A clear, scholarly introduction to the Wisdom of Solomon — the elegant nineteen-chapter wisdom book included in the Apocrypha section of the original 1611 King James Bible. This free PDF guide explains the book's three-part structure, its most famous passages, and the way its language stands behind Romans, Hebrews, and John.
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Bible Sundays study guide
The Wisdom of Solomon — often simply 'Wisdom' — is a nineteen-chapter book written in elegant Greek by an unknown Jewish author in Alexandria, Egypt, most likely between 100 BC and AD 50. Though it speaks in the voice of King Solomon, the book was not written by him; the author adopts Solomon as a literary persona to teach in the tradition of Israel's great wisdom king. It belongs to the same broad family as the canonical Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, and the apocryphal Sirach.
It was included in the Apocrypha section of the original 1611 King James Bible, placed between the Old and New Testaments. The Westminster Confession (1647) later excluded the Apocrypha from inspired Scripture for Protestant readers, while still permitting its devotional use. The book remains canonical in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Old Testaments, where it is called 'deuterocanonical.' Most modern KJV editions omit the Apocrypha, but full 1611-style editions still contain it.
Even for readers who hold to the 66-book Protestant canon, Wisdom is a remarkable window into the Jewish faith of the centuries just before Christ. Wisdom 2:12–20 reads strikingly like a description of the suffering of the Righteous One. The personification of Wisdom in chapter 7 stands in the background of John 1:1–14 and Hebrews 1:3. The book's critique of idolatry in chapters 13–15 anticipates Romans 1:18–25 almost line for line. Reading Wisdom helps modern Christians hear the New Testament writers as their first audience would have.
It was included in the Apocrypha section of the original 1611 King James Bible, placed between the Old and New Testaments. Most modern KJV editions omit the Apocrypha, but full 1611-style editions still contain it.
No. The book speaks in Solomon's voice but was written in Greek in Alexandria, Egypt, roughly 900 years after Solomon's death. The Solomonic voice is a literary device, not a claim of authorship.
The Roman Catholic Church uses 'deuterocanonical' ('second canon') for the books in the Greek Old Testament that are not in the Hebrew Bible. Protestants call these same books the 'Apocrypha' and do not regard them as inspired Scripture.
There are no direct quotations introduced as Scripture, but several New Testament passages clearly echo Wisdom's language and themes — especially Romans 1, Hebrews 1, and parts of the passion narratives in the gospels.
Most scholars date it between 100 BC and AD 50, somewhere in the Jewish community of Alexandria, Egypt.
Many Protestant traditions (Anglican, Lutheran) read it devotionally without treating it as authoritative for doctrine. The Westminster Confession permits its use as historical and devotional literature alongside the canonical Scriptures.
The complete 1611 KJV translation of the Wisdom of Solomon is included in our free KJV Apocrypha PDF, which contains all fourteen Apocryphal books bound in the original King James Bible.
Yes. This Bible Sundays study guide is free to share for any personal, ministry, or educational purpose.
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Every name below appears in the King James Bible. Each page gives the meaning, the verse it appears in, and who carried it in Scripture.
The 14 books included in the original 1611 King James Bible — full text.
View pageTobit, Tobias, Sarah, and the archangel Raphael — 1611 KJV Apocrypha.
View pageThe widow of Bethulia who saved her city — 1611 KJV Apocrypha.
View pageThe Maccabean revolt and the origin of Hanukkah — 1611 KJV Apocrypha.
View pageThe seven brothers and the first clear teaching on bodily resurrection.
View pageThe wisdom book behind James 3 and Matthew 11:28–30.
View pageJeremiah's scribe — confession, Wisdom hymn, Letter of Jeremiah.
View pageAlternative version of Ezra–Nehemiah with 'Great is Truth' speech.
View pageJewish apocalypse with imagery behind the Book of Revelation.
View pageThe ancient apocalyptic text quoted in Jude — free download.
View pageThe lost book referenced in Joshua and 2 Samuel — free PDF.
View pageThe second-century-BC 'Little Genesis' retelling — free PDF study guide.
View pageThe 114 sayings from Nag Hammadi — origin, themes, and why it's not in the Bible.
View pageThe earliest Christian church manual (c. AD 50–120) — free PDF.
View pageThe earliest Christian writing outside the New Testament (c. AD 95).
View pageEarly Christian tract bound into Codex Sinaiticus — Two Ways teaching.
View pageSecond-century Roman apocalypse — Visions, Mandates, and Similitudes.
View pageThe Dead Sea Scrolls text about the Nephilim sons of the Watchers.
View pageEnoch's journey through the seven heavens and the birth of Melchizedek.
View pageThe heavenly palaces and Enoch transformed into the angel Metatron.
View pageThe first couple after Eden — Satan's second temptation and the Cave of Treasures.
View pageThe fragmentary Coptic text — what survives and why it isn't in the Bible.
View pageThe Gnostic text from Codex Tchacos and why the church rejected it.
View pageWhat was found at Qumran and what the scrolls prove about the Bible.
View pageThe fifteen-verse penitential prayer of Judah's most wicked king — 1611 KJV Apocrypha.
View pageThe falsely accused wife, the two elders, and Daniel's cross-examination.
View pageDaniel exposes the priests of Bel, kills the dragon, and survives a second lions' den.
View pageThe six Greek additions that give Esther her prayer and finally name God.
View pageThe Epistle of Jeremy — seventy-two verses against the idols of Babylon.
View pageThe Prayer of Azariah and the Benedicite, sung inside the fiery furnace.
View pageThe Akhmim fragment, the talking cross, and why the church rejected it by AD 200.
View pageThe Infancy Gospel that gave us Joachim, Anna, and the cave of the nativity.
View pageThe Nag Hammadi text behind the Mary Magdalene 'companion' claim — read honestly.
View pageSeven letters written in chains around AD 107, on the road to the arena.
View pageHis letter to the Philippians and the earliest Christian martyr account.
View pageThe second-century apology on Christians as sojourners and the 'sweet exchange'.
View pagethe Acts of Pilate, the trial narrative, and the Harrowing of Hell
View pagethe clay sparrows, the cursed playmate, and the boy Jesus in the temple
View pagethe second-century vision of heaven and hell that shaped Dante
View pagethe deathbed speeches of Jacob's sons, their moral teaching, and their Qumran background
View pagethe second-century story of the convert of Iconium, the arena at Antioch, and the physical description of Paul
View pagethe 1945 discovery, the 52 Coptic texts, what Gnosticism taught, and why these gospels are not in the Bible
View pageThe complete 66-book King James Version — free download.
View pageThe original Authorized Version — free PDF of the historic 1611 KJV.
View pageFull library — KJV, Apocrypha, Old & New Testament downloads.
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