Wisdom, book of

i. Title.— The title (roipia SaXwM'ij'os rests upon the circumstance that the book in several pa.ssages, particularly chs. 7-9 (cf. esp. y") claims to be the words of king .Solomon, who passed in general for the patron of didactic composition, as David did of lyric. In like m.anner tlie canonical Book of Proverbs received the title ' Proverbs of Solomon ' (.t::'S.;' '^^f-.:), although in 30, 31' other composers of oracles are also introduced as authors.

Of Solomon's kingly wisdom we hear in 1 K 3'-". In Sir 47', '8(i-'-i») he is celebrated as one Avho filled the earth with dark sayings, songs, parables, and apophtliegms, as well as with inter- iiretations which evoked the admiration of all lands. Also in Qoheleth he is regarded as the real founde/ of the schools of wisdom (Ec 1'^), and even the sayings of this book are in a way attributed to him as their legendary author (see Siegfried, Pre- differ, p. 1 f.)

'The author of the Book of Wisdom appears to have been moved by a definit* polemical ami in opposition to the Hook of Qoheleth, when he chose Solomon as the representative of his views. In I'O-o-" he assails with remarkable vehemence the opinions of unorthodo.x Jews, who incline partly to Stoicism, partly to Epicureanism. These opmions correspond e.xactly to those put forward in the Book of Ecclesiastes.

He reproaches these men with their pessimism, in which they in a manner ' called death unto them by their hands and their words' (Wis 1'"), consumed themselves Avith longing after this friend, and made a covenant with iiiin iib.) According to their pen'erted judgment, life is short and sorrowful (2'' ; cf. Ec 6''' 2^- S'M'"-). Man has no remedy against death, and none can release from Hades (2""; cf. Kautzsch, Apokr. i. 482). The breath of our nostrils (cf.

Gn 2') is but as a smoke that ascendeth ; thought (6 \l>yoi) is a spark kindled by the beating of the heart [the ancients liad no idea of the functions of the brain], and, when this is extinguished, the body is turned into a.shes, and the animating breath is dissipated in the air. Then even the recollection of us fades quickly (2'-« ; cf. Ec 2'8 9^"). Our life is like the passing of a shadow (2' ; cf. Ec 6'^).

Hence from ihese circles of thought c mies the Epicurean call to enjoy the good things of this life as long as they are within our reacli. — Further, there are expres- sions here and there in Wisdom which recall the late Hebraisms peculiar to Ecclesiastes : e.g. picpls. Wis •2'^ = p'7- of Ec 2'" 3-'- in the sense of ' fruit of toil,' 'reward'; naTaoi'vaurTdeiy, Wis 2'", cf. f;'J Ec 4', 3 abt 8' (cf. Farrar, Apocr. i. 404").

To this unbelieving Solomon our author opposes a genuinely Jewish, pious, orthodo.x Solomon. — That the words of the book are those of the historical king Solo- mon, our author does not mean to assert, nor could the readers of his time have supposed this to be the case.

The Muratorian canon pronounces the Book of Wisdom to be ' a work composed in his honour by friends of Solomon' (ab amicis Salomoni-a in honorcm ipsius scripta) ; Clement of Alexandria, it is true, cites sayings from our book as words of Solomon, but also as those of ao(pla ; Origen and Cjprian use the book as canonical, but Origen is doubtful of its authenticity (^ iTnyeypaiiiiivri 'ZoKop.wvToi ffo(pla, adv. Cels. v. 29).

Jerome and Augustine give up the Solomonic authorship (see Schurer, GJV^ iii. 381 f.) ii. Language. — D. S. Margoliouth attempted [JRAS, Apr. 1890, pp. 263-297) to prove a Heb. original for the Book of Wisdom.* But, in spit« of certain phenomena wliich at first sight favour this theory, J. Freudenthal {JQE, July 1891, pp. 722-753) has conclusively shown that both the speech and the form of thought in our book plainly point to a Greek original.

Hebraizing expressions are employed by the author because he found these in the LXX, and because he was himself a Jew (cf. Farrar, 404'', 405"; Grimm, Apokr. 6" Lieferung, pp. 5, 8) ; but these expressions do not justify the conclusion that the worli was originally composed in Hebrew. — The Greek of the book is indeed not always correct. Our autlior at times gives words a moaning which is not usual in classical literature (cf. Farrar, 405').

