The Wisdom of Solomon
⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑
- Kapitel 17 -
The Egyptian darkness.
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Fußnoten
(a)17:2 This chapter and subsequent verses about an extraordinary darkness refer both to the three days of darkness at the time of the plague God sent through Moses on the Egyptians and the predicted three days of darkness to occur during the future time described in the Book of Revelation.(Conte)
(b)17:7 The unjust are ridiculed by being struck with fear; the magic or illusions of their arts have been taken away from them along with the contempt the unjust have for wisdom. Here wisdom is not doing the rebuking. The unjust have contemptuously rebuked the truths of wisdom, but at this time the foolishness of the unjust is exposed.(Conte)
(c)17:8 Outwardly, the unjust made jokes at the situation, and promised that they could help those suffering from fear, but inwardly the unjust were themselves overcome with fear.(Conte)
(d)17:11 Or, nothing else but the betrayal of thinking about helpful things.(Conte)
(e)17:12 Here is an interesting translation problem. Ancient Latin had no punctuation and no spaces between the words. The original Sixti V et Clementis VIII Latin Vulgate text had “in scientiam” as two separate words, meaning “in knowledge.” Later editors, including Vercellone (1861 edition) and Hetzenauer (1914 edition) changed the text to “inscientiam” as one word, meaning “ignorance.” The editor’s interpretation of the text determines which word is correct. In this passage, fear is examined. The cause of fearful expectations is not ignorance, for in that case we would all always be afraid since even the most knowledgeable among us knows little. The cause of fearful expectations is “supposing (that one is) great in knowledge.”(Conte)
(f)17:15 The prison without bars, literally “without iron,” is hell. Hell has been left open at this time, meaning either that it is open to accept new residents, or it is open to send up fearful things to the unjust.(Conte)
(g)17:16 During both the future three days of darkness and the past one, during the time of Moses, anyone caught outdoors at that time, even if they are just and innocent, will nevertheless be overcome. It is in inescapable necessity.(Conte)
(h)17:18 Whether the sounds are soft or loud, pleasant or dreadful, those bound in darkness are overcome with fear. The playful animals are scattered because they have been startled by something, as when such animals realize they have been seen.(Conte)