The Wisdom of Solomon
⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑
- Chapter 14 -
The beginning of worshipping idols: and the effects thereof.
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Footnotes
(a)14:4 Another version of this verse has the phrasing: “etiam si sine rate aliquis adeat,” meaning ‘even if he were immersed without a raft.’ Both versions are certainly true of God, who can save even if, like Jonah, a man were thrown into the sea without a raft.(Conte)
(b)14:8 The verb “operatus est” is passive tense, so he is accursed because it has been served by him, in other words, because he has served the idol by making it.(Conte)
(c)14:11 Muscipulam literally means mousetrap, but snare is better in this context.(Conte)
(d)14:18 Provexit ad horum culturam is best translated as passes into their care, i.e., it is handed down from one generation to the next. Culturam does not really mean culture, but in this case the idol does become a part of their culture. Culturam can also mean field, but not in this context. So, the artist made an image so skillfully, that his skill contributes to the acceptance of the idol.(Conte)
(e)14:26 Notice that adultery was already condemned in the previous verses. The words mœchiæ et impudicitiæ are both genitive in case, so they each refer to inordinatio, which is nominative in case. Inordinatio means unnatural, moechiae means adultery, and impudicitiae refers to sexual impurity or shamefulness. Therefore, the text is not merely referring to adultery or to sexual sins, but to unnatural adultery and to unnatural sexual sins. Impudicitiae, by itself, can mean homosexuality, but when paired with inordinatio (unnatural), it more clearly has the meaning of condemning homosexuality as unnatural. The phrase inordinatio moechiae, translated as unnatural adultery, means not just any adultery, but adultery committed by means of unnatural sexual acts.(Conte)