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1–5. A call to righteousness, which alone leads to wisdom and God. 6–10. Untruth, in addition to the fact that it removes you from God, does not go unpunished. 11–12. The wicked bring death into the world, 13-14. contrary to the original intention of the Creator, Who determined everything to life. 15–16. Righteousness, on the contrary, leads to immortality. Prem.1:1 . Love justice, judges of the earth, think rightly about the Lord, and seek Him in simplicity of heart, Prem.1:2. for He is found by those who do not tempt Him, and He does not appear to those who do not believe Him. 1–2. Book The Wisdom of Solomon begins with a call to wisdom, indicating favorable conditions for its achievement. This call is addressed to the judges of the earth (οι κρίνοντες τήν γην). In exegetical literature, there is more than one opinion on the question of who the writer is addressing in this case. Some interpreters believe that the writer called the pious Israelis here the judges of the earth and thereby expressed his belief that zealous Jews in the messianic time will take part in the Divine judgment over other nations (words of Pres. 3: 7–8). Such an explanation does not correspond to the flow of thoughts of this and the next chapter, where the speech is not addressed to pious people, but, on the contrary, to the erring and vicious. Then, throughout the entire chapter, there is no indication that the expression “judge of the earth” is taken in a figurative and not in its proper sense. Therefore, it would be more correct to understand by the judges of the earth the rulers of the earth in general and the Greek. κρίνειν is understood in a general and broad sense - to dominate, reign, rule, and not just “judge”. In this meaning, the expression “judges of the earth” is often used in Holy Scripture (Prov. 8:16; Ps. 2:10; Is. 40; Sir. 4:15). But the appeal at the beginning of the book to the judges of the earth does not mean that the writer addressed his book exclusively to the princes and rulers of the earth. This appeal has more of a meaning of a simple rhetorical figure, for the content of the book has nothing special that would be relevant only to the authorities, but all the admonitions of the book are imbued with a universal human character, applicable to everyone who, by their wickedness, moves away from God and wisdom. The question arises, therefore, what was the writer’s purpose in choosing this form of address – “judges of the earth”? This is explained by the fact that already in the first chapter the writer wanted to bring out King Solomon as the speaker, which is why he believed that it was more decent for him to address the rulers of the earth rather than ordinary people; but in this case it would be even more appropriate to address entire nations. It is much more thorough to explain this appeal by the purpose of writing the book. Wisdom and the then relations of the Jews to foreign rulers - their oppressors. In them the Jews saw representatives, on the one hand, of all wickedness and freethinking, and on the other, of gross superstition and idolatry. – It was these representatives of the anti-Jewish way of thinking and life that the author had in mind, first of all, to call to true wisdom (Cf. 1:1 v. and Wisdom 6:1–2 v.). “Love justice” Justice (δικαιοσύνη) must be understood here not in a legal sense, but in a moral sense, it is not the duty of a judge that is being spoken of here, it is not about judicial impartiality that we are talking about, but about the conformity of a person’s thoughts and deeds with the commandments of God, about honesty and virtue. This understanding is supported by the following words, in which this concept of justice is revealed from two sides: as right thinking about God and as seeking Him in the simplicity of the heart. “Think rightly about the Lord” Comparing this expression with Art. 30. Chapter XIV “they thought wickedly about God, turning to idols”, they explain it this way: have the right concepts, thoughts about God. But if the writer wanted to say this, he would have used the Greek expression όρθως, and not άγαθότητί (as here), which means the property of the will, not the mind. Therefore, it is more correct to assume that here the writer is talking about such a moral mood of a person, which is a necessary condition for his thoughts about God to lead to happiness in God. The correctness of this understanding is confirmed directly by the following words: “seek Him in simplicity of heart” and