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Wisdom of Solomon

About this book

The Suffering and Hope of the Righteous

Chapter 3

1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,⁠ and no torment will touch them.⁠ 2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died. Their departure was considered a disaster,⁠ 3 and their travel away from us ruin, but they are in peace.⁠ 4 For even if in the sight of men they are punished, their hope is full of immortality.⁠ 5 Having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good; because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself.⁠ 6 He tested them like gold in the furnace,⁠ and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering. 7 In the time of their visitation they will shine. They will run back and forth like sparks among stubble.⁠ 8 They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples. The Lord will reign over them forever.⁠ 9 Those who trust him will understand truth. The faithful will live with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones. 10 But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord; 11 for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable.⁠ Their hope is void and their toils unprofitable. Their works are useless. 12 Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked.

Virtue, Childlessness, and Lasting Fruitfulness

13 Their descendants are cursed. For the barren woman who is undefiled is happy, she who has not conceived in transgression. She will have fruit when God examines souls.⁠ 14 So is the eunuch who has done no lawless deed with his hands, nor imagined wicked things against the Lord; for a precious gift will be given to him for his faithfulness, and a delightful inheritance in the Lord’s sanctuary. 15 For good labors have fruit of great renown. The root of understanding can’t fail. 16 But children of adulterers will not come to maturity. The seed of an unlawful union will vanish away. 17 For if they live long, they will not be esteemed, and in the end, their old age will be without honor. 18 If they die young, they will have no hope, nor consolation in the day of judgment. 19 For the end of an unrighteous generation is grievous.

Texts in conversation

Compare Wisdom of Solomon 3:11 and Cyprian, Treatises 2:1

Deuterocanon · Early Christian

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Summary

The Christian theologian Cyprian uses the Wisdom of Solomon as an authoritative source for teaching when he repeats its claim that those who reject wisdom live in futility, showing how it influenced early Christian tradition.

Passages

Wisdom of Solomon 3:11

Deuterocanon
9 Those who trust him will understand truth. The faithful will live with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones. 10 But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord; 11 for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable. Their hope is void and their toils unprofitable. Their works are useless. 12 Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked. 13 Their descendants are cursed. For the barren woman who is undefiled is happy, she who has not conceived in transgression. She will have fruit when God examines souls.
50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

Cyprian, Treatises 2:1

Early Christian
1 Discipline, the guardian of hope, the anchor of faith, the guide on the way of salvation, the kindling and nourishment of a good disposition, the teacher of virtue, makes us abide always in Christ and live continually for God, and come to the heavenly promises and the divine rewards. To follow it is wholesome; to turn from it and neglect it is deadly. In the Psalms the Holy Spirit speaks: “Keep hold of discipline, so that the Lord does not become angry and you perish from the right way, when his anger quickly blazes against you.” And again: “But to the sinner God says: Why do you recite my ordinances and take my covenant in your mouth? But you have hated discipline and cast my words behind you.” And once more we read: “He who casts away discipline is wretched.” And from Solomon we have received the commands of Wisdom as she warns: “My son, do not neglect the discipline of God, and do not faint when you are rebuked by him; for whom God loves he rebukes.” Now if God rebukes whom he loves, and rebukes in order to correct, then brothers too, and above all priests, do not hate but love those whom they rebuke in order to correct, since God also foretold through Jeremiah, and signified our own times, saying: “And I will give you shepherds after my heart, and they shall feed you, feeding you with discipline.”
245–260 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Cyprian, Treatises

References

"... The most ancient of the Fathers to use Wisdom was Clement of Rome who quoted Wisdom 11:22 and 12:12 mixing both from memory (Ep. I ad Cor. 27:5). Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History 5:6) said that Irenaeus used Wisdom. From the time of Clement of Alexandria, the Fathers continually used Wisdom and often called it inspired. Athanasius, Eusebius, Cyprian, and Augustine (though not whole-heartedly) cited it as Scripture, that is, they regarded it as canonical and inspired (and written by Solomon), Origen, Didymus, Ephraem Syrus, Hippolytus Romanus, Chrysostom, and others referred to it in proof of doctrines in the same manner as they referred to the rest of the Bible. The views found in Wisdom are advanced beyond the Old Testament and contain many thoughts found in the New Testament. Perhaps its union of Jewish and Greek ideas explains its anticipation of doctrines and language found in the New Testament ..."
Phillip W. Berwick, The Way of Salvation in the Wisdom of Solomon (Boston University, 1958), 141.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Wisdom of Solomon 3:11 and Cyprian, Treatises 2:1

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