Chapter 17
Darkness and the Luminous Cloud[a]
1 Great are your judgments and difficult to expound;
for this reason obtuse souls were led into error.
2 For when the wicked believed that they held your holy nation in their power,
they themselves became prisoners of darkness, shackled by the endless night,
confined under their own roofs, banished from eternal providence.
3 For those who believed that their secret sins were unnoticed
behind a dark veil of forgetfulness
were scattered in fright and trembling,
terrified by apparitions.
4 Not even the dark corners that sheltered them could offer them refuge from fear,
for terrifying sounds echoed around them,
and frightening, grim-faced apparitions appeared before their eyes.
5 No fire had sufficient intensity to provide them with light,
nor was the blazing brilliance of the stars sufficient
to illumine the somber night.
6 The only light their eyes perceived
came from a terrifying, spontaneous blaze.[b]
And, when no longer seen, in their fright they regarded the darkness
as preferable to that sight.
7 The illusions of their magic art were held up to ridicule,
and their vaunted wisdom was laughed to scorn,
8 for they who had boasted of their power to drive out fears and disorders from sick souls
were now themselves sick with dread that was ludicrous.
9 Even if there was nothing disturbing to frighten them,
they were panic-stricken because of the crawling vermin and the hissing of snakes,
10 and, convulsed with terror, they perished,
even refusing to look upon the air whose presence cannot be avoided.
11 For wickedness is a cowardly trait that is condemned by its own testimony,
and when confronted by conscience,[c] it tends to magnify difficulties.
12 For fear is nothing but the rejection of the aids that are provided by reason;
13 and the less one expects from them,
the more one prefers to remain ignorant of what is causing the torment.
14 And so, throughout that night, which was powerless over them,[d]
and which descended upon them from the depths of the powerless netherworld,
they all experienced the same sleep—
15 now tormented by monstrous apparitions,
now incapacitated by their souls’ surrender—
for sudden and unlooked-for fear had overcome them.
16 And so, whoever was there fell down
and was confined in a prison that lacked bars.
17 For whether he was a farmer or a shepherd
or a laborer toiling in the wilderness,
he was overtaken to suffer the inescapable fate,
18 [e]for a single chain of darkness bound all.
And whether it was merely the whistling wind,
or the melodious sound of birds in the spreading branches,
or the steady rhythm of rushing water,
19 or the violent crash of cascading rocks,
or the unseen gallop of leaping animals,
or the roaring of savage wild beasts,
or an echo reverberating from the hollow of the mountains,
it immobilized them with fear.
20 For the whole world was bathed in brilliant light
and was at work without any hindrance.
21 But over them alone an oppressive darkness spread,
a replica of the darkness that next awaited them;
yet heavier than the darkness was the burden that they were to each other.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 17:1 The author embellishes the data of the biblical account (Ex 10:20-23), utilizing legends and rabbinic speculations to evoke the anguish of those without hope in the face of a hostile nature. In this way, the ninth plaque of Egypt becomes a symbol signifying everything that arouses consternation and terror in the human heart, above all, the inner night and the prison of a bad conscience in which the slightest things bring fear. Those who are steeped in darkness oppose themselves to the Wisdom of God that lit up Israel’s journey by a luminous cloud (Ex 13:21-22; 14:24) and by a spiritual light.
- Wisdom 17:6 Blaze: i.e., lightning bolts.
- Wisdom 17:11 Conscience: a technical term in Stoicism that manifests the Hellenistic culture of the author.
- Wisdom 17:14 Powerless over them: the netherworld has no power against God or those who do not submit to its darkness (see Wis 1:14ff). It is a place of the silent and meek (Pss 88:12; 115:17; Isa 14:9; 38:18-19).
- Wisdom 17:18 The author uses seven events to indicate the fear of the Egyptians.