Proverbs 8 Footnotes

8:22 Throughout history critics have denied the deity of Christ, arguing from this verse that Jesus (identified as “Wisdom of God” in 1Co 1:21, and as the Creator of all things in Jn 1:3 and Col 1:15-17) is a created being himself. This is based on a possible translation of the verse, “The LORD created me at the beginning of his creation,” found in some ancient and modern translations. However, the basic meaning of the Hebrew word for “made,” qanah, means “to possess” or “acquire” rather than “to create.” Of even greater significance is the fact that the context suggests that the passage about wisdom is not a description of Jesus, but rather a personification of the wisdom by which the Lord created the universe. (This is common in the early chapters of Proverbs and is something that will again occur in chap. 9, where both Wisdom and Folly are personified.)

Wisdom is the application of knowledge in order to accomplish one’s goals or purposes, and God brings forth his wisdom as he applies his omnipotence to the task of creating the world. The point of the passage is that if God used wisdom to create the world, then success in all our endeavors is greatly enhanced if we also choose wisdom and live according to God’s order. The NT authors see Jesus as the embodiment of God’s wisdom both in terms of who he is, and in terms of his ministry in successfully accomplishing God’s redemptive purpose.