Introduction Wisdom: What Qoheleth saw only dimly at best, the
author of Wisdom did see very clearly (3:1-5): "The souls of the
just are in the hands of God, and surely no torment will touch
them. They seemed to the eyes of senseless men to die, and their
departure was considered an evil...but they are in peace. And if in
the eyes of men they be punished, their hope is full of
immortality. And having been tried a little, they will be greatly
blessed for God tried them, and found them worthy of himself."
The author was a Jew, probably at Alexandria, in the first
century B.C. He was familiar with Hellenistic philosophy, culture
and rhetoric. Pagan wisdom, and especially the pagan claims of
Isis, the goddess of wisdom, would be apt to impress the Jews.
Science had been flourishing in Alexandria for some time. The
writer wants to strengthen fellow Jews against the attractions of
these things.
The passage we cited above comes from the section on wisdom
and human destiny (which runs to 6:21). The wicked may persecute -
probably the memory of the persecution of Antiochus IV of Syria was
vivid. But God makes it all right in the life to come. For God had
formed man to be imperishable (1:13-14; 2:23). But death entered by
the sins of wicked people. Death cannot harm those who are faithful
to God, but it will strike those who plotted against the just.
The second section 6:22-11:1 speaks of acquiring wisdom. It is
a gift of God, but will be given those who are just and who seek
it. Specially impressive are the words of 6:5-6 which say that the
lowly may be pardoned by mercy, but there is a stern judgment for
the powerful.
In the third section, 11:2-19:22 the author reviews the
wonders of God's works for Israel, in the Exodus and beyond. Israel
benefitted by the very things, the plagues, that struck the
Egyptians.
A special gem of wisdom appears in 4:12: " The magic spell of
worthless things obscures what is right, and the anxiousness of
desire perverts an innocent mind." This anticipates St.Paul's plea
for detachment in 1 Cor 7:29-35. It is quite possible, since the
author knew Greek culture that he has in mind too the plea of
Socrates, often repeated, that the philosopher, to find the truth,
should have as little as possible to do with the things of the body
(e.g., Phaedo 65,66,82-83,114; Republic 519).
