Wisdom

Introduction
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CHAPTER 16

1Therefore they^* were fittingly punished by similar creatures,

and were tormented by a swarm of insects.^a

2Instead of this punishment, you benefited your people

with a novel dish, the delight they craved,

by providing quail for their food,^b

3So that those others, when they desired food,

should lose their appetite even for necessities,

since the creatures sent to plague them were so loathsome,

While these, after a brief period of privation,

partook of a novel dish.^c

4For inexorable want had to come upon those oppressors;

but these needed only to be shown how their enemies were being tormented.^d

5For when the dire venom of beasts came upon them^e

and they were dying from the bite of crooked serpents,

your anger endured not to the end.

6But as a warning, for a short time they were terrorized,

though they had a sign^* of salvation, to remind them of the precept of your law.

7For the one who turned toward it was saved,

not by what was seen,

but by you, the savior of all.

8By this also you convinced our foes

that you are the one who delivers from all evil.^f

9For the bites of locusts and of flies slew them,

and no remedy was found to save their lives

because they deserved to be punished by such means;^g

10But not even the fangs of poisonous reptiles overcame your children,

for your mercy came forth and healed them.^h

11For as a reminder of your injunctions, they were stung,

and swiftly they were saved,

Lest they should fall into deep forgetfulness

and become unresponsive to your beneficence.ⁱ

12For indeed, neither herb nor application cured them,

but your all-healing word, O LORD!^j

13^* For you have dominion over life and death;^k

you lead down to the gates of Hades and lead back.

14Human beings, however, may kill another with malice,

but they cannot bring back the departed spirit,

or release the soul that death has confined.

15Your hand no one can escape.

Third Example: A Rain of Manna for Israel Instead of the Plague of Storms

16For the wicked who refused to know you

were punished by the might of your arm,

Were pursued by unusual rains and hailstorms and unremitting downpours,

and were consumed by fire.^l

17For against all expectation, in water which quenches everything,

the fire grew more active;

For the universe fights on behalf of the righteous.^m

18Then the flame was temperedⁿ

so that the beasts that were sent upon the wicked might not be burnt up,

but that these might see and know that they were struck by the judgment of God;

19And again, even in the water, fire blazed beyond its strength

so as to consume the produce of the wicked land.

20Instead of this, you nourished your people with food of angels^*

and furnished them bread from heaven, ready to hand, untoiled-for,

endowed with all delights and conforming to every taste.^o

21For this substance of yours revealed your sweetness toward your children,

and serving the desire of the one who received it,

was changed to whatever flavor each one wished.^p

22Yet snow and ice^* withstood fire and were not melted,

so that they might know that their enemies’ fruits

Were consumed by a fire that blazed in the hail

and flashed lightning in the rain.^q

23But this fire, again, in order that the righteous might be nourished,

forgot even its proper strength;^r

24For your creation, serving you, its maker,

grows tense for punishment against the wicked,

but is relaxed in benefit for those who trust in you.^s

25Therefore at that very time, transformed in all sorts of ways,

it was serving your all-nourishing bounty

according to what they needed and desired;

26That your children whom you loved might learn, O LORD,

that it is not the various kinds of fruits that nourish,

but your word that preserves those who believe you!^t

27For what was not destroyed by fire,

melted when merely warmed by a momentary sunbeam;^u

28To make known that one must give you thanks before sunrise,

and turn to you at daybreak.^v

29For the hope of the ungrateful melts like a wintry frost

and runs off like useless water.^w

* [16:1] They: the Egyptian idolaters, who are punished according to the principle laid down in 11:5, 15–16.

* [16:6] Sign: the brazen serpent, as related in Numbers 21, but the author deliberately avoids any misunderstanding by addressing the Lord as responsible for the healing, since he is “the savior of all” (v. 7; see also vv. 12 and 26 for the role of the “word” of God).

* [16:13–14] The author recognizes the power of the Lord over life and death, as expressed in 1 Sm 2:6; Tb 13:2. The traditional imagery of Sheol (gates and confinement) colors the passage.

* [16:20] Food of angels: the famous phrase (cf. the hymn “Panis Angelicus”) is taken from Ps 78:24 as rendered by the Septuagint. The “bread from heaven” (cf. Ex 16:4; Ps 105:40) with its marvelous “sweetness” becomes a type of the “bread come down from heaven” in Jn 6:32–51, and plays a large role in later Christian devotion.

* [16:22] Snow and ice: the manna; cf. v. 27; 19:21.

a. [16:1] Wis 11:15–16; 12:23, 27; Ex 7:27; 8:12, 17.

b. [16:2] Wis 11:13; 19:11–12; Ex 16:13; Nm 11:31–32; Ps 105:40.

c. [16:3] Wis 11:15; Ex 8:10; 16:3.

d. [16:4] Wis 11:8–9.

e. [16:5–6] Nm 21:4–9; Dt 32:24; Jer 8:17 LXX.

f. [16:8] Gn 48:16; 2 Mc 1:24–25.

g. [16:9] Ex 8:16–28; 10:4–19; Ps 78:45–46; 105:31, 34; Rev 9:1–11.