Wisdom of Solomon

Love righteousness, all of you who are judges of the earth. Think about the Lord with a good mind, and look for him with a whole and undivided heart.

1Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth: think of the Lord with a good (heart,) and in simplicity of heart seek him.

NoteThe people addressed are rulers, not only courtroom judges. The Greek word covers anyone who governs and hands down decisions, so the book opens by speaking to kings and magistrates. The King James "in simplicity of heart" does not mean simple-minded: the word means single and undivided, with no second motive hidden behind the first.

2He is found by those who do not put him to the test, and he shows himself to those who do not distrust him.

2For he will be found of them that tempt him not; and sheweth himself unto such as do not distrust him.

Note"Tempt" in the King James does not mean lure into sin. It means put to the test, try out, as you would test a coin to see whether it is genuine.

3Crooked thoughts cut a person off from God. His power, when it is put to the test, shows the foolish that they are wrong.

3For froward thoughts separate from God: and his power, when it is tried, reproveth the unwise.

Note"Froward" is an old English word for crooked, twisted or perverse, the opposite of straightforward; it has nothing to do with being forward or bold. "Reproveth" means convicts, shows someone to be in the wrong, as a court does. The Greek writes "his Power" almost as a title standing in for God himself, one of the indirect ways writers of this period spoke of God without naming him.

4Wisdom will not come into a soul that plans evil, and it will not live in a body that is under the control of sin.

4For into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter; nor dwell in the body that is subject unto sin.

5The holy spirit that trains a person runs away from lies, moves away from thoughts that have no understanding, and will not stay when wrongdoing comes in.

5For the holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and remove from thoughts that are without understanding, and will not abide when unrighteousness cometh in.

Note"Discipline" here translates the Greek word paideia, which covers the whole business of bringing a child up: teaching, training and correction together, not punishment alone. The Greek of the last clause is uncertain: it can mean the spirit will be put to shame, or will be convicted, when wrongdoing arrives; the King James reads it as the spirit leaving.

6Wisdom is a spirit that loves people, and she will not let a person who speaks against God go free for what his lips have said. God is a witness of what is deepest inside him, a true watcher of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue.

6For wisdom is a loving spirit; and will not acquit a blasphemer of his words: for God is witness of his reins, and a true beholder of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue.

Note"A loving spirit" translates a Greek word meaning loving toward human beings, friendly to people. Wisdom is called "she" because the Greek noun for wisdom, sophia, is grammatically feminine, and the book goes on to speak of her as a person. A "blasphemer" is someone whose speech insults or slanders, here against God. "Reins" is the old English word for the kidneys, which were thought of as the seat of a person's deepest and most hidden feelings, so a witness of someone's reins is a witness of what no one else can see.

7The Spirit of the Lord fills the world, and that which holds all things together knows every word that is spoken.

7For the Spirit of the Lord filleth the world: and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice.

Note"Containeth" in 1611 English means holds together, keeps in place, not merely encloses. "Hath knowledge of the voice" is a compressed phrase meaning it knows every sound that is uttered, so no spoken word escapes it.

8So no one who says unrighteous things can stay hidden, and justice, when it hands out punishment, will not pass him by.

8Therefore he that speaketh unrighteous things cannot be hid: neither shall vengeance, when it punisheth, pass by him.

Note"Vengeance" here translates the Greek word dike, which means both justice and the penalty justice exacts. In Greek writing Dike was also the name of a goddess of justice, and the sentence treats her almost as a person who walks past some people and stops at others.

9The plans of the ungodly will be searched out, and the sound of his words will come to the Lord, bringing his wicked deeds into the open.

9For inquisition shall be made into the counsels of the ungodly: and the sound of his words shall come unto the Lord for the manifestation of his wicked deeds.

Note"Inquisition shall be made" simply means a search or investigation will be carried out; it has nothing to do with the later church courts of that name. "Counsels" means plans and private deliberations, the things a person decides inwardly before acting.

10For a jealous ear hears everything, and the noise of grumbling is not hidden.

10For the ear of jealousy heareth all things: and the noise of murmurings is not hid.

Note"The ear of jealousy" is a figure of speech: jealousy here is not petty envy but the protective, unwilling-to-share attention of someone with an exclusive claim, so the phrase means an ear that misses nothing because it is listening closely. "Murmurings" are complaints muttered under the breath, the word used in Greek scripture for Israel's grumbling in the wilderness.

11So be careful about grumbling, which does no good, and keep your tongue from speaking against others. No word said in secret goes off with no effect, and a mouth that lies kills the soul.

11Therefore beware of murmuring, which is unprofitable; and refrain your tongue from backbiting: for there is no word so secret, that shall go for nought: and the mouth that belieth slayeth the soul.

Note"Backbiting" means speaking against someone behind their back, slander. "Go for nought" means pass by without effect, come to nothing. "Belieth" is the old verb meaning tells lies, speaks falsely about something.

12Do not go looking for death by the wrong turns of your life, and do not pull destruction down on yourselves by what your hands do.

12Seek not death in the error of your life: and pull not upon yourselves destruction with the works of your hands.

Note"The error of your life" translates a word that means wandering off the road. The picture is of straying away from a path, not of making a mistake in reasoning.

13For God did not make death, and he takes no pleasure in the destruction of the living.

13For God made not death: neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living.

14He created all things so that they might exist. The things that come to be in the world are wholesome; there is no destroying poison in them, and death holds no royal power over the earth.

14For he created all things, that they might have their being: and the generations of the world were healthful; and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor the kingdom of death upon the earth:

Note"The generations of the world" renders a Greek phrase for the things in the world that bring other things into being, its creative or reproductive powers. "Healthful" in the King James means health-giving, wholesome, sound. "The kingdom of death" is Hades in the Greek, the realm of the dead pictured as a kingdom with a ruler who claims territory.

15(For righteousness never dies.)

15(For righteousness is immortal:)

NoteThe King James puts this line in brackets because it is a single short clause standing on its own. The old Latin translation carried a second half here, "for unrighteousness is the acquiring of death," which is not in the Greek manuscripts.

16But ungodly men called death to themselves by what they did and what they said. They thought it was their friend and they wasted away to nothing; they made an agreement with it, because they deserve to belong with it.

16But ungodly men with their works and words called it to them: for when they thought to have it their friend, they consumed to nought, and made a covenant with it, because they are worthy to take part with it.

NoteDeath is treated throughout this verse as a person: you can beckon to it, treat it as a friend and sign an agreement with it. A "covenant" is a formal binding pact of the kind made between allies or between a ruler and his people, not a casual arrangement. "Consumed to nought" means wasted away to nothing, pined away. "Worthy to take part with it" means they deserve to be counted as its own, sharing its portion.