05_Biblica_1_H_Collins_Layout 1 05/11/12 12:19 Pagina 414 414 C. JOHN COLLINS There are elements that are by now familiar: the LXX is the main source, but with the use of additional terms due to the argumenta- tive needs of the context, such as terms related to “save”. The “giants” (14,6) reflect what we found in Josephus 23. Calling the ark a “raft” ( ) is unique, but it is driven by the contextual mention of a raft (14,5) 24. Certainly the term “providence” ( 14:3) is one that Second Temple Jewish writers co-opted from Hellenistic philosophy to express what they thought was a biblical idea, but we cannot isolate a particular text as its source. Thus the variations from LXX terminology seem to stem from the poetic needs of the author; at the same time, we cannot rule out other sources, such as Plato, for some of the wording. Third Maccabees 2,4-5 mentions the flood, followed by the judgment on Sodom 25: (4) You destroyed those who in the past committed injustice ( , among whom were even giants ( ) who trust- ed in their strength and boldness, whom you destroyed ( ) by bringing upon them a boundless flood. (5) You consumed with fire and sulphur the men of Sodom who acted ar- rogantly, who were notorious for their vices; and you made them an example to those who should come afterward. Verse 4 mentions the “giants”, connecting them (like Wis 14,6) to the evildoers in the Genesis flood story; it also mentions the doing of “injustice” ( ), drawing from Genesis 6,11.13 (LXX). Interestingly, the term “destroyed” is , cognate to the LXX (which renders Hebrew ; this is the cog- nate found in other flood tales outside the LXX. Ben Sira also mentions Noah and his flood in passing (40,10; 44,17-18), and generally follows the Hebrew and LXX usage. Sim- The reference to the giants “perishing” ( ) is a departure, 23 and this verb appears also in Plato’s flood story (Laws, 677c), although not of giants. Some have drawn a parallel between the use of (14,5) and 24 what we find in Josephus and in 1 Pet 3,20; see, e.g., G. BEASLEY-MURRAY, Baptism in the New Testament (London 1963) 259. The connection seems less likely, since Wisdom is not at this point talking about the flood. A sequence that also appears in Wis 10,4-7; cf. Sir 16,7-8, where the 25 Greek mentions the “giants”, while the Hebrew calls them “princes”. The au- thor of 2 Pet 2,4-8 uses this sequence.