the further context of the speech. The following verses (2-4) reveal the idea that only morally pure people are capable of true knowledge of God, and spiritual impurity removes one from God and wisdom cannot dwell in a vicious soul. “Seek Him with simplicity of heart.” The expression “seek the Lord” is used in the Bible in the sense of “seek to earn the mercy, favor of God” (Jer. 29; Rom. 3:11; Heb. 11:6) and in the sense of “seek to know God” (Wis. 13:6; Isa. 65:1; Acts 17:27). Due to the connection of speech here, it is better to take this expression in the second meaning, since we are further talking about the knowledge of God. “In simplicity of heart”, i.e. a pure childish feeling, which is far from doubting the power and goodness of God (1 Chronicles 29; Eph. 6:5). Verse 2 indicates the reason why the desire for wisdom and knowledge of God should be accompanied by purity in thoughts and deeds: because only under this condition is this desire not in vain. “To tempt the Lord” usually means to doubt Divine omnipotence and help and thereby, as it were, force God to show his power (see Ex. 17:2, 7; Deut. 33:8; Ps. 77:18, 41, 56, 94:8, 105:14), this expression is often understood in this meaning. But the connection of speech with what precedes and follows gives grounds for another interpretation, namely: with immoral deeds, as it were, putting God to the test in order to see whether He will punish and whether His long-suffering and punitive power can be irritated. In this sense, the expression “to tempt the Lord” is often used in Holy Scripture. (See Deut. 6:16; Acts 15:10; 1 Cor. 10:9, 22). “He does not appear to those who disbelieve Him.” To appear (έμφανίζεσοαι) - not in the sense of external theophany, but to open, to let oneself be known, as in Chapter VI, Art. 16; Wed In. 14:21–22. Unbelievers (απιστούντες) here are not those who deny the existence of God, but who experience religious doubt and in such a state turn to God (cf. James 1:6; Matt. 21:22; Mark 11:24). The reading of the Codex Alexandria μή πιστευουσι is considered erroneous; The Vulgate renders this passage in a positive form: qui fidem habent in illum. Prem.1:3. For wrong reasoning separates one from God, and the test of His power will expose the foolish. 3. From 3–5 tbsp. the thought of Art. 2 is revealed. in a negative way. “Wrong reasoning alienates one from God.” The word “thinking”, “thought” (λογισμός) in the Bible is usually used to designate a person’s moral and religious mood, and does not mean simple reflection. The very word λογισμός does not yet contain a bad meaning (Rom. 2:15; Luke 2:35). A bad meaning is determined either by the context of speech (Jer. 11:19; 2 Cor. 10:4), or by a special adjective attached to this word (see Matt. 15:19; Mark 7:21), just as in this place the speculations are called “wrong” (σκόλιος), i.e. depraved, ungodly, “detached from God,” i.e. they are deprived of Divine help in acquiring wisdom and knowledge of God (cf. Art. 4). “The trial of His power will convict the foolish.” Divine omnipotence is tested by impiety in order to force its discovery. The idea is close to the 1st half of the 2nd art. “Test” and “tempt” (2 v.) (δοκιμάζεσθαι and πειράζειν) are words used in the book of Wisdom and in general in Holy Scripture in almost the same meaning. (See Wis. 2:17, 3:5–6, 11:9–10; Ps. 94; 2 Cor. 13:5; Heb. 3:9). Prem.1:4. Wisdom will not enter an evil soul and will not dwell in a body enslaved to sin, Verse 4 contains the basis for v. 3. Wickedness distances us from God because wisdom, which leads to knowledge of God (Wisdom 9:17) and mediates in communication with God (Wisdom 6:9), is not united with wicked people. Under wisdom here, as can be seen from v. 5 and 6, of course, Divine power, which reveals its action in the souls of people. Soul (ψυχή) and body (σώμα) are taken in the fourth verse not only to designate the whole person (as in 2 Mac. 7:37, 14:38, 15:30), but the body also means the source and focus of all moral evil in man; This idea was a kind of dogma for Philo; it is not alien to the writer of the Book of Wisdom (see Wisdom 8:19–20 v.). But the writer distinguishes only two parts of the human being: soul and body (Wis. 8:19–20, 9:15, 15:11, 16:14), and not three, as in Philo; in this one cannot fail to notice his independence. The body is represented in verse 4 as “enslaved to sin,” i.e. it became his slave, as if bought by him (cf. Rom. 7:14), and the soul was called “evil,” as plotting evil (cf. Wis. 11:4). – “Dwell” is a common expression in Holy Scripture about the action of Divine power (wisdom) in the human soul. It gives that shade of thought that this power is not of earthly, but of heavenly origin and only temporarily lives in a person (see Eph. 3:17; Col. 1:19, 2:9). Prem.1:5. for the Holy Spirit of wisdom will shun wickedness and turn away from foolish speculations, and will be ashamed of the approaching unrighteousness. 