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From: Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22

Life Leads to Death (Continuation)

[12] “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us
and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accu-
ses us of sins against our training.

[17] Let us see if his words are true, and let
us test what will happen at the end of his life; [18] for if the righteous man is
God’s son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries.
[19] Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he
is, and make trial of his forbearance. [20] Let us condemn him to a shameful
death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”

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Commentary:

2:10-20. Not content with enjoying the pleasures of life, the ungodly go further:
they persecute the just man because he is a constant reproach to them. They
want to see if God, whom the just man calls his father, will protect and rescue
him. He calls God his father? Let us see what protection God gives him. If God
fails to come to his aid, then they are proved right, and the just man wrong.
Their words are echoed in the insults offered by scribes and Pharisees to
Jesus when he was on the cross (cf. Mt 27:40-43; Mk 15:31-32; Lk 23:35-37).

Interestingly, the just man calls himself a “child of God” (v. 13). This is some-
thing new in Jewish thinking, because prior to this it was the entire people of
Israel or the king their representative who was considered a “son of God” (cf.
Ex 4:22; Deut 14:1; 32:6; Ps 2; Is 30:1, 9; Hos 11:1). But in the later books of
the Old Testament (for example, in Sir 23:4; 51:14) we begin to see the father-
hood of God towards every just person. The title of “child of God” is applied to
all the righteous, and more properly to the Messiah, who is the Righteous One.

As the RSV note “e” points out, the Greek word “pais” which it translates as
“child” can also mean “servant”. The “servant” in the Old Testament acquires
special significance from the book of Isaiah forward, where the “Suffering Ser-
vant” appears (cf. Is 52:13-53:12). This man will, through his suffering, set Is-
rael free of Its sins. This dual meaning of “pais” prepares the way for the reve-
lation of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Servant of the Lord.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.