Against Celsus 3.45

That the teaching wants us to be wise must be shown both from the ancient Jewish writings, which we too use, and no less from those written after Jesus and believed in the churches to be divine. It is written in the fiftieth psalm that David, in his prayer to God, says: “The unseen and hidden things of your wisdom you have made known to me.” And anyone who reads the psalms will find the book full of many wise doctrines. And Solomon, since he asked for wisdom, was approved; and the traces of his wisdom can be seen in his writings, which hold great understanding in brevity of speech; in them you would find many praises of wisdom and exhortations to the need to take up wisdom. And so wise was Solomon that the queen of Sheba, having heard “his name” “and the name of the Lord,” came “to test him with riddles.” She “also spoke to him all that was in her heart. And Solomon told her all her words; there was no word overlooked by the king which he did not tell her. And the queen of Sheba saw all the understanding of Solomon” and the things belonging to him, “and she was beside herself. And she said to the king: The report is true which I heard in my land about you and about your understanding; and I did not believe those who told me until I came and my eyes have seen; and behold, it is not even half as they told me. You have added wisdom and good things to them beyond all the report which I heard.” And it is written about him that “the Lord gave understanding to Solomon and very great wisdom, and breadth of heart like the sand by the sea. And wisdom was multiplied in Solomon greatly, beyond the understanding of all the ancients and beyond all the wise men of Egypt. And he was wiser than all men, and he was wiser than Gethan the Ezrahite, and Emad, and Chalcadi, and Arada, sons of Mad; and he was renowned among all the nations round about. And Solomon spoke three thousand parables, and his songs were five thousand. And he spoke about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that comes out through the wall. And he spoke about fish and cattle; and all the peoples came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who heard of his wisdom.” So much does the teaching want there to be wise men among believers that, to exercise the understanding of the hearers, it has spoken some things in riddles, some in what are called dark sayings, some through parables, and others through problems. And one of the prophets, Hosea, says at the end of his words: “Who is wise, and will understand these things? Or intelligent, and will know them?” And Daniel and those taken captive with him made such progress even in the studies which the wise men around the king practiced in Babylon that they were shown to surpass them all “tenfold.” And in Ezekiel it is said to the ruler of Tyre, who was proud of his wisdom: “Are you wiser than Daniel? Has no secret been shown to you?”