5. Wisdom, by virtue of its holiness, is removed from all sin. She is called here the Holy Spirit (πνεύμα αγιον). This expression (πνεύμα αγ.) in biblical usage means Divine power and activity, in contrast to the Divine being in itself, - the animating and animating principle in the physical and spiritual world. Various spiritual properties in which the Divine Spirit is revealed are placed in the genitive case (see Pres. 7:7; Isa. 11:2; Deut. 34:9; Eph. 1:8; 2 Cor. 4:13; 2 Tim. 1:7; John 14:17, 15:26). Here, with πνεύμα there is a genitive σοφίας. In the concept of σοφία, the writer of the book thinks not of the intellectual, but of the moral and practical side of wisdom, the ability to conform one’s life to the commandments of God, piety (Wis. 2:12, 3:11, 7:14; Ps. 50; Proverbs 1:2; Sir. 2:27). Since the wisdom of God teaches a person piety, it is therefore called the spirit of teaching, education (in the Alex. code. παιδείας). This wisdom moves away from all evil, wickedness (δόλος), whether it manifests itself in thoughts or wrongful deeds. Thus, depravity in thought and deeds makes a person incapable of cognizing the high and divine and dulls his feelings for this. This idea is repeatedly expressed in the New Testament (John 7:17; Rom. 1:18; 1 Cor. 2:14–15; Eph. 4:17); it is also found in the philosophy of Philo, and the author of the book. The Wisdom of Solomon, perhaps, borrowed it from there. By purity of heart and integrity of deeds, a person seems to become closer to the divine and heavenly and becomes more capable of knowing it - this is one of the main provisions of Judeo-Alexandrian religious philosophy. Prem.1:6. A humane spirit is wisdom, but it will not leave unpunished the one who blasphemes with his lips, because God is the witness of his inner feelings and the true viewer of his heart, and the hearer of his tongue. 6–10 tbsp. continue to develop further the idea of ​​the previous verse: it is not enough that the Holy Spirit of Wisdom deprives the wicked of its influence and moves away from them, but He also punishes them, for He knows the inner depths of the human heart and He is omnipresent. Speaking about this, the writer understands such wickedness, which has already broken the great connection of man with Wisdom and, on the other hand, is expressed in blasphemous speeches. 6. “A philanthropic spirit is wisdom...” In the Alexandrian Codex there is a genitive case - σοφίας, as in Prem. 7:7 v.; but this discrepancy does not in the least change the meaning of calling Wisdom the Spirit of God or saying: the Spirit of God is the Spirit of wisdom - one and the same. The predicate “philanthropic” presents a difficulty for exegetes. It is found to be inconsistent with the context: in this entire section there is no talk of God’s love for people; on the contrary, it speaks of His displeasure. The difficulty can be eliminated by the fact that it is impossible to consider this passage a later insertion, as some exegetes do, for these words are found in all codices. Paying attention to the fact that this expression in the Greek text is connected by the particle γαρ, it should be put in a causal relationship with the previous one and not with individual expressions, but with the general meaning. The flow of thoughts then will be this: under the condition of moral purity, when the Spirit of God has access to the soul of a person, it is not difficult for the latter to achieve wisdom; for the activity of the Spirit of God is driven solely by love for man, therefore it is He who “will not leave unpunished” the wickedness that hinders His activity for the good of people. “He will not leave unpunished the one who blasphemes with his lips.” The blasphemer cannot escape punishment because God knows even the inner movements of the human soul. He is the “witness of the inner feelings,” the “spectator of the heart,” and the “hearer of the tongue.” In this list, the writer notices a gradual transition from internal to external, from less to more accessible. “Insides” (νεφροί) is, according to biblical usage, the innermost beginning in a person, where deep feelings, strong affects, violent