Texts in Conversation
2 Maccabees describes a mother encouraging her sons by affirming that she did not give them life or shape their bodies, but that the creator of all brings life and breath. This echoes Ecclesiastes, which reflects on human ignorance of how bones form in the womb and attributes such mystery to the work of God.
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Ecclesiastes 11:5
Hebrew Bible
3 If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth, and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls. 4 He who watches the wind will not sow, and he who observes the clouds will not reap. 5 Just as you do not know the path of the wind or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. 6 Sow your seed in the morning, and do not stop working until the evening; for you do not know which activity will succeed—whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for a person to see the sun.
Date: 3rd Century B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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2 Maccabees 7:22
Deuterocanon
20 The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Although she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord. 21 She encouraged each of them in the language of their ancestors. Filled with a noble spirit, she reinforced her woman's reasoning with a man's courage, and said to them, 22 "I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. 23 Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of humankind and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws."
Date: 100-90 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The involvement of Yahweh with the formation of the fetus seems to be well established in such passages as Psalm 139:13–18; Job 10:10–12; Ecclesiastes 11:5; Psalm 22:9–10; 2 Maccabees 7:22–23; Wisdom of Solomon 7:1–3; see also the Egyptian Hymn of Aton. If this interpretation is correct, the verse means that the suppliant does not claim to be simply a victim of circumstance (verse 7) but confesses that no time in his or her existence as a human being has been without the gifting of divine truth and wisdom. Thus the verse serves to strengthen the rightness of God’s judgment of the speaker’s sin in verse 6b. The verse is far too uncertain, however, for much confidence in any interpretation ..."
* 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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