Bible (DRV) Apocrypha/Deuterocanon: Wisdom

About this book

Wisdom is one of the apocryphal/deuterocanonical books of the Bible. It is a wisdom book, bearing similarity to the canonical works. Scholars believe that the book represents the most classical Greek language found in the Septuagint, having been written during the Jewish Hellenistic period (the 1st or 2nd century BC). The author of the text appears well versed in the popular philosophical, religious, and ethical writings adopted by Hellenistic Alexandria. According to St. Melito in the second century AD, it was considered canonical by Jews and Christians,[1] and a Hebrew translation of the Wisdom of Solomon is mentioned by Naḥmanides in the preface to his commentary on the Pentateuch.The philosophical influences on the Book of Wisdom may include those of classical and Middle-Platonism. Some religious and ethical influences may stem from Stoicism, also found in the writings of the Alexandrian Jew, Philo, to whom Book of Wisdom has on occasion been wrongly attributed. (This is evident in the use of the four Stoic ideals which are borrowed from Plato.) A sorites appears in Chapter 6 (v. 17-20). This logical form is also called chain-inference, "of which the Stoics were very fond." (Zeller, Stoics, p. 216 note) (Summary by Wikipedia, modified by Sam Stinson)