Does the Book of Wisdom Called Sophia to God

8/22/2019 Does the Book of Wisdom Called Sophia to God

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Does the Book of Wisdom called Sophia to God?

Allan Moss

The first century BCE Alexandrian Jew to whom the Wisdom of Solomonwas addressed would find such a question perhaps rather blunt and notadmitting of a clear yes or no response. [1] In this article the questionwhich will mostly concern us is, what is the chief speaker's, that is,Solomon's perception of the character and role of Sophia or Wisdom?We will explore this question both in the literary context of the descriptionof Wisdom in chapters 7- 9 and in the context of the historical and social

situation the book addresses.

In the analysis of Maurice Gilbert Wis 7- 9 forms the core of the book,understood as belonging to the Greek genre of the encomium. [2] TheBook of Wisdom is an expression of the praises of Wisdom. In the firstsection or preface (1.1- 6.21) the author defines the topic and confrontsthose who would eventually object to the views expressed. Theopponents of wisdom and righteousness are allowed to speak (2.1- 20)and their views are exposed as erroneous in the light of righteousnessaccording to the mind of God and consequent immortality. The encomium

of wisdom proper is announced in 6.22:

I will tell you what wisdom is and how she came to be,

and I will hide no secrets from you,

but I will trace her course from the beginning of creation,

and make knowledge of her clear, and I will not pass by the truth.

In chapters 7- 8 Solomon speaks of Wisdom's character and

accomplishments and it is here that we will focus our attention. Solomonspeaks in the first person of his need for wisdom and of the source of thiswisdom in God . In chapter 9 we find the actual text of his prayer to Godfor such superlative divine Wisdom as is described in his address of chapters 7- 8. The final section of the book (chapters 10-19) is linked tothe preceding chapters as follows. In his speech about Wisdom Solomonnotes that Wisdom creates God's friends in every generation (7.27).Indeed Solomon desires and will pray to God for Wisdom so as to takehis place amongst his holy forbears (9.1- 3). [3] In chapters 10-19, then,the author outlines Wisdom's saving role for the ancestors of humanityand the people of Israel up to and including the exodus from Egypt.

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It is of interest to note that the Wisdom of Solomon or the Book of Wisdom is one of the biblical presentations of King Solomon. In thisrespect Wisdom takes its place with 1 Kg 1-11, 2 Chron 1- 9, and theBook of Proverbs. While keeping in mind the relation of Wis 7- 9 to 1 Kg3. 4 - 14, to which we will refer below, we can also agree with R. J.Clifford who observes that the Wisdom of Solomon can be regarded asan early interpretation of Proverbs. [4] In the Book of Wisdom Solomonpurports to address the rulers of the earth (1.1, 6.1, 6.9). As Roland E.Murphy remarks, however, while the audience is said to comprise theroyal colleagues of Solomon "the author is not really interested ininstructing monarchs. He has his own Jewish sisters and brothers in mindand he wants to strengthen them in their traditions." [5] Solomon inreality addresses the socially alienated Jews of Alexandria. Solomon, inhis quest for wisdom, is here presented as the model for the aspiring Alexandrian Jewish sage. The use of the character of Solomon is a usefulliterary ploy. In the biblical tradition Solomon was a Jewish sage of international repute (1 Kg 4.34 Eng.). He can therefore credibly addressthe "rulers of the earth". For the real audience of the book, the sociallydisplaced Alexandrian Jew, Solomon "aims at providing Jews with ameans of self-definition over against paganism through identification withthe reputation, wisdom, and success of Solomon, sophos par excellenceand esteemed teacher of pagan kings." [6]

Wisdom in chapters 6-9

In Gilbert's analysis Solomon's praises of Wisdom in chapters 7- 8 are tobe understood with regard to the concentric structure of the passage as awhole. In the following division of these chapters the praises of Wisdomare clearly highlighted by the central position occupied by 7.22b-8.1 in theorganisation of the text as a whole. It is evident too that the last threesections echo and develop themes already introduced.

(a) 7.1- 6 Solomon is a man like all others. No one is born wise

(b) 7.7-12: Solomon preferred wisdom to all royal good things and asked

God for this Wisdom, mother of every good thing

(c) 7.13 - 22a: In reality God gave Solomon all the gifts of culture:Wisdom is their maker

(d) 7.22b - 8.1 Praise of wisdom

(e) 8.2 - 9: Therefore Solomon decides to espouse Wisdom, since sheexcels all gifts of culture and all virtues, and she is the mother of everygood thing

(f) 8.10 - 16: With Wisdom as his spouse Solomon will be a great king









(g) 8.17 - 21: Solomon decides to ask God for Wisdom

Solomon's prayer for wisdom (9.1-18) has also a concentric structure towhich we will refer below.

To understand the import of Wisdom 7- 9 we need first of all to recall thatthe author builds on the incident of 1 Kings 3 where the new kingSolomon encounters God in a vision by night in the shrine of Gibeon.Here Solomon's prays to God for "an understanding mind to govern thypeople" (1 Kg 3.9). In response to God's apparently open-ended offer tohim, Solomon elects to ask for royal wisdom. Such a preferential choiceof wisdom above the attractions of wealth and prestige is rewarded byGod with the gift of royal wisdom beyond compare. However God alsoconfers on Solomon the wealth and renown that he had not requested (1Kg 3.10). So too in Wis 7-9 we find Solomon preferring wisdom to all royal

blessings (Wis 7.7-12) and expressing a keen awarenesss that throughwisdom he will excel as king (8.10 - 16). In the Gibeon prayer Solomon, ina rhetorical understatement, declares that "I am but a little child; I do notknow how to go out or to come in." (1.Kg 3.7). Likewise in the Book of Wisdom Solomon declares his human weakness: "I also am mortal likeeveryone else, a descendant of the first-formed child of earth" (Wis 7.1).In both texts Solomon emphasises that wisdom is a gift bestowed by God.Both texts cite Solomon's prayer to God (1 Kg 3. 6-9, Wis 9.1-18).

