Wisdom shines brightly and never fades; she is readily discerned by those who love her, and by those who seek her she is found

QUOTATION FROM THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON 6:12-18

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"Wisdom shines brightly and never fades; she is readily discerned by those who love her, and by those who seek her she is found. She is quick to make herself known to all who desire knowledge of her; he who rises early in search of her will not grow weary in the quest, for he will find her seated at his door. To meditate on her prudence in its perfect shape, and to be vigilant in her cause is the short way to freedom from care: she herself searches far and wide for those who are worthy of her, and on their daily path she appears to them with kindly intent, meeting them half-way in all their purposes."

Response: In order to understand what Solomon means by these words, we must know what the Bible means when it speaks of "wisdom" in general. Essentially, wisdom is defined as being the Torah. What is the Torah? The Torah is the instruction for living that G-d gave to Israel through Moses at Mt. Sinai. (In its simplest form, it is recorded in the first five books of the Bible, often called the Pentateuch in the Christian tradition.) Most Bibles translate "Torah" (which is a Hebrew word) as "law." However, the word does not mean "law" in its modern day sense at all. Rather, "Torah" refers to instruction or direction for a way of life. When we understand "Torah" like this, we approach G-d's instructions in a completely different way than if we just thought of them as a set of random or arbitrary laws to be obeyed.

Why did I write the first paragraph? Because Solomon was an Israelite king, and as such was reared in and lived within a culture which taught and practiced Torah. Therefore, when he speaks of wisdom, he means the Torah. This is common thinking to an Israelite. Solomon means everything that the G-d of Israel taught his people at Mt. Sinai.

Now, let's look at the excerpts from the quotation:

"Wisdom shines brightly and never fades" means that the Torah is a light to our path. It illuminates the way to go. It defines for us the way to live. Another way to look at it is that the Torah, i.e. wisdom, is like an instruction manual for mankind. G-d made man and gave him an instruction manual (much like we do when we manufacture a new piece of machinery). The fact that it never fades indicates that the Torah is eternal. It will never be abolished (no, not even by Jesus/Yeshua). And it will never cease to exist. It will always have purpose.

"She is readily discerned by those who love her, and by those who seek her she is found." The Torah is not available to all people. It can only be understood by people who are sincere about living according to its instructions. It is not plain and out in the open, but rather, it's like a hidden treasure. (This explains why Jesus/Yeshua spoke in parables. It wasn't to make his teachings plain, but, even as he said, to hide the truth from the many while making it clear to only some.) If you know where to dig, you can uncover its meaning, but if you don't know where to go, you'll never figure it out.

"She is quick to make herself known to all who desire knowledge of her." This statement reiterates what I've already commented on above.

"He who rises early in search of her will not grow weary in the quest, for he will find her seated at his door." It is not difficult to understand the Torah, but it is near only to those who are sincere. One can engage in Torah study all the days of one's life and still never get tired of it. Isn't that amazing? If you're not convinced of this truth, then I challenge you to commit to studying Torah. It's like a well that is ever deep and yet ever flowing. Each day you can go to the well and find refreshment. And yet, one day's water is always different from another day's. Why so? Because it is always fresh. It is never stale.

"To meditate on her prudence in its perfect shape, and to be vigilant in her cause is the short way to freedom from care." If one wants to live free from stress, then engage in the study of Torah. That's an interesting statement. All of us, everywhere -- especially today -- are living with enormous amounts of stress. Financial stress, family stress, work stress, health stress, etc. What Solomon is suggesting here is that those who take the time to view the Torah seriously will have little worries. It won't be that life won't be full of challenges and difficulties, for it will; however, what he means is that the mindset of one who studies Torah is contentment. There is peace and contentment in the heart of such a man. The main reason for this is that the soul is focusing on issues bigger than himself. He has the big picture, and as a result, he gets his mind off his own problems. Jesus/Yeshua said the same thing when he admonished his students to seek first the kingdom of G-d and all necessary things of life will be added to him as he needs. We don't need to panic or worry or get overly anxious about material things. After all, G-d created us. He knows what we need.

"She herself searches far and wide for those who are worthy of her, and on their daily path she appears to them with kindly intent, meeting them half-way in all their purposes." This is the challenge that Solomon lays down. Wisdom is personified as a woman looking for people who are interested in and serious about living their lives according to her principles. Those are the people who are "worthy of her." But not only that, she's not a heavy taskmaster. Rather, she meets people half way. Isn't this what everyone wants in life, to have a fair shake? This is how G-d approaches people through his Torah. He isn't heavy handed, but quite merciful. But is he merciful to the rebels and the butchers, or to those who are truly sorry for their injustices in life? That's an interesting question, isn't it? According to Solomon, the Torah (which is G-d's own set of "life principles") will meet certain people half way. Who will she meet halfway? Those who are worthy. Being worthy doesn't mean being perfect, nor does it mean being "holy" or better than others. Being worthy means being sincere and honest about oneself and one's G-d.

I trust this sheds some light on the topic. Just remember one thing. You are looking at this quotation in a philosophy class. Most philosophy is taught from a western perspective, whether we're dealing with ancient Greeks or the European traditions. However, Solomon is not from this tradition at all. And when we evaluate Israelite writings, we must approach it from their cultural background, not ours. This is why it is quite impossible to know what he's driving at when you don't know anything about Israelite culture or religion. The Torah is the centerpiece of cultural and religious life in Israel...always was...and always will be. It encapsulates and summarizes eternal wisdom for mankind. It was given to Israel with the intent that Israel would live up to its standards. In so doing, other nations would see its wisdom and would then seek to follow its principles as well. Sadly, Israel didn't do such a good job in setting a positive example.