An Introduction to the Wisdom Books
of the Old Testament

by Bro. Thomas Mary Sennott

Introduction

Finally, I would like to offer an addditional bonus for visiting these web pages, a little booklet entitled An Introduction to the Wisdom Books of the Old Testament.These seven brief articles appeared several years ago in the short-lived Center Review. They are available here for a free download either in whole or in part. The booklet is 40 pages long, each chapter being about 6 or 7 pages in length. I would especially recommend the first chapter, The Book of Job , which is only 5 pages long.

There are seven so-called "wisdom" books in the Old Testament. They are the book of Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticle of Canticles, Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus. The Jews, and the Protestants who always follow their lead, do not consider Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus as canonical. We will see why in the course of this little paper.

The first Wisdom book is the Book of Job. Job is a descendant of Esau the twin brother of Jacob, also called Edom. The author of this beautiful book is unknown; some thinking it is by Job himself, others by Moses, or one of the patriarchs.


1.

THE BOOK OF JOB

The Bible tells us of God's great love for man. It contains what God inspired men to tell men about God and also about man. It shows us how to pray and how to live. For someone who has a great deal to suffer, the Book of Job might well be read first, for Job was a man who lost everything he had - his ten children, his health, his worldly possessions, his home. He lost the respect of his wife who called him a fool, and his closest friends, who called him a hypocrite. All these trials were permitted by God, as we are told in the Bible, and God wants us to read this story, because sooner or later He will send each one of us, one or several, or maybe all of these trials. Why does God treat us like this? How are we supposed to act when He does? Why do we suffer? Why do evils come upon us? These are the questions that are asked and answered in the Book of Job.

The Book of Job is unique in the Bible. Actually, it is a play, with dialogues and monologues in prose and poetry. There is little action and only two scenes, the court of heaven, and the outskirts of a small town. The book begins in prose with a brief introduction to the main character: "There was a man from the Land of Hus, whose name was Job, and that man was simple and upright, fearing God, and avoiding evil."

The first scene opens in Heaven where God sits enthroned, surrounded by His angels. Satan enters, and God asks him if he has seen his servant Job, a man of virtue, above all men on earth. Satan sneeringly replies that Job indeed fears God, but only because God has blessed him; let him be afflicted and he will curse God. Satan is then given permission to make a trial of Job's virtue, but ordered not to touch his person.

Satan goes to earth, and in quick succession destroys all of Job's possessions - his flocks and herds, and finally his ten children, seven boys and three girls. "Then Job rose up and rent his garments and having shaved his head fell down upon the ground and worshipped and said: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked I shall return thither. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it has pleased the Lord so it is done: Blessed be the name of the Lord."

The scene shifts back to Heaven, where Satan enters once again. For a second times God praises Job who has kept his innocence though he has been afflicted without cause. But Satan now asks God for permission to touch Job's person. God permits this too, but forbids Satan to take Job's life.

The scene once more opens on earth. Satan afflicts Job with a loathsome disease, and he is covered with open sores, from the top of his head to the sole of his foot. He is forced to live as an outcast at the edge of his own town. Job's wife says to him: "Dost thou still continue in thy simplicity? Curse God and die." But Job answers: "Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish women: if we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil?"

After Job has been abandoned by his wife, his three closest friends enter; Eliphaz, Baldad and Sophar. They sit on the ground grieving with Job, and wait for him to speak.

"And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no man spoke to him a word: for they saw his grief was very great."

The stage is now set for the main part of the play. As in a Greek drama, we are in on the solution to the problem of the play, in this case the problem of suffering. Job's sufferings were a test of his virtue, for his increase in holiness, and for God's glory. This solution, unknown to Job and his three friends will guide us through the maze of discussion that follows.

The play continues in poetry, describing Job finally breaking under his trials up to the point of near death and final despair:

"Let the day perish wherein I was born,
And the night in which it was said:
A man child is conceived...
Why is light given to him that is in misery
And life to them that are in bitterness of soul?
That look for death and it cometh not...
For the fear which I feared hath come upon me:
And that which I was afraid of hath befallen me."

Job's three friends then speak in turn, presenting their solution to the problem of suffering. They tell Job that since God is obviously punishing him, he must have sinned. They insist that the good are rewarded in this life, and the wicked are punished. It logically follows, concludes Baldad, that since Job's ten children died a sudden and violent death, they too were punished by God, and are now in hell. The three friends tell Job he has but to repent and confess his sins, and God will restore him to his former prosperity in this life. Job insists that his conscience does not accuse him of any sin.

"For behold my witness is in heaven, and he that knoweth my conscience is on High."

Job's friends, in yet stronger terms, claim that he must have sinned. They paint in awful colors the fate of the wicked, now with no mention of forgiveness or restoration.

Job - sick, broken hearted and near death - should have given in, under this continual accusation of SINNER, SINNER, admitted his guilt, for the sake of peace, and died in despair. But not only does he persevere, he makes a magnificent rally, to rout these friends, now become enemies. He replies with a beautiful profession of Faith in the Messias to come, and in the resurrection of the body, even of his own putrefying flesh.

"Have pity on me, have pity on me,
At least you my friends
Because the hand of the Lord hath touched me.
For I know that my Redeemer liveth,
And in the last day I shall rise out of the earth.
And I shall be clothed again with my skin,
And in my flesh I shall see,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another:
This my hope is laid up in my bosom."

This is the turning point of the drama, and from now on Job is in control of himself, and of his terrible grief.

Job taking the offensive for the first time, proceeds to show that the punitive solution to the problem of suffering (that is, that suffering is necessarily a punishment sent by God) is false. The wicked are not always punished in this life, but often prosper, and the good are not always rewarded in this life, but often suffer. Just look around. Ask any passerby. Job challenges them to prove him wrong:

"Why do the wicked live,
And they advanced and strengthened with riches?
Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen,
Their houses are secure and peaceable,
And the rod of God is not upon them...
Ask any of them that go by the way,
And you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things...
And if it be not so, who can convince me that I have lied
And set my words before God?"

Job's friends are unconvinced, but have run out of arguments and remain silent. Job has vanquished these friends who came to comfort him, but stayed to condemn him.

Job then appeals his case to God's tribunal , and asks God alone to judge him.

At this point a young man named Elihu who had remained silent out of deference to his elders, begins to speak. It is almost as if he was put into the play for comic relief, for he is the classic sophomore, the wise fool:

"Hear therefore, O Job my speeches,
And hearken to all my words.
Behold now I have opened my mouth,
Let my tongue speak within my jaws.
My words are from my upright heart,
And my lips shall speak a pure sentence.
The spirit of God made me,
And the breath of the almighty gave me life.
If thou canst, answer me, and stand up against my face.
Behold God hath made me as well as thee,
And of the same clay was I also formed
But let not my wonder terrify thee,
And let not my eloquence be burdensome to thee."

Elihu excoriates Job's three friends because they were unable to silence him. He wants Job seized and bound immediately and tried for blasphemy. He goes on and on, obviously in love with the sound of his own voice. A sudden storm springs up with flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. Elihu actually works it into his unbelievable discourse:

"At this my heart trembleth, and is moved out of its place.
Hear ye attentively the terror of his voice,
And the sound that cometh out of his mouth.
He beholdeth under all the heavens,
And his light is upon the ends of the earth.
After it a noise shall roar,
He shall thunder with the voice of his majesty,
And shall not be found out, when his voice shall be heard.
God shall thunder wonderfully with his voice,
He that doth great and unsearchable things."

God now speaks to Job from the midst of the storm. God is angry, not because Job has committed any sin, but because he sought to know the secrets of Divine Providence. Job wanted a preview of his own particular judgment, and this God will only give at the moment of death. God demands that we live out this life in Faith, and submission to His Mysterious Will. This Will, then, is the ultimate solution to the problem of suffering.

God asks Job if he can understand the workings of His Divine Providence in Nature. Can he understand how He cares for the animals?

"Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness,
And satisfy the appetite of her whelps,
When they couch and lie in wait in holes?
Who provideth food for the raven,
When her young ones cry to God,
Wandering about because they have no meat?"

God challenges Job to answer. But he has no answer and replies:

"What can I say who hath spoken inconsiderately?
I will lay my hand on my mouth."

If Job cannot understand God's Divine Providence in the workings of Nature, how much less His workings in the souls of men. God wants men to trust Him in this life, and humbly submit to the sufferings He sends, knowing that they are part of His Plan for salvation. This is the practical solution to the problems of suffering, the solution to which we must all finally come - simply FAITH.