We come now to examine the question of Solomon's understanding of

Wisdom as divine in Wis 7- 9. Solomon sketches Wisdom's divine statusin the context of his human weakness and of his absolute need for wisdom if he is to fulfil his divine vocation as king. He attempts to findterms to describe Wisdom's origin in God, which is why he needs tobeseech God in prayer for such desirable and necessary Wisdom. In our search to understand wisdom as divine we will use in the rest of thisarticle three approaches, without claiming to proceed with them in anentirely separate manner and in succession. First and in the main werefer to the development of the imagery within the passage itself.Secondly we will also on occasion refer to the relation of Solomon's

wisdom in this passage to the older biblical tradition of Wisdom. Thisolder tradition is to be found in Proverbs 8 and Sirach 24. Solomondiscourses on the character of wisdom within this wisdom tradition, goingfar beyond what we learn about wisdom from the description of Solomon's encounter with God in 1 Kings 3. Thirdly, at one point in our discussion we will adopt a cultural approach. Wis 7-9 is an outstandingexample of the inculturation of a previous biblical tradition. Solomonrefers to divine wisdom using an exciting array of concepts known to hisJewish audience educated in Alexandrian Hellenism.

In discussing the imagery of Solomon's speech in Wis 7- 8 we will focuson images of the divine and leave aside Solomon's references to his



human weakness and his choice of wisdom above every other possibleadvantage. The central pericope (7.22b - 8.1) where wisdom's intimacywith God is evoked is the most relevant. We will first of all single outSolomon's conception of Wisdom as spirit. This description is Solomon'sresponse to the question, how can the extraordinary effects of wisdom beexplained? She has given Solomon his encyclopedic knowledge (7.17 -22a), and she exercises a moral and spiritual role in the lives of the saints(7.27). The response of the central passage's description of Wisdom'snature and origins is introduced with a breath-taking array of twenty-oneattributes. These extraordinary qualities are said to be possessed not byWisdom herself but by her spirit.

There is in her [Wisdom] a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold,subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good,keen, irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety,

all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that areintelligent, pure, and altogether subtle. (7.22 - 23)

Here is a clear reference to personified Lady Wisdom: Wisdom has aspirit. Gilbert comments on the import of the attributes of Wisdom's spiritas follows: "The author seems to go searching for terms to define thisspirit as one superior to the world and at the same time as a spirit thatanimates the world with its presence and activity, including moralinfluence" [7] Wisdom's pure spirit has cosmological ubiquity. [8]Solomon in this book is the first one in the biblical literature to conceive of

Wisdom as spirit. [9] In the context of the book as a whole the use of spiritfor Wisdom has the effect of likening her presence and effect to the actionof God's holy spirit. However the Alexandrian Jewish readers of Solomon's speech would have perceived in wisdom's description as spirita particular contemporary nuance. This spirit (pneuma) with its cosmiceffects could have overtones of the Platonic soul of the world and the"universal principle which animated and penetrated the entire universe" of Stoic philosophy. [10]

A second way in which Solomon expresses Wisdom's divine character is

in the description of his personal relation to such a divine Wisdom asdepicted in 7.22b - 8.1. His pursuit of Lady Wisdom is likened to a loveaffair: "I loved her and sought her from my youth; I desired to take her for my bride, and became enamoured of her beauty." (8.2) These terms,reminiscent of Solomon's Song of Songs, [11] are associated with thelanguage of cohabiting with wisdom: "therefore I determined to take her tolive with me, knowing that she would give me good counsel andencouragement in cares and grief." (8.9). As regards Wisdom's divinecharacter, such spousal language for Solomon's love for Wisdomparallels the spousal language Solomon has used for Wisdom's ownrelation to God: "She glorifies her noble birth by living with God" (8.3). Inboth cases the term the Greek term "symbiosis" is used, one used in













contexts describing married life. "The suppliant has decided to take to livewith him the Wisdom who 'lives with' God". [12]

Such reflections on exalted wisdom have a practical outcome. Solomon isimpelled to pray God for such a gift: "So I appealed to the Lord and

implored him, with my whole heart I said…" (8.21). Even though he is of noble birth, that counts for nothing in the acquisition wisdom (8.19-21). Inhis comments on Solomon's prayer in Wis 9 Gilbert notes that the roleSolomon attributes to wisdom in Wis 9 is highly original compared withthe royal governance role of wisdom in Solomon's prayer in 1 Kg 3. InWis 9 Wisdom is compared with the creative word (logos, 9.1). "Onlywisdom will permit him to complete properly his mission, if Wisdom doesfor him what Wisdom does for God". Only wisdom has enabledindividuals in the past and now the king in the present, to succeed in their vocation." Identifying Wisdom with the morally regenerating Spirit of God

in the prophets, Solomon concludes his prayer alluding to theachievements of Wisdom for the ancestors of humanity and the people of Israel. (9.18). No wonder that at the centrepiece of this prayer, Solomonexclaims: " Send her forth from the holy heavens, and from the throne of your glory send her, that she may labour at my side, and that I may learnwhat is pleasing to you." (9.10) [13]

