, in a sense varj'ing slightly with each. For
calat?iity see v. 15, and tyranny, w. 16 — 18.
the incommunicable Natne] not of Jehovah, but of God. The sin lay
in giving the name of deity to things essentially beneath God, cp. Is.
xlii. 8 "neither will I give My praise to graven images," and Philo,
Ebr. § 28 "They actually made unreasoning animals and herbs par-
takers in the glory of things incorruptible."

vz>. 22—31. The inevitablk sequel of false worship is

FALSE LIFE.

22. it was not enough] A truth of psychology. Conduct follows

creed. Cp. Rom. i. 28 " Even as they refused to have God in their
knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind."
in sore conflict] Vulg. inscientiae bello. They live in a state of war
arising from ignorance of God, cp. xiii. i, and yet call it peace. A
society infested with the social evils enumerated in z-v. 23 ff. may have
no external enemies, but is really in a state of internal war. The life
of mutual antagonism dictated by self-seeking is pictured by Philo
in a curiously similar passage [Conf I. § 12) "All that is done in war
they do in time of peace Every man sets before him as his goal
wealth or honour, and directs the doings of his life at it as if he were
shooting arrows at a mark: he neglects fairness, and pursues inequality;
he retuses community of interests, and struggles to acquire the property
of all for himself alone : he hates his fellowmen, while professing good-
will ;is a companion of bastard adulation while an enemy of legitimate
friendship ; he hates truth and champions falsehood ; he is slow to help
 I40 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIV. 22—26.
That multitude of evils they call peace.
23 For either slaughtering children in solemn rites, or celebrating
secret mysteries,
Or holding frantic revels of strange ordinances,
24 No longer do they ^ guard either life or purity of marriage,
But one brings upon another either death by treachery, or
anguish by adulterate offspring.
25 And all things confusedly are filled with blood and murder,
theft and deceit.
Corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury, 26 -turmoil,
^ Or, keep taistained either life or tnarriage
2 Or, troubling of the good, forgetfulness of favours
and swift to injure ; foremost in slandering and a laggard in defending:
a clever cheat, a perjurer, a breaker of agreements, a slave to anger, a
servant of pleasure, a guardian of things evil, and a destroyer of things
good. All these things are the appanage of that widely sung and
highly vaunted peace ; things which the idolatrous mind of the foolish
admires and adores." Similarly, the writer in this z'. is complaining of
the social and intestine conflict of interests which is possible while a
state is said to be at peace. Cp. Jer. vi. 14 " Peace, peace, when there
is no peace."
23. slaughtering children] Cp. xii. 5 and Is. Ivii. 5,
secret 7nysteries'] The writer had the Jew's instinctive hatred of the
pagan mysteries. The standard of moral purity which was required for
participation in the mysteries was "consistent with habitual disregard
of some of the elementar}- moral rules of the... Hebrew religion."
frantic revels'] e.g. the Bacchanalian orgies such as those by which
the Temple was polluted in the time of Antiochus, cp. 2 Mace. vi. r — 7.
The Phrygian mysteries, the Babylonian worship of Aphrodite (Hdt. i.
199), and orgies of Bacchus-worship were typical instances of the
strange ordinances which flourished where God was unknown.
24. Neither the sacredness of the individual life, nor the sanctity of
the marriage tie, is observed ; treacherous murders, and children born
of adulterous unions are a commonplace.
25. blood and murder] For the catalogue of sins in vv, 25, 26, cp.
Rom. i. 29; Gal. v. 19 — 21 ; i Tim. i. 9. See also Jer. vii. 9, Hos. iv. 2,
and the citation from Philo. Conf. I. on v. 22.
Corruption] Moral corruption generally, cp. 2 Pet. ii. 10.
faithlessness .. .perjury] These two sins go together in Cojif. I. § 12.
The former is like " covenant-breakers" in Rom. i. 31, cp. Jer. iii. 7
LXX.; the latter is dealt with in vv. 28 — 31.
tiitnult] Disorders of all kinds. Cp. 2 Cor. xii. 20.
26. turmoil] Text takes dopv^os alone, Vulg. joins with dyadQu,
tumultus bonorufn, so marg. If "turmoil" must be taken alone, it
seems much the same as "tumult." If, however, marg. is possible,
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIV. 26—29. 141
Ingratitude for benefits received^
Defiling of souls, confusion of ^ sex,
Disorder in marriage, adultery and wantonness.
For the worship of ^ those ^nameless idols 27
Is a beginning and cause and end of every evil.
For their worshippers either make merry unto madness, or 28
prophesy lies,
Or live unrighteously, or lightly forswear themselves.
For putting their trust in lifeless idols, 29
When they have sworn a wicked oath, they expect not to
suffer harm,

^ Or, kind ^ Qr, idols that tnay not be named See Ex. xxiii. 13 ;
Ps. xvi. 4; Hos. ii. 17. ^ See ver. 21.

and the sense

sion refers of " trouble
to such cases asgiven
that toofgood men"Theis allowed,
ch. ii. the the
balance of expres-
line
favours marg. , cp. 2 Tim. iii. 3 dcpiXdyadoi, "no lovers of good."
higratitude for bencfits\ or, if a.^(o.dQiv is taken with dopv^os, forget-
fulness of favours marg., cp. 2 Tim. iii. 1 " unthankful."
Defiling of souls'\ Cp. Jer. v. 26 ; 2 Pet. ii. I4 " beguiling unstable
souls," and 2 Tim. iii. 6.
confusion of sex] Cp. Rom. i. 27.
Disorder in marriage] Farrar quotes Seneca on the frightful preva-
lence of divorce in the Imperial epoch : women reckoned their years by
their discarded husbands. Philo {Cher. § 27) writes of /xedrjfxepLvol
ydfjioi, "marriages of a day."
wantonness] Philo, Cher. § 27, with his customary fulness, details a
long list of wantonnesses commonly indulged in.
27. nameless] ^ ulg. infandon/m. But dvwvvfxos hardly means
"unnameable," as the marginal references to the prohibition of Ex.
xxhi. 13, etc. would suggest, but "without a name." The name of
anything was the symljol of its existence ; hence nameless idols means
idols which represent no real gods, cp. Gal. iv. 8.
beginniWf^...and end] Philo [Plant. § 18) uses the same Greek words
of God, whom he calls "beginning and end of all things." The
insertion here of cause only intensifies the causal meaning of the words
(as distinguished from the temporal).
28. Four results of idolatry : madness (fjLe/j.rii'acriv, with a side-
reference to Bacchanalian revellers, /xaivades, " mad women "), false
ideals, injustice, perjury. All these may be traced in Jer. v., which is
a typical denunciation of idolatry (i) v. 8, (2) v. 31, (3) v. i, (4) v. 7.
29. The writer implies that it was convenient to believe in false
gods, because it was possible to swear by them and yet have no fear of
breaking the oath. But it is a wrong inference that perjury, however
universal, proves the falsity of the gods whose name is taken in vain.
 142 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIV. 30— XV. i.
30 But for both sins shall the just doom pursue them,
Because they had evil thoughts of God by giving heed to
idols,
And swore unrighteously in deceit through contempt for
holiness.
31 For it is not the power of them by whom men swear,
But it is Hhat Justice which hath regard to them that sin,
That visiteth always the transgression of the unrighteous.
15 But thou, our God, art gracious and true,
^ Gr. the Justice of them that sin.

It only proves scepticism, or want of sense of responsibility in the per-

jurers. Just as among the Jews the oath by the living God was binding
upon all but the worst, so among the heathen there were some deities in
whose name very few would dare to swear falsely, e.g. the Cabiri, cp.
Juv. iii. 144. abiK-qdrivai. (suffer harm) loosely for biK-qv dovvai, (be
punished) ; or should we read iKdiKTjdiivai (suffer vengeance) ?
30. for both sins] Pursue governs double ace. The double sin was
(a) giving the name of God to idols, and {b) venturing to despise the
sanctities of life. With (a) cp. v. 21 c, an argument which would appeal
to Jews. With {b) Deane compares Ez. xvii. 18, 19. Holiness si^iXiA?,
for whatever measure of truth and honour the perjurer might be expected
to possess. Plutarch, quoting a saying of Lysander "children were to
be cheated with cockalls, and men with oaths," writes "He who over-
reaches bya false oath, declares that he fears his enemy, but despises
his God.'' The writer's argument is that even if idols cause no fear,
every man ought to carry a fear wathin him : punishment awaits the
man who has stifled that sacred instinct.
31. Justice -which hath regard\ The writer views Justice in an
objective light, so that (whatever false gods men may acknowledge and
perjure themselves by) God's avenging minister will find them out,
as in Acts xxviii. 4 or Philo, Jos. § 29 " The Justice that watches over
human affairs, who displays the inexorableness of her nature against
those that deserve punishment," cp. id. Conf. l. § 24 fin. For the idea
of vengeance following on perjury, cp. Aristoph. Pax 277 "If any of
you were initiated in Samothrace, now would it be well to pray that the
feet of the avenger (the Cabirij be turned away from pursuit of you."
Chapter XV.
■irc\ 1 — 6. The purifying and restraining influence of the
WORSHIP OF Jehovah upon the life of Israel.
1. The writer turns away from the appalling picture of the results of
idolatry to the character of the true God with its influence on the
national life, "But Thou, our God...."
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XV. 1—3. 143
Longsuffering, and in mercy ordering all things.
For even if we sin, we are thine, knowing thy dominion ; 2
But we shall not sin, knowing that we have been accounted
thine :
For to be acquainted with thee is ^perfect righteousness, 3
And to know thy dominion is the root of immortality.
^ Gr. entire.

gracious^ etc.] The four attributes of God here named are based on
the revelation of Ex. xxxiv. 6, cp. Dt. xxxii. 4 LXX. " God, His works
are true, and all His ways are judgments : God is faithful and there
is no unrighteousness (in Him) ; righteous and holy is the Lord." For
gracious (xpTycTos), cp. St Luke vi. 35 and Rom. xi. 22. God is true,
not only because He alone is God, but because He keeps His proxnises
to His people.
ordering all things']
2. The first clause of Cp.
this xii.
v. is15.to be interpreted by the second of the
next v., and the second clause of this by the first of next v.
For... we are thine'] The clause, introd. by For, illustrates God's
mercy spoken of in the preceding v. Even sin cannot frustrate God's
goodness to His people, cp. Rom. iii. 3. Thine, knowing thy dominion
is explained by v. 3b as "Thine, possessing the root of immortality,"
i.e. even though we sin, yet our laith in the effective power of the
true God saves us from the licentiousness of the heathen, which is
spiritual death. For we are thine, cp. Ex. xxxiv. 9 fin. LXX.
But we shall not sin] He rejects the hypothesis of sin in those who
are named as God's. The point of view is ideal, but it is only an
anticipation of i John iii. 6, v. 18. Cp. also Ecclus. x. 2.
3. to be acquainted with thee] Text suggests a di (Terence of sense
between iiri<TTaada(. (be acquainted) in 3 a and eid^t-ai (know) in 3 b.
No distinction can be safely pressed. There is a natural tendency to
variation. "To know God is perfect righteousness"; the aphorism
contains the principle of which z/. 2 b is the application : the knowledge
of God is not a matter of intellect, but of moral apprehension. Just as
St John writes (i John iv. 8) " He that loveth not knoweth not God," i.e.
To know God is to love, so the writer lays down the principle "To
know God is to be wholly righteous." Cp. Jer. ix. 23, 24.
to kno7v thy dominion] As in the prec. /., the emphasis is on thy.
Even the intellectual possession of a right theology has its value. On
the assumption that he who knows is guided by his knowledge, such
knowledge may be described as the root, the beginning, the first
element of immortality. If righteousness is immortal (ch. i. 15), the
first step to immortality is the discovery of Him w'ho is righteous. For
the use oi root, cp. iii. 15 and Ecclus. i. 20, and i Tim. vi. 10 (cp. Prov.
ix. 10). Life is frequently explained in moral terms, cp. Dt. xxx. 20
(as the love of God), St John xvii. 3 (as the knowledge of God), and
Philo, Ft!ga § i^ (as the taking refuge in Him who isj.
 144 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XV. 4—6.

4 Forart,neither were we led astray by any evil device of men's

Nor yet by painters' fruitless labour,

A form stained with varied colours ;
5 The sight whereof leadeth fools into Must :
Their desire is for the breathless form of a dead image.
6 Lovers of evil things, and worthy of such hopes as t/iese^

^ Some authorities read reproach.

4. For'] See z/. 2 " We are thine, for...."

evil device of men's art\ KaKorex^o^ (evil... art) recalls rexvlrrfs
(artificer) and Tix^rj (art) xiv. 18, 19 : the writer makes it plain that he
thinks art evil, and the cause of idolatry, itrivoia (device) is used in a
bad sense as in xiv. 12. Israel as a nation was never seduced into
idolatry ; there was always a remnant, which stood ideally for the whole
people, cp. I K. xix. 18. But the writer is more probably thinking of
contemporary Judaism in contrast to the nations among whom the Jews
of the Dispersion were settled. The effect of the Captivity was to
confirm the post-exilic Jews in their antagonism to idolatr}'.
painters''
from fruitless
his polity labour']
the noble artsPhilo [Gig. § 13)
of sculpture andwrites "Moses
painting; theybanished
made a
counterfeit presentment of the true, and consequently deceived human
souls by deluding the eye." ¥ ox fruitless labour, cp. Eph. v. 11, and
ch. iii. 13 (note on fruit).
stained with varied colours] Cp. xiii. 14. Statues and images were
habitually coloured. The use of the word stained is contemptuous.
While God never displayed Himself under any form or shape (Dt. iv.
12), the gods of the heathen not only ivere forms, but stained ones.
5. lust] Text reads rightly with XAC ope^iv, Vulg. concupiscen-
tiarn. B has oi'eioos reproach^ which is accounted for by eUot'os doos
immediately below. Sight passes into desire, and desire into worship.
In his essay on Art in Religious Thought in the West., Bp. Westcott
suggests the true function of art. As it is through the senses that
temptation chiefly comes, the service of art is to teach the senses true
enjo}Tiient, so that their taste may be spoiled for mean things, and they
may learn to find satisfaction only in that which elevates.
the b^-eathless for?)i] See xiv. 19, 20. The story of Pygmalion of
Cyprus and his ivury statue is quoted by Grimm from Arnobius Adv.
nat. vi. 22.
6. zuoj'thy of such hopes] Cp. i. 16. Hopes may be the futile trust
in idols, cp. xiii. 10, or else the idols themselves, which are such delusive
objects of trust. The writer's doctrine of affinity appears again : men
find the gods that suit them. They that do, see v. 4.
desire... worship] See v. 5.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XV. 6—8. 145
Are both they that do, and they that desire, and they that
worship.

For a potter, kneading soft earth, 7

Laboriously mouideth each several vessel for our service :
Nay, out of the same clay doth he fashion
Both the vessels that minister to clean uses, and those of a
contrary sort,
All in like manner ;
But what shall be the use of each vessel of either sort,
The 'craftsman himself is the judge.
And also, labouring to an evil end, he mouideth a vain god 8
out of the same clay,
He who, having but a little before been made of earth,
^ Gr. worker in clay.

w. 7—13. The comemptible folly of the maker of

CLAY IDOLS.

