Wisdom
of Solomon 2 and 5
The argument that Wis. 2-5 is closely related
to, and even dependent upon, Ps. 22 is not a novel one. This relationship
manifests itself in at least three ways. First, there are several passages in
Wis. 2-5 that are strong allusions to Ps. 22. Second, Wis. 2-5 shares several
thematic parallels with the psalm, specifically in the situations of the
respective protagonists. Third, by its use of Ps. 22, Wis. 2-5 portrays his
protagonist as a Righteous Sufferer, going even further than the psalm (and
interpreting it?) in explicitly identifying him as 'the righteous one' (ο δικαιος).
In Wis. 2.12 and Wis. 5.4 allusions to Ps.
22.7 are present in the adoption of the language of 'reproach', which shares
the root of ονειδος
(in the psalm) and appears in verb form in 2.12 (ονειδιζω) and in a different noun
form in 5.4 (όνειδισμός). The nature of όνειδίζει as an allusion to Ps. 22.7
may be questioned by the intriguing role reversal portrayed in Wis. 2.12, where
the Righteous Sufferer reproaches his foes, rather than being the object of
reproach. However, Wis. 5.4 returns to a more traditional interpretation of the
passage, where the Righteous Sufferer is reproached by his enemies, as is the
psalmist. Another allusion to Ps. 22 is located in Wis. 2.18, where the
persecutors of the Righteous Sufferer adhere to the same reasoning that the
enemies of the psalmist display in Ps. 22.9:
Wisdom 2.18 εί γάρ έστιν ο δίκαιος υίος
θεου άντιλήμψεται αύτοϋ καί ρύσεται αύτον έκ χειρός άνθεστηκότων
For if the righteous one is son of God, then he will help him and deliver
him from his adversaries.
Psalm 22.9 גֹל אֶל־יְהוָה יְפַלְּטֵהוּ יַצְילֵהוּ ִּי חָפץ
בּּוֹ:
Commit to the Lord; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him for he
delights in him.
LXX Psalm 21.9
ήλπισεν έπι κύριον ρυσάσθω αύτόν σωσάτω αύτόν ότι θέλει αύτόν
He hoped upon the Lord; let him deliver him; let him save him since he delights
in him.
Thus, the enemies of both figures
have the same goal in mind when they persecute the Righteous Sufferer: they
consider this punishment as a type of test for the two figures, and believe
that the absence of deliverance from the Lord indicates that he does not claim
the victim as his own.
There might also be an allusion
to Ps. 22.21 here as well, with the reference to the potential for the
deliverance of the Righteous Sufferer from the 'hand of those who oppose him'.
Similar language is used in LXX Ps. 21.21, where the translators have
interpreted 7 literally as 'hand' rather than 'power'. This verse constitutes a
plea for deliverance from the psalmist's enemies, a request that is answered in
the following portion of the psalm. The allusion to this verse in Wis. 2.18
indicates a correspondence between the 'dog/dogs' of Ps. 22.21 and 17, and the
persecutors of the Righteous Sufferer.
There also exist several thematic
parallels between Wis. 2-5 and Ps. 22. First, the protagonist in each text
experiences persecution at the hands of his enemies, as Wis. 2.12-20 shares the
general 'plot' of Ps. 22.7-9. Second, the suffering of both the psalmist and
the Righteous Sufferer of Wis. 2-5 is considered to have eschatological
ramifications which include his vindication, and this suffering is believed to
be universal in its effect (Ps. 22.28-32; Wis. 3.8; 5.1-5). Third, both
narrations of the opposition that the figures face are told from the
perspective of the enemies in the first person (Ps. 22.9; Wis. 2.10-20).
Considering the previous
discussion in this chapter of the existence of the motif of the Righteous
Sufferer before and during the first century, the presence of 'the righteous
one' as a title for the protagonist of Wis. 2-5 is significant. Even more
important for this study is the fact that the persecution and anticipated
vindication of this Righteous Sufferer is narrated in language that is largely
taken from Ps. 22! This suggests that the writer of Wis. 2-5 regarded the
psalmist as a 'righteous one' as well, and this lends strong support for
interpreting the psalm as the lament and thanksgiving of a Righteous Sufferer
figure. (Holly J. Carey, Jesus' Cry from the
Cross: Intertextual Relationship Between Psalm 22 and the Narrative of Mark's
Gospel [Library of New Testament Studies 398; London: T&T Clark, 2009],
116-17)
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