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Wisdom 11:16-18
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom 11:16-18
New Catholic Bible
16 so that they might learn that the agents of one’s sin are the instruments of one’s punishment.[a]
17 For your all-powerful hand,
which created the world out of formless matter,[b]
had the wherewithal to send upon them a host of bears or savage lions,
18 or newly created, ferocious, unknown beasts
either breathing fiery blasts
or belching forth thick smoke
or flashing frightful sparks from their eyes.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 11:16 This adage expresses one of the rules of the divine pedagogy, which makes use of the fault to bring about repentance (see Ps 7:15-17). This “law of talion” (or “tit for tat”) is found in Ex 21:23ff; Lev 24:18ff; Deut 19:21; 2 Mac 4:38; 5:10; 13:8; 15:32ff; Mt 5:38ff; 7:2.
- Wisdom 11:17 Formless matter: the author uses this concept derived from Greek philosophy (see note on v. 15) to describe the chaos of Gen 1:2.