Hitherto the idols have been his mark, now he attacks the idol-
maker. For a man of clay to make gods of clay — for one who works
with a material which is a perpetual reminder to him of his own origin
and futility, both to make counterfeits of metal images and to forget the
lessons he might have learnt from his craft, is foolishness of mind and
character. Further, he impeaches the motives of the idol-maker : he is
led on by rivalry and the desire for gain, vv. 9, 12.
7. potter] The idol-maker is contemptuously called a potter ; cp.
the "carpenter" of xiii. 11. It is part of the writer's method of
contempt to suggest that the making of idols takes its place in the day's
work with the making of tables and pots. For the potter's work, see
Is. xlv. 9, Ixiv. 8 ; Ecclus. xxxviii. 29, 30 ; Test, xii Patr. Alapht. ii.
oi4t of the same clay] Cp. Rom. ix. 21.
clean uses, and... contrary] St Paul seems to recall this passage in
2 Tim. ii. 21.
is the judge] Cp. Jer. xviii. 4, and Hor. Sat. i. 8. i ff. "Once I
was a useless log, and a carpenter, after hesitating whether to make a
stool of me or a figure of Priapus, decided to make me into a god."
8. labouring to a7i evil end] The word KaKOfxaxdos takes up laboriously
[iTrifxox&os) o( v. "j ; it has much the same meaning as "evil-devising"
{KaKdrexfos), V. 4.. KaKdfxoxdos almost means "unconscionable." The
clay-worker is engaged in a sham creation. God made man out of clay;
the clay turns round and makes a god.
made of earth] Gen. ii. 7 ; Job x. 9.
WISDOM 10
 146 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XV. 8, 9.
After a short space goeth his way to the earth out of which
he was taken,
When he is required to render back the ^soul which was lent
him.
9 Howbeit he hath anxious care,
Not because his powers must fail,
Nor because his span of life is short ;
But he matcheth himself against goldsmiths and -silver-
smiths,
And he imitateth moulders in ^ brass,
And esteemeth it glory that he mouldeth counterfeits.
^ Or, life ^ Gr. silver-founders. ^ Or, copper

to the earth out of w/nch] Gen. iii. 19; Job xxxiv, 15, see also
Ecclus. xvii. r, 2, xL i, 11, xli. 10.
to 7-ender back the soul which zcas lejit hirn] Man's spirit is received
as a loan {v. 16) ; the loan must sooner or later be called in (cp. St Luke
xii. 20). See Introd. § 12. The idea is seen in Lucretius iii. 971
"Life is granted to none in fee-simple, to all in usufruct." Cp. Ambr.
{de Bon. Alort. 10) " The soul is required, but it is not destroyed."
Philo is very familiar with the idea, see Abr. § 44 ; Q. R. D. H. % 22
" Strive to count what you have received as worthy of all care, that
He who placed it in your keeping may have no fault to find with your
guardianship," and Post C § 2 " Each man has to pay back his loan
to nature, whenever she chooses to call in the debts outstanding to her."
This conception is due to Greek influence. A. B. Davidson {Theol. of
O.T. p. 197) writes "While in earlier books the question is not raised
as to what becomes of the life-spirit in man when he dies, in later books
this spirit is spoken of more as if it had an independent being of its own.
That is, the immaterial element in man is identified with the spirit of life
or principle of vitality in him. ' The spirit shall return unto God who
gave it' (Eccles. xii. 7)."
9. The workman's misplaced anxiety. He is not thinking of his
own human frailty, but of competition with metal workers, and of his
success in imposing counterfeits on the market.
po7uers must fail] Kafipeiv, Vulg. laboraturus est, i.e. grow sick and
weary.
span of life] Cp. ch. ii. i ; Job x. 20.
matcheth himself against] This is probably an exaggeration on the
writer's part. Clay images v.'ere no doubt made to look as much like
the precious metals as possible : but that they were deliberately palmed
off as gold and silver there is no reason to believe. Farrar writes that
in the Egyptian tombs have been found many scarabs and idols of clay,
gilded, or bronzed, or covered with a vitrified covering.
esteemeth it glory] Not only does he make a counterfeit god, but
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XV. lo, ii. 147
His heart is ashes,
And his hope of less value than earth,
And his life of less honour than clay :
Because he was ignorant of him that moulded him,
And of him that inspired into him ^an active ^soul.
And breathed into him a vital spirit.
^ Gr. a soul thai moveth to activity. ^ Or, life

by his spurious imitations he produces a counterfeit of a counterfeit ;

and this his shame, he counts his glory.
10. His heart is ashes'] Another abrupt characterisation as in v. 6.
The expression is drawn from Is. xliv. 20 LXX. (see Introd. § 2), where
througli confusion of Hebrew letters the words for "he feedeth on ashes:
a heart" are wrongly rendered " know that their heart is ashes." Cp.
Ezek. xi. 19, xxxvi. 26.
his hope of less value] If his god is a piece of baked clay, then the
hope he reposes upon his god is still more worthless. Cp. Eph. ii. 12.
his life... clay] In the idol-maker's life there is no upward look, no
acknowledgment of God as his Maker. Therefore his life has less
honour than even the clay. For all created things (including earth)
praise the Lord, cp. Song of the Three Children, v. 52: and the giver
of praise is himself elevated by his tribute.
11. He wilfully ignores his Maker, cp. Is. i. 3; Rom. i. 28.
moulded him] Gen. ii. 7. He moulds a god {v. 8), ignoring the fact
that he himself was moulded by God.
an active soul] It would seem as though the commonly accepted
trichotomy of body, soul, and spirit were present in this v., cp.
Heb. iv. 12, I Thess. v. 23. But in Theol. of. O. T., p. 186, Prof. Davidson
argues that the analysis is rhetorical and not to be taken literally.
With regard to "soul" and "spirit," the Jews viewed the immaterial
part of man in various lights: soul was not for them distinct from spirit,
but "the same thing under different aspects. 'Spirit' connotes energy,
power, especially vital power ; and man's inner nature in such aspects,
as exhibiting power, energy, life of whatever kind, is spoken of as
spirit. The soul on the other hand is the seat of the sensibilities. The
idea of 'spirit' is more that of something objective and impersonal ; that
of soul suggests what is reflexive and impersonal." Cp. op. cit., the
whole of section vi.. The Doctrine of Man, pp. 182 — 203. For the
later and not strictly Jewish doctrine of the tripartite nature of man in
N.T., see Lightfoot, Notes on Epp. of St Paul, p. 88.
a vital spirit] The phraseology is very similar to that in Gen. ii. 7,
on which passage Prof. Davidson writes {op. cit. p. 194) " All that seems
in question here is just the giving of vitality to man. There seems no
allusion to man's immaterial being, to his spiritual element Vitality is
communicated by God. ...The anthropomorphism of the author is very
strong. He represents God Himself as having a breath which is the
 148 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XV. 12, 13.

12 But 'he accounted our very life to be a -plaything,

And our lifetime a gainful Mair ;
For, saith he, one must get gain whence one can, though it
be by evil.
13 For this man beyond all others knoweth that he sinneth,

^ Some authorities read they accounted. - Or, sport

' Or, way of life ■* Or, keeping of festival

sig^n or principle of life in Himself; and this He breathed into man, and
it became the same in him."
The writer practically identifies "soul" and "spirit" w. 8, 16, and
the distinction lies between the two epithets of the one life-principle.
For vital [X^tikov), cp. Philo, Det. Pot. § 22, where he says that man is
animal as well as human. As animal he possesses " vital " (i'wrtK^)
faculty, while as man he enjoys " rational " \Ko-^i.Ki]) faculty as well.
12. he accounted'^ They (marg.), i.e. the idol-maker and the heathen
generally.
our verymineral
between life'\ ^ojij, i.e. the {cp.
and animal life-principle,
note on v.that
11),which
It is differentiates
treating life
as a trifle, when man, who is clay, but clay suffused with vitality, sets
before himself for worship a piece of clay unredeemed by any trace of
life, that might be made into household utensils. It has been suggested
that fwTj and ^ios (next /.) are merely poetical variations, and should not
be distinguished ; but in each case the predicates are quite different, and
accordingly the subjects may be treated as distinct.
Afid our
uitae. ^loslifetif?ie'\ Better,
in this sense way practical
is the of life, marg,,
life, the Vulg.
life ofconuersationein
affairs. The
idol-maker's view of daily life is that it is like a public market, where
every man makes the best bargain he can. The Gk. word {iraPTjyvpia/ids)
includes the two ideas of festival and fair. Pythagoras (Diog. La. viii.
8) used to "compare life to a festival, to which some went to contend,
others for commercial purposes, and the best in order to look on : so in
life (he said) some are slavish, pursuing honour and lucre, while others,
the philosophers, look for truth." Epictetus (ii. 14) expands these
words of Pythagoras. Cp. the account of the commerce of Tyre,
Ezek. xxvii. and St James iv. 13 — 15.
gain whence one can, etc.] Cp. Hor. Ep. i. i, 65 "rem facias rem Si
possis recte — si non quocumque modo rem." Farrar quotes Juv. Sat.
xiv. 204 " lucri bonus est odor ex re Qualibet. "
though it be by ez'il] The idol-maker in this v. is distinguished from
the idolater of xiii. 17, in that he has no belief in the idols he makes.
He crowns his greed with chicanery.
13. knoweth that he sinneth^ To all his other enormities he adds this
that he refuses to obey the truth that his own senses should bear in upon
his mind. He makes household vessels out of clay, things which will
break with the slightest fall (eC^/jaKj-ra), and then he makes gods out of
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XV. 13—15. 149
Out of earthy matter making brittle vessels and graven
images.
But most foolish ^were they all, and -of feebler soul than 14
a babe,
The enemies of thy people, who oppressed them ;
Because they even accounted all the idols of the nations 15
to be gods;
Which have neither the use of eyes for seeing,
Nor nostrils for drawing breath,
Nor ears to hear,
Nor fingers for handling.
And their feet are helpless for walking.
^ Or, are ^ Gr. 7)iore wretched than the sotil of a babe. The
Greek text here is perhaps corrupt.

the same material, and worships gods which are subject to precisely
-similar risks: he worships a brittle, breakable god.

w. 14 — 17. Whatever may be the wickedness of the maker

OF clay idols, there is no one to compare for stupidity
with the oppressors of Israel, who reckoned all heathen
idols as gods.

14. The enemies... who oppressed^ The reference would seem to be to

the Egyptians. The writer has made a digression of three chapters
(beginning from xii. 27, where the Egyptians were in question), and in
ch. xvi. he will be found speaking of them again, w. 14 — 17 form the
link between digression and main argument. This view is supported
by oppressed them, which points to a past persecution ; cp. also the
reference in f. 18 to animal worship. But it is not clear how v. 15
refers to the Egyptians, for it was not they, but the Romans of imperial
times, who were the true religious eclectics. But even the Romans did
not receive the full tide of Phrygian, Egyptian, Persian, and Syrian
cults until long after the latest date at which Wisdom could have been
written. See Gregg, Decian Persecution, p. 49. The Egyptians may
have practised a general tolerance of foreign deities (cp. the worship of
Perseus at Chemis, Hdt. ii. 91), while adhering strictly to their own
national cults. The chief Egyptian persecutions of the Jews were
under Ptolemy Philopator c. 217 B.C., and Ptolemy Physcon, who
persecuted for seven years (145 — 138), though later becoming pacified,
while the oppression of Exodus was never allowed to be forgotten.
The writer forgets that he is writing as Solomon, unless oppressed them
is taken to refer to no oppression except the earliest.
15. This V. is a free imitation of Ps. ex v. 4—7, cxxxv. 15 — 17, cp.
also Philo's version in Dec % 15. For the first /., cp. also Ps. xcvi, 5.
 I50 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XV. i6— 18.
i6 For a man made them,
And one whose own spirit is borrowed moulded them ;
For no one hath power, bei7ig a man, to mould a god like
unto himself,
17 But, being mortal, he maketh a dead thing by the work of
lawless hands ;
For he is better than the objects of his worship,
' Forasmuch as he indeed had life, but they never.
18 Yea,
shipand
, the creatures that are most hateful do they wor-

1 Most authorities read Of which, he iJideed.

16. 7vhose own spirit is borrowed^ See v. 8, and cp. Ps. civ. 19 ;
Eccl. ^^ii. 8.
For 710 one hath po'cver] Man's life is not inherent, but derived :
accordingly, though he can transmit life by natural processes, he cannot
implant life in the works of his hands. No man can make a god which
is even on a level with himself: however much the workman may call
his work his god, the workman must always be superior to his work.
On the other hand, spiritually "they that make them are like unto
them " (Ps. cxv. 8j : their heart is ashes.
17. a dead ihinf[ Cp. xiii. 10, 18, xiv. 8.
he is better] He is mortal, and will have to die one day; but his idol
has never even been alive. The contrast explains why the worker's
hands are lawless : it is impiety for the animate, possessing the image of
God, to bow to the inanimate. Philo {Dec. § 14) ^\Tites "The workman
is better than his work both in time (for he is older and in some sense
its father) and in faculty. And although (if they were going to sin) men
ought to have deified their painters and sculplors, they have actually
left them in obscurity, and given the name of gods to their statues and
paintings."
Forasmuch as] So K {avQ'' wv) Vulg. ^uia, "because." Other MSS.
read vv, 0/ which, he ifideed, etc.
but they never] Cp. Hab. ii. 18, 19.

w. 18, 19. The folly of Egyptian animal worship.

18. w. 18, 19 form an introduction to ch. xvi., and must be taken
closely with it.
creatures... most hateful] Cp. xii. 24. Diog. La. {proem, vii, 11)
writes that the Egyptians honour the useful animals as gods. Philo
{Post. C. § 48) writes that they deify bulls and rams and goats. This
{Dec. § i6j is quite intelligible ; they are useful and tame. But they go
further and deify wild beasts, lions, crocodiles, poisonous asps, and
besides these dogs, cats, wolves, the ibis and the hawk, and fishes
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XV. i8— XVI. i. 151

^For, being compared as to want of sense, these are worse

than all others ;
Neither, as seen beside otJui- creatures, are they beautiful, 19
so that one should desire them,
But they have escaped both the praise of God and his
blessing.
For this cause were these me?i worthily punished through 16
creatures like tJiose which they worships
^ The Greek text here is perhaps corrupt.
(whole or in part); see note in F. C. Conybeare, Vit. Cont. p. 261.
Juvenal {Sat. xv. i ff, ) writes of the crocodile, ibis, monkey, cat, fish as
Egyptian deities; "in fact, while you may not kill a kid, you may eat
the flesh of man."'
as to -want of sense] The Eg}^ptians worship deities which have neither
intelligence nor beauty to recommend them. Want of sense points to
the less intelligent members of the pantheon, the fish, the crocodile,
the serpent.
19. iVeiiher . . .heautifnl] These unintelligent creatures cannot even
appeal to beauty to commend them as objects of worship. The croco-
dile eg. is a revolting monster, devoid of grace and comeliness.
should desire them] Cp. ^'. 5.
have escaped both the praise] But Gen. i. 21, 25, 30, 31 show that
originally the entire animal creation was "good." Even the serpent
was not cursed till after the Fall (Gen. iii. 14). Perhaps the serpent
(under which form the Egyptians worshipped Kneph) is the chief, or
sole object of the attack in these two w.
Ch. XVI.
The Egyptian animal-worshippers were punished by an animal plague,
while on the other hand animals were used to benefit Israel. Even
when the Israelites were plagued with fiery serpents, they merely tasted
suftering by way of teaching, while the Eg}'ptians were severely chastised,
when beset with flies and locusts (i — 14). Similarly, fire and water,
heat and cold, fought against the Eg)-ntians and for the Israelites. The
elements, in so doing, not only carried out the will of God, but taught
the Israelites lessons concerning both God as the source of all blessing,
and the duty of thanksgiving (15 — 29).
These form the first two of a series of five comparisons between the
fortunes of Israel and Egypt, which occupy the remaining chapters of
the book.

vv. 1—4. The Egyptians were punished through the animals

THEY worshipped.
1. For this cause] See xv. 18, 19.
worlhily punished'\ As in i. 16, men get what, by their own choice,
 152 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVI. 1—3.
And tormented through a multitude of vermin.
2 Instead of which punishment, thou, bestowing benefits on
thy people,
Preparedst quails for food,
Food of^TSire taste, to satisfy the desire of their appetite ;
3 To the end that -thine enemies, desiring food,
Might for the hideousness of the creatures sent among them
Loathe even the necessary appetite ;
But these, thy people^ having for a short space suffered want.
Might even partake oifoodof^xd.x^ taste.
^ Gr. strange. ^ Gr. those.
they show to belong to them. The writer reverts to the principle of
compensation laid down in xi. 16, and reaffirmed in xii. 23, 27, cp.
Philo, Mos. i. 17.
verfnifi] For the Greek word, cp. xi. 15, of the plagues of locusts,
frogs, flies, etc.
2. Instead of 7i<hich piinishmenl\ As animals were used to plague
Eg)'pt, so were they made the instruments of blessing to Israel, cp.
Ex. xvi. and Num. xi.

quails for
desert. Theyfood'\
alwaysQuails "migrate
fly with in vast
the wind. flocks,
Their crossing
bodies are sothe Arab,in
heavy
comparison with the power of their wings that many perish even in a
short passage across the sea, and those which arrive safe are excessively
fatigued.... Quails, when migrating, begin to arrive at night (Ex. xvi. 13),
and are found in large numbers in the morning (Num. xi. 31, 32)....
The quail is bro%\Ti, shaded and mottled with rufous and grey. Its
length is 7^ inches. Its flesh is succulent." G. E. Post (Art. Quails in
Hastings, D.B. iv. p. 179), cp. Philo, Mos. \. 37.
rare taste'] i.e. strange, unaccustomed, because the people had
latterly been living on a non-flesh diet.
desi}-e of their appetite] God gave them the flesh they cried out for,
cp. Ps. Ixxviii. 29. There is no thought of God pandering to their
appetite by giving any special delicacy, as A.V. "quails to stir up their
appetite": their appetite was for flesh, and God gave them flesh.
3. The reason why the Egyptians were punished with animal-plagues
was, the writer states, in order that they might be made to loathe the
sight of animal food.
the hideousiuss] C preserves the right reading (the rare word
e/5e'x^ftaj/), against BXA and Vulg.
the creatures sent] The frogs in the ovens and kneading-troughs,
Ex. viii. 3.
suffered want] The same argument as in xi. 8. The Israelites
are to suffer want, in order that their appetite may be stimulated and
then proportionately satisfied. There is no scriptural authority for this
fancy.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVI. 4—6. 153
For it was needful that upon those should come inexorable 4
want in their tyrannous dealing,
But that to these it should only be shewed how their
enennies were tormented.
For even w^hen terrible raging of wild beasts came upon ^thy 5
people,
And they were perishing by the bites of crooked serpents,
Thy wrath continued not to the uttermost ;
But for admonition were they troubled for a short space, 6
Having a token of salvation,
To put them in remembrance of the commandment of thy
law :
^ Gr. them.