Job then does what God wants him to do, and in a beautiful act of Faith, casts himself in humble submission upon the Divine Providence:

"I know that thou canst do all things,
And no thought is hid from thee,...
Therefore I have spoken unwisely,
And things that above measure exceed my knowledge...
Therefore I reprehend myself,
And do penance in dust and ashes."

If this were the New Testament, the story would probably end here, with the saint dying at this point, and getting his reward in the next life. But because this is the Old Testament, the story has a different ending. The Book returns to prose and God speaks angrily to Eliphaz:

"My wrath is kindled against thee and thy two friends, because you have not spoken the thing that is right before me, as my servant Job hath...Go to my servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust: and my servant Job shall pray for you: his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to you."

Job then forgives his enemies, a true type of Our Lord, and God gives him back twofold of all his former possession of flocks and herds, and gives him ten more children. God in exonerating Job, has also exonerated his seven sons and three daughters for whom Job prayed every day: They are rather in the Limbo of the Just, and Job hasn't lost them, but will see them again one day. In an especially tender touch we are told of Job's three new daughters - "And there were not found in all the earth women so beautiful as the daughters of Job."

Thus in the Book of Job the secret of suffering is revealed. The good and the innocent will suffer in this life, and usually more than the wicked. If they ask, "What have I done wrong?" the answer is, "nothing." But if they continue to suffer with resignation to God's Will, they will receive an abundant reward in the end - not in this world perhaps, but assuredly in the next.

"And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning."

*************

2.

The Psalms (Part I)


Introduction


"And as the fat taken away from the flesh, so was David chosen from among the children of Israel. He played with lions as with lambs: and with bears he did in like manner as with the lambs of the flock, in his youth. Did he not kill the giant, and take away the reproach from his people? In lifting up his hand with the stone in the sling he beat down the boasting of Goliath: For he called upon the Lord the Almighty, and he gave strength to his right hand, to take away the mighty warrior, and to set up the horn of his nation. So in ten thousand did he glorify him, and praised him in the blessings of the Lord, in offering to him a crown of glory: For he destroyed the enemies on every side, and extirpated the Philistines the adversaries unto this day: he broke their horn forever. In all his works he gave thanks to the holy one, and to the most High, with words of glory. With his whole heart he praised the Lord, and loved God that made him: and he gave him power against his enemies: And he set singers before the altar, and by their voices he made sweet melody. And to the festivals he added beauty, and set in order the solemn times even to the end of his life, that they should praise the holy name of the Lord, and magnify the holiness of God in the morning. The Lord took away his sins, and exalted his horn forever: and he gave him a covenant of the kingdom, and a throne of glory in Israel." Ecclesiasticus 47:2-13.


The saints teach us that no one can be saved who does not pray. In the Book of Psalms God Himself teaches us how to pray, providing us with prayers that He Himself has inspired. St. Jerome says, "He who takes up the study of Sacred Scripture should first of all learn the Psalms, that he may learn how to pray."

The Psalms as Literature

The fundamental unit of Hebrew poetry, in which the Psalms were inspired, is the line. It contains one complete idea. A verse consists of two lines or a couplet, with occasionally a verse of three lines, or triplet, being used.

The basic device of Hebrew poetry is known as parallelism, two related lines balanced against each other. There are three types of parallelism. The first is called similar parallelism. It is the most common type, and most of the Psalms are written in this style. In it the couplet balances two similar ideas.

He that dwells in Heaven shall laugh at them,
And the Lord shall deride them. (Ps. 2)

The second line of the couplet repeats the idea of the first. Our poetry usually rhymes in sounds. The Semites, one could say, like to rhyme ideas. This balancing of similar ideas, one against another, can become delightful to the mind.

A second type of parallelism is called opposite parallelism. Here the poet balances opposite ideas one against another.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the just,
And the way of the wicked shall perish. (Ps. 1)

The third type of parellelism is called progressive or climactic parellelism. Here the lines gradually progress to a climax.

I cried to the Lord with my voice
And he hath heard me from his holy hill. (Ps. 3)

Hebrew poetry was meant to be sung, usually to the accompaniment of a musical instrument. It has no definite length of line or fixed rhythm. This providential arrangement has allowed the Psalms to be translated into Greek, Latin, and even English, without losing anything substantial in the process.

Knowing something about the literary background of the Psalms can be an aid in their interpretation. Here is part of Psalm 46, which is in similar parellelism:

Line - O clap your hands, all ye nations...
Couplet - For the Lord is high, terrible:
A great king over all the earth...
Triplet - For God is king over all the earth: sing ye wisely:
God shall reign over the nations
God sitteth on his holy throne.

Then comes a final couplet, which, though obscure, can be rather easily interpreted if we understand the principles of parallelism:

The princes of the people are gathered together with the God of Abraham:
For the strong gods of the earth are exceedingly exalted.

Since the Psalm is in similar parallelism, the line, "For the Lord is high, terrible" and "a great king over all the earth," are both conveying the same idea; as are the phrases, "gathered together with the God of Abraham" and "exceedingly exalted." One line throws light on another. Looking back through the psalm, we see that it is about the Gentiles: "all you nations," "king over all the earth," "reign over the nations." Thus the phrases, "princes of the people" and "strong gods of the earth," refer to the Gentiles: "gathered together with the God of Abraham" and "are exceedingly exalted," refer to the conversion of the Gentiles. The psalm, then, is about the uniting of all nations with the Jews in the worship of the true God, the God of Abraham. The nations will be "exceedingly exalted" - that is, lifted up out of the darkness of sin.

The Psalms and David

David is the principal author of the Psalms. His story is told in the first and second books of Kings. Many of the psalms composed by David are autobiographical, offered as prayers of thanksgiving for the many favors God has granted him, from overcoming his foe Goliath, to being delivered from his rebellious son Absalom. For example, when King Saul drove David from his presence, he fled to the desert of Ziph with a few faithful friends. When the men of Ziph told Saul that David was hidden among them, Saul came with a large army and surrounded David. But just then a messenger arrived and announced to Saul that the Philistines had invaded the land, Saul was forced to break off the pursuit, and David was delivered. He composed Psalm 53 to express his thanksgiving. This psalm is an excellent example of similar parallelism:

Save me, O God, by thy name
And judge me by thy strength.
O God hear my prayer:
Give ear to the words of my mouth...
I will freely sacrifice to thee,
And will give praise, O God, to thy name, because it is good.
For thou hast delivered me out of all trouble:
And my eye hath looked down upon my enemies.

When David committed adultery with Bathshabee, he attempted to cover up his first sin by committing another; he had Bathshabee's husband Urias, one of his faithful soldiers, sent into battle to be killed. On being rebuked for these crimes by the prophet Nathan, David repented and was forgiven by God. He subsequently wrote seven penitential psalms to beg God to forgive his sins. They are psalms 6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142.

David did not keep his gift of song and prayer for himself alone. In the first book of Paralipomenon, we are told how David organized the Levites into choirs of singers. He wrote many of his psalms for them to use in the liturgy. His cycle of Paschal psalms (Psalms 112-117) were chanted by Our Lord at the Last Supper. Another cycle of liturgical psalms, the Gradual psalms (Psalms 119-133) were written by David to be sung by the pilgrims on the various stages of their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. David also wrote many processional psalms. When he brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, he led the procession of the Levites singing and dancing before the Ark. As the procession neared Jerusalem, another procession of Levites welcomed them at the gate. They were actually carrying God into the Holy City. David probably composed Psalm 23 for this occasion:

Choir in procession:

Lift up your gates, O ye princes,
And be ye lifted up, O eternal gates:
And the King of Glory shall enter in.

Choir at the gate:

Who is this King of Glory?

Choir in procession:

The Lord who is strong and mighty!
The Lord mighty in battle!
Lift up your gates, O ye princes,
And be ye lifted up, O eternal gates:
And the King of Glory shall enter in.

Choir at the gate:

Who is this King of Glory?

Choir in procession:

The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.

This Psalm is also a prophecy of Our Lord's Ascension into Heaven, the new Jerusalem. Our Lord was accompanied by one choir of angels, and was welcomed at the gate by another. This Messianic aspect of the Psalms will be the subject of Part II.


THE PSALMS (Part II)


Our Lord and the Psalms

All the Psalms are Messianic, in the sense that they are all prophecies of Our Lord. Some are so in a more striking manner than others, but all are somehow prophetic, even the ones that deal with David's life, since David was a prophetic type of Our Lord.

