Texts in Conversation
Isaiah 62 portrays Zion as a majestic crown held by God, using the image to describe the city’s restoration and vindication. Wisdom of Solomon uses the crown image but describes it as a reward given to righteous individuals rather than the nation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 62:3
Hebrew Bible
1 For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines brightly and her deliverance burns like a torch. 2 Nations will see your vindication, and all kings your splendor. You will be called by a new name that the Lord himself will give you. 3 You will be a majestic crown in the hand of the Lord, a royal turban in the hand of your God. 4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,” and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.” Indeed, you will be called “My Delight is in Her” and your land “Married.” For the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married to him. 5 As a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you. As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
Date: 740–450 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Wisdom of Solomon 5:16
Deuterocanon
14 Because the hope of the ungodly man is like chaff carried by the wind, and as thin frost driven away by a tempest; and is scattered like smoke by the wind, and passes by as the remembrance of a guest who stays just a day. 15 But the righteous live forever. Their reward is in the Lord, and the care for them with the Most High. 16 Therefore they will receive the crown of royal dignity and the diadem of beauty from the Lord’s hand, because he will cover them with his right hand, and he will shield them with his arm. 17 He will take his zeal as complete armor, and will make the whole creation his weapons to punish his enemies: 18 He will put on righteousness as a breastplate, and will wear impartial judgment as a helmet.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Despite Wisdom 5’s predominant dependence on Isaiah 59, there are aspects of chapter 59 that do not completely fulfill Pseudo-Solomon’s purposes. Here, I note a few salient differences between the two texts that reflect how Pseudo-Solomon supplements and molds the themes in Isaiah 59 to more fully communicate his own message. First, Isaiah 59 does not mention immortality for the righteous in the afterlife. In fact, the only benefit granted the righteous is earthly salvation and restoration (59:16, 20–21). Such salvation, which includes a covenantal relationship with God, is spoken about in eternal terms, but it is still communally and earthly-oriented, being maintained through subsequent generations (59:21). So, in Wisdom of Solomon 5:15–16, Pseudo-Solomon supplements the eschatological vision expressed in Isaiah 59 by mentioning a reward that involves eternal life after death for righteous individuals who will receive a beautiful diadem from the hand of the Lord. This diadem image clearly derives from Isaiah 62:3 since these are the only two biblical passages that use this language ... Pseudo-Solomon even takes up this Isaian verse, which originally refers to the restoration of Zion, thus having a communal sense, and reapplies it to the reward that awaits righteous individuals in the afterlife. Through this supplementation derived from another Deutero-Isaian text, Pseudo-Solomon provides a fuller picture of the eternal reward awaiting the righteous ..."
Andrew T. Glicksman, “Divine Retribution and Reward Revisited: The Rereading and Reapplication of Isaiah 59 in Wisdom 5,” in Intertextual Explorations in Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature, ed. Jeremy Corley and Geoffrey David Miller (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2019), 79–98.
* 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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