Wrath came on the ungodly to the end: still mourning at the graves of their dead, they pursued the people they had begged to leave, and found 'a strange death'. The whole creation was fashioned anew for Israel: a cloud shadowed the camp, dry land appeared out of the Red Sea, a green field out of the violent stream, and the people leaped like lambs. The author recalls the flies and frogs of Egypt and the quails from the sea, and judges Egypt more harshly than the Sodomites, for it enslaved guests it had received with feasting. The book ends: 'in all things, O Lord, thou didst magnify thy people'.
Wisdom 19 - Summary
Summary
Read Wisdom Chapter 19 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
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
Beasts and quails, hail and manna, darkness and the pillar of fire, the death of the firstborn and the crossing of the Red Sea: each plague is set against a gift to God's people.