Texts in Conversation
Proverbs introduces its collection by contrasting those who love wisdom with those who reject it, calling rejection the mark of fools. The Wisdom of Solomon echoes this pattern, describing those who ignore wisdom with empty hopes and meaningless work.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Proverbs 1:7
Hebrew Bible
5 (Let the wise also hear and gain instruction, and let the discerning acquire guidance!) 6 To discern the meaning of a proverb and a parable, the sayings of the wise and their riddles. 7 Fearing the Lord is the beginning of discernment, but fools have despised wisdom and moral instruction. 8 Listen, my child, to the instruction from your father, and do not forsake the teaching from your mother. 9 For they will be like an elegant garland on your head, and like pendants around your neck.
Date: 600–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Wisdom of Solomon 3:11
Deuterocanon
9 Those who trust him will understand truth. The faithful will live with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones. 10 But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord; 11 for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable. Their hope is void and their toils unprofitable. Their works are useless. 12 Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked. 13 Their descendants are cursed. For the barren woman who is undefiled is happy, she who has not conceived in transgression. She will have fruit when God examines souls.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... Alternation of singular and plural is not uncommon in wisdom literature; verse 11 should be read as a parenthesis. sets at naught. Compare Proverbs 1:7, LXX. empty ... hopes. Compare Job 7:6, LXX; Sirach 31:1 ..."
David Winston, The Wisdom of Solomon: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979), 129.
* 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.
User Comments
,