Книга Премудрости Соломоновой

This book is called the Wisdom of Solomon because it is said to have been written by Solomon. It contains teaching about truth and how to recognize good and evil people, and a prophecy about Christ; also that wisdom is acquired through great labor and diligence; It also talks about some of the works of nature, about idols and their makers, about those who trust in them and serve them. In addition, there is a song with a confession of the miracles performed by God for the Israelites in the face of their enemies. This is the content of this book; and the order of presentation is as follows. In the beginning - the encouragement of the righteous to piety and the reproof of the blasphemous wicked. Do not imitate, says the Wise One, the opponents of Christ, who are doomed to death. The wicked went so far as to crucify the Lord of glory, preferring the present age to Him, and persecuted the apostles and put them to death. It says that some will despise the law of the Lord, while others will obey it. And that with all the multitude of those who do not honor Christ, God will not spare them, because God protects only the righteous man who believes in Christ, even if he died in his youth: “Honest old age is not measured by longevity, nor is it measured by the number of years” (Wis. 4:8). Although the wicked despises the death of those who believe in Christ, they are chosen by Christ. The wicked will be given over to inglorious destruction, and the persecutors of Christ’s servants will undergo great condemnation at the trial, having seen the glory of Christ and them, seeing themselves doomed to torment. It is said that we combine wealth with pride; also about the wrath of God that will befall those who do not honor Christ. Next is an admonition to the leaders of Israel to believe in Christ, or better yet, an instruction to the primates of the Universal Church on how they should govern after His departure. It says what Wisdom is - the Son of God, and how the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. “I,” He says, “am a mortal man, like everyone else,... nursed in swaddling clothes and cares” (Wis. 7:1, 4). About Christ it is also said further: from the Wisdom of God I received the knowledge of everything, “in His hand are we and our words, and all understanding and art of doing” (Wisdom 7:16). Then - what is this Wisdom, and how did it come to people: “She is alone, but she can do everything, and, remaining in herself, renews everything, and, passing from generation to generation into holy souls, prepares the friends of God and the prophets” (Wisdom 7:27). This Wisdom, he says, I loved from my youth and received from her all the benefits of body and spiritual. Having recognized the greatness of Wisdom, I asked the Lord to give me the Holy Spirit to enlighten me in it. He was sent to help me: “The thoughts of mortals are unstable, and our thoughts are erroneous” (Wis.9:14). Next - about the works of Wisdom: how she preserved the first-created man, from what evils God saves those who believe in Him, and what blessings He gives them, for example, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Joseph, the Israelites, whom He delivered through Moses from the hand of the Egyptians; how he brought water out of a stone for them, and how he sent wasps among seven nations, however, showing patience in order to give them time for repentance, and through this to teach his people to be philanthropic. Then - about those who worship the elements, about toads, wasps, mice, locusts, midges, snakes; about worshipers of idols made of gold and silver, or stones, or wood; that through the tree (of the Cross) is salvation for believers; about those who make or decorate idols; about all evil from idolatry; about ungodly worship and how much evil there is in it; about potters and clay idols; about all the idols revered by the pagans; about ferocious beasts, snakes, cats and the like; that God showed favor to the Israelites by sending them corncrakes instead of toads; about how He saved His people from the bite of snakes through a copper serpent hanging on the cross, and destroyed their enemies with snakes and mice; how He fed the people with angelic food, providing every pleasure and adapted to every taste; how He sent hail and fire against the Egyptians to destroy the idols; how he sent impenetrable darkness with all its disasters upon the Egyptians, while he showed his saints light in Egypt and a pillar of fire in the desert; how for the killing of the Israelite infants the death of the firstborn and drowning befell the Egyptians, and for the Israelites, instead of the death of the firstborn, salvation was granted by the blood of the lamb; how in the desert, when the righteous died, Aaron propitiated God with prayers and incense, and when the Egyptians perished in the Red Sea, the wrath of God was without mercy, but the people (Israel) (crossed) an unusual path; that the Egyptians suffered all this for their hatred of strangers, just like the Sodomites; and that all the elements are subject to the Divine control of Christ, Who tunes them as He pleases, just as a psaltery player tunes the strings of a harp. This is the entire content of the book of the Wisdom of Solomon, called “the treasury of all virtues.” The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: