Wisdom of Solomon — Chapter 4
Virtue, early death, and final judgment
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Greek-source study and notes · III. Wisdom
Virtue outweighs a multitude of descendants
4:1 Better is childlessness with virtue,
for immortality is in its remembrance,
because it is recognized both by God and by human beings.
4:2 When it is present, people imitate it,
and when it has departed, they long for it;
throughout the age it marches crowned in triumph,
having won the contest for undefiled prizes.
4:3 But the prolific multitude of the ungodly will be of no use;
from illegitimate shoots it will not send a root deep down,
nor establish a secure foundation.
4:4 For even if it flourishes in branches for a time,
standing insecurely, it will be shaken by wind
and uprooted by the force of winds.
4:5 Unfulfilled branches will be broken off,
and their fruit will be useless, unripe for eating,
and fit for nothing.
4:6 For children born from unlawful unions
are witnesses of wickedness against their parents at their examination.
A righteous life is measured by understanding
4:7 But if a righteous person comes to death early, he will be at rest.
4:8 For honorable old age is not length of time,
nor is it measured by a number of years;
4:9 rather, understanding is gray hair for human beings,
and an unstained life is the maturity of old age.
4:10 Having become pleasing to God, he was loved,
and while living among sinners he was transferred.
4:11 He was snatched away, lest evil change his understanding
or deceit mislead his soul;
4:12 for the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good,
and the wandering of desire alters an innocent mind.
4:13 Having been brought to completion in a short time, he fulfilled long years;
4:14 for his soul was pleasing to the Lord;
therefore he hastened from the midst of wickedness.
Yet the peoples saw and did not understand,
nor set such a thing in their minds:
4:15 that grace and mercy are among His chosen ones,
and visitation among His holy ones.
The judgment of those who despised the righteous
4:16 But a righteous person who has died will condemn the living ungodly,
and youth brought swiftly to completion will condemn the many-year old age of an unrighteous person.
4:17 For they will see a wise person’s end
and will not understand what the Lord planned concerning him
or for what purpose He kept him safe.
4:18 They will see and despise,
but the Lord will laugh them to scorn.
4:19 And afterward they will become a dishonored corpse
and an object of outrage among the dead forever;
for He will dash them down headlong, speechless,
and shake them from their foundations;
they will be laid utterly waste,
and will be in anguish,
and their remembrance will perish.
4:20 They will come in dread at the reckoning of their sins,
and their lawless deeds will confront and convict them.
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.
4:1 The feminine pronoun can relate to the preceding childlessness-with-virtue or to virtue itself. The following personification makes virtue prominent; the English leaves the reference open.
4:2 The source personifies virtue with feminine forms. English ‘it’ does not identify that personification with a named divine person.
4:4 The singular plant image continues the preceding multitude and its offspring.
4:6 ‘Unlawful unions’ renders the literal ‘unlawful sleeps.’ The children function as witnesses against the parents; the translation does not reverse that direction.
4:7 Φθάνω gives the sense of reaching the end ahead of the expected time; the following contrast concerns old age.
4:10 The source does not name the righteous person. The transfer language may invite comparison with a known righteous figure, but no name is inserted into the translation.
4:12 Βασκανία evokes a bewitching or malign fascination. Ῥεμβασμός is wandering or distraction; the exact psychological image is retained provisionally.
4:13 Completion and length of life are deliberately distinguished.
4:14 The verb ‘hastened’ has the righteous person as its natural subject; the translation does not add God as the grammatical agent of that verb. The following verse supplies what the peoples failed to grasp.
4:15 Ὅσιοι is rendered holy ones; it describes those devoted to God without importing a later canonization process.
4:16 Καμών, literally worn out or having labored, is understood in the death context. The second ‘will condemn’ supplies the verb shared with the first clause.
4:19 The Greek shifts from plural persons to the singular collective image ‘a dishonored corpse.’ The violent and architectural images are both retained.
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