Wisdom 10-12
New Catholic Bible
The Destiny of Israel or Wisdom at Work in History[a]
Chapter 10
The History of the Patriarchs[b]
Adam, Cain, Noah
1 Wisdom preserved the first-formed father of the world[c]
when he alone had been created.
She delivered him from his transgression
2 and gave him the power to rule over all things.
3 But when the wicked man[d] forsook her in his wrath,
he perished because of his fratricidal fury.
4 When a flood overwhelmed the earth because of him, Wisdom again saved it,
steering the righteous man[e] to safety on a fragile piece of wood.
Abraham and Lot
5 And when the nations were thrown into confusion after indulging in wicked conspiracy,
Wisdom singled out the righteous man[f] and kept him blameless in God’s sight
and steeled him in the face of his compassion for his son.
6 Wisdom rescued the righteous man[g] from the midst of the godless who were being destroyed,
and he escaped the fire that rained down on the Five Cities.
7 As evidence of their wickedness,
there still remains a smoldering waste,
together with plants whose fruit never ripens;
and a pillar of salt stands
as a memorial of an unbelieving soul.[h]
8 For by forsaking Wisdom
they not only lost the ability to recognize what is good,
but also bequeathed to humanity a reminder of their folly
so that their offenses might never be forgotten.
Jacob and Joseph[i]
9 But Wisdom rescued from tribulations
those who served her.
10 When the righteous man was fleeing from the anger of his brother,
she steered him to straight paths.
She showed him the kingdom of God
and bestowed upon him a knowledge of holy things.
She gave success to his labors
and multiplied the fruit of his work.
11 She aided him against the greed of his oppressors
and made him a wealthy man.
12 She protected him from his enemies
and saved him from ambushers.
In his arduous struggle she brought him victory
so that he might realize that piety[j] is more powerful than anything else.
13 When the righteous man[k] was sold, Wisdom did not desert him,
but she delivered him from sin.
14 She descended with him into the dungeon,
and she did not forsake him in his chains
until she had brought him a royal scepter
and power over his adversaries.
She exposed the falsity of his accusers
and bestowed on him everlasting glory.
The Wonders of the Exodus[l]
15 It was Wisdom who delivered a holy people and blameless race
from a nation of oppressors.
16 She entered the soul of a servant of the Lord[m]
and withstood dread kings with signs and wonders.
17 She gave the holy ones the recompense of their labors;[n]
she guided them on a wondrous way,
becoming a shelter for them by day
and a starry light throughout the night.
18 She brought them across the Red Sea
and led them through the deep waters.
19 But she submerged their enemies
and cast them up from the bottom of the deep.
20 Therefore, the righteous despoiled the wicked;[o]
they extolled your holy name, O Lord,
and with one voice praised your protecting hand;
21 for Wisdom opened the mouths of the dumb
and loosened the tongues of infants.[p]
Chapter 11
1 Through the holy prophet, Wisdom[q] gave them success in everything.
2 They journeyed through an inhospitable wilderness
and pitched their tents in untrodden wastes;
3 they stood firm against their enemies and turned back their foes.
4 When they were thirsty they cried out to you,
and water was given to them out of unyielding rock,
a refreshment for their thirst out of hard stone.[r]
5 The very means that had served to punish their enemies
became a benefit for them in their need.[s]
6 Instead of the spring of an ever-flowing river[t]
befouled by blood mingled with water
7 as a rebuke for the decree to slaughter infants,
you gave them abundant water unexpectedly,
8 showing them by their thirst at that time
how you punished their enemies.
9 For when they themselves were tested, although they were only chastised in mercy,
they comprehended the torments of the godless who had been judged in anger.
10 You tested the former, admonishing them like a father,
but the latter you sifted as a stern king does in condemnation.
11 Whether far off or close by,[u] they were afflicted alike,
12 for a twofold grief seized them,
and a groaning over the remembrances of the past.
13 When they heard that through their punishment the righteous had received benefits,
they perceived the presence of the Lord.[v]
14 For the one whom long before they had cast out, exposed, and rejected[w] with scorn,
they regarded with admiration at the end of the events,
when they experienced thirst vastly different from that of the righteous.