4. upon those] i.e. the Egyptians.

to these...be shelved] i.e. the Israelites, see xi. 9.

TTd. 5—14. The plague of serpents contrasted with

THE PLAGUES OF EgYPT.
In these vv. the plague of the fiery serpents is interpreted as being
sent for a brief space only, in order to warn and remind Israel, and to
teach two lessons to the Egyptians [a) that God was the Saviour of
Israel, and {b) that the reason why the Egyptians had suffered in a
worse degree, was because they deserved it.
5. terrible raghig] See Num. xxi, 6.
crooked serpents] Cp. Is. xxvii. r.
Thy wrath cotitiniied not to the tittermost] This /. explains the impf.
were perishing. Cp. xviii. 20, and xix. i. See Ps. ciii. 9 LXX.
6. But for admonition] The writer does not consider that the
chosen people were chastised in punishment. Tiiey touched only the
fringe of suffering (Trpoj 6\[~^ov), and that, with a view to fuiure instruc-
tion. For the writer's love of didactic interpretation, cp. xi. 16, xvi. 28;
see also Judith viii. 27; i Cor. x. 11.
Having: the
serpents a token']
writerThe Israelites
implies wereBrazen
that the not given over was
Serpent to the plague
all the of
while
in reserve, ready to check the invasion as soon as its lesson had been
taught. NA read counsellor {<Tvfxl3ov\ou), which recalls Philo, Agr.
§§ 21, 22, where the serpent which deceived Eve is called her
"counsellor."
To put them in remembrance] Cp. Num. xxi. 8, 9, and z/. 11. For
Philo's distinction between mefnory and recollection, see Cong. § 8.
The symbol was to remind the people of God and His law : the writer
refuses to allow any virtue to the Serpent : God saved the people by
reminding them of Himself.
Deane quotes the Jerusalem Targum on Num. xxi., in which the
 154 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVI. 7—11.
7 For he that turned toward it was not saved because of that
which was beheld,
But because of thee, the Saviour of all.
8 Yea, and in this didst thou persuade our enemies,
That thou art he that delivereth out of every evil.
9 For them verily the bites of locusts and flies did slay,
And there was not found a healing for their life.
Because they were worthy to be punished by such as these ;
10 But thy sons not the very teeth of venomous dragons over-
came.
For thy mercy passed by where they were, and healed them.
11 For they were ^bitten, to put them in remembrance of thine
oracles ;
Andness,were quickly saved, lest, falling into deep forgetful-

1 Gr. pricked,

divine voice says " Now shall the serpent who has not complained of
his food, come and bite the people who complain. So the Word of the
Lord sent fiery serpents among the people."
7. because of... beheld^ Cp. v. 12. It was a reminder, but not a
sacrament, much less an agent in its own right. Cp. St John iii. 14.
Saviour of all'\ Cp. i Tim. iv. 10. For God as Saviour, cp. Is.
xlv. 21, and Philo, Quod D. § 34, Sacr. § 19.
8. persuade our eneviies'] The writer argues, as in xi. 13, on the
assumption that the news was carried to Egypt of the fortunes of Israel
in the wilderness, cp. Ex. xxxii. 12; Num. xiv. 13; Dt. ix. 28,
9. locusts and flies'] See Ex. x. 4 — 15, viii. 16—24, and ch. xi. 15,
cp. Philo, Mos. i. 21, 23, 26, for the intensified power of annoyance
supposed to be specially conferred upon these creatures. Cp. Jos. Ant.
ii. 14, 3; Philo, iMos. i. 19.
did slay] Cp. Ex. x. 17.
they ive7'e wo^'t/iy] Cp. Rev. xvi. 6 ; Philo, Conf. I. § 36.
10. venomous] The same word is used of the serpents in Philo,
Mos. i. 35, Agr. 22. Many of the Egyptians were killed by creatures
usually harmless; the Israelites did not succumb to those habitually
deadly. Num. xxi. 6 however says "much people of Israel died."
11. they were bitten] Cp. v. 6. Memory is not uncomrnonly sym-
bolized as using whips or stings, cp. Philo, Somn. ii. 44. Here her
stings are not metaphorical, but the actual bites of serpents.
thine oracles] The law of Sinai is called the "living oracles" in Acts
vii. 38.
quickly saved] The suffering was only allowed to last long enough
to awaken them.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVI. ii— 14. 155

They should become ^unable to be ^roused by thy benefi-

cence :
For of a truth it was neither herb nor mollifying plaister 12
that cured them,
But thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things ;
For thou hast authority over life and death, 13
And thou leadest down to the gates of Hades, and leadest
up again.
But though a man may slay by his ''wickedness, 14
1 Som& 2i\i\.\\OY\i\&?, VQdid bereft of help frofn thy bejieficence. ^ Gr.
distracted, or, drawn away. The meaning is somewhat obscure.
^ Or, malice

unable to be roused'\ Vulg. ne...non possent tuo uti adiutorio. The

sense is plain, but it is not clear whether marg. bereft of help from
{direpiaraToi) should be read for aTreplciraa-Toi. Marg., with support of
Vulg., seeras more probable. For a short space they must be deprived
of the sense of God's beneficence, that they might learn to value it more.
12. neither herb nor... plaister'] Cp. v. 7, and v. ■26. Philo, Sacr.
§ 19 writes "Men do not trust God the Saviour completely, but have
recourse to the aids which nature offers, doctors, herbs, medical com-
pounds, rigid diet." But for a different view, cp. Ecclus. xxxviii. i — 8.
For plaister [fxdXay/xa), cp. Is. i. 6 LXX.
thy word, ...which healeth] Cp. Ps. cvii. 20 "He sent His word and
healed them." There must be no confusion between the Logos of this
passage and the Alexandrine Logos (of Philo). The thought is bor-
rowed from the Psalms, and the Logos here means what is meant by
Logos there (see Introd. § 10). It is unlikely that it contains even all
that is to be found in the Logos of ch. xviii. 15. God's "word" heals,
because it is God's expressed will that there should be healing ; see note
in this
for God series
in active on Ps. cvii. with
relation 20. men.
God's "word" is merely a periphrasis
13. znn 13, 14 bear traces of connection with Dt. xxxii. 39 ; i Sam.
ii. 6, while v. 15 is also connected with the former.
authority over life and death] i.e. the right and the power to give life
and to take it away.
the gates of Hades] A variation of the preceding line, except that the
order is significantly reversed, "Thou takest away life and givest it
back." " To the gates" is not Trpos (towards), but ets (into) : God kills,
but He can restore. Gates involve keys, which God, as overlord, pos-
sesses, cp. Rev. i. 18 ; and the holding of the keys implies the right to
unlock. For "gates Oi Hades," cp. Job xxxviii. 17; Is. xxxviii. 10;
3 Mace. V. 51; also Ps. ix. 13, cvii. 18, "gates of death." For God's
power to bring down and lift up, see Job v. 18.
14. This V. docs not belong to the argument, being only an appendix
to the declaration of God's power in v. 13. God is a life-giving power;
 156 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVI. 14—16.
Yet the spirit that is gone forth he turneth not again,
Neither giveth release to the soul that Hades hath received.
15 But thy hand it is not possible to escape ;
16 For ungodly men, ^refusing to know thee, were scourged in
the strength of thine arm,
Pursued with strange rains and hails and showers inexor-
able,
And utterly consumed with fire ;
^ Or, denying that they knew thee
He can kill and restore : but man only controls life so far as to be able
to take it away. The point of the contrast is that, while man in his
weakness can only deal out death, God can both inflict death and
restore to life.
spirit] For the probable identity of j-^/// and spirit, see ch. xv. i r.
he turneth not again] The vb. ava.aTpe(f>ei.v is transitive as in ii. 5, but
Vulg. non reuertetur. For man's powerlessness in face of death, see
Job vii. 9, 10.
giveth release] Vulg. reuocabit; dvaXveiv, transitive here, is probably
intr. in ii. r.
that Hades hath received] Cp. Tob. iii. 6. King Hades receives
the dead soul. Man cannot rescue his brother, Ps. xlix. 7, 8, but God
can redeem from the "hand" of Hades, id. 15 LXX.

W. 15—29. How HEAT AND COLD, ICxNORING THE LAWS THAT

USUALLY GOVERN THEM, PUNISHED EgYPT AND SERVED ISRAEL.
15. thy hand] i.e. thy power. This v., following on v. 13, has
close affinity with Dt. xxxii. 39 (cp. Is. xliii. 13). Is. x. 14 LXX.
has "There is none that shall escape Me (My hand)," while in Tob.
xiii. 2, a passage occurs which is either the model or the reproduction
of this. Cp. Amos ix. i — 4.
16. ungodly men] Allusively as usual for the Egyptians.
re/using to know] Cp. xii. 27; Ex. v. 2 supports the marginal
alternative.
Pursued with strange rains] Cp. Ex. ix. 18 — 22, and 24 "hail, such
as there was none like it in... Egypt since it became a nation." Philo
{Mos. i. 20) writes that rain is not needed in Egypt, where the Nile
takes its place : consequently on this occasion the air was torn with
revolution {evedirepLaev), rain, hail, winds, clouds, thunders, lightning
all falling upon the land with unparalleled severity. For the absence of
rain in Egypt above Memphis, see Dt. xi. 10, 11; Zech. xiv. 18;
Philo, Mos. iii. 24.
inexorable] Also in v. 4. C reads as adv. inexorably, perhaps to
contrast with without toil in v. 20.
utterly consumed] Ex. ix. 19, 25.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVI. 17—20. 157
For, what was most marvellous of all^ 17
In the water which quencheth all things the fire wrought
yet more mightily;
For the world fighteth for the righteous.
For at one time the flame lost its fierceness, 18
That it might not burn up the creatures sent against the
ungodly,
But that these themselves as they looked might 'see that
they were chased through the judgement of God :
And at another time even in the midst of water it burneth 19
above the power of fire.
That it may destroy the ^fruits of an unrighteous land.
Instead whereof thou gavest thy people angels' food to eat, 20
^ Some authorities read know. ^ Gr. products.

17. See Ex. ix. 24. In the plague of lightning and hail, it seemed
as though the hostile elements of tire and water were reconciled for the
punishment oi the Eg)-ptians. It is futile to speculate as to whether
the "fire that ran along the ground" signifies ordinary lightning, or
St Elmo's fire, or some unusual manifestation. Philo [Mos. i. 20) writes
"Compact thunderbolts, of appalling appearance, ran hither and thither
through the hail : and for all the variance between their natures, the
rain did not quench the fire, nor the fire melt the hail."
the world] i.e. the whole order of nature.
fighteth for the righteous] Cp. ch. v. 17, ^o and esp. v. 24, and xix.
6. There is a strong resemblance between this line and "All things
work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. viii. 28J.
St Paul may be recalling this passage when he writes " We know ihat
ail things, etc." With vwepixaxos (fighteth for), cp. Clem. Rom. xlv.
18. The writer, with no Scriptural warrant, aftirms that the frogs and
flies lasted until the plague of hail and fire, but see Ex. viii. 13, 31 :
the special reference shows that the writer is not thinking of the frogs
in the ovens, Ex. viii. 3.
19. If in one case the fire lost its power, in another its power was
intensified. There was no hail in the land of Goshen. Cp. Ex. ix. 25,31.
For yei'TjpLara, fruits (mg. products)^ cp. St Luke xii. 18, Ps. cv. 32, 33.
20. Fr<jm this v. to the end, the miraculous properties of the manna
(metaphorically termed snow and ice, v. 22) are recorded and interpreted.
gavest... to eat] Cp. Dt. viii. 3, 16. The word (f w/itfw) is appropriate
to the daily dole, Ex. xvi. 4, 13, 14.
angels food] Cp. Ps. Ixxviii. 25 LXX., and Vulg. The expression
is probably a correct rendering of the Hebr. bread of the mighty. Cp.
the Targum "The sons of men ate bread which came down from the
dwelling of the angels."
 158 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVI. 20—22.
And bread ready /^r their use didst thou provide for them
from heaven without their toil,
Bread having the virtue of every pleasant savour,
And agreeing to every taste ;
21 For ^thy -nature manifested thy sweetness toward thy
children ;
While that breads ministering to the desire of the eater,
Tempered itself according to every man's choice.
22 But snow and ice endured fire, and melted not,
^ Some authorities read the substance thereof.
' Or, creation Gr. substance.

didst thou provide'] In Ex. xvi. 4 God "rains" bread from heaven :
Philo [Mos. i. 36) calls the manna *'an abnormal rain," cp. xix. 11,
and Ps. Ixxviii. 24.
without their toil] Philo {Mos. ii. 36) calls the manna a food " that
cost no labour," as contrasted with corn which must be cultivated.
having the virtue of every pleasant savour] Vulg. omne delectamentum
in se habenteni. It is said to have tasted like honey cakes (Ex. x\'i.
31), or fresh oil (Num. xi. 8). But the Jewish legend to which appa-
rently the writer alludes, told that it tasted for each man like grapes
or figs or whatever he desired. Aug. [Retr. ii. 20) refers to the tradi-
tion as being supported by this passage only.
21. thy nature] The Gk. word (uTroc-rocrts) has caused great diffi-
culty. Two translations are possible (i) God's Nature (as in text), not
absolutely, but as communicating itself to and through the manna; (2) as
marg., ' ' the substance thereof," i.e. the manna. The adversative particles
y-ev and 5e show that z-. 21 a is contrasted with v. 21 b, c; on the Divine
side the manna was a revelation of God, while on the human side it
ministered to the pleasure of man. The Gk. word perhaps combines
the two meanings, and is the manifestation, itself real and substantial,
which witnessed to the unseen God. For God's siveetness, cp. Ps.
cxix. 103, and Ps. xxxiv. 8 "Taste and see."
fninisterittg] Cp. v. 24. A new subject is required to agree with
the partic. which is masc. Text rightly supplies "that bread."
the eater] For the Gk. {rod irpoacpepofMevov), cp. Judith xii. 9, Philo,
Afos. i. 37, and Diog. Laert. i. 2. 68.
Tempered itself] Vulg. conuertebafur. The Greek word means lit.
"to pour from one vessel to another and so mix." The idea is prob-
ably the same as that in v. 25 "converting itself," and in xix. 18
"changing their order." The four elements were supposed to possess
the power of mutual interchange, see Philo, Mos. ii. 36, and Pythagoras
in Diog. Laert. ii. 8. 25, and the author seems to be endeavouring to
supply the Jewish legend with a basis of philosophy.
22. snow and ice] The writer's way of describing the manna, cp.
xix. 21 "the ice-like grains, apt to melt." Philo {Mos. i. 36) speaks
 THE WISDOiM OF SOLOMON XVI. 22—25. 159
That 7ne7i might know that fire was destroying the fruits of
the enemies,
Burning in the hail and flashing in the rains ;
And ' that this element again, in order that righteous men 23
may be nourished,
Hath even forgotten its own power.
For the creation, ministering to thee its maker, 24
Straineth its force against the unrighteous, for punishment.
And slackeneth it in behalf of them that trust in thee, for
beneficence.
Therefore at that time also, converting itself into all forms, 25
^ Some authorities omit that.
of it "as a dew which had been snowed from heaven, which was neither
water, nor hail, nor snow, nor ice," i.e. a thing like all of these, but
not actually any one of them. Cp. Ex. xvi. 14 "like hoar frost," and
Num. xi. /'LXX.
that which "the appearance
it resembled, the writer of ice."to By
is able identifying
suggest manna
a striking with
miracle.
melted not] By fire he means not sunlight (but see v. 27), but
hearth-fire. The miracle is that this ice-like substance could be placed
in ovens (Num. xi. 8) and yet not melt. Thus the writer shows that
fire, which abated or intensified its power to the detriment of the
Egyptians, mysteriously accommodated itself to serve the Israelites.
T/iat men ?;a'£-/it hi(m\ Cp. v. 26. The writer must needs see a
moral purpose in every circumstance.
Burning in the hail] Almost a reproduction of the LXX. rendering
of Ex. ix. 24, which represents Hebr. "fire taking hold of itself, i.e.
flashing incessantly, in the hail," cp. v. i"].
23. This verse is still governed by knotv that in last v. ; so Vulg.
" This element" refers to \hejire of last v.
Hath even forgotten] This verse rests on a seemingly fanciful identifica-
tion of the manna with that which it resembled : any truth that there is
in the writer's argument lies in the fact that manna exposed to the sun
melted [v. 27), while it was capable of being baked with artificial heat.
24. A general principle is enunciated. For the Jew there was no
conception of a purely physical, non-moral world. The universe was in
league with the righteous, and the enemy of the wicked ; cp. Judg. v. 20.
ministering to thee its ynaker] Cp. Philo, Mos. i. 36 "Not one part of
the universe but the entire world is subjected to God, and the parts of it
are prepared for His service in any direction He may desire, like slaves
waiting on their master."
Straineth . . .slacheneth] A metaphor from stringed musical instruments,
cp. Philo, Mnt. § 13 ; Diog. La. vii. loi. For nature, as opposing the
wicked, cp. ch. v. 17, 20; and ministering to the righteous, ch. xvi. 17,
xix. 6.
25. There/ore] In accordance with the principle laid down in v. 24.
 i6o THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVI. 25-27.
It ministered to thine all-nourishing bounty,
According to the desire of them that 'made supplication ;
26 That thy sons, whom thou lovedst, O Lord, might learn
That it is not the "growth of the earth's fruits that nourisheth
a man,
But that thy word preserveth them that trust thee.
27 For that which was not marred by fire.
When
away;it was simply warmed by a faint sunbeam melted

