iii. General Character of the Book.— In spite of our author's familiarity with Greek culture, and the profundity of his studies, especially in the Platonic and the Stoic philosophy, which may be detected both in his language (Farrar, 407') and his world of ideas (Grimm, 19 f.), he was far from feeling, like Josephus and Philo, hampered by his Jewish faith, and far from seeking, like the former, to embellish it with Hellcnizing graces, or, like
♦ His treatineuL of this book in the Expositor (Feb.-Marck 1900) can hardly be taken seriouslv.
■\NaSDOM, BOOK OF
WISDOM, BOOK OF
929
the latter, to make it more acceptable to the educated classes by allegorizing^ e.xplanations. Besides, he felt himself, aa a worshipper of the true God, too far raised above all idolaters (13'°- 14") for this, and too much embittered a;:ainst those of his countrymen who had allowed them- selves to be turned by Greek philosophy away from their ancestral rclij,'ion to free-thought and immorality (l'*-2^). His Jewish temper shows itself even in the ontwani form of his work, to which hestrove with all diligence to give a genuine biblical colouring. We have seen already (p. 92S'') how closely he attached himself to the LXX and its Hebraisms. Although ho is capable of imitat- ing the artistic periodic structure of the Greeks (cf. 12-'' IS'"- "•'•), he prefers as a rule the simple Hebrew fashion of clauses connected without par- ticles (cf. Grimm, p. 13). He seeks also, at least in the greater part of 1 - 12'*, by imitating the Heb. parallelism, to make his book approximate as closely as possible to his model, the Book of Proverbs.
iv. The Aim of the Book.— The author's zeal for the Jewish religion, and his ortliodoxy, are still more evident in the aim of the Book of Wisdom. The Judaism of his time and environ- ment found itself sorely press(?d both from with- out and from ■within, and tliis in proportion to its faithfulness (2'"- '■-■■-»). It was weakened {3">-'- ^ub-LO) i,y internal dissensions and by apostasy, particularly, it would appear, on the part of the wealthy and inlluential classes (5"). In addition, it was continually threatened by the spiritual force of Greek culture and philosophy (2'*-). In face of these dangers, the author seeks to provide a sure hold for tlie professors of the Jewish faith. It is quite intelligible tliat, face to face with these Hellenized Jews who 'sought alter wisdom' (1 Co 1^), he felt himself moved to'procl.aim the Jewish religion as the true Wisdom, and to make the notion of <ro(pla the centre of his discourse. The choice of this notion was specially happy, because within its sweep could be brought all that the Greek pliilosophy contained of truth and all that the 01 taught about Hokhma. We lind, accord- ingly, that the author drew from all these sources. Platonic is his doctrine of amorphous matter (11"), of the central ideas (13' 6 Civ), of the pre-existence of the soul (8'*'), of the body as hindering eleva- tion to the divine (9'° ; in the expressions /Sapwci, PplSft, and 7fu)5fs there are points of contact with Plato's Ph'Ech, 87'') ; he I'latonizes also in his doctrine of the four cardinal virtues (8'). Stoic is his conception of Wisdom as the all-pervading power (T"'*"). On the other hand, his doctrine of Wisdom as an attribute of God is based wholly upon Pr 8. 9. He thinks of Wi.sdom as immanent in God, as something belonging to the Divine essence (7-"), but, on the other hand, also as some- thing independent, existing side by side with God {''" 8^ 9\ cf. Pr 8**), so that he frequently personifies Wisdom (1' 8' 10'"). In one point, however, his concention dillers from that of Proverbs. While, according to Pr 8^''<*, at the creating of the things in heaven and earth God alone was active, and Wisdom was simply an onlooker (v.*", cf. above, p. 925*), in tlie Book of Wisdom (8'"') she is oiperr)! rCiv IfTfav ai-Toii {sc. toD dcoO), and makes a selection among God's works, i.e. slie determines which of the works whose idea God has formed are to be actually carried out (Grimm). She is an emana- tion from God (7^), therefore free from all stains, and she pervades all things (1' 7"), without being in any way infected with tlio imperfect ions inherent in them : because she is ' more mobile than any motion,' it is impossible for any of the inijiurities which belong to things to attacli to her. — On the relation of the Wisdom of Solomon to Philo cf.
VOL. IV. — iJO
Menzel, De Gr(Bcis in libris n'jnp et (rorpla vcstigiis, 1858, p. 66 ; Ed. Konig, Einl. in d. AT, Bonn, 1893, p. 489 ; Soulier, La doctrine du logos chez Philon, 1876, p. 162 f.— But, as in Pr 8=' 9'"-, tlie special object of interest to Wisdom is man (Wis 723- »?<«'). Penetrating into the human understanding, sh» gives birth to all varieties of theoretical know ledge (8"- "), particularly in the realm of theology, because she is initiated into the knowledge of God (8^). She communicates the inspiration of the prophets (8* 9"), but also the knowledge of earthly things in the sphere of history (8*''), astronomy, chronology, natural science (7''"^"), art (7"''' ; cf. Ezk 18^). But in the practical sphere as well Wisdom is tlie best counsellor of man, for from her comes all morality and virtue (l"-7^8'; cf. Pr 8'2- i8-*>->i-3«). See, further, Karrar, p. 420.