Chapter Eight

Chapters 1–2. The writer, speaking from the persona of King Solomon, says that even from youth he desired wisdom: 3–4. because of its inner closeness to God, and 5–8. its important significance for human life generally, and 9–16. especially for the king in his governance of the people. 17–31. Knowing that wisdom is a gift of God, he turns with a prayer to God for the grant of it.

Wisdom 8:1. It spreads swiftly from one end to another and orders all things for the good. Wisdom 8:2. I loved her and sought her from my youth, and desired to take her as my bride, and became a lover of her beauty. 8. Pseudo-Solomon again (Wis 7:7) speaks of his love for wisdom and his zealous striving toward it (cf. Sir 51:13-21). The allegory the writer uses means the deepest love for wisdom and the closest union with it. These attitudes toward wisdom lead the writer further to speak again of its advantages and significance. The concepts of divine and human wisdom are not precisely distinguished by him in this narrative: verses 1 and 4 refer to the first, verses 2 and 5 only to the latter, verse 3 can be understood in relation to both.

Wisdom 8:3. She exalts her nobility in that she has companionship with God, and the Lord of all has loved her: 8. “She exalts (her) nobility in that she has companionship with God...” The Russian text, inserting the pronoun “her” for clarity, determined the meaning of these words in relation to wisdom as a divine attribute. The kinship and closeness (companionship—the image is taken from marital relations in accordance with the preceding “bride”) of wisdom to God exalt her inner dignity and significance. Some exegetes relate the expression “exalts nobility” to human nobility, which is exalted by wisdom (understanding it as advantages connected with birth). But against earthly advantages in relation to wisdom, the writer has already spoken (Wis 7:1-6), and then the nearest context more favorably supports the first understanding of this place; finally, the image “companionship” also speaks to the fact that here we are discussing wisdom as an inner attribute of God.

Wisdom 8:4. She is the initiate of God’s mind and the selectress of his works. 4. “She is the initiate of God’s mind...” “Initiate,” that is, initiated into the mysteries of God, deeply informed in the inner life of God (“God’s mind”). “The selectress of his works.” Explanation for this expression is given in verse 9 of Chapter IX. Wisdom selects from among God’s works, whose idea is in God’s mind, those which by creative will are to be brought into being at a known moment. Thus, this expression means: God creates the world through wisdom.

Wisdom 8:5. If riches are a desired acquisition in life, what is richer than wisdom, which makes all things? 5–8. Wisdom appears as the source of things precious for human life, both external and internal. This thought the writer develops in four conditional propositions. 5. Some exegetes understand “riches” here as spiritual and moral blessings. But the writer makes no indication of such a meaning, whereas he has already said above (Wis 7:11-12) that wisdom grants material blessings as well. These are in her power, for she is the artisan and directress of the universe; therefore she is higher and more valuable than them all.

Wisdom 8:6. If prudence does much, then what artisan is better than her? 6. If common human prudence helps us in achieving our goals, then how much more essential benefit can wisdom grant us, the power and action of which appeared in the formation and ordering of the universe. The expression “artisan” (technites) is taken here in correspondence with wisdom being depicted in the book as an artisan.

Wisdom 8:7. If one loves righteousness, its fruits are virtues: she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage, than which nothing is more useful for people in life. 7. Wisdom satisfies the human striving for righteousness, for she is the source of all virtue. From her come the four cardinal virtues: self-control, prudence, justice, and courage. This fourfold division serves as undoubted evidence of the writer’s familiarity with Greek philosophy. Such division of virtue is first found in Plato, then in the Stoics, and later in Judeo-Alexandrian philosophy. The writer of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon doubtless became acquainted with this teaching on virtue from the last source, and not directly from Plato, with whom he here disagrees. For Plato the chief virtues were properly three (prudence, courage, and self-control) in correspondence with the threefold division of the soul; the fourth, justice, was regarded not as a special property of the soul, but as the harmony of all spiritual life, when each force and capacity develop freely. The writer of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon could not have had such an understanding of four virtues precisely because he did not share Plato’s view of the threefold division of the soul. The concept “justice” is used by him in a twofold sense: at the beginning of the verse (“righteousness” – dikaiosyne) as virtue as a whole, and then as a part of it. If the first approaches the Platonic understanding, the second differs considerably from it: dikaiosyne means here just relations to people (cf. Wis 9:3).

Wisdom 8:8. If one desires great experience, wisdom knows the ancient past and divines the future, knows the subtleties of words and the resolution of riddles, foreknows signs and wonders and the consequences of years and times. 8. Wisdom unites in herself a multitude of diverse kinds of knowledge. The thought is the same as in verse Wis 7:14-21, although there more physical and natural-historical subjects are named; here, however, the discourse concerns such knowledge as pertains to human life and relations. “If one desires great experience...” – broad life experience (Sir 26:5), which is acquired not only through personal experience but also through familiarity with the experience and knowledge of other people. Let such a person turn to wisdom, which “knows the ancient past and divines the future.” A good knowledge of the past history of humanity and wide familiarity with the present enable people to foretell future events. “The subtleties of words and the resolution of riddles.” By the former are understood skillfully composed speeches and then parables; by the latter, riddles in the proper sense (Judg 14:12). The ability to discern all this constituted a necessary quality of the Eastern wise man, in which, as is known, Solomon was famous (1 Kgs 5:12; Sir 48:15-17; Prov 1). “Foreknows signs and wonders...” Cf. verse Wis 10:16. “The consequences of years and times...,” the words have the same meaning as the preceding expression “divines the future” (cf. Acts 1:7; 1 Thess 5:1).

