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About this book

Wisdom of Solomon

About this book

Prayer for Wisdom in Human Life

Chapter 9

1 “O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy, who made all things by your word;⁠ 2 and by your wisdom you formed man, that he should have dominion over the creatures that were made by you, 3 and rule the world in holiness and righteousness, and execute judgment in uprightness of soul, 4 give me wisdom, her who sits by you on your thrones.⁠ Don’t reject me from among your servants,⁠ 5 because I am your servant and the son of your handmaid, a weak and short-lived man, with little power to understand judgment and laws. 6 For even if a man is perfect among the sons of men, if the wisdom that comes from you is not with him, he will count for nothing.⁠

A King’s Prayer for Wisdom

7 You chose me to be king of your people, and a judge for your sons and daughters. 8 You gave a command to build a sanctuary on your holy mountain, and an altar in the city where you live, a copy of the holy tent which you prepared from the beginning.⁠ 9 Wisdom is with you and knows your works, and was present when you were making the world,⁠ and understands what is pleasing in your eyes, and what is right according to your commandments.⁠ 10 Send her from the holy heavens, and ask her to come from the throne of your glory, that being present with me she may work, and I may learn what pleases you well. 11 For she knows all things and understands, and she will guide me prudently in my actions. She will guard me in her glory. 12 So my works will be acceptable. I will judge your people righteously, and I will be worthy of my father’s throne.

Human Limits and the Gift of Wisdom

13 For what man will know the counsel of God? Or who will conceive what the Lord wills?⁠ 14 For the thoughts of mortals are unstable, and our plans are prone to fail.⁠ 15 For a corruptible body weighs down the soul.⁠ The earthy tent burdens a mind that is full of cares.⁠ 16 We can hardly guess the things that are on earth, and we find the things that are close at hand with labor; but who has traced out the things that are in the heavens?⁠ 17 Who gained knowledge of your counsel, unless you gave wisdom, and sent your holy spirit from on high? 18 It was thus that the ways of those who are on earth were corrected, and men were taught the things that are pleasing to you. They were saved through wisdom.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Wisdom of Solomon 9:8 and 2 Baruch 4:3 and Hebrews 8:5

Deuterocanon · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

The Wisdom of Solomon, Hebrews, and 2 Baruch follow a common tradition that depicts the Jerusalem temple as a copy of a heavenly temple. Wisdom refers to the temple as a copy of a primordial tent, while Hebrews similarly contrasts heaven and earth.

Passages

Wisdom of Solomon 9:8

Deuterocanon
7 You chose me to be king of your people, and a judge for your sons and daughters. 8 You gave a command to build a sanctuary on your holy mountain, and an altar in the city where you live, a copy of the holy tent which you prepared from the beginning. 9 Wisdom is with you and knows your works, and was present when you were making the world, and understands what is pleasing in your eyes, and what is right according to your commandments.
50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

2 Baruch 4:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch
2 Do you think that this is that city of which I said: ‘On the palms of My hands have I engraved you’? 3 This building now built in your midst is not that which is revealed with Me, that which was prepared beforehand here from the time when I took counsel to make Paradise, and showed it to Adam before he sinned, but when he transgressed the commandment it was removed from him, as also Paradise. 4 And after these things I showed it to My servant Abraham by night among the portions of the victims.
70–135 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Baruch

Hebrews 8:5

New Testament
4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest, since there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 The place where they serve is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary, just as Moses was warned by God as he was about to complete the tabernacle. For he says, “See that you make everything according to the design shown to you on the mountain.” 6 But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises.
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Hebrews

References

"... The idea of a sanctuary where YHWH dwells, made or prepared by God’s own hands, which echoes later in Exodus (e.g. 24:9-11; 25:40), became a topic of interest and imagination which surfaced in Wisdom of Solomon 9:8 and in a wide range of other works, from Qumran (4Q174) to Philo (Plant. 1:47ff), to the rabbis (e.g. Mekhilta de'Rabbi Ishmael 25-40). In 8:2 Hebrews refers to the sanctuary as the true tent “which the Lord has pitched (or built), not human beings.” While the vocabulary of Exodus 15:17 and Hebrews 8:2 is slightly different, the idea of a sanctuary built by the Lord is the same. Hebrews refers to “the perfect tent—not made by hands” in 9:11 and, again in 9:24, declares that “Not into a hand-made sanctuary did Christ enter ... but into heaven itself ...” These statements reinforce Hebrews’ heavenly/earthly cosmology reflected in Exodus 25:40 and the incorporation of the language of Exodus 15:17 as the seminal expression of this sanctuary concept ..."
Scott Ronald Moore, “A Conviction of Texts Not Seen: Perceiving Exodus as the Generative Text of Hebrews” (diss., University of Denver, 2017), 253–254.

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 9:8 and 2 Baruch 4:3 and Hebrews 8:5

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