Wisdom of Solomon · Revised Version with Apocrypha
Wisdom of Solomon 16 Revised Version with Apocrypha
Wisdom of Solomon is not in RV1909.
1 For this cause were [these men ] worthily punished through [creatures ] like [those which they worship, ] And tormented through a multitude of vermin.
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2 Instead of which punishment, thou, bestowing benefits on thy people, Preparedst quails for food, [Food of ] rare taste, to [satisfy ] the desire of [their ] appetite;
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3 To the end that thine enemies, desiring food, Might for the hideousness of the [creatures ] sent among them Loathe even the necessary appetite; But these, [thy people, ] having for a short space suffered want, Might even partake of [food of ] rare taste.
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4 For it was needful that upon those should come inexorable want in their tyrannous dealing, But that to these it should only be shewed how their enemies were tormented.
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5 For even when terrible raging of wild beasts came upon thy people, And they were perishing by the bites of crooked serpents, Thy wrath continued not to the uttermost;
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6 But for admonition were they troubled for a short space, Having a token of salvation, To put them in remembrance of the commandment of thy law:
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7 For he that turned toward it was not saved because of that which was beheld, But because of thee, the Saviour of all.
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8 Yea, and in this didst thou persuade our enemies, That thou art he that delivereth out of every evil.
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9 For them verily the bites of locusts and flies did slay, And there was not found a healing for their life, Because they were worthy to be punished by such [as these; ]
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10 But thy sons not the very teeth of venomous dragons overcame, For thy mercy passed by where they were, and healed them.
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11 For they were bitten, to put them in remembrance of thine oracles; And were quickly saved, lest, falling into deep forgetfulness, They should become unable to be roused by thy beneficence:
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12 For of a truth it was neither herb nor mollifying plaister that cured them, But thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things;
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13 For thou hast authority over life and death, And thou leadest down to the gates of Hades, and leadest up again.
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14 But though a man [may ] slay by his wickedness, Yet the spirit that is gone forth he turneth not again, Neither giveth release to the soul that [Hades ] hath received.
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15 But thy hand it is not possible to escape;
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16 For ungodly men, refusing to know thee, were scourged in the strength of thine arm, Pursued with strange rains and hails and showers inexorable, And utterly consumed with fire;
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17 For, what was most marvellous [of all, ] In the water which quencheth all things the fire wrought yet more mightily; For the world fighteth for the righteous.
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18 For at one time the flame lost its fierceness, That it might not burn up the creatures sent against the ungodly, But that [these ] themselves as they looked might see that they were chased through the judgement of God:
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19 And at another time even in the midst of water it burneth above the power of fire, That it may destroy the fruits of an unrighteous land.
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20 Instead whereof thou gavest thy people angels’ food to eat, And bread ready [for their use ] didst thou provide for them from heaven without [their ] toil, [Bread ] having the virtue of every pleasant savour, And agreeing to every taste;
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21 For thy nature manifested thy sweetness toward [thy ] children; While [that bread, ] ministering to the desire of the eater, Tempered itself according to every man’s choice.
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22 But snow and ice endured fire, and melted not, That [men ] might know that fire was destroying the fruits of the enemies, Burning in the hail and flashing in the rains;
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23 And that this [element ] again, in order that righteous men may be nourished, Hath even forgotten its own power.
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24 For the creation, ministering to thee its maker, Straineth its force against the unrighteous, for punishment, And slackeneth it in behalf of them that trust in thee, for beneficence.
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25 Therefore at that time also, converting itself into all forms, It ministered to thine all-nourishing bounty, According to the desire of them that made supplication;
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26 That thy sons, whom thou lovedst, O Lord, might learn That it is not the growth of [the earth’s ] fruits that nourisheth a man, But that thy word preserveth them that trust thee.
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27 For that which was not marred by fire, When it was simply warmed by a faint sunbeam melted away;
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28 That it might be known that [we ] must rise before the sun to give thee thanks, And must plead with thee at the dawning of the light:
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29 For the hope of the unthankful shall melt as the winter’s hoar frost, And shall flow away as water that hath no use.
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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).
"For the hope of the unthankful," saith one, "is like the winter's hoar frost;" it benumbs and deadens the soul, as that doth our bodies.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)