Texts in Conversation
Wisdom of Solomon borrows Isaiah’s idea of a day when God steps in to judge human actions. In Isaiah, this moment warns corrupt leaders who exploit the poor that their wealth and power will not save them. Wisdom uses the same idea more broadly, showing that such judgment can bring either punishment or mercy.
Share:
Isaiah 10:3
Hebrew Bible
1 Beware, those who enact unjust policies those who are always instituting unfair regulations, 2 to keep the poor from getting fair treatment and to deprive the oppressed among my people of justice, so they can steal what widows own and loot what belongs to orphans. 3 What will you do on the day of visitation5, when destruction arrives from a distant place? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your wealth? 4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners or to fall among those who have been killed. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. 5 “Beware, Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, a cudgel with which I angrily punish.
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Wisdom of Solomon 3:7
Deuterocanon
5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; 6 like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them. 7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble. 8 They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them forever. 9 Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his elect.
Date: 100-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Search:
Notes and References
"... God's gracious dispensation ... episkopes, episcope, 'visitation,' translates Hebrew pekudah, which can be used both in a bad sense and in a good sense, i.e. a visitation bringing either punishment or pardon. Compare Jeremiah 10:15, LXX; Isaiah 10:3; 29:6, LXX; Isaiah 23:17, LXX; Zechariah 10:3, LXX; 1QS 3.18; 4.18, 26; CD 7.21. Blaze forth ... like sparks in the stubble. For the imagery, compare Zechariah 12:6; Exodus 9:23, LXX; Isaiah 1:3; Joel 2:5; Obadiah 18; Nahum 2:4 ..."
Winston, David
The Wisdom of Solomon: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
(p. 128) Doubleday, 1979
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.