Wisdom of Solomon · Brenton's Greek Septuagint
Wisdom of Solomon 2 Brenton's Greek Septuagint
Notes on this text (1)
- Ezra and Nehemiah form one book (2 Esdras) in this edition; the reader shows them as Ezra 1–10 and Nehemiah 1–13.
1 Εἶπον γὰρ ἑαυτοῖς λογισάμενοι οὐκ ὀρθῶς, ὀλίγος ἐστὶ καὶ λυπηρὸς ὁ βίος ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἴασις ἐν τελευτῇ ἀνθρώπου, καὶ οὐκ ἐγνώσθη ὁ ἀναλύσας ἐξ ᾅδου.
1 For they said within themselves, with unsound reasoning, “Our life is short and sorrowful. There is no healing when a man comes to his end, and no one was ever known who was released from Hades.
2 Ὅτι αὐτοσχεδίως ἐγεννήθημεν, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἐσόμεθα ὡς οὐχ ὑπάρξαντες, ὅτι καπνὸς ἡ πνοὴ ἐν ῥισὶν ἡμῶν, καὶ ὁ λόγος σπινθὴρ ἐν κινήσει καρδίας ἡμῶν,
2 Because we were born by mere chance, and hereafter we will be as though we had never been, because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our heart,
3 οὗ σβεσθέντος τέφρα ἀποβήσεται τὸ σῶμα, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα διαχυθήσεται ὡς χαῦνος ἀήρ.
3 which being extinguished, the body will be turned into ashes, and the spirit will be dispersed as thin air.
4 Καὶ τὸ ὄνομα ἡμῶν ἐπιλησθήσεται ἐν χρόνῳ, καὶ οὐθεὶς μνημονεύσει τῶν ἔργων ἡμῶν· καὶ παρελεύσεται ὁ βίος ἡμῶν ὡς ἴχνη νεφέλης, καὶ ὡς ὁμίχλη διασκεδασθήσεται διωχθεῖσα ὑπὸ ἀκτίνων ἡλίου, καὶ ὑπὸ θερμότητος αὐτοῦ βαρυνθεῖσα.
4 Our name will be forgotten in time. No one will remember our works. Our life will pass away as the traces of a cloud, and will be scattered as is a mist, when it is chased by the rays of the sun, and overcome by its heat.
5 Σκιᾶς γὰρ πάροδος ὁ βίος ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀναποδισμὸς τῆς τελευτῆς ἡμῶν, ὅτι κατεσφραγίσθη, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀναστρέφει.
5 For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow, and our end doesn’t retreat, because it is securely sealed, and no one turns it back.
6 Δεῦτε οὖν καὶ ἀπολαύσωμεν τῶν ὄντων ἀγαθῶν, καὶ χρησώμεθα τῇ κτίσει ὡς νεότητι σπουδαίως.
6 “Come therefore and let’s enjoy the good things that exist. Let’s use the creation earnestly as in our youth.
7 Οἴνου πολυτελοῦς καὶ μύρων πλησθῶμεν, καὶ μὴ παροδευσάτω ἡμᾶς ἄνθος ἀέρος.
7 Let’s fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes, and let no spring flower pass us by.
8 Στεψώμεθα ῥόδων κάλυξι πρινὴ μαρανθῆναι.
8 Let’s crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
9 Μηδεὶς ἡμῶν ἄμοιρος ἔστω τῆς ἡμετέρας ἀγερωχίας, πανταχῆ καταλίπωμεν σύμβολα τῆς εὐφροσύνης, ὅτι αὕτη ἡ μερὶς ἡμῶν καὶ ὁ κλῆρος οὗτος.
9 Let none of us go without his share in our proud revelry. Let’s leave tokens of mirth everywhere, because this is our portion, and this is our lot.
10 Καταδυναστεύσωμεν πένητα δίκαιον, μὴ φεισώμεθα χήρας, μηδὲ πρεσβύτου ἐντραπῶμεν πολιὰς πολυχρονίους.
10 Let’s oppress the righteous poor. Let’s not spare the widow, nor regard the gray hair of the old man.
11 Ἔστω δὲ ἡμῶν ἡ ἰσχὺς νόμος τῆς δικαιοσύνης, τὸ γὰρ ἀσθενὲς ἄχρηστον ἐλέγχεται.
