Random Verse from Wisdom
439 verses across 19 chapters, in the Douay-Rheims. One of the seven books the Catholic Bible carries and the Protestant Bible does not.
But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them.
Wisdom 3:1DRC
Drawing from 439 verses
Wisdom, also called the Wisdom of Solomon, is the most philosophical book in the Catholic Old Testament. It was written in Greek, probably in Alexandria, by a Jewish writer speaking to people surrounded by a culture that found their faith strange.
It has three parts. The first argues that death is not the end for the just, and it contains the passage read at more Catholic funerals than almost any other, Wisdom 3. The second is a long meditation on wisdom herself, written as though describing a person. The third rereads the Exodus story as an argument about how God works.
The writing is unusually beautiful, and it is the closest the Old Testament comes to answering the question that troubles most readers of Job and Ecclesiastes: whether a good life that ends badly was still worth living. Wisdom says yes, and gives reasons.
It is nineteen chapters, and it appears in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles and not Protestant ones. Readers who bounce off the historical books often find this is the deuterocanonical book they stay with.
Because so much of it is sustained argument, a random verse from Wisdom can land mid-thought. When one does, it is worth reading the paragraph around it.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the book of Wisdom in the Bible?
- It is in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. Protestant Bibles do not include it. It is sometimes called the Wisdom of Solomon. The text here is the Douay-Rheims.
- Did Solomon write the book of Wisdom?
- Almost certainly not. It is written in Greek and reflects a much later setting, probably Alexandria in the last century or two before Christ. Attributing a wisdom book to Solomon was a recognised convention rather than a claim of authorship.
- Why is Wisdom 3:1 read at funerals?
- Because it states plainly that the souls of the just are in God's hand and that what looks like destruction from the outside is not. It is one of the clearest statements of hope after death in the Old Testament.