The Book of Wisdom or Wisdom of Solomon or simply Wisdom is a text contained in the Bible. Like the other Deuterocanonical Books it is written in Greek, but it is likely that the original text was written in Hebrew. The final redaction, according to most scholars and the most recent research, occurred in the first century BC. The previous Judeo-Christian tradition pseudepigraphically attributed it to the wise king Solomon.
It is composed of 19 chapters with various wisdom-related sayings, in particular the exaltation of personified divine Wisdom.
Contents[]
The Book of Wisdom is a reflection on the actions of God and man, entirely inspired by the biblical tradition and aimed at strengthening the faith and hope of those numerous Jews who had settled in Alexandria of Egypt, where already in the 2nd century BC a flourishing Jewish community lived and worked. This book proposes as a model of life and behavior the two characteristic figures of the wisdom writings: the just (or wise man), as an image of the Israelite believer, faithful to the traditions of the fathers, and the wicked (or fool), image of the pagans and of those devoted to idolatry (chapters 13-15). The contact with the Hellenistic world, with which the author enters into dialogue and sometimes even into polemics, has contributed, on the one hand, to more forcefully explicate the doctrine of immortality, on the other to present biblical wisdom as a divine gift, which leads to salvation those who know how to welcome it (as Israel did), while it manifests the sins of those who reject it (as the Egyptians and pagans in general did).
Characteristics[]
The first part of the book (1-5) focuses on the figures of the just and the wicked, who apparently lead the same existence. But, while the just follows the indications of wisdom, the wicked pursues his own project, which aims at success and wealth. The death and judgment of God will reveal the destiny of both, often hidden by human events: the just is destined for happiness, the wicked for punishment. The second part (6-9) includes a profound reflection on wisdom, which on the one hand is inspired by the now dominant Greek culture (as witnessed by the attributes with which wisdom is described in 7,22-23), on the other is already an anticipation of the presentation that will be made of it in the New Testament. Wisdom is no longer only a divine attribute, but appears here as a person very close to God, in close relationship with him and with his action. The third part (10-19) is a rereading of the biblical story, a rereading that Jewish tradition calls with the term midrash, and more specifically of the events that characterized the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. The people of Israel are presented as the model of those who welcome wisdom and allow themselves to be guided by it, until they reach salvation; the Egyptians instead represent those who close themselves to it and go towards ruin and death. The same elements of creation that for some are an instrument of salvation, for others become an instrument of defeat and death.