Wisdom of Solomon on Idolatry
12For the idea of making idols was the beginning of fornication,
and the invention of them was the corruption of life. [ . . . ]
21And this became a hidden trap for humankind,
because people, in bondage to misfortune or to royal authority,
bestowed on objects of stone or wood the name that ought not to be shared.
22Then it was not enough for them to err about the knowledge of God,
but though living in great strife due to ignorance,
they call such great evils peace.
23For whether they kill children in their initiations, or celebrate secret mysteries,
or hold frenzied revels with strange customs,
24they no longer keep either their lives or their marriages pure,
but they either treacherously kill one another, or grieve one another by adultery,
25and all is a raging riot of blood and murder, theft and deceit, corruption, faithlessness, tumult, perjury,
26confusion over what is good, forgetfulness of favors,
defiling of souls, sexual perversion,
disorder in marriages, adultery, and debauchery.
27For the worship of idols not to be named
is the beginning and cause and end of every evil.
Translation from the New Revised Standard Version.
Credits
New Revised Standard Version Bible copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
You may also like
Josephus on Greek Mythology
Then the Lysimachuses, Molons, and other such disreputable sophists, those deceivers of young men, revile us as the most inferior of men. I, on the other hand, would not have wished to inquire into…
Letter of Aristeas on Separation from Non-Jews
“You observe,” he said, “what kind of result is produced by conduct and associations, since people who associate with evildoers become perverted, and they are miserable in the whole of life. But if…
Philo on Separation from Non-Jews
But also, he says, do not enter into the partnership of marriage with a member of a foreign nation, lest some day conquered by the forces of opposing customs you surrender and stray unawares from the…
Josephus on Solomon’s Transgression
Driven mad over women and mired in the heat of sexual passion, he [Solomon] was not satisfied with the native women alone, also marrying many women among the foreign peoples: the Sidonians, Tyrians…
Jubilees on Israel as a Holy Progeny
All the descendants of his [Abraham’s—Ed.] sons would become nations and be numbered with the nations. But one of Isaac’s sons…
The Damascus Document on Separation from Non-Jews
[ . . . ] No-one ‹should stay› in a place close to gentiles on the sabbath. [ . . . ]
…
Engage with this Source
Related Guide
Real and Imagined "Others" in Ancient Jewish Literature
4th Century BCE–6th Century CE
Related Guide
Pagans in Early Jewish Literature
2nd Century BCE–1st Century CE
You may also like
Josephus on Greek Mythology
Then the Lysimachuses, Molons, and other such disreputable sophists, those deceivers of young men, revile us as the most inferior of men. I, on the other hand, would not have wished to inquire into…
Letter of Aristeas on Separation from Non-Jews
“You observe,” he said, “what kind of result is produced by conduct and associations, since people who associate with evildoers become perverted, and they are miserable in the whole of life. But if…
Philo on Separation from Non-Jews
But also, he says, do not enter into the partnership of marriage with a member of a foreign nation, lest some day conquered by the forces of opposing customs you surrender and stray unawares from the…
Josephus on Solomon’s Transgression
Driven mad over women and mired in the heat of sexual passion, he [Solomon] was not satisfied with the native women alone, also marrying many women among the foreign peoples: the Sidonians, Tyrians…
Jubilees on Israel as a Holy Progeny
All the descendants of his [Abraham’s—Ed.] sons would become nations and be numbered with the nations. But one of Isaac’s sons…
The Damascus Document on Separation from Non-Jews
[ . . . ] No-one ‹should stay› in a place close to gentiles on the sabbath. [ . . . ]
…