In short, in Wis 7- 9 the divine status of Wisdom is expressed obliquely .The poet grapples for terms to describe the experience of God's presencein all created things. Wisdom's divine status is expressed in a number of

ways. For example, what God does, so does Wisdom. We read thatWisdom taught Solomon the riddles of the universe (7.22a), yet so doesGod (7.17). [14] Wisdom is so intimate to the creator God that God seemsto defer to Wisdom when creating (8.4). [15] Wisdom's decision is in allGod's works. [16] Gilbert uses the language of symbol for Wisdom.Wisdom is the very symbol of God's creative activity. [17] In the biblicaltradition Wisdom cannot be an independent deity. Solomon prays to Godfor Wisdom. He does not invoke Wisdom. However in Wis 7- 9 thequalities of Wisdom are divine qualities, like God's absolute purity andgoodness. [18] The intimate relation of Wisdom to God is expressed in7.25 - 26 in terms of breath, outpouring of divine glory, eternal light, mirror of the divine activity, a divine image. [19] The renewing effects of spiritWisdom (7.22b) evoke the transformative effect of the biblical spirit of God. [20]

We have come to the point of now reflecting on the astonishingdevelopment in the biblical tradition of Lady Wisdom represented inSolomon's descriptions of Wisdom in Wis 7-9. Her intimacy with God andher pervasive and active presence to the created world are described asnever before. How, in historical and sociological terms, could such aremarkable development have occurred? We will begin with someobservations of a sociological nature.





















We have referred briefly above to the impact of Greek philosophy onSolomon's speech about wisdom and on his prayer for wisdom. Muchmore could be said about the impact of Alexandrian Hellenism on thepresentation of Solomon and wisdom in Wis 7- 9. We cannot omit to refer to the question of possible allusions to the cult of the Egyptian goddessIsis. In a frequently cited study John S. Kloppenborg presents a balancedappraisal the evidence for Isis cult influence on the shaping of Wisdom inWis 7- 9. [21]

Kloppenborg writes that

Without wishing to detract from the substantial debt which the Wisdom of Solomon owes to biblical wisdom and Greek philosophy, I contend thatthe peculiar configuration of Sophia's characteristics is a result of and aresponse to the immediate and powerful challenge to Judaism presented

by another feminine figure, savior and revealer, a goddess linked to thepursuit of wisdom and one associated with the throne: Isis. [22]

Kloppenborg points, for example, to the unique relation of Sophia toSolomon. "Sophia is presented as the divine agent by which the king firstattains kingship (6.20 - 21), by which he rules (8.10-16); 9.10-12), attainswisdom (8.2 - 21); influence and power (8.12 - 15), eternal kingship (6.21)and immortality (8.13.17). It can scarcely be a coincidence that Isisperforms precisely the same functions." [23] Likewise in the relation of Wisdom to Solomon and to God in 8.2 - 9 Kloppenborg finds evidence for

the presence of the mythic pattern, for example in the description of Wisdom as the spouse of the king and of God. [24]

The reshaping of biblical wisdom that we find in Wis 7- 9 had,Kloppenborg argues, a sociological basis. Citing evidence from Imperialtimes (i.e., post 27 BCE) Kloppenborg describes the Alexandrian Jew. Hehad privileges not enjoyed by the Egyptians, but still aspired to social andpolitical equality, The Alexandrian citizens were unwilling to support sucha social shift within the city since the Jews refused to worship the gods of the citizens. Wisdom in the Wisdom of Solomon was one response to this

painful situation. Isis was assimilated to Sophia with similarity and yetdisparity. This inculturation of Hebrew wisdom had the role "to promote , if somewhat one-sidedly, cultural communication with the dominant groupbut at the same time to preserve boundary." [25]

We have now addressed the question of Wisdom's divine status in theWisdom of Solomon in terms of the imagery that Solomon employs. Wehave noted the association of Wisdom to the Spirit of God. We have seenthat Solomon exalts Wisdom's divine character in the context of his needfor a divine, universal and cosmic Wisdom so as to fulfil his royal vocation

in the history of the people of God. At the same time he finds terms tosuggest the Wisdom's intimate likeness to God. The description of













Wisdom is coloured with expressions that are at home in Platonic andStoic thought, and it is possible as well that the description of LadyWisdom as intimate with God and the king is an assimilation of certainfeatures of the Alexandrian cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis. We willconclude this study of divine Wisdom in Wis 7-9 with a reflection on thetheological and cultural achievement represented in this book.

The Book of Wisdom represents a creative theological response to asituation of painful cultural alienation. To live in a society where the rightsof full citizens brought evident social and economic benefits, and to be atleast partially excluded; to be excited by the achievements of Greekscience, yet perhaps to be excluded from scholarly education; to love theclassics and yet to be alienated within the polis - these were some of thechallenges confronting the first century BCE educated Alexandrian Jewon a daily basis. [26] How could one to whom the tradition was dear make

a relevant, yet theologically consistent response? A century before our author's time, another Jew faced with similar challenges had, in anaddress to the Greeks, asserted that "the Greeks begin from thephilosophy of the Hebrews." [27] If ever such a claim gained a hearingwith its target audience, our author looked for a more subtle and a morescripturally based response. He was addressing the dispirited of his ownpeople, not the Greeks. To hand was the figure of Lady Wisdom, abiblical persona with a demonstrated affinity for cultural adaptation. Inresponse to a somewhat similar challenge of Hellenisation within the cityof Jerusalem itself a century and a half previously, Ben Sira had equatedLady Wisdom with Torah and had her say: "In the holy tent I ministeredbefore him, and in Zion I fixed my abode" (Sir 24.10). In the earlier tradition Hebrew Wisdom was intimately involved with God's creation andwas understood to a mediating presence between the Creator and allhumans (Prov. 8.30 - 31). If Wisdom were to be relevant to the Alexandrian Jew, she had to be commensurate with the Greek universeand at home with current scientific thinking. A universal wisdom wascalled for, not a hierarchal Temple wisdom. Prov 8.22 - 31 was thepreferred model, and our author proceeded to adapt this model insignificant ways. In the Wisdom of Solomon Lady Wisdom has a moreactive role in creation than in suggested in Proverbs 8. [28] Whereas BenSira had assimilated universal Wisdom to Torah and Temple, our author merged the new more cosmos oriented role divine Wisdom with thebiblical tradition by adopting the starting point of Solomon's dream in 1 Kg3. At the same time the entire book could, as we have noted, beunderstood as a re-interpretation of The Proverbs of Solomon. [29]

