Wisdom of Solomon
Wisdom of Solomon connects Jewish and Greek thought, pointing toward the blend that would later shape Christian theology.
Read this if you…
- like wisdom literature dressed in Greek philosophical vocabulary (Athens meeting Jerusalem)
- want the Bible's most developed doctrine of personal immortality
- care about the deuterocanonical books Catholics keep and Protestants drop
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
Why It Matters
Wisdom of Solomon connects Jewish and Greek thought, pointing toward the blend that would later shape Christian theology. Its treatment of Wisdom as a divine attribute fed into the Gospel of John's idea of the Logos and into early Christian thinking about Christ.
Where to go next
- Confessions by Augustine of Hippo. Wisdom of Solomon shaped it. - A line from the *Wisdom of Solomon* runs straight into Augustine's most personal book - Augustine quotes its insight that wisdom is God's to give — not something a man seizes by his own effort — and folds it into the *Confessions* (10.29) as the hinge of his own surrender - Its formula for a measured, numbered, weighted creation surfaces again in his accounts of the ordered world
Depicted in Art
Solomon on his throne raises his hand as a soldier holds the living infant by one leg, sword poised; the true mother lunges forward in protest while the false mother stands rigid with the dead child.
Nicolas Poussin, 1649
The enthroned Solomon, robed and crowned, raises his hand in judgment as the two disputing mothers and the executioner with the child stand before his dais.
James Tissot, 1896
An aged Solomon, robed and crowned, sits in his palace contemplating idols and incense at his feet — the wise king at the end of his life turning to false worship.
Gustave Doré, 1866
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Cambridge University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Deep Dive
What It's About
This summary gives away plot details.
Notable Quotes
“But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.”
“But thou hast ordered all things in measure and number and weight.”
More by Solomon
- Proverbs
c. 450 BCE · Wisdom
- Song of Solomon
c. 300 BCE · Lyric
- Ecclesiastes
c. 250 BCE · Wisdom