To this category belong expressions which are particularly characteristic of the Platonic or the Stoic philo- sophy (Farrar, 407*; Grimm, 19) ; compound adjec- tives, which appear to be in part of tlie author's own coining (Farrar, I.e. ; for similar phenomena in Philo see Siegfried, Philo von Alcxandrin, 1874, pp. 46 f., 135).

The author shows himself to be also well read in Greek poetry (Farrar, 405'', 406 ; Grimm, 7) ; he imitates Greek figures of speech (according to Farrar, 405'', 406, and Grimm, I.e.), although not always with success (Farrar, 406*). Regarding the influence which the Greek of the Book of Wisdom exercised upon the NT, cf. Farrar, p. 408. Our author reveals also an acquaintance with Greek culture, art, and science ; in particular, he displays a knowledge of astronomy and natural history (cf.

7"''"), makes reflexions on the origin of idolatry (13'-» 14'»'- 15'"-), etc. Towards the end of his book his creative power gets exhausted, and he begins to repeat himself (II*^', cf. chs. 16-19). His language, too, degenerates into rhetorical bombast. iii. General Character of the Book.

— In spite of our author's familiarity with Greek culture, and the profundity of his studies, especially in the Platonic and the Stoic philosophy, which may be detected both in his language (Farrar, 407') and his world of ideas (Grimm, 19 f.), he was far from feeling, like Josephus and Philo, hampered by his Jewish faith, and far from seeking, like the former, to embellish it with Hellcnizing graces, or, like ♦ His treatineuL of this book in the Expositor (Feb.

-Marck 1900) can hardly be taken seriouslv. ■\NaSDOM, BOOK OF WISDOM, BOOK OF 929 the latter, to make it more acceptable to the educated classes by allegorizing^ e.xplanations. Besides, he felt himself, aa a worshipper of the true God, too far raised above all idolaters (13'°- 14") for this, and too much embittered a;:ainst those of his countrymen who had allowed them- selves to be turned by Greek philosophy away from their ancestral rclij,'ion to free-thought and immorality (l'*-2^).

His Jewish temper shows itself even in the ontwani form of his work, to which hestrove with all diligence to give a genuine biblical colouring. We have seen already (p. 92S'') how closely he attached himself to the LXX and its Hebraisms. Although ho is capable of imitat- ing the artistic periodic structure of the Greeks (cf. 12-'' IS'"- "•'•), he prefers as a rule the simple Hebrew fashion of clauses connected without par- ticles (cf. Grimm, p. 13).

He seeks also, at least in the greater part of 1, 12'*, by imitating the Heb. parallelism, to make his book approximate as closely as possible to his model, the Book of Proverbs. iv. The Aim of the Book.— The author's zeal for the Jewish religion, and his ortliodoxy, are still more evident in the aim of the Book of Wisdom. The Judaism of his time and environ- ment found itself sorely press(?d both from with- out and from ■within, and tliis in proportion to its faithfulness (2'"- '■-■■-»).

It was weakened {3">-'- ^ub-LO) i,y internal dissensions and by apostasy, particularly, it would appear, on the part of the wealthy and inlluential classes (5"). In addition, it was continually threatened by the spiritual force of Greek culture and philosophy (2'*-). In face of these dangers, the author seeks to provide a sure hold for tlie professors of the Jewish faith.

It is quite intelligible tliat, face to face with these Hellenized Jews who 'sought alter wisdom' (1 Co 1^), he felt himself moved to'procl.aim the Jewish religion as the true Wisdom, and to make the notion of <ro(pla the centre of his discourse. The choice of this notion was specially happy, because within its sweep could be brought all that the Greek pliilosophy contained of truth and all that the 01 taught about Hokhma. We lind, accord- ingly, that the author drew from all these sources.

Platonic is his doctrine of amorphous matter (11"), of the central ideas (13' 6 Civ), of the pre-existence of the soul (8''), of the body as hindering eleva- tion to the divine (9'° ; in the expressions /Sapwci, PplSft, and 7fu)5fs there are points of contact with Plato's Ph'Ech, 87'') ; he I'latonizes also in his doctrine of the four cardinal virtues (8'). Stoic is his conception of Wisdom as the all-pervading power (T"'").

