Saturday, July 25, 2009

The Book of Wisdom

The Jerusalem Bible (1966) has included within the Old Testament most of the books that are accepted by the Orthodox Church as scripture, though two or three are omitted. Apocrypha are books that have always had a bit of controversy attached to them. Different national churches of Orthodoxy also can have different lists of which books they include in their bible. For example, the Ethiopian Orthodox have, I believe, the longest list of Apocrypha, including the book of Enoch. These books are usually very interesting to study and uncover some profound truths. In many of the books are found additional prophetic references fulfilled by Christ. The early Church was aware of these, and that's probably why they were accepted as scripture in the first place.

The book of Wisdom (of Solomon) is one of the lesser known books of the Apocrypha, but it is full of wisdom, as its title suggests, and even prophecy. In the Jerusalem Bible it is found immediately after the Song of Songs (of Solomon). In my study bible (the one I write in) there are lots of underlinings and notes. I also put tabs on the edges of the pages so I could find the books more quickly, but as many have found out, this is a mistake. The paper that most bibles are printed on is too fragile and thin to support the tabs, and over the almost 40 years that I've had this copy, many of the tabs have torn the pages or fallen off. Don't try this!


Since one of my friends just wrote me upon his discovery of this book in the Jerusalem Bible, I thought I would share some of my favorite passages in my blog. If you find these interesting and want to get a copy of the Jerusalem Bible, be advised that this version is not the same as the New Jerusalem Bible currently being published. The original (1966) Jerusalem Bible has recently been republished in hard cover, but there are still plenty of copies in used book stores and on the internet of the "phone book" edition of the JB, which is the one that I use as a study bible. A leather-bound copy, on the other hand, will be very rare and cost as much as $250.

The book of Wisdom starts out…

Love virtue, you who are judges on earth,
let honesty prompt your thinking about the Lord,
seek Him in simplicity of heart;
since He is to be found by those who do not put Him to the test,
He shows Himself to those who do not distrust Him.
But selfish intentions divorce from God;
and Omnipotence, put to the test, confounds the foolish.
Wisdom 1:1-5

There are prophetic passages that can only have been fulfilled by Jesus…

[The wicked say to each other]
Let us lie in wait for the virtuous man, since he annoys us
and opposes our way of life,
reproaches us for our breaches of the law
and accuses us of playing false to our upbringing.
He claims to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a son of the Lord.
Before us he stands, a reproof to our way of thinking,
the very sight of him weighs our spirits down;
his way of life is not like other men's,
the paths he treads are unfamiliar.
In his opinion we are counterfeit;
he holds aloof from our doings as though from filth;
he proclaims the final end of the virtuous as happy
and boasts of having God for his father.
Let's see if what he says is true,
let us observe what kind of end he himself will have.
If the virtuous man is God's son,
God will take his part
and rescue him from the clutches
of his enemies.
Let us test him with cruelty
and with torture,
and thus explore this gentleness of his
and put his endurance to the proof.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death
since he will be looked after
—we have his word for it.
Wisdom 2:12-20

In the book of Wisdom there are passages equating Wisdom with the Holy Spirit, and in this guise the feminine pronoun is used. This has led to the writing of ikons of holy Wisdom, where she is seated on a throne in the foreground, while Christ is farther in and up seated on the cherubim and seraphim, and seated on the Father's throne, the invisible God…

For within her is a spirit intelligent, holy,
unique, manifold, subtle,
active, incisive, unsullied,
lucid, invulnerable, benevolent, sharp,
irresistible, beneficent, loving to man,
steadfast, dependable, unperturbed,
almighty, all-surveying,
penetrating all intelligent, pure,
and most subtle spirits;
for Wisdom is quicker to move than any motion;
she is so pure, she pervades and permeates
all things.

She is a breath of the power of God,
pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
hence, nothing impure can find a way into her.
She is a reflection of the eternal light,
untarnished mirror of God's active power,
image of His goodness.