Wisdom 8:9. Therefore I resolved to take her into my companionship, knowing that she would be my counselor to good and my comfort in cares and sorrow. 9–16. The writer has thus far spoken of the essence of wisdom in general. Now, from the persona of King Solomon, he expresses what hopes he personally connected with acquiring wisdom. Through it he hoped to ensure the success of his public activity (9–15) and the happiness of family life (verse 16).

Wisdom 8:10. Through her I shall have glory among the people and honor before the elders, though I am but a youth; 10. Cf. 1 Kgs 5:11; Sir 5:13.

Wisdom 8:11. I shall prove discerning in judgment, and in the sight of the mighty I shall be admired. 11. Cf. 1 Kgs 3:16-28.

Wisdom 8:12. When I am silent, they will wait, and when I begin to speak, they will heed; and when I continue my discourse, they will place their hand on their lips. 12. Cf. Job 19:9; Prov 30:32.

Wisdom 8:13. Through her I shall obtain immortality and leave eternal memory to those who come after me. 13. Cf. Wis 1:15.

Wisdom 8:14. I shall govern nations, and tribes will be subject to me; Wisdom 8:15. I shall be feared by them when they hear of me, terrible tyrants; among the people I shall appear good and in war courageous. 14–15. The content of these verses does not correspond to the character of the historical person of Solomon, who was not a warlike king and did not subdue foreign peoples. The writer, evidently, idealizes the person of Solomon; he presents him in his work as a living bearer of wisdom, and therefore attributes to him all the qualities that should be in such an ideal person.

Wisdom 8:16. When I enter my house, I shall find rest in her; for association with her has no bitterness, nor does companionship with her have pain, but rather joy and gladness. Wisdom 8:17. Pondering these things in myself and considering in my heart that in kinship with wisdom lies immortality, Wisdom 8:18. And in friendship with her – blessed enjoyment, and in the labors of her hands – inexhaustible wealth, and in fellowship with her – understanding, and in communion with her words – good reputation, – I went about seeking how to take her to myself. 17–18. In a manner characteristic of the writer, in these verses he briefly repeats the thought he has widely developed above concerning the significance of wisdom and his desire to acquire it. “Pondering these things in myself and considering in my heart (Wis 2:21) that in kinship with wisdom lies immortality (see verse 13, Wis 6:17-20), and in friendship with her blessed enjoyment (see verse 16), and in the labors of her hands inexhaustible wealth (see Wis 7:11), and in fellowship with her understanding (see Wis 6:15), and in communion with her words good reputation (Wis 8:10), I went about seeking how to take her to myself” (Wis 7:7-8).

Wisdom 8:19. I was a child of talent and received a good soul; Wisdom 8:20. Moreover, being good, I came into a pure body. 19–20. The writer indicates a new motive for his striving to acquire wisdom. Up to this point, he has indicated the objective foundation for this in the essence of wisdom, in its significance for humanity; now he points out a subjective motive, in the striving of all that is best in human nature for wisdom. This passage stands in parallel with verse Wis 7:1-7. As there he taught that a human being, even if born under the best external conditions, can accomplish nothing without wisdom, so now he says that even with an undoubted natural striving toward good, he cannot do without divine help. “I was a child of talent and received a good soul...” These two propositions in the Greek text are connected by a particle (mallon de), which is often used to denote correction to the preceding thought (see Gal 4:9; Eph 4:28; Rom 8:34). Therefore, the predicate “talented” (euphyes) means here “endowed with striving toward good.” The expression “received a good soul” can be understood in two opposite senses: either that bodies are formed before souls, or conversely, souls exist before they begin to live in bodies. The following words speak in favor of the second understanding. “Being good” (agathos on), that is, my own self, my soul was already good before it entered “a pure body,” that is, one in which the power of sensuous movements was not so strong as to be able to suppress the striving toward virtue. Thus, this passage contains an allusion to the doctrine of the preexistence of souls. There is no indication of this doctrine in the Old Testament; the writer of the Book of Wisdom could have borrowed it only from Platonic philosophy. However, the doctrine of the preexistence of souls in Plato is considerably altered by him. According to Plato, only fallen, sinful souls are sent into bodies; here they struggle with all the evil whose source is the body, and if they overcome the low fleshly feelings, they return after death to their original blessed state; if they yield to the body, they perish. In the writer of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, on the contrary, a “good soul” is sent into a body and moreover “a pure body.” Does this mean that the writer does not regard the body as the source of evil? The answer is found in Wis 9:15: “the corruptible body weighs down the soul, and this earthly dwelling depresses the anxious mind.”

Wisdom 8:21. Having learned that I could not otherwise possess her unless God gave her, and this was itself a matter of intelligence, to know whose gift it is, I turned to the Lord and prayed to him, and spoke with all my heart: 21. Though well endowed by nature, pseudo-Solomon nonetheless did not consider it possible to attain wisdom by his own efforts alone. He knew that wisdom is a gift of God and that one should pray for it. It is the work of natural reason to say, “whose gift this is” and to whom one should pray.