Texts in Conversation
Colossians describes Jesus as the visible representative of the invisible God and as God's partner in creation, using similar language that describes wisdom in the Wisdom of Solomon. Both describe an agent who shows God’s goodness and shapes creation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Wisdom of Solomon 7:22
Deuterocanon
21 All things that are either secret or manifest I learned, 22 for wisdom, that is the architect of all things, taught me. For there is in her a spirit that is quick to understand, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, freely moving, clear in utterance, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving what is good, keen, unhindered, 23 beneficent, loving toward man, steadfast, sure, free from care, all-powerful, all-surveying, and penetrating through all spirits that are quick to understand, pure, most subtle. 24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion. Yes, she pervades and penetrates all things by reason of her purity. 25 For she is a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty. Therefore nothing defiled can find entrance into her. 26 For she is a reflection of everlasting light, an unspotted mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness. 27 Although she is one, she has power to do all things. Remaining in herself, she renews all things. From generation to generation passing into holy souls, she makes friends of God and prophets. 28 For God loves nothing except one who dwells with wisdom.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Colossians 1:15
New Testament
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, 16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and all things are held together in him. 18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross—through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Date: 80–85 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... I have argued that Wisdom of Solomon functions as a background source for New Testament Christology, particularly in terms of the place of wisdom in the biblical doctrine of creation, particularly with respect to Colossians 1:15–17 and Hebrews 1:2–3. A passage we have already examined, Wisdom of Solomon 7:22–8:6, in its depiction of wisdom, has several points of connection with these two New Testament passages ... Beginning with Colossians 1:15–17, we find a connection between Christ the “image of the invisible God” in Colossians 1:15 and wisdom as an “image of [God’s] goodness” in Wisdom of Solomon 7:26. Moreover, Colossians 1:16 states that “all things were created in him”, mirroring the notion that wisdom is the “fashioner of all things” in Wisdom of Solomon 7:21 (compare 8:6) and the “active cause of all things” in 8:5. Finally, Colossians 1:17 affirms that “in him all things hold together”, a thought echoed in language the speaks of wisdom as that which “pervades and penetrates all things” (Wisdom of Solomon 7:24), “renews all things” (7:27), and “reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other” (8:1). Ideas predicated of wisdom map well onto the portrayal of Christ in Colossians 1:15–17 ..."
Jeffrey Lamp, “Wisdom Pneumatology and the Creative Spirit: The Book of Wisdom and the Trinitarian Act of Creation,” ORU Journal of Theology 2.2 (2017): 39–56.
* 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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