It would be possible to arrange all 150 psalms into the following categories, dealing with different aspects of the Incarnation: 1) The King; 2) The Queen; 3) The Kingdom; 4) The Son of Man; 5) The Son of God; 6 The Priest; 7) The Suffering Messias; and 8) The Risen Messias. Let us look at one Psalm from each category:

The King

When David resolved to build a temple for God, God promised him through the prophet Nathan that the Messias would be a king descended from him, and that His Kingdom would last forever. This was fulfilled in Our Lord, who was truly a King of David's line, and whose Kingdom, the Church, will last forever.

I have made a covenant with my elect:
I have sworn to David my servant:
Thy seed I will settle forever
And I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation. (Ps. 88)

The Queen

David has many beautiful references to Our Lady Queen. In Psalm 44, after describing the beauty of the King of Heaven, he continues:

The queen stood on thy right hand,
In gilded clothing; surrounded with variety.
Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear:
And forget thy people and thy father's house
And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty.

The KIngdom

The Jewish nation was born on Mount Sinai, on the Feast of Pentecost, fifty days after the Pasch. The Catholic Church, its fulfillment, was also born on Pentecost, fifty days after the fulfillment of the Pasch, the institution of the Holy Eucharist, and the Crucifixion of Our Lord. The Jewish nation was a theocracy, that is God was their king. Even when they had their own human king, he was supposed to be only the vicar of god. David was a perfect theocratic king, a man after God's own heart.

But the privileges God granted to the Jews were not meant to be for themselves alone. They were meant to guard God's revelation for all men. When the time came to share these truths with all nations, most of the Jews refused to give up their priviliged status, and were consequently rejected by God. Psalm 95 shows clearly that the Kingdom to be established by the Messias would not be for the Jews alone but for all nations; that is, it would be the Catholic Church:

Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle:
Sing ye to the Lord all the earth...
Declare his glory among the Gentiles:
His wonders among all people...

The Son of Man

Our Lord loved to call himself the Son of Man. He meant by it that He was the perfect man, the only man who never sinned, the only man in whom the image of God ("Let us make man to our image and likeness") was never defaced. He was Man as Adam was intended to be:

What is man that thou art mindful of him?
Or the son of man that thou visitest him?
Thou hast made him a little less than the angels,
Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor
And hast set him over the works of thy hands. (Ps. 8)

The Son of God

Our Lord was true man, but He was also true God. In Psalm 2, the scene is Heaven. Standing at the right hand of God is the Christ, the Messias. From below we hear the roaring of the nations who have cast off God's yoke. Then the Messias speaks, saying that He has been appointed by God to rule over the world.

The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son,
This day have I begotten thee.
Ask of me and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance,
And the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.

The Priest

The Messias, then, was to be a king descended from David; He was to have a queen; His kingdom would include all nations; He was to be true man and true God. Psalm 109 begins: "The Lord said to my Lord; sit thou at my right hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool." The first Lord referred to God, Jahweh; the second Lord is the Messias. Our Lord asked the Pharisees why David called the Messias his Lord, since He was his son. They were unable or unwilling to give the correct answer, that the Messias would be God incarnate. This psalm tells of Our Lord's eternal generation: "From the womb before the day star I begot thee." It also adds that the Messias will be a priest, not according to the Levitical order, but according to the order of Melchisedech, who offered God bread and wine:

The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent:
Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech.

The Suffering Messias

The greatest stumbling block to the Jews was, and is, that the Messias would suffer. In the greatest of the psalms, Psalm 21, Our Lord is speaking from the Cross:

O God my God, look upon me:
Why hast thou forsaken me?...
But I am a worm and no man:
The reproach of men and the outcast of the people.
All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn:
They have spoken with the lips and wagged the head.
He hoped in the Lord let him deliver him:
Let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him...
They have dug my hands and my feet,
They have numbered all my bones.
And they have looked and stared upon me.
They parted my vestments amongst them;
and upon my vesture they cast lots.

The Risen Messias

Psalm 117 is the last of the five hymns in the paschal cycle. It was sung by Our Lord at the Last Supper. In it, the Messias speaks first of His death and then of His glorious Resurrection:

Being pushed I was overturned that I might fall:
But the Lord supported me...
I shall not die but live:
And shall declare the works of the Lord...
The stone which the builders rejected
The same is become the head of the corner.
This is the Lord's doing:
And it is wonderful in our eyes.
This is the day which the Lord hath made:
Let us be glad and rejoice therein.

It is wonderful to know that when Our Lord completed His last Pasch, as He and His Apostles went out of the upper room across the torrent Cedron to the garden of Gethsemani, they sang this hymn. Our Lord went to His death singing of His Resurrection.

****************

3.

THE BOOK OF PROVERBS


Introduction


The next four Wisdom books in the order which St. Jerome gives us in the Vulgate are Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticle of Canticles, and Wisdom, are all, according to tradition, written by David's son Solomon. Here is Jesus of Sirach, the author of the last Wisdom book, Ecclesiasticus, speaking of Solomon:

After him [David] arose up a wise son, and for his sake he cast down all the power of the enemies. Solomon reigned in the days of peace, and God brought all his enemies under him, that he might build a house in his name, and prepare a sanctuary forever: O how wise wast thou in thy youth! And thou was filled as a river with wisdom, and thy soul covered the earth. And thou didst multiply riddles in parables: thy name went abroad to the islands far off, and thou wast beloved in thy peace. The countries wondered at thee for thy canticles, and proverbs and parables, and interpretations, and at the name of the Lord God, whose surname is, God of Israel. Thou didst gather gold as copper, and didst multiply silver as lead, and thou didst bow thy self to women: and by thy body thou wast brought under subjecton. Thou has stained thy glory, and defiled thy seed so as to bring wrath upon thy children, and to have thy folly kindled, that thou shouldst make the kingdom to be divided, and out of Ephraim a rebellious kingdom to rule. But God will not leave off his mercy, and he will not destroy, nor abolish his own works, neither will he cut up by the roots the offspring of his elect: and he will not utterly take away the seed of him that loveth the Lord. Wherefore he gave a remnant to Jacob, and to David of the same stock. And Solomon had an end with his fathers. Ecclesiasticus 47:14-26.


In the Third Book of Kings we read Solomon's beautiful prayer for Wisdom:

"And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee. And Solomon said: Thou hast shewn great mercy to thy servant David my father, even as he walked before thee in truth, and justice, and an upright heart with thee: and thou hast kept thy great mercy for him, and hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. And now, O Lord God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a child, and know not how to go out and come in. And thy servant is in the midst of the people which thou hast chosen, an immense people, which cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart, to judge thy people, and discern between good and evil. For who shall be able to judge this people, thy people which is so numerous? And the word was pleasing to the Lord that Solomon had asked such a thing. And the Lord said to Solomon: Because thou hast asked for this thing, and hast not asked for thy self long life or riches, nor the lives of thy enemies, but hast asked for thy self wisdom to discern judgment, Behold I have done for thee according to thy words, and given thee a wise and understanding heart, insomuch that there hath been no like thee a before thee, nor shall rise after thee." (III Kgs 3:5-12)

There immediately follows the most famous example of Solomon's practical wisdom:

"Then there came two women that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him: And one of them said: I beseech thee my lord, I and this woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the chamber. And the third day, after that I was delivered, she also was delivered, and we were together, and no other person with us in the house, only we two. And this woman's child died in the night: for in her sleep she overlaid him. And rising in the dead time of the night, she took my child from my side, while I thy handmaid was asleep, and laid it in her bosom: and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold it was dead: but considering him more diligently when it was clear day, I found that it was not mine which I bore. And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayest, but thy child is dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary she said: Thou liest: for my child liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this manner they strove before the king. Then said the king: The one saith, My child is alive, and thy child is dead. And the other answereth: Nay, but thy child is dead, and mine liveth. The king therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had brought a sword before the king, Divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. But the woman whose child was alive, said to the king (for her bowels were moved upon her child), I beseech thee, my lord give her the child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. The king answered and said: Give the living child to this woman, and let it not be killed, for she is the mother thereof. And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment." (III Kgs 3:16-28)

The Book of Proverbs, like all the Wisdom Books is written in Hebrew poetry, the basic device of which is parallelism, the juxtaposition of two similar ideas. Here is an example of similar or synonymous parallelism, the repetition of the same idea over and over:

Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways and learn wisdom:
Which although she hath no guide, nor master, nor captain,
Provideth her meat for herself in the summer,
And gathereth her food in the harvest.
How will thou sleep, O sluggard?
When wilt thou rise out of thy sleep?
Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little,
Thou wilt fold thy hands a little to sleep:
And want shall come upon thee as a traveler,
And poverty as a man armed.
But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain,
And want shall flee far from thee. (6:6-11)

Solomon with his marvelous knowledge of Nature, loves to propose something like the humble ant, for man's imitation. And here is an example of opposite or antithetic parallelism:

A wise son maketh the father glad:
But a foolish son is the sorrow of his mother. (10:1)

This is probably the most common device in Proverbs, the comparison of the wise man and the fool. And finally here is an example of progressive parallelism:

Six things there are which the Lord hateth,
And the seventh his soul detesteth:
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that deviseth wicked plots,
Feet that are swift to run into mischief,
A deceitful witness that uttereth lies,
And him that soweth discord among brethren.

