“I heard.
But I could not understand.
Then I said.
‘My lord!
What shall be the outcome
Of these things?’”
Daniel heard what the man had said, but he did not understand what it meant. So then, he asked what was going to be the outcome of all these things?
“If riches are a desirable possession in life,
What is richer than wisdom?
Wisdom is the active cause
Of all things.
If understanding is effective,
Who more than she
Is the fashioner of what exists?
If any one loves righteousness,
Her labors are virtues.
She teaches self-control.
She teaches prudence.
She teaches justice.
She teaches courage.
Nothing in life
Is more profitable
For mortals than these.
If anyone longs for wide experience,
She knows the things of old.
She infers the things to come.
She understands turns of speech.
She understands the solutions of riddles.
She has foreknowledge of signs.
She has foreknowledge of wonders.
She has foreknowledge of the outcome of seasons.
She has foreknowledge of the outcome of times.”
Wisdom is greater than any good there is, not only material things, but spiritual or conceptual values also. Everyone wants riches (πλοῦτός) so that the most desirable possession in life is wisdom (σοφίας), the cause of all things. If you want understanding (φρόνησις), then you need wisdom. If you love righteousness (δικαιοσύνην ἀγαπᾷ), you need wisdom. Wisdom teaches the four great Greek cardinal virtues of self-control, prudence, justice, and courage. Wisdom knows about the past and the future. She can solve riddles. She also has foreknowledge of signs and wonders, as well as the outcome of the seasons and the times to come.
“Let me have silence!
I will speak.
Let come on me what may happen!
I will take my flesh in my teeth.
I will put my life in my hand.
See!
He will kill me.
I have no hope.
Yet I will defend my ways to his face.
This will be my salvation.
A godless man shall not come before him.”
Job wanted silence. He wanted to speak, regardless of the outcome. He was willing to put his life on the line even suffer death. He realized that he had no hope. Yet he felt that he had to defend his life and ways to the face of God. That was his only salvation. He was not a godless man coming before God, just the opposite.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 