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Wisdom of Solomon

About this book

Rulers Are Urged to Seek Wisdom

Chapter 6

1 Hear therefore, you kings, and understand. Learn, you judges of the ends of the earth.⁠ 2 Give ear, you rulers who have dominion over many people, and make your boast in multitudes of nations, 3 because your dominion was given to you from the Lord, and your sovereignty from the Most High. He will search out your works, and will inquire about your plans, 4 because being officers of his kingdom, you didn’t judge rightly, nor did you keep the law, nor did you walk according to God’s counsel. 5 He will come upon you dreadfully and swiftly, because a stern judgment comes on those who are in high places. 6 For the man of low estate may be pardoned in mercy, but mighty men will be mightily tested. 7 For the Sovereign Lord of all will not be impressed with anyone, neither will he show deference to greatness; because it is he who made both small and great, and cares about them all; 8 but the scrutiny that comes upon the powerful is strict. 9 Therefore, my words are to you, O princes, that you may learn wisdom and not fall away. 10 For those who have kept the things that are holy in holiness will be made holy. Those who have been taught them will find what to say in defense. 11 Therefore set your desire on my words. Long for them, and you will be instructed. 12 Wisdom is radiant and doesn’t fade away; and is easily seen by those who love her, and found by those who seek her.⁠ 13 She anticipates those who desire her, making herself known. 14 He who rises up early to seek her won’t have difficulty, for he will find her sitting at his gates. 15 For to think upon her is perfection of understanding, and he who watches for her will quickly be free from care; 16 because she herself goes around, seeking those who are worthy of her, and in their paths she appears to them graciously, and in every purpose she meets them. 17 For her true beginning is desire for instruction; and care for instruction is love.⁠ 18 And love is observance of her laws. To give heed to her laws confirms immortality.⁠ 19 Immortality brings closeness to God. 20 So then desire for wisdom promotes to a kingdom.⁠ 21 If therefore you delight in thrones and sceptres, you princes of peoples, honor wisdom, that you may reign forever.

Wisdom Made Known

22 But what wisdom is, and how she came into being, I will declare. I won’t hide mysteries from you; but I will explore from her first beginning, bring the knowledge of her into clear light, and I will not pass by the truth. 23 Indeed, I won’t travel with consuming envy, because envy will have no fellowship with wisdom. 24 But a multitude of wise men is salvation to the world, and an understanding king is stability for his people.⁠ 25 Therefore be instructed by my words, and you will profit.

Texts in conversation

Compare Wisdom of Solomon 6:17 and Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 2.1

Deuterocanon · Early Christian

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Summary

The Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria quotes the Wisdom of Solomon as an authoritative guide on the pursuit of wisdom and discipline. He presents love and wisdom as the forces shaping virtuous life.

Passages

Wisdom of Solomon 6:17

Deuterocanon
15 For to think upon her is perfection of understanding, and he who watches for her will quickly be free from care; 16 because she herself goes around, seeking those who are worthy of her, and in their paths she appears to them graciously, and in every purpose she meets them. 17 For her true beginning is desire for instruction; and care for instruction is love. 18 And love is observance of her laws. To give heed to her laws confirms immortality. 19 Immortality brings closeness to God.
50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 2.1

Early Christian · Paedagogus
Love, then, is something pure and worthy of God, and its work is communication. And the care of discipline is love, as Wisdom says; and love is the keeping of the law. And these joys have an inspiration of love from the public nutriment, which accustoms to everlasting dainties. Love (agape), then, is not a supper. But let the entertainment depend on love. For it is said, Let the children whom You have loved, O Lord, learn that it is not the products of fruits that nourish man; but it is Your word which preserves those who believe in You. For the righteous shall not live by bread. But let our diet be light and digestible, and suitable for keeping awake, unmixed with diverse varieties. Nor is this a point which is beyond the sphere of discipline. For love is a good nurse for communication; having as its rich provision sufficiency, which, presiding over diet measured in due quantity, and treating the body in a healthful way, distributes something from its resources to those near us. But the diet which exceeds sufficiency injures a man, deteriorates his spirit, and renders his body prone to disease. Besides, those dainty tastes, which trouble themselves about rich dishes, drive to practices of ill-repute, daintiness, gluttony, greed, voracity, insatiability. Appropriate designations of such people as so indulge are flies, weasels, flatterers, gladiators, and the monstrous tribes of parasites — the one class surrendering reason, the other friendship, and the other life, for the gratification of the belly; crawling on their bellies, beasts in human shape after the image of their father, the voracious beast. People first called the abandoned ἀσώτους, and so appear to me to indicate their end, understanding them as those who are (ἀσώστους) unsaved, excluding the σ.
198 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 2

References

"... Since there was uncertainty about which books should be in and which should be out, it is also possible that during this time some would have considered other books, such as the ones now called apocryphal and pseudepigraphal, to have been “sacred writings.” We know this is the case at Qumran, where books like Jubilees and Enoch were treated as authoritative scripture, and some works scholars have called “rewritten scripture” were likely produced to replace biblical books. As we noted already, the writer of the late first-century Jewish apocalypse found in 2 Esdras 3-14 (and also called 4 Ezra) claimed there were many more writings that at least some Jews considered to have been useful for the same purposes for which Timothy was encouraged. This period of textual plurality and openness with regard to the boundaries of scripture means that it is even likely the earliest Christians considered books like the Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus [Sirach] as part of the “sacred writings” useful for Christian formation ..."
Timothy Michael Law, When God Spoke Greek: The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013), 90.

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 6:17 and Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 2.1

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