God’s Kindness toward the Peoples[x]
A Dose of Chastisement for Egypt[y]
15 In return for the foolish reasonings of their wickedness,
which misled them into worshiping serpents bereft of reason and insects devoid of worth,
you sent as punishment upon them hordes of irrational creatures,[z]
16 so that they might learn that the agents of one’s sin are the instruments of one’s punishment.[aa]
17 For your all-powerful hand,
which created the world out of formless matter,[ab]
had the wherewithal to send upon them a host of bears or savage lions,
18 or newly created, ferocious, unknown beasts
either breathing fiery blasts
or belching forth thick smoke
or flashing frightful sparks from their eyes.
19 These could not only destroy people by the harm they did
but also strike them dead by their terrifying appearance alone.
20 Even without these, a single breath would have sufficed to overcome them
when pursued by justice
and dispersed by your powerful spirit.
But you have ordered all things by measure, number, and weight.
You Have Compassion on All Because You Can Do All Things
21 For you always have the option to exert great strength,
and who can withstand the might of your arm?
22 Indeed, before you, the whole world is like a speck that tips the scales,
or like a drop of morning dew that falls on the ground.
23 Yet you are merciful to all, for you can do all things,
and you overlook men’s sins so that they may repent.
24 For you love everything that exists
and abhor nothing that you have created,
since you would not have fashioned anything that you hated.[ac]
25 How could anything have continued to exist unless you had willed it,
or be preserved if it had not been called forth by you?
26 You spare all things,
for they are yours, O Lord, you who love souls.
Chapter 12
1 Your imperishable spirit permeates all things;
2 that is why, bit by bit, you correct those who err,
and you admonish them and call to mind the very things in which they go wrong,
so that they may renounce their wickedness and believe in you, O Lord.
God Cares Even for the Canaanites[ad]
3 The ancient inhabitants of your holy land
4 you despised for their loathsome practices:
their acts of sorcery and sacrilegious rites,
5 their merciless slaughter of children,
and their cannibalistic feasting on human flesh and blood.[ae]
Those initiates of secret rituals,
6 those parents who slaughtered defenseless children,
you willed to destroy by the hands of our ancestors,
7 so that the land cherished by you above all others
might receive a worthy colony of children of God.
8 [af]But even these, since they were men, you spared,
and you sent wasps as forerunners of your army
to exterminate them little by little.
9 It was well within your power to have the godless vanquished in battle by the righteous
or to destroy them in an instant by savage beasts or by one stern word.
10 But by carrying out your sentence in stages,
you gave them the chance to repent.
You were well aware that they came from an evil stock,
and that their wickedness was innate,
and that their way of thinking would never change,
11 for they were an accursed race from the beginning.
God’s Power and Goodness
Again, it was not because of fear of anyone
that you allowed their sins to go unpunished.
12 For who can say to you: “What have you done?”
or who can challenge your judgment?
Who can bring accusation against you
when the nations you have created are destroyed?
Or who can come into your presence
as the defender of the wicked?
13 For there is no other god besides you, who show concern for the wellbeing of all people,
to whom you must prove that you have not been unjust in your judgments.
14 Nor can any king or ruler confront you in defense of those you have punished.
15 You are righteous, and you govern all things with righteousness,
considering it not in keeping with your power
to condemn anyone not deserving of punishment.
16 For your strength is the source of righteousness,
and your universal dominion makes you gracious to all.[ag]
17 You display your strength when people doubt the absolute degree of your power,
and you rebuke any insolence shown by those who are aware of your might.
18 But even though your strength is unsurpassed, you show mercy in your judgment,
and you govern us with great leniency,
for you possess the power to act whenever you so choose.
The Righteous Must Be Kind to Others[ah]
19 By acting in this way you have taught your people
that the righteous man must be kind to others,
and you have gifted your children with blessed hope
because you grant them repentance for their sins.[ai]
20 For if you have shown such great solicitude and indulgence
in punishing the enemies of your children who deserved to die
and have granted them time and opportunity to repudiate their wickedness,
21 with what attentiveness have you judged your children
to whose ancestors you made such wonderful promises through oaths and covenants!
22 Hence, while you chastise us, you scourge our enemies ten thousand times more,
so that we may recall your goodness when we judge,
and when we are judged, we may hope for mercy.
The Judgment of God[aj]
23 This is why against those who lived wicked lives of folly
you used their own abominations to torment them.
24 For they went far astray along the paths of error,
accepting as gods the vilest and most despicable animals,
being deluded like foolish infants.
25 Therefore, as though they were children unable to reason,
you imposed a sentence upon them to mock them.
26 However, those who have paid no heed to the warning of mild rebukes
will experience the full weight of God’s judgment.