Today the biblical tradition of Sophia, Lady Wisdom, is once again thesubject of cultural adaptation. The theologian needs to be in tune with theacquired biblical tradition and also with eco-theology, the science of theuniverse, and the cultural changes in the position of women. [30]













Theology apart, the perception of the presence of the Wisdom of God isalso possible for any believer today adopting for a moment acontemplative stance before the created world. Such a perception may begiven in the contemplation of the rolling waters of the early morningbreakers on the unpolluted sand. The aspect of the ravaged landscapemay occasion a painful perception of the absence of Wisdom's orderingpresence. The contemporary discussion of theology and science has acertain precedent in the novel presentation of Lady Wisdom to be foundin the Wisdom of Solomon. Yes, Sophia, the Wisdom of God, is divine inthis surprising work. As an expression of the overflowing "depth of theriches and wisdom and knowledge of God" (Rom. 11.33) she takes theform of poetic persona, and, in terms of the Jewish Scriptures, a feminineordering persona, in need of contemporary re-expression.

[1] In common acceptance, the Book of Wisdom was composed in thesecond half of the first century BCE. The book seems to have beenwritten by a learned Greek-speaking Jew residing in Alexandria, one of the largest centres of the Jewish Diaspora. For the date of Wisdom seeWright, Addison G. "Wisdom." In The New Jerome Biblical Commentary,ed. Joseph A. Fitzmyer Raymond E. Brown, Roland E. Murphy, 510-22.Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988, here p. 510.

[2] I refer to Maurice Gilbert and Jean-Noël Aletti, La Sapienza e GesùCristo, Turin: Gribaudi, 1981. Original Title: La Sagesse et Jésus-Christ,tr. Comunità di Bose, Paris: Cerf. See Prima Parte, La Personificazionedella Sapienza negli Scritti dell'Antico Testamento, a cura di MauriceGilbert, s.j., here pp. 32-38.

[3] See Gilbert, La Sapienza, p.33.

[4] R.J.Clifford, "Proverbs as a Source for Wisdom of Solomon," in ed. N.Calduch-Benages, J. Vermeylen, Treasures of Wisdom. Studies in BenSira and the Book of Wisdom. Festschrift M. Gilbert (BibliotecaEphemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 143) Leuven UniversityPress-Uitgeverij Peeters, Leuven, 1999, pp. 255-63, here p. 255.

[5] Roland E. Murphy, The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical WisdomLiterature. 2nd edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K.:Eerdmans, 1990, 1996, here p.84.

[6] John S. Kloppenborg, "Isis and Sophia in the Book of Wisdom."Harvard Theological Review 75 (1982) pp. 57-84, here p. 64.

[7] Gilbert, La Sapienza, p.34.

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[8] Murphy, The Tree of Life, p. 143

[9] Murphy, The Tree of Life, p.142. Murphy reminds us that in Job 32.8the human understanding is due to the breath of Shaddai.

[10] Murphy, The Tree of Life, p.142.

[11] See Murphy, The Tree of Life, p. 89.

[12] Niccacci writes that the term "symbiosis" indicates ultimate intimacy,especially marriage, as it is clear from the equivalence of "taking as bride"(8.2) to "taking to live with (pros symbiosin) " (8.9). See Niccacci, Alfiero."Wisdom as Woman, Wisdom and Man, Wisdom and God." In

Treasures of Wisdom. Studies in Ben Sira and the Book of Wisdom.Festschrift M. Gilbert (Biblioteca Ephemeridum Theologicarum

Lovaniensium 143), ed. J. Vermeylen ed. N. Calduch-Benages, 369-385.Leuven,: Leuven University Press-Uitgeverij Peeters, 1999, here p. 383.

[13] In Gilbert's analysis of Wisdom chapter 9, 9.10 is the emphaticcentre-piece. See Gilbert, La Sapienza, p.35

[14] Wright, Wisdom, p.516.

[15] Wright, "Wisdom," p. 516.



[18] Gilbert, La Sapienza, p.34

[19] Murphy, The Tree of Life, pp. 143-4.


[21] Kloppenborg, John S. "Isis and Sophia in the Book of Wisdom."

Harvard Theological Review 75 (1982): 57-84.

[22] Kloppenborg, Isis and Sophia, p.67.

[23] Kloppenborg, Isis and Sophia, p. 74.

[24] Kloppenborg, Isis and Sophia pp.76-77.

[25] Kloppenborg, Isis and Sophia, p. 83, citing Lévi-Strauss. For detailsof similarity and disparity see Kloppenborg, pp. 70ff.

[26] For a sketch of the social situation of Alexandrian Jews seeKloppenborg, Isis and Sophia, pp.79-81. A minority of Jews may have









































occupied privileges positions.

[27] See Collins, A. Yarbro. "Aristobulus: A New Translation andIntroduction by A. Yarbro Collins." In The Old TestamentPseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth, 2, 831-42. New York,

London, Toronto, Sydney, Aukland: Doubleday, 1985, here p.839,fragment 3.

[28] Mazzinghi, L. "La Sapienza, presente accanto a Dio e all'uomo: Sap9.9b.10.c e la figura di Iside." In Treasures of Wisdom. Studies in BenSira and the Book of Wisdom. Festschrift M. Gilbert (BibliotecaEphemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 143) Leuven UniversityPress-Uitgeverij Peeters,, pp. 255-63, ed. J. Vermeylen N. Calduch-Benages, 357-67. Leuven: Leuven University Press-Uitgeverij Peeters,1999. Here pp. 359-60.

[29] See note 3 above

[30] See for example Edwards, Denis. Jesus the Wisdom of God: AnEcological Theology. Homebush, N.S.W.: St. Pauls, 1995.

