Chapter Four

1–2. The contrast between the fate of the righteous and that of the wicked continues. 3–6. Childlessness does not deprive the righteous of the possibility of leaving behind a grateful memory in posterity; the wicked are deprived of this possibility even with numerous offspring. 7–18. Early death of the righteous is only a quicker transition to a better life. 19–20. For the sinner, death is final ruin.

Wisdom 4:1. Better is childlessness with virtue; for the memory of virtue is immortal, because it is known both by God and by human kind. Verses 1–6 again contrast the fate of childless righteous ones with that of the wicked with their numerous offspring. 1. The advantage of childless but virtuous people is that the memory of their virtue will be preserved in posterity; this is, as it were, also a kind of immortality. In the later books of the Old Testament, immortality of one’s name in posterity is often spoken of as a high reward for righteousness (Ps 111:6; Prov 10:7; Wis 8:13). Esteemed by people, virtue is “known” also by God.

Wisdom 4:2. When it is present, people imitate it; and they desire it when it has left them. And throughout all time it marches crowned in triumph, victor over the vices that beset our world. 2. Expounds the thought about the value of virtue: when it lives among men, they imitate it; when it departs (that is, the virtuous man dies), they strive for it. “And throughout all time it marches crowned in triumph,” by these words is unfolded the thought of the preceding verse, that virtue is “known” also by God. “A crown” is very often in the Bible an image of happiness and distinction (Ezek 16:12; Ps 20:4; Prov 12:4; Sir 2:18); and especially heavenly reward for believers (Jas 1:12; 1 Pet 5:4; Rev 2:10). This crown is given for “victory in spotless contests.” To the writer the whole of a man’s life appears as a struggle against evil. The righteous achieve victory in this struggle through the deeds of holy life, which are here called “spotless.” An analogous view of life as struggle and of holiness as a victorious crown is found also in the Apostle Paul 1 Cor 9:24-27; 2 Tim 2:3.

Wisdom 4:3. But the prolific multitude of the ungodly will be of no use, and adulterous shoots will not put down deep roots nor reach a firm foundation; Wisdom 4:4. For even when their branches flourish for a time, they are unsteady and shall be rocked by the wind and uprooted by the force of the winds; Wisdom 4:5. their twigs will be broken off untimely, and their fruit useless, unripe for eating, fit for nothing. Wisdom 4:6. For children born of unlawful unions give witness against their parents by their investigation of them. 3–6. The writer returns again to the thought that the happiness of the wicked rich in offspring seems illusory. It is unstable; punishment quickly overtakes the wicked, and at the time of judgment the children themselves will pronounce condemnation on their fathers. The thought about the instability of the happiness of the wicked is expressed by the writer in a very common image in the Bible. Namely, as piety and the happiness of the righteous are often compared to a firmly rooted tree, planted on fertile soil and therefore green and flowering (Ezek 17:8; Ps 1:3; Sir 25:14-16), so the wicked and the punishment awaiting them are depicted in an image contrary to this (Ps 36:35-36; Job 15:32-33).

Wisdom 4:7. But a righteous man, though he dies early, will be at rest. 7. Early death of the righteous cannot be considered an evil or an expression of divine wrath, for it is only a transition to a better existence for him. “Dies early…” The meaning can be twofold: either the righteous will die earlier than the wicked die, or generally earlier than is customary. “Will be at rest…” First of all, rest from earthly sufferings and calamities is meant, and then positive blessedness, cf. Wis 3:1. The future life is depicted as rest also in the Apostle Paul (Heb 4:9-10).

Wisdom 4:8. For age is not honored for its length of days, nor measured by the number of years; Wisdom 4:9. but understanding is the gray hair of men, and an unsullied life is ripe old age. 8–9. Give the foundation for verse 7 and indicate the measure by which a person’s age should be judged. Wisdom and an unsullied life, not the number of years lived, constitute honorable gray hair for men. Similar thoughts are found in the book of Prov 16:31 and Sir 25:6.