On the other hand, his doctrine of Wisdom as an attribute of God is based wholly upon Pr 8. 9. He thinks of Wi.sdom as immanent in God, as something belonging to the Divine essence (7-"), but, on the other hand, also as some- thing independent, existing side by side with God {''" 8^ 9\ cf. Pr 8**), so that he frequently personifies Wisdom (1' 8' 10'"). In one point, however, his concention dillers from that of Proverbs.

While, according to Pr 8^''<, at the creating of the things in heaven and earth God alone was active, and Wisdom was simply an onlooker (v.", cf. above, p. 925*), in tlie Book of Wisdom (8'"') she is oiperr)! rCiv IfTfav ai-Toii {sc. toD dcoO), and makes a selection among God's works, i.e. slie determines which of the works whose idea God has formed are to be actually carried out (Grimm).

She is an emana- tion from God (7^), therefore free from all stains, and she pervades all things (1' 7"), without being in any way infected with tlio imperfect ions inherent in them : because she is ' more mobile than any motion,' it is impossible for any of the inijiurities which belong to things to attacli to her. — On the relation of the Wisdom of Solomon to Philo cf. VOL. IV. — iJO Menzel, De Gr(Bcis in libris n'jnp et (rorpla vcstigiis, 1858, p. 66 ; Ed. Konig, Einl. in d.

AT, Bonn, 1893, p. 489 ; Soulier, La doctrine du logos chez Philon, 1876, p. 162 f.— But, as in Pr 8=' 9'"-, tlie special object of interest to Wisdom is man (Wis 723- »?<«'). Penetrating into the human understanding, sh» gives birth to all varieties of theoretical know ledge (8"- "), particularly in the realm of theology, because she is initiated into the knowledge of God (8^).

She communicates the inspiration of the prophets (8 9"), but also the knowledge of earthly things in the sphere of history (8''), astronomy, chronology, natural science (7''"^"), art (7"''' ; cf. Ezk 18^). But in the practical sphere as well Wisdom is tlie best counsellor of man, for from her comes all morality and virtue (l"-7^8'; cf. Pr 8'2- i8-*>->i-3«). See, further, Karrar, p. 420. V. Contents of the Book. — (a) The first section (chs.

1-5) describes the contlict which the Divine Wisdom has constantly to carry on with the godless wisdom of the world, and tlie victory to wliich she leads those who surrender tlicmselves to her. In the first place (ch. 1) the author addresses himself apparently, in quite a general exhortation, to all rulers and authorities in the world.

But as in what follows he deals not with public conditions or the duties of rulers, but with purely inward physico-ethical developments, it is natural to suppose that he has in view not heathen rulers, liut powerful and influential personages in his Jewish environment, who, as is evident from ji« 2'"-, liad apostatized from their religion and attached themselves to the heathen Government.

How high in those days suili men might some- times rise may be seen from the case of the Jewish noble Tiberius Alexander, who a little later was nominated Imperial .administrator (alabnrch) of the whole of the so-called Arabian side of the Nile (Schiirer, GJK' iii. 490). It was only such rulers, of Jewish descent, that our author could hope to reach with his words ; he could scarcely expect to be read by heathen ones.

The description con- tained in lii'-2-° suits, moreover, only such ai)ostate powerful Jews. Greek philosophy, particularly Epicureanism, had estranged them from their religion (2''°), and the practical consequences of the new frivolous view of life had speedily shown themselves in abandonment to sensualism and im- morality (2'''"). To these men their fellow-country- men who remained true to their religion were a genuine stone of stumbling.

The life of the latter, with its piety and fidelity to the Law, caused tliem secret shame, and was a constant prick to their conscience. This drove them to hatred and bitter persecution of the 'righteous' (2"'"'''"). The author now faces these apostates like a prophet of rebuke, and exposes the vanity of their whole conduct in the passage 2-'-5-'*.

Wholly ensnared by earthly things, tliey have no idea that man, formed after the image of God, has an eternal destiny (2-'"^), whose form is only decided in the world beyond (3' iv Katiti^ ^iriirkoTrijs ' on the day of visitation'; v.'"" ^tt' icrxdruv, iv rjij^ipq. diayvuaeat; v.'"'

