THE WICKED’S WAY OF THINKING
(WISDOM 1:16 TO 2:24)
Version: 27 June 2015
TEXT
The Wicked Reject Immortality and Righteousness Alike
16
It was the wicked who with hands and words invited death,
considered it a friend, and pined for it,
and made a covenant with it,
Because they deserve to be allied with it.n
CHAPTER 2
1
For, not thinking rightly, they said among themselves:*
“Brief and troubled is our lifetime;a
there is no remedy for our dying,
nor is anyone known to have come back from Hades.
2
For by mere chance were we born,
and hereafter we shall be as though we had not been;
Because the breath in our nostrils is smoke,
and reason a spark from the beating of our hearts,
3
And when this is quenched, our body will be ashes
n
Is 28:15.
* In this speech the wicked deny survival after death and indeed invite death by their evil
deeds.
a
Jb 14:1; 7:9.
Wisdom 1:16 to 2:24, notes by Fr. Rick Ganz, SJ
1
and our spirit will be poured abroad like empty air.b
4
Even our name will be forgotten in time,
and no one will recall our deeds.
So our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,
and will be dispersed like a mist
Pursued by the sun’s rays
and overpowered by its heat.
5
For our lifetime is the passing of a shadow;
and our dying cannot be deferred
because it is fixed with a seal; and no one returns.c
6
Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are here,
and make use of creation with youthful zest.d
7
Let us have our fill of costly wine and perfumes,
and let no springtime blossom pass us by;
8
let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither.
9
Let no meadow be free from our wantonness;
everywhere let us leave tokens of our merriment,
for this is our portion, and this our lot.e
10
Let us oppress the righteous poor;
let us neither spare the widow
nor revere the aged for hair grown white with time.f
11
But let our strength be our norm of righteousness;
for weakness proves itself useless.
12
*Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, because he is annoying to us;
he opposes our actions,
Reproaches us for transgressions of the law*
and charges us with violations of our training.g
13
He professes to have knowledge of God
b
Jb 7:9; Jas 4:14.
c
Ps 144:4.
d
Is 22:13; 1 Cor 15:32.
e
Jer 13:25.
f
Ex 22:21–23; Lv 19:32.
* From 2:12 to 5:23 the author draws heavily on Is 52–62, setting forth his teaching in a
series of characters or types taken from Isaiah and embellished with additional details from other
texts. The description of the “righteous one” in 2:12–20 seems to undergird the New Testament
passion narrative.
* Law: the law of Moses; “training” has the same meaning.
g
Hos 8:1.
and styles himself a child of the LORD.h
14
To us he is the censure of our thoughts;
merely to see him is a hardship for us,i
15
Because his life is not like that of others,
and different are his ways.
16
He judges us debased;
he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure.
He calls blest the destiny of the righteous
and boasts that God is his Father.j
17
Let us see whether his words be true;
let us find out what will happen to him in the end.k
18
For if the righteous one is the son of God, God will help him
and deliver him from the hand of his foes.l
19
With violence and torture let us put him to the test
that we may have proof of his gentleness
and try his patience.
20
Let us condemn him to a shameful death;
for according to his own words, God will take care of him.”m
21
These were their thoughts, but they erred;
for their wickedness blinded them,n
22
*And they did not know the hidden counsels of God;
neither did they count on a recompense for holiness
nor discern the innocent souls’ reward.o
23
For God formed us to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made us.p
h
Mt 27:43; Jn 8:55; 10:36–39.
i
Mt 9:4.
j
Jer 6:30.
k
Gn 37:20.
l
Ps 22:9; Is 42:1; Mt 27:43; Jn 5:18.
m
Jas 5:6.
n
Rom 1:21.
* This verse announces the subject of the next section.
o
Ps 18:24–25; Prv 11:18; Mt 11:25.
p
Gn 1:26–27; Is 54:16 LXX.
