Bible Thesaurus: The Wisdom of Solomon

Bible > Thesaurus > The Wisdom of Solomon

◄ The Wisdom of Solomon ►

Smith's Bible Dictionary

The Wisdom of Solomon

a, book of the Apocrypha, may be divided into two parts, the first, chs. 1-9, containing the doctrine of wisdom in its moral and intellectual aspects: the second, the doctrine of wisdom as shown in history. chs. 10-19. The first part contains the praise of wisdom as the source of immortality, in contrast with the teaching of sensualists; and next the praise of wisdom as the guide of practical and intellectual life, the stay of princes, and the interpreter of the universe. The second part, again, follows the action of wisdom summarily, as preserving God's servants, from Adam to Moses, and more particularly in the punishment of the Egyptians and Canaanites. Style and language . --The literary character of the book is most remarkable and interesting. In the richness and freedom of its vocabulary it most closely resembles the Fourth Book of Maccabees, but it is superior to that fine declamation in both power and variety of diction. The magnificent description of wisdom ch. 7:22-8:1, must rank among the noblest passages of human eloquence, and it would be perhaps impossible to point out any piece of equal length in the remains of classical antiquity more pregnant with noble thought or more rich in expressive phraseology. Doctrinal character. --The theological teaching of the book offers, in many respects, the nearest approach to the language and doctrines of Greek philosophy that is found in any Jewish writing up to the time of Philo. There is much in the views which it gives of the world of man and of the divine nature which springs rather from the combination or conflict of Hebrew and Greek thought than from the independent development of Hebrew thought alone. The conception is presented of the body as a mere weight and clog to the soul. ch, 9:15; contrast (2 Corinthians 5:1-4) There is, on the other hand no trace of the characteristic Christian doctrine of a resurrection of the body. The identification of the tempter, (Genesis 3:1) ... directly or indirectly with the devil, as the bringer "of death into the world" ch. 2:23, 24, is the most remarkable development of biblical doctrine which the book contains. Generally, too, it may be observed that, as in the cognate books, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, there are few traces of the recognition of the sinfulness even of the wise man in his wisdom, which forms in the Psalms and the prophets, the basis of the Christian doctrine of the atonement: yet comp. (Genesis 15:2) In connection with the Old Testament Scriptures, the book, as a whole, may be regarded as carrying on one step farther the great problem of life contained in Ecclesiastes and Job. Date. --From internal evidence it seems most reasonable to believe that the work was composed in Greek at Alexandria some time before the time of Philo-about 120-80 B.C. It seems impossible to study this book dispassionately and not feel that it forms one of the last links in the chain of providential connection between the Old and New Covenants. It would not be easy to find elsewhere any pre-Christian view of religion equally wide, sustained and definite.

Library

The History of Solomon
... God gave to Solomon much wisdom and prudence in his heart, like to the gravel that
is in the sea-side, and the sapience and wisdom of Solomon passed and went ...
/.../wells/bible stories and religious classics/the history of solomon.htm

But it Should be Known that There are Also Other Books which Our ...
... that there are also other books which our fathers call not "Canonical" but
"Ecclesiastical:" that is to say, Wisdom, called the Wisdom of Solomon, and another ...
/.../38 but it should be.htm

The Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs
... The stories told in I Kings iii.16-28, to illustrate the wisdom of Solomon, suggest
the historical basis of the reputation which he enjoyed in the thought of ...
/.../the origin and permanent value of the old testament/x the hebrew sages and.htm

Appendix.
... the English Bible of which the Readings are made up, and to give in extenso only
the Readings from the Books of Proverbs, and the Wisdom of Solomon, which are ...
//christianbookshelf.org/anonymous/the general menaion/appendix.htm

Introduction
... literary study the distinction disappears; and two books of the Apocrypha are of
the highest literary importance,"Ecclesiasticus and The Wisdom of Solomon. ...
/.../various/select masterpieces of biblical literature/introduction.htm

Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom.
... ORIGINAL HYMNS HYMN LXX. Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom. 8.6.8.6 James Montgomery.
Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom. Almighty God, in humble prayer,. ...
/.../montgomery/sacred poems and hymns/hymn lxx solomons prayer for.htm

Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom.
... DEVOUT EXERCISES. 459. " Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom. 459. CM Montgomery.
Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom. 1 Almighty God! in humble ...
/.../adams/hymns for christian devotion/459 solomons prayer for.htm

Concerning the Wife of Solomon; Concerning his Wisdom and Riches ...
... of the man, to overturn it, and thereby to let the spectators know that he had left
the man; and when this was done, the skill and wisdom of Solomon was shown ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 2 concerning the wife.htm

'A Greater than Solomon'
... saw? He is the 'wisdom' which was traditionally called the 'wisdom of Solomon,'
and which the Queen came from far to hear. Jesus ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture b/a greater than solomon.htm

This State of Prayer not one of Idleness, but of Noble Action ...
... The Spirit of God is "one only," "yet manifold" (Wisdom of Solomon
vii.22), and its unity does not prevent its multiplicity. We ...
/.../a short method of prayer and spiritual torrents/chapter xvi this state of.htm