1. Septuagint, Wisdom of Solomon, 1.16, 2.13, 2.18, 3.5, 5.5, 9.7, 12.19, 14.2-14.11, 15.1-15.6, 15.14-15.19, 16.2-16.5, 16.20, 18.13, 19.22 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
| 1.16. But ungodly men by their words and deeds summoned death;considering him a friend, they pined away,and they made a covet with him,because they are fit to belong to his party. 2.13. He professes to have knowledge of God,and calls himself a child of the Lord. 2.18. for if the righteous man is Gods son, he will help him,and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. 3.5. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; 5.5. Why has he been numbered among the sons of God?And why is his lot among the saints? 9.7. Thou hast chosen me to be king of thy people and to be judge over thy sons and daughters. 12.19. Through such works thou has taught thy people that the righteous man must be kind,and thou hast filled thy sons with good hope,because thou givest repentance for sins. 14.2. For it was desire for gain that planned that vessel,and wisdom was the craftsman who built it; 14.3. but it is thy providence, O Father, that steers its course,because thou hast given it a path in the sea,and a safe way through the waves 14.4. showing that thou canst save from every danger,so that even if a man lacks skill, he may put to sea. 14.5. It is thy will that works of thy wisdom should not be without effect;therefore men trust their lives even to the smallest piece of wood,and passing through the billows on a raft they come safely to land. 14.6. For even in the beginning, when arrogant giants were perishing,the hope of the world took refuge on a raft,and guided by thy hand left to the world the seed of a new generation. 14.7. For blessed is the wood by which righteousness comes. 14.8. But the idol made with hands is accursed, and so is he who made it;because he did the work, and the perishable thing was named a god. 14.11. Therefore there will be a visitation also upon the heathen idols,because, though part of what God created, they became an abomination,and became traps for the souls of men and a snare to the feet of the foolish. 15.1. But thou, our God, art kind and true,patient, and ruling all things in mercy. 15.2. For even if we sin we are thine, knowing thy power;but we will not sin, because we know that we are accounted thine. 15.3. For to know thee is complete righteousness,and to know thy power is the root of immortality. 15.4. For neither has the evil intent of human art misled us,nor the fruitless toil of painters,a figure stained with varied colors 15.5. whose appearance arouses yearning in fools,so that they desire the lifeless form of a dead image. 15.6. Lovers of evil things and fit for such objects of hope are those who either make or desire or worship them. 15.14. But most foolish, and more miserable than an infant,are all the enemies who oppressed thy people. 15.15. For they thought that all their heathen idols were gods,though these have neither the use of their eyes to see with,nor nostrils with which to draw breath,nor ears with which to hear,nor fingers to feel with,and their feet are of no use for walking. 15.16. For a man made them,and one whose spirit is borrowed formed them;for no man can form a god which is like himself. 15.17. He is mortal, and what he makes with lawless hands is dead,for he is better than the objects he worships,since he has life, but they never have. 15.18. The enemies of thy people worship even the most hateful animals,which are worse than all others, when judged by their lack of intelligence; 15.19. and even as animals they are not so beautiful in appearance that one would desire them,but they have escaped both the praise of God and his blessing. 16.2. Instead of this punishment thou didst show kindness to thy people,and thou didst prepare quails to eat,a delicacy to satisfy the desire of appetite; 16.3. in order that those men, when they desired food,might lose the least remt of appetite because of the odious creatures sent to them,while thy people, after suffering want a short time,might partake of delicacies. 16.4. For it was necessary that upon those oppressors inexorable want should come,while to these it was merely shown how their enemies were being tormented. 16.5. For when the terrible rage of wild beasts came upon thy people and they were being destroyed by the bites of writhing serpents,thy wrath did not continue to the end; 16.20. Instead of these things thou didst give thy people food of angels,and without their toil thou didst supply them from heaven with bread ready to eat,providing every pleasure and suited to every taste. 18.13. For though they had disbelieved everything because of their magic arts,yet, when their first-born were destroyed,they acknowledged thy people to be Gods son. 19.22. For in everything, O Lord, thou hast exalted and glorified thy people;and thou hast not neglected to help them at all times and in all places. |
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2. Philo of Alexandria, On The Cherubim, 42 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE)
| 42. But that we may describe the conception and the parturition of virtues, let the superstitious either stop their ears, or else let them depart; for we are about to teach those initiated persons who are worthy of the knowledge of the most sacred mysteries, the whole nature of such divine and secret ordices. And those who are thus worthy are they who, with all modesty, practise genuine piety, of that sort which scorns to disguise itself under any false colours. But we will not act the part of hierophant or expounder of sacred mysteries to those who are afflicted with the incurable disease of pride of language and quibbling expressions, and juggling tricks of manners, and who measure sanctity and holiness by no other standard. XIII. 42. I will, therefore, behave myself in an affable, and courteous, and conciliatory manner to all men, even if I should obtain the dominion over the whole earth and the whole sea, and especially to those who are in the greatest difficulties and of the least reputation, and who are destitute of all assistance from kindred of their own, to those who are orphaned of either or of both their parents, to women who have experienced widowhood, and to old men who have either never had any children at all, or who have lost at an early age those who have been born to them; |
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