Wisdom 1:16 to 2:24, notes by Fr. Rick Ganz, SJ
3
24
But by the envy* of the devil, death entered the world,
and they who are allied with him experience it.q 1
COMMENTARY
In terms of the trial image that has been subtly working in the background, the
speech of the wicked constitutes the defense of their purpose in life, which in its
turn ends in the counteraccusation of the incoherence of the just’s purpose in life.
For the wicked, the rhetorical test of death is proof enough of the validity of their
entire reasoning process. To disprove the false reasoning of the wicked, the author
must resolve the issue of the tragic death of the righteous. 2
There are serious consequences in our lives that flow from the fundamental value
we attribute to life. The dynamic of injustice in the wicked’s project shows how
difficult it is to isolate one decision from another. 3
1:16, Introduction to the Speech of the Wicked. The author introduces the speech of
the wicked with an explanation as to the way they bring ultimate death upon
themselves. Through their words and deeds, which flow from unsound reasoning,
the wicked beckon the stark, negative reality of death. Personalistic language is
employed to highlight the personal responsibility they bear for inviting death. They
summon death through their words and actions; they consider death a friend; they
pine away in longing for death; they even make a covenant with death, for they
belong to death’s company. This last image encloses the entire unit of 1:16–2:24. In
both the opening and the closing of the unit, the wicked are said to belong to the
company of death (1:16d; 2:24)…. The idea of making a covenant with death
highlights the deliberate and responsible choice implied in achieving an alliance.
* Envy: perhaps because Adam was in the image of God or because Adam had control over all
creation. Devil: the first biblical text to equate the serpent of Gn 3 with the devil.
q
Gn 3:1–24; Rom 5:12.
New American Bible (Revised Edition.; Washington, DC: The United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops, 2011), Wis 1:16–2:24.
1
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5465.
2
3 Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5466.
This death has not sought out the wicked; rather, through their thoughts and actions
they have sought out death. The phrase is reminiscent of that in Isa 28:15: “We have
made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement” (NRSV). Here
Isaiah is criticizing the ruling classes during Hezekiah’s reign (716–686 bce) for
placing their trust in an alliance with Egypt, famous for its respect for the dead….
The inner reflection of the wicked constitutes their defense for a project in a life of
injustice. The author has the wicked speak for themselves, and this they do with an
elegance and poetic flare that belie the nihilism and violence that seethe
underneath…. The defense has four major parts: (1) the wicked’s reflection on the
ephemeral value of life that portrays their nihilistic judgment (2:1–5), (2) a
despairing exhortation to pleasure (2:6–9), (3) an exhortation to power (2:10–11),
and (4) an exhortation to oppose the righteous one (2:12–20). 4
The author is primarily addressing his fellow Jews in an effort to encourage them to
take pride in their traditional faith. He seeks to convince them that their way of life,
rooted in the worship of the one true God, is of an incomparably higher order than
that of their pagan neighbors, whose idolatrous polytheism had sunk them into the
mire of immorality. Moreover, he attempts to justify their present suffering through
the promise of immortality as a reward for their steadfast perseverance in the
pursuit of righteousness. His accusing finger is especially pointed, however, at the
pagan kings, i.e., the Roman rulers, who have abandoned the principles of divine
justice and who will therefore suffer the consequences of their lawlessness. Following
the philosophy of Greco–Roman kingship tracts, he insists that the king, above all,
must pursue wisdom (6:21, 24). At the same time, the author naturally tones down
the divine nature to which the pagan writers sought to assimilate the king. He
emphasizes instead the king’s lowly and mortal origins (7:1–5; 9:5)…. Moreover, the
Greco–Roman doctrines of kingship, as indeed all the high philosophic ideals of
Greek thought, are identified by the author with the teachings of Judaism. Indeed,
the philosophical tendency of the book is marked by the Stoicizing Platonism,
characteristic of the middle Platonic tradition. By representing Judaism in
intellectually respectable terms, he sought to shore up the faith against hostile and
anti-Semitic attacks from without and gnawing doubts from within, and through a
determined counterattack against the immoral pagan world which he threatened with
divine retribution he attempted to revive the flagging spirits of his hard-pressed
people. Finally, it must be said that in addition to the social and political factors
which stimulated the author to write the book, we must reckon above all with his
unbounded love and enthusiasm for wisdom, which verged on the mystical, and lent
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5459.
