A decade or so ago it was a great joy to introduce the book of Sirach to those who haven’t had the pleasure of delving its riches. A few days ago, I felt the Lord encouraging me to reread another of the books in the Apocrypha: one that may well have been compiled as little as fifty years before Christ was born. Commonly known as The Wisdom of Solomon (though the title is merely a literary device to give the work credibility) this is a compilation in the Wisdom tradition, that was written by an unidentified Jew in Alexandria from the Hellenistic Jewish community in Egypt.

The book was written in Greek, and draws on the Greek version of the Bible, the Septuagint, for its references, and this is one of the reasons why it is not included in the regular Hebrew Bible, being considered an important historical document and a valuable spiritual aid but not of quite sufficient inspiration to merit final inclusion in the canon of Scripture and being considered as the word of God.

Luther included the book between the two testaments, and the Anglican church continues to include readings from it in its Lectionary, but it remains a regular and much loved part of both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches Bibles. I certainly felt a conviction as I reread it that St Paul was deeply familiar with it, as Jesus Himself may very well have been, especially with the widespread Greek influence at the Greco-Roman city and religious centre of Sepphoris, a mere hour’s walk away from Nazareth.

Although the author was concerned to reach out to people not familiar with Wisdom as a direct example of God, his main concern was to bolster the faith of his fellow Jews, many of who had settled there in the Diaspora, but who were feeling confused and shaken in their faith amid the cultural whirl of life in Alexandria, with its learned philosophies and sciences, not to mention its wide variety of cults, and its vast library, that housed tens of thousands of papyrus scrolls, including works by Homer, tragedians, and other Greek authors, along with key texts from Assyria, Persia, India, and Egypt.

The author sets out in detail to chart how wisdom guides human destiny, and determines the fate of those who refuse to heed it, in stark contrast to the rewards for those who do. From chapters 10-19, he celebrates the role played by Wisdom in the nation’s history, concentrating almost exclusively on the critical deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. At the same time, there are serious warning against falling prey to the clutches of idolatry. (Most people find the first nine chapters the most helpful).

There is much praise of wisdom in line with earlier Hebrew writings (such as Proverbs 8 and 9), using God’s miraculous dealings with Israel and the nations at the Red Sea as a ‘template’ to study. In the long warnings against folly and idolatry, virtually every verse finds an echo in Hebrew thinking, but there are also various insights that take Jewish thought further, particularly with regard to the immortality of the soul, clearly spelling out the continued existence of the soul beyond death. The author goes further than any of his predecessors in understanding that this life is but a preparation for another world beyond, in which those who have embraced Wisdom live with God while those who chose selfish evil ways are punished,

As ‘the emanation of the glory of the Almighty . . . a reflection of the eternal life . . . and image of His goodness,’ Wisdom is seen as being active in the whole work of Creation, and in carrying history to its ultimate goal. It is not a separate entity from the Lord Himself so much as a fundamental expression of His nature. The author’s great contribution is to represent traditional understandings in such a way as to help us to perceive this truth more deeply – although, in speaking of immortality, the context often ‘toggles’ between what we would regard as the afterlife and the preservation of a person’s name and reputation following their decease.

Despite the widespread use of words and concepts that the Hebrew vocabular lacked the ability to express, we would look in vain here for a systematic volume of theology of philosophy. But what need had Hebrew thought of philosophy when they had direct revelation from God?

As the author reminds us in 7:14, Wisdom can never be ‘complete.’ ‘No one can ever exhaust the treasures of Wisdom. Use those treasures and you are God’s friends; He approves of what you learn from her.’ Just as the Bible traces people’s understanding of Yahweh from the time when many were inclined to perceive Him primarily as a tribal deity – though this was never how He saw Himself! (Gen. 18:18, 22:18, 26:4; Ex. 19:5) there is always so much more for us to learn and practise – and every compilation of inspired thoughts can help to shape and stock our thinking.

We come across many memorable phrases here. In the midst of a section denouncing the idols that people make of wood, many have read into the surprising verse, ‘Blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes,’ (14:7) a remarkable prophetic pointer towards the future role of the Cross.

‘A righteous man though he dies before his time shall be at rest’

‘At the great assizes of souls’

‘Evil is like witchcraft: it dims the radiance of good, and the waywardness of desire unsettles an innocent mind’

‘For Wisdom brought her servants safely out of their troubles’

I found chapter 6 particularly moving, with its very clear warnings and instructions to absolute rulers. It was, in fact, this chapter in fact which convinced me to draw up this overview of the whole book.

I have drawn out a few verses here to let the text speak for itself. Most people read it in the NRSV, Good News, or Jerusalem Bible translations, but on many occasions, I have preferred to use many of the excellent renderings to be found in the New English Bible. May you be blessed as you read, and ponder whatever the Lord may have to show you through it!

