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Introduction
Though
called the Wisdom of Solomon, Solomon is never mentioned in the book.
Wisdom is a product of Alexandrian Judaism and promotes a wholehearted
pursuit of wisdom which begins with reverance for God and his Torah.
The unknown author focuses on God’s judgment in order to demonstrate
that forsaking the path of true wisdom is utter folly. Wisdom recalls
God’s care and grace towards Israel throughout her history, especially
the Exodus, and exposes the ignorance of idolatry that has duped most
of humanity. Wisdom is perhaps the most important of the Apocrypha
in terms of impact upon the early church’s theology and
self-understanding.
We can
outline Wisdom as follows:
I.
Promises of Reward for the Righteous and Punishment for wicked (1.1-
5.23)
II.
Praises Wisdom and describes Her nature and work (6.1-9.18)
III.
Wisdom’s guidance and protection of Israel through the wilderness
(10.1-12.27)
IV.
Wisdom explains the origins and folly of idolatry (13.1-15.19)
V.
God’s punishment on evil and grace towards his People (16.1-19.22)
Wisdom of
Solomon was written sometime after 220 B.C. and likely was a Greek
composition. This last point is not uncontested however. There are a
large amount of
Hebraisms
in the book that suggest to some scholars it is translation Greek.
Luther
on Wisdom
Martin
Luther translated Wisdom in 1529 for inclusion in his German Bible.
He provides a lengthy preface to the book describing various theories
of authorship in which he sides with various Church Fathers who
thought the book might have been written by Philo. As with Tobit and
Judith, Luther rejects the canonicity of Wisdom but places a high
value on the book itself.
“[T]here are many good things in this book, and it is well worth
reading. . . It pleases me beyond measure that the author here
extols the Word of God so highly, and ascribes to the Word all the
wonders God has performed, both both on enemies and in his saints.
From
this it can be clearly seen that what the author here calls wisdom
is not the clever or lofty thoughts of pagan teachers and human
reason, but the holy and divine Word. . .
To
refer to this book as the Wisdom of Solomon is as much to call it: A
Book of Solomon about the Word of God. So the spirit of wisdom is
nothing other than faith, our understanding of that same Word; this,
however, the Holy Spirit imparts. Such faith or spirit can do all
things, and does do all things, as this book glories in chapter 7
[v.27]. . .
This
is the foremost reason why it is well to read this book: one may
learn to fear and trust God. To that end may he graciously help
us. Amen.” (Luther’s Works, vol. 35, pp. 343-345).
As can be
seen Luther did not see Wisdom as a danger to the Christian faith but
a real and present help.
Wisdom’s Critique of Idolatry
Wisdom
continues the tradition (seen in Letter of Jeremiah and Bel
and the Dragon already studied in class) of attacking the idolatry
of the Gentile world. Wisdom though able to mock paganism is also
quite sophisticated in its critique.
“But most foolish, and more miserable than an infant,
are all the enemies who oppressed your people.
For they thought that all these have neither the use
of their eyes to see with, nor nostrils with which to
breath,
nor ears with which to hear,
nor fingers to feel with,
and their feet are of no use for walking.
For a human being made them, and one whose spirit is
borrowed
formed them;
for none can form gods that are like themselves.
People are mortal, and what they make with lawless hands
is dead;
For they are better than the objects they worship, since
they
have life, but the idols never had.” (Wisdom
15.14-17).
The
author of Wisdom presents a very insightful theory as to how idolatry
began and why it is so reprehensible.
“Therefore
there will be a visitation also upon the heathen idols, because,
though part of what God created, they became an abomination, snares
for human souls and a trap for the feet of the foolish. (Wisdom
14.11)
Idolaters
use the material of God’s own good creation to promote a cult that
dishonors
the
Creator, thus misusing the gifts of God’s creation. God’s good gifts
should have aroused gratitude to him, not the worship of the created!
