Book of Proverbs - Messianic Interpretations in Christianity

Messianic Interpretations in Christianity

There are found in Proverbs, and other wisdom literature, references to Wisdom as a personification. These have long been taken by Christian exegetes as references to Christ, who is called the wisdom of God by Paul the Apostle (1 Cor 1:24). The first time Wisdom is personified is at Prov 1.20. In all these passages Wisdom is spoken of as a woman because the Hebrew (chokhmah) and Greek word (sophia) for “wisdom” is itself feminine.

The King James Bible reads, in reference to wisdom in Prov. 8:22, that "The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old." The Revised Standard Version reads “The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.” Proverbs 8 has long been taken by Christians to refer to Christ, so whether or not the Hebrew קנה(qanah) should be taken as "created" or as "possessed" was used in the debate over the eternity of Christ. Both these meanings are used in the Old Testament but many contemporary scholars render it as "created". Proponents of "possessed" such as Kidner argue that it is absurd to think that God would need to create Wisdom, implying there was a time when he lacked Wisdom. Also, “Prov 8 starts from the indisputable commonplace that God existed before the start of time and ascribes the same precedence to wisdom.” The remainder of Prov 8 they argue, shows Wisdom taking a role in creation, and contrasts Wisdom with created things. However, understanding קנה as possessed leaves open the possibility that Wisdom should be understood here as a personification of an attribute of God rather an entity in its own right. The Hebrew אמון('amown) in Prov. 8:30 is still a subject of debate among Bible scholars. 'Amown has been undestood as either: "artisan or master craftsman" which suggests that Wisdom is an active participant in creation, or as "nursling" which excludes any notion of Wisdom's active participation in creation.

It has been noted by some Christian exegetes that Col 1:15-16 is dependent on this chapter of Proverbs. The parallels in the roles of Christ and Wisdom, they argue lend credence to understanding qanah as possessed rather than created. They argue that "Wisdom was, before the Lord made even a particle of matter (verse 26) or gave order to creation (verse 29); Wisdom participated in the creation story. This strongly parallels the role of Christ in Colossians, where he is the “first-born of all creation” and in him were all things created. To add to the identification of Wisdom with Christ, we find that Wisdom was identified with the Greek concept of logos, which was in turn identified with Christ."

Prov 8:22 was a crucial verse in the Arian controversies of the fourth century. This verse was used both to support and refute the Arians' claims. Assuming first that Christ could be equated with the "Wisdom of God"(1 Cor. 1:24), the Arians argued that the son, like Wisdom was created, and to be a creature, whether the first or the most prominent of creatures, is to be subordinate to the creator. Those who formulated the Nicean declaration that the Son was "begotten, not made" were inclined to translate קנה in Prov. 8:22 as "begot me" in order to argue that God and Christ were cosubstantial.