Wisdom of Solomon 8

Wisdom reaches from one end to the other with great power, and she puts all things in order in a gentle, fitting way.

1Wisdom reacheth from one end to another mightily: and sweetly doth she order all things.

NoteThe Greek does not name wisdom here; it simply says "she," carrying on a sentence begun at the end of chapter 7. Chapter and verse divisions were added many centuries after the book was written. Wisdom is "she" throughout because the Greek word for wisdom, sophia, is grammatically feminine, and the book builds on that by speaking of her as a person. "From one end to another" means from one limit of the world to the other.

2I loved her, and I looked for her from the time I was young. I wanted to take her as my wife, and I loved her beauty.

2I loved her, and sought her out from my youth, I desired to make her my spouse, and I was a lover of her beauty.

NoteThe speaker in chapters 7 to 9 is presented as Solomon, the king remembered for asking God for wisdom instead of wealth, though the book never gives his name. From here on, the search for wisdom is described in the language of courtship and marriage, a figure also used in Proverbs; "spouse" means bride.

3By living close to God she makes her noble birth greater still. The Lord of all things himself loved her.

3In that she is conversant with God, she magnifieth her nobility: yea, the Lord of all things himself loved her.

NoteThe nobility in view is noble birth, eugeneia in Greek. In the Greek-speaking world, high ancestry was one of the strongest claims a person could make to public honor. The verse says that wisdom's living at God's side both proves that claim and raises it higher.

4She is let in on the secrets of the knowledge of God, and she loves the things he makes.

4For she is privy to the mysteries of the knowledge of God, and a lover of his works.

Note"Privy to the mysteries" translates a Greek word meaning an initiate: someone admitted to the secret rites of a mystery religion, which outsiders were forbidden to watch or be told about. The image is of wisdom as the one let inside.

5If riches are something worth owning in this life, what is richer than wisdom, who makes all things?

5If riches be a possession to be desired in this life; what is richer than wisdom, that worketh all things?

6And if good sense gets work done, who out of everything that exists is a more skilled maker than she is?

6And if prudence work; who of all that are is a more cunning workman than she?

Note"Cunning workman" in 1611 English meant a skilled craftsman, with nothing sly about it. The Greek word is technitis, the feminine form of the word for a craftsman or architect: the one who designs and builds.

7And if a person loves what is right, the fruits of her hard work are the virtues, for she teaches self-control and good sense, justice and courage. People can have nothing in life more useful than these.

7And if a man love righteousness her labours are virtues: for she teacheth temperance and prudence, justice and fortitude: which are such things, as men can have nothing more profitable in their life.

NoteThe four named qualities, self-control, good sense, justice and courage, are the four cardinal virtues of Greek philosophy: sophrosyne, phronesis, dikaiosyne and andreia. This is the only place in the Bible where that standard Greek list appears as a list, and it is one of the clearest marks of a writer at home in Greek thought. In the King James wording, "temperance" means self-control in general, not abstaining from drink, and "prudence" means practical good judgment, not caution.

8If a person wants wide experience, she knows the things of long ago and works out correctly what is still to come. She knows the fine twists of speech and can explain sayings that are hard to understand. She sees ahead of time signs and wonders, and how seasons and times will turn out.

8If a man desire much experience, she knoweth things of old, and conjectureth aright what is to come: she knoweth the subtilties of speeches, and can expound dark sentences: she foreseeth signs and wonders, and the events of seasons and times.

Note"Conjectureth aright" means reasons correctly to a conclusion, not guesses luckily. "Dark sentences" are riddles and puzzling sayings; solving them was a recognized test of a wise man, as when the Queen of Sheba came to test Solomon with hard questions. "Signs and wonders" are startling events taken as pointing to something beyond themselves, and "the events of seasons and times" covers how stretches of time turn out, including the reckoning of calendars and omens.

9So I decided to take her to live with me, knowing that she would give me good advice and be a comfort to me in worries and grief.

9Therefore I purposed to take her to me to live with me, knowing that she would be a counsellor of good things, and a comfort in cares and grief.

10Because of her I will be thought well of by the crowds, and honored by the elders, even though I am young.

10For her sake I shall have estimation among the multitude, and honour with the elders, though I be young.

NoteElders were the senior men of a community, the ones who settled disputes and held public authority. A young man was expected to keep silent in their presence, which is the force of "though I be young": the honor described is out of order for someone of his age.

11People will find that my mind is quick when I give judgment, and great men will admire me.

