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Wisdom 13:9-11
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom 13:9-11
New Catholic Bible
9 For if they achieved a sufficient degree of knowledge to investigate the world,
how did they fail to find its Lord more quickly?
Dead Gods
10 But the truly wretched ones are those who place their hopes in dead things,[a]
and give the title of gods to the work of human hands:
gold and silver skillfully fashioned,
likenesses of animals,
or useless stone sculpted by some ancient artisan.
11 [b]Consider, for example, a skilled woodworker who cuts down a suitable tree,
carefully strips it of all its bark,
and then, with admirable artistry,
produces some article suitable for daily use.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 13:10 Dead things: the author finds it hard to see why idols are worshiped, for they are without life or power. The forces of nature are at least active and fruitful and so might more readily be mistaken for gods. Above all, however, is the fact that only God is to be worshiped, for he is the “living God” (Jos 3:10; Pss 42:3, 9; 84:3; Mt 16:16).
- Wisdom 13:11 In the manner of the Psalmists and the Prophets, the author adopts a tone of irony that heaps scorn on idols (see Ps 135:15-18; Isa 40:19-20; Jer 10:3-5; Bar 6).