'at the final decision' [the statement varies, it is true, in regard to some points : in 4""'' it is a judgment carried out in the next world after death, in 5""^ it is one that takes place in this world in eschatological times]). Then shall it be manifested whoso life was the truly jirofitablo one. The ungodly, i.e. those Jews who have despised the Law (3'° 4*" 5'), with tlieir wliolo brooa, are exposed in their nothingness (ijix-'a-io-io 4i>-6.

i»-»)_ They themselves shall confess their mistake with bitter but vain repentance (5^""). Tlie righteous, on tlio oilier hand, who kept by the Law, shall reap the fruit of their strivings (3""" 4"- 5'- '"'■), anci BJiall pronounce judgment on the ungodly (4" 5").

The author incidentally controverts the old 930 WISDOM, BOOK OF WISDOM, BOOK OF Jewish doctrine that premature death is a si^n of impiety (Ps 50" 102-'^), holding that it is so only in the case of tlie wicked (3'*'-), hut not in that of the righteous, whose sulferings are meant simply to try them, and whose death is a rapture to perfect bliss (:5'-» 4'-" 5>- '"•). (6) The second section (cha. 6-9) sets forth the great advantages of Wisdom.

The author here attaches his words in the first instance to the exhortation of I'"" to rulers, on whom he urges (a) in ti''" that they in particular are bound in quite a special way to seek after Wisdom, and that they will be held specially responsible if they have ruled without it. Such conduct is all the more culpable, seeing that (/3) Wisdom is so easily accessible and so ready to meet those that seek her, 6'^-^.

This is followed by (7) 7'-8', a descrip- tion which Solomon from his own experience gives of the nature of Wisdom ; and (5) 8-'-' an account by the same king of how he came to attach him- self to Wisdom as a life companion ; and tlie whole closes with (e) 9'"'* Solomon's prayer for Wisdom.

(c) The third section (lO'-iy-") recounts, tinally, the wonders wrought by Wisdom in the history of Israel : (a) in the period from Adam to Moses, specially down to the passage of the Red Sea, 10'- 11' ; (/3) during the wilderness wanderings, IP- 12-''. This is followed by some general observa- tions (7) on the folly of the Wi.sdom, forsaken heathen, who have given themselves over to the worship of natural forces and images of gods, as contrasted with the Israelites who obey Wisdom, ehs.

13-15 ; and (5) on the remarkable providences of God, whereby the animal-worshipping Egyptians were punished by means of the very same animals which brought deliverance to the Israelites ; in which connexion other instances of contrast be- tween the lot of the Egyptians and the Israelites are also insisted upon. vi. Progress in the Development op re- ligious Doctrine in the Book of Wisdom.

— (a) In the doctrine of God the central point in the religious system of this book is the tliought that the Divine essence is love. Whereas the canonical OT regarded Jahweh by preference as the Lord of His creatures, who, according to His pleasure, called these into being by His breath, and who by withdrawing that breath causes them to perish (Ps 104-»-'"'), in the Book of Wisdom Jahweh is full of love to all His creatures, and upholds and spares them because He has pleasure in all that lives.

Even the wicked, to whom He gives every oppor- tunity to repent {rdiroy /xerai/oiai, 12'", cf. He 12"), God seeks to s])are as long as possible. Alongside of this the author's inclination towards Jewish par- ticularistic notions shows it.self. God is Father only in relation to the Jews, to the heathen He is Ruler. Sufferings are to the former fatherly chas- tisement and have an educative value ; in the case of the latter they are an expression of anger and a sign of judgment (11'- '").

(6) In his anthropoloqy the author Insists pre- eminently upon individual immortality. Of this the canonical 01' knew nothing, its point of interest lying merely in the continuance of the Seople of Israel and the consummating of the king- om of (iod amongst them. Hut the Book of Wisdom recognizes that man, i.i:.

tlie individual, was created for incorruption (2^ 0" 12') ; in par- ticular, the righteous live for ever (u'*) ; the know- ledge of the power of God is the root of im- mortality (15^).

It is true that the conception of immortality vacillates between that of a continued personal existence and that of a survival in the memory of posterity (8'^), or even between the first conception and that of the ideal coiiiimniity of life with Wisdom (8"), which the righteous enjoy even here during their earthly existence. On the other hand, a future judgment for th« wicked is presupposed in 4™, following up the OT conception of a mockery of the dead in Sheol (4", cf. Is U'""-).

