Wisdom of Solomon — Chapter 3
The righteous in God’s hand
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Greek-source study and notes · III. Wisdom
Their hope is full of immortality
3:1 But the souls of the righteous are in God’s hand,
and torment will certainly not touch them.
3:2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was reckoned a calamity,
3:3 and their going away from us a destruction;
but they are in peace.
3:4 For even if they are punished in the sight of human beings,
their hope is full of immortality;
3:5 and after being disciplined a little, they will receive great benefits,
because God tested them
and found them worthy of Himself.
3:6 Like gold in a crucible He tested them,
and like a sacrificial whole burnt offering He accepted them.
3:7 And at the time of their visitation they will shine out,
and like sparks among stubble they will dart about.
3:8 They will judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them unto the ages.
3:9 Those who trust in Him will understand truth,
and the faithful will remain with Him in love,
for grace and mercy are for His chosen ones.
Ungodliness and the fruit of faithfulness
3:10 But the ungodly will have punishment in keeping with their reasoning—
those who neglected what is righteous and departed from the Lord.
3:11 For the one who despises wisdom and discipline is wretched;
their hope is empty, their labors unprofitable,
and their works useless.
3:12 Their wives are foolish,
and their children wicked;
their offspring is accursed.
3:13 For blessed is the undefiled barren woman,
who has not known a bed of transgression;
she will have fruit at the visitation of souls,
3:14 and the eunuch who has done no lawless deed with his hand
and has not conceived evil against the Lord;
for a choice favor will be given him for his faithfulness,
and a more delightful portion in the Lord’s temple.
3:15 For the fruit of good labors is glorious,
and the root of understanding does not fail.
3:16 But the children of adulterers will not reach fulfillment,
and offspring from an unlawful bed will disappear.
3:17 For even if they become long-lived, they will be reckoned as nothing,
and their old age will be without honor at the end;
3:18 and if they die quickly, they will have no hope,
nor consolation on the day of decision.
3:19 For the ends of an unrighteous generation are harsh.
Source and editorial notes
Working translation preserved from the recovered manuscript of 8 September 2026. Declared source: Septuaginta, Rahlfs–Hanhart, 2006, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, publisher’s Greek main text. Independent linguistic and critical-apparatus review remains outstanding. Source-access and reception claims in the inherited notes have not been freshly revalidated. Chapter and section headings are editorial.
Source numbering retained: chapter 17 ends at 17:20.
3:1 The emphatic negative οὐ μή is retained. The verse speaks of their souls; no additional account of their bodily condition is inserted.
3:3 The first clause continues what the foolish reckoned; the second gives the narrator’s contrary assertion.
3:4 Ἀθανασία is explicitly immortality. The qualification concerns human sight, not a denial of the hope.
3:6 Ὁλοκάρπωμα names an offering wholly consumed; the sacrificial image remains distinct from the preceding metal-refining image.
3:7 Ἐπισκοπή denotes visitation or oversight; its favorable force here follows the testing and acceptance.
3:8 Both their judging and the Lord’s reign over them are explicit.
3:9 The declared main text ends with ‘His chosen ones’; no additional visitation clause is inserted here.
3:10 Τοῦ δικαίου can refer to what is right or to the righteous person. ‘What is righteous’ is adopted; the alternative remains a review question.
3:11 The source changes from singular ‘the one’ to plural ‘their’; the shift is retained.
3:12 The severe description belongs to the passage’s contrast of ungodliness and righteousness. It is not expanded into a general claim about every family circumstance.
3:13 The blessing directly overturns the assumption that childbearing alone establishes a favorable lot.
3:14 The explicit eunuch is not reduced to an unspecified childless person. The comparative θυμηρέστερος, ‘more delightful,’ is retained.
3:16 Ἀτέλεστα means incomplete or unfulfilled; the following verses contemplate both long and short lives, so the phrase is not restricted to dying in infancy.
3:18 Διάγνωσις denotes a determination or judicial decision.
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