The Wisdom of Solomon

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

- Chapter 4 -

The difference between the chaste and the adulterous generations: and between the death of the just and the wicked.

O how beautiful is the chaste fruit of purity! For its remembrance is immortal, because it is observed both with God and with men.(a)

When it is present, they imitate it, and they desire it when it has withdrawn itself, and it triumphs crowned forever, winning the reward of undefiled conflicts.

But the great number of the many different kinds of the impious will not be to their advantage, and spurious seedlings will not be given deep roots, nor will they establish any firm foundation.

And if they spring forth with branches for a time, yet, being set infirmly, they will be shaken by the wind, and, by the superabundance of the winds, they will be eradicated.(b)

For the incomplete branches will be broken, and their fruits will be useless, and bitter to eat, and fit for nothing.

For all the sons born from iniquity are witnesses of wickedness against their parents at their interrogation.(c)

But the just, if death seizes him beforehand, will be refreshed.

For old age is made venerable, neither by lasting long, nor by counting the number of years; yet understanding is the gray hair of wisdom for men,(d)

and an immaculate life is a generation of sages.(e)

Pleasing to God, having been made beloved, and living among sinners, he was transformed.(f)

He was quickly taken away, for malice could not alter his understanding, nor could deceit beguile his soul.

For fascination with entertainment obscures good things, and the unfaithfulness of desire subverts the mind without malice.

Completed in a short time, he fulfilled many times.

Truly his soul was pleasing to God. Because of this, he hastened to bring him out of the midst of iniquities, but the people see this and do not understand, nor do they place such things in their hearts:

that the grace and mercy of God is with his holy ones, and he watches over his elect.

But the just dead will condemn the impious living, and youth hastily completed results in a long unjust life.

For they will see the end of the wise, and will neither understand, nor imagine, that he is of God, and that therefore the Lord has safeguarded him.

For they will see and despise him, but the Lord will ridicule them.

And after this, they will fall without honor and with contempt among the dead forever. Seeing that they are puffed up and speechless, he will shatter them and will shake them from the foundations all the way to the top, to their utter desolation, and they will grieve and their remembrance will perish.

They will hurry with fear at the understanding of their sins, and their iniquities will bear witness against them.

Footnotes

(a)4:1 Christ is the chaste fruit of the pure Virgin Mary. Generatio does not usually translate as fruit, but the metaphor of the previous verses is reasonably continued with this rendering.(Conte)

(b)4:4 They spring forth with branches, in other words, they seem to grow and prosper for a time. Nimietate could be translated as superabundance or greatness or excessiveness.(Conte)

(c)4:6 Notice that filii is translated consistently in this version of Scripture as sons, rather than children. The Latin word pueri means children, filii means sons, and filiae means daughters. There are places in Scripture where the text says children, and there are other places where the text says sons. The translation is according to the text.(Conte)

(d)4:8 Cani refers to gray hair, but it is here translated in a looser way, according to the meaning implied by the term and its context, i.e. the gray hair of wisdom.(Conte)

(e)4:9 Senectutis refers to the elderly, but the translation considers that wisdom often increases with age. Thus, senectutis could be translated as old sages or merely sages.(Conte)

(f)4:10 This translation fairly literal. It refers to Christ. A looser translation would lose some of the meaning.(Conte)