King James Version · Under the Greeks
Wisdom of Solomon 4
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1Better it is to have , and to have virtue: for the memorial thereof is immortal: because it is known with , and with men. 2When it is present, men take example at it; and when it is gone, they it: it weareth a , and triumpheth for ever, having gotten the victory, striving for undefiled rewards. 3But the multiplying brood of the ungodly shall not thrive, nor take deep rooting from bastard slips, nor lay any foundation. 4For though they flourish in for a time; yet standing not last, they shall be shaken with the wind, and through the force of winds they shall be rooted out. 5The imperfect shall be broken off, their fruit unprofitable, not ripe to eat, yea, meet for nothing. 6For children begotten of unlawful beds are of wickedness against their parents in their . 7But though be prevented with , yet shall he be in rest. 8For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years. 9But is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age. 10He pleased , and was beloved of him: so that living among he was translated. 11Yea speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his . 12For the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence doth undermine the simple . 13He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time: 14For his pleased : therefore hasted he to take him away from among . 15This the people saw, and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their , That his and mercy is with his , and that he hath respect unto his chosen. 16Thus that is shall condemn the ungodly which are living; and youth that is soon perfected the many years and old age of the unrighteous. 17For they shall see the end of , and shall not understand what in his hath decreed of him, and to what end hath set him in safety. 18They shall see him, and despise him; but shall laugh them to scorn: and they shall hereafter be a vile carcase, and a among for evermore. 19For he shall rend them, and cast them down headlong, that they shall be speechless; and he shall shake them from the foundation; and they shall be utterly laid waste, and be in sorrow; and their memorial shall . 20And when they cast up the accounts of their , they shall come with fear: and their own shall convince them to their .
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.