11I shall be found of a quick conceit in judgment, and shall be admired in the sight of great men.

Note"Quick conceit" in 1611 English means a quick grasp or understanding; "conceit" then meant a conception or an idea, and carried none of its modern sense of vanity. "Judgment" here is the settling of legal cases, the work a ruler did in public.

12When I keep quiet, they will wait for me. When I speak, they will listen closely to me. If I go on talking, they will put their hands over their mouths.

12When I hold my tongue, they shall bide my leisure, and when I speak, they shall give good ear unto me: if I talk much, they shall lay their hands upon their mouth.

NotePutting a hand over the mouth was a recognized public gesture of respectful silence, the sign that a listener is yielding the floor, not a sign of shock. Job describes leading men doing it when he rose to speak (Job 29:9). In the King James wording, "bide my leisure" means wait until I am ready.

13What is more, through her I will gain a life that does not end, and I will leave behind me a memory that lasts forever for those who come after me.

13Moreover by the means of her I shall obtain immortality, and leave behind me an everlasting memorial to them that come after me.

NoteThe Greek word is athanasia, deathlessness. The verse sets it beside a memory that lasts forever among later generations, and readers have long argued whether the second phrase explains the first, meaning lasting fame, or makes a separate claim about life beyond death. The wording leaves both readings open.

14I will set the people in order, and the nations will be brought under me.

14I shall set the people in order, and the nations shall be subject unto me.

15Rulers who fill people with dread will be afraid when they only hear of me. Among the crowds I will be found to be good, and brave in war.

15Horrible tyrants shall be afraid, when they do but hear of me; I shall be found good among the multitude, and valiant in war.

NoteIn 1611 English "horrible" meant filling people with dread rather than disgusting. The Greek word behind "tyrants" is tyrannos, which meant a single absolute ruler and did not by itself imply cruelty, though the dread named here points that way.

16When I come into my house, I will rest with her, for keeping company with her holds no bitterness, and living with her holds no sorrow, but only gladness and joy.

16After I am come into mine house, I will repose myself with her: for her conversation hath no bitterness; and to live with her hath no sorrow, but mirth and joy.

NoteIn 1611 English "conversation" meant living together and keeping company, the whole of shared daily life, not merely talking. The same wide sense lies behind "the exercise of conference with her" in verse 18.

17I thought about all this inside myself, and turned it over in my heart: that to be joined to wisdom as a family member is to have a life that does not end;

17Now when I considered these things in myself, and pondered them in my heart, how that to be allied unto wisdom is immortality;

Note"Allied unto" translates a Greek word for kinship: being bound to someone as a relative, by blood or by marriage. It keeps the family figure of the chapter running.

18that her friendship is a great delight; that the work of her hands holds riches without limit; that practicing conversation with her brings good sense, and speaking with her brings a good name. So I went about looking for a way to take her for myself.

18And great pleasure it is to have her friendship; and in the works of her hands are infinite riches; and in the exercise of conference with her, prudence; and in talking with her, a good report; I went about seeking how to take her to me.

19I was a clever child, and I had a good spirit.

19For I was a witty child, and had a good spirit.

NoteIn 1611 English "witty" meant quick-witted and naturally able, not amusing. "A good spirit" renders a word for the soul or life-breath, and the Greek says he was allotted, or given, a good soul. That phrasing sets up the difficulty of the next verse.

20Or rather, since I was good, I came into a body that was clean.

20Yea rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled.

NoteThis verse is among the most discussed in the book. Read one way, "being good, I came into a body undefiled" says that an already good soul entered a body, which assumes the soul exists before the body, an idea at home in Greek philosophy rather than in the Hebrew scriptures. Read another way, it is a compressed way of saying that a good soul and a sound body were given together as a single gift. The Greek is too tight-packed to settle the question. "Undefiled" means unstained, not soiled by anything.

21But I saw that I could not get her in any other way unless God gave her to me, and that knowing whose gift she was is itself a piece of wisdom. So I prayed to the Lord and begged him, and with my whole heart I said:

21Nevertheless, when I perceived that I could not otherwise obtain her, except God gave her me; and that was a point of wisdom also to know whose gift she was; I prayed unto the Lord, and besought him, and with my whole heart I said,

NoteThe sentence does not end here. The words the speaker is about to say are the prayer that fills the whole of chapter 9. In the King James wording, "besought" means begged or pleaded with, and "a point of wisdom" means a mark or an item of understanding.