Texts in Conversation
The Gospel of John’s narrative of those who oppose Jesus mirrors the Wisdom of Solomon, where a righteous person is hated for calling God his father and punished for what he says. Both describe hostility toward someone who claims to have a special divine connection.
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Wisdom of Solomon 2:16
Deuterocanon
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; 15 the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. 16 We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. 17 Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; 18 for if the righteous man is God's child, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. 19 Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. 20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected."
Date: 100-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
John 5:18
New Testament
13 After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, lest anything worse happen to you.” 14 The man went away and informed the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the one who had made him well. 15 Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him. 16 So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” 17 For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God. 18 So Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth, the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.
Date: 90-110 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The principle of Daniel 7:22 shows the King of Kings brings judgment in favor of the holy ones of the Most High so the holy ones may assume kingship. The structure of this verse is a vertical parallelism which connects the Sons of God with divine kingship. Apocalyptic literature connects heaven and earth as is done in liturgical temple and church practice. The concept of an enthroned wisdom teacher is from Wisdom 5:16; 6:18 and 2 Timothy 4:8. The teaching which comes from Wisdom 2:16, 2:20, 3:8-9 is also located in John 5:18, 15:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:2; Matthew 19:28, 27:43. In Tobit 12:15 and Rev 8:2, Seven Angels are to praise the Holy One ..."
Roberts, Tom
The Prefiguring and Exaltation of Wisdom in the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha
(p. 24) Hellenic Orthodox University, 2016
* 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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