Ramban on the Authenticity of the Wisdom of Solomon

Ramban on the Authenticity of the Wisdom of Solomon
by
James Scott Trimm


The Wisdom of Solomon is one of the books found in the "Apocrypha". According to Melito in the second century CE, the Wisdom of Solomon was in his day considered canonical by both Jews and Christians.

Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) (1194-1270 C.E.) wrote one of the most authoritative Torah commentaries in Rabbinic Judaism.  In his Introduction to his Commentary to the Torah Ramban quotes from an Aramaic version of the Wisdom of Solomon and takes these quotes as the authentic words of Solomon:

King Solomon, peace be upon him, whom G-d had given wisdom and knowledge, derived it all from the Torah, and from it he studied until he knew the secret of all things created, even of the forces and characteristics of plants, so that he wrote about them even a Book of Medicine, as it is written, And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall (1Kings 5:13)

Now I have seen the Aramaic translation of the book called The Great Wisdom of Solomon, and in it is written: "There is nothing new in the birth of a king or ruler; there is one entrance for all people into the world, and one exit alike. Therefore I have prayed, and the spirit of wisdom was given to me, and I have called out and the spirit of knowledge came to me; I chose it above scepter and throne." (Wisdom 7:3-8) And it is further said there: "It is G-d alone Who gives knowledge that contains no falsehood, [enabling one] to know how the world arose, the composition of the constellations, the beginning, the end and middle of the times, the angles of the ends of the constellations, and how the seasons are produced by the movement of heavens and the fixed positions of the stars, the benign nature of cattle and the fierceness of beasts, the power of the wind and the thoughts of man, the relationship of trees and the forces of roots; everything hidden and everything revealed I know." (Wisdom 7:17-21)  All this Solomon knew from the Torah, and he found everything in it - in its simple meanings, in the subtleties of its expressions and its letters and its strokes, as I have mentioned.
(Ramban; The Introduction to the Commentary on the Torah)

Ramban had studied the Aramaic (Peshitta?) version of the Wisdom of Solomon and was convinced that it recorded the actual words of Solomon!  There is much for us to learn from this very important book.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“Sirens” in the Book of Enoch?

“Sirens” in the Book of Enoch? By James Scott Trimm In the Book of Enoch we read: “And the women also of the angels who went astray shall become sirens .” (1Enoch 19:2). Although the Ethiopic text has “ salamaweyan ” (“peaceful”) which is widely regarded as a corruption with the original reading being that found in the Greek εις σειρηνας “into sirens.”  This is certainly a passage which we would like to see in the Aramaic, much less the lost original Hebrew, but unfortunately the Aramaic for this passage has not survived. In Greek mythology, the Sirens were beautiful yet dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island.  So why would the Book of Enoch refer to “sirens”.  Why would an ancient Hebrew text refer to “sirens” and what was the original Hebrew word(s) behind “sirens”? “Sirens” in the LXX In the Greek Septuagint the Greek word σειρηνας (sirens) does...
Read more

Secrets of the Oath that Binds the Fallen Angels

Image
Secrets of the Oath That Binds the Fallen Angels By James Scott Trimm We read in the Torah: 1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men, that they were fair. And they took them wives, whomsoever they chose. 3 And YHWH said: My Spirit shall not abide in man forever. For that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years. 4 The N’filim were on the earth in those days and also after that, when the sons of Elohim came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. The same were the mighty men that were of old--the men of renown. 5 And YHWH saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil; continually. 6 And it repented YHWH that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. 7 And YHWH said: I will blot out man whom ...
Read more

Judah in Prophecy: You Aint Seen Nothin Yet!

Judah in Prophecy: You Aint Seen Nothin Yet! By James Scott Trimm The concept of the Two House message was an important message for the world and it generated a good deal of excitement, but it was not the last stage of restoration. The Two House message had to do with the grafting in of “wild branches” (Ephraimites) into the cultivated olive tree (Judah). Now Romans 11 does discuss this stage of the restoration, but it also tells us that an even more powerful stage will involve Judah being grafted back into its own olive tree: And if their stumbling became riches for the world, and their loss, riches to the Goyim: how much more therefore , their fullness? (Rom. 11:12 HRV) For if their reprobation was reconciliation to the world, how much more therefore , their return, but life that is from among the dead? (Rom. 11:15 HRV) 23 And those, if they do not remain in their lack of trust, also will be grafted in: for Eloah is able to graft them in again. 24 For if...
Read more