You can see how the ideas gradually progress to the thing that God detesteth, the sower of discord among brethren. All the Fathers and Doctors greatly appreciated The Wisdom Books probably none more than St. Louis Marie de Montfort in his beautiful treatise The Love of the Eternal Wisdom:

"During the time that elapsed before His Incarnation, the Eternal Wisdom gave to men in a thousand ways proof of His friendship for them, and His great desire to grant them His favors and to converse with them. 'My delight,' He said, 'is to be with the children of men.' Deliciae meae esse cum filiis hominum. (Proverbs VIII, 34.) 'He went about seeking such as were worthy of him.' Quoniam dignos seipsa circuit quaerens (Wisdom VI, 17), that is to say, those who were worthy of His friendship, worthy of His treasures, worthy of Himself." (47:28)

Introduction: (Chapters 1-9)

The parables of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel.
To know wisdom and instruction:
To understand the words of prudence:
And to receive the instruction of doctrine, justice, judgment, and equity:
To give subtility to little ones,
To the young man knowledge and understanding.
A wise man shall hear and be wiser;
And he that understandeth shall possess governments.
He shall understand a parable, and the interpretation,
The words of the wise and their mysterious sayings.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Fools despise wisdom and instruction. (1:1-7)

"The fear of the :Lord is the beginning of Wisdom," is a basic theme of all the Wisdom Books. Solomon frequently personifies Wisdom, making it easy for someone like St. Louis Marie de Montfort to apply these passages to Our Lord or Our Lady:

Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the streets:
At the head of multitudes she crieth out,
In the entrance of the gates of the city she uttereth her words, saying:
O children, how long will you love childishness,
And fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves,
And the unwise hate knowledge?
Turn ye at my reproof: Behold I will utter my spirit to you,
And will shew you my words.
Because I called, and you refused:
I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded.
You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions. (1:20-25)

But Solomon frequently goes beyond just personification, and actually presents Wisdom as a Divine Person. The following verses are considered one of the peaks of the Old Testament, and this passage is used by the Church in the Mass of the Immaculate Conception:

The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways,
Before he made any thing from the beginning.
I was set up from eternity, and of old before the earth was made.
The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived,
Neither had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out:
The mountains with their huge bulk had not as yet been established:
Before the hills I was brought forth:
He had not as yet made the earth,
Nor the rivers, nor the poles of the world.
When he prepared the heavens, I was present:
When with a certain law and compass he enclosed the depths:
When he established the sky above,
And poised the fountains of waters:
When he compassed the sea with its bounds,
And set a law to the waters that they should not pass their limits:
When he balanced the foundations of the earth;
I was with him forming all things:
And was delighted every day, playing before him at all times;
Playing in the world:
And my delights were to be with the children of men. (8:22-31)

Solomon also personifies Folly, and imagines both Wisdom and Folly inviting a young man to follow her way: First the personification of Wisdom:

Wisdom hath built herself a house,
She hath hewn her out seven pillars.
She hath slain her victims,
Mingled her wine, and set forth her table.
She hath sent her maids to invite to the tower
And to the walls of the city:
Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me.
And to the unwise she said:
Come, eat my bread,
And drink the wine which I have mingled for you. (9:1-5)

And here is the personification of Folly:

A foolish woman and clamorous, and full of allurements,
And knowing nothing at all,
Sat at the door of her house,
Upon a seat, in a high place of the city,
To call on them that pass by the way,
And go on their journey;
He that is a little one, let him turn to me.
And to the fool she said:
Stolen waters are sweeter,
And hidden bread is more pleasant.
And he did not know that giants are there,
And that her guests are in the depths of hell. (9:13-18)

The Parables of Solomon (Chapters 10-30)

We come now to the main section of the Book of Proverbs, about 400 proverbs, called also parables, because they contain more than just the surface meaning. For the most part they are two line poems or distichs, in opposite or antithetic parallelism. I have picked out just twenty of them to illustrate the wide variety of topics covered.

A golden ring in a swine's snout,
A woman fair and foolish. (11:22)

He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the winds:
And the fool shall serve the wise. (11:29)

He that walketh with the wise, shall be wise:
A friend of fools shall become like to them. (13:20)

He that spareth the rod hateth his son:
But he that loveth him correcteth him betimes. (13:24)

A mild answer breaketh wrath:
But a harsh word stirreth up fury. (15:1)

It is better to be invited to herbs with love,
Than to a fatted calf with hatred. (15:17)

Pride goeth before destruction:
And the spirit is lifted up before a fall. (16:18)

The patient man is better than the valiant:
And he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh cities. (16:32)

Children's children are the crown of old men:
And glory of children are their fathers. (17:6)

It is better to meet a bear robbed of her whelps,
Than a fool trusting in his own folly. (17:12)

Even a fool, if he will hold his peace shall be counted wise:
And if he close his lips, a man of understanding. (17:28)

A brother that is helped by his brother, is like a strong city:
And judgments are like the bars of cities.(18:19)

House and riches are given by parents:
But a prudent wife is properly from the Lord. (19:14)

Say not: I will return evil:
Wait for the Lord and he will deliver thee. (20:22)

It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop,
Than with a brawling woman, and in a common house. (21:9)


Lift not up they eyes to riches which thou canst not have:
Because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle,
And shall fly towards heaven.

My son give me thy heart,
And let thy eyes keep my ways. (23:26)

Who hath woe? whose father hath woe?
Who hath contentions? who falls into pits?
Who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of the eyes?
Surely they that pass their time in wine,
And study to drink off their cups.
Look not on the wine when it is yellow,
When the color thereof shineth in the glass:
It goeth in pleasantly,
But in the end it will bite like a snake,
And will spread poison like a basilisk. (23:29-32)

As the door turneth on its hinges,
So doth the slothful on his bed. (26:14)

Three things are hard to me,
And fourth I am utterly ignorant of.
The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent upon a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man in youth. (30:18-19)

Conclusion (Chapter 31)

The Book of Proverbs closes with Solomon's famous acrostic or alphabetical poem in praise of the Valiant Woman. The Church uses this beautiful poem in the Mass and Office to praise her own "valiant women."

Who shall find a valiant woman?
Far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her.
The heart of her husband trusteth in her,
And she shall have no need of spoils.
She will render him good, and not evil,
All the days of her life.
She hath sought wool and flax,
And hath wrought by the counsel of her hands...
She hath opened her hand to the needy,
And stretched out her hands to the poor.
She shall not fear for her house in the cold of snow:
For all her domestics are clothed with double garments...
Her children rose up, and called her blessed:
Her husband, and he praised her...
Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain:
The woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised. (31:10-30)


********************


4.

ECCLESIASTES


Ecclesiastes is a Greek word meaning preacher. It is from the Greek word Ecclesia which means Church, from which we get our word ecclesiastic. Ecclesiastes means then a preacher in a Church. It is similar to the title of another one of the Wisdom books, Ecclesiasticus, which means a Church book, that is a book to be used in Church. Ecclesiastes, however, was written by Solomon, while Ecclesiasticus was written much later by Jesus of Sirach.

Solomon was one of God's favored souls, and one of the greatest men in the Old Testament. It is one of the great tragedies of Holy Scripture that this chosen soul fell from God's grace in his old age. The story of Solomon's tragic fall is told in the Third Book of Kings:

"And king Solomon loved many strange women besides the daughter of Pharao, and the women of Moab, and of Ammon, and of Edom, and of Sidon, and of the Hethites. Of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel: You shall not go into them, neither shall any of them come into yours: for they will most certainly turn away your heart to follow their gods. And to these was Solomon joined with a most ardent love. And he had seven hundred wives as queens and three hundred concubines: and the women turned away his heart. And when he was now old, his heart was turned away by women to follow strange gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father" (3K 11:1-4).

Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon after his fall, when he was an old man. It is similar in many ways to the Confessions of St. Augustine. The theme of the Confessions is… "Thou hast made us for thyself, O God, and our hearts are restless, till they find rest in thee." The theme of Ecclesiastes is: Man cannot find happiness in this world; he can only find happiness in God.

The Book opens with Solomon stating the problem, the problem of happiness. It is similar to the Book of Job, where the problem was that of justice. Job thought that God had been unjust to him. It is impossible to be happy where there is injustice. Thus Ecclesiastes has a broader theme, but it includes the problem of Job, and ends on a similar note.

The words of Ecclesiastes,
The son of David, King of Jerusalem.
Vanities of vanities, said Ecclesiastes:
Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.
What hath a man more of all his labor,
That he taketh under the Sun? (1:1-2)

As Solomon, now an old man fallen from grace, looks around him, all of God's world which once thrilled him, now seems a place of emptiness and boredom.

One generation passeth away,
And another generation cometh:
The sun riseth, and goeth down,
And returneth to his place:
And there rising again,
Maketh his round by the south,
And turneth again to the north:...
All the rivers run into the sea,
Yet the sea doth not overflow:
Unto the place from whence the rivers come,
They return to flow again.
All things are hard:
Man cannot explain them by word.
The eye is not filled with seeing,
Neither is the ear filled with hearing.
What is it that hath been?
The same thing that shall be.
Nothing under the sun is new,
Neither is any man able to say:
Behold this is new:
For it hath already gone before
In the days that were before us (1:4-10)

He proposes his first solution to the problem of happiness, wisdom. Will great learning and wisdom make a man happy?

I Ecclesiastes was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
And I proposed in my mind to seek and search out wisely
Concerning all things that are done under the sun.
This painful occupation hath God given to the children of men,
To be exercised therein.
I have seen all things that are done under the sun,
And behold all is vanity, and vexation of spirit.
The perverse are hard to be corrected,
And the number of fools is infinite.
I have spoken in my heart saying:
Behold I am become great,
And have gone beyond all in wisdom,
That were before me in Jerusalem:
And my mind hath contemplated many things wisely,
And I have learned. And I have given my heart to know prudence,
And learning and errors, and folly:
And I have perceived that in these also
There was labor and vexation of spirit.
Because in much wisdom there is much indignation:
And he that addeth knowledge, addeth also labor (1:12-14).

He goes on to a second solution, pleasure, but quickly rejects it:

I said in my heart:
I will go and abound with delights,
And enjoy good things.
And I saw that this also was vanity (2:1).

A third solution, wealth:

I made me great works,
I built me houses, and planted vineyards,
I made gardens and orchards,
And set them with trees of all kinds,
And I made me ponds of water,
To water wherewith the wood of the young trees.
I got me menservants and maidservants,
And I had a great family:
And herds of oxen, and great flocks of sheep,
Above all that were before me in Jerusalem:
And I heaped together for myself silver and gold,
And the wealth of kings and provinces:
And I made me singing men and singing women,...
And whatsoever my eyes desired I refused them not:
And I withheld not my heart from enjoying every pleasure,
And delighting itself in the things I had prepared:
And esteemed this my portion, to make use of my own labor.
And when I turned myself to all the works which my hands had wrought,
I saw in all things vanity, and vexation of mind,
And that nothing was lasting under the sun (2:4-11).

As Solomon in his old age looked out over his vast empire, he saw a kingdom on the verge of bankruptcy, and a people on the edge of revolt. His extravagant building program and the luxuriousness of his court, had led him to overtax his people, and force them to labor on his many projects. He was about to leave this uneasy inheritance to his son Roboam, who turned out to be a fool. Roboam on inheriting his father's throne, by his own stupidity, would occasion the revolt of the ten northern tribes, and would preside over the dissolution of all his father's labor.

Again I hated all my application
Wherewith I earnestly labored under the sun,
Being like to have an heir after me,
Whom I know not whether he will be a wise man or a fool,
And he shall rule over all my labors
With which I have labored and been solicitous:
And is there anything so vain? (2:1819).

Solomon then sinks into despair and says cynically:

I said in my heart concerning the sons of men,
That God would prove them,
And shew them to be like beasts.
Therefore the death of man, and of beasts is one,
And the condition of them both is equal:
As man dieth, so they also die:
All things breathe alike,
And man hath nothing more than the beast:
All things are subject to vanity.
And all things go to one place:
Of earth they were made,
And into earth they return together.
Who knoweth if the spirit of the children of Adam ascend upward
And if the spirit of the beast descend downward? (3:18-21)

Holy Scripture is very innocent. It doesn't try to hide anything. You would think that God would try to cover up such a statement. Ecclesiastes, then, is a book that you have to be careful quoting. This is true of much of Holy Scripture. If you quoted Baldad, for instance, speaking in the Book of Job, you would be quoting some bad theology. The Protestants are indeed rash in thinking they can go to Holy Scripture on their own. Holy Scripture requires an authoritative interpreter, the Catholic Church, to teach and explain its difficult passages. There will be many things in Ecclesiastes that will seem to us shocking at first. St. Bonaventure says that the Holy Spirit in this book, is proceeding like a scholastic philosopher presenting all the objections first, and then resolving them at the end.

Solomon then dreams of better days, when he was high in God's favor, and when he wrote the great Book of Proverbs. He repeats some of these earlier proverbs in almost the same words he had originally written them. These sections of course are perfectly quotable and full of hope:

A good name is better than precious ointments:
And the day of death than the day of one's birth.

It is better to go to the house of mourning
Than the house of feasting:
In that we are put in mind of the end of all,
And the living thinketh what is to come.

Anger is better than laughter:
Because by the sadness of the countenance
The mind of the offender is corrected.

The heart of the wise is where there is mourning,
And the heart of fools where there is mirth.

It is better to be rebuked by a wise man,
Than to be deceived by the flattery of fools.

For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot,
So is the laughter of a fool:
Now this also is vanity.

Better is the end of a speech than the beginning.
Better is the patient man than the presumptuous.

Be not quickly angry:
For anger resteth in the bosom of a fool.

Say not: What thinkest thou
That former times were better than they are now?
For this manner of question is foolish (7:2-11).

But Solomon is not going to be satisfied with just dreaming about the good old days. He courageously faces the painful present and future; but his bitterness overwhelms him. He speaks of women who were the occasion of his fall:

And I have found a woman more bitter than death,
Who is the hunter's snare.
And her heart is a net, and her hands are bands.
He that pleaseth God shall escape from her:
But he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her.
Lo this I have found, said Ecclesiastes,
Weighing one thing after another,
That I might find out the account,
Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it.
One man among a thousand I have found,
A woman among them all I have not found (7:27-29).

Solomon proposes another solution to the problem of happiness. Happiness is a passing thing, and man is made for work. Man should grasp every transitory happiness as best he can, and be content with his work. This is all there is to life. This is the solution of most Americans, and indeed of most of the people in the world today. But it is a mediocre solution, and although Solomon will return to it again, he rejects it. Solomon, even in his disgrace, is a great man, and he knows that life has a higher meaning, and man a greater destiny;

Go then and eat thy bread with joy,
And drink thy wine with gladness:
Because thy works please God.
At all times let thy garments be white,
And let not oil depart from thy head.
Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest,
All the days of thy unsteady life,
Which are given to thee under the sun,
All the time of thy vanity:
For this is thy portion in life,
And in thy labor wherewith thou laborest under the sun.
Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly:
For neither work nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge,
Shall be in hell whither thou art hastening (9:7-10).

Solomon is a great artist, and he is presenting himself to an imaginary audience of young men. He now describes his old age, his failing body, and speaks of his approaching death. He is building up to the climax of the Book. He can then present his solution to the problem of happiness, as a last will and testament of a dying man to his children.

