Texts in Conversation
The Wisdom of Solomon and Sirach portray wisdom as a woman who can be loved and desired as a bride, blending the language of devotion and intimacy. Wisdom of Solomon speaks of longing for her beauty, while Sirach describes her embrace like a young bride.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 15:2
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 He who fears the Lord will do this. He who has possession of the law will obtain her. 2 She will meet him like a mother, and receive him like a wife married in her virginity. 3 She will feed him with bread of understanding and give him water of wisdom to drink. 4 He will be stayed upon her, and will not be moved. He will rely upon her, and will not be confounded.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Wisdom of Solomon 8:2
Deuterocanon
1 But she reaches from one end to the other with full strength, and orders all things well. 2 I loved her and sought her from my youth. I sought to take her for my bride. I became enamoured by her beauty. 3 She glorifies her noble birth by living with God. The Sovereign Lord of all loves her. 4 For she is initiated into the knowledge of God, and she chooses his works.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Sanders argues that the sexual aspects of 11Q5 21 should be understood in terms of the sapiential tradition of praising wisdom as a woman. This is an astute observation. The presentation of Lady Wisdom in Proverbs is not particularly sexual. The loose woman of Proverbs 7 is a much more erotic figure (e.g., verse 18). But Lady Wisdom does invite men to accept her wisdom and declares 'I love those who love me' (8:17). Later Jewish wisdom texts elaborate this trope. In the Wisdom of Solomon, Solomon declares: 'I loved her (wisdom) and sought her from my youth; I desired to take her for my bride, and became enamored of her beauty' (8:2; compare verse 18). In Sirach 14:20-15:10, she is also called a bride: 'Motherlike she will meet him, like a young bride she will embrace him' (15:2; compare 6:26-28) ..."
Matthew J. Goff, Discerning Wisdom: The Sapiential Literature of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 255–256.
* 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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