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The Wisdom of Solomon

Catholic Public Domain :: World English Bible Catholic

- Kapitel 3 -

The happiness of the just: and the unhappiness of the wicked.

1
But the souls of the just are in the hand of God and no torment of death will touch them.
2
In the eyes of the foolish, they seemed to die, and their departure was considered an affliction,
3
and their going away from us, a banishment. Yet they are in peace.(a)
4
And though, in the sight of men, they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality.
5
Troubled in few things, in many things they will be well compensated, because God has tested them and found them worthy of himself.(b)
6
Like gold in the furnace, he has proved them, and as a holocaust victim, he has received them, and in the time of their visitation(c)
7
they will shine, and they will dash about like sparks among stubble.(d)
8
They will judge the nations and they will rule over the people, and their Lord will reign forever.
9
Those who trust in him, will understand the truth, and those who are faithful in love will rest in him, because grace and peace is for his elect.
10
But the impious will be chastised according to their thoughts, for they have neglected the just and have retreated from the Lord.
11
For whoever abandons wisdom and instruction is unhappy, and their hope is empty, and their labors without fruit, and their works useless.
12
Their wives are foolish and their sons are wicked; the things that serve them are accursed.(e)
13
Therefore, fertile is the barren and undefiled, who has not known transgressions in bed; she will bear fruit by caring for holy souls.(f)
14
And fertile is the celibate, who has not wrought iniquity with his hands, nor thought wickedness against God; for to him will be given a special gift of faith and a very welcome place in the temple of the Lord.(g)
15
For the fruit of good labors is glorious and the root of wisdom shall never perish.
16
But the sons of adulterers will not reach completion, and the offspring of a sinful bed will be banished.(h)
17
And if they live long, they will be counted as nothing, and their last years of old-age will be without honor.
18
And if they die quickly, they will have no hope, nor words of comfort on the day of reckoning.
19
For the iniquities of the people have a dreadful result.

Fußnoten

(a)3:3 Exterminium can mean extermination as in utter destruction, but it can also mean banishment, a more mild term.(Conte)
(b)3:5 Bene disponentur means well compensated, or well ordered, or well administered, i.e., they will be well cared for.(Conte)
(c)3:6 Holocaust, in the biblical sense, refers to a sacrifice or offering that is entirely burned up, a burnt offering.(Conte)
(d)3:7 The Latin text here (3:6-7) has been corrected against the Greek text, according to the appendix of the 1914 Hetzenauer edition of the Vulgate. Instead of saying, “in time they will be respected. The just will shine...” the Greek text has one sentence, “in the time of their visitation, they will shine...” This reading is better, because it explains when and why the just will shine and dash about. It is because, the time of their visitation has arrived, when God visits them to vindicate them over their enemies.(Conte)
(e)3:12 Here the Vulgate text has been amended, taking the beginning of verse 3:13, maledicta creatura eorum, and making it the end of verse 12. This phrase is clearly a continuation of the afflictions upon those who abandon wisdom and on their hope, their labors, their works, their wives, their sons, and their servants. The phrase maledicta creatura eorum could be translated as their creations are accursed, but their works have already been condemned as useless in verse 11. Therefore, servants or, better still, the things that serve them, is the translation.(Conte)
(f)3:13 This verse begins to explain the contrast between those who abandon wisdom and those who take it to heart. Felix could be translated as happy, but this passage uses the metaphor of bearing fruit repeatedly, so the better translation is fertile. Thus, the unwise do not bear useful fruit, but the wise will bear fruit, even if they are celibate and never bear the fruit of having children.(Conte)
(g)3:14 Spado is best translated as celibate, as the context clearly indicates. The word eunuch is a poor translation.(Conte)
(h)3:16 The expression “son of...” in Hebrew is often used metaphorically. The “sons of the priests” are priests in training, not necessarily the offspring of the Jewish priests. The expression “son of a year” means a one-year old; “son of perdition” means someone who is lost; “son of death” means someone who has died, or a dead body. In other words, the “son” is the metaphorical offspring of a particular group or concept, regardless of his biological lineage. So the expression “sons of adulterers” could be translated as the sons of adultery, i.e., those who act as if they were the offspring of adultery.(Conte)

The happiness of the just: and the unhappiness of the wicked.

1
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will touch them.
2
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died. Their departure was considered a disaster,
3
and their travel away from us ruin, but they are in peace.
4
For even if in the sight of men they are punished, their hope is full of immortality.
5
Having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good; because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself.
6
He tested them like gold in the furnace, and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering.
7
In the time of their visitation they will shine. They will run back and forth like sparks among stubble.
8
They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples. The Lord will reign over them forever.
9
Those who trust him will understand truth. The faithful will live with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones.
10
But the ungodly will be punished even as their reasoning deserves, those who neglected righteousness and revolted from the Lord;
11
for he who despises wisdom and discipline is miserable. Their hope is void and their toils unprofitable. Their works are useless.
12
Their wives are foolish and their children are wicked.
13
Their descendants are cursed. For the barren woman who is undefiled is happy, she who has not conceived in transgression. She will have fruit when God examines souls.
14
So is the eunuch which has done no lawless deed with his hands, nor imagined wicked things against the Lord; for a precious gift will be given to him for his faithfulness, and a delightful inheritance in the Lord’s sanctuary.
15
For good labors have fruit of great renown. The root of understanding can’t fail.
16
But children of adulterers will not come to maturity. The seed of an unlawful union will vanish away.
17
For if they live long, they will not be esteemed, and in the end, their old age will be without honor.
18
If they die young, they will have no hope, nor consolation in the day of judgment.
19
For the end of an unrighteous generation is always grievous.