A painting
entitled
Book of
Wisdom
by Nicholas
Roerich (1874
– 1947)
A Russian painter
and spiritual teacher
nominated twice for
the Nobel Prize.
Book of Wisdom
100 weeks Bible course
Lesson 75 – Chapters 1 to 9
Date : 14th Oct 2010
Presented by RJ
Introduction
Also known as
WISDOM OF SOLOMON
Greek – Sophia Salomonos
Latin - Liber Sapientiae
English – takes the above Latin form
calling it
Book of Wisdom
Authorship and Language
Author is unknown but quite possibly a Greek.
Pseudonymity a common characteristic of post-
exilic Jewish writing.
Plagiarism in reverse?
The earlier chapters seems to be a translation of
a Hebrew original, but later chapters have always
been considered an original Greek composition.
Pseudonymity
Pseudonymity :
• It became a convention in the period
between OT and NT that works should be
published under the authorship of a fictitious
name, such as Moses or Enoch, or the sons
of Jacob.
• Such a name imparted a certain
authority to the writing.
• Literary standards of the time did not
necessarily condemn pseudonymity as
deceitful.
• In the OT the book of Daniel is
pseudonymous, and in the NT it is widely held
that 2 Peter and Jude are pseudonymous, and
also the Pastoral Epistles.
• (Nevertheless Tertullian (c.220 CE)
reports that a presbyter found to have falsely
attributed a work to Paul was forced to resign.)
• Disciples of Paul who remembered his Tertullian – Father of
teaching would have collected and developed Latin Christianity
the oral tradition. As representatives of Paul it
was natural to use his name for the published
works.
Canonicity
Not included in Protestant bible, but some
Protestant churches do include this book in their
lectionary cycle.
Though popular in the early church, it was only
after the Council of Trent that the book was
formally included into the Roman Catholic and
Orthodox canon (1545-1563).
Alexandria
Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in April 331 BCE
asἈλεξάνδρεια (Alexándreia). Alexander's chief architect for the project
was Dinocrates. Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a
Hellenistic centre in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile
Valley An Egyptian city, Rhakotis, already existed on the shore, and later gave its
name to Alexandria in the Egyptian language(Egypt. Ra'qedyet). It continued to exist
as the Egyptian quarter of the city. A few months after the foundation, Alexander left
Egypt for the East and never returned to his city. After Alexander departed, his
viceroy, Cleomenes, continued the expansion. Following a struggle with the other
successors of Alexander, his general Ptolemy succeeded in bringing Alexander's
body to Alexandria.
Inheriting the trade of ruined Tyre and becoming the centre of the new
commerce between Europe and the Arabian and Indian East, the city
grew in less than a generation to be larger than Carthage. In a century,
Alexandria had become the largest city in the world and for some
centuries more, was second only to Rome. It became the main Greek city
of Egypt, with an extraordinary mix of Greeks from many cities and
backgrounds.[1]
Alexandria was not only a centre of Hellenism but was also
home to the largest Jewish community in the world.
The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was
produced there. The early Ptolemies kept it in order and
fostered the development of its museum into the leading
Hellenistic centre of learning (Library of Alexandria) but were
careful to maintain the distinction of its population's three
largest ethnicities: Greek, Jewish, and Egyptian. From this
division arose much of the later turbulence, which began to
manifest itself under Ptolemy Philopater who reigned from
221–204 BCE. The reign of Ptolemy VIII Physcon from 144–116
BCE was marked by purges and civil warfare.
