Chapter XLV.

But that the object of Christianity502    ὁ λόγος. is that we should become wise, can be proved not only from the ancient Jewish writings, which we also use, but especially from those which were composed after the time of Jesus, and which are believed among the Churches to be divine.  Now, in the fiftieth Psalm, David is described as saying in his prayer to God these words:  “The unseen and secret things of Thy wisdom Thou hast manifested to me.”503    τὰ ἄδηλα καὶ τὰ κρύφια τῆς σοφίας σου ἐδήλωσάς μοι.  Solomon, too, because he asked for wisdom, received it; and if any one were to peruse the Psalms, he would find the book filled with many maxims of wisdom:  and the evidences of his wisdom may be seen in his treatises, which contain a great amount of wisdom expressed in few words, and in which you will find many laudations of wisdom, and encouragements towards obtaining it.  So wise, moreover, was Solomon, that “the queen of Sheba, having heard his name, and the name of the Lord, came to try him with difficult questions, and spake to him all things, whatsoever were in her heart; and Solomon answered her all her questions.  There was no question omitted by the king which he did not answer her.  And the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the possessions which he had504    τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτόν. and there was no more spirit in her.505    καὶ ἐξ αὑτῆς ἐγένετο.  And she said to the king, The report is true which I heard in mine own land regarding thee and thy wisdom; and I believed not them who told me, until I had come, and mine eyes have seen it.  And, lo, they did not tell me the half.  Thou hast added wisdom and possessions above all the report which I heard.”506    Cf. 1 Kings x. 1–9.  It is recorded also of him, that “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore.  And the wisdom that was in Solomon greatly excelled the wisdom of all the ancients, and of all the wise men of Egypt; and he was wiser than all men, even than Gethan the Ezrahite, and Emad, and Chalcadi, and Aradab, the sons of Madi.  And he was famous among all the nations round about.  And Solomon spake three thousand proverbs, and his songs were five thousand.  And he spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop which springeth out of the wall; and also of fishes and of beasts.  And all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth who had heard of the fame of his wisdom.”507    Cf. 1 Kings iv. 29–34.  The text reads, περὶ πάντων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς, for which παρά has been substituted.

And to such a degree does the Gospel desire that there should be wise men among believers, that for the sake of exercising the understanding of its hearers, it has spoken certain truths in enigmas, others in what are called “dark” sayings, others in parables, and others in problems.508    καὶ ἄλλα διὰ προβλημάτων.  And one of the prophets—Hosea—says at the end of his prophecies:  “Who is wise, and he will understand these things? or prudent, and he shall know them?”509    Hos. xiv. 9.  Daniel, moreover, and his fellow-captives, made such progress in the learning which the wise men around the king in Babylon cultivated, that they were shown to excel all of them in a tenfold degree.  And in the book of Ezekiel it is said to the ruler of Tyre, who greatly prided himself on his wisdom, “Art thou wiser than Daniel?  Every secret was not revealed to thee.”510    Cf. Ezek. xxviii. 3.