See, further, Farrar, p. 409. (c) In the soteriologu of the book, the late pro- phetic expectation or a personal Messiah, the Servant of the Lord, recedes. 'I he author knows Him neither as vicarious suHerer nor as deliverer of His people. The Messianic glory consists in the establishment of a kingdom of Jahweh which shall rule over the heathen (3") ; the righteous exercise personally this sway upon earth (5'''), as happened formerly with Solomon by God's command (8').

On the attitude of the rest of the Apocryphal books to this question cf. Farrar, 410, esp. note 3. — Our author maintains rigidly the Jewish doc- trine of retribution (ot' Civ tij a/iaprdvet 5id tovtiiiv /toXaferai, 11'). But his method of expounding this dogma is new. He seeks to show that even the form of punishment corresponds exactly to the sin committed.

The Egyptians worshipped animals, therefore they were also punished by means of animals, nay the very animals which they adored (11" 15'^ 16'). They sinned iu con- nexion with water by casting the newly -bom children of the Hebrews into the Nile (11*), there- fore they were also punished by means of blood- red water (ib,). vii. INTIOGRITY OF THE BoOK. — The work i» evidently the well, arranged product of a single author.

On now defunct hypotheses, which found in it the work of a number of different hands, see Grimm, pp. 9-15, aiul Farrar, p. 415'. Its in- tegrity, too, may in general be admitted (Grimm, 15 f.) Only the conclusion (ig'*"^) gives the im- pression of aliruptness. Although in general the author's intention is successfully carried out in depicting the wonderful guidance of Israel by Wisdom from the Exodus onwards (Grimm), yet the theme started in v.'

* appears to require some- what fuller treatment between v.^' and v.^, so that the traditional text is here defective. viii. Authorship. — As to the personality of the author various suggestions have IJeen offered. The book has been attriliuted to Solomon by Clem. Alex. [Slrom. vi. 120 ff.), Tertullian, Hippolytus (ed. Lagarde, p. 66), et al.; to Philo by Jerome, Luther, Joh. Gerhard, et al. For these and other conjectures see (irimni, pp. 16-26; Farrar, 412-415'.

In view of their untenable character, we consider that we m.ay dispense with a closer examination of them. The probabilities are in favour of an Egyptian Jew who had received a Greek educa- tion but had remained true to the Law. His description of Epicureanism, to which many Jews had apostatizeil (2'"-), apjiears to have been derived partly from tjoheletli. For his further acquaint- ance with the works of Greek philosophers see above, p. 92S''.

The beauty of the works of Greek plastic art found him as unimpressionable as St. Paul (Ac 17'). Sculptors and painters are to him lovers of evil, and their work is unprofitable (15'") ; works of sculpture are to him nothing but idols (14'"). He has Euhemeristic notions of the motives that led to the making of them (14"-)- That he was not a Palestinian but an Alexandrian Jew, is shown by his allusions to the Egyptian animal-worship (15'"- " 16'").

Greek images of the gods (15-"') might then be seen even in Egyi)tian cities. In favour of the view that the author lived in Alexandria, is the circumstance that both a Greek and a Jewish population were settled there, and that his culture was derived from both these quarters. ix. Date. — F'or the date of the Book of Wisdom, the terminus a quo is the Greek tran.slation of the Bible (c. 250 B.C.), the terminus ad quern the un- questionable acquaintance of St.

Paul with the WISDOM, BOOK OP WIST, WIT, WOT, WITTY 931 book (cf. Grafe, ' Das Verhaltniss der paulin. Suhriften zur Sap. Salom.' in Theol. Abkandlungen C. V. }Vei:sdr/:er zu s. 70 Geburtstage geu-idmet, Freiburg, 1892, p. 251 if., where in particular the autlior establishes St. Paul's dependence upon the book in regard to the doctrine of predestination, the condemnation of the heathen, and the con- ception of the relation of soul and body).

Keseni- blances to the book or influences from the same quarter are discoverable also in the Epistle to the Hebrews (cf. He P « iUi \Vis 7-«, He 4" with Wis "i^"- etc.) The most recent attempts to lix the date vary up and down between 150 u.C. and 40 A.D. (cf. Farrar, 420''-422*). The position wiiich the author assumes in the development of Alex- andrianism prior to I'hilo (cf. Siegfried, Philo von Alex. 22-24) is in favour of placing him between B.C. 100 and 50. Kuenen {Hist.-crit.

