I.

Description of the Book:

a. Introduction:
The Book of wisdom or also known as the Wisdom of
Solomon is a slightly poetic wisdom book that has
been written in order to teach and uplift the rulers of
religion. Using the personification of King Solomon,
the book talks about 3 main things Righteousness,
Wisdom, and Idolatry.
b. Author:
It is believed that King Solomon wrote the book.
However, the church rejected the authorship, and
instead, the church believed that the book was
written in honor of Solomon. The author of the book
is unknown, however the author is believed to be
part of the Jewish community in Alexandria, Egypt.
The author wrote the book in Greek, but the verses
followed the Hebrew pattern. The author speaks in
the person of Solomon, placing the teachings on
the lips of the wise king of Hebrew tradition to
emphasis their value. He has extensive knowledge
of the Old Testament as it was incorporated in
almost every line of the book in Greek in a
Hellenistic point of view.

c. Audience:
The book was addressed to the authors fellow
religionistswho at that time, experienced
suffering and oppressionin order to uplift their
spirits. in part at least of the hands of apostate
fellow Jews.

d. Contents:
The book is divided into two sections mainly the
Wisdom Sections (Chapter 1:1 11:14), and The
Historical Section (Chapter 11:5- 19:22). The book
contains 19 Chapters which are categorized into 3
principal divisions:
1. The Reward of Righteousness (Chapter 1:1
6:21)
2. Praise of Wisdom by Solomon Chapter 6:22
11:1
3. Special Providence of God during the Exodus
(11:216; 12:2327; 15:1819:22) with
digressions on Gods mercy (Chapter 11:17
 12:22) and on the folly and shame of idolatry
(Chapter 13:115:17).

e. Purpose:
The purpose of the book was to warn the people of
Alexandria about the idolatry of Egyptians. The
author used aggressive language to point out the
possible consequences of this earthly life. The book
was addressed to the co-religionist to argue that if
the religionist needs to be exhorted and be warned,
the ordinary men need to be exhorted and warned
as well.

II. Analysis:

a. Summary of Analysis:
The Book of Wisdom, also known as the Wisdom of
Solomon, has its author unknown was written in
Greek by a Hellenistic Jew. Although Solomons
name was not mentioned in the book, the author
impersonates in order to convey his message.
The nature of righteousness and its relation to
mans eternal destiny is discussed in the first
section of the book. The middle of the book
describes Solomons love and passion for wisdom
and personifies wisdom as a woman. It also shows
the prayers of Solomon for wisdom and gives a
brief history of wisdom from Adam to Exodus.
The last part of the book distinguishes between the
fate of the righteous and that of the wicked using
the history of Exodus (i.e. the flight of the Israelites
from Egypt).

b. Message:
Right from beginning of the book, the message is
clear. The author exhorts us to seek wisdom and
righteousness because they allow us to lead a good
life. According to the author, we reject life when we
reject righteousness because life is worthwhile only
when it is lived virtuously.
Like other biblical wisdom literature, the Book of
Wisdom encourages us to live in accordance with
Gods teachings, and to seek wisdom and
 righteousness.

III. Integration of TREDTRI:

a. Criticisms:
Chapter 3 Chapter 4
a. On Suffering:

i. But the souls of the just are in

the hands of God (3:1)
Redaction: This is a revelation
that the life that disappears in
death shall now live because of his
just soul. Immortality is the reward
of the righteous. It affirms for the
righteousness, suffering is not a
form of punishment but rather a
purification and opportunity to
show fidelity. However, for the
wicked, suffering is a form of
punishment. When judgment
comes, the ones who are just are
the ones who are truly alive. Peace
are to those who were followers of
God, for martyrs bring victory of
the cause they have lived.

ii. Offerings
Historical: In todays time,
offerings are in a form of donations
for the less fortunate, however
during the old times, offerings are
being burnt in which the victim or a
thing is consumed by fire.

iii. Visitation
Textual: is Judgment in this text
came from the Greek word
Episkope is Gods loving judgment
of those who have been faithful to
him. It may also pertain to
punishment of those who are
wicked.

iv. And their going away from us,

for utter destruction. (3:3)
 Source: The righteous has full
hope of immortality. Whether
people die in the hands of violence
or naturally die like we all do, Gods
goodness will still prevail and
contradict the end of our lives. It is
only the body that dies and not the
soul. Just like Luke 20:38 stated,
and he is not the God of the dead,
but of the living for to him all is
alive.

