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Rescue from burning cities becomes a warning against folly
Wisdom of Solomon 10:6–9 says that wisdom rescues the righteous and exposes folly. The passage uses the destruction of five cities and the image of a salt pillar as warnings that rejecting wisdom leaves a lasting mark.
Understanding the passage
Listening in context
In this part of Wisdom of Solomon, wisdom is described as the one who delivers those who waited on her. These verses contrast one righteous man who was rescued while fleeing judgement with the ungodly whose wickedness and folly still stand as a witness against them.
Wisdom of Solomon 10:6–9Main takeaway
This passage teaches that wisdom delivers those who wait on her, while passing wisdom by leaves visible evidence of folly.
Look closely at the words
01Wisdom delivers amid judgementVerse 6 says that while the ungodly were perishing, wisdom delivered a righteous man. The rescue happened as he fled from fire that descended out of heaven on the five cities.
Explanation
Verse 6 says that while the ungodly were perishing, wisdom delivered a righteous man. The rescue happened as he fled from fire that descended out of heaven on the five cities. The contrast is sharp: judgement fell, but wisdom is linked with deliverance for the righteous.
02Wickedness leaves witnesses behindVerse 7 points to signs that still witness to wickedness: a smoking waste, fruit that looks good but does not ripen, and a standing pillar of salt called a memorial of a disbelieving soul.
Explanation
Verse 7 points to signs that still witness to wickedness: a smoking waste, fruit that looks good but does not ripen, and a standing pillar of salt called a memorial of a disbelieving soul. The passage presents these as reminders, not as details to expand beyond the text.
03Passing wisdom by leads to blindnessVerse 8 explains the deeper problem. Those people passed wisdom by. As a result, they were unable to recognise what is good.
Explanation
Verse 8 explains the deeper problem. Those people passed wisdom by. As a result, they were unable to recognise what is good. Their lives became a monument of folly. The verse says their stumbling was so exposed that it could not remain hidden from view.
04Wisdom delivers those who wait on herVerse 9 states the lesson plainly: wisdom delivered those who waited on her out of troubles.
Explanation
Verse 9 states the lesson plainly: wisdom delivered those who waited on her out of troubles. This gathers the passage into one clear conclusion. In these verses, wisdom is shown by two outcomes: folly leaves a public memorial, but waiting on wisdom is linked with deliverance.
Questions to explore
01What contrast does verse 6 make between the ungodly and the righteous man?
Notice that the same setting includes perishing for the ungodly and deliverance for the righteous man as he fled.
02Which images in verse 7 are described as witnesses or memorials, and what do they point back to?
List each image named in the verse and connect it to wickedness or disbelief as the text does.
03According to verses 8 and 9, what happens when people pass wisdom by, and what happens when people wait on her?
Compare the outcomes carefully: inability to recognise good and a monument of folly in verse 8, but deliverance out of troubles in verse 9.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Wisdom of Solomon 10:6–9
6While the ungodly were perishing, wisdom delivered a righteous man, when he fled from the fire that descended out of heaven on the five cities.
7To whose wickedness a smoking waste still witnesses, and plants bearing fair fruit that doesn’t ripen, a disbelieving soul has a memorial: a standing pillar of salt.
8For having passed wisdom by, not only were they disabled from recognising the things which are good, but they also left behind them for their life a monument of their folly, to the end that where they stumbled, they might fail even to be unseen;
9but wisdom delivered those who waited on her out of troubles.