Meaning and Significance of the Text
According to Wikipedia, the Wisdom of Solomon, also known as the Book of Wisdom, is a Jewish text, composed in Greek, created in Alexandria (Egypt). Commonly dated to the late first century BC, the primary subject of the work is "Wisdom" itself, relating to two main views. In its relation to man, Wisdom is the achievement of knowledge of the righteous as a gift from God showing itself in action. In close relation to God, Wisdom is with God from all eternity. It is one of the seven wisdom books included within the Septuagint, along with Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs (Song of Solomon), Job, and Sirach, and is inserted in the literature of Deuterocanonical books by the Roman Catholic Church and the of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Most Protestants view the Wisdom of Solomon as part of the Apocrypha.
Listen to the wisdom of Solomon from Proverbs (KJV) in the video below:
Outline of the Wisdom of Solomon:
1. Book of Eschatology
-Appeal to justice
-Speech of the sinful; variations of the wicked and the just
-Appeal to wisdom
2. Book of Wisdom
-Solomon's speech regarding wisdom, wealth, power and prayer
3. 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
Wisdom of Solomon: Author and Theme
The text is directed to the leaders of the earth, inspiring them to love righteousness and pursue wisdom. It states the sinful think that all is chance and that they should just enjoy each day, but they are misled. In the second section, the author describes his quest for wisdom.
According to GotQuestions.org, the Wisdom of Solomon was considered to have been composed by King Solomon, although his name is found nowhere in the text. However, the early church renounced Solomon as the author as an old document known as the Muratorian Canon notes the Wisdom of Solomon as composed by “the friends of Solomon in his honor.”
Although Solomon penned much on the matter of wisdom in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, he never glorified it to be a component of the Godhead, a viewpoint found in The Wisdom of Solomon. The Wisdom of Solomon mentions Wisdom in terms the Bible uses for the Messiah, stating, “She [wisdom] is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness” (Wisdom of Solomon 7:26)
Article image is a painting called "The Judgment of Solomon" by Nicolas Poussin