Alan Moss lectures in New Testament Studies, Greek and Hebrew at McAuley Campus.

The first century BCE Alexandrian Jew to whom the Wisdom of Solomonwas addressed would find such a question perhaps rather blunt and notadmitting of a clear yes or no response. [1] In this article the questionwhich will mostly concern us is, what is the chief speaker's, that is,Solomon's perception of the character and role of Sophia or Wisdom?We will explore this question both in the literary context of the descriptionof Wisdom in chapters 7- 9 and in the context of the historical and socialsituation the book addresses.













In the analysis of Maurice Gilbert Wis 7- 9 forms the core of the book,understood as belonging to the Greek genre of the encomium. [2] TheBook of Wisdom is an expression of the praises of Wisdom. In the firstsection or preface (1.1- 6.21) the author defines the topic and confrontsthose who would eventually object to the views expressed. Theopponents of wisdom and righteousness are allowed to speak (2.1- 20)and their views are exposed as erroneous in the light of righteousnessaccording to the mind of God and consequent immortality. The encomiumof wisdom proper is announced in 6.22:

I will tell you what wisdom is and how she came to be,

and I will hide no secrets from you,

but I will trace her course from the beginning of creation,

and make knowledge of her clear, and I will not pass by the truth.

In chapters 7- 8 Solomon speaks of Wisdom's character andaccomplishments and it is here that we will focus our attention. Solomonspeaks in the first person of his need for wisdom and of the source of thiswisdom in God . In chapter 9 we find the actual text of his prayer to Godfor such superlative divine Wisdom as is described in his address of chapters 7- 8. The final section of the book (chapters 10-19) is linked tothe preceding chapters as follows. In his speech about Wisdom Solomon

notes that Wisdom creates God's friends in every generation (7.27).Indeed Solomon desires and will pray to God for Wisdom so as to takehis place amongst his holy forbears (9.1- 3). [3] In chapters 10-19, then,the author outlines Wisdom's saving role for the ancestors of humanityand the people of Israel up to and including the exodus from Egypt.

It is of interest to note that the Wisdom of Solomon or the Book of Wisdom is one of the biblical presentations of King Solomon. In thisrespect Wisdom takes its place with 1 Kg 1-11, 2 Chron 1- 9, and theBook of Proverbs. While keeping in mind the relation of Wis 7- 9 to 1 Kg

3. 4 - 14, to which we will refer below, we can also agree with R. J.Clifford who observes that the Wisdom of Solomon can be regarded asan early interpretation of Proverbs. [4] In the Book of Wisdom Solomonpurports to address the rulers of the earth (1.1, 6.1, 6.9). As Roland E.Murphy remarks, however, while the audience is said to comprise theroyal colleagues of Solomon "the author is not really interested ininstructing monarchs. He has his own Jewish sisters and brothers in mindand he wants to strengthen them in their traditions." [5] Solomon inreality addresses the socially alienated Jews of Alexandria. Solomon, inhis quest for wisdom, is here presented as the model for the aspiring

Alexandrian Jewish sage. The use of the character of Solomon is a usefulliterary ploy. In the biblical tradition Solomon was a Jewish sage of











international repute (1 Kg 4.34 Eng.). He can therefore credibly addressthe "rulers of the earth". For the real audience of the book, the sociallydisplaced Alexandrian Jew, Solomon "aims at providing Jews with ameans of self-definition over against paganism through identification withthe reputation, wisdom, and success of Solomon, sophos par excellenceand esteemed teacher of pagan kings." [6]

Wisdom in chapters 6-9

In Gilbert's analysis Solomon's praises of Wisdom in chapters 7- 8 are tobe understood with regard to the concentric structure of the passage as awhole. In the following division of these chapters the praises of Wisdomare clearly highlighted by the central position occupied by 7.22b-8.1 in theorganisation of the text as a whole. It is evident too that the last threesections echo and develop themes already introduced.

(a) 7.1- 6 Solomon is a man like all others. No one is born wise

(b) 7.7-12: Solomon preferred wisdom to all royal good things and askedGod for this Wisdom, mother of every good thing

(c) 7.13 - 22a: In reality God gave Solomon all the gifts of culture:Wisdom is their maker

(d) 7.22b - 8.1 Praise of wisdom

(e) 8.2 - 9: Therefore Solomon decides to espouse Wisdom, since sheexcels all gifts of culture and all virtues, and she is the mother of everygood thing

(f) 8.10 - 16: With Wisdom as his spouse Solomon will be a great king

(g) 8.17 - 21: Solomon decides to ask God for Wisdom

Solomon's prayer for wisdom (9.1-18) has also a concentric structure towhich we will refer below.

To understand the import of Wisdom 7- 9 we need first of all to recall thatthe author builds on the incident of 1 Kings 3 where the new kingSolomon encounters God in a vision by night in the shrine of Gibeon.Here Solomon's prays to God for "an understanding mind to govern thypeople" (1 Kg 3.9). In response to God's apparently open-ended offer tohim, Solomon elects to ask for royal wisdom. Such a preferential choiceof wisdom above the attractions of wealth and prestige is rewarded byGod with the gift of royal wisdom beyond compare. However God alsoconfers on Solomon the wealth and renown that he had not requested (1

Kg 3.10). So too in Wis 7-9 we find Solomon preferring wisdom to all royalblessings (Wis 7.7-12) and expressing a keen awarenesss that through





wisdom he will excel as king (8.10 - 16). In the Gibeon prayer Solomon, ina rhetorical understatement, declares that "I am but a little child; I do notknow how to go out or to come in." (1.Kg 3.7). Likewise in the Book of Wisdom Solomon declares his human weakness: "I also am mortal likeeveryone else, a descendant of the first-formed child of earth" (Wis 7.1).In both texts Solomon emphasises that wisdom is a gift bestowed by God.Both texts cite Solomon's prayer to God (1 Kg 3. 6-9, Wis 9.1-18).

