Wisdom of Solomon 7

I myself am also a mortal man, like everyone else. I am descended from the one who was formed first out of the earth.

1I myself also am a mortal man, like to all, and the offspring of him that was first made of the earth,

NoteThe whole book speaks in the voice of a king of Israel who asked God for wisdom, which readers have always taken to mean Solomon, though the name is never used. "Him that was first made of the earth" is Adam, the first human being, formed out of the ground in Genesis.

2In my mother's womb I was shaped into flesh over ten months. I was pressed together in blood, from a man's seed and the pleasure that comes with sleep.

2And in my mother’s womb was fashioned to be flesh in the time of ten months, being compacted in blood, of the seed of man, and the pleasure that came with sleep.

NoteAncient writers usually counted a pregnancy as ten lunar months of about twenty eight days each, which comes to roughly nine of our months. "Compacted in blood" reflects the standard medical theory of the time, that the child was formed when the father's seed curdled and set the mother's blood in the womb, the way rennet sets milk. "The pleasure that came with sleep" is a polite way of saying sexual intercourse; some Greek copies read "the pleasure of marriage" instead.

3When I was born, I breathed in the same air everyone breathes, and I fell on the earth, which is of the same nature I am. The first sound I made was crying, just as everyone does.

3And when I was born, I drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth, which is of like nature, and the first voice which I uttered was crying, as all others do.

Note"Of like nature" points back to Genesis, where the first man is formed from the dust of the ground, so that a human body and the earth are made of the same stuff. Newborns were commonly laid on the ground before being lifted and wrapped, which is what "fell upon the earth" pictures.

4I was nursed in strips of cloth, and that with a great deal of care.

4I was nursed in swaddling clothes, and that with cares.

Note"Swaddling clothes" were long narrow strips of cloth wound tightly around a newborn, binding the arms and legs straight. It was ordinary infant care, not a hardship, and the point of the verse is that a king's infancy looked exactly like anyone else's.

5No king had any other beginning to his birth.

5For there is no king that had any other beginning of birth.

6All people have one way into life, and the same way out.

6For all men have one entrance into life, and the like going out.

7So I prayed, and understanding was given to me. I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.

7Wherefore I prayed, and understanding was given me: I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.

NoteThe scene recalls the young Solomon at Gibeon in 1 Kings 3, who is offered anything he asks for and asks for an understanding mind rather than wealth, long life, or victory over enemies.

8I chose her ahead of scepters and thrones, and next to her I counted riches as nothing.

8I preferred her before sceptres and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison of her.

NoteA scepter is the ornamented rod or staff a ruler holds as the visible sign of authority; "sceptres and thrones" together is a standard way of saying royal power itself. From here on wisdom is "she" because the word is grammatically feminine in Greek (sophia) and in Hebrew (hokmah); the pronoun follows the grammar of the language, and the book then develops the picture of wisdom as a woman.

9I did not treat any precious stone as her equal, because next to her all gold is a little sand, and silver will count as clay in front of her.

9Neither compared I unto her any precious stone, because all gold in respect of her is as a little sand, and silver shall be counted as clay before her.

10I loved her more than health and beauty, and I chose to have her instead of light, because the light that comes from her never goes out.

10I loved her above health and beauty, and chose to have her instead of light: for the light that cometh from her never goeth out.

Note"Light" here means daylight, which ancient writers regularly used as a figure for being alive at all, so choosing wisdom instead of light is a deliberately extreme comparison. The reason given is that wisdom's own light, unlike the sun's, never sets.

11All good things came to me together with her, and countless riches were in her hands.

11All good things together came to me with her, and innumerable riches in her hands.

12I was glad about all of them, because wisdom goes ahead of them. But I did not know that she was their mother.

12And I rejoiced in them all, because wisdom goeth before them: and I knew not that she was the mother of them.

13I learned honestly, and I pass her on freely. I do not hide her riches.

13I learned diligently, and do communicate her liberally: I do not hide her riches.

NoteIn 1611 English "communicate" meant to share out or hand on something you possess, not to talk. "Learned diligently" renders a Greek word meaning learned without guile or grudging, which is why the second half of the sentence answers it: he took it honestly and gives it away freely.

14She is a treasure for people that never runs out. Those who use it become friends of God, recommended to him by the gifts that come from being taught.

14For she is a treasure unto men that never faileth: which they that use become the friends of God, being commended for the gifts that come from learning.

NoteThe Greek is compressed and can be read more than one way. The "gifts that come from learning" may be the benefits education confers on a person, which commend that person to God, or gifts that a trained person presents to God, imagined as offerings. "Friends of God" was an established phrase, used in Jewish tradition of figures like Abraham and Moses who dealt with God directly.

15May God grant me to speak what he judges, and to think thoughts worthy of what has been given to me, because he is the one who guides even wisdom and who sets the wise straight.

15God hath granted me to speak as I would, and to conceive as is meet for the things that are given me: because it is he that leadeth unto wisdom, and directeth the wise.

Note"Meet" in 1611 English means fitting or suitable. The second half of the verse is genuinely difficult in Greek: it can mean that God is the guide who leads people to wisdom, which is how the King James reads it, or that God guides wisdom herself, which is how most modern translations read it.

16Both we ourselves and our words are in his hand, and so is all understanding and all skill in making things.

16For in his hand are both we and our words; all wisdom also, and knowledge of workmanship.

Note"Knowledge of workmanship" means skill in a craft, the practical know-how of a builder, a metalworker or a weaver, rather than book learning.

