Wisdom of Solomon [APOCRYPHA] is the name of one of the deuterocanonical books. The anonymous author personates King Solomon, whom he introduces as speaking; but from the citations of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, it may be inferred that the writer had no intention of giving it to be understood that it was written by Solomon; but that he only followed a common custom of Greek and other writers, in employing the name of this distinguished royal penman. It is divided into two, or, according to some, into three parts. The first six chapters contain encomiums on Wisdom, which all, and especially kings, are admonished to acquire, as the true security against present evils, and as leading to future glory and immortality, while a contrary course tends to misery here, and still greater misery hereafter. In Wisdom of Solomon 7-8, Solomon is introduced, teaching how wisdom is to be acquired; and in Wisdom of Solomon 10, is given his prayer for this inestimable gift. Wisdom of Solomon 10-19 contains historical examples, drawn from the Old Testament showing the happiness which had resulted from the pursuit of wisdom, and the fatal consequences of sin, especially the sin of idolatry. The book concludes with divers pious and philosophical observations.
The Book of Wisdom has been always 'admired for the sublime ideas which it contains of the perfections of God, and for the excellent moral tendency of its precepts' (Horne's Introd.). Its style, observes Bishop Lowth, after Calmet, 'is unequal, often pompous and turgid, as well as tedious and diffuse, and abounds in epithets directly contrary to the practice of the Hebrews: it is, however, sometimes temperate, poetical, and sublime.' Calmet supposes that the author had read the works of the Greek poets and philosophers.
Although there have not been wanting individuals who have contended for a Hebrew, Syriac, or Chaldee original, there can be little doubt that it was written in Greek.
Nothing is known with certainty respecting the author. All that can be concluded with any degree of probability is, that he was an Alexandrian Jew, who lived after the transplanting of the Greek philosophy into Egypt, and who seems to refer to the oppressions of the later Ptolemies. Jahn conceives that the book was written at the close of the first or beginning of the second century before the Christian era.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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