We come now to examine the question of Solomon's understanding of Wisdom as divine in Wis 7- 9. Solomon sketches Wisdom's divine statusin the context of his human weakness and of his absolute need for wisdom if he is to fulfil his divine vocation as king. He attempts to findterms to describe Wisdom's origin in God, which is why he needs tobeseech God in prayer for such desirable and necessary Wisdom. In our search to understand wisdom as divine we will use in the rest of this

article three approaches, without claiming to proceed with them in anentirely separate manner and in succession. First and in the main werefer to the development of the imagery within the passage itself.Secondly we will also on occasion refer to the relation of Solomon'swisdom in this passage to the older biblical tradition of Wisdom. Thisolder tradition is to be found in Proverbs 8 and Sirach 24. Solomondiscourses on the character of wisdom within this wisdom tradition, goingfar beyond what we learn about wisdom from the description of Solomon's encounter with God in 1 Kings 3. Thirdly, at one point in our discussion we will adopt a cultural approach. Wis 7-9 is an outstandingexample of the inculturation of a previous biblical tradition. Solomonrefers to divine wisdom using an exciting array of concepts known to hisJewish audience educated in Alexandrian Hellenism.

In discussing the imagery of Solomon's speech in Wis 7- 8 we will focuson images of the divine and leave aside Solomon's references to hishuman weakness and his choice of wisdom above every other possibleadvantage. The central pericope (7.22b - 8.1) where wisdom's intimacywith God is evoked is the most relevant. We will first of all single outSolomon's conception of Wisdom as spirit. This description is Solomon'sresponse to the question, how can the extraordinary effects of wisdom beexplained? She has given Solomon his encyclopedic knowledge (7.17 -22a), and she exercises a moral and spiritual role in the lives of the saints(7.27). The response of the central passage's description of Wisdom'snature and origins is introduced with a breath-taking array of twenty-oneattributes. These extraordinary qualities are said to be possessed not byWisdom herself but by her spirit.

There is in her [Wisdom] a spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold,subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good,keen, irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety,all-powerful, overseeing all, and penetrating through all spirits that are



intelligent, pure, and altogether subtle. (7.22 - 23)

Here is a clear reference to personified Lady Wisdom: Wisdom has aspirit. Gilbert comments on the import of the attributes of Wisdom's spiritas follows: "The author seems to go searching for terms to define this

spirit as one superior to the world and at the same time as a spirit thatanimates the world with its presence and activity, including moralinfluence" [7] Wisdom's pure spirit has cosmological ubiquity. [8]Solomon in this book is the first one in the biblical literature to conceive of Wisdom as spirit. [9] In the context of the book as a whole the use of spiritfor Wisdom has the effect of likening her presence and effect to the actionof God's holy spirit. However the Alexandrian Jewish readers of Solomon's speech would have perceived in wisdom's description as spirita particular contemporary nuance. This spirit (pneuma) with its cosmiceffects could have overtones of the Platonic soul of the world and the

"universal principle which animated and penetrated the entire universe" of Stoic philosophy. [10]

A second way in which Solomon expresses Wisdom's divine character isin the description of his personal relation to such a divine Wisdom asdepicted in 7.22b - 8.1. His pursuit of Lady Wisdom is likened to a loveaffair: "I loved her and sought her from my youth; I desired to take her for my bride, and became enamoured of her beauty." (8.2) These terms,reminiscent of Solomon's Song of Songs, [11] are associated with thelanguage of cohabiting with wisdom: "therefore I determined to take her to

live with me, knowing that she would give me good counsel andencouragement in cares and grief." (8.9). As regards Wisdom's divinecharacter, such spousal language for Solomon's love for Wisdomparallels the spousal language Solomon has used for Wisdom's ownrelation to God: "She glorifies her noble birth by living with God" (8.3). Inboth cases the term the Greek term "symbiosis" is used, one used incontexts describing married life. "The suppliant has decided to take to livewith him the Wisdom who 'lives with' God". [12]

Such reflections on exalted wisdom have a practical outcome. Solomon is

impelled to pray God for such a gift: "So I appealed to the Lord andimplored him, with my whole heart I said…" (8.21). Even though he is of noble birth, that counts for nothing in the acquisition wisdom (8.19-21). Inhis comments on Solomon's prayer in Wis 9 Gilbert notes that the roleSolomon attributes to wisdom in Wis 9 is highly original compared withthe royal governance role of wisdom in Solomon's prayer in 1 Kg 3. InWis 9 Wisdom is compared with the creative word (logos, 9.1). "Onlywisdom will permit him to complete properly his mission, if Wisdom doesfor him what Wisdom does for God". Only wisdom has enabledindividuals in the past and now the king in the present, to succeed in their vocation." Identifying Wisdom with the morally regenerating Spirit of Godin the prophets, Solomon concludes his prayer alluding to the















achievements of Wisdom for the ancestors of humanity and the people of Israel. (9.18). No wonder that at the centrepiece of this prayer, Solomonexclaims: " Send her forth from the holy heavens, and from the throne of your glory send her, that she may labour at my side, and that I may learnwhat is pleasing to you." (9.10) [13]

