Wisdom of Solomon 18

But your holy people had a very great light. Their enemies heard their voices but could not see their shape, and because these had not suffered the same things, they called them happy.

1Nevertheless thy saints had a very great light, whose voice they hearing, and not seeing their shape, because they also had not suffered the same things, they counted them happy.

Note"Saints" in the King James means holy ones, people set apart for God, and here refers to the Israelites; it has nothing to do with the later idea of a canonized saint. The light and the darkness carry over from the previous chapter: in the plague of darkness (Exodus 10:21-23) the Egyptians could not see for three days, while the Israelites had light where they lived. Notice also that this book names nobody. Israel, Egypt, Moses and Aaron are all present in this chapter but appear only as "thy saints," "the enemies," "one child," "the blameless man." That is the author's deliberate style, not a gap in the text. The second half of this verse is genuinely tangled in the Greek, and translators differ over who is counting whom happy and why.

2And because the people they had wronged before did them no harm now, they thanked them, and begged them for pardon for having been their enemies.

2But for that they did not hurt them now, of whom they had been wronged before, they thanked them, and besought them pardon for that they had been enemies.

NoteThis scene of the Egyptians thanking the Israelites and asking pardon is the author's expansion; Exodus reports no such exchange, though it does say the Egyptians urged Israel to leave and gave them what they asked for (Exodus 12:33-36).

3Instead of that darkness you gave your people a burning pillar of fire, both to guide them on a journey they did not know and to be a sun that did no harm, receiving them with honor.

3Instead whereof thou gavest them a burning pillar of fire, both to be a guide of the unknown journey, and an harmless sun to entertain them honourably.

NoteThe pillar of fire is from Exodus 13:21-22, where a column of cloud by day and fire by night went ahead of the Israelites. "Entertain" in 1611 English means to receive or host a guest, so the fire welcomes them the way a host welcomes a traveler. Calling it "an harmless sun" sets it against the desert sun that burns: this one gives light without the scorching.

4For those people deserved to be robbed of light and shut up in darkness, since they had kept your sons locked away, your sons, through whom the never-fading light of the law was to be given to the world.

4For they were worthy to be deprived of light and imprisoned in darkness, who had kept thy sons shut up, by whom the uncorrupt light of the law was to be given unto the world.

Note"Thy sons" are the Israelites, held as slaves in Egypt. "The uncorrupt light of the law" means the law of Moses, described as a light that cannot decay or be spoiled, which Israel was to carry to the rest of the world.

5When they had decided to kill the babies of your holy people, and one child was thrown out and saved to be a rebuke to them, you took away the crowd of their own children, and destroyed them all together in a mighty flood of water.

5And when they had determined to slay the babes of the saints, one child being cast forth, and saved, to reprove them, thou tookest away the multitude of their children, and destroyedst them altogether in a mighty water.

NoteThe child thrown out and saved is Moses, set adrift on the river in a basket after Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew baby boys drowned (Exodus 1:22 to 2:10). "The multitude of their children" is the death of the Egyptian firstborn (Exodus 12:29), and the "mighty water" is the sea closing over Pharaoh's army (Exodus 14). The author is matching the punishments to the crime: the Egyptians who drowned babies are themselves drowned.

6Our fathers were told about that night ahead of time, so that, knowing for certain what sworn promises they had trusted, they could be glad afterward.

6Of that night were our fathers certified afore, that assuredly knowing unto what oaths they had given credence, they might afterwards be of good cheer.

Note"That night" is the night of the first Passover (Exodus 12). "Certified afore" in the King James means informed in advance, warned beforehand; it has nothing to do with a certificate. The oaths they had trusted are the promises God swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

7So your people looked for both the rescue of the righteous and the destruction of their enemies.

7So of thy people was accepted both the salvation of the righteous, and destruction of the enemies.

Note"Accepted" here does not mean approved. The Greek verb means awaited or looked forward to, so the sense is that the people were expecting both things to happen that night.

8For by the very same act with which you punished our enemies, you gave glory to us, whom you had called.

8For wherewith thou didst punish our adversaries, by the same thou didst glorify us, whom thou hadst called.

9The holy children of good men offered sacrifice in secret, and with one mind agreed together to a sacred law: that God's holy people would share alike in the same good things and the same dangers. Already the fathers were singing out songs of praise.

9For the righteous children of good men did sacrifice secretly, and with one consent made a holy law, that the saints should be like partakers of the same good and evil, the fathers now singing out the songs of praise.

NoteThe secret sacrifice is the Passover lamb, killed and eaten indoors on the night of the escape (Exodus 12:3-11). To "make a holy law" is to bind themselves by a covenant, a sworn agreement with terms on both sides. The songs are the hymns sung at the Passover meal.

10But on the other side there sounded the clashing cry of their enemies, and a sad, wailing noise spread far and wide as children were mourned.

10But on the other side there sounded an ill according cry of the enemies, and a lamentable noise was carried abroad for children that were bewailed.

Note"Ill according" is an old English phrase meaning out of tune, discordant. It is placed deliberately against the singing in the previous verse: one set of houses in harmony, the other screaming.

11Master and servant were punished in the same way, and the ordinary man suffered just as the king did.

11The master and the servant were punished after one manner; and like as the king, so suffered the common person.

NoteExodus 11:5 puts it the same way: from the firstborn of Pharaoh on his throne to the firstborn of the slave girl working the mill. "Common person" in the King James means an ordinary man, with no insult intended.

12So they all together had countless dead, all by one kind of death, and there were not enough living people to bury them, for in a single moment the finest of their children were destroyed.

12So they all together had innumerable dead with one kind of death; neither were the living sufficient to bury them: for in one moment the noblest offspring of them was destroyed.