4
Wisdom 1:16 to 2:24, notes by Fr. Rick Ganz, SJ
5
to his writing (at least to its central part) an extraordinary degree of intellectual
excitement as appealing today as when the book first left its author’s study. 5
The introductory verse (v. 16) states strongly the basis of human evil — individual
choice. The “wicked” here might refer to Adam and Eve as those who dallied with
the evil one, but more likely the passage is simply a generic assertion about human
wickedness. The relationship with evil is direct, involving both deeds (“hands”) and
words; it deepens into friendship and even lust (implied in the Greek for “pined”),
and then into long-lasting commitment (the covenant, recalling Isa 28:15). That the
wicked deserve to be in the grip of evil is a result of choices, just as wisdom comes to
those who seek God (1:2). This manifests the concept of proportion, a predominant
feature of the Book of Wisdom. 6
Taken as a whole, the speech of the wicked contains a logic that involves a
progressive dynamic of evil. The negative judgment on mortality, expressed through
poetic imagery, provides a basis for an amoral perspective on life. The commitment
to transient, youthful pleasure simply masks the underlying despair that is dimmed
or softened through the clamor of busy activity. The other side of the adulation of
youthful pleasure is the despising of human weakness and the reliance on power. The
sinister side of the nihilistic judgment on life emerges with frightening clarity, until
the blatant and brutal project to kill the just reaches the climax. What had begun as a
poetic rumination on mortality ends with a frightful project to inflict a shameful
death on the just. The wicked’s speech progresses from a nihilistic judgment on life to
a project in life that embraces sensuality, that in its turn despises weakness and relies
on power, and that finally, when challenged, unmasks itself as an unbridled license to
brutal violence. 7
LIFE IS EPHEMERAL (1:16 TO 2:15)
The closing verse (v. 5) balances the opening (v. 1), in good Greek style: brief life, no
escape from dying, no return from death…. The outcome of such reflections might
lead to pessimism (as in Eccl 2:1–3) or even suicide. Instead, they lead here to
wanton behavior (vv. 6–9). Such actions have a certain truth about them, since
God’s creation is wise and good (see 1:14), and the Old Testament does not advocate
5David
Noel Freedman, The Anchor Bible Dictionary, (New York: Doubleday, 1996, c1992),
6:126.
Bergant and Robert J. Karris, The Collegeville Bible Commentary: Based on the New
American Bible With Revised New Testament, (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1989), 704.
6Dianne.
7 Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5464.
austerity or self-denial as a virtue. Pleasure, like all reality, must have its limits. This
is something fools do not understand; only the wise know the proper order of
creation (see Eccl 3:1–8). The “tokens of rejoicing” (v. 9) recall the heedless littering
of modern times; here they are empty containers for wine and perfume, dead
flowers, trampled meadows. The most horrifying part of this wanton behavior is the
conviction that the wicked must live this way (“our portion … our lot”). The wise, by
contrast, will see the falsehood of this assertion and will live according to God’s plan. 8
All the images used in this unit illustrate the irrevocability of death without the word
“death” ever passing through the lips of the wicked. Instead of the usual word for
“death,” they use metaphors to portray what they judge to be the destroyer of
human value (“end,” vv. 1, 5; “Hades,” v. 1; “we shall be as though we had never
been,” v. 2; “extinguish,” “dissolve,” v. 3; “pass away,” “scattered,” v. 4). It is as if the
unspeakable reality of death cannot be named.21… The wicked insist upon the
irreversibility of death. There is no remedy for it. No one has been known to free us
from Hades. There is no return from our fate; it is sealed, and no one turns back. Just
as our fate and end are judged to be insignificant and pointless, so too is our
beginning. We have come into being by mere chance. In order to portray as vividly as
possible the evanescence of life, the wicked compare aspects and elements of the
body—such as breath, the heartbeat, reason, the soul—to smoke, mist, a spark, and
air. All of these are described as vanishing or dissolving without a trace. 9
Several images in this unit have no biblical parallels but can be related to
contemporary currents in Greek philosophical thought and literature. The Wisdom
author has the wicked use these images to depict their denial of an afterlife, which
abrogates the context for ethical conduct. The idea of coming into being by mere
chance (v. 2) was a common explanation for the origin of the cosmos and all life in
late Epicurean thought and was found as well in preceding authors, such as
Leucippus and Democritus. 10
8Dianne. Bergant and Robert J. Karris, The Collegeville Bible Commentary: Based on the New
American Bible With Revised New Testament, (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1989), 704.
