Book of Wisdom

Generally dated to the mid-first century BC,[1] or to the reign of Caligula (AD 37–41),[2] the central theme of the work is "wisdom" itself, appearing under two principal aspects.

The first aspect is, in its relation to mankind, wisdom is the perfection of knowledge of the righteous as a gift from God showing itself in action.

[4][5][6] Lester Grabbe organises these as follows: The book is addressed to the rulers of the earth (verse 1:1), urging them to love righteousness and seek wisdom; the wicked think that all is chance and that they should enjoy each day, but they are deluded.

[10] Melito of Sardis[11] (possibly) in the 2nd century AD, Augustine[12] (c. 397) and Pope Innocent I (405)[13][14] considered Wisdom of Solomon as part of the Old Testament.

"[25] There is a general consensus among scholars (with only a few dissenting voices) that the Wisdom of Solomon was written in Greek, in Alexandria (Egypt), around the turn of the era - late first century BC.

10 begins a review of Israel's history but never gets beyond the exodus story, where the text indulges in a sharp polemic against idolatry in its particular Egyptian manifestation, that is, the animal cult (see 12:24; 15:18-19).

Since the author quotes from most parts of the LXX version of the OT, he cannot have been writing much before the middle of the second century BC.

Winston 1979: 20-25 argues that the earliest date for the book can be more precisely fixed as sometime after the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC on the grounds that 14:16-20 is an allusion to the emperor cult begun under Augustus.

Winston dates it precisely to the reign of Caligula (AD 37-41) when the Alexandrian Jewish community underwent a particularly severe crisis which he feels is reflected in the harsh anti-Gentile tone of the book.

[26] It is uncertain whether the book has a single author or comes from a school of writers, it is said to be "written by the friends of Solomon in his honour" in the Muratorian Fragment,[27] but recent scholarship has favoured regarding it as a unified work.

[31] She is to be loved and desired, and kings seek her: Solomon himself preferred wisdom to wealth, health, and all other things.

A considerable portion of the Wisdom of Solomon, starting with Chapter II, was read at a memorial service in Concord, Massachusetts, on December 2, 1859, the day of the execution of the abolitionist John Brown.