Ὅτι δὲ βούλεται ἡμᾶς εἶναι σοφοὺς ὁ λόγος, δεικτέον καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν καὶ ἰουδαϊκῶν γραμμάτων, οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς χρώμεθα· οὐχ ἧττον δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν μετὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν γραφέντων καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις θείων εἶναι πεπιστευ μένων. Ἀναγέγραπται δὴ ἐν πεντηκοστῷ ψαλμῷ ∆αυὶδ ἐν τῇ πρὸς θεὸν εὐχῇ λέγων· "Τὰ ἄδηλα καὶ τὰ κρύφια τῆς σοφίας σου ἐδήλωσάς μοι." Καὶ εἴ τις γε ἐντύχοι τοῖς ψαλμοῖς, εὕροι ἂν πολλῶν καὶ σοφῶν δογμάτων πλήρη τὴν βίβλον. Καὶ Σολομὼν δέ, ἐπεὶ σοφίαν ᾔτησεν, ἀπεδέχθη· καὶ τῆς σοφίας αὐτοῦ τὰ ἴχνη ἔστιν ἐν τοῖς συγγράμμασι θεωρῆσαι, μεγάλην ἔχοντα ἐν βραχυλογίᾳ περίνοιαν· ἐν οἷς ἂν εὕροις πολλὰ ἐγκώμια τῆς σοφίας καὶ προτρεπτικὰ περὶ τοῦ σοφίαν δεῖν ἀναλαβεῖν. Καὶ οὕτω γε σοφὸς ἦν Σολομών, ὥστε τὴν βασιλίδα Σαβά, ἀκούσασαν αὐτοῦ "τὸ ὄνομα" "καὶ τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου", ἐλθεῖν "πειράσαι αὐτὸν ἐν αἰνίγ μασιν". Ἥτις "καὶ ἐλάλησεν αὐτῷ πάντα, ὅσα ἦν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῆς. Καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν αὐτῇ Σολομὼν πάντας τοὺς λόγους αὐτῆς· οὐκ ἦν λόγος παρεωραμένος ὑπὸ τοῦ βασι λέως, ὃν οὐκ ἀπήγγειλεν αὐτῇ. Καὶ εἶδε βασίλισσα Σαβὰ πᾶσαν φρόνησιν Σολομὼν" καὶ τὰ κατ' αὐτόν· "Καὶ ἐξ αὑτῆς ἐγένετο. Καὶ εἶπε πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα· ἀληθὴς ὁ λόγος, ὃν ἤκουσα ἐν τῇ γῇ μου περὶ σοῦ καὶ περὶ τῆς φρονήσεώς σου· καὶ οὐκ ἐπίστευσα τοῖς λαλοῦσί μοι, ἕως ὅτε παρε γενόμην καὶ ἑωράκασιν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου· καὶ ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἔστι καθὼς ἀπήγγειλάν μοι τὸ ἥμισυ. Προστέθεικας σοφίαν καὶ ἀγαθὰ πρὸς αὐτὰ ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀκοήν, ἣν ἤκουσα." Γέγραπται δὴ περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ὅτι "Καὶ ἔδωκε κύριος φρόνησιν τῷ Σολομὼν καὶ σοφίαν πολλὴν σφόδρα καὶ χύμα καρδίας ὡς ἡ ἄμμος ἡ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν. Καὶ ἐπληθύνθη σοφία ἐν Σολομὼν σφόδρα ὑπὲρ τὴν φρόνησιν πάντων ἀρχαίων καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντας φρονίμους Αἰγύπτου. Καὶ ἐσοφί σατο ὑπὲρ πάντας ἀνθρώπους, καὶ ἐσοφίσατο ὑπὲρ Γεθὰν τὸν Ἐζαρίτην καὶ τὸν Ἐμὰδ καὶ τὸν Χαλκαδὶ καὶ Ἀραδά,υἱοὺς Μάδ· καὶ ἦν ὀνομαστὸς ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἔθνεσι κύκλῳ. Καὶ ἐλάλησε Σολομὼν τρισχιλίας παραβολάς, καὶ ἦσαν ᾠδαὶ αὐτοῦ πεντακισχίλιαι. Καὶ ἐλάλησεν περὶ τῶν ξύλων ἀπὸ τῆς κέδρου τῆς ἐν τῷ Λιβάνῳ καὶ ἕως τῆς ὑσσώπου τῆς ἐκπορευομένης διὰ τοῦ τοίχου. Καὶ ἐλάλησε περὶ τῶν ἰχθύων καὶ τῶν κτηνῶν· [καὶ παρεγίνοντο] πάντες οἱ λαοὶ ἀκοῦσαι τῆς σοφίας Σολομῶντος· καὶ παρὰ πάντων τῶν βασιλέων τῆς γῆς, οἳ ἤκουον τῆς σοφίας αὐτοῦ." Οὕτω δὲ βούλεται σοφοὺς εἶναι ἐν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ὁ λόγος, ὥστε ὑπὲρ τοῦ γυμνάσαι τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν ἀκουόντων τὰ μὲν ἐν αἰνίγμασι τὰ δὲ ἐν τοῖς καλουμένοις σκοτεινοῖς λόγοις λελαληκέναι τὰ δὲ διὰ παραβολῶν καὶ ἄλλα διὰ προβλημάτων. Καί φησι γέ τις τῶν προφητῶν, ὁ Ὠσηέ, ἐπὶ τέλει τῶν λόγων ἑαυτοῦ· "Τίς σοφὸς καὶ συνήσει ταῦτα; Ἢ συνετὸς καὶ ἐπιγνώσεται αὐτά;" ∆ανιὴλ δὲ καὶ οἱ μετ' αὐτοῦ αἰχμαλωτισθέντες τοσοῦτον προέκοψαν καὶ ἐν τοῖς μαθήμασιν, ἅτινα ἤσκουν ἐν Βαβυλῶνι οἱ περὶ τὸν βασιλέα σοφοί, ὡς πάντων αὐτῶν διαφέροντας ἀποδειχθῆναι τούτους "δεκαπλασίως". Λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἰεζεκιὴλ πρὸς τὸν Τύρου ἄρχοντα, μέγα φρονοῦντα ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ· "Μὴ σὺ σοφώτερος εἶ τοῦ ∆ανιήλ; Πᾶν κρύφιον οὐχ ὑπεδείχθη σοι;"