In v. 2:5b, “there is no return from our death,” the NRSV is translating the Greek word for
“end” (τελευτή teleutē) as “death.” The word teleutē actually functions as the image that encloses this
entire unit of 2:1–5. It stands parallel to the statement “there is no remedy when a life comes to its
end” (2:1).
*21
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5459–460.
9
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5460.
10
Wisdom 1:16 to 2:24, notes by Fr. Rick Ganz, SJ
7
Here is the crux of the erroneous reasoning of the wicked. They claim that we have
come into the world by mere chance and afterward we will be as though we had
never been. The wicked espouse a purely mechanistic concept of life. They deny any
form of life beyond mortality and any form of divine intervention at death. Just as no
divine being gives purpose to life at the beginning, so also there is no divine reality
that awaits humans at the end. Perhaps it is for this denial of divine relevance that
the wicked are introduced as the “ungodly” (ἀσεβής asebēs, 1:16); this designation
for the wicked will continue throughout the author’s rebuttal (3:10; 4:3, 16).
Essentially what the wicked’s rumination on life expresses, couched as it is in poetic
imagery, is that human life in the face of death is void of meaning. The wicked’s
preoccupation with physical death issues in a judgment that portrays despair and
hopelessness. 11
EXHORTATION TO PLEASURE (VV 6-9)
David Winston (1979: 114)12 writes: “The arguments of the wicked may be briefly
summarized. Death, they claim, is final and our destiny unalterable. Life is a mere
chance event; it is short and troublesome and will soon be forgotten. The
unavoidable conclusion is self-evident: Let us enjoy life while we can, for this is
clearly our allotted portion. Moreover, since experience shows that might is right, it
would be inexpedient to avoid the exploitation of helpless weaklings. Indeed, we
must further take the initiative and exterminate men of integrity who espouse ideal
principles of justice. It is only proper that these blind fanatics be put to the final test
along with their fatuous philosophy of life. It should be clear at once that the wicked
described here do not represent any particular philosophical group or political
faction. The wicked of all ages have cynically culled what has suited them from the
philosophical and scientific literature of their respective periods to bolster their
frankly aggressive and opportunistic designs.”
Although the exhortation of the wicked appears positive enough, it soon takes on
frenetic proportions that belie the appearance of healthy pleasure. The wicked call
for the enjoyment of the good things that exist, and they encourage each other to
make use of creation as they did in youth. Luxurious items are the order of the day:
costly wines, perfumes, and rosebuds (vv. 7–8). A crown of rosebuds is to be worn
before they fade and wither. The memory of the evanescence of life in reference to
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5460.
11
12 Winston, David. The Wisdom of Solomon. Volume 43 of the Anchor Bible. New York:
Doubleday, 1979.
