In English, relationships between verbs and nouns are largely determined by word order, not added endings. The language simply reflects the grammar. Nevertheless, Prov does describe some sort of co-creator or agent of creation. The New Testament places Jesus in that role, and that means Jesus gets connected with the wisdom figure of Proverbs 8. That role is assigned to Wisdom in Prov Is there a connection? There are several instances in the New Testament where Jesus is identified in some way with Wisdom.
However, it is not completely clear that Paul meant to identify Jesus with the Wisdom of Proverbs 8. Much more striking is Luke This text refers to the Wisdom of God in personified terms as in Proverbs 8. Note the boldfaced portion:. For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. The passage is straightforward.
In context Jesus is the speaker and calls out the hypocrisy of his detractors. Jesus creates the impression that it was Wisdom who sent the prophets and apostles.
Is Jesus confused? Is the gospel writer careless? The wording is deliberate—but the amazing impact of the statement comes when one compares Luke with the parallel. Note the boldfaced portion once more, remembering that the speaker, as in Luke 11, is Jesus:.
The point is startling. The gospel writers are not the only ones who make this sort of equation. In Hebrews we read:.
The Greek word apaugasma occurs only here in the New Testament. It also occurs in only one place in the Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Bible of the early Church. The passage in the Septuagint where the word apaugasma occurs is from a non-canonical book called The Wisdom of Solomon :. It is not complicated: whenever a poet attributes human qualities to some- thing inanimate, often an abstraction, he or she has used personification.
This takes us back to Proverbs 8. The main subject of Proverbs chapters 1—9 is wisdom, which is an abstract quality or character trait rather than a person, but wisdom is treated as a woman from the first chapter right through chapter 9. We would make so much more sense of biblical poetry if we would simply acknowledge that poetry is a form of fiction and quite often of fantasy. In its usual pose, it asserts something that we know to be literally untrue and often openly fantastic.
Surely personification illustrates this in its pure form. We all know that blood does not literally cry from the ground Gen. Similarly, in Proverbs 1—9, wisdom is not literally a woman who speaks eloquently about herself and prepares a banquet. Wisdom is a quality of the soul. The purpose of the entire eighth chapter is to praise and exalt wisdom. In conducting this praise, the writer invents a fictional creation story in which wisdom, as an attribute of God, was actually present at creation.
It is as simple as that. Proverbs 8 as an Encomium. A proper understanding of Proverbs 8 does not absolutely depend on viewing the poem as an encomium, but the dynamics of the passage will fall even more into place if we do so. The encomium , one of the most beautiful and exalted types of literature used in the Bible, is a composition in praise of either an abstract quality or a general character type. First Corinthians 13 is an encomium in praise of love, Hebrews 11 in praise of faith, and Proverbs —31 in praise of the virtuous wife.
Proverbs 8 has all of these familiar motifs. In verses 22—31, we find the motif of the ancient and distinguished ancestry of wisdom, which was present from the beginning and even participated in the creation of the world. Is Christ the First Created Being? The specific hermeneutical principle that I have applied in this article is the need to read figurative speech in a nonliteral sense.
This is part of a broader principle of interpreting a text in keeping with what we know about its genre what type of literature it is. Certainly, for her ancient authors, She is a 'Tree of Life' to those who hold on to her, which might lead to discussions of the outlawed tree goddess of Israel, Asherah legal at first, but debased by Deuteronomists' attempts to link her to Ba'al; S.
Olyan, M. By full NT times in Paul's writings, Jesus Christ is now the 'Sophia' of God, in a way that both nods to the Hebrew tradition, but also normalizes the tricky issue of a pre-existent female figure.
McCrae; A. Wisdom: can't make theology with Her; can't make theology without Her! A classic patriarchal conundrum! She is like the Queen on the chessboard of Renaissance Europe: she moves in every direction and is the most powerful player that protects and connects to the king--but neglected in every 'official' description of the power-players of Bishop, Knight, and Domain castle.
Rediscovery of Woman Wisdom by the 'Re-imagining' feminist Christian movement in the s gave rise to the 'Christ as King' backlash, and She just hasn't been the same since, no matter what Her scholars say.. Probably more than you wanted, but there it is: its a complex topic, to be sure! Click here for Professor Fontaine's book, Smooth Words.
In response to Lloyd's question. You should be confused about the identity and role of Wisdom in Proverbs 8, because it is confusing. Let's start with this: monotheism was never monochromatic; the Biblical view is that God is One, but it is a complex unity that reveals a spectrum of Divinity. Proverbs 8 refers to a feminine character, named "Wisdom," who was present and collaborated with God in creation.
This character is best understood as a metaphor for certain aspects of God that are not conveyed in some of the more prevalent Old Testament images of God as Father or King.
God is finally none and all of these; each metaphor opens a different door into the divine palace, the houses of the holy. Skip to main content. Make a donation Join our email list Contact us Search. Asked By:. Wisdom is a way of speaking of God in God's relationship with humankind.
0コメント