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Wisdom of Solomon 4 describes the righteous as peaceful after death, a portrayal that echoes Isaiah 57 where the upright rest in death. Wisdom of Solomon adapts Isaiah to place itself in continuity with the traditions in the Hebrew Bible.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 57:2
Hebrew Bible
1 The godly perish, but no one cares. Honest people disappear, when no one minds that the godly disappear because of evil. 2 Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace; they rest on their beds. 3 “But approach, you sons of omen readers, you offspring of adulteresses and prostitutes! 4 At whom are you laughing? At whom are you opening your mouth and sticking out your tongue? You are the children of rebels, the offspring of liars,
Date: 740–450 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Wisdom of Solomon 4:7
Deuterocanon
5 Their branches will be broken off before they come to maturity. Their fruit will be useless, never ripe to eat, and fit for nothing. 6 For unlawfully conceived children are witnesses of wickedness against parents when they are investigated. 7 But a righteous man, even if he dies before his time, will be at rest. 8 For honorable old age is not that which stands in length of time, nor is its measure given by number of years, 9 but understanding is gray hair to men, and an unspotted life is ripe old age.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Compare with Isaiah 57:2; 32:17, LXX; Parable of Jeremiah 5:32: 'I bless you, God of heaven and earth, the Rest (he anapausis; compare with Wisdom of Solomon 4:7) of the souls of the righteous in every place'; BR 9.5, Th. Alb. 7: 'Why was death decreed for the righteous? Since as long as they are alive, they are at war with their evil impulse, but when they die, they are given respite, and this is the meaning of the verse, 'and there the weary are at rest' (Job 3:19).' The usual custom in Palestine when mentioning a departed righteous person was to say (Jerusalem Erubin 3, Pesachim 4.1, 30d) 'whose soul is at rest,' as is clearly stated by Resh Lakish: 'Some are mentioned and blessed (with the word noach), others are mentioned and cursed' ..."
David Winston, The Wisdom of Solomon: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979), 126.
* 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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