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Notice the echo of the word "invention" in Rom. 1: 30.
"For the devising of idols was the beginning of fornication and the invention of them
the corruption of life" (Wisdom 14:12).
Other echoes in Rom. 1: can be heard as we read:
"They held them for gods, which even among the beasts of their enemies were
despised" (12:24).
"Shall feel a judgment worthy of God" (12:26).
"Being corruptible, it was called a god" (14:8).
"They thought not well of God" (14:30).
Again "Seeking God, and desirous to find Him" (Wisdom 13:6), is reminiscent of
Acts 17: 27 while "And winkest at the sins of men, because they should amend" (or
with a view to repentance) (Wisdom 11:23) cannot be read without calling Acts 17: 30
to mind.
Further where no actual word is similar, there is often a most evident parallelism of
thought. Keep in mind I Cor. 13: and read this on "Wisdom":
"For in her is an understand spirit,
Holy, one only, manifold, subtil,
Lively, clear, undefiled,
Plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good, quick,
Which cannot be letted, ready to do good, kind to man,
Steadfast, sure, free from care,
Having all power, overseeing all things,
And going through all understanding, pure, and most subtil of spirits" (Wisdom 7:22,23).
Again think of Heb. 1: 3 as you read:
"For she is the brightness of the everlasting light,
The unspotted mirror of the power of God" (Wisdom 7:26).
"Wisdom" speaks of "A glorious Kingdom" and a "crown of beauty" which shall be
the reward of the overcoming righteous (Wisdom 5:16).
Without naming Enoch, "Wisdom" says:
"He pleased God, and was beloved of Him;
So that living among sinners he was translated" (Wisdom 4:10).
These are superficial gleanings. The deeper and richer correspondences wait upon the
diligent reader of the originals.
No one with a love for freedom and a hatred of tyranny can read the books of the
Maccabees unmoved. Coleridge said of the story of Judas Maccabeus that it was
"inspiring enough to be inspired".