b. On Childlessness:

i. Better is childlessness with

virtue. (4:1)
Reduction: This is also a
revelation that seeking perfection
is an alternative way of being
fruitful. A life that is fruitful is spent
through offering yourself for the
greater glory of God. For example:
Mary consecrated herself to God
which is a form of her Fruitfulness

ii. Root of Understanding

Textual: in this text is believed to
be the Wisdom.

iii. Childlessness
Historical: Childlessness in Israel
was seen as Gods punishment and
the law excludes eunuch (meaning
the castrated men) from religious
worship. But in Is 56:4, the eunuch
who observes Sabbath and choose
to praise God will be rewarded
better than sons and daughters.

iv. For he shall be given Fidelitys

Choice Reward and a more
gratifying heritage in the
Lords Temple (3:14)
Source: Despite being childless,
people who devoted themselves to
God will have Fidelitys Choice
 Reward and a more gratifying
heritage meaning the reward of
God is better than sons and
daughters according to Is 56:4.

c. On Early Death:
i. But the just man, though he dies
early, shall be at rest (4:7), For his
Soul is pleasing to the Lord,
therefore he sped him out of the
midst of wickedness (4:14)
Reduction:
We cannot prevent untimely death.
God gave us the grace to grow into
a person of perfection. We do not
own our loved one, but God alone.
We have loved them through the
Years but stronger love led him to
the Lord who has made them. A
young death is not a punishment.
Dying of a late age is an
attainment of perfection and a
young death is a protection of from
exploitation.

ii. Source: He who please God who

loved; he who lived among sinners
was transported (4:10)
This is what replies early death of
children; that God decides the best
way for us to live. Just like in the
text says: Then Enoch walked with
God and he was no longer here, for
God took him (Gn 5:24)

Chapter 13 15

a) On Idolatry
i. Reduction: Because of materials,
people tend to forget God. Idolatry
was examined and denounced due to
worship of false Gods. The idols were
made attractive to attract people to
worship them but idolatry is source
and cause of evil. Divine punishment
will be imposed to those who are
 idolatrous and those who are free
from idols will enjoy divine favor jut
like Israelites. In Chapter 14:2, the
scripture says that idolatry is the root
of all evil. This would mean that there
must not have been focused attention
to one true God and that immorality
were effects of having false worship of
idols.

ii. Historical: The discussion on Idolatry

was stated because of the false
worship of Egyptian and Canaanite
here they have worship nature,
animals, images, etc. Egyptians
focused more on worshiping the sun
of the Nile while the Canaanite
believed in personification of life and
fertility with practices that were
inhumane.

b. Literary Genre:

The Book of Wisdom was categorized as a biblical

poetry, however it does not manifest so much
characteristics of the poetry. Parallelism, as a main
characteristic of poetry, is evidently present in the
biblical writing of the book. Also, there are a lot of
rhetorical devices, assonance, and alliteration,
antithesis found in this book.
The Wisdom of Solomon is obviously one of the
wisdom books of the bible inline with the book of
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Songs, Wisdom,
and Sirach as it tells about the quality of
experience, knowledge and good judgment. The
book was also written in the personification of a
wise king, King Solomon.

IV. Reflection:

After reading the book of wisdom, I realized the importance

of this book and why is it included in the bible. The book of
wisdom helps us question our life. It gives us advice on
how Christian should live their lives with others. Upon
reading the book of wisdom, I realized that these are laws
 and when we talk about laws of God, we tend to think that
it is strict and we should always obey them. But I came up
with a realization that these laws, this wisdom, this
scripture are here not to limit us from doing thing but to
protect us from hurting ourselves and other people. Thats
how God loves us. God gave the authors the wisdom
because only true wisdom coms from God. He made sure
that the book of wisdom is there to protect and guide us on
how to live our life.

V. References:
a. Winston, David. The Wisdom of Solomon: A New
Translation with Introduction and Commentary.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979.
b. Charles C. Manz, The Wisdom of Solomon at Work:
Ancient Virtues for Living and Leading Today (San
Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2001).
c. Maly, Eugene H. The Book of Wisdom, with a
Commentary: Vol. 39, Pamphlet Bible Series. New
York: Paulist Press, 1962