^ Or, had need ^ Gr. generations.

converting itself} The creation, composed of the four elements, was

held to be unchangeable in mass, but (as between the several elements)
there was unlimited mutual interchange, cp. Philo, AIos. ii. 36. Hence
the creation, while in one aspect constant, was able to undergo perpetual
variation, as God willed. At that time also, a particular illustration of
the general law. The Greek verb is employed in an unusual sense,
cp. iv. 12.
ministered... botinty\ Cp. Philo, Ebr. § 28 "Ye are instruments to
minister to God, in His deathless acts of grace."
all-nourishing bounty\ Vulg. onuiium niitrici gratiae ttiae, i.e. the
manna. For God as the Ali-sustainer, cp. Ps. civ. 27, cxxxvi. 25, cxlv, 16.
26. thy sons, whom thou lovedst} Cp. Hos. xi. i.
might in
people, learn']
order Nature was might
that they allowedlearn
to respond
to look tobehind
the prayers
natureof to
God's
the
Divine will that expresses itself through nature.
That it is not the groivth...but'\ These two lines are an expansion of
Dt. viii. 3, where LXX. renders the less definite Heb. by "every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God"; cp. St Matt. iv. 4 and
St John
i.e. rathervi.than.
32. For the Hebrew idiom, cp. "mercy and not sacrifice,"
The teaching of this v. is the same as in w. 7, 12 : God uses means,
but the means only obtain their vitalizing power from God, and more
important than their physical efficaciousness is the constraint they lay
upon men to remember God.
But that thy word] Lit., utterance (poi^a, not X670J). Philo identifies
the manna with the divine Logos {Q. J^. % 15) "He has been trained to
fix his gaze on the manna, the divine Logos, the heavenly incorru4:)tible
food of the soul that loves vision." So also in Fuga § 25 "Seeking
what it is that feeds the soul, they discovered it to be the utterance
(pv.ua) of God and the divine Logos, from which all disciplines and
wisdoms flow unfailingly," cp. id. All. iii. 56.
27. From nature as a witness to the creative power of God, the
writer passes to symbolism. The fact that manna, which did not melt
in the oven (w. 22, 23, cp. Num. xi. 8), yielded readily to the sun's rays,
is interpreted as a symbol of the duty of early prayer.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVI. 28, 29. 161
That it might be known that we must rise before the sun to 28
give thee thanks,
And must plead with thee at the dawning of the light :
For the hope of the unthankful shall melt as the winter's 29
hoar frost,

warmed by a faint simbeatn] Cp. Ex. xvi. -21, Philo, Mos. ii. 35
*' Whatever remained over after the people had gathered the manna
melted under the sun's rays and perished." A curious tradition is given
in i\\Q/erus. Targum (Etheridge, p. 500), "At the fourth hour when the
sun waxed hot upon it, it liquefied and made streams of water, which
flowed away into the great sea ; and wild animals that were clean and
cattle came to drink of it, and the Israelites hunted and ate them."
28. As the manna melted in the sun, so prayer that is later than the
dawn loses spiritual substantialness. "A beautiful precept, founded on
precarious exegesis" (Farrar). H. Vaughan has the same thought :—
"Yet never sleep the sun up; prayer should
Dawn with the day : these are set awful hours
'Twixt Heav'n and us ; the manna was not good
After sun-rising; far day sullies flowers:
Rise to prevent the sun ; sleep doth sins glut,
And Heaven's gate opens when the world's is shut."
rise before the suni Cp. vi. 14, 15 ; Ps. cxix. 147 ; Is. xxvi. 9 ;
Ecclus. xxxix. 5.
to give thee thanks'] Cp. Epict. ii. 23 " Be not thankless, my friend,
or torgetful ; but for sight and hearing, yea for life itself and all that
contributes to it, for fruits, for wine, for oil, thank God." See
Ps. Ixiii. 6 "in the night watches" (eV to; opdpii) nov) ; Ps. cxix. 62 ;
Acts xvi. -25.
at the da-,i<ning of the light] Rightly, although the Greek could mean
towards the East. But tliis rendering would have no connection with
the symbolism of the manna. Some, who have ignored this, have seen
in the verse an indication that the writer belonged to the Egyptian sect
of the Therapeutae who, like the Persians, prayed towards the rising
sun, or to the Jewish sect of the Essenes, of whom Josephus writes
" Before sun-rising they speak not a word about profane matters, but
put up certain prayers which they have received from their forefathers,
as if they made a supplication for its rising" {B.J. ii. 8. 5). The
lewish daily prayer known as the shenia beginning " Hear, O Israel;
the Lord our God is one Lord " (Dt. vi. 4) was to be recited (accord-
ing to the Mishna) when the sun's rays lighted up the tops of the
mountains. Cp. Ps. v. 3, Ivii. 8: Ecclus. xxxii. 14.
29. the hope Oj the unthankful] The writer is inconsequent. The
argument should be that the melting manna signifies the need of early
rising for purposes of thanksgiving, and that the man who fails to rise
early to give thanks finds his hope evaporate. But it is quite gratuitous
WISDOM II
 i62 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVI. 29— XVII. 2.
And shall flow away as water that hath no use.

17 For great are thy judgements, and hard to interpret;

Therefore souls undiscipHned went astray.
2 For when lawless men had supposed that they held a holy
nation in their power,
They ihe??iselves, prisoners of darkness,, and bound in the
fetters of a long night,
Close kept beneath their roofs,
Lay exiled from the eternal providence.
1 Or, set forth

to say as he does that it is impossible to thank God except at dawn, and

that therefore the late riser is thankless.
■water that hath no tise"] Cp. Ps. Iviii. 7.
Ch. XVII.— Ch. XVIII. 4.
A THIRD COMPARISON BETWEEN THE FORTUNES OF ISRAEL
AND Egypt, in respect of light and darkness.

1. For\ The writer's use oifor is loose : eight out of the first twelve
iro. of this ch. begin with "for." If there is any definite reference back
to ch. xvi., it is to the general teaching of the whole ch. as summed up
in x\4. 15.
thy judgejnents] i.e. principles of justice, and not judicial acts, cp.
Ps. xcii. 5 — 7 ; Rom. xi. 33.
Therefore'] The principles of divine justice only commend and reveal
themselves to those who are taught by Wisdom. There is no under-
standing of God and His ways where there is no spiritual conformity.
With undisciplined, cp. ch. vi. 9 — 11 in a religious-moral connection.
went astray] The Egyptians lost their way in their effort to perse-
cute the chosen people.
2. For] Explains v. i .
lawless men] i.e. the Egyptians.
prisoners of darkness] Cp. Ex. x. 21 — 23, and 2 Pet. ii. 4, and t;. 17
*' one chain of darkness."
a long night] Philo {Mos. i. 21) WTites "It counted as nothing else
than one long night, equal to three days and three nights in length."
Close kept] They were prisoners even in their own houses : Ex. x. 23
•' No man rose from his bed for three days" (LXX.).
lay] See prec. note. Exiled, i.e. like runaway slaves, cowering in
secret places. The Egyptians were punished with darkness, which
typified their self-banishment from God's presence and care.
the eternal providence] Cp. \-i. 7, xiv. 3; 4 Mace. xiii. 19. Provi-
dence, cp. xiv. 3, is used almost as in English. The writer treats the
darkness as if it actually had the effect of screening them from God.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVII. 3-5. 163
For while they thought that they were unseen in their secret 3
sins,
They were ^sundered one from another by a dark curtain of
forgetfulness,
Stricken with terrible awe, and sore troubled by spectral
forms.
For neither did -the dark recesses that held them guard 4
them from fears.
But sounds ^rushing down rang around them,
And phantoms appeared, cheerless with unsmiling faces.
And no force of fire prevailed to give them light, 5
^ Gr. scattered by. ^ Gr. t/ie recess.
' Some authorities read troiiblittg them sore.
3. unseen in their secret sins^^ Cp. xiv. 23. Another instance of the
principle set forth in xi. 16. They loved darkness (for their misdeeds),
therefore it came upon them, cp. Job xxiv. 14. For secret sins, cp.
Ps. xix. 12.
sundered one from another^ So SB Vulg. lit. scattered {ecrKopniadTj-
txap). This is not likely to be a corruption of the reading of AC iaKo-
Tiadrjaav {were darkened), and is to be preferred. The word is very
commonly used of the demoralisation of an army, which becomes scat-
tered like the sheep of a flock. The Egyptians were disorganised, each
man hiding in his own house. The dark curtain of fo)-getfulness must
mean God's forgetfulness. They had exiled themselves from His provi-
dence: they desired to be unseen, now they had their \v\s\\. Ps. x. it;
Is. xxix. 15. If God "knows" the way of the righteous, He may be
said to ignore that of the wicked.
spectral forms']
darkness, The writer, the
either supplements seeking to enhance
Scriptural accountthefrom
terror of the
Midrashic
sources by telling of ghostly apparitions, or is merely recording the
hallucinations of the terrified Eg}-ptians. But whether he thinks of
demons or of the products of the Egj'ptian imagination is immaterial.
4. Their own houses were no security against the universal terror.
Sounds and shapes pursued them everywhere.
sounds rushing down] This, the bolder and more difficult reading
of B marg. AC, is far superior to that of B (see marg.), cp. descendens,
Vulg. Sounds like the roar of rushing cataracts are intended.
cheerless with unsmiling faces] Euphemistically for "grim with
savage faces."
5. no., fire prevailed] Philo {Mos. i. 21) writes that the darkness
was so oppressive that it put fires out, or else engulfed them so com-
pletely as to neutralize all their light. Jos. {Antiq. ii. 14. 5) writes
"By this darkness, the sight of the Egyptians was obstructed, and their
breathing was hindered by the thickness of the air, so that they died
miserably." Cp. Ex. x. 21 a "darkness which may be felt."
11 — 2
 i64 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVII. 5—7.
Neither were the brightest flames of the stars strong enough
to illumine that gloomy night :
6 But only there appeared to them the glimmering of a fire
self-kindled, full of fear ;
And in terror they deemed the things which they saw
To be worse than that sight, on which they could not gaze.
7 * And they lay helpless^ made the sport of magic art,
^ Some authorities read And the mockeries of i7iagic art lay low, and
shameful was the rebuke cr'c.

manNeither...
saw his the stars']and"There
brother was darkness
none arose in Egypt
from his place three days.
for three days. But
No
among all the sons of Israel was there light that the wicked among
them who died might be buried, and that the righteous might be
occupied with the precepts of the law in their dwelUngs." Etheridge,
Targiwis p. 471.
6. the gli?n7nering of a fre] There is no indication what the writer
refers to, unless with poetic licence (cp. xvi. 18) he anticipates the
appearance of the pillar of fire, which darkened upon the Egyptians,
but shone upon Israel. The effect of this phenomenon, which gave
light in such a way that it could be seen by the Egyptians without their
deri\dng any benefit from it, was to increase their terror. The fire was
self kindled, in the sense that its light seemed to originate from no
material or obvious source.
hi terror they deemed^ R.V. in this and following /. departs from the
sense suggested by the rhythm of the sentence, and adopted by the
Vulg. " Terrified by that appearance which they saw not, they reckoned
the things they saw to be worse [than they really were]." What is the
sight {3!/'is, Vulg. facies) which they saw not? That of the angel of the
cloud, cp. Ex. xiv. 19, and \!ciQ.Jerus. Targian, Etheridge, p. 489 "The
Lord looked forth with anger from the column of fire, to hurl upon [the
Eg}'ptians] flakes of fire and hail, and from the column of cloud."
It is possible to take the v. quite ditferently, and to view the
glimmering of fire as some supernatural globe of flame, which flashed
in every direction without disclosing the source of the flashes. This
flashing fire lit up common objects of vision, which, when thus illumi-
nated, seemed so terrible that the Eg}-ptians were more afraid of them
than of the fire itself, which, all unseen, produced these lurid effects,
ra ^Xewo/xeva ("the things seen") might be the phantoms of z^. 3, 4.
7. the}' lay helpless] So AC, while S^B Vulg. have sing. KareKeiTo.
Text renders ifXTraly/iaTa as referring to the Egyptians, the playthings
of the sorcerers, or else, made a laughing-stock by reason of the failure
of the magicians. But marg. gives a better sense, and a more pointed
reference to the failure of the magicians, who after some success in Ex.
vii. II, 22, viii. 7, not only failed in viii. 18, but were miserably dis-
comfited inix. II : cp. 2 Tim. iii. 8.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVII. 7— ii. 165
And a shameful rebuke of their vaunts of understanding :
For they that promised to drive away terrors and troublings 8
from a sick soul,
These were themselves sick with a ludicrous fearfulness :
For even if no troublous thing affrighted them, 9
Yet, scared with the creepings of vermin and hissings of
serpents, 10 they perished 'for very trembling.
Refusing even to look on the air, which could on no side
be escaped.
-For wickedness, condemned by a witness within, is a n
coward thing,
^ Or, trembling, and refusing to ^ This is the probable sense :
the Greek text is perhaps slightly corrupt.

a shameful rebuke] Rather, as marg. The magicians were as power-

less as the people against the darkness and the phantoms.
8. they that promised] Cp. Gen. xli. 8.
a sick soul] Cp. I Tim. vi. 4 (marg.).
9. even if no troublous thing] Complete demoralisation had
wrought in the magicians all the effects of panic. During the protracted
darkness, when there was nothing really terrible near them save the
darkness, memory of past plagues caused their imagination to people it
with terrors.
scared] Perf. part, not present, lit. having been scared, i.e. when the
plagues of the insects and the frogs were in process. These plagues did
not continue till the plague of darkness, but during that plague there
was a recrudescence of the horror they had engendered. For vermin
as applied to the lice, flies, and locusts, see xvi. i, while the reference
oi serpents {ep-n-eTd) to the frogs may be argued from xi. 15. The Greek
word for scare properly means "shooing" a bird. eKffeao^-n/jJvoi does
not mean "scared out of their retreats'" (Grimm), for ex hypothesi no
man moved from his place: ^k has an intensifying force.
10. perished... trembling] Cp. St Luke xxi. 26.
Refusing even to look on the air] They kept their eyes shut for fear of
unknown horrors. The air in no loise to be escaped is generally viewed
as being the "all-surrounding" air, in which case the epithet is very
forceless. May it not rather be the air that needed no escaping from!
It was innocent of all harm, and contained no terrors. The only terrors
were to be found in the minds of the Egyptians. This rendering would
fall in completely with that suggested for v. 9. All other terrors, beside
the objective darkness, were hallucinatory.
11. This and the next two z/z'. are concerned with the effects of inner
distraction, as the result either of fear or of sin. There are two readings
of 1 1 a. (i) That of B, followed by Vulg. "For wickedness is a thing
innately craven, and bears witness to its own condemnation." (2) That
 i66 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVII. ii— 13.