Note"The noblest offspring" means the firstborn sons. In this world the eldest son held first place among a man's children and took the largest share of the inheritance, so losing him was losing the family's future.

13They had refused to believe anything, because of their magic arts; but when the firstborn were destroyed, they admitted that this people were the sons of God.

13For whereas they would not believe any thing by reason of the enchantments; upon the destruction of the firstborn, they acknowledged this people to be the sons of God.

NoteThe "enchantments" are the magic arts of Pharaoh's own experts, who matched the first signs Moses performed by turning staffs into snakes and water into blood (Exodus 7:11-12, 22; 8:7). Because the signs could be copied, the Egyptians could dismiss them as tricks.

14For while everything lay in quiet silence, and the night was halfway through her swift course,

14For while all things were in quiet silence, and that night was in the midst of her swift course,

Note"The midst of her swift course" means midnight. Exodus 12:29 places the death of the firstborn at exactly that hour. Readers may recognize this verse and the next from later Christmas use, but here the night in question is Passover night in Egypt.

15your all-powerful word leaped down from heaven, from your royal throne, like a fierce warrior into the middle of a land marked for destruction,

15Thine Almighty word leaped down from heaven out of thy royal throne, as a fierce man of war into the midst of a land of destruction,

Note"Word" translates the Greek logos, which covers a spoken word, a command, and the reasoning behind it all at once. The author describes it acting like a person, a soldier leaping down from a throne, the same way this book speaks of Wisdom herself as a woman. "A land of destruction" means a land already marked out for ruin.

16carrying your true command like a sharp sword. It stood and filled all things with death, and it touched heaven while it stood on the earth.

16And brought thine unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword, and standing up filled all things with death; and it touched the heaven, but it stood upon the earth.

Note"Unfeigned" in 1611 English means genuine, not pretended. An unfeigned commandment is an order that is exactly what it claims to be. The figure that touches heaven while standing on the ground is being described as enormous, filling the space between the two.

17Then all at once terrible visions in dreams troubled them badly, and fears they had not looked for came over them.

17Then suddenly visions of horrible dreams troubled them sore, and terrors came upon them unlooked for.

18One was thrown down here and another there, half dead, and each made known the reason he was dying.

18And one thrown here, and another there, half dead, shewed the cause of his death.

19For the dreams that disturbed them had shown them beforehand what was coming, so that they would not die without knowing why they were being struck.

19For the dreams that troubled them did foreshew this, lest they should perish, and not know why they were afflicted.

20The taste of death touched the righteous also, and many of them were destroyed in the wilderness; but the anger did not last long.

20Yea, the tasting of death touched the righteous also, and there was a destruction of the multitude in the wilderness: but the wrath endured not long.

NoteThe scene jumps here from Egypt to the years in the desert. The reference is to Numbers 16:41-50, where a plague broke out among the Israelites after the rebellion of Korah. "The righteous" are now the Israelites themselves: this time the blow fell on them.

21For a blameless man hurried and stood up to defend them. He brought the weapon of his own service, which was prayer, and the incense offered to make things right, and he set himself against the anger and brought the disaster to an end, showing that he was your servant.

21For then the blameless man made haste, and stood forth to defend them; and bringing the shield of his proper ministry, even prayer, and the propitiation of incense, set himself against the wrath, and so brought the calamity to an end, declaring that he was thy servant.

NoteThe blameless man, unnamed as always in this book, is Aaron, Moses' brother and the first high priest. In Numbers 16:46-48 he ran into the middle of the crowd carrying a censer of burning incense and stood between the dead and the living until the plague stopped. "His proper ministry" means his own particular office, the priesthood; "proper" in the King James means one's own, not correct. "Propitiation" is the act of turning away anger and setting a relationship right again, here done by burning incense as an offering.

22So he overcame the anger, not by strength of body or force of weapons, but with a word he brought the one who was punishing under control, pointing to the sworn promises and agreements made with the fathers.

22So he overcame the destroyer, not with strength of body, nor force of arms, but with a word subdued him that punished, alleging the oaths and covenants made with the fathers.

Note"Him that punished" and "the destroyer" in verse 25 refer to the agent carrying out the plague, pictured as a single striking figure. "Alleging" is an old legal use meaning citing or bringing forward as an argument, not the modern sense of claiming something unproven. The oaths and covenants are the promises sworn to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

23For when the dead had already fallen in heaps, one on top of another, he stood in between, stopped the anger, and cut off its path to the living.

23For when the dead were now fallen down by heaps one upon another, standing between, he stayed the wrath, and parted the way to the living.

24For the whole world was pictured on his long robe, the glory of the fathers was carved on the four rows of stones, and your majesty was on the band around his head.

24For in the long garment was the whole world, and in the four rows of the stones was the glory of the fathers graven, and thy Majesty upon the diadem of his head.

NoteThese are the working clothes of the high priest, described in Exodus 28. The long robe is the ankle-length garment worn under the priestly vest; Jewish writers of this period read its design as a picture of the whole universe, which is what "in the long garment was the whole world" means. The four rows of stones are the twelve precious stones set in four rows of three on the breastpiece, each engraved with the name of one of Jacob's sons, "the fathers" of the twelve tribes. The diadem is the gold plate tied over the turban, engraved with the words "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" (Exodus 28:36-38), which is why God's majesty is said to be on it.

25The destroyer gave way to these things and was afraid of them, for the mere taste of the anger was enough.

25Unto these the destroyer gave place, and was afraid of them: for it was enough that they only tasted of the wrath.

Note"Gave place" in the King James means gave way, yielded ground, backed off. The final clause is ambiguous in the Greek: it can mean that the people had only a taste of the anger and that was punishment enough, or that a mere taste was enough to show what the full measure would be.