27 They were angered at their suffering,
finding themselves punished because of those creatures they had regarded as gods.
But then they saw and recognized as the true God
the one whom previously they had refused to know,
and with this the very height of condemnation fell upon them.[ak]
Footnotes
- Wisdom 10:1 From here on, the author considers the entire unfolding of sacred history, and especially the Exodus, from the viewpoint of Wisdom. The protagonists will receive the name of “righteous” or “wicked” according to whether they have followed the path of Wisdom or have gone astray, for it is Wisdom that steers history.
- Wisdom 10:1 In the style of the rabbinic commentaries of the time, the author now sets forth sketches of seven exemplary Israelite ancestors, whose destiny God guided and whose courage he rewarded (Adam, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Jacob, and Joseph).
Adam knew how to expiate his faults and preserve for human beings their mastery over creation. And from the beginning, injustice, like that of Cain, led to perdition. - Wisdom 10:1 Father of the world: i.e., Adam (Gen 1:26—5:5).
- Wisdom 10:3 Wicked man: i.e., Cain (Gen 4:8-12).
- Wisdom 10:4 Righteous man: i.e., Noah; he alone emerged from a humankind submerged by its fatal hatred (Gen 5:28—9:29).
- Wisdom 10:5 Righteous man: i.e., Abraham, who was obedient even to the extent of being ready to offer his only son to God (see Gen 12; 22).
- Wisdom 10:6 Righteous man: i.e., Lot (see Gen 14:2; 19:1-26). Five Cities: i.e., the Pentapolis, a group of cities close to the Dead Sea: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar.
- Wisdom 10:7 Unbelieving soul: i.e., Lot’s wife (see Gen 19:26).
- Wisdom 10:9 Jacob, in exile and hunted by his brother (see Gen 27:41-45), puts his trust in God (see Gen 28–30). The innocent Joseph, sold into slavery, resists sin; tribulation prepares him for the highest of destinies (Gen 37ff).
- Wisdom 10:12 Piety: i.e., “fear of the Lord” (see Prov 1:7). In Jacob’s spiritual struggle with God, it was Wisdom that aided him to realize that the only help for human beings is in fear of the Lord.
- Wisdom 10:13 Righteous man: i.e., Joseph (see Gen 37ff).
- Wisdom 10:15 To provide the most powerful demonstration of the superiority of Israel, the author begins his use of antitheses, to which he will return in chapter 16. This first antithesis deals with the theme of the waters, which turned into the plague of blood for the Egyptians (Ex 7:14-24) but into refreshment for the Israelites (Ex 17:3-6).
- Wisdom 10:16 Servant of the Lord: i.e., Moses (see Ex 3:12; 4:12; 7:1). Dread kings: the author may be alluding generally to various kings who afflicted the Israelites, but he is thinking specifically of the Egyptian Pharaoh. A good deal of the saving activity, here attributed to Wisdom, had been assigned to God by Isaiah (Isa 63:11-14).
- Wisdom 10:17 Recompense of their labors: i.e., the riches and precious articles that the Hebrews carried off at the time of the Exodus (Ex 12:35-36).
- Wisdom 10:20 The author seems to be alluding to a tradition that the Israelites took away the weapons of the dead Egyptians.
- Wisdom 10:21 The Lord loosened the mouth of the victorious Israelites (infants) so that they might utter his praises (see Ex 15:1ff) just as he had loosened the mouth of Moses so that he could speak to Pharaoh (see Ex 4:10; 6:12-30).
- Wisdom 11:1 Wisdom: From this point on, the author mentions Wisdom only in Wis 14:2, 5. In her place, he brings before his readers God himself by means of the references he makes to God’s “Spirit” (v. 20; 12:1), his “word” (Wis 12:9; 16:12; 18:15), his “hand” (v. 17; 14:6; 16:15; 19:8), and his “arm” (v. 21; 16:16).
- Wisdom 11:4 The author fails to mention that it was either Moses or Aaron who called upon the Lord for their people.
- Wisdom 11:5 The very means . . . their need: the theme of this part of the Book (which can be better understood by reviewing the texts indicated by the cross-references) as well as the principle of interpretation for all that follows: God utilizes the same elements (water, fire, etc.) as a blessing for his people and as a malediction for his enemies. Each element, and even its natural properties, can be transformed at the will of God to save or to judge.
- Wisdom 11:6 Ever-flowing river: i.e., the Nile (see Ex 7:14f). The author contrasts the first plague of Egypt (see Ex 7:17-24) with the water drawn from a rock at Horeb (see Ex 17:5-7; Num 20:8-11).
