Wisdom of Solomon 14:15–17

15 For a father, consumed with grief at an untimely bereavement,

made an image of his child, who had been suddenly taken from him;

and he now honored as a god what was once a dead human being,

and handed on to his dependents secret rites and initiations.

16 Then the ungodly custom, grown strong with time, was kept as a law,

and at the command of monarchs graven images were worshiped.

17 When men could not honor monarchs in their presence, since they lived at a distance,

they imagined their appearance far away,

and made a visible image of the king whom they honored,

so that by their zeal they might flatter the absent one as though present.