17He himself gave me reliable knowledge of the things that exist: to know how the world is put together and how the elements work,

17For he hath given me certain knowledge of the things that are, namely, to know how the world was made, and the operation of the elements:

NoteThe list running from here to verse 20 is a summary of the standard Greek curriculum of the period: natural philosophy, astronomy, the calendar, zoology, meteorology, the study of human character, botany and medicine. "The elements" are the four basic substances Greek science held the world to be made of: earth, water, air and fire.

18and the beginning, the end, and the middle of times, and the turning points of the sun, and the changing of the seasons,

18The beginning, ending, and midst of the times: the alterations of the turning of the sun, and the change of seasons:

Note"The turning of the sun" means the solstices, the two moments in the year when the sun stops creeping north or south along the horizon and turns back, fixing the longest and shortest days. Tracking them was the basic work of ancient astronomy.

19and the cycles of the years, and the positions of the stars,

19The circuits of years, and the positions of stars:

Note"The circuits of years" are the repeating cycles a calendar is built on, chiefly the problem of keeping the solar year and the lunar month in step with each other. "The positions of stars" means the constellations and where they stand in the sky at a given season.

20and the natures of living creatures, and the rage of wild animals, and the force of winds, and the thoughts of people, and the different kinds of plants, and the powers of roots.

20The natures of living creatures, and the furies of wild beasts: the violence of winds, and the reasonings of men: the diversities of plants and the virtues of roots:

Note"Virtues" in 1611 English means powers or potencies, and "the virtues of roots" refers to the healing power of roots and herbs, which was the subject matter of ancient medicine. "Furies of wild beasts" means their savage rage, not supernatural beings.

21All things that are hidden or out in the open, I know them.

21And all such things as are either secret or manifest, them I know.

22For wisdom, who makes all things, taught me. In her is a spirit that understands quickly. It is holy, one of a kind, and many-sided. It is fine and freely moving, clear in what it says, unstained, distinct, and safe from harm. It loves what is good. It is keen, and nothing can hold it back.

22For wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me: for in her is an understanding spirit holy, one only, manifold, subtil, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good quick, which cannot be letted, ready to do good,

Note"The worker of all things" translates a Greek word meaning craftsman or master builder, picturing wisdom as the artisan who made everything. The qualities listed here and in the next verse number twenty one, which is three times seven, and the count is almost certainly deliberate. Three of the King James words have shifted meaning since 1611: "subtil" does not mean crafty but fine and rarefied, able to pass through solid things the way air or light does; "lively" means agile and freely moving, not cheerful; and "letted" means hindered, since "let" then meant to obstruct, the opposite of its modern sense. The phrase "loving the thing that is good quick" has lost its punctuation: "quick" is a separate quality on the list, meaning keen or sharp.

23It is generous, kind to people, steady, and sure. It is free from worry, able to do everything, watching over everything. It passes through all spirits that understand quickly, that are pure, that are the finest of all.

23Kind to man, steadfast, sure, free from care, having all power, overseeing all things, and going through all understanding, pure, and most subtil, spirits.

Note"Free from care" means untroubled, not careless. The last words of the verse are hard to follow in the King James because the commas fell in the wrong places: the sense is that wisdom passes through all spirits that are intelligent, pure and the finest of all.

24Wisdom moves more freely than anything that moves. Because she is so pure, she reaches into and goes through all things.

24For wisdom is more moving than any motion: she passeth and goeth through all things by reason of her pureness.

NoteLanguage of this kind, a fine substance pervading and penetrating everything because of its purity, was standard in Greek philosophy of the period for describing the force that holds the universe together. The writer is using the scientific vocabulary of his own day.

25She is the breath of the power of God, and a pure stream flowing out from the glory of the Almighty. So nothing unclean can get into her.

25For she is the breath of the power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty: therefore can no defiled thing fall into her.

Note"Influence" in 1611 English meant a flowing in, a stream pouring out from its source; it had nothing to do with persuasion. The Greek word behind it is used of a vapor or fine mist given off by something. "Breath" is the ordinary word for a puff of air.

26She is the brightness of the everlasting light, the spotless mirror of God at work, and the image of his goodness.

26For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness.

NoteMirrors in the ancient world were sheets of polished bronze or silver, not glass, and they tarnished and scratched easily, so a spotless mirror meant one kept perfectly bright and therefore giving back an exact image. Where the King James has "the power of God," the Greek word means God's activity or working.

27Though she is only one, she can do all things. While she stays as she is in herself, she makes all things new. In every age she enters holy souls and makes them friends of God, and prophets.

27And being but one, she can do all things: and remaining in herself, she maketh all things new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh them friends of God, and prophets.

Note"Remaining in herself" means staying unchanged in her own being while changing everything else. "Friends of God" was a set phrase for figures such as Abraham and Moses, and a prophet in this sense is a person who speaks on God's behalf.

28For God loves no one except the person who lives with wisdom.

28For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom.

NoteThe King James "loveth none but him" is stronger than the Greek, which says that God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.

29She is more beautiful than the sun and above every arrangement of the stars. When she is compared with the light, she is found to come first.

29For she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of stars: being compared with the light, she is found before it.

Note"The order of stars" means the constellations, the fixed patterns the stars keep. "She is found before it" is open either way: wisdom may rank ahead of light, or may come before it in time.

30For night comes after the light, but evil will not win out over wisdom.

30For after this cometh night: but vice shall not prevail against wisdom.

Note"Vice" translates a Greek word meaning wickedness or evil in general, not a particular bad habit. The contrast is between two things that look alike but are not: daylight always yields to night, whereas wisdom never yields to evil.