Wisdom of Solomon

About this text

A philosophical meditation on wisdom, righteousness, and immortality, written as if by Solomon. Contains some of the most eloquent theology in Jewish wisdom literature.

Significance

Deeply influential on Christian theology, especially the concept of the immortality of the soul.

How to Read This Historical Text

Wisdom of Solomon is included here as a historical and educational resource, not as Scripture and not as a replacement for the biblical canon. Readers may find it useful for understanding the ideas, debates, devotional language, and literary settings that surrounded Jewish and Christian communities in different periods.

Read this text with context in mind. Notice its era, category, and relationship to canonical passages, then compare its themes with the Bible itself. Some library works preserve valuable historical background, while others represent viewpoints that many Christian traditions rejected. Inclusion in this library does not mean endorsement of every claim or doctrine in the text.

For more about how The Bible Companion handles public-domain writings, Bible translations, attribution, and devotional material, see the Sources & Editorial Policy.

Key excerpts

"The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment shall ever touch them."

"In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, but they are at peace."

"She is a breath of the power of God, a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty."

Scripture cross-references

• John 10:28-29 — "No one shall snatch them out of my hand" — same assurance
• Hebrews 1:3 — "The radiance of God's glory" — nearly identical language about Wisdom/Christ

Continue exploring

This text is one of 10 in the Apocrypha / Deuterocanonical Books category, and one of 62 across the entire library.