Wisdom

CHAPTER 15

slow to anger, and governing all with mercy.^a

but we will not sin, knowing that we belong to you.^b

and to know your might is the root of immortality.^c

nor the fruitless labor of painters,^d

A form smeared with varied colors,

till he longs for the inanimate form of a dead image.

are they who make them and long for them and worship them.^e

The Potter’s Clay Idols

molds for our service each single article:

He fashions out of the same clay

both the vessels that serve for clean purposes

and their opposites, all alike;

As to what shall be the use of each vessel of either class

the worker in clay is the judge.^f

though he himself shortly before was made from the earth,

And is soon to go whence he was taken,

when the life that was lent him is demanded back.^g

nor that his span of life is brief;

Rather, he vies with goldsmiths and silversmiths

and emulates molders of bronze,

and takes pride in fashioning counterfeits.^h

more ignoble than clay his life;

and breathed into him a quickening soul,

and infused a vital spirit.^j

and our span of life a holiday for gain;

“For one must,” says he, “make a profit in every way, be it even from evil.”^k

when out of earthen stuff he creates fragile vessels and idols alike.

are the enemies of your people who enslaved them.^l

which cannot use their eyes to see,

nor nostrils to breathe the air,

Nor ears to hear,

nor fingers on their hands for feeling;

even their feet are useless to walk with.^m

one living on borrowed breath who fashioned them.

For no one is able to fashion a god like himself;

For he is better than the things he worships;

he at least lives, but never his idols.

Second Example Resumed

as regards stupidity, these are worse than the rest,^*

they have escaped both the approval of God and his blessing.^p

* [15:1–3] As often before (11:26; 12:2; 14:3–6), the author addresses God directly, so that chaps. 11–19 can be conceived as a more or less continuous prayer (cf. 11:7 and 19:22). This is the living God who is in stark contrast to the deadness of the idols that have been discussed. The merciful God (cf. Ex 34:6) is the source of immortality (1:15) for the community.

* [15:8–9] The author matches the irony of his words about the carpenter in 13:15–19 with this description of the potter’s vain work.

* [15:10] Ashes his heart is!: the words of this cry are taken from Is 44:20 (the Septuagint).

* [15:18–19] The author here returns (11:15; 12:23–27) to the main theme of chaps. 11–19, which was interrupted by the digression of 13:1–15:17.

* [15:18] Worse than the rest: this may mean that the creatures worshiped by the Egyptians (e.g., crocodiles, serpents, scarabs, etc.) were less intelligent than the general run of beasts.

a. [15:1] Ex 34:6–7; Ps 86:5, 15; 145:8, 9, 14.

b. [15:2] Jb 10:14–15 LXX.

c. [15:3] Wis 3:15; Jn 17:3.

d. [15:4] Wis 13:14.

e. [15:6] Ps 115:8.

f. [15:7] Wis 13:11; Jer 18:3–4; Rom 9:21; 2 Tm 2:20–21.

g. [15:8] Gn 3:19; Eccl 12:7.

h. [15:9] Bar 6:46.

i. [15:10] Jb 13:12 LXX.

j. [15:11] Gn 2:7; Zec 12:1.

k. [15:12] Jas 4:13–14.

l. [15:14] Ex 1:13.

m. [15:15] Wis 14:11; Dt 4:28; Ps 115:4–7; 135:15–18.

n. [15:16–17] Wis 13:10.

o. [15:18] Wis 11:15; 12:24.

p. [15:19] Gn 1:25; 3:14.