passions arise; the heart generally means the ability of thinking and feeling (Isa. 6:10; Jer. 17:10; Rev. 2:23); “language” is speech in which both are revealed. In accordance with this sequence, the words “witness”, “viewer”, “hearer” appear. Prem.1:7. The Spirit of the Lord fills the universe and, being all-encompassing, knows every word. 7. "The Spirit of the Lord fills the universe." Regarding the concept of the “Spirit of the Lord” (πνεύμα κυρίου), the opinions of the Egzegets are divided. Some identify the “Spirit of the Lord” with the concept of “Lord,” while others see here wisdom as the world soul, in the Platonic sense. Defenders of the second opinion refer as evidence to passages from the works of Philo, in which he attributes to the Logos the actions of Plato’s world soul, and to passages from the writings of St. Fathers, in whom the same is attributed to the Spirit of God. A similar identification of the Spirit of God with the world soul seems to take place in the writer Prince. Wisdom. Of course, it cannot be denied that in his book (see Wis. 7:22, 8:1, 12:1) the writer presents wisdom as an active force, emanating from God and penetrating the whole world. But at the same time, he does not represent wisdom as an independent personal existence, as would have to be allowed if the writer understood wisdom in the Platonic sense of the world soul. (In Plato, God and the world soul are represented as two different spiritual principles). Therefore, it would be more accurate to assume that the writer formed his concept of wisdom not on the basis of Plato’s philosophy, but on the basis of the Old Testament biblical teaching about the Spirit of God, as the divine force acting everywhere in the material world and all-pervading, as the principle of physical life. (Gen. 1:2, 6:3; Ps. 32:6, 139:1–10). This concept of the Spirit of God in Judeo-Alexandrian philosophy received a more abstract meaning and was taken by our writer to reveal the idea of ​​wisdom. In the second half of verse 7, from the thought of the omnipresence of the Spirit of the Lord, the thought of His omniscience is derived: “as he who comprehends all things knows every word.” Prem.1:8. Therefore, no one who speaks a lie will hide himself, and the judgment that condemns him will not pass. 8. From the thought of the previous verse about the omniscience and omnipresence of God, the conclusion is drawn that no blasphemer, wicked person (“who speaks lies”) can hide from God and cannot escape punishment. Prem.1:9. For the thoughts of the wicked will be tested, and his words will ascend to the Lord to expose his iniquities; 9 . “The thoughts of the wicked will be tested.” “Trial” (εξέτασις), a word often used by our writer, was taken by him from civil legal language, where it means an inquiry carried out through torture; in our book this word means 1) examination, consideration of human life by God (Wis. 4:6), and at the same time the consequence of this test - 2) punishment (Wis. 6:6, 11:11). Here you need to take only the first meaning of this word, which can be seen from the 2nd half of the verse. “Thought” (διαβούλιον) generally means mood, intention, as in Art. 3. λογισμός (philosophizing). Taken in the plural, this word usually acquires a negative meaning; - means ungrateful aspirations, unclean desires (Ezek. 11:5; Hos. 4:9). “His words will ascend to the Lord...”, i.e. man will appear before God as a judge. Prem.1:10. because the ear of jealousy hears everything, and murmuring cannot be hidden. 10. “The ear of jealousy hears everything...” The abstract concept “jealousy” is taken here instead of the concrete “zealot” (“jealous ear”) in accordance with the abstract nature of the expressions of the previous verse. In the Old Testament, jealousy is attributed to Jehovah in a double sense. Or this word denotes Jehovah’s zealous care for the people of Israel (Isa. 9:6, 43:15; Joel. 2:18; Zech. 1:14), and He is a zealous avenger of their enemies (Nahum. 1:2); or, as in many places of the Pentateuch (Ex. 20:5, 34:14; Deut. 4:24), God is called “jealous” when He speaks of His right to exclusive worship on the part of the Israelites, and that any deviation from His worship will be severely punished. In this last meaning, the word “jealousy” is taken in this place: God with special diligence (jealously) watches the thoughts and words of people, so as not to leave blasphemous speech unpunished. Prem.1:11. So, beware of useless murmuring and beware of the slander of the tongue, for even a secret word will not be in vain, and slandering lips kill the soul. 11. Presents the conclusion from the last three verses. Prem.1:12. Do not hasten death by the errors of your life and do not attract destruction to yourself by the works of your hands. 