11 But let our strength be a law of righteousness; for that which is weak is proven useless.
12 Ἐνεδρεύσωμεν δὲ τὸν δίκαιον, ὅτι δύσχρηστος ἡμῖν ἐστι καὶ ἐναντιοῦται τοῖς ἔργοις ἡμῶν, καὶ ὀνειδίζει ἡμῖν ἁμαρτήματα νόμου, καὶ ἐπιφημίζει ἡμῖν ἁμαρτήματα παιδείας ἡμῶν.
12 But let’s lie in wait for the righteous man, because he annoys us, is contrary to our works, reproaches us with sins against the law, and charges us with sins against our training.
13 Ἐπαγγέλλεται γνῶσιν ἔχειν Θεοῦ, καὶ παῖδα Κυρίου ἑαυτὸν ὀνομάζει.
13 He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord.
14 Ἐγένετο ἡμῖν εἰς ἔλεγχον ἐννοιῶν ἡμῶν.
14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts.
15 Βαρύς ἐστιν ἡμῖν καὶ βλεπόμενος, ὅτι ἀνόμοιος τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁ βίος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξηλλαγμέναι αἱ τρίβοι αὐτοῦ.
15 He is grievous to us even to look at, because his life is unlike other men’s, and his paths are strange.
16 Εἰς κίβδηλον ἐλογίσθημεν αὐτῷ, καὶ ἀπέχεται τῶν ὁδῶν ἡμῶν ὡς ἀπὸ ἀκαθαρσιῶν· μακαρίζει ἔσχατα δικαίων, καὶ ἀλαζονεύεται πατέρα Θεόν.
16 We were regarded by him as something worthless, and he abstains from our ways as from uncleanness. He calls the latter end of the righteous happy. He boasts that God is his father.
17 Ἴδωμεν εἰ οἱ λόγοι αὐτοῦ ἀληθεῖς, καὶ πειράσωμεν τὰ ἐν ἐκβάσει αὐτοῦ.
17 Let’s see if his words are true. Let’s test what will happen at the end of his life.
18 Εἰ γάρ ἐστιν ὁ δίκαιος υἱὸς Θεοῦ, ἀντιλήμψεται αὐτοῦ, καὶ ῥύσεται αὐτὸν ἐκ χειρὸς ἀνθεστηκότων.
18 For if the righteous man is God’s son, he will uphold him, and he will deliver him out of the hand of his adversaries.
19 Ὕβρει καὶ βασάνῳ ἐτάσωμεν αὐτόν, ἵνα γνῶμεν τὴν ἐπιείκειαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ δοκιμάσωμεν τὴν ἀνεξικακίαν αὐτοῦ.
19 Let’s test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and test his patience.
20 Θανάτῳ ἀσχήμονι καταδικάσωμεν αὐτόν· ἔσται γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐπισκοπὴ ἐκ λόγων αὐτοῦ.
20 Let’s condemn him to a shameful death, for he will be protected, according to his words.”
21 Ταῦτα ἐλογίσαντο, καὶ ἐπλανήθησαν· ἀπετύφλωσε γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἡ κακία αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν μυστήρια
21 Thus they reasoned, and they were led astray; for their wickedness blinded them,
22 Θεοῦ, οὐδὲ μισθὸν ἤλπισαν ὁσιότητος, οὐδὲ ἔκριναν γέρας ψυχῶν ἀμώμων.
22 and they didn’t know the mysteries of God, neither did they hope for wages of holiness, nor did they discern that there is a prize for blameless souls.
23 Ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἔκτισε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπ ἀφθαρσίᾳ, καὶ εἰκόνα τῆς ἰδίας ἰδιότητος ἐποίησεν ἀτόν.
23 Because God created man for incorruption, and made him an image of his own everlastingness;
24 Φθόνῳ δὲ διαβόλου θάνατος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον· πειράζουσι δὲ αὐτὸν οἱ τῆς ἐκείνου μερίδος ὄντες.
24 but death entered into the world by the envy of the devil, and those who belong to him experience it.
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world. Chapter IV — Many evils have already flowed from this source in ancient times For …
For he says, what it was foretold in the book of Wisdom that he should say, "He is grievous unto us, even to behold; for his life is not like other men's." Therefore he "seeks to slay him." What?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
"Let us condemn Him with a most shameful death, for by His own sayings He shall be respected;" for if he is indeed the Son of God, He will deliver Him from the hands of His adversaries: He will not suffer His Son to die, if He is truly His Son.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
… saith, "Behold there cometh the Prince of the world," being an acute observer of all sins; "Behold," He saith, "there cometh the Prince of this world," with death afflicting sinners, presiding over death: for, "By the malice of the devil death came into the world." "Behold," He saith, "there cometh the Prince of the world:"--He said these words close upon …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)