Font Size
Wisdom 16:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Wisdom 16:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Nature at the Service of God’s Wisdom[a]
Chapter 16
Frogs and Quail[b]
1 Therefore, these idolaters were deservedly punished by creatures like these
and tormented by swarms of vermin.
2 But in contrast to this punishment, you treated your people with kindness,
sending them quail to eat,
a rare delicacy to satisfy their hunger.
3 Thus, the idolaters, repulsed by the sight of loathsome creatures[c] sent to plague them,
lost their appetite even though suffering from hunger,
while your own people, after a short period of privation,
partook with pleasure of rare delicacies.
Footnotes
- Wisdom 16:1 The author takes up anew the parallelism between Egypt and Israel that he began in 11:5-14: the Wisdom of God has recourse to the same forces of nature both to punish oppressor Egyptians and to save the Israelites. The order of the events is of little concern to him; in the desire to encourage his compatriots, he exalts Israel to the point of forgetting its rebellions and its errors.
- Wisdom 16:1 Little animals surged forth to provoke disgust and famine among the Egyptians while birds came to satisfy Israel (Ex 7:26—8:11; 16:1-36). Here is a way to give believers a lesson in trust.
- Wisdom 16:3 Loathsome creatures: i.e., frogs (see Ex 7:28).
