Wisdom

🏛️ Historical context

Written in Greek in Alexandria, a great centre of Hellenistic culture, where Jews were tempted by philosophy and pagan cults.

🔙 Background

It takes up the wisdom tradition of Proverbs and the story of the Exodus, and answers those who mocked the righteous.

🧭 Structure of the book

⭐ Key events and teachings

1. 1"God did not make death" (1:13)
2. 2"The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God" (3:1)
3. 3The persecuted righteous one, a figure of Christ (ch. 2)
4. 4Solomon's prayer for wisdom (ch. 9)
5. 5A rereading of the plagues of Egypt (ch. 11-19)

🏷️ Main themes

📖 Verses to memorize

• Wisdom 1:13For God made not death, neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living.
• Wisdom 2:23For God created man incorruptible, and to the image of his own likeness he made him.
• Wisdom 3:1But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them.
• Wisdom 7:7Wherefore I wished, and understanding was given me: and I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me:
• Wisdom 11:25For thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things which thou hast made: for thou didst not appoint, or make any thing hating it.

💭 For reflection

• What comfort does Wisdom 3:1 give when a loved one dies?
• Why does the "persecuted righteous one" of Wisdom 2 remind us of Jesus?

Written shortly before Christ, it praises wisdom as God's gift, teaches the immortality of the souls of the righteous and meditates on God's action in Israel's history.