In short, in Wis 7- 9 the divine status of Wisdom is expressed obliquely .The poet grapples for terms to describe the experience of God's presencein all created things. Wisdom's divine status is expressed in a number of ways. For example, what God does, so does Wisdom. We read thatWisdom taught Solomon the riddles of the universe (7.22a), yet so doesGod (7.17). [14] Wisdom is so intimate to the creator God that God seemsto defer to Wisdom when creating (8.4). [15] Wisdom's decision is in allGod's works. [16] Gilbert uses the language of symbol for Wisdom.Wisdom is the very symbol of God's creative activity. [17] In the biblical

tradition Wisdom cannot be an independent deity. Solomon prays to Godfor Wisdom. He does not invoke Wisdom. However in Wis 7- 9 thequalities of Wisdom are divine qualities, like God's absolute purity andgoodness. [18] The intimate relation of Wisdom to God is expressed in7.25 - 26 in terms of breath, outpouring of divine glory, eternal light, mirror of the divine activity, a divine image. [19] The renewing effects of spiritWisdom (7.22b) evoke the transformative effect of the biblical spirit of God. [20]

We have come to the point of now reflecting on the astonishing

development in the biblical tradition of Lady Wisdom represented inSolomon's descriptions of Wisdom in Wis 7-9. Her intimacy with God andher pervasive and active presence to the created world are described asnever before. How, in historical and sociological terms, could such aremarkable development have occurred? We will begin with someobservations of a sociological nature.

We have referred briefly above to the impact of Greek philosophy onSolomon's speech about wisdom and on his prayer for wisdom. Muchmore could be said about the impact of Alexandrian Hellenism on the

presentation of Solomon and wisdom in Wis 7- 9. We cannot omit to refer to the question of possible allusions to the cult of the Egyptian goddessIsis. In a frequently cited study John S. Kloppenborg presents a balancedappraisal the evidence for Isis cult influence on the shaping of Wisdom inWis 7- 9. [21]

Kloppenborg writes that

Without wishing to detract from the substantial debt which the Wisdom of Solomon owes to biblical wisdom and Greek philosophy, I contend that

the peculiar configuration of Sophia's characteristics is a result of and aresponse to the immediate and powerful challenge to Judaism presented





















by another feminine figure, savior and revealer, a goddess linked to thepursuit of wisdom and one associated with the throne: Isis. [22]

Kloppenborg points, for example, to the unique relation of Sophia toSolomon. "Sophia is presented as the divine agent by which the king first

attains kingship (6.20 - 21), by which he rules (8.10-16); 9.10-12), attainswisdom (8.2 - 21); influence and power (8.12 - 15), eternal kingship (6.21)and immortality (8.13.17). It can scarcely be a coincidence that Isisperforms precisely the same functions." [23] Likewise in the relation of Wisdom to Solomon and to God in 8.2 - 9 Kloppenborg finds evidence for the presence of the mythic pattern, for example in the description of Wisdom as the spouse of the king and of God. [24]

The reshaping of biblical wisdom that we find in Wis 7- 9 had,Kloppenborg argues, a sociological basis. Citing evidence from Imperial

times (i.e., post 27 BCE) Kloppenborg describes the Alexandrian Jew. Hehad privileges not enjoyed by the Egyptians, but still aspired to social andpolitical equality, The Alexandrian citizens were unwilling to support sucha social shift within the city since the Jews refused to worship the gods of the citizens. Wisdom in the Wisdom of Solomon was one response to thispainful situation. Isis was assimilated to Sophia with similarity and yetdisparity. This inculturation of Hebrew wisdom had the role "to promote , if somewhat one-sidedly, cultural communication with the dominant groupbut at the same time to preserve boundary." [25]

We have now addressed the question of Wisdom's divine status in theWisdom of Solomon in terms of the imagery that Solomon employs. Wehave noted the association of Wisdom to the Spirit of God. We have seenthat Solomon exalts Wisdom's divine character in the context of his needfor a divine, universal and cosmic Wisdom so as to fulfil his royal vocationin the history of the people of God. At the same time he finds terms tosuggest the Wisdom's intimate likeness to God. The description of Wisdom is coloured with expressions that are at home in Platonic andStoic thought, and it is possible as well that the description of LadyWisdom as intimate with God and the king is an assimilation of certain

features of the Alexandrian cult of the Egyptian goddess Isis. We willconclude this study of divine Wisdom in Wis 7-9 with a reflection on thetheological and cultural achievement represented in this book.

The Book of Wisdom represents a creative theological response to asituation of painful cultural alienation. To live in a society where the rightsof full citizens brought evident social and economic benefits, and to be atleast partially excluded; to be excited by the achievements of Greekscience, yet perhaps to be excluded from scholarly education; to love theclassics and yet to be alienated within the polis - these were some of the

challenges confronting the first century BCE educated Alexandrian Jewon a daily basis. [26] How could one to whom the tradition was dear make













a relevant, yet theologically consistent response? A century before our author's time, another Jew faced with similar challenges had, in anaddress to the Greeks, asserted that "the Greeks begin from thephilosophy of the Hebrews." [27] If ever such a claim gained a hearingwith its target audience, our author looked for a more subtle and a morescripturally based response. He was addressing the dispirited of his ownpeople, not the Greeks. To hand was the figure of Lady Wisdom, abiblical persona with a demonstrated affinity for cultural adaptation. Inresponse to a somewhat similar challenge of Hellenisation within the cityof Jerusalem itself a century and a half previously, Ben Sira had equatedLady Wisdom with Torah and had her say: "In the holy tent I ministeredbefore him, and in Zion I fixed my abode" (Sir 24.10). In the earlier tradition Hebrew Wisdom was intimately involved with God's creation andwas understood to a mediating presence between the Creator and allhumans (Prov. 8.30 - 31). If Wisdom were to be relevant to the Alexandrian Jew, she had to be commensurate with the Greek universeand at home with current scientific thinking. A universal wisdom wascalled for, not a hierarchal Temple wisdom. Prov 8.22 - 31 was thepreferred model, and our author proceeded to adapt this model insignificant ways. In the Wisdom of Solomon Lady Wisdom has a moreactive role in creation than in suggested in Proverbs 8. [28] Whereas BenSira had assimilated universal Wisdom to Torah and Temple, our author merged the new more cosmos oriented role divine Wisdom with thebiblical tradition by adopting the starting point of Solomon's dream in 1 Kg