the fading rosebuds carries over from the negative judgment of life. An exaggerated
call to revelry betrays signs of strain and despair, almost as if the wicked need to
suffocate the cries of despair with frenzied activity. Everyone should take part in
revelry and leave signs of diversion everywhere (v. 9). What began as a call to
innocent pleasures appears to be heading toward a sinister end. 13
Two main proponents have been proposed as the target of the Wisdom author’s
criticism in this section: Qohelet and the Epicureans. On the one hand, the
exhortation to enjoy life does have certain parallels to that of Qohelet (Ecclesiastes),
but they are quite minimal. Qohelet on numerous occasions calls for the enjoyment
of life: “There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment
in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God” (Eccl 2:24 NRSV; cf. Eccl 3:13;
5:18; 8:15; 9:7–9; 11:9). In each case where Qohelet exhorts the reader to enjoy life,
God’s presence is assured. Either pleasure is seen as God’s gift or God is understood
as one who sets a limit and calls excess into judgment (Eccl 11:9). Since the very
presence or relevance of God is denied rather forcibly by the wicked in Wisdom,
only with a strained effort could one construe the Wisdom speech as a critique of
the preacher in Ecclesiastes. 14
It would appear that the author is culling ideas from various representatives of
hedonism of his day to portray the dynamic of false reasoning. Although some of the
Epicurean ideas, such as the finality of death, the denial of divine presence, and the
legitimacy of pleasure, have been used to portray the hedonism of the wicked, it is
not possible to single out a specific group as the target of the Wisdom author’s
criticism.24 It is the reasoning process of the wicked that is being criticized rather
than a philosophical group or political faction contemporaneous to the author. 15
EXHORTATION TO POWER (VV 10-11)
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5461.
13
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
14 Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5461.
D. Winston summarizes well the various arguments for not postulating a single group as
the target of the Wisdom author’s criticism. See Winston, The Wisdom of Solomon, 114.
*24
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5462.
15
Wisdom 1:16 to 2:24, notes by Fr. Rick Ganz, SJ
9
The degeneracy of the wicked takes an evil turn when they wish to silence the voice
of wisdom and justice (vv. 10–20). They set out both to oppose the wise (including
the elderly, wise with experience) and to violate divine prescriptions of care for the
poor and the widow (see Exod 22:21). To join the term “needy” with “wise” is also
to subvert Old Testament promises of God’s blessings on the just (or wise). For
them, the norm is not God’s law but their own bullying strength (v. 11). 16
A sudden and menacing turn of events has the wicked extolling the oppression of
the poor, widows, and the elderly. The call for oppression finally betrays the
appearance of innocent pleasures that followed from the judgment on the ephemeral
value of life. The sinister reality of despair that was masked in poetic imagery is
raising its head. The call to oppress the weak in society stands in clear contradiction
to the law, which protects the weaker members of Israelite society. 17
The wicked justify the arbitrary oppression of the weak with a double-sided
principle: Power makes right; weakness is useless (v. 11). This idea of power and
strength making right is as old as the stars and has found justification in many
circles throughout history. The nihilistic judgment of the wicked that the value of life
is ephemeral lends its support to the principle that might makes right. On the one
hand, if there is no divine reality that gives purpose to human origins or human
destination, then the basis for ethical conduct devolves on arbitrary power. On the
other hand, if life’s value is radically depressed by the limitations of space and time,
then any manifestation of mortality in weakness, sickness, and death should be
curtailed and held in derision. What surfaces unmistakably is that the victorious tone
of the wicked only serves to mask an abysmal despair in the value of human life. 18
EXHORTATION TO DESTROY GOOD PEOPLE (VV 12-20)
The author’s deft psychological touch is evident in verses 12–16. Here the style of
life of the just, involving speaking out against evil, and even their own selfunderstanding prick their consciences. Like white corpuscles in the bloodstream
Bergant and Robert J. Karris, The Collegeville Bible Commentary: Based on the
New American Bible With Revised New Testament, (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1989), 704.
16Dianne.
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5462.
17
18 Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5462.
rushing to attack a foreign body, the wicked fall on the just, whose ways differ so from
theirs (v. 15). The expression “child of the Lord” (v. 13, as well as “God is his Father,”
v. 16, and “Son of God,” v. 18) speaks of the close relationship of the just with the
Lord, a theme of the Book of Wisdom…. The wicked then plan to test the just (vv. 17–
20) to see whether, like Job (Job 1:6–12), the just would persevere in their conviction.
