Texts in Conversation
The Wisdom of Solomon adapts Isaiah’s call for the barren woman to rejoice, transforming it into a reflection on those denied physical offspring, possibly eunuchs exiled in Babylon. The text draws on Isaiah’s promise of honor and inclusion for such figures, yet shifts the focus toward moral purity rather than ritual observance.
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Isaiah 54:1
Hebrew Bible
1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth! Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one are more numerous than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord. 2 Make your tent larger, stretch your tent curtains farther out! Spare no effort, lengthen your ropes, and pound your stakes deep. 3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your children will conquer nations and will resettle desolate cities.
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Wisdom of Solomon 3:13
Deuterocanon
11 for those who despise wisdom and instruction are miserable. Their hope is vain, their labors are unprofitable, and their works are useless. 12 Their wives are foolish, and their children evil; 13 their offspring are accursed. For blessed is the barren woman who is undefiled, who has not entered into a sinful union; she will have fruit when God examines souls. 14 Blessed also is the eunuch whose hands have done no lawless deed, and who has not devised wicked things against the Lord; for special favor will be shown him for his faithfulness, and a place of great delight in the temple of the Lord. 15 For the fruit of good labors is renowned, and the root of understanding does not fail.
Date: 100-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Wisdom of Solomon 3:13-14 ... The reference is clearly to Isaiah, where the prophet refers to those Jewish youth who were castrated at the hands of the Babylonian tyranny, and had consequently despaired of any share in Israel's future redemption (Deuteronomy 23:1-2). Isaiah encouraged them with the divine assurance: 'I will give them in My House and within My walls, a monument and a name better than sons or daughters.' According to Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 93b, the captivity of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah is the fulfillment of Isaiah 39:7 (= 2 Kings 20:18), and Rab takes the word 'eunuchs' in that verse literally. (The Talmud also identifies the 'eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths' in Isaiah 56:4 with Daniel and his three associates.) Compare Jerome's Commentary on Daniel 1:3; Origen's Commentary on Matthew 15:5; Jerusalem Talmud Shabbat 6.9, 8d (where we are told that Daniel and his associates were eunuchs but were healed by passage through the fiery furnace). It should be noted that whereas Isaiah 56:3 refers to the Eunuch's observance of the Sabbath, our verse speaks only vaguely about his refraining from anomema ..."
Winston, David
The Wisdom of Solomon: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
(p. 132) 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.
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