The ungodly speak for themselves: life is short and tedious, death has no remedy, no one returns from the grave, so let us enjoy costly wine, ointments and rosebuds before they wither. Their reasoning turns to violence: let us oppress the poor righteous man and the widow, and lie in wait for the just, who reproaches us, calls himself 'the child of the Lord' and boasts that God is his father. Let us torture him, condemn him to a shameful death and see whether God delivers him. The author answers that their wickedness blinded them: God created man to be immortal, and death came through the envy of the devil.
Wisdom 2 - Summary
Summary
Read Wisdom Chapter 2 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
Lot
Nephew of Abraham
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