And,
the being
worst pressed
lot : hard by conscience, always ^forecasteth
12 For fear is nothing else but a surrender of the succours
which reason offereth ;
13 And from within t^ heart the expectation of them being less
^ Most authorities read hath added.

based on J<A, lUw (J^c-^) TrovTjpta /xdpTvpi, "Wickedness, condemned by

its own witness, is a craven thing." R.V. adopts (2), and this rendering
represents a smoother Greek text than (i), the general sense being
"Conscience doth make cowards of us all," and especially of the
guilty man.
being pressed hard by conscience\ For the Gk. vb. of strong emotional
pressure, cp. St Luke xii. 50; 2 Cor. v. 14, Consciejice is thought of as
a second self, standing over against the sinful self This is the earliest
occurrence in the Greek O.T. (in its technical sense) of a word appearing
repeatedly in NT. The word is borrowed from the Stoics, and in their
system stands for a man's judgment upon his act when done, rather
than for the principle which dictates his action. It means con-scientia,
his "co-knowledge" existing, as the result of reflection, by the side of
his knowledge of the act as done. The idea {avvoiCia.) is found in
Euripides {Or. 396), and the word in Menander "To all of us conscience
is a God," and in Epictetus, who compares it to a paedagogus. The
idea of conscience is, as might be expected, very prominent in Philo.
Cicero, p7'o Milone 23 has "Magna uis est conscientiae in utramque
partem."
forecasteth the worst'] KABC have Trpo<Td\7]<pe "hath added." A
very much better sense (as in text) is obtained by reading irpo€i\7]<pe
"hath forecast" with X (second hand) and Vnlg. praesum it.
12. Fear is nothing but the surrender of reason. A guilty conscience
disturbs the inner equilibrium, and forbids a man to look out upon the
world with calm eyes. So close is the connection between the moral
and the rational faculty, that "the succours that reason offers" vanish
when conscience becomes apprehensive. Vulg. renders thus. It is not
surprising that N reads wpoadoKia from following line. There was no
commoner definition of fear than that it was irpoaboKia, " anticipation,"
cp. Zeno (Diog. La. ii. 7, 112); Epict. ii. 18. 30, iv. i. 84. Philo
{Mut. § 30) writes "The presence of evil is pain, and the expectation of
it is fear"; and again in All. iii. 37.
For the mind as a source of strength, cp. Antisthenes (Diog. La.
i. 6. 13) "The mind is an impregnable fortress: walls should be pro-
vided in one's own unassailable thoughts." Farrar quotes Verg. Georg.
ii. 490 "Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas Quique metus omnes
et inexorabile fatum Subiecit pedibus."
13. This v., together with v. 12, explains z/. 1 1 b. Fear surrenders
the supports of reason ; when hope, whose ally is reason, is thus
inwardly disabled, its reckoning is all awry : it magnifies its ignorance
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVII. 13-15. 167
Maketh of greater account the ignorance of the cause that
bringeth the torment.
But they, all through the night which was powerless indeed, 14
And which came upon them out of the recesses of power-
less Hades,
All sleeping the same sleep,
Now were haunted by monstrous apparitions, 15
And now were paralysed by their soul's surrendering ;
For fear sudden and unlooked for ^came upon them.
^ Some authorities read was poured upon them.

of the source of the evil that besets it ; and the ignorance which is
always bewildering, now becomes overpowering.
In the Egyptian darkness, the source and extent and nature of the
attendant horrors were all unknown: and if "panic is caused by the
surrender of the imagination to ignorance," darkness only made the
panic worse by intensifying the ignorance. Cp. " omne ignotum pro
The gist of the three w. is this. Moral guilt, when brought home
magnifico."'
to a man, paralyses his reasoning faculties. Thus fear is engendered :
for, where reason has not full play, ignorance with its power of exaggera-
tion takes the place of which reason is dispossessed ; and the guilty
man is proclaimed a coward.

The14.darkness
the night which powerless
was really was powerless
to hurt, indeed'\
and came Vulg. impotenfem.
from the realm of
powerless Hades. Hades is the place of death and impotence :
accordingly the night in which it shrouded the earth partook of the
same character.
recesses of potverless Hades'\ Vulg. ab infer is et ab altissimis info-is
seems to point to PaOvrdrov (deepest), which by confusion with ddvua-
TOP in the /. above has become ddvudrov. If text is followed powerless
Hades either is the place whose inhabitants have no strength, or must
be interpreted by reference to ch. i. 14 " Hades, who has no dominion
on earth." The horror of the great darkness might well be described
as hell-born, cp. Job x. 21 ; Ps. Ixxxviii. 6.
sleeping the same sleep'] The only way of describing the enforced rest
of the Egyptians during a period of seventy-two hours is to be found in
terms of night, i.e. sleep. The subject of the sentence, they, is now not
the magicians, but the Egyptians generally. The sleep was shared by
all : the experience of each was different.
15. apparitiofis] vv. 3, 4.
their sotd^s surrendering] An evident reference to z/. 12. Vulg. takes
it absolutely of the treachery of the soul, animae traductione.
fear sudden and unlooked for] The fear is expanded in the next four
verses. For the sense, cp. xviii. 17; St Luke xxi. 34.
 i68 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVII. i6— 18.
i6 So then every man, whosoever it might be, sinking down Mn
his place,
Was kept in ward shut up in that prison which was barred
not with iron :
17 For whether he were a husbandman, or a shepherd,
Or a labourer whose toils were in the wilderness,
He was overtaken, and endured that inevitable necessity,
For ^^ith one chain of darkness were they all bound.
18 Whether there were a whistling wind,
Or a melodious noise of birds among the spreading
branches,
Or a measured fall of water running violently,
1 Gr. there.

16. So ihefi] Explains "fear" in prec. /. When the darkness sud-

denly swept over the land, every man fell where he was, and stirred not
in his terror.
ifi his place] lit. there, i.e. on the spot ; where he was.
kepi in ward] Same word as in z/. 2.
prison... barred not] With the ironical contradiction between subst.
and adj., cp. Is. xxix. 9 "drunken, but not with wine." If Lovelace,
singing of liberty, can say
"Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage,"
the author, writing of fear, can conversely tell of a prison made without
fetters.
17. He was overtaketi] Same word as in Gal. vi. i.
that itievitable necessity] Necessity is used not technically of fate, but
of a compelling circumstance, as in 2 Cor. vi. 4 (plur.). necessity is
explained in the next /.
chain of darkness] Cp. vv. 2, 16; 3 Mace. vi. 19; 2 Pet. ii. 4.
All slept the same sleep, v. 14; all were bound with the same chain.
18. a whistlifzg wind] All the sounds of nature continued as usual,
but for the Egyptians every sound was discordant and terrifying.
Farmer, shepherd, field-labourer heard the sounds to which they were
accustomed, but with changed ears. The sighing of the wind became
like the hissing {avpr/fxds, cp. v. 9) of some reptile. Cp. Lev. xxvi. 36.
noise of birds] The birds' song became a shriek. It shows how
subjective the writer thinks the darkness to be, if the birds continued
their song. But, of course, he is here giving free play to imagination.
The Scriptural account undoubtedly suggests objective darkness.
z/.fall
4. of water] The trickling stream became a *' sound rushing down,"
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVII. 19— XVIII. i. 169
Or a harsh crashing of rocks hurled down, 19
Or the swift course of animals bounding along unseen,
Or the voice of wild beasts harshly roaring,
Or an echo rebounding from Hhe hollows of the mountains.
All these thvigs paralysed them with terror.
For the whole world beside was enlightened with clear light, 20
And was occupied with unhindered works ;
While over them alone was spread a heavy night, 21
An image of the darkness that should afterward receive
them ;
But yet heavier than darkness were they unto themselves.
But for thy holy ones there was great light ; 18
And the Egyptia?is^ hearing their voice but seeing not their
form,
^ Or, a hollow

19. crashing of rocks\ Falling stones would give forth a sound as

of thunder.
swift caurse of animals] A sudden movement among the flocks or
herds, not seen but only heard, was enough to suggest the horrors of
xi. 17 — 19.
an in
echo echo
an rebounding']
enclosed spaceSkilful
in the use
dark isinmade
Judg. ofvii.the20. terrifying effect of
paralysed them] Vulg. has deficientes faciebant, cp. Ps. liii. 5.
20. the whole, world] The darkness was local, not universal. The
writer oscillates between the two conceptions of a darkness moral rather
than physical, and one local rather than universal. It is undoubtedly
difficult to explain the distinction between the circumstances of the
Egyptians and the Israelites in Ex. x. 23 on physical grounds, although
some would see in the darkness the effect of the electrical wind called
hamsin.
was occupied] avv^x^^^^'- ^^ in Acts xviii. 5.
21. the darkness that shojild... receive them] i.e. in Hades. For the
phrase, cp. vii. 30. For darkness in connection with death, see v. 14 ;
Ps. Ixxxviii. 1-2. Hades receives souls, ch. xvi. 14 c, Tobit xiv. 10,
heavier than darkness were they unto thetnselves] Cp. Dt. xxviii. 28, 29.
Contrast with Philo, Mut. § i "The things of the mind are their own
light,"
their ownanddarkness.
cp. id. Somn. i. 19. Conscience made the Egyptians to be
xviii. 1. thy holy ones] The Israelites, cp. x. 15.
great light] Ex. x. 23; cp. Is. ix. r. See Philo, Somn. i. 19, and
the Targum quoted in note on xvii. 5.
hearing... seeing 7tot] Cp. Dt. iv. 12; St John v. 37, The Egyptians
could not see how the Israelites were faring, but they could hear their
voices, and inferred that tlie same calamities had befallen them. That
 I70 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVIII. 1—3.
Counted it a happy thing that they too had suffered,
2 Yet for that they do not hurt them }iow^ though wronged by
them before, they are thankful ;
And because they had been at variance with the??i^ they
made supplication to them.
3 Whereas thou didst provide for thy people a burning pillar
of fire,
To be a guide for their unknown journey,
And withal a ^kindly sun for their ^ proud exile.
1 Gr. unharfufiil. 2 Qr, aspiring
they, no less than themselves, had been plagued, gave the Egyptians
their one ray of comfort : " they counted it a happy thing that they too
had sufifered." This must be the interpretation, if or: iijkv ovv (XBC) is
accepted as in text ; but in that case ovv is untranslated. It is better
with A and Vulg. to read oh "The Eg}'ptians congratulated the IsraeHtes
that they had not suffered." The contrast suggested by y-iv, ok is more
forcible if A is followed ; in this case, it is assumed that the Egyptians
knew that the experiences of the Israelites were different from their own.

the2.Egyptians
they are were thankful']
glad theHistoric
Israelitespresent, graphically
had suffered, used.thankful
they were While
they did not make reprisals for the ill-treatment of many years. Under
the cover of the protracted night, they might have inflicted serious
damage.
because. . .at variaficel This is the best rendering of a doubtful phrase.
Others are (i) Vulg. ut esset differentia., donu77i petebant. (2) Besought
them (the Israelites) the favour of departing, cp. Ex. xi. 8, xii. 33.
Ex. X. 24 is in favour of (2), but this rendering strains the Greek.
3. Whereas] i.e. instead of all the terrors of darkness. Vulg. propter
qzwd wrongly.
burning pillar of fire] Ex. xiii. 21, xiv. 24; Ps. lxx%dii. 14, cv. 39.
To be a guide] " The sons of Israel were protected by seven clouds
of glory on their four sides : one above them, that neither hail nor rain
might fall upon them, nor that they should be burned by the heat of
the sun: one beneath them, that they might not be hurt by thorns,
serpents or scorpions : and one went before them, to make the valleys
even, and the mountains low, and to prepare them a place of habita-
tion." Jerus. Targum, Etheridge, p. 478. Cp. x. 17, and Philo, Mos.
i. 29 "A cloud, in form like a massive pillar, went before the people,
with a light as of the sun by day and as of tire by night, that they mi^^ht
not wander, but might follow an \xntxx\r\g guide.''
a kindly sun] It gave light, but no smiting heat, cp. Is. xlix. 10. See
quot. from Targum in prec. v. Vulg. takes d^Xa^rj as governing the
genitive, quite legitimately, sine laesura boni hospitii, "a sun that
harmed them not in their honourable banishment." Banishment,
usually a disgrace, was in this case an honour.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOxMON XVIII. 4, 5. 171

For well did ^ the Egyptians deserve to be deprived of light 4

and imprisoned by darkness,
They who had kept in close ward thy sons,
Through whom the incorruptible light of the law was to be
given to ^the race of men.
After they had taken counsel to slay the babes of the holy 5
ones.
And when a single child had been cast forth and saved ^to
convict them of their si?i^
1 Gr. they. 2 Ox,ftih{re time Gr. the age.
^ Or, to be to them a rebuke

proud] (marg. aspiring) perhaps in relation to God, cp. Ex. xiv. 4, 17.

xi.4.16.zvell did .. who

Those .deserve'] Anotherby illustration
had sinned of the
shutting Israel in principle in ch.
the darkness of
captivity, must be punished with physical darkness.
thy sons] See Ex. iv. 22.
incorruptible light of the la-v] The law in its widest sense (cp. Is. i.
ro, ii. 3), "including all Divine revelation as the guide of life." See
Introd. to Ps. cxix. in this series, incorruptible in the moral sense,
without reference to duration, cp. Ps. xix. 7. For light in a similar
sense, cp. Is. ii. 5 ; Ps. xxxvi. 9 ; Eph. v. 8.
given to the race of men] Or, the -world. For al<hv (the world
regarded in its time-aspect), see notes on iv. 2, xiv. 6. This line
recognises the world-wide mission of the Jewish nation, cp. Ps. xxii. 27;
Is. ix. 2, xlii. 6, xlix. 6; Micah iv. ; Tobit xiii. 11. Philo {Abr. § 19)
writes that he considers the Jewish people to hold the office of priest
and prophet on behalf of all the human race. Cp. id. AIos. i. 27.

Ch. XVIII. 5—25. A fourth contrast is presented between

THE fortunes OF ISRAEL AND EgYPT, THE SUBJECT BEING
Death. The discipline proved effective for Israel
immediately the scourge began to operate.

w. 6 — 19. The Death of the Firstborn.

Gutberlet notes a threefold contrast, (i) The Egyptians who had
killed the male children of Israel, lost their firstborn. (2) Those who
had used the Nile to drown Israel's children, were themselves drowned
in the Red Sea. (3) The rescue of one child resulted in widespread
destruction for his would-be murderers.
5. to slay the babes] Ex. i. 16. the holy 07ies, see v. x.
a single child... cast forth] Moses, see Ex. ii. 3. Cp. perhaps ch.
xi. 14. Josephus [Ant. ii. 9) writes that at the time of the birth of
Moses a wise man had warned Pharaoh that a child would be born in
 172 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVIII. 5, 6.
Thou tookest away from them their multitude of children,
And destroyedst all their host together in a mighty flood.
6 Of that night were our fathers made aware beforehand,
That, having sure knowledge, they might be cheered by the
oaths which they had trusted :

Israel who, "if he were reared, would bring the Egyptian dominion
low, and would raise the Israelites." With the policy adopted by
Pharaoh, cp. that of Herod, St Matt. ii. i fF. Farrar is wrong in
suggesting that the writer holds that Moses [one child) was the only
child exposed : he was the only one exposed and saved.
to convici\ See marg. to be to them a rebuke. Grimm prefers to
connect these words with saved rather than with the succeeding clause.
tookest away...childreti\ Ex. xii. 29, 30. The rescue of one led to
the death of many. The Gk. vb. governs a double ace.
together] Vulg. renders pariter, but the word means wholesale.
Destroyedst has for its object the ace, which stands at the beginning of
the V. in the Gk., them having taken counsel to kill. The point of this
Une is that as the Israelite children perished by vrater, so the Egyptians
died by the same element, Ex. i. 22. Another example of the principle
in xi. 16. For the punishments by water, cp. ch. x. 19, xi. 6.
Charles (Jubilees, p. Ixxiv) has an interesting note on this v., and
would correct thus, "In retribution for even a single child that was
exposed Thou didst take away ten thousand Eg>-ptians." He holds
that either Jub. xlviii. 14 was before the writer, or the two passages
are based on a common tradition, that for every Hebrew child ex-
posed, athousand Egyptians were doomed to be drowned.
6. that flight} Tliat points dramatically to a night so well known as
to need no further definition. Cp. Ex. xii. 42 LXX.
our fathers] The writer in a way most unusual for him identifies himself
with the Israelites. He has been strictly impersonal hitherto except in
XV. I — 4. The fathers are either the Israelite heads of families, who
were forewarned of the death of the firstborn, Ex. vi. 6, xi. 4 fif., xii. 2 1 fT.
or (perhaps better) the patriarchs, to whom the deliverance from bondage
was revealed, see Gen. xv. 14, xxvi. 3, cp. Ps. cv. 8 ff. "The fathers"
is a term not applied in this book to the people generally, but to the
patriarchs three times, ix. i, xii. 21, xviii. 22. Further, v. 7 would be
an otiose repetition of this z/., xi people in that v. were identical with
fathers in this. For the interest of the patriarchs in the future, cp.
Heb. xi. 39, 40; I Pet. i. 11.
having sure knozuledge] Cp. Acts ii. 30, where David, in the spirit
of prophecy, ' ' knows."
might be cheered] Vulg. animaequiores essent. The prospect
afforded the patriarchs a kind of Pisgah-gladness, cp. St John viii. 56.
oaths... trusted^ They could rejoice, because God's oath was as sure
a ground of satisfaction as the accomplished fact.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVIII. 7—9. 173
So by thy people was expected salvation of the righteous 7
and destruction of the enemies ;
For as thou didst take vengeance on the adversaries, 8
^By the same means, calling us unto thyself, thou didst
glorify us.
For holy children ^ of good men offered sacrifice in secret, 9
And with one consent they took upon themselves the
covenant of the ^divine law,
That "^they would partake alike in the same good things and
the same perils ;
^ Gr. B}' this. ^ Or, of blessing Gr. of good nxQUy or, of good
things. ^ Gi. law of divhieness. ■* Some authorities read /A^ jazWj"
would partake... perils ; already leading the fathers' songs of praise.