Personification of Wisdom
One of
the critical developments in Wisdom is the concept of “wisdom”
herself. With roots already in the Hebrew Bible (Proverbs 1.20-33 &
8.22-31) our author understands Wisdom to be an “emanation” from God
himself rather than a created being:
“She
is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory
of the Almighty . . . a reflection of eternal light, a spotless
mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness.”
(Wisdom 7.25-26).
Wisdom is
God’s companion and agent in creation and ongoing providence in the
world (8. 1 & 9.9). Some scholars even think the author thinks Wisdom
is a “throne partner” of God (cf. 9.4). At the very least there is
an intimate relationship.
Wisdom
can only be obtained among humans through prayer,
“Therefore, I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me”
(Wisdom 7.7, cf. James 1.5; see also Wisdom 8.21-9.18).
Wisdom
also advances doctrines about judgment and the afterlife. The
righteous will have peace and glory forever in a “place of great
delight in the temple of the Lord” (3.14). This is one of the
first “windows” into the idea of heaven in Jewish literature.
In a
passage of great beauty and comfort, our author encourages the
faithful to be undaunted by even death:
“But the souls of the righteous are in the hands of
God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seems to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope was full of immortality.
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great
good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself.”
(Wisdom 3.1-5).
Wisdom
of Solomon and Christianity
The early
church made extensive use of Wisdom. A number of passages were
interpreted messianically. For example, “Blessed is the wood
through which righteousness comes” (14.7) was seized upon as a
reference to the Cross. Another famous passage, which depicts the
persecution of a righteous Jew, was seen as a clear description of the
conspiracy against Christ by religious leaders. It is in fact an
amazing passage:
“Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law,
and accuses us of sins against our training.
He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child of the Lord.
He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
the very sight of him is a burden to us,
because his manner of life is unlike that of others,
and his ways are strange.
We are considered by him as something base,
and he avoids our ways as unclean;
he calls the last end of the righteous happy
and boasts that God is his father.
Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen
at the end of his
life;
for if the righteous man is God’s child, he will help him,
and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may
find out how gentle he is,
and make trial of his forbearance.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death,
for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”
(Wisdom 2.12-20)
That is a
moving and a powerful passage to say the least. I can understand why
someone might see it as describing Jesus and his enemies.
The NT
writers demonstrate numerous times their dependence upon the book of
Wisdom for their own words. The influence of Wisdom’s theology on
John’s teaching of the “Logos” is plainly evident. Another passage
that was interpreted by the church as a prophecy of Jesus can be
understood as such in light of John. Wisdom says that “[Y]our all
powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, into
the midst of the land that was doomed . . .” (18.15).
The
Hebrew Writer uses many concepts from Wisdom to explicate the person
of Jesus as well. Paul’s description of the pagan world in Romans
1.19-32 comes straight out of Wisdom (13.1-9; 14.22-27). These
passages are compared on our website under “Romans and The Wisdom of
Solomon.”
Another
connection with the NT is Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesians to put
on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6.11-17). Here is the Wisdom
passage:
“The Lord will take his zeal as his whole armor,
and will arm all creation to repel his enemies;
he will put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and wear impartial justice as a helmet;
he will take holiness as an invincible shield,
and sharpen stern wrath for a sword,
and creation will join with him to fight against his
frenzied foes.” (Wisdom 5. 17-21).
It is
clear that the early church found the book of Wisdom to be a valuable
resource. After the NT period the church continued to appeal to the
book. The book played a crucial role in providing vocabulary for the
doctrine of the Trinity. Writers like Ignatius, Athenagoras,
Augustine, Origen and many, many more quoted and used the book in
their teaching and exposition. Why? Because they found in the book
a “witness” to faith – just as we have seen in the previous Apocrypha.
Questions
to Reflect Upon
1) What
surprised you about this book?
2) Did
you hear any “echo” from the New Testament?
3) Did
you find the book “edifying”? Did anything in the book encourage your
walk with God?
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