(The words in crochets are added by the LXX.)
The clause in Ecclus. xv. 2, taken with the chapter it continues, conveys to me an impression of rhapsodical paradox, as when Dante apostrophises Mary: “O Virgin Mother, daughter of thy son!” The Semitic goddess is born, Wisdom, sister of virginal Athena of the Parthenon, yet fulfilling the Solomonic exaltation of the Virtuous Woman, who is also a wife. She is therefore the Virgin Bride.
But whether this interpretation is correct or not, it cannot be doubted that this strange phrase in a household book might easily convey that impression, and that to believers in the resurrection of Jesus the feeling that he must also have entered the world in a supernatural way might naturally have associated Miriam his mother with the virgin bride, Wisdom.
The evolution of Wisdom into the Holy Spirit has been traced (ante XII.), and it is sufficient to mention here that in the “Gospel according to the Hebrews,” Jesus uses the phrase “My mother the Holy Spirit.”
In the “Wisdom of Solomon” the resurrected Solomon says, “I was nursed in swaddling clothes, and that with cares” (vii. 4, cf. Luke ii. 7). This might be said of every babe, but the King, having begun by saying “I myself also am a mortal man,” mentions the swaddling clothes as a sign of lowliness; and the impression made by this item in the Birth-legend of Jesus is shown by a passage in the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy. It is said that when the Wise Men came, in obedience to a prophecy of Zoroaster, Mary rewarded their gifts with one of the child’s “Swaddling bands,” which on their return to their own land withstood the power of fire, in which it was tested.
The infant Jesus receives gifts of the Wise Men, traceable to the gold, silver, and spices brought by the Queen of Sheba (afterwards “Sophia”) to Solomon. (Cf. also Psalm lxxii. 8–11.) As Solomon to the Queen, so Jesus gives proofs of astounding wisdom to the woman of Samaria.
In the “Wisdom of Solomon” the returned king proceeds: “I was a witty child, and had a good spirit. Yea rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled” (viii. 19, 20). In Luke it is said, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom.” “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature.”
The word “undefiled” was a special title of Wisdom. In the “Wisdom of Solomon” (vii.) the King, having described his birth, “like to all,” and his “swaddling clothes,” follows this immediately by saying, “I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me.” This is the new and the spiritual birth. Among the titles ascribed in the same chapter to Wisdom is “Undefiled,” this being emphasized three verses lower by the declaration that being a pure emanation from God “no defiled thing can fall into her.” These ideas, so far as Solomon is concerned, are referable to his prayer for wisdom (1 Kings iii. 9) and to Jahveh’s adoption of him (Psalm ii. 7). “Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.”
These ideas all reappear at the baptism of Jesus, as related in the “Gospel according to Hebrews”:
“Behold the mother of the Lord and his brethren said to him, ‘John the Baptist baptizeth for remission of sins: let us go and be baptized by him.’ But he said to them, ‘Wherein have I sinned that I should go and be baptized by him? except perchance this very thing that I have said is ignorance.’ And when the people had been baptized Jesus also came and was baptized by John. And as he went up the heavens were opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit in shape of a Dove descending and entering him. And a voice out of heaven, saying, ‘Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased’; and again, ‘I have this day begotten thee.’” (Cf. Jahveh’s promise concerning Solomon, 1 Chron. xvii. 13, “I will be his father and he shall be my son.”)