Onderzoek, § 105'°), it is true, will have it that the book was not composed till the time of Gains Caligula, X. Text. — The Text is best preserved in cod. Vaticanus (B) ; it is very good also in cod. Siuaiticus (s or S), as well as in the fragments of cod. Ephra?mi rescriptus (C) ; it is less satis- factory in cod. Alexandrinus (A) and, with the exception of the excellent cod. 68, in 10 cursives. Swete (OT in Greek, vol. ii., C.imh. 1891, 2nd ed. 1897, pp.

604-643) uses B in gener:il as tlie basis of his text, but gives in footnotes all tlie variants of N (S), A, and C. O. F. Fritzsche in his Libri apocryphi V.T. grace, Lipsife, 1871, gives not only the variants of the above MSS but also those of cod. Venetus (HP 23), etc., as well as tho.se de- rived from the cursives and the Versions. W. J. Deane {The Book of WMom, Oxford, 1881) agrees almost entirely with Fritzsche. Noteworthy emendations are to be found in Grimm iij>.

Fritzsche, in Grimm, Knf. exi'get. Hdb. zu den Apokr. 6" Lieforung (Lpzg. 1860), and in F. W. Farrar in ' Speaker's Com.' Apocryn/ia, i. (London, 1888) 403-534, as well as in H. Bois, E.isai sur lea origines de la philusophie jud6o, alexandrine (Toulouse, 1890), p. 378 f. xi. Versions. — Of the Versions, the Vetus Latinus of Jerome was taken over unaltered into the Vulgate, in the Books of Sirach and Wisdom. The Latin text of the two Wisdoms from the cod.

AmiatinuB was critically edited for the Wisdom of Solomon by de Lngarde in MittcUungcn, Bd. i. 24.3-284.— Of the Syriac Versions, the I'eshitta recension was publi.slied in de Lagarde's Lihri apoc. V.T. Syridce, Lips. 1861 ; another recension in Ceriani's edition of the cod. Ambros. sajc. vi. (Milan, 187611.) ; cf. Nestle in Urtcxl u. Uhersetz- ungcn der Dibcl (a reprint of the art. in PRE'), p. 230 ; Kyssel in Kautzsch's Apokr. und Pseud- epigr. d. AT, i. 250-254.

— On the Armenian literal Version, the so-called Meoliilar Bible, A'^enice, 1805, cf. Nestle, I.e. pp. 155-157 ; also PRE' iii. 79 on the special editions of the Wisdom of Solomon, from 1824 to 1854. — For recent English translations by Deane and Farrar see above. — The most recent German translation is that of C. Sieg- fried in Kautzsch's Apokr. und Pseude/iigr. d. AT, i. 476-507, with Introduction and short exejjetical notes. J. K.

Zenner arranged the first section of the book (l'-6") in strophes and in verses of from 2 to 3 Btroi)hes, and published this in a German translation, with short exjilanatory notes in the /l-Khr. fur krilh. Theol. xxii. [1898] pp. 417-429. In an Appendix he adds Egyptian parallels to bh. 2 from Erman's translation (p. 430 f.) LiTKRATCEE.— For references Bce Grimm, Bueh der Weuhrit (cf. Kg/, exfjet. Bdb. zu dm Apokr. d. AT), pp. 46, 46, and Farrar, I.e. pp. 422M23. Sec also W. J.

Deane, The Book of Visilom, Oxford, 1881, pp. 42, 43 ; Z"Ckler, Apokryphm, 1891, pp. 300, aai ; Scbuier la PUB' L 6S2, and QJV* Ul. 883 tl.; Ph. Thielmann, Bmcht iber dot mtammelu handtchri/tlidit Material zu einer krituchen Aus</ahe der taUin. t/bersetzungen biU. Backer d. AT, Munich, 1900, pp. 207-214. The lut- naiued author ban either personally or through others collated 30 MSS. Of these, 27 are complete, while the other 8 contain fr3),Tiient« of the Book of Wisdom.

They belong to the 8th-10th centuries, and include Spanish, Anglo-Saxon, pre-Carlovingian Fretich, South German. Swiss. Italian texts, as well as tho Uil»le9 of Theodulf and Alcuin. In addition, he deals with excerpts from 33 MSS. This had been precede;! by Thielmann's studies, • uber den character der latein. Ubersetzung der Weisheit Salomonie,' etc., in Archiv fiir latein. Lexicofiraphie und Urammatik, \iU. (1893) 235 :;97. 601-661, ll. (1894) 247-244.

