Chapter Eight

The teaching activity of Divine Wisdom: the Wisdom of God calls to all through her proclamation, drawing them to herself with the wealth of her gifts. 22–31. The world-creating activity of Divine Wisdom. 32–36. Exhortation to follow...

Proverbs 8:1. Does not Wisdom cry out? Does not Understanding raise her voice? Proverbs 8:2. She takes her stand on the high places, by the way, at the crossroads; Proverbs 8:3. she cries out at the gates, at the entrance to the city, at the entrance to the doors: Earlier, at the beginning of the book Prov 1:20-21 seq., the Wise One introduced into his speech the proclamation of Wisdom from Wisdom’s own person, and in Prov 3:19-20 mentioned Wisdom’s participation in the creation of the world and providence. Now he does the same thing much more in detail: almost two whole chapters, Prov 8-9, are devoted to the revelation of Wisdom’s teaching about herself, her dignity — divine or the Divine nature of Wisdom, her world-creating, world-sustaining, and world-saving activity, her highest properties and richest gifts, her significance for humanity, etc. The Sacred Writer, as it were, intentionally in the preceding chapters (Prov 4-7) grouped together and exhausted all possible kinds and instances of temptations on the path of pious and wise living, so that here, in ch. Prov 8-9, he might display in a more complete way in a positive manner true wisdom according to the teaching of Hypostatic Wisdom herself. At the same time, naturally, there is a complete absence of any mention that this teaching came to the Wise One through tradition from his ancestors (as in Prov 4:3-4 and following). The form given by the reading of v. 1 in the LXX and the Slavonic form of address to the listener: σύ τήν σοφιάν κηρύξεις, ίνα φρόνησις σοι υπακούση, son, “proclaim wisdom, that understanding may obey you,” is less acceptable than according to the reading of the Hebrew Masoretic, the Vulgate, and the Russian: Wisdom herself comes forward as the one proclaiming. Like all preachers of God’s word — prophets and apostles — Wisdom proclaims herself in all public gathering places, and generally everywhere it is possible to meet listeners: on heights, on roads, at crossroads and intersections, at the entrance to the city — at the city gates, on streets, and at the entrance to houses (v. 2–3). However noisy such popular gatherings might be, yet even amid the tumult and noise of idle talkers and arguing people, there resound, like some hymn, the instructive and edifying words from the lips of the zealots and messengers of Divine Wisdom.

Proverbs 8:4. “To you, people, I call out, and my voice is to the sons of men! Proverbs 8:5. Learn prudence, you foolish ones, and you fools — wisdom. Proverbs 8:6. Listen, for I will speak of important things, and the utterance of my mouth — truth; Proverbs 8:7. for my tongue will speak truth, and wickedness — an abomination to my lips; Proverbs 8:8. All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is no deceit and falsehood in them; Proverbs 8:9. All of them are clear to the intelligent and righteous to those who have acquired knowledge. Proverbs 8:10. Accept my instruction rather than silver; choose knowledge instead of fine gold; Proverbs 8:11. for wisdom is better than pearls, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Proverbs 8:12. I, Wisdom, dwell with understanding and seek the knowledge of prudent counsel. Proverbs 8:13. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and an evil way and deceitful speech I hate. Wisdom turns her call decisively to all people — to the righteous and the wicked, the noble and the common (Prov 8:5); she calls all, according to the guidance of Divine Wisdom, to develop their minds and hearts (Prov 1:4 Eccl 1:13), enriching the mind with every kind of useful knowledge of spiritual and practical wisdom (compare Matt 10:16), and giving the heart steadfastness in true goodness. Wisdom speaks something immeasurably important in human life (Prov 8:6; compare Matt 7:29), namely: pure truth, genuine righteousness, perfect justice; everything contrary to this is absolutely alien to her: all these teachings of Wisdom, despite their height and depth, are yet fully accessible to human understanding (Prov 8:7-9). Therefore, the acquisition of these teachings should be the object of greater longing and searching by man than the acquisition of riches and treasures (v. 10–11, note Prov 3:14-15; Job 28:15-16; Wis 7:9). The power of counsel and the ability to guide human thought toward the right decision in affairs are unchangingly inherent in Divine Wisdom; the foundation and very essence of the wisdom imparted by her consists of the fear of God and aversion from evil (v. 12–13, note Prov 1:7, Prov 9:10).