It does not appear, however, that the wicked are open to conversion, so blind are
they. There is a terrible irony in their words in verse 20: if God truly protects their
victim, then they will be punished. The Hebrew term that may underlie “take care
of” can also mean “punish.” 19
For the first time, the image of the just one comes onto the scene. In tension with the
wicked and the godless, the just will occupy center stage for the rest of the first
section of Wisdom. The idea of the wicked “ambushing” the just or “lying in wait”
(ἐνεδρεύω enedreuō) for the righteous is a familiar description of the wicked in the
psalms, particularly the psalms of lament. In Ps 10:8–11 the wicked are presented as
a lion lying in wait for the helpless and to seize the poor (cf. Pss 17:8–12; 37:12;
59:3–4; 64:2–6).25 The wicked are always many. The just stand alone. 20
The opening motive for the wicked’s oppression of the just one is the opposition
directed against them (v. 12). It is the just who are inconvenient in that they oppose
the actions of the wicked; they reproach them for sins against the law and accuse
them of sins against their training. This motif of antagonism between the just and
the wicked echoes the radical separation between God and justice in the opening
exhortation. It confirms the standard of the “two ways” in that the just are
encouraged to separate themselves from the ways of the wicked (see Pss 1:1; 6:4–5;
38:20; 139:21–22).
The second series of motives for oppressing the just focuses on the claims of the
just, which contradict the wicked’s judgment on life and death (2:13–16). The just
claim to have knowledge of God. They are children of God; their end will be happy;
and they boast that God is their father. These claims are interpreted by the wicked
with disdain as opposing their way of life. Hence, the just one is considered to be
reproof of their thoughts, a burden for them simply to behold…. Two of the claims of
the just that fundamentally contradict the nihilistic judgment of the wicked are the
Bergant and Robert J. Karris, The Collegeville Bible Commentary: Based on the
New American Bible With Revised New Testament, (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1989), 705.
19Dianne.
Wis 2:12a is almost identical to a sentence added in the LXX version of Isa 3:10, “Let us kill
the righteous man because he is inconvenient to us.” But it is more likely that the Wisdom text
influenced the Greek writing of Isaiah, rather than Isaiah’s being the source for Wisdom in this
instance.
*25
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5462–463.
20
Wisdom 1:16 to 2:24, notes by Fr. Rick Ganz, SJ
11
fatherhood of God (v. 16) and the sonship of the just (vv. 13, 18)…. Moreover, the
particular aspect of this filial and paternal relationship that the wicked question in
their counteraccusation is the just’s trust in God. 21
The final part of the wicked’s speech constitutes their counter-accusation against
the just (vv. 17–20). They decide to put the just one through the trial of an ignoble
death to test whether his claims are true. Of course, the test is a rhetorical one. The
wicked inflict on the just the experience of mortality, which they have judged to be the
destroyer of human value. Since the just stand for a way of life with ethical
parameters that contradicts their project in life, the wicked inflict on others the very
conditions of mortality that led them to their nihilistic judgment on life. 22
WHAT EVIL MEN CANNOT UNDERSTAND (VV 21-24)
The fundamental reality the wicked overlook is the destiny for which God created
human beings: incorruption (v. 23). This declaration contradicts the wicked’s claim
that human beings have come to exist arbitrarily and that after death it will be as
though they had never been. To sustain the bold claim for immortality, the author
appeals to the powerful “image of God” in the Genesis narrative (Gen 1:26–27; 5:1).
God has created human beings for immortality because we are made in the image of
God’s identity or eternity (v. 23b).27 23
The author comments on their words in verses 21–24. They erred, not out of
stupidity, but because of a fundamental option taken long before (see 1:16). For them,
God’s order of the universe is inverted: good appears as evil, and evil as good. This is
the ultimate foolishness. They have denied the traditional Old Testament affirmation
that virtue will be rewarded (v. 22). Even more fundamentally, they did not perceive
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5463.
21
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5464.
