“So, who in the world is this?”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, May 25, 2024
Proverbs 8: 22-36 (Forward, p. 27) CEV p. 654
I’m not certain that I will ever have a definitive and final answer to this question, but I will post it nonetheless. Today’s passage, as with several other passages in the Proverbs, speak of a personal being called Wisdom. It speaks of Wisdom as a supernatural being who was with God even before creation and who assisted in the act of creation. So, who might that be? Good question.
Now, as if to muddy the waters even more, today’s passage speaks of Wisdom as not being eternal. “At the very first, the Lord gave life to me [‘formed me’ in an alternative translation) (verse 23b). And the very next verse, verse 24, begins, “When I was born…” and, as if to solidify this notion, verse 25 begins, “My birth was before…”. And, if this isn’t already enough to confuse our ‘little grey cells’, the word ‘Wisdom’ in Greek is Sophia, a woman’s name. Who then, is this person, if indeed, it be a person? And what then, did its earliest readers, the Jews, make of this? Rather importantly in this context, it must be noted that Judaism was strictly and doggedly monotheistic, resisting any and all notions that there might be any plurality to do with God. For them, there could only be one God, end of story.
D.A. Hubbard in The New Bible Dictionary suggests something of a solution. He suggests that we exercise caution in supposing that Wisdom, as depicted here, has some sort of independent existence. This is because “the Hebrews’ characteristic resistance to speculation and abstraction frequently led their poets to deal with inanimate objects or ideals as though they had personality” (p. 1333).
If then, this be their mode of thinking, what was their point? It was to provide a rationale, a strong reason, for why people should listen carefully to wisdom and adhere to it (see verses 32-36). After all, she was there from the very beginning and was a partner to God in all His doings. As so, as Proverbs 1: 20-33 suggests, people would be wise to turn from their foolish ways and find instruction and security in her. And, as Proverbs 8:12-16 tells us, she possesses knowledge, sensible advice, and sound judgment and enables rulers to govern wisely and make laws that are fair.
So, what this says to me, is that we, you and I, should always seek out wisdom—not just knowledge, facts—but wisdom, knowing how to make use of those facts or that knowledge. And where better to find that wisdom but in God and in His holy word, the Scriptures? Maybe that is why the author of these proverbs posted Wisdom as being here at the very beginning, which, of course, being with God, it was. Even more reason to seek it and be grounded in it. Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “The Lord created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago” (verse 22).
“There is a popular saying that ‘knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is not putting a tomato in a fruit salad.’ Wisdom is an underrated quality today, especially when we consider those whom our society admires, but Proverbs says that wisdom, personified, was one of God’s first creations. Wisdom was present in the calling forth of the universe as we know it and is embedded around us in the logic of creation.
“The cultivation of wisdom runs counter to the ‘move fast and break mentality of innovation. Wisdom requires discernment and thoughtfulness. This takes time, solitude, and quiet. As an amalgamation of experience, knowledge, and deep understanding, wisdom is as valuable as it is rare. In 1 Corinthians, Paul refers to Jesus as the wisdom of God, and some read this passage from Proverbs as talking about Jesus despite the Son’s eternal and uncreated nature. Nevertheless, the link between wisdom and Jesus enlightens both.”
Moving Forward: “Where do you find wisdom?”