On the other hand, it is probably later than the LXX translation of the Pentateuch, since it ex- hibits certain technicalities which are likely to have been introduced by that work, e.g. oXoKavrujxa, TTodrjp-qs, ^^i\ajfi6^t x^'po'roiT^Toj' for 7'^N, /SSeXtry/Aara for n2i'in, etc. Yet where passages of the Penta- teuch are reproduced the translator of Wisdom did not always consult the LXX, e.g. 18°, ^Ktli'rj i) yu^ Trpoeyvuiffdr} iraTpaaLv tj/xlov represents Ex 12^'-, 7'? Kin D'-icc', where the LXX renders the words diirer- ently. In 16^' the unintelligible 17 iJ.iv yap vwdaraffis aov Ti]v ffi]v -jrphs riKva yXvKvnjra ivecpdvL'^e apjjears to treat the word la'j, ' white,' in Ex W" as the Hebrew for ' to a son,' where the LXX renders the word correctly.
The character of the language is probably in agreement with the date thus indicated, i.e. about 200 B.C.
The relation of the original work to the books of the OT is very much more difficult to determine. Except for the statement of the author that lie had been commanded by God to build the Temple in imitation of the Tabernacle (9^), wherein he clearly claims to be Solomon, its historical informa- tion scarcely goes beyond Numbers, the last event narrated being the plague described in Nu 17""'° (IS^). There are, indeed, numerous cases in which the matter contained in Wisdom is parallel to pass- ages in the other books of the OT ; in some of these, if we could trust the canon that the author of a passage is the person who understands it best, we should certainly assign the priority to Wisdom. Thus in Dt 8' the lesson of the manna is said to h.ave been ' that man does not live by bread alone, but by every utterance of the mouth of God ' — an obscure proposition, since the manna is repeatedly called ' bread ' ; and even if it be admitted that the Deuteronomist does not allow it that title (29*), the ' utterance of the mouth of God ' is far from clear. In Wis 16=° the lesson is worded ' that the fruits which grow do not feed the man, but Thy word maintains them that trust in Thee,' and it is in- ferred from the fact that the nutritive power of the manna was dependent on the observation of certain precepts : collected in the morning, it would resist the heat of the oven ; but the heat of the sun would melt it, etc. Hence the nutritive power must have Iain in the observation of the precepts, not in the substance itself. Were there no other facts to be considered, we should naturally regard the text of Deuteronomy as a mis-statement of the passage of Wisdom.
Much the same is to be said of the de.'icription of the making of wooden images : Is 44'*""' 40=", compared with Wis 13""'". In the latter the car- penter selects suitable timber* for some article of furniture, uses the ihippings to cook his food, and, if some crooked and knotty piece remain which is of no use for either purpo.se, fashions it in his leisure into a god. In the account in Isaiah, 'half of it he burnetii in the lire ; on half of it ho eateth flesh, he roasleth roast and is satished ; yea he warmeth himself ; and the residue thereof he maki'tli a ^od,' wherein apparently two parts of the timber are employed as lirewood, and the re- mainder used for the idol — the important matter, that the primary object was a piece of furniture, the secondary lirewood, being forgotten by the prophet, yet very clearly somehow in his mind. The fact that the idol so fashioned has then to be secured by a nail appears in its right place in Wis 13", whereas in Is 41' it is remembered, but is out of its right place ; further, Is 41''- ' gives the appear- ance of being a confused reminiscence of Wis 15", where the potter is shown to be the most contempt- ible of all idol-makers, for, instead of reflecting that he is clay himself, he tries to rival the goldsmith and the w orker in bronze.
Similarly, whereas, .according to the author of the Book of Kings, Solomon was told in a dream to make a wish and chose wisdom, the account of the matter in this book is much less fantastic ; he was, he says, a lad of great talent, and pursued the study with all his might, employing among other expedients prayer. In the [miyer (9') he saj's : ' Thou hast chosen me to be king of thy people, and judge of thy sons and daughters' ; in Kings, in lieu of this modest description of his subjects, he calls them (1 K 3°) 'a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multi- tude,' which in the Chronicles (2 Ch V) is improved to ' a people like the dust of the eartii in multitude.' Here too sobriety is on the side of Wisdom.
Internal evidence then, at least to some extent, would be in favour of making Wisdom older than the OT books which contain these parallels ; nor is it easy to charge the writer— on the supposition that the work is pseudonymous — with any actual anachronism ; thus, whereas Philo gives as the list of his own accomplisliments (' the handmaids of Wisdom,' ed. Mangey, 1. 530) grammar, geometry, and music, those claimed for Solomon (T"'™) are ' to know how the world was made and the opera- tion of the elements, the beginning, ending, and midst of the times (i.e. probably ancient, modern, and mediaeval history), tlie alterations of the turn- ings (of the sun) and the change of seasons, the circuits of years and the position of stars, the natures of living creatures and the dispositions of beasts, the forces of the winds and the reasonings of men, the diversities of plants and the virtues of roots' — a list which shows little sign of Greek influence, but is much more suggestive of the learning of Egypt, Phcenicia, and Arabia. It may be observed that 'the operation of the elements,' i.e. the use to which substances can be put, is thought by many to be what is meant by know- ledge of good and evil in Gn 3'. The most decided Hellenism in the book appears to be the Platonic tetrad of the virtues in 8', which, however, is likely (cf. the Syriae version) to be an introduction of the Greek editor. And, with regard to those ideas which are peculiarly Jewish, too little is known of the real history of the Israelitish mind to permit of any certain chronology of its products.