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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 Isaiah 54:1 and Wisdom of Solomon 3:13

Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon

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Summary

The Wisdom of Solomon reshapes Isaiah’s call for the barren woman to rejoice and speaks to people without children, likely exiles in Babylon. Isaiah promises them honor and belonging, but Wisdom shifts attention to moral character rather than ritual.

Passages

Isaiah 54:1

Hebrew Bible
1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth! Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one are more numerous than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord. 2 Make your tent larger, stretch your tent curtains farther out! Spare no effort, lengthen your ropes, and pound your stakes deep. 3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your children will conquer nations and will resettle desolate cities.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Wisdom of Solomon 3:13

Deuterocanon
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. 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.
50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

References

"... Wisdom of Solomon 3:13-14 ... The reference is clearly to Isaiah, where the prophet refers to those Jewish youth who were castrated at the hands of the Babylonian tyranny, and had consequently despaired of any share in Israel's future redemption (Deuteronomy 23:1-2). Isaiah encouraged them with the divine assurance: 'I will give them in My House and within My walls, a monument and a name better than sons or daughters.' According to Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 93b, the captivity of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah is the fulfillment of Isaiah 39:7 (= 2 Kings 20:18), and Rab takes the word 'eunuchs' in that verse literally. (The Talmud also identifies the 'eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths' in Isaiah 56:4 with Daniel and his three associates.) Compare Jerome's Commentary on Daniel 1:3; Origen's Commentary on Matthew 15:5; Jerusalem Talmud Shabbat 6.9, 8d (where we are told that Daniel and his associates were eunuchs but were healed by passage through the fiery furnace). It should be noted that whereas Isaiah 56:3 refers to the Eunuch's observance of the Sabbath, our verse speaks only vaguely about his refraining from anomema ..."
David Winston, The Wisdom of Solomon: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979), 132.

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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Isaiah 54:1 and Wisdom of Solomon 3:13

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