Wisdom of Solomon 3

But the souls of those who do what is right are in God's hand, and no torment will touch them.

1But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.

Note"In the hand of God" is a Hebrew way of saying in his keeping and under his protection; it is not a statement about where the souls are located. The "But" that opens the chapter answers chapter 2, where the author quoted the ungodly planning to test and kill the righteous man.

2In the eyes of people without sense, they seemed to die, and their departure was counted as a disaster.

2In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery,

Note"Departure" translates a Greek word for setting out on a journey, used here as a gentle term for dying. "The unwise" means people lacking sense or judgment, not people lacking education.

3Their going away from us was counted as complete ruin. But they are at peace.

3And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace.

4Even though people saw them punished, their hope is full of never dying.

4For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality.

Note"Immortality" translates the Greek athanasia, deathlessness. This book was written in Greek rather than Hebrew, and uses the vocabulary of Greek philosophy for the soul outlasting the body, language the older Hebrew scriptures do not use.

5They were disciplined only a little, and they will be greatly rewarded, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself.

5And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself.

NoteIn 1611 English "chastised" meant disciplined or corrected, and "proved" meant tested or assayed, the way metal is tested for purity. Neither carries the modern sense of scolding or of proving a point in an argument.

6He tested them the way gold is tested in a furnace, and he accepted them as a burnt offering.

6As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering.

NoteGold was refined by heating the ore in a furnace until the impurities separated out, and the same image was commonly used for testing a person. A burnt offering was the one sacrifice burned up entirely on the altar, with no portion kept back to be eaten by priest or worshiper, so it stood for something handed over whole.

7And at the time when God comes to them, they will shine, and they will run back and forth like sparks among dry stalks.

7And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble.

Note"Visitation" means the moment when God comes to look into human affairs and act, whether to reward or to punish; it does not mean a social call. "Stubble" is the short stalks left standing in a field after harvest, which farmers burned off; fire runs through them fast and bright, which is the point of the comparison.

8They will judge the nations and rule over the people, and their Lord will reign forever.

8They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever.

Note"The people" translates a plural, peoples, meaning nations. It does not mean ordinary folk as opposed to their rulers.

9Those who put their trust in him will understand the truth, and those who are faithful in love will stay with him, because grace and mercy belong to his holy people, and he takes care of the ones he has chosen.

9They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care for his elect.

Note"Saints" in the King James means holy ones, people set apart for God, not a special class of canonized figures, and "his elect" means simply the ones he has chosen. Greek manuscripts differ at the end of this verse: some carry a separate clause about his care for the chosen, as the King James does, and some fold it into the previous phrase.

10But the ungodly will be punished in keeping with their own thinking. They paid no attention to the righteous and turned away from the Lord.

10But the ungodly shall be punished according to their own imaginations, which have neglected the righteous, and forsaken the Lord.

Note"Imaginations" in 1611 English meant reasonings, plans or schemes, not daydreams or fantasies. The Greek says they are punished in a way that matches the reasoning they chose.

11For anyone who thinks little of wisdom and training is miserable. Their hope is empty, their hard work produces nothing, and their deeds are worth nothing.

11For whoso despiseth wisdom and nurture, he is miserable, and their hope is vain, their labours unfruitful, and their works unprofitable:

Note"Nurture" here means discipline and training, the correction that forms a person. It does not mean tenderness or nurturing care. The Greek word is paideia, the whole business of educating and correcting a child.

12Their wives are foolish, and their children are wicked.

12Their wives are foolish, and their children wicked:

13Their descendants are cursed. So the woman who has no children and is undefiled is blessed, the woman who has not shared a sinful bed. She will have fruit when souls are examined.

13Their offspring is cursed. Wherefore blessed is the barren that is undefiled, which hath not known the sinful bed: she shall have fruit in the visitation of souls.

NoteIn this culture childlessness carried public disgrace and was widely read as a sign of divine disfavor, which is what makes the reversal here pointed. "Known" is the standard biblical euphemism for sexual relations. "Fruit" ordinarily means children; here it is promised as a reward instead, at "the visitation of souls," the time when God examines souls, the same word used in verse 7.

14And blessed is the eunuch whose hands have done nothing wrong, and who has not planned wicked things against God. He will be given a special gift for his faithfulness, and a share in the Lord's temple that pleases him more.

14And blessed is the eunuch, which with his hands hath wrought no iniquity, nor imagined wicked things against God: for unto him shall be given the special gift of faith, and an inheritance in the temple of the Lord more acceptable to his mind.

NoteA eunuch is a castrated man, commonly employed as a servant in royal households. The law at Deuteronomy 23:1 barred such a man from the assembly of the Lord, which is the background against which a place in the temple is promised him. The close of the verse is cramped in the King James; the Greek says he receives a more pleasing portion, a better share, in the Lord's sanctuary.

15For the fruit of good work is glorious, and the root of wisdom will never wither away.

15For glorious is the fruit of good labours: and the root of wisdom shall never fall away.

16As for the children of adulterers, they will not reach full growth, and the offspring of an unlawful bed will be pulled up by the roots.

16As for the children of adulterers, they shall not come to their perfection, and the seed of an unrighteous bed shall be rooted out.

Note"Perfection" in 1611 English meant completion or full growth, not moral flawlessness. "Seed" means offspring, and "an unrighteous bed" means a union outside lawful marriage.

17For even if they live a long time, they will count for nothing, and their old age will have no honor.

17For though they live long, yet shall they be nothing regarded: and their last age shall be without honour.

Note"Their last age" means their old age, the final stretch of their lives.

18Or if they die quickly, they will have no hope and no comfort on the day of judgment.

18Or, if they die quickly, they have no hope, neither comfort in the day of trial.

Note"The day of trial" here means the day a verdict is reached about them, not a stretch of hardship. The Greek word means examination and decision.

19For the end of an unrighteous generation is horrible.

19For horrible is the end of the unrighteous generation.

Note"Generation" here means a breed or kind of people, the whole class of them, not a span of time or a single age group.