Wisom of Solomon Queen Sophia

  1. This Book is written anywhere between 250 BCE to 70 CE. It is written in Greek by an author who must be a Hellenistic Jew because of his rhetorical Greek figures, and possibly in Alexandria, Egypt. The author shows much knowledge of the Egyptian culture and even seems to be hostile to it by the way Egypt is portrayed in this book.
  2. Three main parts of the Book are: 1. An exhortation for rulers to pursue wisdom (1.1-6.21); 2. The nature of wisdom as a gift of God ( 6.22-10.21); and 3. The events in Exodus that highlight God's saving power through natural disasters on one hand and punishing the Egyptians through the same occurrences, on the other (11.1-19.22).

Similar to the book of Proverbs, this book has more profound arguments and instruction than Proverbs.

The word wisdom (Sophia), is in the feminine form in the Hebrew language, so is portrayed as a woman in the O.T. A wise man pursues, seeks, and woos her. She is compared to Mistress Folly, who is seductive, a temptress, and rotten in the inside.

From Ch. 6-10, the author begins to write in the first-person singular and refers to Wisdom as a woman. He speaks favorably of Lady Sophia as easily found, to those who seek her (6.12).

A fivefold description of her essence is that wisdom is a breath of the power of God, pure emanation of the glory of God, she is a reflection of the eternal light, an image of his goodness, and she orders all things well (7.25-7.30).

This book is distinguished from the rest of the Wisdom books in that it is the only one to believe in immortality: Love of her is keeping her laws, and giving heed to her laws is assurance of immortality (6.18).

From the 10th ch. on the author reviews throughout history the participation of Wisdom through the occurrences: from Adam and Eve, to the Exodus.

The last five verses are about a "New Harmony in Nature".

The authors idea of widening Jewish beliefs and its superiority portrays Greek values.

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