7. of the righteousl i.e. the Israelites, cp. "the holy," vv. i, 5.

There is a resemblance in z'V. 7, 8 to a passage in Philo's Uit. Contempl.
The dance of the Therapeutae, he says, recalls the wonders of the Red
Sea. "By the command of God the sea became author of safety for
these, and of extermination for those."
8. calling us unto thyself ^ God's intervention on behalf of Israel in
the death of the firstborn was an appeal to the people.
9. holy childreiil Note contrast with children in last /. of v. 10.
For the epithet, conventionally used, cp. w. i, 5, x. 17, and x. 20, xii. 9
(the righteous).
of good 7nen\ The adj. 6.ya.dQiv may be masc. or neut. ; see the marginal
alternatives. But the writer's habit of seeing good only in his own
people raises the presumption that it refers to the patriarchs of v. 6,
whose praises (see end of z^.) the Israelites sang that night. If the adj.
were neuter, cliildren of blessing., Trdides would be very unusual for
T^Kva or vioL.

xii.offered sacrifice
27; Dt. xvi. in5; secret'\ The ix.
cp. Num. Passover is called
7. There a sacrifice
was no secrecy in
in Ex.
the
keeping of the first Passover, so far as is recorded. The feast was
celebrated in the privacy of the Israelite dwellings, Ex. xii. 46 ; but
that was in order that the family-idea might be emphasized.
with one consent... divine law\ This clause governs the ace. and inf.
in the next /. : it seems better therefore to render "with one consent
they covenanted by the divine law" (i.e. by the common Passover feast
at which tliey were pledging their mutual fellowship), the divine law
(lit. as in marg. ) is a strange phrase. Vulg. has iustitiae legem, standing
for oaidTrjTos, which is the reading of N. The precise significance of
BeLdTrjs in this place is not clear: deibr-qTos vo/xou may be merely a
periphrasis for rdf deiov vSfiou, i.e. the Divine institution of the Passover.
7'hat they would partake'] It is better to read "that the saints
would," as in marg. The rhythm of the Greek suggests this arrange-
ment. With "the saints," cp. vv. i, 20. It has been suggested that
 174 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVIII. 9—12.
The fathers already leading the sacred songs of praise.
ID But there sounded back in discord the cry of the enemies,
^And a piteous voice of lamentation for children was borne
abroad.
11 And servant along with master punished with a like just
doom,
And commoner suffering the same as king,
12 Yea, all the people together, under one form of death,
1 Some authorities read And was piteously borne abroad in lamenta-
tion for children.

fellowship in prosperity and adversity was symbolised by the common

partaking of the dish of bruised fruits (haroseth) and of the bitter herbs.
But the former does not seem to have been part of the primitive ritual.
The fathers already leadmg\ If this is correct, a contrast is suggested
between the exultation of the Israelite fathers, and the woe of the
Egyptian, see v. 10. But there is no reason given why the sons should
sacrifice, and the fathers lead the singing : consequently, the reading of
5^ (second hand) A, followed by Vu!g., may be right, see marg. "already
leading the fathers' songs of praise." The fathers are the patriarchs,
see V. 6 : their songs of praise are either the songs they sang, or songs
in honour of them. The writer is attributing to those who partook of
the first Passover a practice which grew up in later days, but of which
there is no trace in Eg}-pt, see 3 Chr. xxx. 21, xxxv. 15. The Halle),
Ps. cxiii. — cxviii., came to be sung at stated limes in the course of the
Passover celebration, but obviously such a Ps. as cxiv. could not have
been sung by the Israelites in Egypt : accordingly the writer pictures
them as singing either their fathers' songs, or songs in their honour.
Farrar wrongly suggests that already is intended to show that the later
practice of singing the Hallel had its counterpart in the first celebration:
■^077 defines a point of time in the celebration itself, "while now the
singing was in progress."
10. there sou7ided back'] Rather, sounded in anrcver. in discord,
not "clashing with Isr. songs" (Farrar) but "discordant in itself"
The Israelites were all harmonious [v. 9 a, b), while the Egyptians
were distracted. Every house had its own sorrow.
a piteous voice] Text reads with 5<A ^ojj'tj, followed by Vulg. Cp.
Ex. xi. 6, xii. 30. childrett is contrasted with children in v. 9. Marg.
follows B, which omits (puvi].
11. See Ex. xii. 29. Etheridge {Targtims p. 477) gives from the
Jerus. Targum "From the firstborn son of Pharaoh. ..to the sons bf
the kings who were captives in the dungeon as hostages ; and who, for
having rejoiced at the servitude of Israel, were punished as the Egyp-
tians." LXX. however makes the captives feminine, and Philo {Mos.
i. 24) writes "down to the most obscure grinding-maid."
12. all the people together] Same Greek word as z;. 5 d. Philo
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVIII. 12—15. 175
Had unth them corpses without number ;
For the living were not sufficient even to bury them,
Since at a single ' stroke their ^nobler offspring was consumed.
For while they were disbeUeving all things by reason of the 13
enchantm.ents,
Upon the destruction of the firstborn they confessed the
people to be God's son.
For while peaceful silence enwrapped all things, 14
And night in her own swiftness was in mid course,
Thine all-powerful word leaped from heaven out of ^the 15
royal ^throne,
A stern warrior, into the midst of the doomed land,

1 Gr. turji of the scale. " Or, more cherished ^ Or, thy
* Gr. thrones. ^ Or, destroying

(Afos. i. 24) writes "By reason of the universality of the blow all joined
in one common lamentation [bixodvixabov, as here), and one outcry rang
throughout the land from end to end."
the living were not siifficienfl A rhetorical amplification of Num.
xxxiii. 4. Philo {Mos. i. 17) says that this was the case when the
Egyptians died of the thirst which resulted from the smiting of the Nile.
their nobler offspring'\ "the chief of all their strength," Ps. cv. 36.
Cp. Ex. iv. 23.
13. This V. is loosely joined to the preceding by For. The great-
ness of the calamity was evidenced by its effect.
disbelieving all things'\ Pharaoh was influenced by the fact that the
magicians could do as Moses had done, Ex. vii. 13, 21. But the writer
ignores the change in Ex. viii, 19, which affected the magicians them-
selves.
enchantments\ Cp. Ex. vii. 1 1, viii. 7. For the word, see ch. xii. 4.
God's son\ See Ex. iv. 22. Cp. ch. ii. 13, 18. It is not recorded in
the Bible that the Egyptians made this acknowledgment, but the writer
amplifies Ex. xii. 31.
14. while peaceful silence'X The coming of the mysterious visitation
is described in terms which recall Job iv. 13 — 15.
in T?iid course'] Ex. xi. 4, xii. 29.
15. all-powerful word] For the epithet, see vii. 23, where it is
applied to Wisdom. For the meaning of Logos here, see Introd. § 10.
royal throne] lit. thrones, plural of dignity. Cp. ix. 4 ; Dan. vii. 9.
A stern warrior] For the epithet, cp. v. 20, xii. 9. The Logos is
called a warrior as bearing a sword and being sent on an errand of
destruction. The passage is drawn irom i Chr. xxi. isff. Cp. Hab.
iii. 5 "Before Him shall go the word" LXX.
doomed] For the adj. in a pass, sense, see i Kings xx. 42.
 176 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVIII. 16—20.

16 Bearing as a sharp sword thine unfeigned commandment ;

And standing it filled all things with death ;
And while it touched the heaven it trode upon the earth.
17 Then forthwith apparitions in dreams terribly troubled them,
And fears came upon them unlooked for :
18 And each, one thrown here half dead, another there,
Made manifest wherefore he was dying :
19 For the dreams, perturbing them, did foreshew this,
That they might not perish without knowing why they were
afflicted.

20 But it ^befell the righteous also to make trial of death,

^ Gr. touched.

16. Bearing as a shai-p sword '\ The sword of i Chr. xxi. \6 is

introduced here, and allegorized as God's commandment.
andunfeigned^
Ileb. iv. 12.Almost has the meaning of "inflexible." Cp. v. 18
filled... -with deathi Contrast with Ps. cxlv. 16 LXX.
while it touched^ A variant of "between the earth and the heaven,"
I Chr. xxi. 1 6. Grimm quotes a similar description of Discord from
Hom. //. iv. 443, and the version of it applied to Fame in Verg. Aen.
iv. 177. The same description is found of the pillar of cloud in Philo,
Dec. §11; of man in id. Opif. §51; and of a tower of evil in id. Conf. I.
§23.
17. apparitions...
terribly] and the
So B ; and fears']
rhythmCp.makes
Job iv. 13 — 15; that
it probable Prov.this
i. 26, 27. :
is right
but XA followed by Vulg. have terrible agreeing with "dreams."
fears] Almost abstract for concrete. Cp. R. Browning, Prospice,
"The Arch Fear in a visible form."
18. one thrown here] The firstborn in each house.
Made manifest wherefore] The next v. makes it plain that this /.
means more than that the dying detailed the mental suffering they were
experiencing. They declared that the cause of their death was the
wrath of Jehovah.
19. did foreshew] Yu\g. praefnonebant,\.e. shewed beibre they died.
without knowing] Not only were the survivors to recognise God's
hand (v. 13), but the victims also. The incident of the dreams of the
firstborn before death is due to the writer's desire that the guilty should
drink the full measure of the cup of judgment, and that none should be
excused from acknowledging the hand of God. A painless and unex-
pected death in sleep would seem to him a futile judgment.
w. 20 — 25. Death visited Israel, but only to be
DISMISSED at once.
20. it befell the righteous] i.e. the Israelites, as in xviii. i , 9. The
incident referred to is the plague which followed the murmuring against
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVIII. 20, 21. 177
And a multitude were stricken in the wilderness :
Howbeit the wrath endured not for long.
For a blameless man hasted to be their champion :
Bringing the weapon of his own ministry,
Ev€}i prayer and the propitiation of incense,
He withstood the indignation, and set an end to the
calamity,
Shewing that he was thy servant.

Moses and Aaron after the destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,
Num- xvi. 44—50. Philo comments on the passage in Sonui. ii. 35,
and Q. R. D. H. 42.
trialwas
death of enough
death'] toCp.teach
v. 25. The word the
the Israelites impHes
desiredthatlesson.
the mere taste of
zuere stricken] lit. a breaking (Opavcns, the word used of the plague
in LXX. Vulg. commotio) took place. Num. xvi. 47, and Ps. cvi. 30.
the wrath endured not] Cp. xvi. 5. The xvrath means * 'a distinct
manifestation of the righteous judgment of God," see Bp. Westcott's
note on St John iii. 36. The plague was indeed stayed, though not till
14,700 had died.
21. a blameless man] Aaron. He is styled blameless for official
reasons, because he represented God, cp. a blatneless seed, x. 15. Pos-
sibly, there is also a personal reference, as Aaron was unassociated with
the sin of Korah and the subsequent murmuring.
hasted] He ran, Num. xvi. 47. Philo (Q. R. D. H. 42) allegorizes
Aaron into the divine Logos, who stands in human hearts between
holy and unholy thoughts.
their champion] Cp. Job xlii. 8; Ps. xcix. 6, where intercession is
spoken of. See note on the intercession and mediation of Moses and
Aaron, Ps. xcix. 6, in this series.
the weapon of his own ministry] Not "shield," as Vulg., but,
rather, an aggressive weapon, a s-tuord. Cp. 2 Cor. x. 4, and Eph.
VI. 17, 18 "the sword of the spirit, ...praying always." "Ministry"
\^n.TQVfr{ia) is the regular word (cp. Ex. xxxviii. 21) for the ministrations
of the priesthood.
prayer] C'p Jems. Targiim (Num. xvi.), Etheridge, p. 397 "Aaron
stood in the midst, ...with the censer, and interceded in prayer."
propitiation of incense] See Num. xvi. 47, and cp. 4 Mace. vii. 11.
For the supposed atoning efficacy of incense, cp. the ritual of the Day
of Atonement, when the high priest, on entering into the holy place,
was safeguarded by incense, Lev. xvi. 12, 13.
withstood the indignation] Aaron's act was counted as one of heroism.
He withstood
smoke God, but
of the incense, with secure
he was God's in
owti
theweapons. Wrapped
midst of the in the
divine wrath.
For the indignation, cp. Rom. xii. 19.
thy servant] Aaron proved to the destroyer that he was God's
WISDOM 12
 178 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVIII. 22, 23.

22 And he overcame the 'anger,

Not by strength of body, not by efficacy of weapons ;
But 2 by word did he subdue ^the minister of punishmiCnt,
By bringing to remembrance oaths and covenants made
with the fathers.
23 For when the dead were already fallen in heaps one upon
another,

1 The word rendered attger differs only by the transposition of two

letters from the reading of the Greek text, which here yields no sense.
2 Or, to a word did he subject 3 Qj.^ f^i^^ ^jj/^ was punishing.

servant {depaTUiv, a term of greater distinction than SoOXos) by the

sacred ornaments of his office, see v. 24. For servant, applied here
only to Aaron, see x. 16. Cp. i Kings xviii. 36.
22. overcame the anger'\ MSS. oxKov, Vulg. turbas, which seems to
give no sense. R.V. accordingly adopts the conj. emend. xoXov, anger,
which only involves a transposition of letters. But in 4 Mace. vii. 11 it
is said that Aaron conquered the angel of the Burning, while in the /.
below this occurs "the minister of punishment." Why should not rbv
dxXoOyra ("the harasser") be read? This word is used of the visita-
tions of evil spirits in Tob. vi. 7; cp. St Luke vi. 18. To "conquer
the harassing angel " is at least as likely to be right as to "conquer the
wrath," anger having already been referred to in v. 21. If it were not
that the writer says practically nothing about angels, we might emend
ox>^ov to dyyeXov ("angel") from 4 Mace. vii. 11.
cp.dy2 word
Cor. X. did 4.
he subdue'] His weapons
Fhilo curiously were spiritual
calls Phinehas Logosand{Conf.
not physical,
I. § 13)
and calls his javelin Logos {Alut. § 18), but he does not apply the same
term to Aaron. Word here means the word of intercession, see next /.
and cp. Ex. xxxii. 13.
the mijiister of punish fneni] Called an angel in 4 Mace vii. ir. See
note on word, v. 15. There is some indeterminateness of language
in the passage: Aaron withstood "the anger"; he subdued "the
punisher." It is plain that the distinction between God and His Logos
(see V. 25) is quite undefined.
bringing to remembrancel For a typical example of intercession, see
Ex. xxxii. 13. The writer probably has in mind something more than
the promises of God to the fathers (Ex. ii. 24; Lev. xxvi. 42): he
thinks of Aaron pleading the merits of the fathers. Developed Rabbinic
teaching exalted the merits of the fathers till they served for the whole
nation. Cp. Sanday and Headlam, Romans pp. 330 — 332, from which
the following quotation is taken "As the \ine supports itself on a
trunk which is dry, so Israel supports itself on the merit of the fathers,
although they already sleep" (\Vajjikra rabba c. 36).
23. fallen in heaps'] For aupTjSbv, cp. Philo, A/os. i. 17.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVIII. 23, 24. 179
Standing between he stopped the advancing wrath,
And ^cut off the way to the living.
For upon his long high-priestly robe was the whole world, 24
And the glories of the fathers were upon the graving of the
four rows of ^precious stones,
And thy majesty was upon the diadem of his head.
^ Gr. cleft asunder. ^ Gr. stone.

between']
he stopped]i.e.The
between
Greek living
word and dead,in Num.
is used Thuc. xvi.
iv. 148.
2 for beating back
an assailant.
cut off] He cut through it (lit.) as if he were breaking down a
bridge, so that the destroyer could not pass.
24. his long high-priestly robe] Aaron's robes were symbolic, and
caused his intervention to be successful The robe down to the feet is
the long high-priestly robe of blue, fringed with bells and pomegranates.
Strictly speaking this robe was not quite Trodqprjs (i.e. reaching to the
feet), but this is the word applied to it in Ex. xxviii. 4 LXX- The real
full-length robe was the white linen gannent of i Sam. ii. 28, there
called ephod. But the ephod \)Xo^qx was the very elaborate "waistcoat"
described in Ex. xxviii. 6— 12.
was the whole world] The blue "robe of the ephod'^ allegorically
represented the world for Jewish commentators. Cp. Philo, AIos. ii.
12 " The whole robe is blue, a picture of the air. The air is naturally
deep-coloured, and is a full-length robe, for it flows from sky to earth.
The flowers on it symbolize earth, and the pomegranates water, and
the bells the fusion of earth and water.... Of the three elements, earth,
air, water, of which and in which created beings have their being, the
long robe with its hangings is a true representation. As the robe is one,
so the three elements are of one category: and as the flowers and the
pomegranates hang from the robe, so in some fashion earth and water
hang from the air, for it is their vehicle." See also id. Soinn. i. 37, and
Jos. Ant. iii. 7. 7. The interpretation is fantastic, and is not the same
in Philo as in Josephus, but the connection between their accounts is
sufficient to show that they represent traditional views as to the meaning
of the priestly garments.
the glories of the fathers] For the high priest's breast-plate, see Ex.
xxviii. 15—21, 29; Jos. Ant. iii. 7. 5. Philo {Mos. ii. 12) sees in it a
symbol of the zodiac, which represents four seasons of three months;
Josephus, of the earth, which is in the middle of the world. On each
of the twelve stones was inscribed the name of one of the tribes of
Israel: the names of the patriarchs are the glories of the fathers y whose
doings were symbolised by their names.
the diadem of his head] Over the linen mitre of the high priest was
fastened a golden crown (WraXov, a plate), on which was inscribed
(Ex. xxviii. 36) "Holiness to the Lord." Philo [Mos. ii. 11 and 14)
writes that the four letters of the sacred tetragrammaton were upon it,
12 — 2
 i8o THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XVIII. 25— XIX. i.