Chapter 1

Love justice, you rulers of the earth. Set your mind upon the Lord, as is your duty, and seek Him in simplicity of heart; for He is found by those who trust him without question, and makes Himself known to those who never doubt Him. Dishonest thinking cuts men off from God, and if fools take liberties with His power, He shows them up for what they are. Wisdom will not enter a shifty soul nor make her home in a body that is mortgaged to sin. This holy spirit of discipline will have nothing to do with falsehood; she cannot stay in the presence of unreasoned, and will throw up her case at the approach of injustice.

Wisdom is a spirit devoted to man’s good, and she will not hold a blasphemer blameless for his words, because God is a witness to his inmost being, who sees into his heart, and hears every word he says. For the Spirit of the Lord fills the whole earth, and that which holds all things together is well aware of what men say. Therefore, no one who utters unrighteous things will escape notice,
and justice, when it punishes, will not pass him by. For inquiry will be made into the counsels of an ungodly man, and a report of his words will come to the Lord, to convict him of his lawless deeds; as proof of his iniquity….

Beware then of futile grumbling, and avoid all bitter words; for even a secret whisper will not go unheeded, and a lying tongue destroys a soul. …. For God did not make death, and He takes no pleasure in the destruction of any living thing; for He created all things that they might exist, and the creative generative forces of the world are wholesome, and there is no destructive poison in them.

Death is not king on earth, and the dominion of Hades is not on earth; but godless men by their words and deeds summoned death, considering him a friend. They have made a pact with him because they are fit members of his party; and they have wasted away.

From chapter 2 (often considered to have prophetic presaging of Christ’s ministry, somewhat along the lines of Isaiah 53)

“Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law,
and accuses us of sins against our training.
He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself the servant of the LORD. He is a living condemnation of all our ideas The very sight of Him is an affliction to us, because his life is not like other people’s, and his ways are different . . .He says that the just die happy and boasts that God is his father Let us test the truth of his words and let us see what will happen to him in the end; for if the just man is God’s Son, God will stretch out a hand to him and save him from the clutches of his enemy.
Let us test him with insult and torture,
that we may find out how gentle he is,
and make trial of his forbearance.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death,
for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”

So they argued and very wrong they were. Blinded by their own malevolence they did not understand God’s hidden plan and secret purposes; they never expected that holiness of life would have its recompense; nor discern the prize for blameless souls; they thought that innocence had no reward. But God created man for immortality, and made him the image of his own eternal self. It was the devil’s spite and envy that brought death into the world, and the experience of it is reserved for those who take his side.

Chapter 3: Insights concerning our future existence

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be an affliction,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of men they were punished,
they have a sure hope of immortality.
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because has God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
In the time of their visitation [in the moment of God’s coming to them they will kindle into flame like sparks that sweep through stubble; they will be judges and rulers over the nations of the world, and the Lord shall be their king forever and ever . Those who have put their trust in him shall understand that he is true, and the faithful shall attend upon him in love; They are his chosen and grace and mercy shall be theirs

But the godless shall meet with punishment with the punishment their evil thoughts deserve because they took no account of justice and rebelled against the LORD. They will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble.
They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them for ever.
Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with Him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon His elect,
and He watches over His holy ones.

But the ungodly will be punished as their reasoning deserves,
who disregarded the righteous man and rebelled
against the Lord;
for whoever despises wisdom and instruction is miserable.
Their hope is vain, their labours are unprofitable,
and their works are useless.

Even if they live long, they will be held of no account,
but the righteous man, though he die early, [even if he dies an untimely death] will be at rest.

Chapter 5: The contrast between the wicked lamenting their fate and the reward of the righteous

The wicked say what good has our pride done us? What can we show for all our wealth and arrogance? All those things have passed by like a shadow, like a messenger galloping by; like a ship that runs through the surging sea, and when she has passed, not a trace is to be found, no track of her keel among the waves; or as when a bird flies through the air, there is no sign of her passing, but with the stroke of her pinions she lashes the insubstantial breeze and parts it with the whir and the rush of her beating wings. And so she passes through it, and thereafter it bears no mark of her assault; or as when an arrow is shot at a target, the air is parted and instantly closes up again and no one can tell where it passed through. So we too ceased to be, as soon as we were born; we left no token of virtue behind, and in our wickedness we frittered our lives away . . .

But the just live forever; their reward is in the Lord’s keeping, and the Most High has them in His care. Therefore, royal splendour shall be theirs, and a fair diadem from the LORD Himself; He will protect them with His right hand and shield them with His arm. He will put on from head to foot the armour of his wrath, and make all creation His weapon against His enemies. He will put on righteousness as His breastplate, and wear impartial justice as a helmet. He will take holiness for His impenetrable shield and sharpen His relentless anger for a sword; and the whole of his creation will join him in the fight against His frenzied foes . . . Shafts of lightning will fly with true aim, and will leap to the target as from a well-drawn bow of clouds, and hailstones full of wrath will be hurled as from a catapult; the water of the sea will rage against them, and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them; a mighty wind will rise against them, and like a tempest it will winnow them away. Lawlessness will lay waste the whole earth, and evil-doing will overturn the thrones of rulers.

