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Wisdom 3:12-14
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom 3:12-14
New Catholic Bible
12 Their wives are foolish and their children depraved;
their lineage is accursed.
Better Is Virtue than Offspring[a]
13 Blessed is the barren woman who is undefiled,
who has not experienced a sinful union;
she will bear fruit at the visitation of souls.
14 Blessed also is the eunuch whose hands have committed no iniquity
and who has never harbored any wicked thoughts against the Lord;
he shall receive a special grace for his faithfulness
and a more illustrious share in the temple of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 3:13 Up to this time, the entire hope of human beings lay in their children, who could perpetuate one’s name and memory; apart from this, death appeared as the inexorable abyss that swallowed up everything. Hence, sterility was regarded as a curse, and eunuchs were excluded from the community (Deut 23:2). The Book of Wisdom overturns principles that were profoundly anchored, as Jesus will also do by affirming the new and exceptional value of those who are celibate for the kingdom of God (Mt 19:11f). The prize of a good life is no longer a posterity, but a future life.
