Texts in Conversation
1 Clement quotes the Wisdom of Solomon’s teaching on divine patience to emphasize the chance for repentance. Early Christian tradition treated Jewish wisdom texts as an authoritative source for teaching.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Wisdom of Solomon 12:10
Deuterocanon
8 Nevertheless you even spared these as men, and you sent hornets as forerunners of your army, to cause them to perish little by little. 9 Not that you were unable to subdue the ungodly under the hand of the righteous in battle, or by terrible beasts or by a stern word to make away with them at once, 10 but judging them little by little you gave them a chance to repent, not being ignorant that their nature by birth was evil, their wickedness inborn, and that their manner of thought would never be changed. 11 For they were a cursed seed from the beginning. It wasn’t through fear of any that you left them unpunished for their sins.
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 7:5
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Early Christian
4 Let us fix our eyes on the blood of Christ and understand how precious it is to His Father, for by being shed for our salvation, it won for the whole world the grace of repentance. 5 Let us look back at all the generations in turn and learn how, from age to age, the Master has given a place for repentance to those who desire to turn to Him. 6 Noah preached repentance, and those who obeyed were saved. 7 Jonah preached destruction to the people of Nineveh, but they repented of their sins, obtained pardon from God through their supplications, and received salvation, even though they were strangers to Him.
Date: 90–100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The Apostolic Fathers (ca. 90-150 CE), those writings closest in chronology to the New Testament writings, have a number of even more striking parallels. quotations, and allusions to noncanonical literature. Notice, for example, that Clement of Rome (ca. 90-95 CE) cited Sirach 2:11 in 1 Clement 60.1, Wisdom of Solomon 12:10 in 1 Clement 7.5, and Wisdom of Solomon 12:12 in 1 Clement 27.5 (perhaps also alluded to in 3.4 and 7.5). In 1 Clement 55.4-6 both Judith (8ff.) and Esther (7 and 4:16) are cited authoritatively or scripturally. The author of 2 Clement (ca. 150 CE) has a number of quotations, allusions, and references from unknown and nonbiblical sources (see 11.2-4,7, and 13.2) as well as a quote from Tobit 16:4. Barnabas (ca. 90-130) employs quotations from Wisdom of Solomon (20.2), 1 Enoch (16.5), 4 Ezra (12.1), and from unknown 'scripture' as in 7.3, 8, and 10.7. The Didache (ca. 70-90 CE) makes use of Wisdom of Solomon in 5.2 and 10.3 as well as an unknown quote in 1.6. Polycarp cites Tobit 4:10 (see also 12:9) in Martyrdom 10.2 ..."
Lee Martin McDonald, Forgotten Scriptures: The Selection and Rejection of Early Religious Writings (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2009), 136.
* 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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