25 To feared
these; the destroyer gave place, and these ' the people
For it was enough only to make trial of the wrath.

19 But upon the ungodly there came unto the end indignation
without mercy;
^ Some authorities read he feared.

in order that the name of '*Him who is" might symbolize that the
world can only be sustained by the will of God. God's Name is His
jnajesty.
25. the
before To these the destroyer
destroying gave place"]
angel clothed in the The high of
symbols priest
the thus
world,stood
the
fathers, and God, and prevailed over the destroyer. Just as the
Psalmists plead with God "for His Name's sake," that God would
remember what He is and has proclaiip.ed Himself to be, so here Aaron
confronts God's agent with God's creation, God's chosen, and God
Himself (in symbol), cp. Ex. xxviii. 38.
the destroyer'] Probably the Logos, as m z/. 15; cp. Num. xvi. 45
"that /may destroy them"; see Ex. xii. 23 ; Heb. xi. 28.
these the people /^ar^aT) R.V. rightly follows BC, lit. they feared.
N (second handj A and Vulg. have he feared, whence it is argued that
the destroying angel must have been an evil spirit or he would not have
feared. But the order of the words is against this rendering: it would
be "He feared and yielded." The double these is unnecessarily rhetorical
with only one subject for the two verbs. ¥01 feared, cp. Ex. xiv. 31:
the sight of the sacred symbols upon the high priest brought the people
back to their allegiance. Just as (ch. xvi.) they were stung in order
that they might be reminded of God's oracles, and God's mercy passed
by and healed them, so here they were punished for forgetfulness of
God, and saved when Aaron had recalled to them God's name and His
oath.
enough only to make trial] Cp. v. 20, and xvi. 5, 6. The people
feared, because no more was needed to awaken them than the mere
preliminary taste of death. They were not like the Egyptians, who
needed to drain the cup to its dregs.

Ch. XIX. 1—21.

The fifth comparison between the Israelites and Egyp-
tians, THE subject being THE PASSAGE OF THE ReD SeA.
w. 1 — 5. The incapacity of the Egyptians to learn
THE LESSON OF EXPERIENCE.

1. the ungodly] i.e. the Egyptians: contrast with xviii. 20 "the

righteous."
caiiu unto the end] Cp. xvi. 5, and 1 Thcss. ii. 16.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIX. 1—4. t8i
For their future also God foreknew,
How that, having changed their minds to let thy people go, 2
And having speeded them eagerly on their way.
They would repent themselves and pursue them.
For while they were yet in the midst of their mourning, 3
And making lamentation at the graves of the dead,
They drew upon themselves another counsel of folly.
And pursued as fugitives those whom with intreaties they
■ had cast out.
For ^the doom which they deserved was drawing them "unto 4
this end,
1 Or, their desert by necessity was
2 Some authorities read tinto this at last.

without mercy'\ In ch. xii. 10 God's knowledge of the wickedness of

the heathen is given as a reason for His mercy : here, His foreknow-
ledge of their future wilfulness is the reason why He put no check upon
His wrath.
God fo7-eknew'] The subj. is supplied out of indi^pta/ion m prec. /.
2. changed their viinds to let thy people gd\ So NB, reading ert-
arpeij/avTes. einTpixf/avTes, having allowed, the reading of S (second
hand) A and Vulg. czim permisissent, is probably a correction. Grimm
would render "having thought anxiously over their departure."
speeded them eagerly^ Cp. Acts xx. 38, xxi. 5. An allusion to the
presents which the Egyptians showered upon the Israelites at their
departure, Ex. xii. 35, 36. Philo [Mos. i. 24) pictures the distracted
Egyptians urging their rulers to hasten their going out.
repent
3. in tiiemselves'\
the midst 0/] Ex. lit.
xiv.having
5. it in their hands ^ cp. ix. 16. For
the embalming process, see Herodotus ii. 85 — 88. Cp. ch. xviii. 12.
drew upon themselves^ same Gk. verb as in i. 12.
cowisel of The
thoughts. folly']natural
For counsel in a of
revulsion (bad) moral consequent
feeling, sense, cp. i. upon
3 note the
on
realisation of the departure of Israel, was perhaps supplemented by the
hope that ignorance of the country would lead them into a trap.
Josephus {Ant. ii. 15. 3) explains the tactics of the Egyptians in their
pursuit, and i\\t Jerus. Targum (Etheridge, p. 485) has: "Pharaoh
said. The people of the house of Israel are bewildered in the land : the
idol Zephon hath shut them in close upon the desert."
pursued] Ex. xiv. 8.
they had cast out] Same word, implying haste, as in Ex. xii. 39
LXX. with intreaties, cp. Ex. xii. 33.
4. the doom which they deserved] "Necessity" here is not a fate
predetermined, and laid upon men by an arbitrary exterior power, but
the inevitable sequence of cause and edect, cp. v. 13. Such necessity
can only be "deserved," for by its law no man reaps or can reap other
 i82 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIX. 4—6.
And it made them forget the things that had befallen them,
That they might fill up the punishment which was yet
wanting to their torments,
5 And that thy people might ^journey on by a marvellous road,
But they the?nselves might find a strange death.
6 For the whole creation, each part in its several kind, was
fashioned again anew,
^ Some authorities read inake trial of.
harvest than he has sown. For the law of affinity, cp. i. 16, vi. i6, xi.
16. The marginal rendering has little probability.
made the f?i forget] What they were was the cause of their forgetful-
ness: the justice that sinners cannot escape from (ch. xiv. 31) blinded
them to consequences as it had deadened their memory. The things
that had befallen them are the plagues generally, and the death of the
firstborn in particular. It was not vengeance that prompted the pursuit,
says the writer; it was greed (see Ex. xiv. 5 end). Egypt could not
afford to lose the forced labour of a nation of serfs.
That they might fill up] Cp. Phil. ii. 30; Col. i. 24. Deane quotes
excellently 2 Mace. vi. 14 "when they have attained unto the full
measure of their sins." Farrar writes "The problems of predestination
and freewill presented themselves to the Jews more often in a national
than an individual aspect ; and when the ruin of another nation tended
to the advantage of Israel, the sense of national, and much more of
indi%4dual, pity was modified, if not obliterated, by patriotic gratitude.
The Jew had so intense a conviction that his own people were the first-
born of Jehovah, that he could hardly keep steadily in view the impartial
love of God."
5. a marvello7is road] Cp. xviii. 3, lit. u<ayfari7ig : same Greek
word as in St John iv. 6. If the journeying of the Israelites was unpre-
cedented, so was the death that awaited the Egyptians.

w. 6—12. An imaginative account of the Exodus.

6. For] Introduces the section which is an expansion of t^'. 5.

7vas fashioned again anew] Vulg. refigurabatur. The writer ex-
plains the miracle of the passage of the Red Sea by the philosophical
doctrine of the mutual interchange of the elements. As in xvi. 21, 25,
nothing new came into being when a miracle occurred : there was only
a transmutation of elements, in some ways comparable to that which is
now suggested by physicists between radium and helium. Epict. (iii.
24) writes "This cosmos is one city, and its constituent substance is
one. and there must needs be a certain periodicity and surrender of one
thing to another, some things being dissolved and others combining,
some things standing still and others moving"; and again (fr. viii.)
" This variability is partaken of by both men and animals ; and not
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIX. 6—9. 183
Ministering to thy several commandments,
That thy ^servants might be guarded free from hurt.
The?i was beheld the cloud that shadowed the camp,
And dry land rising up out of what before was water,
Out of the Red sea an unhindered highway,
And a grassy plain out of the violent surge ;
^By which they passed over with all their hosts.
These that were covered with thy hand,
Having beheld strange marvels.
For like horses they roamed at large,

1 Or, i-hUdren - Or, Through

only they but the gods and the four elements are turned up and down
in their transmutations, so that earth becomes water, and water air,
and air again turns into aether : and the same process of transmutation
takes place in the reverse way {avwdev /carw)." The whole creation (for
the phrase, cp. Rom. viii, 22) is involved in one miracle, because the
writer regards the quantity of matter as constant. Any partial disturb-
ance is followed by a corresponding reaction throughout the whole
mass.

again anew'\ For the pleonastic phrase, cp. Gal. iv. 9. avcjOev also
contains the philosophic sense of "from top to bottom": but "from
above," in the theological sense of St John iii. 31, is plainly not the
sense here.
ihy several com maitdmeiits] So text with BC, reading loiais, i.e. the
law laid upon each part of the creation. But J^A foil, by Vulg. have
<ra?s ("thy"), which might have been replaced by idiais through a con-
fusion with I8l(p in the /. above. This makes a simpler sense "minis-
tering to thy comm.," cp. xvi. 24; xviii. 16.
free from hurt] Same Greek word (in pass, sense) as in xviii. 3
(active).
7. that shado-ved\ Num. ix. 18, 22; Ps. cv. 39.
dry land rising tip... tinhinde red highiuay... grassy plain"] Various
legendary embellishments of the Scriptural narrative grew up among
the Jews. Grimm quotes a Passover prayer, which speaks of springs
of sweet water, fruit-laden trees, and fragrant odours cheering the path
through the waters. Philo has only {Mos. ii. 34) " They walked
through the sea on a dry path and a stone paved road: for the sand
grew dry, and its seed-like substance coalesced."
8. with all their hosts] So SB, but AC (foil, by Vulg.) have the
whole people [irav ^dvos), in appos. to the subj. of the verb.
covered roith thy hand] Cp. v. 16 c. and Is. li. 16 "I will cover
thee under the shadow of my hand" LXX.
9. like horses] Cp. Is. Ixiii. 13. roamed more correctly as Vulg.
depaverunt {escam), they "roamed at pasture."
 i84 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIX. 9—13.
And they skipped about like lambs,
Praising thee, O Lord, who wast their deliverer.
10 For they still remembered the things that came to pass in
the time of their sojourning,
How^licethat
, instead of ^bearing ^ cattle the land brought forth

And instead of ''fish the river cast up a multit o f

11 But afterwards ude f rogs.
they saw also a new ^race of birds.
When, led on by desire, they asked for luxurious dainties ;
12 For, to solace them, there came up for them quails from
the sea.

13 And upon the sinners came the punishments

^ Or, birth of cattle ^ Gr. living creatures. ^ Or, sandflies
* (jX. creatures of the waters. ^ Ox, production Gx. generation.

skipped about'\ Cp. Ps. cxiv. 4, and ivlal. iv. 2.

■wast their deliverer'] So NB, rather than as AC (foil, by Vulg.
liberasti) "hadst delivered them."
Praising thee, 0 Lord] See Ex. xv. i — 19 ; and Philo, Afos. ii. 34.
10. still reffievibered] The memories of the Israelites were very
short, cp. xvi. 11 : but the miracles of land and water at the passage of
the Red Sea recalled the special plagues through land and water in Egypt.
instead cf bearing cattle] The normal products of the earth were
replaced by abnormal. There is a contrast between Gen. i. 24 and
Ex. viii. 17.
Ex.brought
viii. 6.forth lice] For the generic use of the singular, cp. "the frog,"
instead of fish] So ^^ulg. pro piscibus, but marg. translates literally.
Fish are the characteristic product of water, Gen. i. 20, 21: on this
occasion the water teemed with amphibians. The Greek word (Vulg.
eructauit^ belched forth) comes from Ex. viii. 3, and is a variant in R
for swarmed with in Ps. cv. 30 LXX.
11. afterwards they saw] A loose and hardly logical continuation
of new
the amplification
race cf birds]of Marg.
^^ having beheld''' incp.v. Vulg.
production, 8. creaturarn, is better,
because there was nothing new about the quails as birds, though the
extraordinary quantity and the unfailing supply were undoubtedly new,
cp. xvi. 2; Ex. xvi. 11; Num. xi. 18.
led on by desire] Cp. Num. xi. 34.
asked for] Ps. cv. 40. The writer ignores the Scriptural account
(Num. xi. 4 — 23), and treats the sending of the quails as a gracious
answer to a reasonable request.
12. to solace them] Cp. Philo, Mos. i. 37.
there came up... quails from the sea] See ch. xvi. 2, 3. Cp. Ex. xvi. 13,
and Num. xi. 31. The quails came from the sea, not in the sense of
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIX. 13. 185

Not without the tokens that were given 'beforehand by the

force of the thunders ;
For justly did they suffer through their own wickednesses,
For -grievous indeed was the hatred which they practised
toward guests.
^ Some authorities omit beforehand. ^ Or, yet more grievous was
V. 10 (although perhaps the writer had some such idea in his mind as
that the coming of the quails from the sea was an analogous reversal
of nature to those in v. 10), but because they had crossed over the sea in
one of their annual migrations, and dropped down tired as soon as they
reached the shore.

vv. 13—17. The punishment of the Egyptians for their

VIOLATION OF HOSPITALITY TO ISRAEL.

13. And tipon the sinners] i.e. the Egyptians. This section follows
upon the previous one, {a) depending upon they rejuetnbered v. 10,
{b) providing a contrast with v. 12; to the Israelites came solace, to the
Egyptians punishment ; and {c) being suggested by the mention of the
Red Sea v. 7, which was a blessing to Israel and the reverse to Egypt.
that 7i<e}-e given befo7-ehand\ Text reads with NAC Vulg. The
destruction of the Egyptians was preceded by signs of the divine anger.
the force of the thunders] There was a Jewish tradition that the
drowning of the Eg}-ptians occurred after or during a great war of the
elements, cp. Ps. Ixxvii. 16 — 19; Ex. xiv. 24 {s&t Jerus. Targii;//,
Etheridge, p. 489 "The Lord looked forth. ..from the column of fire, to
hurl upon them flakes of fire and hail"); and Jos. {Ant. ii. 16. 3)
"Showers of rain also came down from the sky, and dreadful thunders
and lightning with flashes of fire. Thunderbolts also were darted upon
them : nor was there any indication of God's wrath which did not
happen at this time. For a dark and dismal night oppressed them."
justly did they suffer] Dramatic justice is always appreciated by
Jewish writers, cp. 2 Mace. ix. 6, xiii. 8. The justice of the punishment
is shown by comparing it with that of Sodom. The men of Sodom
violated the sanctities of hospitality. Gen. xix., and were punished by
the descent of fire and the irruption of the Dead Sea: a similar fate
came upon the Egyptians.
grievous indeed] Vulg. detestabiliorem, as marg., probably rightly,
for the comparison is being pointed to the disadvantage of the Egyp-
tians. The Egyptians were even worse than the men of Sodom, or
any other people who had been false to their guests. Philo {Mos. i. 7)
writes "They came to dwell in Egypt under guarantee of security, and
Pharaoh enslaved them as if they had been taken captive in war or
bought from slave-dealers, and he treated as slaves those who were not
only free but guests, suppliants, and resident foreigners, with never a
thought of his obligation to the god of freedom, of hospitality, of
sanctuary, and of the hearth."
 i86 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIX. 14—16.

