King James Version · Under the Greeks
Wisdom of Solomon 13
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1Surely are all men by nature, who are ignorant of , and could not out of the good things that are seen know him that is: neither by considering the works did they the workmaster; 2But deemed either , or wind, or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the water, or the lights of , to be the gods which govern the world. 3With whose beauty if they being delighted took them to be gods; let them know how much better of them is: for the first author of beauty hath created them. 4But if they were astonished at their and virtue, let them understand by them, how much mightier he is that made them. 5For by the greatness and beauty of the creatures proportionably the maker of them is seen. 6But yet for this they are the less to be blamed: for they peradventure err, seeking , and desirous to find him. 7For being conversant in his works they search him diligently, and their sight: because the things are beautiful that are seen. 8Howbeit neither are they to be pardoned. 9For if they were able to know so much, that they could aim at the world; how did they not sooner find out thereof? 10But miserable are they, and in things is their , who call them gods, which are the works of men’s hands, gold and silver, to shew art in, and resemblances of , or a stone good for nothing, the work of an ancient hand. 11Now a carpenter that felleth timber, after he hath sawn down a tree meet for the purpose, and taken off all the bark skilfully round about, and hath wrought it handsomely, and made a thereof fit for the of man’s life; 12And after spending the refuse of his work to dress his meat, hath filled himself; 13And taking the very refuse among those which to no use, being a crooked piece of wood, and full of knots, hath carved it diligently, when he had nothing else to do, and formed it by the skill of his understanding, and fashioned it to the of a man; 14Or made it like some vile beast, laying it over with vermilion, and with paint colouring it red, and covering every spot therein; 15And when he had made a convenient room for it, set it in a wall, and made it with iron: 16For he provided for it that it might not fall, knowing that it was unable to help itself; for it is an , and hath need of help: 17Then maketh he for his goods, for his wife and children, and is not to speak to that which hath no life. 18For health he calleth upon that which is weak: for life prayeth to that which is ; for aid humbly beseecheth that which hath least means to help: and for a good journey he asketh of that which cannot set a foot forward: 19And for gaining and getting, and for good success of his hands, asketh ability to do of him, that is most unable to do any thing.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under the Greeks, 332 BC to 63 BC ›
Alexander's conquest and the kingdoms of his successors. Greek language and custom press in everywhere, and the crisis under Antiochus IV provokes the Maccabean revolt.
- The successors
- Alexander dies at thirty-two and his generals carve up the empire. Judea sits on the border between the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria, and is fought over by both for a century and a half, which is the ordinary condition of the corridor.
- Hellenism
- Not just conquest but a culture: the gymnasium, the theatre, Greek names, Greek dress, Greek as the language of anyone with ambitions. Some Jews embraced it, some resisted it, and the argument between them is the real subject of the Maccabean books. In Alexandria the Hebrew scriptures are translated into Greek, producing the Septuagint, which is the Bible most New Testament writers quote.
- The crisis
- Antiochus IV bans the practice of Judaism, plunders the temple, and sets up a pagan altar in it in 167 BC. The revolt under the Maccabees wins, the temple is rededicated in 164 BC, which is the origin of Hanukkah, and Judea has about eighty years of independence under the Hasmoneans before Rome arrives.
- Further afield
- Rome fights Carthage three times and ends up master of the Mediterranean. Euclid writes the Elements and Archimedes does his work at Syracuse. In China the Qin unify the country in 221 BC and the Han follow, opening what becomes the Silk Road.