King James Version · Under the Greeks
Wisdom of Solomon 9
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1O of my fathers, and of mercy, who hast made all things with thy word, 2And ordained man through thy , that he should over the creatures which thou hast made, 3And order the world according to equity and , and execute with an upright : 4Give me , that sitteth by thy ; and reject me not from among thy children: 5For I thy servant and son of thine handmaid am a feeble person, and of a short time, and too young for the understanding of and laws. 6For though a man be never so perfect among the children of men, yet if thy be not with him, he shall be nothing regarded. 7Thou hast chosen me to be a king of thy people, and a judge of thy sons and daughters: 8Thou hast commanded me to build a temple upon thy mount, and an in the city wherein thou dwellest, a resemblance of the , which thou hast prepared . 9And was with thee: which knoweth thy works, and was present when thou madest the world, and knew what was acceptable in thy sight, and right in thy . 10O send her out of thy , and from of thy , that being present she may labour with me, that I may know what is pleasing unto thee. 11For she knoweth and understandeth all things, and she shall lead me soberly in my doings, and preserve me in her . 12So shall my works be acceptable, and then shall I judge thy people righteously, and be worthy to sit in ’s seat. 13For what man is he that can know the of ? or who can think what the will of is? 14For the of mortal men are miserable, and our devices are but uncertain. 15For the corruptible body presseth down the , and the earthy weigheth down that museth upon many things. 16And hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth, and with labour do we find the things that are before us: but the things that are in who hath searched out? 17And thy who hath known, except thou give , and send thy from above? 18For so the ways of them which lived on the earth were reformed, and men were taught the things that are pleasing unto thee, and were through .
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.