The author of the Book of Wisdom and the date of its origin (2)

Abstract

This article is the second and last part of the longer essay, which was published in the present periodical. The situation of the Jews in Alexandria was specific. The Alexandrian Diaspora was the biggest in the ancient world in that time (it numbered more Jews than the whole number of them in Jerusalem). It had many privileges, while the Ptolemaic dynasty ruled in Egypt. Its situation changed radically after the Romans had started to reign in Egypt, which was visible in the first persecution of the Jews (38 A.C.) in Alexandria. The Book of Wisdom must have been written after the persecution in 38 A.C, i.e. in the time of young Christianity. This conviction is based on strong arguments: a philological analysis, Sitz im Leben of that book, notions, some parallels between Wis 19, 13–17 and Philo (word agreement, Leitmotiv in that excerpt in the light of the tradition, the question of the rights for the Alexandrian Jews).

Keywords

• Księga Mądrości, Aleksandria, Żydzi, diaspora, Rzymianie, antysemityzm