12. “Do not hasten death by the delusions of your life...” To hasten death means to diligently pursue it. In this expression, as in the following: “do not attract destruction to yourself by the works of your hands,” the writer sounds ironic at the wicked, who, by their persistence in sins, seem to express a firm desire for their own destruction. “...life...” This expression represents an excellent contrast to the previous one: “do not hasten death.” It is possible to find out for yourself what the writer here means by death only on the basis of the entire teaching of our book about death and immortality. We will present it in its most important features. 1) God is not the culprit of death; according to the plan of His creative activity, everything should be immortal: Pres. 1:13–14. He also created man immortal, in the image of “his eternal existence”: Pres. 2:23. 2) “But through the envy of the devil death entered the world”: Pres. 2:24. 3) However, not everyone falls under this death, but through piety and wisdom a person achieves immortality: Pres. 1:15, 2:22, 4:1, 6:13, 8:17, 15:3; and blessed life with God in heaven: Pres. 3:1, 4:2, 5:2, 6:19; The wicked receive death as punishment: Pres. 1:12, 2:24; they have no hope: Pres. 3:11, 5:14, 15:10; thick darkness covers them: Pres. 17:20 ; God completely humiliates them: Pres. 4:19. However, even after such a death, which is equated to destruction, the wicked are credited with the memory of their earthly life, regret and repentance, as well as knowledge of the blessed state of the righteous (Wis. 5:1-5). Most exegetes try to reconcile this apparent contradiction with the assumption that pseudo-Solomon allows for some intermediate state in which the souls of not all the dead remain, but only the wicked, until they are destroyed on the day of general judgment. Death, according to this view, is the complete destruction of the souls of sinners on the day of judgment. To prove the correctness of this view, they refer to the frequent mention of such a day in the book: Prem. 3:7, 4:20, cf. Prem. 1:9. But serious objections can be raised against this view. Nowhere does the writer make a distinction between the state that occurs immediately after death and the one that will occur after the general judgment. This silence would only be conceivable and explainable if he were addressing readers to whom such a doctrine of immortality was well known, so that there would be absolutely no need to present it in detail, but it would be enough to touch upon its individual moments. But we do not find such a teaching about immortality among the Jews contemporary to the writer. On the contrary, the general judgment was always expected by them here on earth in the messianic time. Our writer, although he shared messianic hopes to a wide extent (Wis. 3:7–8, 5:16), however, did not know the dogma about the restoration of the body (see note on 3:7). Therefore, according to the view under consideration, he had to transfer the divine judgment and the general meeting of disembodied souls against him to the afterlife; for such a concept we do not find any analogy in the eschatological ideas of the Jews. Therefore, it is more correct to present the doctrine of the death of a writer in a different form. Namely, by death we do not mean complete destruction, but only the deprivation of immortality in the proper sense associated with the death of the body, as blissful communion with God in heaven, to which only wisdom leads, this is on the negative side; on the positive side, this is a continuously continuing consciousness of one’s guilt (Wis. 5:2–5), in what sad state the souls were in hell (Wis. 1:14, 18:13). Thus, the death that the writer of the Book of Wisdom speaks of is the “second death” of the Apocalypse (Rev. 2:11, 21:8). Hence, the “day of judgment” can only be an image borrowed from the books of the Old Testament (Isa. 2:12; Ezek. 30:2; Joel. 1:15, 2:1, 3:3; Mal. 3:1–5) and mean nothing more than the general time of retribution, when everyone will receive what they deserve. As for those places in the book where the writer speaks of destruction (for example, Wis. 4:19), they can easily be understood not in the literal sense, but as hyperbolic expressions of horror before the divine Last Judgment. This doctrine of our writer about immortality, drawn by him, one might assume, from Plato’s philosophy, constituted a significant moment in the development of the religious consciousness of the Jews and brought them significantly closer to Christianity. Prem.1:13 . God did not create death and does not rejoice in the destruction of the living, 13–16. Department 13–16 Art. constitutes the conclusion of the chapter and contains a briefly expressed teaching about God in His relation to the world. 