Wisdom of Solomon — Chapter 6
Rulers must seek wisdom
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Greek-source study and notes · III. Wisdom
Authority brings a searching judgment
6:1 Listen, then, kings, and understand;
learn, judges of the ends of the earth.
6:2 Give ear, you who rule a multitude
and boast over crowds of nations;
6:3 for your rule was given you by the Lord,
and your authority by the Most High,
who will examine your works and search out your plans.
6:4 For though you were servants of His kingdom, you did not judge rightly,
nor keep law,
nor walk according to God’s purpose.
6:5 He will come upon you terribly and swiftly,
for a severe judgment falls upon those in high position.
6:6 For the least is pardonable through mercy,
but the powerful will be powerfully examined.
6:7 For the Master of all will not shrink before anyone’s face
or show deference to greatness,
because He Himself made both small and great
and provides for all alike;
6:8 but a forceful inquiry awaits the mighty.
6:9 To you, therefore, rulers, my words are directed,
so that you may learn wisdom and not fall away.
6:10 For those who keep holy things in holiness will be made holy,
and those instructed in them will find a defense.
6:11 Desire my words, then;
long for them, and you will be instructed.
Wisdom welcomes those who seek her
6:12 Wisdom is radiant and unfading;
she is readily seen by those who love her
and found by those who seek her.
6:13 She anticipates those who desire her by making herself known first.
6:14 The one who rises early for her will not grow weary,
for he will find her sitting beside his gates.
6:15 For to reflect upon her is the perfection of understanding,
and the one who keeps watch for her will soon be free from care;
6:16 for she herself goes about seeking those worthy of her,
appears graciously to them on their paths,
and meets them in every thought.
6:17 For her beginning is the truest desire for discipline,
and concern for discipline is love;
6:18 love is the keeping of her laws,
and attention to laws is assurance of incorruption;
6:19 and incorruption brings one near to God.
6:20 Therefore desire for wisdom leads up to kingship.
Wisdom will be openly taught
6:21 If, then, you delight in thrones and scepters, rulers of peoples,
honor wisdom, so that you may reign forever.
6:22 What wisdom is and how she came to be, I will declare,
and I will not hide mysteries from you;
instead I will trace her from the beginning of her origin,
and bring the knowledge of her into the open,
and I will certainly not pass truth by.
6:23 Nor will I travel with wasting envy,
for it will have no share with wisdom.
6:24 A multitude of wise people is the world’s salvation,
and an understanding king is the stability of a people.
6:25 Therefore be instructed by my words, and you will benefit.
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.
6:4 All three failures are expressed by separate negatives.
6:6 The repeated δυνατός language is retained as powerful/powerfully. The first compressed phrase connects pardon with mercy.
6:7 The literal ‘face’ image concerns partiality or fear in judgment.
6:9 Τύραννοι is rendered rulers; the ancient word need not by itself carry every implication of modern ‘tyrants.’
6:10 The repeated ὅσιος word family is preserved. A defense is an answer in the setting of judgment.
6:13 The verb of anticipation and the ‘beforehand’ element of προγνωσθῆναι are both retained.
6:17 The following chain preserves the stated sequence rather than reducing it to a general exhortation.
6:20 Βασιλεία can be kingship or kingdom; kingship suits the address to rulers without excluding the broader royal image.
6:22 The account promises to trace wisdom’s origin; no unexpressed theory of creation or eternal generation is added to the sentence.
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