King James Version · Under the Greeks
Wisdom of Solomon 1
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1Love , ye that be judges of the earth: think of with a good (,) and in simplicity of seek him. 2For he will be found of them that him not; and sheweth himself unto such as do not distrust him. 3For froward separate from : and his , when it is tried, reproveth the unwise. 4For into a malicious shall not enter; nor in the body that is subject unto . 5For of will flee deceit, and remove from that are without understanding, and will not when unrighteousness cometh in. 6For is a loving ; and will not acquit a blasphemer of his words: for is of his reins, and a true beholder of , and a hearer of his . 7For of filleth the world: and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice. 8Therefore he that speaketh unrighteous things cannot be hid: neither shall , when it punisheth, pass by him. 9For inquisition shall be made into the counsels of the ungodly: and the sound of his words shall come unto for the manifestation of his deeds. 10For the ear of heareth all things: and the noise of murmurings is not hid. 11Therefore beware of murmuring, which is unprofitable; and refrain your from backbiting: for there is no word so secret, that shall go for nought: and the that belieth slayeth the . 12Seek not in the error of your life: and pull not upon yourselves with the works of your hands. 13For made not : neither hath he pleasure in the of the living. 14For he created all things, that they might have their being: and the generations of the world were healthful; and there is no poison of in them, nor of upon the earth: 15(For is immortal:) 16But ungodly men with their works and words called it to them: for when they thought to have it their friend, they consumed to nought, and made a with it, because they are worthy to take part with it.
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.