Introduction
Contents Title of the book
The writer of the book.
The time, place, and purpose of writing.
The contents of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon.
Title of the book
In the Greek Bible this book is entitled: Sophia Solomontos — Wisdom of Solomon, and in the Latin Liber Sapientiae. This title first of all points to the contents of the book; its principal subject is the teaching concerning the Wisdom of God, its beginning, properties, and actions in the world. Another word in the title points to Solomon. The name of this king stands here because the writer of the book sometimes speaks from the person of Solomon (see Wis 7-9 ch.), the chief representative and first teacher of biblical wisdom, and its subject is similar to the subject of the Book of Proverbs of Solomon.
The writer of the book.
The most ancient opinion about the author of the Book of Wisdom is that Solomon was its writer. Many fathers and teachers of the church held this opinion (Clement of Alexandria. Strom. XI, v. IX, 315. Tertullian. De praecript, II, 20. Holy Cyprian. Ep. de exhort martyrum XII, VI, 673) on the grounds that the name of Solomon stands in the title and the book speaks from his person. This opinion was subsequently strongly defended by the Catholic Church with the aim of having this book recognized by it as canonical.
Such an opinion about the author of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon cannot be regarded as correct for the following reasons. 1) The Book of the Wisdom of Solomon cannot be attributed to Solomon because it was not written in the Hebrew language, but in Greek. 2) The writer of the Book of Wisdom is familiar with Greek philosophy: the teaching of Plato, the Epicureans, and in part the Stoics (II:1–6; VIII:7, 19–20). 3) He lives outside Palestine and makes references to Greek customs and practices (VII:17–20; VIII:8; XIII:1–15; XIV:14): he cites quotations from the LXX translation (Wis 2:12 cf. Isa 3:10; Wis 15:10 cf. Isa 44). 4) In the catalogs of Old Testament books, for example, in the “Apostolic Canons” (Canon 85), the Council of Laodicea, and St. Athanasius the Great, it is not considered a work of Solomon and a canonical book.
Another opinion, which was expressed in the time of Jerome, attributes the writing of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon to Philo. In support of this opinion, they point to the similarity of the teaching of this book about Wisdom with Philo’s teaching about the Logos. But this similarity is superficial: the writer of our book does not think of the image of Wisdom what Philo understood by the Logos. Between the one and the other a difference of views is noted to the point of opposition. 1) The origin of sin and death in the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon is explained by “the envy of the devil” (II:24): Philo could not say this, for he did not admit the existence of an evil principle in the world and understood the biblical account of the fall of the first humans allegorically. 2) The theory of the preexistence of souls is presented differently by the writer of the Book of Wisdom and by Philo: according to the teaching of the Book of Wisdom, the souls of the good enter into pure bodies (VIII:19–20), but according to Philo, only fallen souls inclined to sin are sent into bodies on earth (De monarchia II, p. 213–216). 3) Finally, the views of Philo and concerning the origin of idolatry differ greatly from the teaching of the Book of Wisdom on this subject. (Wis 12-13 ch. and Philo De mundo II, p. 604).
Thus, Philo could not have written a book in which teaching is set forth that in many respects is opposite to his views. Church tradition also testifies against the writing of the Book of Wisdom by Philo. The fathers of the church contemporary with Philo — Clement of Rome and Dionysius the Areopagite — cite passages from this book in their writings as sacred. Such respect for the book among these fathers could not have existed if it had been written by an unbelieving Jew, their contemporary.
All other attempts to find the author of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon are just as unsuccessful as the two mentioned (they can be read in the work of Professor D. Pospekh: “The Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, Its Origin and Relation to Judeo-Alexandrian Philosophy”). Therefore, one must be satisfied with the general indication found in the book itself, that its writer was a Hellenistic Jew, an educated Alexandrian, well versed in Greek philosophy.
The time, place, and purpose of writing.
One can judge the time of writing of the Book of Wisdom only conjecturally, on the basis of the allusions in this book to the condition of Egyptian Jews contemporary with the writer. All commentators agree that during the writer’s lifetime, Egyptian Jews suffered some grave unjust oppression from the pagan government, having the character of religious persecution. Looking to history, we find that during the reign of the three first Ptolemies, the Jews did not suffer any oppression and even enjoyed the favor of the government.
It was only under Ptolemy IV, Philopator, when, after the end of the Fourth Syrian War (221–217 BC), he returned from Palestine to Egypt in a state of intense irritation against the Palestinian Jews, that religious persecution of Jews in Egypt began. This persecution of Egyptian Jews is described in the Third Book of Maccabees and in such features as we find also in the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon (II:12–17 cf. 3 Macc 1 and II; I:11–12 cf. 3 Macc 2:19-20; Wis 2:19-20 cf. 3 Macc 3:1). From this one can conclude that the Book of Wisdom was written toward the end of the reign of Ptolemy IV, around 221–217 BC.
The place of writing of the Book of Wisdom was Egypt and, most likely, Alexandria. Its author is familiar with Judeo-Alexandrian philosophy; in his book he makes allusions to Egyptian religion (XII:24; XV:16–19). Regarding the purpose of writing the book, based on the repeated exhortations and appeals of the writer to the judges of the earth, the rulers of nations, and kings (I:1; VI:1), the opinion was formed that the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon was written mainly for kings (Egyptian or Syrian) and was intended to be transmitted to them. But more careful study of the book shows that the principal readers of the Book of Wisdom, whom the writer had in mind when composing it, should be presumed to be within Jewry itself, not outside it. The sad condition of Judeo-Alexandrian society prompted the writer to present to the awareness of contemporary Egyptian Jews the truth of the theocratic idea of Old Testament faith in all its light, directing them to the great and glorious future of Israel in the coming kingdom of God, in heaven and on earth.
The contents of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon.
The principal subject of the Book of the Wisdom of Solomon is the teaching about wisdom. The writer of the book considers wisdom from two sides:
1) as it is in itself, in its original source — God; this is wisdom objective, or divine, and
2) as it is reflected in the human spirit; this is wisdom subjective, or human. Considering wisdom in the first relation, the writer portrays it as an eternally inherent principle in God of revelation and action of His in the world, as the center of divine perfections, which are revealed in the creation and governance of the world; in the second relation, Wisdom is the principle entering into the human spirit from God of all higher spiritual perfection, leading man to immortality. In accordance with the gradual unfolding of this idea of wisdom, the whole book can be divided according to its contents into three parts.
In the first part (chs. I–V), wisdom is portrayed as a guide to blissful immortality, in opposition to the false opinion of Jewish freethinkers who denied immortality.
In the second part (chs. VI–IX), from the person of King Solomon, the writer sets forth the teaching about the essence of wisdom, its origin and properties, concerning the necessity and significance of possessing it, as well as the conditions for attaining it.
In the third part (chs. X–XIX), the writer proves by examples from the ancient history of his people that only wisdom made this people happy; on the contrary, the lack of it led individual persons and whole nations (the Egyptians, the Canaanites) to destruction.