King James Version · Under the Greeks
Wisdom of Solomon 14
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is.
1Again, one preparing himself to sail, and about to pass through the raging waves, calleth upon a piece of wood more rotten than the that carrieth him. 2For verily of gain devised that, and the workman built it by his skill. 3But thy providence, O , governeth it: for thou hast made a way in the sea, and a safe path in the waves; 4Shewing that thou canst from all danger: yea, though a man went to sea without art. 5Nevertheless thou wouldest not that the works of thy should be idle, and therefore do men commit their lives to a small piece of wood, and passing the rough sea in a weak are . 6For in the old time also, when the proud giants , the of the world governed by thy hand escaped in a weak , and left to all ages a of generation. 7For is the wood whereby cometh. 8But that which is made with hands is , as well it, as he that made it: he, because he made it; and it, because, being corruptible, it was called . 9For the ungodly and his ungodliness are both alike hateful unto . 10For that which is made shall be punished together with him that made it. 11Therefore even upon the idols of the shall there be a visitation: because in the creature of they are become an , and stumblingblocks to the of men, and a snare to the feet of the unwise. 12For the devising of idols was the beginning of spiritual fornication, and the invention of them the corruption of life. 13For neither were they , neither shall they be for ever. 14For by the of men they entered into the world, and therefore shall they come shortly to an end. 15For a afflicted with untimely , when he hath made an of his child soon taken away, now honoured him as a , which was then a man, and to those that were under him ceremonies and . 16Thus in process of time an ungodly custom grown strong was kept as a law, and graven were by of kings. 17Whom men could not in , because they dwelt far off, they took the counterfeit of his visage from far, and made an express of a king whom they honoured, to the end that by this their forwardness they might flatter him that was absent, as if he were present. 18Also the singular diligence of the artificer did help to set forward the ignorant to more superstition. 19For he, peradventure willing to please one , forced all his skill to make the resemblance of the best fashion. 20And so , allured by the of the work, took him now for a , which a little before was but honoured. 21And this was an occasion to deceive the world: for men, either calamity or tyranny, did ascribe unto stones and stocks the incommunicable name. 22Moreover this was not enough for them, that they erred in the knowledge of ; but whereas they lived in the great war of ignorance, those so great plagues called they peace. 23For whilst they slew their children in , or used secret ceremonies, or made revellings of strange rites; 24They kept neither lives nor marriages any longer undefiled: but either one slew another traitorously, or grieved him by . 25So that there reigned in all men without exception , manslaughter, theft, and dissimulation, corruption, , tumults, perjury, 26Disquieting of good men, forgetfulness of good turns, defiling of , changing of kind, disorder in marriages, , and shameless uncleanness. 27For the worshipping of idols not to be named is the beginning, the cause, and the end, of all evil. 28For either they are mad when they be merry, or lies, or live unjustly, or else lightly forswear themselves. 29For insomuch as their is in idols, which have no life; though they falsely, yet they look not to be hurt. 30Howbeit for both causes shall they be justly punished: both because they thought not well of , giving heed unto idols, and also unjustly in deceit, despising . 31For it is not the of them by whom they : but it is the of , that punisheth always the offence of the ungodly.
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.