According to Thielmann, the unily of the Latin text of Wisilom can be establiiihed ; see, further, ScbUrer in ThLZ, 1900, No- !■ 0. Siegfried. WIST, WIT, WOT. WITTY.— The parts of the verb 'to wit' (Anglo- Sax. tcitan, Jliddle Eng. witen, ' to know ') were : Pres. tense ' I wot,' 'thou wotest,' 'he wot' or ' woteth ' ; plu. 'we witen'; past tense 'wiste'; past ptcp. 'wist'; inlin. ' to wit.' Examples: /wof— Maiindeville, TVap^fs, 72, • I wot never, but God knoweth; Knox, UUt.

«7, 'I wot, and know surety by the Word of God ' ; Jn 11^2 Tind. I wot that thou hearest me all wayes ' (where the tense should be past, Hut, Wye. ' I wiste,' Cran. and AV ' I knew," Rhem. ' I did know '). Thou watett— Jn 137 Tind. ' What I do, thou wotest not now, but thou sbalt knowe herafter.' Ue wot or u't)(('(A— Tiiidule, }izpo8. 60, He that hatcth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and woteth not whither he goeth.'

We, ye, they vriien (and later, as in AV, wot)—Pxer$ Plowman, li. 74 — ■ Witen all and witnessen that wonen here on earth That Meed is ymarried more for her richesse Than for holiness or hendcness, or for high kind : Falseness is fain of her, for he wot her rich.' Wyclif uses ' they wyteth,' Works, iil. 107, ' Fader, forgeve hem this gjlt, for they wj'teth nought what they dooth.' Past tense, ot!s(«— Jn 1328 Wye.

'Noon of hem that saten at the mete wiste wherto he saide to hym; Tindale has 'wyst, Dt 34*^ ' No man wyst of his sepulchre unto this daye.' Past ptcp. wist — Mt 127 Tind. ' Wherfore yf ye had wist what this sayinge meneth ' ; Occleve '\a Skeat's Specimens, p. 22 — • For, yf mj'n bertes wille wist were and preved How, yow to love, it stercd is and meved. Ye shulde knowe I your honour and welthe Thurste and desire, and eke your soules betthe.' Infln. wit — Malory, Boly Grail (in Morley's Eng.

Bel. 38), ' And so they looked upon him, and felt his pulse, to wit whether there were any life in him ;' Kx 97 Tind. 'And Pharas sent to wete.' For the phrase 'do to wit ' (2 Co 8^) see art. Do in vol. 1. p. 614i>, and observe the parallel phrases 'give to wit,' Rhem. NT, note to Jn 154 'These conditional speaches, 1/ you remaine in the vine.

If you keepe my commatiiideiiients, and such like, five us to wit that we be not sure to persist or persevere, nor to e saved, but under conditions to be fulfilled oy us ' ; and ' let to wit,' Cranmer, Works, i. 70, ' We let you to wit, that foras- much as it belongetb unto us,' eta In AV there occur: (1) Present tense, 'I wot,' Gn 2r-», Nu 22«, .

Jos 2^ Ac 3", Ph \^; ['he] wotteth,' Gn 39 ' My master wotteth not what is with me in the house ' ; ' we wot,' Ex 32'''', Ac 7"; 'ye wot,' Gn 44", Ro 11'^. (2) Past tense, 'I wist,' Jos 2, Ac 23": 'he wist,' Ex 34', Lv C"'8, Jos 8", Jg 16™, Mk 9", Jn 5'^ Ac 12i'; 'ye wist,' Lk 2" ; ' they wist,' Ex 16", Mk 14«. (3) Irlin. ' to wit,' Gn 24'-', Ex 2. 2 Co 8' (' do to wit'). The Heb. and Gr.

are the ordinary verbs 'to know,' yiidd and ol5a, except in the last case, where 'we do you to wit' is the tr. of yvupl^ofifi' iiliiv, KV ' we make known to you.' The infln. ' to wit ' is also used as a connecting phrase in Jos 171, 1 K 2-0 7" 13'2l, 2 K 10-1, 1 C'h T> 27', 2 Lh 4'a •i57- 10 31», Est 2'2, Jer 26i» 349, i>.i( isio, Ro 823, 2 Co .11». The fuller phrase is ' that is to wit,' which shows the infln. more clearly, as Mt 238 Tind.