13. God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked, and He is not the culprit of their death, it appeared solely through their own fault. The intention of His creative will was to create only life (and not death) in the world. The contrast to the thirteenth verse is v. Prem. 2:16, 24. Together with parallel Prem. 11:24–25 he expresses the idea found in Plato’s philosophy that love alone was the driving principle for God in His creative activity. Prem.1:14. for He created everything for existence, and everything in the world is saving, and there is no harmful poison, and there is no kingdom of hell on earth. 14. The thought of the previous verse, expressed in a negative form, is revealed here from a positive side. “For He created all things to be.” What do you mean by “everything”? The whole creation, the whole human world, as in Mk. 16:15, or even the entire spiritual world, as in Eph. 1:10. In this case, “for being” (εις τό είναι) will mean - to the continuation of life, to immortality (as opposed to ούκ είναι in the book of Gen. 42:36; Matt. 2:18). With such an explanation, verse 14 will only repeat the thought of the previous verse in other words, meanwhile it is the basis for it (“for”). Therefore, by “everything” we must mean everything created in its entirety, the whole world, the universe. Just as God created everything, so His will determines the preservation, the continuation of existence (τό είναι) of everything. This thought is a general proposition from which the conclusion is drawn that man was created for life, and not for death. “Everything in the world is saving...”, i.e. everything that God created serves to preserve and continue existence, and, as can be seen from what follows, the writer speaks primarily about the preservation of man. "There is no harmful poison". Quite arbitrarily, many exegetes see in these and subsequent words the writer’s allusion to the story of Moses (Gen. 2:17 and Chapter 3), that people suffered death through eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and from here they make a further conclusion that the writer of Moses’ story about the fall of his ancestors. Wisdom was understood in an allegorical and not a literal sense. From other places in his book we clearly see that he recognized the historical character behind the narrative of Moses about the creation of the world and the first people (Wis. 2:23–24). “Poison” here in a figurative sense refers to everything that leads a person to spiritual death, which deprives him of immortality. All this is in the person himself, and in the entire material world there is nothing that, touching, would lead a person to moral death. «Нет и царства ада на земле» . These words clearly show that the writer imagined spiritual death as the sad state of the dead in hell. Hell, as the place of residence of the dead, is taken here in poetic personification: hell reigns; but one cannot think that the writer is talking about the real prince of hell here, as in Rev. 6:8, 20:2–3. В Св. Писании ад и смерть часто отождествляются ( Ис. 38:18 ; 1Кор. 15:55 ; Откр. 1:18, 6:8 ). Prem.1:15 . Праведность бессмертна, а неправда причиняет смерть: 15. Since God did not create death (Art. 13), but it is a consequence of moral causes, sin (Art. 12), then the natural conclusion is that “righteousness is immortal.” Although the righteous die, this is only a transition to another life, a better one (Wis. 3:1). Prem.1:16. the wicked attracted her with their hands and words, considered her a friend and wasted away, and entered into an alliance with her, for they were worthy to be her lot. 16. In the 16th Art. the thought is the same as in verse 12 and is expressed in the same ironic tone towards the wicked. Death for them, of course, is a punishment, but one that they passionately sought, attracted her with their deeds and words, felt affection for her as a friend, and languished in this feeling (“wasted away”), finally entered into a long-term alliance with her and with all this showed that they were worthy of her.