Solomon's final speech is a beautiful example of Hebrew poetry. It uses a literary device called synthetic or progressive parallelism. In this literary device, parallel ideas, in this case, expressions of old age, progress to a climax, death. Within this overall progression, there can be other forms of parallelism, in this case, synonymous or similar parallelism. The progression closes with three distichs, or couplets, repeating in one beautiful phrase after another, death:

Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth,
Before the time of affliction come,
And the days draw nigh of which thou shalt say:
They please me not:
Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars be darkened,
And the keepers of the house shall tremble, (the arms)
And the strong men shall stagger, (the legs)
And the grinders shall be idle in a small number, (the teeth)
And they that look through the holes shall be darkened: (the eyes)
And they shall shut the doors in the street, (the ears)
When the grinders voice shall be low, (voice weak and thin)
And they shall rise up at the voice of the bird,
And the daughters of music shall grow deaf, (words of a song)
And they shall fear high things,
And they shall be afraid in the way,
And the almond tree shall flourish, (the hair turns white)
And the locust shall be made fat, (awkward gait)
And the caper tree shall be destroyed: (seasoning useless)
Because man shall go into the house of his eternity,
And the mourners shall go round about in the streets,
Before the silver cord be broken, (death)
And golden filet shrunk back,
And the pitcher be crushed at the fountain,
And the wheel be broken at the cistern,
And the dust return into its earth from whence it was,
And the spirit return to God, who gave it (12:1-7).

Solomon is now ready to present the solution to the problem of happiness. It is hard to believe that it is so short and so simple:

Let us all together hear the conclusion of the discourse.
Fear God and keep his commandments:
For this is all man (12:13).

It is the same solution as the Book of Job. All man can do is to submit to God in humility and Faith, as did Job. God has put into the heart of man a longing for happiness, that nothing on earth can satisfy. There is no alternative but to submit in Faith to God. He alone can fulfill this infinite longing that He has placed in the soul of every man.

The Fathers of the Church have always wondered if Solomon saved his soul. For example, St. Augustine and St. Jerome, as usual disagree. St. Jerome surprisingly on the side of leniency, thinks he did. St. Augustine surprisingly on the side of severity thinks he did not. But I am sure that St. Augustine would say, that if Solomon died in the sentiments we have just seen: "Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is man's all," he probably saved his soul. But we must leave it as Holy Scripture does, God's secret.


*******************

5.

CANTICLE OF CANTICLES


Canticle of Canticles, like Holy of Holies, and King of Kings, is a Hebrew superlative. It means "the most beautiful song." It was the favorite book of many of the Doctors of the Church. St. Bernard of Clairvaux wrote eighty-six sermons on its first two chapters. St. John of the Cross wrote a commentary on it called The Spiritual Canticle; he considered it the highest expression of mystical love. St. Thomas Aquinas was working on a commentary on it at his death. St. Louis Marie de Montfort wrote a commentary on the Wisdom Books, called The Love of the Eternal Wisdom, which we will follow here through the Canticle.

The Canticle of Canticles was written by Solomon in the form of a dramatic poem. Its characters are a bride, a bridegroom, and a chorus of bridesmaids. Its theme is the mutual love between the Divine Wisdom, God, and the chosen soul. The story is told in the form of an allegory, involving many Hebrew wedding customs. A little background in these customs will be helpful. The bridegroom, wearing a diadem, was carried on a litter to the house of the bride. He was accompanied by his friends singing and playing on musical instruments. At the bride's home, the bride and groom sat on thrones. The bride was heavily veiled and accompanied by bridesmaids. Wedding songs were sung in praise of the bride and groom. The wedding procession then proceeded to the house of the groom amid general rejoicing.

The Canticle begins with the bride speaking:

I am black but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
As the tents of Cedar, as the curtains of Solomon (1:4).

The "black," the Doctors tell us, refers to original sin.

Do not consider me that I am brown,
Because the sun hath altered my color:
The sons of my mother have fought against me,
They have made me the keeper in the vineyards:
My vineyard I have not kept (1:5).

The "sons of my mother" are the tendencies to actual sin, concupiscence.

Shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest,
Where thou liest in midday,
Lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions (1:6).

The bride begs the Divine Wisdom, God, to quickly come in spite of her original sin and concupiscence, lest she wander into actual sins. St. Louis Marie in his little book, The Love of the Eternal Wisdom, gives this as the first means to obtain Divine Wisdom, an ardent desire.

The bridegroom comes and calls his bride. This is the vocation of the chosen soul to the life of grace. The bride speaks:

The voce of my beloved,
Behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping over the hills.
My beloved is like a roe or a young hart.
Behold he standeth behind the wall,
Looking through the windows,
Looking through the lattices.
Behold my beloved speaketh to me: (The groom speaks)
Arise make haste, my love my dove,
My beautiful one, and come.
For winter is now past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers have appeared in our land,
The time of pruning is come:
The voice of the turtle is heard in our land:
The fig tree hath put forth her green figs:
The vines in flower yield their sweet smell.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come: (2:8-14)

The bride, the soul, continues to pray, that the groom, the Divine Wisdom, will come and take her for His own:

In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loveth:
I sought him, and found him not. (3:1)

She is praying continually to Him, even on her bed at night. St. Louis Marie gives this as the second means to obtain Divine Wisdom, perseverance in prayer:

I will rise, and will go about the city:
In the streets and the broad ways
I will seek him whom my soul loveth:
I sought him, and I found him not.
The watchmen who keep the city, found me:
Have you seen him whom my soul loveth?
When I had passed by them,
I found him whom my soul loveth:
I held him, and I will not let him go,
Till I bring him into my mother's house,
Into the chamber of her that bore me. (3:2-4)

The bride's love is ardent, but at this early stage, is still selfish. "I held him and I will not let him go."

Solomon now presents himself as the personification of Wisdom and describes his being borne on a litter to the house of his bride. The daughters of Sion, the bridesmaids, run out to meet the procession. Solomon's name means "peaceable, and the bride is called the "Sulamitess," the female form of Solomon's name.

King Solomon hath made himself a litter of the wood of Libanus:
The pillars thereof he made of silver,
The seat of gold, the going up of purple:
The midst he covered with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem.
Go forth ye daughters of Sion,
And see king Solomon in the diadem,
Wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals,
And in the day of the joy of his heart.. (3:9-11)

Solomon praises the beauty of his bride:

My sister, my spouse is a garden enclosed,
A garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up.
Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates
With the fruits of the orchard. Cypress with spikenard.
Spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon,
Myrrh and aloes with all the chief perfumes.
The fountain of gardens: the well of living waters,
Which run with a strong stream from Libanus.
Arise, O north wind, and come O south wind,
Blow through my garden,
And let the aromatical spices thereof flow. (4:12-16)

Notice Solomon's wonderful knowledge of nature, and of all its herbs and flowers. These flowers are figures of the virtues, that God has planted in the soul of His bride. When the wind, the Holy Spirit, blows through this garden, the delightful fragrance draws God to His chosen soul.

But the bride is not yet perfectly prepared for her espousals. We saw that her love was indeed ardent, but still selfish. St. Louis Marie gives as the third means of obtaining Divine Wisdom, universal mortification, or the Cross. God now sends the Cross to His beloved bride:

I arose up to open to my beloved:
My hands dropped with myrrh,
And my fingers were full of the choicest myrrh.
I opened the bolt of my door to my beloved:
But he had turned aside and was gone.
My soul melted when he spoke:
I sought him, and found him not:
I called, and he did not answer me.
The keepers that go about the city found me:
They struck me: and wounded me:
The keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. (5:5-7)

The bride is now perfectly prepared for the divine espousals. Wedding songs are sung in praise of the groom and of the bride. Here is the song in praise of the groom:

My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands.
His head is as the finest gold:
His locks as the branches of palm trees, black as a raven...
His hands are turned and as of gold, full of hyacinths.
His belly as of ivory, set with sapphires.
His legs as pillars of marble,
That are set upon bases of gold.
His form as of Libanus, excellent as the cedars.
His throat most sweet, and he is all lovely:
Such is my beloved, and he is my friend,
O ye daughters of Jerusalem. (5:10-16)

The bridesmaids, the daughters of Jerusalem, add a short refrain in conclusion:

Whither is my beloved gone, O thou most beautiful among women?
Whither is my beloved turned aside,
And we will seek him with thee? (5:17)

The imagery used in describing the groom is taken chiefly from the Temple, the House of God in Jerusalem, the gold, the marble columns, etc., while the imagery used in describing the bride, is taken from the holy land itself, Mount Carmel, Galaad, etc. The Temple is a figure of God, and the land of His people. This beautiful book then celebrates the love of God for His people, the Church. It also celebrates the love of Our Lord for each one of us, the chosen soul, and especially His love for that most chosen soul, our Blessed Lady. Here is the wedding song in praise of the Bride:

