Skip to Content
intertextual.bible
Go to Related Reading
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 9:9 and 2 Enoch 30:8

Deuterocanon · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

Share:

Summary

In the Wisdom of Solomon, wisdom is with God as a companion when he makes the world, and Solomon asks God to send her to him. In 2 Enoch, wisdom is a servant instead of a companion, as God commands his wisdom to create the first human.

Passages

Wisdom of Solomon 9:9

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

2 Enoch 30:8

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch
8 And evening came, and morning came, the sixth day. Friday. On the sixth day I commanded my wisdom to create man from seven substances: one, his flesh from the earth; two, his blood from the dew; three, his eyes from the sun; four, his bones from stone; five, his intelligence from the swiftness of the angels and from cloud; six, his veins and his hair from the grass of the earth; seven, his soul from my breath and from the wind. 9 And I gave him seven natures: to the flesh, hearing, the eyes for sight, to the soul, smell, the veins for touch, the blood for taste, the bones for endurance, to the intelligence, sweetness.
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

References

“... Other studies have noticed that, in 2 Enoch’s creational account, God’s wisdom and his word are also mentioned as the agents of creation. Indeed, in both recensions of 2 Enoch 30:8, the Deity commands his wisdom to create man. Like Adoil and Arukhas at the very beginning of creation, another demiurgic mediator, Sophia, is commissioned to help the Deity with the later stages of the creational process by assisting him in the creation of humankind. Scholars often see the Sophia traditions as the formative bedrock for later Jewish mediatorial developments, including the Johannine Prologue. A reference to Sophia as God’s helper in 2 Enoch 30 is important to our study because it points to the complex creational universe of the Slavonic apocalypse, which is a Jewish text that strives to accommodate several mediatorial trends. It is intriguing that in both cases (Adoil and Sophia) the demiurgic agents act as the Deity’s servants who fulfill the “commands” of their master. In 2 Enoch 30:8, the Deity narrates to the seer that he “commanded” his wisdom to create man. [...] Martin Hengel notes that in Wis 9:1 “the creative word of God and the personified Sophia appear in a parallelismus membrorum: ‘O God of my fathers, Lord of mercy who hast made all things by thy word and by thy wisdom hast formed man.’ Word and wisdom of God are here nearly identified.” ...”
Andrei A. Orlov, Divine Scapegoats: Demonic Mimesis in Early Jewish Mysticism (Albany, NY: State University of New York, 2015), 172–173, 296.

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

Your feedback

Wisdom of Solomon 9:9 and 2 Enoch 30:8

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library