Wisdom

Introduction
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

CHAPTER 1

Exhortation to Righteousness, the Key to Life

1Love righteousness,^* you who judge the earth;^a

think of the LORD in goodness,

and seek him in integrity of heart;^b

2Because he is found by those who do not test him,

and manifests himself to those who do not disbelieve him.^c

3For perverse counsels separate people from God,

and his power, put to the proof, rebukes the foolhardy;^d

4^* Because into a soul that plots evil wisdom does not enter,

nor does she dwell in a body under debt of sin.^e

5For the holy spirit of discipline^* flees deceit

and withdraws from senseless counsels

and is rebuked when unrighteousness occurs.^f

6For wisdom is a kindly spirit,

yet she does not acquit blasphemous lips;

Because God is the witness of the inmost self^g

and the sure observer of the heart

and the listener to the tongue.^h

7For the spirit of the LORD fills the world,ⁱ

is all-embracing, and knows whatever is said.

8Therefore those who utter wicked things will not go unnoticed,

nor will chastising condemnation pass them by.^j

9For the devices of the wicked shall be scrutinized,

and the sound of their words shall reach the LORD,

for the chastisement of their transgressions;

10Because a jealous ear hearkens to everything,^k

and discordant grumblings are not secret.

11Therefore guard against profitless grumbling,

and from calumny^* withhold your tongues;

For a stealthy utterance will not go unpunished,

and a lying mouth destroys the soul.

12Do not court death^* by your erring way of life,

nor draw to yourselves destruction by the works of your hands.

13Because God did not make death,^l

nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.

14For he fashioned all things that they might have being,

and the creatures of the world are wholesome;

There is not a destructive drug among them

nor any domain of Hades^* on earth,

15For righteousness is undying.^* ^m

The Wicked Reject Immortality and Righteousness Alike

16It was the wicked who with hands and words invited death,

considered it a friend, and pined for it,

and made a covenant with it,

Because they deserve to be allied with it.ⁿ

* [1:1–6:21] The reward is the gift of immortality, to the righteous (1:15; 3:1–3), but not to the wicked (5:1–13). Contrasts between these two groups dominate chaps. 1–5. The philosophy of the wicked and their persecution of the righteous are dramatically presented in 1:16–2:24. New light is shed on the suffering of the righteous (3:1–9), childlessness (3:13–15), and premature death (4:7–16)—in contrast to the fate of the wicked (3:10–12, 16–19; 4:3–6, 17–20).

* [1:1] Righteousness: not merely the cardinal virtue of justice (cf. 8:7), but the universal moral quality which is the application of wisdom to moral conduct. You who judge: “judges” and “kings” (cf. 6:1) are addressed in accordance with the literary customs of the times and with the putative Solomonic authorship, but the real audience is the Jewish community.

* [1:4] In these verses personified Wisdom is identified with the spirit of the Lord; so also in 9:17.

* [1:5] Discipline: here and elsewhere, another name for Wisdom.

* [1:11] Calumny: speech against God and divine providence is meant.

* [1:12] Death: as will become clear, the author is not speaking of physical death but of spiritual death, the eternal separation from God.

* [1:14] Hades: the Greek term for the Hebrew Sheol, the dwelling place of the dead.

* [1:15] Undying: immortality is not seen as an innate quality of the soul but as a gift of God to the righteous.

a. [1:1] 1 Chr 29:17; Ps 2:10; Is 26:9.

b. [1:1–2] Sir 1:25.

c. [1:2] 1 Chr 28:9.

d. [1:3] Is 59:2.

e. [1:4] Sir 15:7–8; Rom 7:14.

f. [1:5] Is 63:10.