Proverbs 8:14. I have counsel and sound judgment; I am understanding, I have strength. Proverbs 8:15. By me kings reign and rulers make just laws; Proverbs 8:16. by me princes rule and nobles, all who govern rightly on the earth. Proverbs 8:17. Those who love me I love, and those who seek me find me; Proverbs 8:18. with me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and righteousness; Proverbs 8:19. my fruit is better than fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. Proverbs 8:20. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, Proverbs 8:21. to bring to those who love me enduring good, and to fill their treasuries. “Proverbs 8. Prov.8:21a. —[When I speak what comes to pass daily, then I will not forget to recount what is from eternity.]” The high and precious gifts and advantages of true wisdom, whose source is in Divine Wisdom, are portrayed. All human works can have firm success only with the help of Divine Wisdom, since only she alone possesses perfectly the light, understanding, and strength needed to carry out her measures for man’s good; without her help human wisdom is powerless (v. 14). In particular, kings, rulers, all authorities and lawgivers can wisely govern their subject peoples and nations, can enact wise and beneficial laws only with the help of that same Divine Wisdom (v. 15–16, note Dan 2:21). All the abundance of blessings inherent in Wisdom, she is always ready to bestow on those who love her and understand the true value of her gifts (v. 17–21). These are the wondrous gifts of Wisdom. But the divine nature and dignity of Wisdom are expressed most strikingly in Wisdom’s participation in the work of creation of the world, and of this the Wise One now speaks, v. 22–31.

