Texts in Conversation
Wisdom of Solomon treats idolatry as the natural cause of moral failure, using language of impurity and violence. In Romans, Paul draws on this same tradition, using similar language to show how false worship leads to corruption.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Wisdom of Solomon 14:22
Deuterocanon
22 Afterward it was not enough for them to go astray concerning the knowledge of God, but also, while they live in a great war of ignorance, they call a multitude of evils peace. 23 For either slaughtering children in solemn rites, or celebrating secret mysteries, or holding frenzied revels of strange customs, 24 no longer do they guard either life or purity of marriage, but one brings upon another either death by treachery, or anguish by adultery. 25 And all things confusedly are filled with blood and murder, theft and deceit, corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury, 26 confusion about what is good, forgetfulness of favors, ingratitude for benefits, defiling of souls, confusion of sex, disorder in marriage, adultery and wantonness. 27 For the worship of idols that may not be named is a beginning and cause and end of every evil. 28 For their worshipers either make merry to madness, or prophesy lies, or live unrighteously, or lightly commit perjury.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Romans 1:24
New Testament
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, 27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. 29 They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless.
Date: 55–58 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Romans 1:18–2:5 is the first step in Paul's rhetorical revelation of the common condition of all human beings: homo est peccator (the human is a sinner). This is a revolutionary revelation. The language Paul employs, however, in terms of vocabulary, theme, and argumentative structure, has deep parallels in the early Jewish textual tradition. This is especially true of Wisdom of Solomon 13–15, which, like Romans 1:18–2:5, considers the relationship of Jews and Gentiles before God within the human history of idolatry. The parallels between Wisdom of Solomon and Romans make them readily comparable, but, as we shall see, the differences are even more significant ..."
Ben C. Blackwell, John K. Goodrich, and Jason Maston, eds., Reading Romans in Context: Paul and Second Temple Judaism (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015), 38–45.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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