The Wisdom of Solomon can be linked to several forms of ancient literature, both Jewish and non-Jewish, but it clearly belongs with biblical Wisdom books such as the Book of Job, one of only five such books among ancient Jewish literature. In terms of classical genre it has been identified as an encomium and with the Greek genre of the “exhortatory discourse”, by which a teacher attempts to persuade others to a certain course of action.
Composition
The Wisdom of Solomon was written in Greek, in Alexandria (Egypt), in the late 1st century BCE to early 1st century CE; the author’s prime literary source was the Septuagint, in particular the Wisdom literature and the Book of Isaiah, and he was familiar with late Jewish works as the Book of Enoch and with Greek philosophical literature. It is uncertain whether the book has a single author or comes from a school of writers, but recent scholarship has favoured regarding it as a unified work. In either case its blend of Greek and Jewish features suggests a learned Hellenistic background, and despite the address to the “rulers of the world” the actual audience was probably members of the author’s own community who were tempted to give up their Jewishness in the face of the temptations of Greek culture and the hostile conditions facing Jews in the Greek world.
Themes
The book opens with the opposed pairs righteousness/unrighteousness and death/immortality: those who do not follow righteousness will fall into “senseless reasoning” and will not be open to wisdom; wisdom is not an inherent human quality nor one that can be taught, but comes from outside, and only to those who are prepared through righteousness. The suffering of the righteous will be rewarded with immortality, while the wicked will end miserably. The unrighteous are doomed because they do not know God’s purpose, but the righteous will judge the unrighteous in God’s presence. Lady Wisdom dominates the next section, in which Solomon speaks. She existed from the Creation, and God is her source and guide. She is to be loved and desired, and kings seek her: Solomon himself preferred Wisdom to wealth, health, and all other things. She in turn has always come to the aid of the righteous, from Adam to the Exodus. The final section takes up the theme of the rescue of the righteous, taking the Exodus as its focus: “You (God) have not neglected to help (your people the Jews) at all times and in all places.” (Wisdom of Solomon, 19:22).