14 ^For whereas the me?i of Sodom received not -the strangers

when they came among them ;
^The Egyptians made slaves of guests who were their bene-
factors.
15 And not only so, but God shall * visit ^the men of Sodom
after another sort,
Since they received as enemies them that were aliens ;
16 Whereas these ^fr^/ welcomed with feastings.
And then afflicted with dreadful toils,
Them that had already shared with them in the same rights.
^ The Greek text of this and the following verse is perhaps corrupt.
2 Gr. them who knew thern not. ^ Gr. These. ^ Or, visit them...
sort; since the men of Sodom received... aliens ^ Gr. them.
14. whereas the men of Sodom] lit. they. The writer as usual
expects his readers to interpret his allusions.
received nof] Vulg. recipiehant, i.e. "were not for receiving." The
writer suggests that the men of Sodom did not Avish to receive the angel
visitors.
the stran^rrs"] Text renders with Vulg. ignotos, unknown. Marg.
gives the lit. translation "them who knew them not."
made slaves 0/] Cp. Philo, Somn. i. 18 "thou didst seize Israel,
making a slave by compulsion of him who by nature is free."
as quests who were
benefactors theirboth
because benefactors'] The Israelites
of their great might beandspoken
ancestor Joseph, of
of their
services rendered during the years of their captivity : they were
guests inasmuch as they had been invited to come into Egypt, Gen.
xlv. 17, 18. w. 14 — 16 seem to be written in a not altogether dis-
passionate strain, and point perhaps to a lingering sense of the injustices
frequently perpetrated by the Egyptians upon the Jews resident in Egypt.
15. but God... after another sort] Vulg. sed el alius quidatn suggests
the conjecture adopted by R.V. ov fxovov, a\X' dWri rts, lit. there shall
be another visitation of them. The writer's special pleading carries
him on to making excuses for Sodom, and asserting that extenuating
circumstances are to be found. Visitation (eTnaKoirr]) is used in a good
sense, cp. iii. 7, iv. 15. The men of Sodom are pictured as receiving
their visitants under constraint as enemies : there was uncompromising
hostility from the first, and consequently no change of face : they treated
their guests as they had received them. They did not add fickleness to
their crimes, cp. Philo, Conf. /. § 8.
16. The Egyptians began in one way, and ended in another, with
feastings, cp. Gen. xlv. 17 — 20, xlvii. i— 12. The contrast is height-
ened by this fanciful embellishment of the scriptural account.
zihth dreadful toils'] Ex. i. and v.
shared. ..the same rights] Possibly civil privileges, as was the case
under the Ptolemies, cp. Jos. Ant. xii. i.
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIX. 17, 18. 187
And moreover they were stricken with loss of sight 17
(Even as were those otJurs at the righteous man's doors),
When, being compassed about with yawning darkness,
They sought every one the passage through his own door.
For as the notes of a psaltery vary the character of the 18
rhythm,
Even so did the elements, changing their order one with
another,
Continuing always the same, each in its several sound ;
As may clearly be ^divined from the sight of the things that
are come to pass.
^ Gr. conjectured.
17. stricken with loss of sight] Cp. Dt. xxviii. 28. Another corre-
spondence between the men of Sodom and of Eg}-pt. Philo uses this
Greek expression of the Eg}'ptian darkness {So?)in. i. 18). Even as...
those, i.e. the men of Sodom, Gen. xix. 11, cp. Philo, Conf. l. § 8.
the righteous man] Lot, cp. x. 6.
yaw7iing darkttess] Vulg. snbitaneis tenebris. The meaning of
c-xo-v-qs is not certain. Probably it is as in text, or perhaps speechless,
i.e. reducing to speechlessness.

W. 18 — 21. A REVERSION TO THE SUBJECT OF THE

MIRACLES IN 'CV. 6—12.
18. Grammatically this verse is difficult to unravel, though in sense
it is quite simple. Farrar rightly says the obscurity arises from the
confusion of the comparison with the thing to which it is compared.
The full sentence would read : "For the elements, changing their order
one with another, [but continuing always the same, vary their combina-
tions], just as the notes of a psaltery, continuing always the same, each
in its several sound, vary the character of the rhythm." The idea is
that the relations in which a thing stands can modify completely the
effect which it produces : the notes of the instrument, in whatever key
they are played, are the same notes, but the alteration of their relations
seems (but only seems) entirely to have altered their sound.
the elements, changitig] Cp. v. 6, and xvi. 21, 25. See Philo, Mos.
i. 17; 28 "Each of the elements rendered obedience as to a master,
changing its power and submitting to his decrees"; ii. 12 "The three
elements all undergo variations and transmutations."
Continuing... sotind] Continuing is neuter, agreeing with eletnenis,
though properly referring to notes as is shown by "each in its several
sound." For the musical comparison, see Philo, Post. C. § 32 "Just as
instruments change in accordance with the endless combinations of
sound, so does the Logos vary." For the word, cp. Ps. xxxiii. 2
LXX., where the psaltery is spoken of as ten stringed.
As may clearly be divined] The incidents of the Exodus are adduced
 i88 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIX. 19—21.

19 For creatures of the dry land were turned into creatures of

the waters,
And creatures that swim trode no7V upon the earth :
20 Fire kept the master}- of its own power in the 7nidst of water,
And water forgat its quenching nature :
21 Contrariwise, flames wasted not the flesh of perishable
creatures that walked among them ;
Neither 'melted they the -ice-like grains of ambrosial food,
that were of nature apt to melt.
1 The Greek authorities read coidd be melted. The Latin seems to
have preser\-ed the original Greek text. ^ Gr. ice-like kind.
as e\-idence that the philosophic theory of interchange between the
elements was then further illustrated : see next v.
19. creatures of the dry laiid\ The Israelites and their cattle passed
through the waters, obtaining for the tim.e the powers of water-dwellers,
Ex. xii. 38, xiv. 29; Ps. Ixvi. 6. Philo applies the same doctrine of
transmutation as in w. 18, 19 to Xerxes at the Hellespont [Somn. ii.
17). For the adjectives of t/ie dry land, of the waters (xe/xrata, ivvSpa),
cp. Philo, Q. R. D. H.%2-,.
creatures that nvim] This can only refer to the plague of frogs, Ex.
viii. 3. Philo writes [J/os. i. 18) "It seemed as though nature were
planning to send out a colony of water-dwelling creatures into an
enemy's country : for dry land and sea are opposed."
20. kept the mastery'\ Vulg. ualebat supra suavi uirtuteniy seems to
point to the conjecture irvp {v7r€p)L<7xvev iv vdan, i.e. fire waxed more
fierce than ever in water. For the ref. see xvi. 17, 19.
its queiuhing 7iature'\ This /. is almost a repetition of the preceding.
Cp. Philo, Mas. i. 20 "The thunder-bolts, shooting through the hail,
neither melted it nor were put out themselves, for all the incompatibility
of their natures," and id. Somn. i. 3 "Springs of boiling water are
known in mid sea, which all the water around them could not overcome
{a^ea-ai), nor even check in the least degree."
21. fames -wasted not] Cp. xxi. 18. This v. and the prec. v. are
merely repetitions of marvels previously dealt with. As before he
postulates that the locusts, flies, etc. were still in existence when the
plague of hail was sent. Cp. Dan. iii. 27.
Neither melted they] Vulg. nee dissoluebant, points to the true reading
0U5' ^TTJKOV.
icelike., food] For the rather forced comparison of manna to snow
and ice, see xvi. 22. ambrosial has reference rather to the source (bread
from heaven, angels' food, xvi. 20) than to the pleasantness of the
manna (xvi. 21). Farrar writes "By reverting to what he has already
dwelt on, the writer is able to illustrate his thesis that the elements
changed their normal operations: and he thus ends in a blaze of futile

paradoxes. "
 THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON XIX. 22.

For in all things, O Lord, thou didst magnify thy people,

And thou didst glorify them and not lightly regard them ;
Standing by their side in every time and place.
22. For in all things\ The book comes to an abrupt conclusion
with this V. It sums up what the writer has been urging through the
latter half of the book, viz. that history is conducted on behalf of the
chosen people : that Israel is always true to its destiny, and that God is
always on the side of Israel.
in every time and place] Even to the writer's own day. There was
no reason why the book should end at this place : no culminating point
has been reached, at which the argument finds a natural conclusion. A
continuation of the interpretation of the history of Israel down to the
time of Solomon might have been expected (see ch. vi. 22). But this
is not to say that the original ending has been lost. Grimm compares
V. 22 with the closing words of 3 Mace. "Blessed be the Saviour of
Israel unto all times for ever." The brief summary indicates that the
later period would be found to illustrate the same principles as the
earlier. At the same time it does not offer equal possibilities of
dramatic contrast, and therefore any prolongation of the book might
only serve to detract from the cogency of the earlier argument. "It is
obvious that the scope ot the argument is fully satisfied by the investi-
gation of the providential history of the Jews up to the time of the
occupation of Canaan, and the last verse furnishes a complete epilogue
10 the treatise" ^Westcott, in Smiths D. B.),
 INDEX.

Aaron 177 cities of the Plain 98

Abraliam 97 Clement of Rome, Epistle of,
Adam 95 quoted x, 4, 22, 47, 55, 64, 73>
aerolites, sacred 129 74, 112,
colony 117 114, 118, 119, 157
affinity 2, 11, 26, 59 f.
allegorizing tendency xyH f. conscience 166
Anaxagoras 76, 110 constitution of the world 69
Anaximenes 125 cro\\Ti
creation 34out of matter xl, 88, 1 10
animal worship 122 f., 150
annihilation, final xlvii darkness, Egyptian 162
anthropomorphisms of O.T. xlii Davidson, A. B., Tkeo/. of 0. T.,
Antisthenes 9, 19, 166 quoted 64, 73, 86, 87, 90, 94,
d-rra&yaafia 75 114, 146, 147
apocalyptic 25 death, moral significance of xlv ;
Apollos xxi origin of 22 ; spiritual xlvi
apostasy xxiii, 17 decision, day of 32
Aristobulus xx, 59, 81 devil 22
Aristotle quoted 5, no, 125 Oid/3o\os 23
Art, function of 144 Diogenes quoted 77, 131
asceticism 29f. Diognetus, Epistle to, quoted 18,
assessor of God 88
25, 93, 112, 130
attributes of God 113 divine honours to men 137
Babel 97 dualism xl, 3, 86, 92 f.
barrenness 29 f. Ecclesiastes, relation of Wisdom
beauty 126 to xxivf.
body as evil, the xliv, 3, 86, 92 f. Ecclesiasticus, relation to xi
Book of the Dead 14 Egypt, hatred for xxiii; inhospi-
brazen serpent 153 tality of 186; the Jews in xi;
Bro\vning quoted 38, 51, 78, 93, Wisdom written in xvi
101, 120, 176 elements 69; interchange of I59f.,
burial 41 182, 187; worship of 125
Cabiri 142 Empedocles 69
Cain 96 emperor-worship xiii, 137 f.
cardinal virtues 81 Enoch, Book of 7, 24, 43, 55
celibacy 29f. envy 22
chiasmus xv Epictetus quoted 8, 12, 20, 33,
childlessness xliv, 33 132, 134, 148, 161, 166, 182
Cicero quoted 5, 12, 70, 136, 166 Epicureanism 12
 INDEX. 191

Epicurus quoted 12, 15, 80 Isaac, sacrifice of 98

eschatology xlviii, 2^S., 40-44, Jacob 100
50-54 James the Just 20
Essenes 161
jealousy 6
eixpvTjs 86 Jews, Wisdom written for xxii
evil, origin of 7, 22
Exodus 102 f. Joseph loi 142
Justice 5,
festival-procession 34 Juvenal quoted 142, 148, 151
fire in Greek philosophy 13 Koran quoted 50
Fourth Gospel, Wisdom and liii- Law of Moses 17
Ivi Logos xxxiii, xxxvif., 88, 117,
free-will xliii 155. 175, 178
friendship ^vith God 68, 77
future life xxxi, 23f. Logos-idea xii
Lot
Logos98 and Memra xxxviii
general laws xxix
God, doctrine of xxxix f. ; love of Love of God xli
xli, 113 ; omnipresence of 4, 5 ; Lucretius quoted 12, 146
strength of 120; as knowable Lysander 137, 138, 142
xli ; as Organiser of matter xl ; man, nature of xlii, 3, 21 f., 86 f.,
as Father 19 92 f., 147 f.
grace and mercy 28 man's soul a loan 146
Greek learning, attitude of Pales- manna, taste of 158
tinian Jews to xvi Margoliouth, D, S. xiv
Greek Literature, writerof Wisdom materialism xxiif., 11, 15
acquainted with xv Menander quoted 37, 166
Greek Philosophy, writer acquaint- merits of the fathers 178
ed wth xvii Messianic rule xlix
Hades, gates of 155 /xeraWevetP 39, 160
hakamim xxviii Midrashim xiii, 95
Hallel 174 Moses 104
Hasidaeans 21 Muratorian Canon ix
Heraclitus 93, 99, 125 mysteries ir, 21, 62, 140
heredity 29 N.T., Wisdom and the liiif.
name 13, 14
Herodotus quoted 125, 126, 132, Noah 97
133, 138, 140, 149. 181 nature-worship 124 f.
high-priest's robe 179 old age 36, 37
holy spirit 94
Homer quoted 3, 84, 176 Ovid quoted 14, 130
Horace quoted 16, 34, 65, 93, TavapcTOS x, 72
Passover 173
129, 132, 145, 148
ideas, doctrine of 91 Pataeci 132
idolatry xix, 129 Paul, Wisdom and Ivif.
idol-makers 145 Pauline Logos-doctrine liv
immortality xlvi, 26, 31, 33
perjury 141
incense 177 persecution in Egypt 149
incorruption 61 personality, constitution of xliif.
infanticide 1 16 pillar of salt 99
intercession 178 Pionius, Acts of 98
192 INDEX.
Plato quoted 64, 78, 79, 86, 93, 126 106, no, 153, 157, 161, 164,
Platonic doctrine xvii. 70, 81, 133 170, 174, 39177, i8f, 185
TeXeiovadai
Prayer of Solomon 85 f.
predestination xliii, 87 Thales quoted 74, 94, 125
preexistence xliii, 86 Theophilus 22
prophets 77 Therapeutae i6r, 173
protoplast 64, 95 Thyestean banquets 116
providence 57, 133, 162; Wisdom Tibullus quoted 130, 131
as xxxiv transcendence,
truth 27 divine xviii, xl
Ptolemy Philadelphus x
Ptolemy Physcon xi Vergil quoted 48, 64, 93, 130,
punishment, divine 109 134, i66, 176
Pygmalion 144 visitation, day of xlvii, 27, 30, 40,
Pythagoras 125, 133, 148, 158 186
quails 152, 184 Water and the Israelites and the
repentance, place of 118 Egyptians 105
resurrection n , 12; doctrine of Wisdom -literature, growth of
xlvii xxviii
retaliation 109 f. Wisdom accessible 58 ; as angel
Seneca quoted 37, 141 of God xxxiv; as artificer 71;
attributes of xxxiv ; bride of
Septuagint,
16, 17, 27,writer's
30, 37, use of 51,
47 f., x, xiv,
53, God 79; derivation of 75 f.; in
57, 61, 84, 88, 89, 90, 105, 147, Ecclesiasticus xxxii ; functions
157, 160, 175 of xxxiv ; as hand of God xxxiv ;
serpent, devil as 22 as initiated 79; in Job xxxi ; as
serpent-worship 151 Justice xxxiv ; nature of xxxv f. ;
servant of Lord 18, 177 f. as Pillar of fire 103; as Power
Shakespere quoted 66, 83, 113 xxxiv, 2 ; in Proverbs xxxii ; as
Solomon, Wisdom attributed to spirit 3; as spouse 78 f.; syno-
xxvi nyms for xxxiii; as teacher 60,
Sophists 63 81 ; an unifying principle xxiv;
Sorites xv, 60 W^isdom and the Stoic Logos 72
Spirit of God, of the Lord xxxiii, Wisdom, Book of, addressed to
4, 114 rulers xxi ; advance made by
spirit of man 147 XXX ; influence of Greek learning
creipa 29 f. on xvi f. ; revision of translation
Stoic doctrine xvii, xlvii, 5, 74, of lii
wise, the xxviii f.
78, 166 \vrath of God 153, 177, 180
CTOLX'^'ia 70
sun-worship 126 (piXavOpuTTos 4, 121
symbolism 79 (pLX6\pvxos 114
Talmud quoted 90, 96 Zeno quoted 6, 34, 62, 73, 166
Targums quoted 96, 98, loi, 103, Zoroaster 126

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