On the Wisdom of Solomon, Part 4: Portrait of the Wicked

The Wisdom of Solomon is timeless. Its portrayal of the wicked is probably much more relevant today than when it was written.

In our last presentation of this commentary on the Wisdom of Solomon, we already began to introduce the second chapter of the work, and discussed aspects of its opening verses, as they provide a conclusion to ideas which were introduced in chapter 1, as well as an introduction to what is described throughout this chapter. I had also presented and briefly discussed this second chapter of the Wisdom of Solomon in Part 45 of my commentary on the Gospel of John, which was titled Gods and Emperors. That is because this chapter, as a whole, may be seen as a Messianic prophecy, and this first half draws a portrait of the wicked which also very well describes the attitudes and behavior of the men who had opposed Christ during the time of His ministry, and also mentions some of the same sentiments or practices of the wicked for which Christ had rebuked them. Then the later half of this chapter draws a portrait of a just man whom the wicked would persecute for his righteousness, and that also very well describes Christ Himself. Being wrapped in passages which discuss death and resurrection at the beginning of the chapter, and professing that God created man to be immortal at the end of the chapter, it is manifest that the whole of this chapter is indeed a Messianic prophecy.

On the Wisdom of Solomon, Part 3: The Remedy for Sin and Death

In the first two presentations of this commentary on the Wisdom of Solomon we hope to have refuted many of the criticisms of the work, which set out to prove by its language and vocabulary that it was not written until the first century before Christ, or according to some claims, even later. Those same critics usually repeat the unfounded claim that it must have been written by some Alexandrian Jew. However as we discuss the actual content of the work, we hope to make it evident that such claims are also false.

One avenue of investigation in our answering the critics of Wisdom was left open where earlier we had described a source which claimed that fragments of the Wisdom of Solomon were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. In an article found at an internet ministry this claim was made and a book was cited, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction by one Gleason Archer, which was first published in 1974. We ordered a used copy of that book, which we expected to be the same 1985 edition of the work as was quoted by the article in question, but it was not. Instead we received a “revised and expanded” 1994 printing. This newer printing does not mention the Wisdom of Solomon, and we surmise that the article was citing an appendix to the book, because the pagination is different, which is a catalog of books found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. We may further pursue this, but Wisdom is not listed in the 1994 version of the catalog.

The Unpardonable Sin

See also a companion program, The Unforgivable Sin

While the Dindu Apocalypse has apparently subsided, at least for a time, with each new wave of negro aggression it seems that a greater number of White Christians become aware of the fact that the differences which we have with negros are certainly more than skin deep. However the spineless and effeminate capitulation of so many liberal politicians and cuckolded law enforcement officials is ultimately only going to further embolden the beasts, and it is inevitable that a complete breakdown of the rule of law will become manifest in many places in America and in the other nations of Christendom. That is the true objective of the Antifa and Black Lives Matter movements, to wear down the resolve of Christians, to destroy the constructs of Christian governance, and to plunge us all into anarchy, a process which has always resulted in tyranny. This is one aspect of world history that sadly, far too few White people understand: that the rule of law in the modern world is a product of Christendom, and those who hate Christ have always wanted to see it destroyed and replaced with laws of their own. If they are successful, the result will inevitably lead to a new tyranny of the Left, and the long-sought victory of global Communism. Any kindness which they are shown, they perceive as weakness, and it opens up new avenues for them to exploit. The controlled media and global corporations are on their side, all of the liberal and progressive politicians are on their side, and all of them have actively helped them advance this agenda. The Coronavirus lockdowns and recent riots over the death of a career criminal are only the newest phases in an age-old war against Christendom. The timing of these events was not a coincidence.

But this is not new to us. We have not reached these conclusions recently. We have known and have been writing about these things for over twenty years. Of course, as we often point out, Wesley Swift and Bertrand Comparet and others wrote about them sooner. Even if we do not always know what form it will assume, when the next attack is launched against our Christian society we certainly do know who is behind it, and we know who is on the side of our enemies. Where the Satanic war against the Camp of the Saints is prophesied in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, for us there are no allies and there are no neutral parties. All the nations are gathered, and one is either a sheep or a goat. There is no third choice.

However for the last twenty years, many supposed Identity Christians have claimed that we are mean-spirited, or worse, because of our position towards the non-Adamic so-called races. This is in spite of the fact that we were told that the Good Shepherd distinguishes the sheep and the goats on sight, and separates them in that same manner. So to this day, very often it seems that we are still only a divisive minority even within Christian Identity. But we are confident that they who despise us need to repent, that in spite of their supposed knowledge they still share in the sins of the world. So until other Identity Christians agree with us on these important issues, and profess that agreement, we will always be divisive, we will always choose to quarrel, and purposely so.

On the Wisdom of Solomon, Part 2, the Introduction of Wisdom

In the opening presentation of our commentary on the Wisdom of Solomon, we provided and refuted many of the popular academic opinions of the work and the frequently-repeated criticisms concerning the nature of its text, by which the provenance and veracity of the work have long been challenged. So although we have already provided commentary on the opening verse of the text, which we also hope to continue here, we realized that some of the newer material discussing the Wisdom of Solomon had further-developed criticisms which must also be addressed. So before continuing, we shall do that here.

In the introduction to its own presentation of the Wisdom of Solomon, the New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS) claims under the subtitle “Character of the Greek” that “There is widespread recognition that the [Wisdom of Solomon] was composed in Greek… The book is an example of a protreptic work (προτρεπτικὸς λόγος), an exhortation to adopt a particular philosophy, and it deploys literary genres familiar from Hellenistic rhetorical texts including the diatribe… the ‘problem’ genre… and the comparison (σύγκρισις…) Correspondingly… the book is written in a good Greek style and shows none of the characteristics of translation Greek.”

Yet it is commonly exhibited that the Book of Proverbs is also “an example of a protreptic work… an exhortation to adopt a particular philosophy”, and further, that the literary diatribe is a common feature of the writings of the Hebrew prophets. Some examples of Classical Greek literature have been recognized as having the attributes of the genre more recently identified as the Problem Play, such as the 5th century work of Euripides titled Alcestis, as are other early works, as well as the Book of Job which is found in the Bible, which we can certainly esteem to date to as early as the 12th or 13th centuries BC, however it definitely predates the Classical Greek period. Lastly, the σύγκρισις, or synkrisis, is a literary form of comparison, and it has been identified as a feature of both the gospel of John and some of the epistles of Paul, especially in the epistle to the Hebrews. But forms of the so-called σύγκρισις are also found in the Hebrew Old Testament. So none of these features of grammar are exclusive to Hellenistic writings, and these charges against the Wisdom of Solomon are meaningless because these things do not prove it to be a product of the Hellenistic period.