Глава 9

Prayer on behalf of Solomon for the sending of wisdom. 1–4. Confession of the goodness, omnipotence and wisdom of God and the high purpose of man. 5–8. Indication of personal life circumstances. 9–19. Without wisdom, a person cannot know the will of God and fulfill his destiny. Prem.9:1. God of the fathers and Lord of mercy, who created all things by Your word 1–4. Introduction to Solomon's Prayer. The writer speaks about Divine goodness, omnipotence and wisdom and about the highest purpose of man. 1. In the address, the writer expresses the idea that God, due to His attitude towards Israel (“God of the fathers”), because of His mercy and by virtue of His omnipotence, will want and can endow him with wisdom. Prem.9:2. and by Thy wisdom hath formed man, that he should have dominion over the creatures which Thou hast created Prem.9:3. and ruled the world holy and just, and carried out judgment in the righteousness of the soul! 2–3. Further reason is given why the pseudo-Solomon hopes for the fulfillment of his prayer. This basis is in the high purpose of man. Man, by his very constitution, was appointed by the Wisdom of God to dominate nature and high rule of the world (Gen. 2:19–20; Ps. 8:7; Sir. 18:1–4). This task makes it necessary for him to assimilate the Wisdom of God. “... ruled the world holy and just...” Both of these concepts (“holy and just”) are often combined together in the Holy Scriptures (Luke 1:75; Eph. 4:24); the first means the aspiration of the soul towards God, the second determines the proper relationship towards others. Prem.9:4. Grant me the wisdom that sits before Thy throne, and do not cast me away from Thy servants, 4. “Grant to me the wisdom that sits before Your throne...” The poetic personification of Wisdom, as above (Wisdom 6:14). “Do not cast me away from Your servants” - cf. Prem.2:13 Art. Prem.9:5. For I am Thy servant and the son of Thy handmaid, a weak and short-lived man and weak in the understanding of judgment and laws. Prem.9:6. Yes, even if someone was perfect among the sons of men, without Your wisdom he will be considered nothing. Pres.9:7. You have chosen me as king of Your people and judge of Your sons and daughters; Prem.9:8. You said that I should build a church on Your holy mountain and an altar in the city of Your habitation, in the likeness of the holy tabernacle, which You prepared from the beginning. 5–8. The king motivates his request by the circumstances of his personal life, and in Art. 5–6. he points out his natural weakness, which he has in common with all other people, and 7–8 tbsp. to the high appointment given to him by God: 1) to be king of Israel and 2) to build a church. Pres.9:9. With You is wisdom, which knows Your works and was present when You created the world, and knows what is pleasing in Your sight and what is right according to Your commandments: 9–12. The king can fulfill his high purpose only with the help of Wisdom, as Divine power, so he asks God to send it down from the Holy Heavens. 9 . “Wisdom... knows Your works...” (see Wisdom 8:4); “was present (παρούσα) when You created the world.” Here the thought is not only about the presence of wisdom in creation, but also about participation in creation (cf. Proverbs 3:19, 8:22). Prem.9:10. send it down from the holy heavens and from the throne of Your glory send it down, so that it may assist me in my labors, and so that I may know what is acceptable in Your sight; 10. “Send it down from the holy heavens...” The sky is called holy as the place of the presence of the Divine. However, if here God with wisdom appears to dwell in heaven, then in other places in our book the idea of ​​the omnipresence of the Divine is expressed very definitely (see Wisdom 1:7, 7:22); It follows from this that the word “sky” cannot be taken here in a literal and topographical sense, but should be represented symbolically, as a supersensible infinite world. “From the throne of Thy glory sent down...” “Throne of glory” is an image of the greatness of God. Prem.9:11. for she knows and understands everything, and will wisely guide me in my affairs, and will preserve me in her glory; Prem.9:12. and my deeds will be prosperous, and I will judge Your people justly, and I will be worthy of the throne of my father. Prem.9:13. For what man is able to know the counsel of God? or who can understand what pleases the Lord? 13–17. The person praying returns to his personality and gives his thoughts a general direction. While until now he spoke regarding his purpose as a king, now he says about himself as a person in general that without wisdom it is impossible for him to know the divine will, and the reason for this is indicated (v. 15) in the dependence of the human spirit on the material body. 13. Wed. Is. 40:13 ; Judith. 8:13–14; Rome. 11:34 ; 2 Cor. 3:5. Prem.9:14. The thoughts of mortals are unstable, and our thoughts are erroneous, Prem.9:15. for the corruptible body burdens the soul, and this earthly church suppresses the over-anxious mind. 15. “The corruptible body burdens the soul.” The adjective “perishable” (φθαρτόν), which the body is called here, in its meaning comes close to the concept of material, earthly, hence fleeting, perishable. “This earthly church suppresses a busy mind.” The comparison of the body with a church is often found in Holy Scripture (Job 4:19; Isa. 38:12; 2 Cor. 5:4; 2 Pet. 1:13), and it was also very common among ancient philosophers: the Pythagoreans and Neoplatonists. Among the Jews, this image only pointed to the impermanence and frailty of the present; among the Greek philosophers, our writer and Philo, this comparison also contained an indication of the true life of the human soul before union with the body, in comparison with which real life is only a temporary residence in the earthly “church”. The living conditions of the soul in this world are unfavorable for it. The corruptible body into which she entered suppresses her aspirations for the heavenly and divine. Like some kind of weight, the body drags the soul down to the ground; like a prison, an “earthly church,” this constrains and limits a person’s mental gaze to the realm of the perishable. Prem.9:16. We can hardly comprehend what is on earth, and we hardly understand what is under our hands, and what is in heaven - who has examined? 16. The expression “what is at hand” means immediate proximity (Wis.19:3) and hence the accessibility and ease of knowledge of the subject. “We can hardly comprehend what is on earth and what is in heaven - who has explored.” Is the writer here talking about the incomprehensibility of the supersensible world, or is he only talking about the unknown to man of God’s predestination about it? The latter interpretation is supported by Articles 13 and 17. this chapter. A similar thought is expressed in Heb. John (John 3:12). Prem.9:17. Who would know Your will if You had not bestowed wisdom and sent down Your holy Spirit from above? 17. This verse establishes the identity of Wisdom and the Spirit of God (cf. Wisdom 1:5, 7:7-22). However, on the basis of this passage, as well as the indicated parallel ones, it is impossible to say with accuracy whether the writer of our book represented Divine Wisdom as a personal being, or understood by it Divine spiritual power, for in some places of the book the concept of it turns into the concept of the property and action of God in the world and man. Prem.9:18. And so the ways of those living on earth were straightened, and people learned what was pleasing to You, Prem.9:19. and were saved by wisdom. 18–19. This is obviously the end of the prayer, since in the next chapter God is spoken of in the third person (Wis. 10:5, v. 10).