Texts in Conversation
The Wisdom of Solomon reshapes Solomon’s request for wisdom from 1 Kings by linking it to Adam, created with wisdom to rule. Adam had grown into a more important figure in later Jewish traditions despite having no role outside early Genesis.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Kings 3:9
Hebrew Bible
5 One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. God said, “Tell me what I should give you.” 6 Solomon replied, “You demonstrated great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne. 7 Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in my father David’s place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced. 8 Your servant stands among your chosen people; they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning mind so he can make judicial decisions for your people and distinguish right from wrong. Otherwise no one is able to make judicial decisions for this great nation of yours.”
Date: 600–501 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Wisdom of Solomon 9:4
Deuterocanon
1 “O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy, who made all things by your word; 2 and by your wisdom you formed man, that he should have dominion over the creatures that were made by you, 3 and rule the world in holiness and righteousness, and execute judgment in uprightness of soul, 4 give me wisdom, her who sits by you on your thrones. Don’t reject me from among your servants, 5 because I am your servant and the son of your handmaid, a weak and short-lived man, with little power to understand judgment and laws.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In the second appearance of Adam on the lips of Pseudo-Solomon, the author of Wisdom re-enacts Solomon’s prayer for wisdom (Wisdom of Solomon 9:1–18; compare 1 Kings 3:3–9; 2 Chronicles 1:8–10). Pseudo-Solomon offers an exalted portrait of Adam, requesting the wisdom by which Adam was constructed and identifies Adam’s purpose as ruling over creation (Wisdom of Solomon 9:2). The description of Adam’s construction includes an allusion to Genesis 2:7 and the glorious reign attributed to Adam is based on Genesis 1:26–27 and Psalm 8. There is no reference to sin, death, or disobedience. Rather, in Wisdom of Solomon 9:1–2, the mortal, earthborn Adam of Genesis 2:7 is identified as the image of God from Gen 1:26–27, created to rule ..."
Tyler Allen Stewart, “‘The Present Evil Age’: The Origin and Persistence of Evil in Galatians” (diss., Marquette University, 2019), 95.
* 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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