Proverbs 8: Wisdom Before Creation

"Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places… She crieth at the gates… Unto you, O men, I call" (8:1–4). Her invitation is universal, to "the sons of man."

"I wisdom dwell with prudence… By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me" (8:12–17).

"The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth… Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth… When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth… when he gave to the sea his decree… then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men" (8:22–31).

"For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death" (8:35–36).

Creation imagery

Verses 24–29 move through a creation sequence like Genesis 1 and Job 38: no deeps, no springs; mountains and hills; earth and fields; heavens; the circle on the deep; clouds; the fountains of the deep; the sea's boundary; the foundations of the earth. "When he set a compass (chug, circle) upon the face of the depth" is the horizon drawn over the waters (compare Job 26:10). The sea's "decree" recalls Job 38:8–11 and Psalm 104:9.

Ma'at and other comparisons

Egyptian Ma'at, goddess of truth and cosmic order, is often pictured with the creator; some scholars see her as a model for Woman Wisdom (C. Kayatz). Mesopotamian sages (apkallu) brought wisdom before the flood. These are comparisons of a widespread idea (wisdom as the ordering principle of the world), not evidence that Proverbs depends on any one source or that Wisdom was a goddess in Israel.

8:22: possessed or created?

Qanah usually means "acquire, buy" (Genesis 25:10), but in some poetic texts it seems to mean "create" or "beget" (Genesis 14:19, "possessor" or "creator of heaven and earth"; Deuteronomy 32:6; Psalm 139:13). Its parallels here ("set up," "brought forth" as at a birth) favour coming into being. The Greek translators wrote ektisen, "created"; Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion (2nd century AD) chose ektēsato, "acquired"; Jerome chose possedit. The choice became theologically explosive. See the passage page and the investigation Was Wisdom Created?

8:30: amon

Three main readings: (1) "master craftsman" (amman; compare Song 7:1; Jeremiah 52:15 in some readings), Wisdom as God's architect; (2) "nursling" or "little child" (amun), Wisdom as the child playing before God, which fits "daily his delight, rejoicing (literally playing) always before him"; (3) "faithfully, constantly," an adverb. The Greek and Latin ("arranging all things") support the first; many modern scholars (for example M. V. Fox) favour the second. See the passage page.

Later reception

Second Temple Jewish writers identified Wisdom with the Torah (Sirach 24:23) and with the divine word and spirit (Wisdom of Solomon 7:22–8:1). The rabbis read 8:22 and 8:30 of Torah as God's blueprint for creation (Genesis Rabbah 1:1, which reads amon as "craftsman" and "tutor"). The New Testament describes Christ in Wisdom's language (John 1:1–3; Colossians 1:15–17; Hebrews 1:2–3). In the 4th century Arius used the Greek "the Lord created me" to argue that the Son was a creature; Athanasius answered that the verse speaks of the incarnate Son's human nature, or of his being made the "beginning of the ways" for creation. Nicene Christianity kept the Greek text and changed its interpretation. These are later readings of a poem whose original subject is personified Wisdom.