Although alone, she can do all;
herself unchanging, she makes all things new.
In each generation she passes into holy souls,
she makes them friends of God, and prophets…
Wisdom 7:22-27

A large part of the book of Wisdom is taken up with recounting the history of the world and interpreting it from a spiritual perspective, showing how God was present and working in it through His Holy Spirit…

The father of the world [Adam],
the first being to be fashioned,
created alone, he had her [Wisdom] for his protector
and she delivered him from his fault;
she gave him the strength
to subjugate all things.
But when a sinner [Cain] in his wrath deserted her,
he perished in his fratricidal fury.
Wisdom 10:1-3

Speaking of God's forebearance with Egypt during the Exodus…

For Your great strength is always at Your call;
who can withstand the might of Your arm?
In Your sight the world is like a grain of dust that tips the scales,
like a drop of morning dew falling on the ground.
Yet You are merciful to all, because You can do all things
and overlook men's sins so that they can repent.
Yes, You love all that exists,
You hold nothing of what you have made in abhorrance,
for had You hated anything, You would not have formed it.
And how, had you not willed it, could a thing persist,
how be conserved if not called forth by You?
You spare all things because all things are Yours,
Lord, lover of life,
You whose imperishable spirit is in all.
Wisdom 11:21-12:1

There is really too much in this book to give but a small sample, and even this can do it little justice. It is a great book of wisdom, as its title suggests, and whether you agree that it should be included among the books of the Bible or not, it is still worth reading. I can hardly lay my eyes anywhere in this book without finding treasures of divine truth. Speaking of what cured the Israelites of snake bite when they were in the wilderness…

But, for Your sons,
not even the fangs of venomous serpents
could bring them down;
Your mercy came to their help
and cured them.
One sting—how quickly healed!
—to remind them of Your oracles
rather than that,
by sinking into deep forgetfulness,
they should be cut off from Your kindness.
No herb, no poultice cured them,
but it was Your Word, Lord,
which heals all things.
For You have power of life and death,
You bring down to the gates of Hades
and bring back again.
Wisdom 16:10-13

4 comments:

The Postman said...

Just got myself a Dake's bible.
I have been told that it is an excellent reference bible, however his (Dake's) doctrine might not be always correct.
However the verse that encouraged me to go ahead was Pro 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

I brought this Bible earlier this day and somehow one of the notes that I came across was a note on the Apocrypha. They capture 12 points that all inspired scripture needs to pass. It might be good to have a look at it.

But as righly pointed out, all that points us to God's word or God Himself, let us hold on to. In this regard, sometimes even our own words and writings do the same, however let it be tested along with the inspired words of Scripture, for our doctrine will always rest on that.

Brother, please forgive the liberty I have taken. I have done so, because though there is a lot of good things in the Apocrypha, I have found across discussions that there have crept in a lot of wrong doctrine based on facts that were solely mentioned in these books.

However this one thing remains, the Lord cometh soon ...
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Jim Swindle said...

This note is to our brother, The Postman. Brother, I want you to have a more reliable theological guide than Dake's. If you set up a PayPal account and leave a note on my blog that lets me know what e-mail address is associated with it, I'll send you enough money to cover the cost of a different study Bible in hard-cover. In leaving the e-mail address, you may want to re-word it to partially avoid spam robots, something like this. "My address at abcd.com is zyx"
I'll trust you to use the funds wisely, and you won't need to tell me which Bible you chose.

My recommendation of study Bibles from www.christianbook.com would be the ESV Study Bible or the MacArthur Study Bible. They also have the Orthodox Study Bible (which I have not seen), the Ryrie Study Bible (good except for one or two notes that seem to say you can be a real Christian without being a disciple of Christ), and the NLT Study Bible. The Orthodox Study Bible includes Apocrypha; the others do not. Am I right in thinking that shipping would not be more than US$15 to your location?

Jim Swindle said...

One more note: The offer in my note applies only to The Postman, not to everyone else who may read this fine blog.

Also, Romanos, thank you for sharing the passages from Wisdom. I have not read much of the Apocrypha; may need to do so...though I'm very reluctant to call those books fully scripture.

The Postman said...

thanks brother Jim. I agree that Dake's own comments may not be always doctrinally right. It has more use as a refrence and other subject notes that he has collected. I have replied to your comments on your blog.
But I feel that Dake seems to have collected some valid thoughts in this regard and it is worth a look.