Creation renewed

 Wisdom 19 : 18 - 22

conclusion of entire book

IECOT version (2019, Kohlhammer, Stuttgart)

Editor Luca Mazzinghi   Translator : Michael Tait

For, among themselves,

the elements were in

harmony, as on the harp

certain notes change the name

of the rhythm, maintaining

always the same sound.  This

appeared precisely on a careful

examination of what had 

happened:  for land animals

were transformed into water

creatures, while those who

swim walked on the earth.  Fire

redoubled its strength in the

water, while the water forgot

its power to extinguish (the

flames).  The flames, by contrast,

were not able to consume the

flesh of frail animals that roamed

among them, nor could they melt

what was similarly to ice, easy

to melt, food of ambrosia.

v. 22

In every way, o Lord,

you have magnified your

people and glorified it,

and have not neglected

to come to its aid, at

every time and in every

place!

___________________

This is the anakephalaiosis , the concluding

recapitulation of the whole work.  .  . The theme

of the cosmos, central in our sage's thought,

reappears precisely at the end of the book and

again confronts the readers with the them of

GOD's Power over creation, but, this time,

without the more sever aspects of the

eschatological judgement.  The musical allusion

becomes the climax of a journey of praise which

began at Wisdom 10 : 20 with the song of joy

for the crossing of the sea, and, after the

mention of the songs of praise in Wisdom 18:9,

continued with the new reference to the song of

the sea (made a few verses later in 19:9),

praise which now involves the whole of creation!

. . .Our sage's last word is not an apocalyptic

word of judgement but a promise of eternal life. . .

if ever the last word of a book had weight, this is it!

. . .The form is not that of a doxology but rather of

a prayer in the form of a remembrance of the deeds

of God in the style of the third part of Wisdom. . .

The author makes use of typically Greek philosophical

concepts to expound his thought to a public made up

of Jews who were highly Hellenised. . .The big questions

about the meaning of the cosmos remain for the people

of 21st Century who certainly have a much deeper

knowledge of the cosmos . . .the attempt to understand

the meaning of the universe. . leads to an encounter with

the Creator; and it is this encounter that prevents the

creation from falling headlong into dissolution & oblivion.