I to my beloved, and my beloved to me,
Who feedeth among the lilies.
Thou art beautiful, O my love, sweet and comely as Jerusalem:
Terrible as an army set in array...
Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from Galaad.
Thy teeth as a flock of sheep,
Which come up from the washing, all with twins,
And there is none barren among them...
One is my dove, my perfect one is but one,
She is the only one of her mother,
The chosen of her that bore her.
The daughters saw her and declared her most blessed...
Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising,
Fair as the moon, bright as the sun,
Terrible as an army set in array? (6:2-9)

The Church uses this beautiful song to praise Our Lady, and St. Louis Marie gives this as his fourth and final means of obtaining Divine Wisdom, true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The wedding procession then proceeds to the house of the groom, which is Heaven, where the marriage will be consummated, and the love of the bride and the groom will be eternal:

Who is this that cometh up from the dessert,
Flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?
Under the apple tree I raised thee up:
There thy mother was corrupted,
There she was deflowered that bore thee.
Put me as a seal upon thy heart,
As a seal upon thy arm,
For love is as strong as death,
Jealousy as hard as hell,
The lamps thereof are fire and flames.
The waters cannot quench charity,
Neither can the floods drown it: (8:5-7)

We have seen how the love of the bride was at first ardent, but still selfish. Her love has now become generous and she urges God to share His love with more souls. It is no accident that St. Therese, God's bride, who loved Him so ardently, has been made the Patron of the Foreign Missions. One who truly loves God is apostolic, and wants to share this love with everyone possible. Thus the Canticle of Canticles, the most beautiful song, ends:

Flee away my beloved,
And be like to the roe, and to the young hart,
Upon the mountains of aromatical spices. (8:14)


******************

6.


The Book of Wisdom


Solomon is the author of four of the Wisdom Books. The order we now have them in the Vulgate and the Douay is from St. Jerome, but is probably not the order in which they were originally written. Solomon probably wrote the Canticle of Canticles first, at the time of his espousals to the daughter of Pharao, then the Book of Wisdom when he was still a young man, because it is a book full of joy, optimism, and the high ideals of youth, Proverbs is a little more staid, so it could properly be assigned to middle age, while Ecclesiastes is the work of a disappointed old man.

The Book of Wisdom is the greatest of the Wisdom books, and Catholics have it all to themselves, since it is rejected by the Jews, and by the Protestants, who always follow their lead. The reason given by the Jews is that the Hebrew original has been lost, and it has only come down to us in Greek translation. But the more probable reason is that the book maintains against the exclusive tendencies of the Jews, that Wisdom is for all men including the pagans. Also the book clearly implies the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity.

I Wisdom and the Just (Chapters 1-5)

This first section of the Book treats of the problem of evil, the same problem that is the theme of the Book of Job. It asks the classic question: "Why do the wicked prosper?" Here however, the mood is much different than in the Book of Job. Solomon treats the problem of evil in an almost cheerful manner, and is not crushed by the burden of suffering, as was Job, or weighed down by unhappiness as he would later be in Ecclesiastes.

The wicked speak:

For they have said, reasoning within themselves, but not right:
The time of our life is short and tedious,
And in the end of a man there is no remedy,
And no one hath been known to have returned from hell:
For we are born of nothing,
And after this we shall be as if we had not been:
For the breath of our nostrils is smoke:
And speech is a spark to move our heart. (2:1-2)

Notice the beautiful poetry even in the mouths of the wicked. God can put their case better than they can themselves:

Which being put out, our body shall be ashes,
And our spirit shall be poured abroad as soft air,
And our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud,
And shall be dispersed as mist,
Which is driven away by the beams of the sun,
And overpowered with the heat thereof:
And our name in time shall be forgotten...
Come therefore, and let us enjoy the good things that are present,
And let us speedily use the creatures as in youth.
Let us fill ourselves with costly wine, and ointments:
And let not the flower of the time pass by us.
Let us crown ourselves with roses, before they be withered:
No meadow shall escape our riot.
Let none of us go without his part in luxury:
Let us everywhere leave tokens of joy:
For this is our portion, and this our lot. (2:3-9)

It appears that the only interest of the wicked is in pleasure, but they soon turn in hatred against the just. The "just" here, is any just man, but The Just Man, against whom the wicked will ultimately turn, is Our Lord.

Let us oppress the poor just man,
And not spare the widow,
Nor honor the ancient gray hairs of the aged.
But let our strength be the law of justice:
For that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth.
Let us therefore lie in wait for the just,
Because he is not for our turn,
And he is contrary to our doings,
And upbraideth us with transgressions of the law,
And divulgeth against the sins of our way of life.
He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God,
And calleth himself the son of God.
He is become a censurer of our thoughts.
He is grievous unto us, even to behold:
For his life is not like other men's
And his ways are very different.
We are esteemed by him as triflers,
And he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness,
And he prefereth the latter end of the just,
And glorieth that he hath God for his father. (2:10-16)

The wicked then go on to mock the just one, in almost the very words used by the Jews in mockery of Our Lord on the Cross:

Let us see then if his words be true,
And let us prove what shall happen to him,
And we shall know what his end shall be.
For if he be the true son of God, he will defend him,
And will deliver him from the hands of his enemies.
Let us examine him by outrages and tortures,
That we may know his meekness and try his patience.
Let us condemn him to a most shameful death: (2:17-20)

In the Book of Job, God spoke from the whirlwind, answering Job's complaint about the injustice of his sufferings. God appealed to His Divine Providence in the government of the world. God said in effect: "If I can rule this vast mysterious universe for the good of men, do I not rule your life for your own good?" Job immediately submitted to God in Faith and trust. Solomon gives the same solution here:

But the souls of the just are in the hand of God,
And the torment of death shall not touch them. (3:1)

This is a most beautiful description of the Providence of God. "But the souls of the just are in the hand of God." In the Prologue to the Book of Job we saw a partial solution to the problem of suffering. God permitted Satan to tempt Job as a trial of his virtue. This is called the probative solution to the problem of suffering, and Solomon repeats it here;

In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die:
And their departure was taken for misery:
And their going away from us, for utter destruction:
But they are in peace.
And though in the sight of men they suffered torments,
Their hope is full of immortality.
Afflicted in a few things, in many they shall be well rewarded:
Because God hath tried them,
And found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace he hath proved them,
And as a victim of a holocaust he hath received them,
And in time there shall be respect had to them. (3:3-6)

A false solution to the problem of suffering was given by the three friends of Job. They had maintained that suffering was sent by God as a punishment of sin. God rewarded the just in this life, and also punished the wicked in this life. This solution seems destined to be always with us. It was the solution given in Our Lord's own day by the Pharisees, who said of the man born blind: "Thou wast wholly born in sins." (Jn 9:24) It is also the solution of the Calvinists and other rigorists like the Jansenists, who believe that God rewards them, the just, in this life with wealth and power. They have to "demonstrate abundance" to prove their divine election. From this false position many corollaries flow. Solomon digresses now to dispose of three of these corollaries. The first is that childlessness, was considered a punishment sent by God. St. Joachim, Our Lady's father, would be put out of the synagogue because he was childless. St. Elizabeth said, after she had conceived St. John the Baptist in her old age, "the Lord...hath had regard to take away my reproach among men." (Lk 1:25)

For happy is the barren:
And the undefiled, that hath not known bed in sin:
She shall have fruit in the visitation of holy souls.
And the eunuch that hath not wrought iniquity with his hands,
Nor thought wicked things against God:
For the precious gift of faith shall be given to him,
And a most acceptable lot in the temple of God. (3:11-14)

Solomon, or rather the Holy Ghost, is hinting here at the state of virginity. It was unknown in the Old Testament, but Solomon is almost showing it to be higher than the married state:

O how beautiful is the chaste generation with glory:
For the memory thereof is immortal:
Because it is known both with God and with men.
When it is present they imitate it:
And they desire it when it hath withdrawn itself,
And it triumpheth crowned forever,
Winning the reward of undefiled conflicts. (4:1-2)

The second corollary is that a large family then, is not necessarily a sign of God's favor. The many children of the wicked are an evil brood:

But the multiplied brood of the wicked shall not thrive,
And bastard slips shall not take deep root,
Nor any fast foundation.
And if they flourish in branches for a time,
Yet standing not fast, they shall be shaken with the wind,
And through the force of winds shall be rooted out. (4:3-4)

The third false corollary is that an early death is a punishment from God. In the Book of Job, Baldad, one of Job's friends, said that his ten children had died young because they were evil, and were now in hell. Solomon replies, that an early death is not a sign of God's displeasure, but rather a sign of his favor:

