Wisdom 17
17
Wisdom of Solomon 17
Terror Strikes the Egyptians at Night
1 #
Ex 6.6; 7.4 Great are your judgments and hard to describe;
therefore uninstructed souls have gone astray.
2 #
vv 16, 17
; Ex 10.22, 23; Wis 18.4For when lawless people supposed that they held the holy nation in their power,
they themselves lay as captives of darkness and prisoners of long night,
shut in under their roofs, exiles from eternal providence.
3 #
Isa 29.15
For thinking that in their secret sins they were unobserved
behind a dark curtain of forgetfulness,
they were scattered, terribly#17.3 Other ancient authorities read unobserved, they were darkened behind a dark curtain of forgetfulness, terribly alarmed
and appalled by specters.
4 #
Job 15.21; Ps 78.49 For not even the inner chamber that held them protected them from fear,
but terrifying sounds rang out around them,
and dismal phantoms with gloomy faces appeared.
5 #
Ezek 32.7, 8 And no power of fire was able to give light,
nor did the brilliant flames of the stars
avail to illumine that hateful night.
6 #
Deut 28.65–67
Nothing was shining through to them
except a dreadful, self-kindled fire,
and in terror they deemed the things that they saw
to be worse than that unseen appearance.
7 #
Ex 7.11, 12; 8.7, 18, 19; Wis 18.13 The delusions of their magic art lay humbled,
and their boasted wisdom was scornfully rebuked.
8For those who promised to drive off the fears and disorders of a sick soul
were sick themselves with ridiculous fear.
9 #
Wis 11.15
For even if nothing disturbing frightened them,
yet, scared by the passing of wild animals and the hissing of snakes
10they perished in trembling fear,
refusing to look even at the air, though it nowhere could be avoided.
11 #
Rom 2.15
For wickedness is a cowardly thing, condemned by its own testimony;#17.11 Meaning of Gk uncertain
distressed by conscience, it has always exaggerated#17.11 Other ancient authorities read anticipated the difficulties.
12For fear is nothing but a giving up of the helps that come from reason,
13and hope, being weaker, prefers ignorance of what causes the torment.
14 #
Eccl 9.10
But throughout the night, which was really powerless
and which came upon them from the recesses of powerless Hades,
they all slept the same sleep
15 #
vv 3, 8
; Mt 14.26; Lk 21.26and now were driven by monstrous specters
and now were paralyzed by their souls’ surrender,
for sudden and unexpected fear overwhelmed them.
16 #
Ex 10.23
And whoever was there fell down
and thus was kept shut up in a prison not made of iron;
17 #
Wis 18.4; 19.17 for whether they were farmers or shepherds
or workers who toiled in the wilderness,
they were seized and endured the inescapable fate,
for with one chain of darkness they all were bound.
18 #
Song of Thr 27
Whether there came a whistling wind,
or a melodious sound of birds in wide-spreading branches,
or the rhythm of violently rushing water,
19 #
Ps 53.5
or the harsh crash of rocks hurled down,
or the unseen running of leaping animals,
or the sound of the most savage roaring beasts,
or an echo thrown back from a hollow of the mountains,
it paralyzed them with terror.
20 #
v 17
; Ex 10.23For the whole world was illumined with brilliant light
and went about its work unhindered,
21 #
Ex 10.22; Job 18.18; Mt 8.12; 2 Pet 2.17; Jude 13 while over those people alone heavy night was spread,
an image of the darkness that was destined to receive them,
but still heavier than darkness were they to themselves.
Currently Selected:
Wisdom 17: NRSVUE
Highlight
Copy
Compare
Share
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.