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Romans and the Wisdom of Solomon |
Bobby Valentine
Southside Church
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The Wisdom of
Solomon was written by a pious Alexandrian Jew some time after 200
B.C. This literary production whose theme might be said to be "the
righteous live forever," left a marked impression on the Apostle Paul.
This is especially evident in his letter to the Romans. There are two
passages, one lengthy and the other short, that show direct contact
with Wisdom and merit our attention. The first is in Romans 1.19-32
where Paul presents his searing critique of pagan depravity -- his
criticism however comes straight from Wisdom (cf. Wisdom 13-14).
First: Both works move through the same progression of thought. The
Gentiles ought to have been able to perceive the One God through
observation and so are "without excuse" (Wisdom 13.1-9; Romans
1.19-20); Gentiles instead turned to the worship of created things
(Wisdom 13.2,7; Rom. 1.22-23, 25). This ignorance of God (Wisdom
14.22; Rom. 1.21) produced all manner of wickedness, including murder,
theft, deceit and sexual perversion (Wisdom 14.22-27; Rom. 1.24,
26-31). God just sentence remains on those who practice such deeds
(Wisdom 14.30-31; Romans 1.32).
For the sake of those who do not have Wisdom I will reproduce a couple
of illustrative texts with a cross reference to Romans:
"From the greatness and beauty of created things comes a
corresponding perception of their Creator" (Wisdom 13.5, cf. Rom.
1.20)
"Yet again, even they cannot be excused, for if they had the power
to know so much that they could investigate the world, how did they
fail to find sooner the Lord of these things" (Wisdom 13.8, cf.
Rom. 1.20-21)
"For all men who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature; and
they were unable from the good things that are seen to know him who
exists, nor did they recognize the craftsman while paying heed to his
works" (Wisdom 13.1)
Wisdom describes the pagan debauchery in these familiar terms in
Romans, "They no longer keep either their lives or their marriages
pure, but they either treacherously kill one another, or grieve one
another by adultery, and all is a raging riot of blood and murder,
theft and deceit, corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury,
confusion over what is good, forgetfulness of favors, pollution of
souls, sex perversion, disorder in marriage, adultery, and debaucher.
For the worship of unspeakable idols is the beginning and cause and
end of every evil" (Wisdom 14.24-27, cf. Rom. 1.26, 29-31).
The Second shorter text (but no less significant) occurs in Romans
9.21. In actuality in the context of this passage Paul seems to refer
to both Wisdom and Sirach. Paul affirms God's absolute sovereignty
over human beings in terms found in Sirach 33.10-13 (i.e. "all are
as clay in the hands of the potter . . . to be given whatever he
decides"). To this Paul adds a line that comes nearly verbatim
from Wisdom 15.7 where the Potter makes "out of the same clay both
the vessels that serve clean uses and those for contrary/unclean
uses." Paul also shares with Wisdom that God's judgment is beyond
criticism and the will of God irresistible (Wisdom 12.12, cf. Rom.
9.19) while stressing that God is mercifully patient allowing
opportunity for repentance (Wisdom 11.23; 12.19-20, cf. Rom. 2.4).
As a side note Paul seems to have in mind Wisdom 5.17-20 in Ephesians
6.11-17. I know that it is popular preacher lore to say that Paul was
meditating on the armor of a Roman soldier but that is probably not
the case. First as Richard Hayes {Echoes of Scripture in Paul's
Letters} points out the first root of the Ephesians text is Isaiah
59.17 but he see the Isaiah text through Wisdom 5. Two strong reasons
suggest this: 1) Wisdom adds two details that are not in Isaiah that
are in Paul, the shield and the sword; 2) Paul uses the exact word in
Wisdom -- the "panoplia" (whole armor" of God).
Clearly Paul had an intimate knowledge of the Wisdom of Solomon and
had a high regard for the book. If we are fully appreciate Paul's
letter to the Romans we need to explore his sources they often shed
light on the text of Romans itself. It also calls us to to a greater
knowledge of Wisdom.
Quotations taken from The Parallel Apocrypha: Greek and English
Texts, ed John Kohlenberger III (Oxford UP, 1997).
Shalom,
Bobby Valentine |
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