Book of Wisdom

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Hebrew Bible or Old Testament for details see Biblical canon
Jewish, Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Torah/Pentateuch Joshua (Jesus Nave) Judges Ruth 1-2 Samuel 1-2 Kings 1-2 Chronicles Ezra (1 Esdras) Nehemiah (2 Esdras) Esther Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel Minor prophets
Roman Catholic and Orthodox include but Jews and Protestants exclude: Tobit Judith 1 Maccabees 2 Maccabees Wisdom (of Solomon) Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus) (Wisdom of Sirach) Baruch, includes Letter of Jeremiah (Additions to Jeremiah) Additions to Daniel Additions to Esther
Orthodox (Synod of Jerusalem) include: 1 Esdras (see Esdras for other names) 3 Maccabees 4 Maccabees (in appendix but not canonical) Prayer of Manasseh Psalm 151
Russian and Ethiopian Orthodox includes: 2 Esdras (see Esdras for other names)
Ethiopian Orthodox Bible includes: Jubilees Enoch 1-3 Meqabyan
Syriac Peshitta Bible includes: Psalm 152-155 2 Baruch This box: view • talk • edit</div>

Wisdom or the Wisdom of Solomon is one of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible. It is also the eponymous volume of the four Sapiential books of the Old Testament, which further include Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiasticus, also known as Jesus Sirach after its author.

1 Date and authorship
2 Philosophical influences
3 Influence on the Gospel of Matthew
4 External links

[edit] Date and authorship

There are no surviving copies of the text in Hebrew. Although the author claims to be Solomon, many scholars believe that its language and ideas are of Greek origin and therefore the author is an Alexandrian Jew. It is the most classical Greek in the Septuagint. It is usually dated to the 1st or 2nd century BC. The author of the text, often referred to as Pseudo-Solomon, is noted by scholars as well versed in the popular philosophical, religious and ethical writings of Hellenistic Alexandria.

Although it is purported to have the same author as Ecclesiastes the beliefs on afterlife are significantly different. Chapter 2 in particular seems to be in direct response to Ecclesiastes: “For they said within themselves, reasoning not aright, Short and sorrowful is our life; And there is no remedy when a man cometh to his end” (Wis. ii. 1)

[edit] Philosophical influences

Philosophical influences may possibly include those of Middle-Platonism (and much of its foundational classical Platonic thinking). Some religious and ethical influences that are found in the Book may stem from Greco-Roman Stoicism, which blossomed in popular culture due to the writings of the Hellenistic Jew Philo. This is evident in the use of the four Stoic ideals which are borrowed from Plato. A Sorites appears in Chapter 6 on wisdom. This logical form is also called Chain-inference, “of which the Stoics were very fond.” (Zeller, 'Stoics', p. 216 note)

One passage (Wis. viii. 2-18) has notable similiarity to Hercules' speech on Virtue in Xenophon, Mem. ii. 1.

[edit] Influence on the Gospel of Matthew

The Wisdom of Solomon foreshadows the Gospel of Matthew prophesying the coming of Jesus. Parallels between Wisdom and Matthew include the theme of testing, and the mocking of a servant of God’s claim to be protected by God. Matthew's gospel tells of how Jesus is the suffering servant of God. The best example is that Matthew 27:43, Wisdom 2:13 and Psalm 22:8:

Matthew 27:43 "He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"

Wisdom 2:13 "He professeth to have the knowledge of God: and he calleth himself the child of the Lord..." 17 "Let us see if his words be true..." 18 "For if the just man be the son of God, he will help him, and deliver him."

Psalm 22:8 "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."

Here we see that Matthew 27:43 is similar in language and theme to Wisdom 2:12-20, which in turn seems to be alluding to the suffering servant of Psalm 22:8. We should note, however, that Matthew's phrase "the Son of God" appears in Wisdom but not in the Psalm.