' For one is youro Master, that is to wyt Chris't, and all ye are brethren ' ; Tinrlale, Works, i. 87, ' Wherefore they which are of faith are blessed, that Is to wit mode righteous, with righteous Abraham.' Except In 2 Oo 6'8 (*() there is no equivalent in Ueb. or Greek. ]\'it a.<i a s11b.1t. occurs in Ps 107" 'And are at tlieir wit's end ' (y^;nn cci?;rrS;i, lit. as AVm, RVm 'and all their wisdom is swallowed up,' KV 'and are at their wits' [plu.] end ' ; the AV phrase comes from Gov. ; M yc.

has the more lit^ 'and al 932 WITCH, WITCHCRAFT WITNESS the wisdom of hem was devourid,' after Viil<^. et omnvs sapicntia eorum devorata est) ; 1 Es 4-* ' Many tiiere be that have run out of their wits for women ' (TroWot aircvoTidiiaav rats /5(ats Siafo/ais Sick rdt ymatKa^) ; 2 Es 5^ ' Then shall wit hide itself (absrondctur tunc sensits) ; Sir 31^ 'He riseth early, and Iiis wits are with him ' {Marri rpwl, Kal i] i'vx^ airroS iut avroO). The subst.

wit ' was very common in the cent, preceding the issue of AV. It was losinj^ its tone by 1611, and not only occurs less frequently in AV than in previous versions, but is used more readily in the Prefacp, with its familiar style, than in the tr. of any of the books. Thus, 'their sharpnesse of wit' ; to exercise and whet our wits; 'opening our wits, that we may understand his word' — all occurring in the Preface. In the earlier versions we find, e.g.. He 5J- \Vyc.

' hem that for custum han wittis exercisid,' so Tind. ' which thorow custome have their wittes exercised,' and all the VSS till Rhem., and AV (' senses,' Or. Tu. a."<r(i»;T/,p,«); Lk 1^ Tind. 'And all that hearde him mer- Telledat his wit and answers' (so Matt., Wye. 'prudens,' Rhem. 'wisedom,' others 'understanding,' Gr. <rui<rif) ; 24-** Tind. ' Then openneti he their wyttes that they myght understond the scriptures' (Rhem. and AV ' understanding,' Gr. to> »«I.) ; .Mk 5^5 Rhem.

'They see him that was vexed of the devil, sitting, clothed, and wel in his wittes.' The word has some range of meaning, thus : (1) Sfii^e, meaning, as WycUf, Works, i. 98, 'Syththe the Pater Noster is the beste prayer that is, for in it mot alle other prayers be closed yf thay sohulle graciouslyche be hurde of God, therfore scholde men kunne this prayour, and studie the wyt thereof ' ; Melvill, Diary, 36, *A babli'ng of words without wit. at least wesdome.' (2) Cleverness, as Hall, Works, ii.

G9, ' How many shall once wish they had been bom dullards, yea idiots, when they shall find their uit to have barred them out of heaven? Say the world what it will, a dram of holinesse is worth a pound of wit.' (3) Understanding, ability to underttand, »a Pr. Ck. 1652 (Keeling, p. 379)— * O Holy Ghost, into oar wits. Send down thine heavenly light' ; Elyot, Govemour, ii. 439, ' A man of greate witte, singuler lemynge, and excellent wisedome.' (4) Wisdom, as Ro 1134 W^c.

* Who knew the witte of the lord, or who was his coun- ceilour ? ' : Spenser, Hymn of Heavenly Beauty — ' O thou most Almightie Spright, From whom all guifts of wit and knowledge flow.' Wittingly is found in Gn 48" : of. Tind. Expos. Ill, ' When they espied that tlie truth could not stand with the lionours which they sought in the world, they wittingly and willingly persecuted it.' Witty occurs in Pr 8'-, Jth 11^, Wis S". Cf.

Mt 11" Cheke's version, ' Avhich has hidden yees thinges from wijs and witti men, and hath dis- closed the saam to baabs ' ; Wyclif, Works, iii. 88, ' Who wiser than David ! or hwo moore witti than Salomon his sone?' J. HASTINGS.