Wisdom 12:13, 16-19
Chapter 12
13
For there is no other god besides you, one who cares for everyone; no one can ask you to justify your judgments.
16
Your strength is the source of your justice, and because you are the Lord of all, you can be merciful to everyone.
17
To those doubting your sovereign power, you show your strength and confound the arrogant who ignore it.
18
But you, the Lord of strength, judge with wisdom and govern us with great patience because you can do anything at the moment you decide.
19
In this way, you’ve taught your people that a righteous person must love their fellow human beings; you’ve also given them hope by encouraging them to repent from their sins.
Commentaries
Historical Judgments I.
We find this title twice in the book of Wisdom. Both instances draw on traditions from the Bible, primarily Exodus, and update them in line with other Jewish traditions or the philosophical context surrounding them. The core message remains the same: what served as punishment for the wicked was salvation for the righteous. Both personal and community histories serve as reasons for believers to encounter God. If at other times God revealed himself as a being who punished evil, today he manifests himself to us as one full of mercy.
The Canaanites.
Once again, we have an explanation of past events: the sin of the Canaanites (Ex 23:28; Dt 7:11, 20; 18:9-12; 20:18-20). The reasoning used is the same as in the previous section. The example shows God’s mercy in punishing sin to encourage repentance. Mercy is one of the experiences that brings us closest to God. It surpasses justice and recognizes that the world and life are in His hands.