Proverbs 8:22. The Lord had me as the beginning of his way, before his creations of old; Proverbs 8:23. from ancient times I was appointed, from the beginning, before the earth came to be. Proverbs 8:24. I was born when there were yet no depths, when there were yet no springs abounding with water. Proverbs 8:25. I was born before the mountains were fixed in place, before the hills, Proverbs 8:26. when he had not yet created the earth, nor the fields, nor the first of the dust of the world. Proverbs 8:27. When he was preparing the heavens, I was there. When he was drawing the circle on the face of the abyss, Proverbs 8:28. when he was making firm the clouds above, when he was securing the springs of the abyss, Proverbs 8:29. when he was giving the sea its decree, so that the waters would not transgress his boundary, when he was laying the foundations of the earth: Proverbs 8:30. then I was beside him as a craftsperson, and I was his delight every day, rejoicing before him at all times, Proverbs 8:31. rejoicing in his habitable world, and my delight was in the children of mankind. In this section, the Fathers and teachers of the Church not without reason perceived in the preexistent and world-creating Wisdom the hypostatic Wisdom, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, bringing together the concept of her with the concept of the Word of God, which, according to the teaching of the Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, was in God from the beginning, was himself God, through whom «all came into being, and without whom not one thing came into being that has come into being» (John 1:1-3, compare Heb 1:2; Rev 3:14). Without doubt, on Old Testament ground there could not have been such clarity and distinctness, such precision and definiteness in the teaching about the Logos or Word of God as it received in the teaching of the holy Evangelist John: for the Old Testament, even divinely inspired, sage, the world-creating Wisdom of God is, first and foremost, the idea of the world, preexisting in God before creation — it is that principle which appeared as the intermediary instrumental cause of all creation; this idea and principle are portrayed here in a personified manner. The Wise One could not speak deliberately about the Divine dignity of the second Hypostasis of Wisdom. Entirely erroneous, in the fourth century A.D., at the time of Christological councils, the Arians on the basis of the words of Wisdom: “The Lord created (LXX, έκτισε) me as the beginning of his ways” (v. 22) defended their false teaching that the Son of God is a creature. Against this, Orthodox theologians pointed to the Hebrew reading of this text, understanding the Hebrew verb “kana” in the sense: acquired (εκτήσατο, as in Philo and Origen, or έκτησέ με, as in codices 23, 252 in Helmer). Vulgate: possedit me, Russian Synodal: “The Lord had me as...”); or else referring the concept of creation properly to the incarnation of the Son of God. Both of these latter explanations have their significance and foundation. But in any case, one should remember that in the Old Testament there could not have been theological precision in the formulation of the idea of Logos, and therefore the concept of “creation” here could be applied to Divine Wisdom. In the Book of Jesus son of Sirach, whose teaching stands under the unquestionable influence of the Book of Proverbs, Wisdom is called created by God more than once: 1.4: προτέρα πάντων έκτισται σοφιά; 1.9: αυτός έκτισεν αυτήν; 24:8: ο κτίσας με. However, the pre-universal existence of Wisdom affirmed in Prov 8:22-31 itself constitutes a true foreboding of the New Testament teaching about the Word or Son of God. The whole address of Wisdom falls into two sections: v. 22–26 and v. 27–31, of which in the first is shown the pre-universal existence of Wisdom, and in the second is affirmed the active participation of Wisdom in the creation of the world and the individual kinds of creation. Wisdom was anointed (v. 23, compare Ps 2:6), that is, was appointed by God to be the mistress of creation (compare about the Son of God Rev 3:14: η αρχή τῆς κτίσεως τοῦ θεοῦ) before the appearance of the latter — before the creation of the earth itself in its primordial form (v. 23), before the appearance of the great cosmic abyss, all water-containers, mountains, hills, and the beginning of all organic life (24–25, compare Ps 89:2, Job 38:6 and others) Wisdom existed and was born by God (v. 24–25). Born before all creation (compare about the Son of God: πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως, Col 1:15), Wisdom was by no means a passive witness of the creation of the world itself; on the contrary, throughout the entire process of world-creation (v. 27–30, and compare Job 26:9, and following) she was an unchanging participant in God’s work, imprinting her heavenly image on the works of God’s creation. And as the completion and goal of the creation of the world was the creation of man (Gen 1:26 seq.), so the special object of Wisdom’s participation and joy was also precisely the creation of man — the crown of God’s creations, on whom, as the image and likeness of God, most perfectly was imprinted the seal of Wisdom itself (v. 30–31). This special participation of Wisdom in the work of creating man fully corresponds to the biblical account of the counsel held in the Holy Trinity before the creation of man (Gen 1:26, compare Comm. Bible vol. I, p. 11). The true and primordial source of the joy of Hypostatic Wisdom or Logos was contained precisely in her communion with God the Father (John 17:24), and her joy in creation and especially in men is a reflection of that celestial joy. The section Prov 8:22-30 is read in churches as a lesson on the festivals of the Theotokos, reminding the faithful that the incarnate Son of God existed from eternity in communion with God the Father.

Proverbs 8:32. And so, children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways! Proverbs 8:33. Listen to instruction and become wise, and do not turn away from it. Proverbs 8:34. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates and waiting at the posts of my doors! Proverbs 8:35. for whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; Proverbs 8:36. but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul: all who hate me love death”. Now Wisdom turns her call to men, as the preeminent bearers of wisdom, stamped by the Creator on all creation. Wisdom exhorts them to listen and keep the teachings of wisdom, because in listening to and keeping them consists all blessedness and all of man’s life (v. 32, 34, 35, compare Ps 118:1-2; Luke 11:23), whereas those who turn away from communion with Wisdom, and especially those who hate her, prepare for themselves temporal and eternal death. * * * Notes The Midrash explains the difference in forms of address in v. 4 — “men” or “males” (ishim) and — “sons of mankind” (bene-adam) like this: “if you will be worthy and keep the law, you will be called, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — “men,” ishim, but if not, you will be “sons of mankind,” bene-adam, like Adam, who did not keep the Law and therefore was driven out of paradise” (Midr. s. 21)