The Book of Wisdom or The Wisdom of Solomon 6:20 Kommentar

“At all times my soul longed to desire the ways of your righteousness.” A commendable passion, this, not a blameworthy one. It is not of this desire that it is written, “Do not covet,” a prohibition that regards the passions with which the flesh rises against the spirit. This, rather is a longing by which the spirit rises against the flesh. If you wanted to find a scriptural passage on this, you would find, “The desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.” And there are many other testimonies concerning this concupiscence in a good sense. It is very interesting to note that when speaking of desire in a good sense, the object that is desired is always expressed. On the contrary, if only concupiscence is spoken of, without adding the object, it must be understood in a bad sense. Thus in the cited passage it says, “The desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.” If it had not specified, “for wisdom,” it certainly would not have said, “Concupiscence leads to a kingdom.” The apostle writes, “I would not have known concupiscence, if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet.’ ” It does not specify the object of that desire or what it is prohibited to desire, yet it is certain that, expressing himself in this way, he is referring to a disordered desire.