King James Version · Under the Greeks
Wisdom of Solomon 6
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1Hear therefore, O ye kings, and understand; learn, ye that be judges of the ends of the earth. 2Give ear, ye that rule the people, and in of nations. 3For is given you of , and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels. 4Because, being ministers of , ye have not judged aright, nor kept , nor walked after the of ; 5Horribly and speedily shall he come upon you: for a sharp shall be to them that be in . 6For mercy will soon pardon the meanest: but shall be mightily tormented. 7For he which is over all shall fear no man’s person, neither shall he stand in awe of any man’s greatness: for he hath made the small and great, and careth for all alike. 8But a sore shall come upon the mighty. 9Unto you therefore, O kings, do I speak, that ye may learn , and not fall away. 10For they that keep holily shall be judged : and they that have learned such things shall find what to answer. 11Wherefore set your affection upon my words; them, and ye shall be instructed. 12 is , and never fadeth away: yea, she is easily seen of them that love her, and found of such as seek her. 13She preventeth them that her, in making herself first known unto them. 14Whoso seeketh her early shall have no great travail: for he shall find her sitting at his doors. 15To think therefore upon her is perfection of : and whoso watcheth for her shall quickly be without care. 16For she goeth about seeking such as are worthy of her, sheweth herself favourably unto them in the ways, and meeteth them in every thought. 17For the very true beginning of her is the of ; and the care of is love; 18And love is the keeping of her laws; and the giving heed unto her laws is the assurance of incorruption; 19And incorruption maketh us near unto : 20Therefore the of bringeth to a kingdom. 21If your delight be then in and sceptres, O ye kings of the people, , that ye may reign for evermore. 22As for , what she is, and how she came up, I will tell you, and will not hide from you: but will seek her out of her nativity, and bring the knowledge of her into , and will not pass over the truth. 23Neither will I go with consuming envy; for such a man shall have no fellowship with . 24But of is the welfare of the world: and a king is the upholding of the people. 25Receive therefore through my words, and it shall do you good.
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.