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Wisdom 11:14-16
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom 11:14-16
New Catholic Bible
14 For the one whom long before they had cast out, exposed, and rejected[a] with scorn,
they regarded with admiration at the end of the events,
when they experienced thirst vastly different from that of the righteous.
God’s Kindness toward the Peoples[b]
A Dose of Chastisement for Egypt[c]
15 In return for the foolish reasonings of their wickedness,
which misled them into worshiping serpents bereft of reason and insects devoid of worth,
you sent as punishment upon them hordes of irrational creatures,[d]
16 so that they might learn that the agents of one’s sin are the instruments of one’s punishment.[e]
Footnotes
- Wisdom 11:14 One . . . cast out, exposed, and rejected: i.e., Moses, exposed on the waters (see Ex 1:22; 2:3) and rejected by Pharaoh (see Ex 5:2-5; 7:13, 22).
- Wisdom 11:15 In its history, each people amasses accounts of its glorious deeds and victories over enemies. In doing this, Israel also wanted to proclaim the greatness of God and to assure its own destiny. The idea was a just and remarkable one, but its expression was rather barbaric. In time, the people could no longer be content with very rudimentary accounts in the wake of their refined consciences, their experience of setbacks, and their encounter with other cultures that had their own past. Nonetheless, faith in God’s grandeur remained with them and increased.
- Wisdom 11:15 In this collection of the past, the author is concerned with forewarning his compatriots against the allure of the cults of animals, which were flourishing in Alexandria at that time.
- Wisdom 11:15 Hordes of irrational creatures: i.e., frogs (Ex 8:1-2), gnats (Ex 8:13-14), flies (Ex 8:20), and locusts (Ex 10:12-15).
- Wisdom 11:16 This adage expresses one of the rules of the divine pedagogy, which makes use of the fault to bring about repentance (see Ps 7:15-17). This “law of talion” (or “tit for tat”) is found in Ex 21:23ff; Lev 24:18ff; Deut 19:21; 2 Mac 4:38; 5:10; 13:8; 15:32ff; Mt 5:38ff; 7:2.