22
*27 With a change of a single letter, different versions offer a word that means either God’s
“identity” (ἰδιότης idiotēs) or God’s “eternity” (ἀιδιότης aidiotēs). The idea of eternity draws out
more explicitly the author’s claim that life does not end with physical death. For an excellent review of
the import of the image of God in the history of interpretation, see Gunnlaugur A. Jonsson, The Image
of God: Gen 1:26–28 in a Century of Old Testament Research, ConBOT 26 (Stockholm: Almqvist &
Wiksell International, 1988).
23 Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5464.
that humans are the image of God (Gen 1:27). As God is imperishable, so too in some
way are God’s human creatures. This would have been the lot of everyone had not
death come into the world in the murder of Abel by Cain, at the instigation of the
Serpent and due to resentment (see Gen 4:3–10). As is evident in many parts of the
Book of Wisdom, the author does not clearly separate physical death from spiritual
death. The two are functions of the same reality. 24
If the origin of human immortality is based on the image of God, then where does
death originate? The author has already declared that God did not make death (1:13).
Human beings bring on death through their own words and actions. Since the human
destiny of immortality is rooted in creation itself, the author appeals to the Genesis
narrative to give an etiology for death as well. Through the envy of the adversary,
death has entered the cosmos (2:24).28 The adversary,29 like the serpent in Genesis 3
or the satan in Job, is opposed to the liberal act of God’s generosity to human beings.
It is the adversary who occasions the human option for wickedness, and those who
belong to the adversary experience death (2:24b). 25
Verse 24: Regarding “envy” as the signature fault of Satan: “ENVY. Envy is not a topic
of any significance in either the OT or the NT. There is, for instance, no passage in
which envy itself is discussed. This is in striking contrast to the importance it is
accorded in Greek and Latin literature and in the writings of the Fathers of the
Church. In this latter body of literature, envy is singled out as a moral failing
particularly to be avoided by Christians, because it is the peculiar fault of the Devil
and because it is the very antithesis of the injunction that we love our enemies. Envy
is the peculiar fault of the Devil, since it was envy that brought about his fall and it
24Dianne. Bergant and Robert J. Karris, The Collegeville Bible Commentary: Based on the
New American Bible With Revised New Testament, (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1989), 705.
Several legends that recount the creation and fall narratives in haggadic fashion actually
ascribe envy to the devil (Enoch, Apocalypse of Moses, Life of Adam and Eve): “And the devil sighed
and said, ‘O Adam, all my enmity and envy and sorrow concern you, since because of you I am
expelled and deprived of my glory which I had in the heavens in the midst of angels, and because of
you I was cast out onto the earth’ ” (Life of Adam and Eve, 12:1). It is probable that the Wisdom
author was familiar with one or more of these stories. Paul used a similar phrase in which death is
replaced by sin: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came
through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned” (Rom 5:12 NRSV).
*28
The original meaning of the Greek word διάβολος (diabolos), from which the English word
“devil” derives, is “accusor” or “slanderer.” This is the usual manner in which the LXX translates the
29
Hebrew word for “the satan,” “the adversary” (
‫ הׂשטן‬haśśāṭān; Job 1:6; 2:1).
Michael Kolarcik, “The Book of Wisdom,” in New Interpreter’s Bible (ed. Leander E. Keck;
vol. 5; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994–2004), 5464–465.
25
Wisdom 1:16 to 2:24, notes by Fr. Rick Ganz, SJ
13
was his envy that caused man’s fall (Cypr. Zel. et liv. PL 4:665–66); it is the antithesis
of loving our enemies, since the envious man will hate even a friend if that friend is
fortunate (John Chrysostom, Invid. PG 63:679). It is true that frequent citations from
the Bible lend a seeming authority to the teaching of the Church Fathers on envy, but
the real intellectual underpinning of that teaching is provided by Greek literature and
philosophy. We have then something of a paradox: envy plays little part in the Bible
but is a key concept in developed Christian theology.” 26
PL J. Migne, Patrologia latina
PG J. Migne, Patrologia graeca
26 Matthew W. Dickie, “Envy,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary
(New York: Doubleday, 1992), 528.