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Wisdom 13:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom 13:1-3
New Catholic Bible
The Folly of Idolatry[a]
Chapter 13
Dazzled by the World’s Beauty[b]
1 For all men were inherently foolish[c] who remained in ignorance of God,
and did not come to know him who is, even while observing the good things around them,
nor recognize the artisan while studying his works.
2 To their way of thinking, either fire or wind or the swift air,
or the periphery of the stars, or tempestuous water,
or the luminaries of heaven[d] were the gods that govern the world.
3 If they have been deluded by the beauty of these things into believing that these were gods,
let them come to understand how far superior to these is their Lord,
since he was the source of beauty that fashioned them.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 13:1 For Jews in the first century B.C., the collision between faith in God and the paganism of Egypt was verified in their own conscience. The author sets before them a systematic criticism of the pagan cults, a criticism that is at times simplistic and takes no account of the religious sentiment that animated those who practiced them (see Ps 115; Isa 44:9-20). He does not act as an historian but as a defender of the faith.
- Wisdom 13:1 This path that leads to the discovery of God through the beauty of nature, reprised by Paul the Apostle (Rom 1:19-23) and so many contemplatives, remains one of the human and Christian ways to reflect on the existence of God. However, to stop at the creature in the search for God is inexcusable (Wis 13:8), although understandable (v. 6).
- Wisdom 13:1 Inherently foolish: literally, “vain.” The same word is often applied to false gods. Those who ignore God and follow idols are as “vain” as such gods (see Jer 2:5; Rom 1:21). Him who is: the sacred Name of God (see Ex 3:14).
- Wisdom 13:2 Luminaries of heaven: the Vulgate makes this phrase more specific by replacing it with “sun and moon” (see Gen 1:16). Gods that govern: see Deut 4:19.