- Wisdom 11:11 Whether far off or close by: both after and before the departure of the Hebrews, the Egyptians were overwhelmed with grief.
- Wisdom 11:13 The Vulgate adds: “and marveled at the outcome of these events.”
- Wisdom 11:14 One . . . cast out, exposed, and rejected: i.e., Moses, exposed on the waters (see Ex 1:22; 2:3) and rejected by Pharaoh (see Ex 5:2-5; 7:13, 22).
- Wisdom 11:15 In its history, each people amasses accounts of its glorious deeds and victories over enemies. In doing this, Israel also wanted to proclaim the greatness of God and to assure its own destiny. The idea was a just and remarkable one, but its expression was rather barbaric. In time, the people could no longer be content with very rudimentary accounts in the wake of their refined consciences, their experience of setbacks, and their encounter with other cultures that had their own past. Nonetheless, faith in God’s grandeur remained with them and increased.
- Wisdom 11:15 In this collection of the past, the author is concerned with forewarning his compatriots against the allure of the cults of animals, which were flourishing in Alexandria at that time.
- Wisdom 11:15 Hordes of irrational creatures: i.e., frogs (Ex 8:1-2), gnats (Ex 8:13-14), flies (Ex 8:20), and locusts (Ex 10:12-15).
- Wisdom 11:16 This adage expresses one of the rules of the divine pedagogy, which makes use of the fault to bring about repentance (see Ps 7:15-17). This “law of talion” (or “tit for tat”) is found in Ex 21:23ff; Lev 24:18ff; Deut 19:21; 2 Mac 4:38; 5:10; 13:8; 15:32ff; Mt 5:38ff; 7:2.
- Wisdom 11:17 Formless matter: the author uses this concept derived from Greek philosophy (see note on v. 15) to describe the chaos of Gen 1:2.
- Wisdom 11:24 This verse is simply the explanation of the refrain found in Genesis (Gen 1:10): “And God saw that it was good.” The existence of the world proves God’s goodness.
- Wisdom 12:3 The Canaanites were regarded as accursed forever (Gen 9:25). Our author gives a repugnant description of their customs; for him, Canaan is the symbol of the most odious perversion, expressed in the practice of sacrificing infants.
- Wisdom 12:5 And their cannibalistic feasting on human flesh and blood: there is no consensus about the translation of this line, which is obscure in the Greek text and in all other translations of it. In any case, crimes of this kind were not unheard of in the ancient pagan world.
- Wisdom 12:8 By judging the Canaanites little by little (see also Ex 23:29-30), God gave them the chance to repent (see Heb 12:17).
- Wisdom 12:16 The wicked use power to defeat justice (see Wis 2:11), but God uses his strength to temper justice.
- Wisdom 12:19 God’s moderation in the midst of the harsh actions of peoples also constitutes a discovery of the values of humankind. May his people henceforth show respect and consideration for every person, across frontiers of race and religion. This is a new affirmation, doubtless fostered by frequent contacts with foreign worlds and their ideas. In the next century, Christ will affirm with unforgettable clarity the primacy of love for every human being in all circumstances (see Mt 5:43-48; 1 Jn 4:20-21), and on reading verse 22, one is already reminded of that other word of Christ: “Do not judge, so that you in turn may not be judged. For you will be judged in the same way that you judge others” (Mt 7:1-2; see also Lk 6:37-42).
- Wisdom 12:19 Sacred history, which reveals the way God behaves, is the source of the moral life. If God and his Wisdom have manifested love in history (see Wis 1:6), the righteous must in their turn be the friends of human beings. In the New Testament, Jesus will give the conduct of the Father toward human beings as the criterion for the whole of moral life; see, e.g., Mt 20:15: “Are you envious because I am generous?” See also Tit 3:4-5.
- Wisdom 12:23 In the eyes of the author, the chastisements in Egypt were intended to lay bare idolatry and its vanity. The Letter to the Romans (Rom 1:20-21) will later give the verdict on such conduct: “The conduct of these people is inexcusable. Despite knowing God, they refused to honor him as God or give thanks to him.” We must grasp the measure of this sin in order to understand the extraordinary salvation in Jesus.
- Wisdom 12:27 At first, Pharaoh was obstinate (see Ex 7–11), but in the end, he acknowledged the power of God (Ex 12:31-32), though he did not repent.
