Texts in Conversation
The Wisdom of Solomon and Romans describe divine mercy that invites repentance. In Wisdom, God’s willingness to overlook sin demonstrates his patience and Paul uses similar language to portray divine kindness as an opportunity to turn back to him.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Wisdom of Solomon 11:23
Deuterocanon
21 For to be greatly strong is yours at all times. Who could withstand the might of your arm? 22 Because the whole world before you is as a grain in a balance, and as a drop of dew that comes down upon the earth in the morning. 23 But you have mercy on all men, because you have power to do all things, and you overlook the sins of men so that they may repent. 24 For you love all things that are, and abhor none of the things which you made; for you never would have formed anything if you hated it. 25 How would anything have endured unless you had willed it? Or that which was not called by you, how would it have been preserved? 26 But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Sovereign Lord, you who love the living.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Romans 2:4
New Testament
1 Therefore you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge someone else. For on whatever grounds you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think, whoever you are, when you judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! 6 He will reward each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 8 but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness.
Date: 55–58 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... 'Kindness ... leads to repentance': compare Psalm 50.16-23, 73.11, Ecclesiastes 8.11, Isaiah 57.11, Titus 3.4, Wisdom of Solomon 11.23 ... God's 'overlooking' of man's transgressions should lead him to turn from his iniquity and repent ..."
Joseph Shulam and Hilary Le Cornu, A Commentary on the Jewish Roots of Romans (Clarksville, MD: Messianic Jewish, 1998), 83.
* 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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