By: Kaufmann Kohler
Table of Contents
Apocryphal book written in Alexandria about the middle of the first century B.C. That it was composed in Greek by an Alexandrian Jew has been conclusively shown by Freudenthal ("J. Q. R." iii. 722-753). The book has neither an introductory verse nor a regular conclusion. In fact, it consists of three independent parts which have no real connection, and which treat of subjects altogether different, a fact clearly recognized by Bretschneider, Eichhorn, and others, but disputed by Grimm ("Kurzgefasstes Exegetisches Handbuch zu den Apocryphen des Alten Testaments," vi. 9-24, Leipsic, 1860) and his followers.
Contents of the Book.
The first six chapters of Wisdom form an address to the rulers of the earth (i. 1; comp. iii. 8; vi. 1-2, 9, 21). They accentuate the necessity of wisdom as indispensable to rulers (i. 6, vi. 9-25), although they are chiefly directed against the Epicureans, the ungodly who deny immortality, indulge in lust and incest, and mock the righteous and the learned, who in their turn upbraid them for their lawlessness and licentiousness (ii. 1-16). In contrast with them the "saints" (Ḥasidim) whom they expose to torture (ii. 19, iii. 1) and to a martyr's death (iii. 2) are called "sons of God," initiated into His mystery, promised an inheritance in eternal life (i. 14; ii. 13, 21, 23; iii. 4, 15; iv. 1; v. 15) like Enoch (iv. 10-16), and assured of a crown of glory in the world to come (v. 16). Finally, wisdom is introduced in vi. 9-25 as the speaker, and as the one who bestows the divine kingdom and confers immortality (vi. 20-21); whereas sin brings death, since "through envy of the devil came death into the world" (ii. 24). The second part (ch. vii.-ix. 17) contains an address of King Solomon, relating how his life was guided solely by wisdom, and closing with a prayer offered by him to God that he might obtain her. Here wisdom is represented as a mystic power which imparts not only knowledge of all mysteries and the spirit of prophecy (vii. 17-21, 27), but even immortality (viii. 13), while it is also a cosmic force invested with twenty-one divine attributes, this number being either a triple multiple of seven, or, if originally twenty-two instead of twenty-one, corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Greek alphabet (vii.22-23). At the same time, wisdom, as in the Platonic system, is believed to teach the four cardinal virtues of temperance, prudence, justice, and fortitude (viii. 7). The prayer of Solomon refers to the heavenly tabernacle prepared from the beginning, and to his own predestination (ix. 7-8; see Preexistence). Wisdom is described as a cosmic principle dwelling on the throne of glory next to God, and as knowing and designing all things (ix. 1, 4, 10), being identical with the creative Word (ix. 1) and the Holy Spirit (ix. 17).
Hellenistic Passover Haggadah.
While these two portions of the book form a unity to some extent, and probably gave the entire work its title of "Wisdom of Solomon," the last section (ix. 18-xix. 22) is devoid of all connection with what precedes. The speaker is no longer Solomon, but the author or the saints (xvi. 28, xviii. 6 et passim), who recite the history of Israel's redemption from Egypt and other enemies. In like manner, the words are not addressed to the kings of the earth (ix. 18; x. 20; xi. 4, 9, 17, 21; et passim), but to God, the deliverer from the Red Sea. The whole appears on close observation to be part of a Passover Haggadah recited in Egypt with reference to Gentile surroundings, and it accordingly abounds in genuine haggadic passages of an ancient character. The tenth chapter serves as a connecting-link between the Solomonic Wisdom-book and this Passover-Haggadah fragment, and must, therefore, be taken with the last verse of the ninth chapter and the first of the eleventh, in both of which wisdom forms the theme. Here, however, it has nothing in common with the Solomonic wisdom, which, enabling the king to penetrate into all the mysteries of heaven and earth, to study the world of the spirits, and to learn the virtues of stones and roots, thus came very close to the Platonic wisdom (vii. 17-26). The wisdom of the haggadist is exclusive and hostile to the Gentile world, rather than cosmopolitan and broad, saving only the righteous and bringing ruin upon the wicked (ix. 18, x. 1-21). From this point of view the lives of the Patriarchs are recounted to lead up to the story of the Exodus. Wisdom taught Adam to rise from his fall by repentance (comp. "Vita Adæ et Evæ," viii.; Pirḳe R. El. xx.); but it caused Cain and his generation to perish (x. 1-3). It saved Noah, Abraham, and Lot, but brought lasting doom upon the offenders (x. 4-9). It showed Jacob the kingdom of God in the vision of the ladder (comp. Gen. R. lxviii. 16; Targ. Yer. to Gen. xxviii. 12) and gave him victory over all his pursuers (x. 10-12). It preserved Joseph the righteous from sin, went with him into the pit and the prison, and raised him to the throne and to glory, but covered his detractors with shame (x. 13-15). It delivered Israel from its heathen oppressors, entered into the soul of Moses, enabling him to work all his miracles before Pharaoh, and, in the shape of a protecting pillar of cloud by day and of an illuminating fire by night, guided the people through the wilderness and through the Red Sea, while it drowned the Egyptians and cast them up again from the deep to enrich the Israelites with the spoils that floated upon the water (x. 15-20; comp. Mek., Beshallaḥ, 6; Targ. Yer. to Ex. xiii. 21; xv. 12, 20; Josephus, "Ant." ii. 16, § 6). It also opened the mouths of the dumb so that they joined in the song of the people in praise of God at the Red Sea (x. 21; comp. Mek. to Shirah [Song of Moses], 1), and it prospered the work of Moses in the wilderness (xi. 1-4). (read more...)
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