The book opens with an appeal to the judges of the earth: love righteousness and seek the Lord in simplicity of heart, for he shows himself to those who do not distrust him. Wisdom will not enter a malicious soul, and the Spirit of the Lord fills the world and hears every word, so no murmuring or lie stays hidden. Then comes a striking claim: 'God made not death', nor has he pleasure in the destruction of the living; he created all things that they might have their being, and 'righteousness is immortal'. It is the ungodly who called death to them and made a covenant with it.
Wisdom 1 - Summary
Summary
Read Wisdom Chapter 1 Summary
Original
Characters in This Chapter
Solomon
The king whose voice the book adopts, never named: he prays for wisdom and is charged with building the temple
Adam
The first formed father, whom wisdom preserved and brought out of his fall
Noah
The righteous man steered through the flood on a piece of wood of small value
Abraham
The righteous man kept blameless and strong against his tender love for his son
Joseph
The righteous man who was sold, whom wisdom followed into the pit and raised to the sceptre
Moses
The servant of the Lord and holy prophet through whom wisdom faced Pharaoh and led Israel
Places in This Chapter
Position in Book
Righteousness and ImmortalityChapters 1-2
An appeal to the judges of the earth, the claim that God did not make death, and the reasoning of the ungodly who plot against the just man.
The Fate of the RighteousChapters 3-5
A Call to KingsChapters 6
Solomon's Love of WisdomChapters 7-9
Wisdom in HistoryChapters 10-11
God's Patience and the Folly of IdolsChapters 12-15
Egypt and IsraelChapters 16-19