The Wisdom of Solomon

Book excerpt: The Anchor Bible offers new, book-by-book translations of the Old and New Testarnents and Apocrypha, with commentary. This volume on "The Wisdom of Solomon" as been prepared by David Winston, Professor of Hellenistic and Judaic Studies and Director of the Center for Judaic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. "The Wisdom of Solomon" is a long and subtly poetic work placed in the mouth of "wise" King Solomon. It blends biblical thought and Middle Platonism. David Winston thoroughly analyzes the book, presenting the philosophical situation clearly and putting forth evidence to suggest that the work was written later than is commonly supposed, during the reign of Caligula (A.D. 37-41), and by a single author. Because of its exclusion from the canon of scripture used by Jews and Protestant Christians, "The Wisdom of Solomon" has been neglected by biblical scholars in general. Dr. Winston's commentary is the first to thoroughly cover both previous research and recent developments such as the Qumran scrolls, papyrus discoveries in Egypt, and new knowledge of ancient Iranian religion. It is a major contribution to the study of the apocryphal literature of the Bible.