Texts in Conversation
Psalm 105 retells the plagues of Egypt, listing frogs, flies, gnats, hail, and lightning in sequence. The Wisdom of Solomon later recalls the same events but seems to merge them, presenting the plagues as though they all occurred together.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalm 105:30
Hebrew Bible
28 He made it dark; Moses and Aaron did not disobey his orders. 29 He turned the Egyptians’ water into blood and killed their fish. 30 Their land was overrun by frogs, which even got into the rooms of their kings. 31 He ordered flies to come; gnats invaded their whole territory. 32 He sent hail along with the rain; there was lightning in their land.
Date: 600–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Wisdom of Solomon 10:16
Deuterocanon
14 and in bonds she didn’t depart from him, until she brought him the sceptre of a kingdom, and authority over those that dealt like a tyrant with him. She also showed those who had mockingly accused him to be false, and gave him eternal glory. 15 Wisdom delivered a holy people and a blameless seed from a nation of oppressors. 16 She entered into the soul of a servant of the Lord, and withstood terrible kings in wonders and signs. 17 She rendered to holy men a reward of their toils. She guided them along a marvelous way, and became to them a covering in the daytime, and a starry flame through the night. 18 She brought them over the Red sea, and led them through much water;
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... We find here the fourth contrast. This is driven by the comparison between the fire which proves wholly destructive to the Egyptians (Exodus 9:24) and that which is wholly beneficial to the Israelites when used to bake the manna (Exodus 16:23). The contrast is then made the basis for a general principle (16:17b, 24–25) which adds some specificity to the Jewish belief in God’s providence. In verse 16 the note of “strangeness/unusualness” continues from 16:1–4 and is mixed with the notion of paradox in verse 17 (“most incredible”; literally “most paradoxical”). The author is marveling over Exodus 9:24 (as does Philo in Life of Moses 1.118). 16:18 seems to presuppose that the plagues of frogs, flies, gnats, hail, and lightning were simultaneous, perhaps influenced by their contiguity in Psalm 105:30–32 ..."
A. Peter Hayman, Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible: Wisdom of Solomon (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2019), 67.
* 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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