Chapter 6 This chapter speaks deeply concerning God’s instructions and warnings to absolute rulers

Listen, then, you kings, take this to heart; learn your lesson, lords and judges of the eds of the world; lend your ears, you rulers of the multitude, whose pride is in the myriads of your people. It is the Lord who gives you your authority; your power comes from the Most High. He will put your actions to the test and scrutinise your intentions.

You rule on behalf of God and his kingdom, and if you do not govern justly, if you do not uphold the law, if you do not live according to God’s will, you will suffer sudden and terrible punishment. Judgment is especially severe and falls relentlessly upon those in high places. The small man may find pity and forgiveness, but the powerful will be called powerfully to account; for he who is all men’s master is obsequious to none, and is not overawed by greatness, because He Himself made both small and great, and He takes thought for all alike, and all are under his Providence equally, but it is the powerful for whom He reserves the sternest inquisition.

It is for you, mighty kings, that I write these words, so that you may know how to act wisely and avoid mistakes.  These are holy matters, and if you treat them in a holy manner, you yourselves will be considered holy. If you have learned this lesson, you will be able to defend yourselves at the Judgment.  So then, make my teaching your treasure and joy, and you will be well instructed.

Wisdom shines bright and never fades; radiant and unfading she is easily discerned by those who love her, and by those who seek her she is found.

He who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for he will find her sitting at his gates. To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding, and he who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care, because she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought.

Chapter 7

Unsurprisingly in the light of our ministry being called Ruach Breath of Life, I love the idea of Wisdom being called ‘the breath of life’. (Wisdom 7:25) She is described as ‘a pure and radiant stream of glory from the Almighty. Nothing that is defiled can ever steal its way into Wisdom.  She is a reflection of eternal light, a perfect mirror of God’s activity and goodness.

Even though Wisdom acts alone, she can do anything. She makes everything new, although she herself never changes. From generation to generation she enters the souls of holy people, and makes them God’s friends and prophets.  There is nothing that God loves more than people who are at home with Wisdom.  Wisdom is more beautiful than the sun and all the constellations. She is better than light itself,  because night always follows day, but evil never prevails or overcomes Wisdom.’

Chapter 15

You O God are kind and true and patient, a merciful ruler of all that is. For even if we sin, we are yours; we acknowledge your power. But we will not sin, because we know that we are accounted yours. To know you is the whole of righteousness, and to acknowledge your power is the root of immortality. We have not been led astray by the perverted inventions of human skill or the barren labour of painters by some gaudy painted shape, the sight of which arouses in fools a passionate desire for a mere image without life or breath. They are in love with evil, and deserve to trust in nothing better, those who do these evil things or hanker after them or worship them.

For a Potter kneading his clay laboriously moulds every vessel for our use, but out of the self-same clay he fashions without distinction the pots that are to serve for honourable uses and the opposite – and what the purpose of each one is to be, the moulder of the clay decides.

In chapter 16 the writer urges us not to forget the Lord’s goodness and become unresponsive to His kindness. He reminds people that

“It was neither herb nor poultice that cured them but your healing Word O Lord. You have the power of life and death; you bring a man down to the gates of Hades and up again. Man in his wickedness may kill but he cannot bring back the breath of life that has gone forth nor release a soul that death has arrested.’

There is a big emphasis in 16 verse 26 that your son’s Lord whom you have chosen were to learn that it is not the growing of crops by which mankind is nourished, but it is your word that sustains those who trust in You.

Chapter 17

Great are thy judgments and hard to describe;
therefore uninstructed souls have gone astray.
For when lawless men supposed that they held
the holy nation in their power,
they themselves lay as captives of darkness
and prisoners of long night,
shut in under their roofs, exiles from eternal providence.
For thinking that in their secret sins they were unobserved
behind a dark curtain of forgetfulness,
they were scattered, terribly alarmed,
and appalled by spectres.
For not even the inner chamber that held them
protected them from fear,

For those who promised to drive off the fears
and disorders of a sick soul
were sick themselves with ridiculous fear.
For even if nothing disturbing frightened them,
yet, scared by the passing of beasts and the
hissing of serpents,
they perished in trembling fear,
refusing to look even at the air, though it
nowhere could be avoided.
For wickedness is a cowardly thing, condemned
by its own testimony;
distressed by conscience, it has always exaggerated
the difficulties.
For fear is nothing but surrender of the helps
that come from reason;

Chapter 19

In everything, o Lord, You have made Your people great and glorious, and have not neglected in every time and place to be their helper all times and in all places.