Ramban on the Authenticity of the Wisdom of Solomon
by
James Scott Trimm
The Wisdom of Solomon is one of the books found in the “Apocrypha”. According to Melito in the second century CE, the Wisdom of Solomon was in his day considered canonical by both Jews and Christians.
Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman) (1194-1270 C.E.) wrote one of the most authoritative Torah commentaries in Rabbinic Judaism. In his Introduction to his Commentary to the Torah Ramban quotes from an Aramaic version of the Wisdom of Solomon and takes these quotes as the authentic words of Solomon:
King Solomon, peace be upon him, whom G-d had given wisdom and knowledge, derived it all from the Torah, and from it he studied until he knew the secret of all things created, even of the forces and characteristics of plants, so that he wrote about them even a Book of Medicine, as it is written, And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall (1Kings 5:13)
Now I have seen the Aramaic translation of the book called The Great Wisdom of Solomon, and in it is written: “There is nothing new in the birth of a king or ruler; there is one entrance for all people into the world, and one exit alike. Therefore I have prayed, and the spirit of wisdom was given to me, and I have called out and the spirit of knowledge came to me; I chose it above scepter and throne.” (Wisdom 7:3-8) And it is further said there: “It is G-d alone Who gives knowledge that contains no falsehood, [enabling one] to know how the world arose, the composition of the constellations, the beginning, the end and middle of the times, the angles of the ends of the constellations, and how the seasons are produced by the movement of heavens and the fixed positions of the stars, the benign nature of cattle and the fierceness of beasts, the power of the wind and the thoughts of man, the relationship of trees and the forces of roots; everything hidden and everything revealed I know.” (Wisdom 7:17-21) All this Solomon knew from the Torah, and he found everything in it – in its simple meanings, in the subtleties of its expressions and its letters and its strokes, as I have mentioned.
(Ramban; The Introduction to the Commentary on the Torah)
Ramban had studied the Aramaic (Peshitta?) version of the Wisdom of Solomon and was convinced that it recorded the actual words of Solomon! There is much for us to learn from this very important book.
We must raise at least $1,940 by the end of the day Friday to clear rent and electric!
Update (Tuesday Feb. 2nd)
Shalom Chaverim,
***There is a midrash that tells us that before YHWH parted the red sea, he required the children of Israel to first start waling into the water. They did not know how YHWH would deliver them, but they had to have faith that he would. Only then did he part the sea, and so completely that the ground on which they walked was bone dry. ***
Today I find myself in a similar situation. Tomorrow (the end of our “grace period”), we will be paying the rent electronically on faith, despite the fact that we are currently still $1,840 short on clearing the rent and electric bill which should hit our account on Friday or maybe Monday.
Me need a miracle!
My wife was originally to have surgery on Wednesday the second. I am sorry to say that surgery has had to be postponed until Feb. 9th. We found out there would be a co-pay for the surgery, of which we were not previously aware. The fact is that the rent is due today and we do not even know if we will be able to cover that at this point, so we had no choice but to postpone the surgery, whether we liked it or not.
I am telling you all this for two reasons. First of all the rent is due today, and at this point we do not have it. Secondly to highlight just how serious things have become in the last few months financially. Over the summer, the person who had been our largest single contributor for the previous two years, notified us that they would have to drastically reduce their giving. Then just as their donations decreased, another long time contributor stepped up and started giving some large donations. Unfortunately this person has not been able to donate at all in about two months. These donations helped us pay off some bills to lower our monthly budget and even gave us a small safety net for a while. But that safety net has now been completely depleted. So much so that we have had to postpone my wife’s surgery and prioritize the rent (which even then, we still do not have the rent covered yet).
The time is short, and there is much work to be done. This is no time to pull back from the great work in front of us!
As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall. As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.
If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.
If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.
Now is time to step up to the plate!
