King James Version · Under the Greeks
Wisdom of Solomon 3
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1But the of are in the hand of , and there shall no torment touch them. 2In the sight of the unwise they seemed to : and their departure is taken for misery, 3And their going from us to be utter : but they are in peace. 4For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their full of immortality. 5And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for proved them, and found them worthy for himself. 6As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering. 7And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble. 8They shall judge the nations, and over the people, and their shall reign for ever. 9They that put their in him shall understand the truth: and such as be in love shall with him: for and mercy is to his , and he hath care for his elect. 10But the ungodly shall be punished according to their own imaginations, which have neglected , and forsaken . 11For whoso despiseth and nurture, he is miserable, and their is , their labours unfruitful, and their works unprofitable: 12Their wives are foolish, and their children : 13Their is . Wherefore is the that is undefiled, which hath not known the bed: she shall have fruit in the visitation of . 14And is , which with his hands hath wrought no , nor imagined things against : for unto him shall be given the special gift of , and an in of more acceptable to his . 15For is the fruit of good labours: and the root of shall never fall away. 16As for the children of , they shall not come to their perfection, and the of an unrighteous bed shall be rooted out. 17For though they live long, yet shall they be nothing regarded: and their last age shall be without . 18Or, if they quickly, they have no , neither comfort in the day of . 19For horrible is the end of the unrighteous generation.
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.