Wisdom 16: 15 - 23
IECOT translation (2019, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart)
(addressing God)
"But it is impossible to escape
your hand!
The ungodly who refused to
know you were punished by the
might of your arm,
pursued by strange rain,
by hail
and by relentless storms, and
consumed by fire.
[plagues in Genesis ch. 9]
What is most surprising:
in the water which extinguishes
everything, the fire took on
even more force; for the universe
is the ally of the just [fire as "elemental"
to the universe].
At one time,
the flame was weakened, so as
not to consume the animals sent
against the ungodly, [locusts ?]
but so that
the latter might acknowledge,
at this sight, that they were
being pursued by the judgement
of God; but, at another time, even
in the midst of water,
the flame burned more powerfully
than fire to destroy the crops of
an unjust land.
Instead, you satisfied your people
with the food of angels [manna],
and without toil, you offered them
fresh bread from heaven, able
to provide every flavor and adapt
itself to every taste. This
sustenance of yours manifested
your sweetness towards your
children, adapted itself
to the taste of the one who ate,
and transformed itself into
what each one wished. Snow
and ice withstood the fire
and did not melt, so that it
might be known that the fire,
burning in the hail and flashing
in the rain, was destroying
the crops of the enemies.
However, it too, that the just
might be fed, forgot its own strength."
__________________________
On the basis of Exodus 9:24, our
sage is struck by the simultaneous
presence of fire and hail (water).
The plague of hail becomes a miracle
in which the deep meaning of the
cosmos is revealed: to be at God's
side the ally of the just! We are
are the heart of Wisdom : the
salvific value of creation which
was announced right from the
opening verses of chapter 1 in
this Book -- Wisdom 1:13 - 15.
The comparison of manna and snow
is also included in Philo's
Life of Moses Book 1.201
