Tell me more ×
Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 10 down vote favorite

Proverbs chapter 8 uses a personification of Wisdom. Some people take this personification as a description of God, or of the Messiah. Is there any textual justification for this?

share|improve this question
+1 great question. Are you referring especially to v22ff? You may find this thoughtful article interesting. – Jack Douglas♦ Aug 20 '12 at 19:41
thought for answer-ers - isn't the word wisdom in hebrew feminine in gender? – Jesse Ledbetter Aug 21 '12 at 17:45
@JesseLedbetter, that's correct -- wisdom (חָכְמָה) and understanding (בוּנָה), both in v1, are feminine. So is "torah". But you have to be a little careful with linguistic gender; when a language requires all nouns to have gender, what do you do with the ones that don't have a "natural" one? (God is called by both masculine and feminine names, by the way.) – Monica Cellio Aug 22 '12 at 1:33
1  
@MonicaCellio Can you give me reference for places where God is called by feminine names? – Monika Michael Aug 24 '12 at 17:08
@MonikaMichael, God is sometimes called "Shekhina", which is feminine, in later writings but not in the bible. (I had thought there was a use of this in prophets but I was wrong.) – Monica Cellio Aug 24 '12 at 17:40
show 1 more comment

1 Answer

up vote 6 down vote

This personification of Wisdom can't refer to either God or to the messiah.

Verse 8:22 says:

The LORD made me as the beginning of His way, the first of His works of old.

God made Wisdom, so Wisdom can't be God. (God didn't make God; God just always was.)

Under Christianity, the messiah is part of God and so this can't mean the messiah either. Under Judaism, the messiah will be an ordinary man -- definitely not God, and also far from the first thing God created.

So if Wisdom isn't God or the messiah, what is she? Consider the following verses:

15 By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.

20 I walk in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of justice; 21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, and that I may fill their treasuries.

32 Now therefore, ye children, hearken unto me; for happy are they that keep my way 33 Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.

Wisdom is Torah, the law. (The word "torah" literally means "teaching" or "instruction".)

share|improve this answer
Although many translations translate the verb as "made," the Hebrew verb קנה is not the one most often translated as "made." That verb would be עשה. – H3br3wHamm3r81 Jun 14 at 21:37
2  
קנה seems to have the sense of "to possess," and by implication, it often means "to buy." Thus, the phrase should preferably be translated as "YHVH possessed me..." Of course, when we think about it, if we say that God made wisdom, which means that wisdom did not exist at one point, then it also reasons that God lacked wisdom at one point. Is that something one really wants to admit? – H3br3wHamm3r81 Jun 14 at 21:38
1  
@H3br3wHamm3r81 reminds me of "If you have wisdom, what do you lack? And if you lack wisdom, what do you have?" Leviticus Rabbah) – Frank Luke yesterday
1  
@H3br3wHamm3r81, good point. There are multiple words for many words, including "make" (also bara here, for instance). Your possession angle is interesting; I'll need to think more about that. I don't think saying that God "made" wisdom necessarily means that God wasn't wise before, though; the ingredients had to come from somewhere/one, after all. :-) "Made" could mean "made as a separate thing". – Monica Cellio yesterday

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.