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Concept
Book of Wisdom
Summary
The Book of Wisdom, or the Wisdom of Solomon, is a Jewish work written in Greek and most likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt. Generally dated to the mid-first century BC, the central theme of the work is "wisdom" itself, appearing under two principal aspects. The first aspect is, in its relation to humankind, wisdom is the perfection of knowledge of the righteous as a gift from God showing itself in action. The second aspect is, in direct relation to God, wisdom is with God from all eternity. It is one of the seven sapiential or wisdom books in the Septuagint, the others being Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), Job, and Sirach. It is one of the deuterocanonical books, i.e. it is included in the canons of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, but most Protestants consider it part of the Apocrypha.
The 19 chapters of the work can be grouped into three sections.Jerusalem Bible (1966), Introduction to the Wisdom of Solomon, p. 1004 Lester Grabbe organises these as follows:
Book of Eschatology
exhortation to justice
speech of the impious, contrasts of the wicked and the just
exhortation to wisdom
Book of Wisdom
Solomon's speech concerning wisdom, wealth, power and prayer
Book of History
introduction, followed by diptychs of plagues
digression on God's power and mercy
digression on false worship and further plagues
recapitulation and concluding doxology.
The book is addressed to the rulers of the earth (verse 1:1), urging them to love righteousness and seek wisdom; the wicked think that all is chance and that they should enjoy each day, but they are deluded. In the second section Solomon (not explicitly named, but strongly implied) tells of his search for wisdom.
The Wisdom of Solomon can be linked to several forms of ancient literature, both Jewish and non-Jewish, but it clearly belongs with biblical Wisdom books such as the Book of Job, one of only five such books among ancient Jewish literature.
Official source
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