W. offers students of ancient wisdom literature an accessible and erudite study that makes a significant contribution to studies on the Sentences of Sextus. Indeed, before W.'s commentary, H. Chadwick's 1959 critical edition, which does not offer an English translation of the Greek and Latin manuscripts, was one of the few monograph-length resources available to study the Sentences. W.'s English translation is based upon the two Greek manuscripts, Patmiensis 263 (MS Π) and Vaticanus Graecus 742 (MS Υ), while following the ordering of Rufinus of Aquileia. The Latin versions by Rufinus in the late-fourth century preserve at least fifteen manuscripts, the most important of which is the seventh- or eighth-century Salmasianus (Parisinus gr. 10318). Salmasianus runs to 451 sentences whereas Π and Υ bring the total number of sentences up to about 600. Salmasianus supplies important evidence for the length and ordering of the original text, and thus the extent and order of the Latin is preferred over the Greek; this collection of 451 sayings, W. explains, ‘constitutes the main focus of the commentary that follows’ (p. 7). W.'s commentary is organised around 52 divisions of these 451 sayings, each excerpt consisting of c. 5–15 sentences each.
One of the many contributions W. makes is to present complex traditions in a format helpful to both the inducted and uninducted alike. This is especially evident from the introductory sections – preceding his critical presentation and commentary – where different manuscript traditions are presented synoptically (pp. 13–17) and Sextus’ reliance on biblical traditions is catalogued (pp. 25–6). In the commentary section (pp. 41–426), presentation of the Greek sentences is in carefully selected pericope, followed by English translation, text critical notes on the Greek, commentary on the larger unit, followed by in-depth treatment of each sentence. W. draws extensively upon biblical tradition, early church writings and classical sources which provides an invaluable resource and the only exhaustive and systematic treatment of each sentence. The results allow one to view how intellectual trends influenced the Sentences and how Sextus participated in them.
W.'s syntheses that follow each pericope help to characterise the concerns of the composition. In a broader overview of Sextus' orientation and outlook W. explains that ‘[a]lthough the Sentences is properly characterized as a wisdom writing, its focus is not on wisdom as such (σοϕία), but on the person who embodies wisdom most fully, the sage (σοϕός)’ (p. 32). The vocation of the sage is helpfully evaluated under three broad categories ‘each of which can be understood as both an articulation of practical self-formation and a configuration through which the sage is manifested to the world as a vessel of divinity’ (pp. 36–7). W.'s three summaries of the sage are: (1) he commits himself to a life of personal holiness defined in relation to dietary restrictions, sexual activity, social exchanges, sleep and material possessions (p. 37); (2) he is expected to observe the golden rule and mistreatment of fellow human beings is the greatest impiety one can commit against God (p. 38); and (3) he is more concerned with acts of faith than with words of faith, and prefers hearing such words to speaking them (p. 38). On the subject of the sage W. elucidates the posture of the text; at times the reader is addressed as though he were already a sage, while in other instances the addressee is a student in need of correction, or on occasion the reader is related to as though he is not ‘pure’ enough to speak or hear about God (p. 40). What it means to become a sage ‘is more a process than a goal’ which requires continual effort and self-scrutiny. As such, the author simultaneously commends ‘a moral and anthropological ideal for his reader while challenging them to realize that ideal for themselves' (p. 40). In this regard W.'s characterisation of the sage and posture of the text may have points of comparison with Jewish wisdom traditions preserved among the Dead Sea Scrolls where a Maskil and his students are in view. While W. is deeply engaged relating the Sentences to wisdom from the Hebrew scriptures, and ancient Jewish apocryphal and pseudepigraphical literature, especially Ben Sira, Qumran wisdom is notably absent from the commentary. Indeed, this may be justified by the remoteness of Qumran sapiential discourse to the Sentences, but I also wonder whether there is potential cross-fertilisation to be found in such comparisons. Surely one of the products of this SBL series on wisdom from the Ancient World will be a broader scope for any of our future discussions.
W. offers a resource that is without parallel and will surely generate fresh interest into and engagement with the Sentences. For anyone interested in late-second and early-third century Christian asceticism and its relationship to Pythagorean revival, W.'s commentary provides a fresh foundation for ongoing study.