Wisdom 4:10. Pleasing God, he was loved; living among sinners, he was taken away. Wisdom 4:11. He was caught up lest evil change his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul. Wisdom 4:12. For the bewitchment of paltry things obscures what is right, and the whirl of desire transforms an innocent mind. Wisdom 4:13. Perfected in a short while, he fulfilled long ages; Wisdom 4:14. for his soul was pleasing to the Lord, therefore he hastened to take him out of the midst of wickedness. But the people see and do not understand, nor do they grasp such a thing: 10–14. These verses contain further exposition of the thought that early death of the righteous contradicts in no way the idea of divine justice and God’s love for the righteous; on the contrary, God, precisely through love, takes such people to Himself to protect them from the danger of moral corruption from the wickedness surrounding them. 14b-19. The majority of people do not notice that, in sending early death to the righteous, God has a good purpose for them. The wicked do not pay attention to the fact that the early death of the righteous exposes their own wickedness in even stronger light, and they continue to mock this early death, thereby revealing their own lack of understanding. 14b. “But the people see and do not understand.” The expression “people” (in Greek) in the Old Testament is often used to denote all nations outside of Israel. Here, from a comparison of this passage with Wis 2:12, it should mean all those who fell away from the Law among the Jews, who broke their spiritual connection with the Jewish people and were even enemies of those who represented the true Israel at that time. The expression “people” in the Old Testament is such an antithesis to everything anti-Jewish as “the world” (in Greek) in the New Testament is opposed to everything Christian. The expression “chosen” in the Old Testament is usually applied to the whole Jewish people as a political whole, which God chose as His favorite people from all the nations of the earth (Isa 65:9; Ps 104:6). Here this word is used in a moral sense and refers only to the pious and faithful worshippers of God, who are called above as holy ones.

Wisdom 4:15. that grace and mercy are with His holy ones, and that He cares for the chosen. Wisdom 4:16. For a righteous one, though he dies, will condemn the wicked who are alive; and youth quickly perfected will put to shame the long old age of the unjust. 16. “A righteous one, though he dies, will condemn the wicked who are alive…” Comparing this passage with verse 8 of chapter III, some find here the idea of condemnation of the wicked in the future life. But the expression “who are alive,” in contrast to the fact of the death of the righteous, clearly speaks of the fact that the wicked will be condemned while they are still living on earth, and condemned precisely by the death of the righteous themselves: “though he dies, will condemn.” How the early death of the righteous condemns the wicked still living is shown by the following words: “youth quickly perfected will put to shame the long old age of the unjust.” Having achieved moral perfection in a short time, the righteous in this will condemn the wicked, who throughout their long life “could show no sign of virtue” (Wis 5:13). Similar condemnation is spoken of in Matt 12:41; Heb 11:7; Rom 2:27.

Wisdom 4:17. For they will see the end of the wise man and will not understand what the Lord intended for him, or why He set him in safety; 17. Repeats the thought of verses 14b-15, more precisely defining that “grace and mercy… and care” of God for the righteous are revealed precisely in God’s determination of their early death, which places the righteous “in safety.” Safety from what?—it is said in verses 11–12a. The difference in the tenses of the verbs in the two verses speaking of the same fact (in verses 14b-15 the past tense is used, and in 17 the future) can be explained by the fact that this fact is repeatedly recurring: it has occurred in the past, will recur in the future.

Wisdom 4:18. They will see and hold him in contempt, but the Lord will laugh them to scorn; 18. It is not enough that the wicked do not want to understand the true cause of early death of the righteous; they also try to humiliate him, but in doing so only bring shame upon themselves. “Will hold him in contempt…” — will consider him as nothing, despise him, mock him (2 Kgs 19:21; 2 Chr 36:16; Luke 23:11). The early death of the righteous gives occasion to the wicked to mock his faith in the help of God as futile, empty. “But the Lord will laugh them to scorn…” — such an expression is often in the Psalms opposed to the bold arrogance of the wicked, to present their malice as powerless, foolish, and destructive for themselves (Ps 2:4).

Wisdom 4:19. After this they will be a dishonored corpse and a disgrace among the dead for ever. For He will dash them to the ground, struck dumb, and shake them to their foundations, they will be completely laid waste, and they will suffer anguish, and the memory of them will perish; 19. In verse 19 the writer of the Book of Wisdom has depicted the humiliation and ruin of the wicked with features that very much resemble the picture of the fall of the king of Babylon in the prophet Isaiah, chapter XIV.

Wisdom 4:20. they will come forward guilty in their sins, and their lawless deeds will convict them to their face.