3. At the same time the entire book could, as we have noted, beunderstood as a re-interpretation of The Proverbs of Solomon. [29]

Today the biblical tradition of Sophia, Lady Wisdom, is once again thesubject of cultural adaptation. The theologian needs to be in tune with theacquired biblical tradition and also with eco-theology, the science of theuniverse, and the cultural changes in the position of women. [30]Theology apart, the perception of the presence of the Wisdom of God isalso possible for any believer today adopting for a moment acontemplative stance before the created world. Such a perception may begiven in the contemplation of the rolling waters of the early morningbreakers on the unpolluted sand. The aspect of the ravaged landscapemay occasion a painful perception of the absence of Wisdom's orderingpresence. The contemporary discussion of theology and science has acertain precedent in the novel presentation of Lady Wisdom to be foundin the Wisdom of Solomon. Yes, Sophia, the Wisdom of God, is divine inthis surprising work. As an expression of the overflowing "depth of theriches and wisdom and knowledge of God" (Rom. 11.33) she takes theform of poetic persona, and, in terms of the Jewish Scriptures, a feminineordering persona, in need of contemporary re-expression.











[1] In common acceptance, the Book of Wisdom was composed in thesecond half of the first century BCE. The book seems to have beenwritten by a learned Greek-speaking Jew residing in Alexandria, one of

the largest centres of the Jewish Diaspora. For the date of Wisdom seeWright, Addison G. "Wisdom." In The New Jerome Biblical Commentary,ed. Joseph A. Fitzmyer Raymond E. Brown, Roland E. Murphy, 510-22.Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1988, here p. 510.

[2] I refer to Maurice Gilbert and Jean-Noël Aletti, La Sapienza e GesùCristo, Turin: Gribaudi, 1981. Original Title: La Sagesse et Jésus-Christ,tr. Comunità di Bose, Paris: Cerf. See Prima Parte, La Personificazionedella Sapienza negli Scritti dell'Antico Testamento, a cura di MauriceGilbert, s.j., here pp. 32-38.

[3] See Gilbert, La Sapienza, p.33.

[4] R.J.Clifford, "Proverbs as a Source for Wisdom of Solomon," in ed. N.Calduch-Benages, J. Vermeylen, Treasures of Wisdom. Studies in BenSira and the Book of Wisdom. Festschrift M. Gilbert (BibliotecaEphemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 143) Leuven UniversityPress-Uitgeverij Peeters, Leuven, 1999, pp. 255-63, here p. 255.

[5] Roland E. Murphy, The Tree of Life: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom

Literature. 2nd edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K.:Eerdmans, 1990, 1996, here p.84.

[6] John S. Kloppenborg, "Isis and Sophia in the Book of Wisdom."Harvard Theological Review 75 (1982) pp. 57-84, here p. 64.



[9] Murphy, The Tree of Life, p.142. Murphy reminds us that in Job 32.8the human understanding is due to the breath of Shaddai.

[10] Murphy, The Tree of Life, p.142.

[11] See Murphy, The Tree of Life, p. 89.

[12] Niccacci writes that the term "symbiosis" indicates ultimate intimacy,especially marriage, as it is clear from the equivalence of "taking as bride"(8.2) to "taking to live with (pros symbiosin) " (8.9). See Niccacci, Alfiero."Wisdom as Woman, Wisdom and Man, Wisdom and God." In

Treasures of Wisdom. Studies in Ben Sira and the Book of Wisdom.Festschrift M. Gilbert (Biblioteca Ephemeridum Theologicarum



























Lovaniensium 143), ed. J. Vermeylen ed. N. Calduch-Benages, 369-385.Leuven,: Leuven University Press-Uitgeverij Peeters, 1999, here p. 383.

[13] In Gilbert's analysis of Wisdom chapter 9, 9.10 is the emphaticcentre-piece. See Gilbert, La Sapienza, p.35

[14] Wright, Wisdom, p.516.

[15] Wright, "Wisdom," p. 516.



[18] Gilbert, La Sapienza, p.34

[19] Murphy, The Tree of Life, pp. 143-4.


[21] Kloppenborg, John S. "Isis and Sophia in the Book of Wisdom."Harvard Theological Review 75 (1982): 57-84.

[22] Kloppenborg, Isis and Sophia, p.67.

[23] Kloppenborg, Isis and Sophia, p. 74.

[24] Kloppenborg, Isis and Sophia pp.76-77.

[25] Kloppenborg, Isis and Sophia, p. 83, citing Lévi-Strauss. For detailsof similarity and disparity see Kloppenborg, pp. 70ff.

[26] For a sketch of the social situation of Alexandrian Jews seeKloppenborg, Isis and Sophia, pp.79-81. A minority of Jews may haveoccupied privileges positions.

[27] See Collins, A. Yarbro. "Aristobulus: A New Translation andIntroduction by A. Yarbro Collins." In The Old TestamentPseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth, 2, 831-42. New York,London, Toronto, Sydney, Aukland: Doubleday, 1985, here p.839,fragment 3.

[28] Mazzinghi, L. "La Sapienza, presente accanto a Dio e all'uomo: Sap9.9b.10.c e la figura di Iside." In Treasures of Wisdom. Studies in BenSira and the Book of Wisdom. Festschrift M. Gilbert (BibliotecaEphemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 143) Leuven University

Press-Uitgeverij Peeters,, pp. 255-63, ed. J. Vermeylen N. Calduch-Benages, 357-67. Leuven: Leuven University Press-Uitgeverij Peeters,



































1999. Here pp. 359-60.

[29] See note 3 above

[30] See for example Edwards, Denis. Jesus the Wisdom of God: An

Ecological Theology. Homebush, N.S.W.: St. Pauls, 1995.





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