U/L (HSS): In the 'Wisdom of Solomon', wisdom is personified as feminine

[Guest guest]

Dear Jagbir,

 

Here is some material for U/L to (HSS).

 

thanks,

 

violet

 

 

 

The Wisdom of Solomon

 

Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba, and he succeeded David as king of

Israel, ruling for about forty years in the middle of the tenth century BC.

Solomon headed a large commercial empire, accumulating 700 wives (according to I

Kings), many of whom represented diplomatic alliances. He was famous for his

wealth and wisdom and for building the Temple in Jerusalem. When two women asked

him to settle their dispute over a baby they both claimed, he ordered the child

cut in two, then gave the child to the woman who preferred to lose the child to

seeing it killed.

 

The poetic Song of Solomon is credited to him, as are the aphorisms in the book

of Proverbs. However, the WISDOM OF SOLOMON appears only to use him as a

literary figure, while wisdom is personified as feminine. Scholars agree that

the WISDOM OF SOLOMON was almost certainly written by a Jew in Alexandria in the

first century BC. It is one of the apocryphal works written between the Old and

New Testaments, but it was included in the ancient Greek edition of the Old

Testament called the Septuagint. The original text was probably written in

Greek, and Greek fragments were found in the Essene library at Qumran in

Palestine.

 

The speaker, identified as Solomon only by the title, describes his love of

wisdom, as though he were Solomon. In the tenth chapter references to early

Biblical stories include Adam, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Joseph, and

Moses. Chapters 11, 12, and 16-19 contrast God's treatment of the Israelites led

by Moses with that of the Egyptians. This text is included in the WISDOM BIBLE,

the greatest collection of wisdom ever published.

 

http://www.san.beck.org/WisdomSol.html#7