For venerable old age is not that of a long time,
Nor counted by the number of years:
But the understanding of a man is gray hairs.
And a spotless life is old age.
He pleased God and was beloved,
And living among sinners was translated.
He was taken away lest wickedness should alter his understanding,
Or deceit beguile his soul.
For the bewitching of vanity obscureth good things,
And the wandering of concupiscence overturneth the innocent mind.
Being made perfect in a short space,
He fulfilled a long time. (4:8-13)

The Church uses this beautiful passage in the liturgy for many of its young saints. Solomon then goes back to his solution of the problem of evil. The doctrine of divine retribution, the reward of the just and the punishment of the wicked, is not true if it is only applied in this life, as Job's friends applied it. But it is true in the after life; the just will be eternally rewarded and the wicked eternally punished in the life to come. This had only been implied in the Book of Job, and Solomon develops it more fully here. The wicked speak:

These seeing it, shall be troubled with a terrible fear,
And shall be amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation.
Saying within themselves repenting,
And groaning for anguish of spirit,
These are they, whom we had some time in derision,
And for a parable of reproach.
We fools esteemed their life madness,
And their lot is among the saints.
Therefore we have erred from the way of truth,
And the light of justice hath not shined unto us,
And the sun of understanding hath not risen upon us.
We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction,
And have walked through hard ways,
But the way of the Lord we have not known.
What hath pride profited us?
Or what advantage hath the boasting of riches brought us...
Such things as these the sinners said in hell. (5:3-8,14)

II Wisdom and Solomon (Chapters 6-9)

Solomon has just discussed wisdom and the just man, more or less in the abstract. Now begins the second section, where Solomon speaks of himself in particular, and how he obtained wisdom. This Book is very unusual in the Old Testament, in that it is addressed to all the kings of the world. It is almost like an Epistle of St. Paul. Its message is universal, even apostolic. Solomon tells all the kings of the earth, that wisdom is not just the exclusive possession of the Jews, but that it is meant for all men:

Covet ye therefore my words, and love them,
And you shall have instruction.
Wisdom is glorious, and never fadeth away,
And is easily seen by them that love her,
And is found by them that seek her.
She preventeth them that covet her,
So she first sheweth herself unto them.
He that awaketh early to seek her, shall not labor:
For he shall find her sitting at his door.
To think therefore upon her, is perfect understanding:
He that watcheth for her, shall quickly be secure.
For she goeth about seeking such as are worthy of her,
And she sheweth herself to them cheerfully in the ways,
And meeteth them with all providence. (6:2-17)

St. Louis Marie de Montfort, in his little book The Love of the Eternal Wisdom, says that the first means of obtaining Wisdom, is to have an ardent desire for it. Solomon proceeds to say just that:

Wherefore I wished, and understanding was given me:
And I called upon God, and the spirit of Wisdom came upon me:
And I preferred her before kingdoms and thrones,
And esteemed riches nothing in comparison of her...
For this wisdom went before me,
And I know not that she was the mother of them all.
Which I learned without guile,
And communicate without envy,
And her riches I hide not.
For she is an infinite treasure to men!
Which they that use, become the friends of God. (7:7-14)

Solomon then goes on to explain just what he means by Wisdom. St. Thomas Aquinas calls Wisdom, sapida scientia, delectable knowledge, a taste for the things of God. (Pars I, Qu 45, Art 5) Solomon in fine scholastic fashion distinguishes between Wisdom as regards God's creatures, and Wisdom with regard to God the Creator. The gift of Wisdom granted to Solomon by God, had endowed him with an amazing knowledge of God's creatures. This knowledge was not just speculative, but was eminently practical. The study of Wisdom has been called the "practical philosophy" of the Old Testament.

For he hath given me the true knowledge of the things that are:
To know the disposition of the whole world,
And the virtue of the elements,
The beginning, and ending, and midst of the times,
The alterations of their courses, and the changes of the seasons,
The revolutions of the year, and the dispositions of the stars,
The nature of living creatures, and the rage of wild beasts,
The force of winds, and reasonings of men,
The diversities of plants, and the virtues of roots,
For all such things as are hid and not foreseen, I have learned:
For wisdom which is the worker of all things taught me.
For in her is the spirit of understanding:
Holy, one, manifold, subtile, eloquent, active, undefiled,
Sure, sweet, loving that which is good, quick which nothing hindereth,
Beneficent, gentle, kind, steadfast, assured, secure, having all power,
Overseeing all things, and containing all spirits,
Intelligible, pure, subtile.
For wisdom is more active than all active things:
And reacheth everywhere by reason of her purity. (7:17-24)

Solomon then turns to Wisdom Itself, to God. Wisdom is a divine attribute of God, but Catholic theologians appropriate It to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Solomon, or again rather the Holy Ghost, is clearly implying that Wisdom, and God the Father are distinct, hinting at the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity.

For she is a vapor of the power of God,
And a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God:
And therefore no defiled thing cometh unto her.
For she is the brightness of eternal light,
And the unspotted mirror of God's majesty,
And the image of his goodness. (7:25-26)

St. Paul develops this beautiful passage in his Epistle to the Hebrews (1:3), and apples it to the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. The Church uses St. Paul's beautiful exposition very appropriately in the Christmas liturgy. (Epistle for the third Mass of Christmas.) St. Louis Marie de Montfort has given as his second means of obtaining Wisdom, persevering prayer. Solomon tells the kings of the earth, how he had prayed for Wisdom, and how God had heard his prayer:

And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent,
Except God gave it, and this also was a point of wisdom,
To know whose gift it was:
I went to the Lord, and besought him,
And said with my whole heart:
God of my fathers, and Lord of mercy,
Who hast made all things with thy word,
And by thy wisdom hast appointed man,
That he should have dominion over the creature that was made by thee,
That he should order the world according to equity and justice,
And execute justice with an upright heart;
Give me wisdom that sitteth by thy throne. (8:21, 9:1-4)

Here again Solomon is speaking of Wisdom as something distinct from God, and here is a passage similar to that of the opening chapter of the Gospel of St. John (1:3)

And thy wisdom with thee, which knoweth thy works,
Which then also was present, when thou madest the world,
And knew what was agreeable to thy eyes,
And was right in thy commandments. (9:9)

And here is an echo of St. John's, "and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt amongst us." (Jn 1:14):

Send her out of thy holy heaven,
And from the throne of thy majesty,
That she may be with me, and labor with me,
That I may know what is acceptable with thee. (9:10)

Solomon continues with his beautiful prayer, which is considered one of the high points of the Old Testament in language similar to that of St. Paul: "O the depths of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God." (Rom 11:33). St. Paul is considered the ultimate development of the Old Testament Wisdom:

For who among men is he that can know the counsel of God?
Or who can think of what the will of God is?
For the thoughts of mortal men are fearful,
And our counsels uncertain.
For the corruptible body is a load upon the soul,
And the earthly habitation presseth down the mind
That museth upon many things.
And hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth:
And with labor do we find the things that are before us.
But the things that are in heaven, who shall search out?
And who shall know thy thought, except thou give wisdom,
And send thy Holy Spirit from above. (9:13-17)

Solomon ends with a reference to the Holy Spirit. He has mentioned in a veiled manner the three persons of the Blessed Trinity. The Holy Trinity was revealed to the world for the first time by Our Lord, but now it is a delight for us to go back and find it hidden in the Old Testament.

III Wisdom and Israel (Chapters 10-19)

The first section, Wisdom and the Just, had been presented in a somewhat abstract manner; but now Solomon gets down to practical illustrations from history. He speaks of Noe in one short verse:

For whose cause when water destroyed the earth,
Wisdom healed it again,
Directing the course of the just by contemptible wood. (10:4)

The "contemptible wood" is the ark of Noe, but also a prophecy of the wood of the Cross. Solomon repeats this point later for emphasis:

And from the beginning when the proud giants perished,
The hope of the world fleeing to a vessel,
Which was governed by thy hand,
Left to the world seed of generation.
For blessed is the wood, by which justice cometh. (14:6)

The wood of the Cross is indeed blessed because all our graces come to us from it. We will now see some amazing types of the Sacraments. Solomon concentrates on the ten plagues of Egypt. This Book was addressed to the Egyptians among others, and Solomon seems especially anxious to convert them, since Pharao was his father-in-law. He presents seven antitheses showing how God blessed the just, Israel, on the one hand, and punished the wicked, the Egyptians, on the other:

They were thirsty, and they called upon thee,
And water was given them out of the high rock,
And a refreshment of their thirst out of the hard stone. (11:4)

This wonderful miracle