The Wisdom of Solomon in the Catholic Bible
The Wisdom of Solomon, also called the Book of Wisdom, is one of seven books included in the Old Testament of the Catholic Bible which does not appear in Protestant Bibles. The Wisdom of Solomon was written in Greek, most likely in the 1st. century B.C. in Alexandria, Eygpt. The title in Greek, translated as the Wisdom of Solomon, attributes the book to King Solomon, the son and heir of King David of Israel. King Solomon was celebrated for his wisdom, and the attribution of this book to him invokes a great authority as the source for the wisdom found in it.
The first five chapters of the Book of Wisdom explain the function of Wisdom in human destiny and compares the fate of the good and the fate of the bad both during life and afterwards. Chapters six through nine treat the origin and nature of Wisdom and how it can be won. Chapters ten through nineteen recount the role Wisdom played in the history of God's chosen people Israel, especially focusing on the critical event of the Exodus from Egypt. In this third part of the book there is an extended discussion of idolatry in chapters thirteen through fifteen.
The author of the Book of Wisdom speaks as a king in several sections, particularly as he addresses other kings in chapter 6:1-11. He urges them to understand and take warning because "sovereignty is given to you by the Lord and power by the Most High, who will himself probe your acts and scrutinize your intentions." (6:3) He promises a ruthless judgment for rulers who do not follow the will of God as well as pardon for the lowly out of pity.
The Wisdom of Solomon is addressed to the author's fellow Jews living in the diaspora in Alexandria, Egypt, a great center of Greek learning and culture. It was here that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, was produced under the Ptolemies and completed by 132 B.C. The author adopts some Greek philosophical ideas, particularly the Platonic distinction of body and soul in the makeup of the human person and the concept of the immortality of the soul (9:15). He proclaims that God has made the human race for immortality (2:23) and that incorruption is the reward of Wisdom and the way to God (6:18-19).
The author provides a poetic description of Wisdom in chapter seven:
And now I understand everything, hidden or visible, for Wisdom, the designer of all things, has instructed me.
For within her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, incisive, unsullied, lucid, invulnerable, benevolent, shrewd, irresistible, beneficent, friendly to human beings, steadfast, dependable, unperturbed, almighty, all-surveying, penetrating, all intelligent, pure and most subtle spirits.
The first five chapters of the Book of Wisdom explain the function of Wisdom in human destiny and compares the fate of the good and the fate of the bad both during life and afterwards. Chapters six through nine treat the origin and nature of Wisdom and how it can be won. Chapters ten through nineteen recount the role Wisdom played in the history of God's chosen people Israel, especially focusing on the critical event of the Exodus from Egypt. In this third part of the book there is an extended discussion of idolatry in chapters thirteen through fifteen.
The author of the Book of Wisdom speaks as a king in several sections, particularly as he addresses other kings in chapter 6:1-11. He urges them to understand and take warning because "sovereignty is given to you by the Lord and power by the Most High, who will himself probe your acts and scrutinize your intentions." (6:3) He promises a ruthless judgment for rulers who do not follow the will of God as well as pardon for the lowly out of pity.
The Wisdom of Solomon is addressed to the author's fellow Jews living in the diaspora in Alexandria, Egypt, a great center of Greek learning and culture. It was here that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, was produced under the Ptolemies and completed by 132 B.C. The author adopts some Greek philosophical ideas, particularly the Platonic distinction of body and soul in the makeup of the human person and the concept of the immortality of the soul (9:15). He proclaims that God has made the human race for immortality (2:23) and that incorruption is the reward of Wisdom and the way to God (6:18-19).
The author provides a poetic description of Wisdom in chapter seven:
And now I understand everything, hidden or visible, for Wisdom, the designer of all things, has instructed me.
For within her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, incisive, unsullied, lucid, invulnerable, benevolent, shrewd, irresistible, beneficent, friendly to human beings, steadfast, dependable, unperturbed, almighty, all-surveying, penetrating, all intelligent, pure and most subtle spirits.
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