Death and idols in the Wisdom of Solomon

This note considers the implications of the textual variant ‘θάνατος’ in Wisd. 14:13–14. Whether ‘death’ serves as the explicit subject of v. 14 or as a given idea associated with ‘idols’, it makes the parallels between 14:10–14 and chs 1–2 even more conspicuous and thereby underlines a pattern of thinking about creation and corruption that continues throughout Wisdom. Whereas in chs 1–2 death entered by the hands of humanity and through the envy of the devil, in 14:10–14 death entered by handmade idols and through the conceit of evil people. The inclusion of the textual variant shows not only solidarity of thought but also clarity and expansion.